I’m Turning 22
Werd.
So, it’s my birthday in a couple weeks. I’m gonna be the big 22. I was only turning 20 when I first started writing for coolgrrrls so now it’s been an official 2 year stint (excluding the last 6 months which I haven’t written anything). My bad. But that’s all going to change as I’m going to start being more organized (how many times have I actually said that??). Ha. So what the hell have I been up to since September?? Well. lots of things.
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Probably the biggest and coolest thing I did was go to the UK for the first time in 15 years!! I went for 2 weeks and bummed all around the country. The first week I went on tour with the Secretly Canadian tour (actually an American label)www.secretlycanadian.com; . The tour consisted of June Panic, Scout Niblett, and Daniel from the Danielson Family. MY friend from Holland, Gijs, was the tour driver so that’s how I got to go along as the tag-along.
The first nite was in Brighton at this club called the Palmers Bar. It was in the basement of an apartment type building (which meant no drums tonight!) and it was probably the smallest bar I’ve ever been in, in my life!! It was like someone’s basement recroom. And hot and smoky as hell! We crashed with at Sam and Lindsay’s place and had tea and toast ’til 3AM (made me feel very English).
The second night was at the Social in Nottingham (a club I ended up frequenting quite a bit during my UK stay). My penpal of 7 years lives in Nottingham and we crashed at his place that night. I had never met him before so it was pretty funny, almost like a blind date or something. His roommate Neil was so funny and made the best food. I ended up going back there after the tour for about 4 days. hanging out with Matt, Neil, and Luke. And Eating lots of good vegan food. Good food whether it’s vegetarian, vegan, or not is hard to come by in the UK. Unless you are eating Indian (best Indian I ever had definitely).
Speaking of good curry, the third show of the tour was in Manchester at some bar called the Tmesis which was freezing!! But after the show we went to the “Curry Mile” in Rusholme (like the Smiths song Rusholme Ruffians). The Curry Mile is a strip along Oxford Rd which is just Indian/Curry restaurants for about a mile and they ALL have neon lights!! It looks a bit like Las Vegas. I went there a few times while I was in Manchester. I also came back to Manchester later to see Ladytron. Who I have to admit are kind of a boring live band. Don’t get me wrong, I am a HUGE fan and love dancing to them at club nights in Vancouver. but live they just didn’t do it for me. They just stood there as still as robots and didn’t even speak in between songs or anything. It was also the loudest show I’d ever been to in my life. I thought I was going to vomit.
Anyway, after Manchester we made our way up to Glasgow, Scotland. Where I slept through most of the show in the van. The jet-lag was hitting me by this point. We stayed at Chris from Eska’s place and I slept on his hall floor.
By the time I reached Edinburgh at the end of my trip I was fully accustomed to the UK time zone and was staying up well past 5:30AM partying the nights away. I went to a couple club nights here… and shopped until I dropped. I bought a new parka and had to leave my old one hanging over a fence in Grass Market. There was no way I could cram it into my bags. I also got to catch a couple cool shows on the trip El Guappo, Radio 4, the Faint. I’d never seen the Faint before and holy crap it was a good show! Definitely recommend going to see this band anytime you have a chance. Probably my favourite show of the year.
Back in Vancouver, things plug on. My band the Ewoks has a new record, “The Ewoks VS. The Awful Dynne,” and it’s coming out on Magic Teeth Records from Victoriahttp://magicteeth.tripod.com; . Woo Hoo. We celebrated 3 years of existence with the Rogers Sisters from NYC on January 13. Minimalist organ rock is here to stay! Other good things happening to Vancouver bands. the Organ (featuring one current and one ex-member of the Ewoks) just signed a crazy deal with Mint Records and 604 Records. Mint has put out tons of good things such as the New Pornographers, Maow, Duotang, New Town Animals, and even my old band The Riff Randells! 604 is famous for being the label Chad Kroeger from Nickleback founded. but seriously I don’t know if the Organ has ever even met him! The real man behind the deal is Chad’s partner Jonathan Simkin who used to be the Mint lawyer and has had a love affair with the Organ for the past 6 months. So yay for the Organ! Good luck! Also you can check out the Organ’s track “Sinking Hearts” on the Cool Grrrls Kick Ass comp! They sound like they came from a time in music when depressing bands like the Smiths, Joy Division, and the Cure dominated the charts. Ahhh, my child hood. Lots of haunting vocals from singer Katie Sketch who has the most wonderful voice in the city!www.theorgan.ca;
Other Vancouver news. The New Town Animals just broke up. Guitarist Jeff Mcloy has decided to leave the band which means it’s over for the rest of the guys I guess. I went to their last show at the Pic on Saturday and it wasn’t much of anything. Not too many people came out it was actually kind of depressing. Boo for the NTA. Sorry guys. Hmmm. What other gossip can I fill you in on? Well, Canadian good news. Legendary English label Rough Trade has signed Toronto bands the Hidden Cameras and Royal City! The new Hidden Cameras album should be out in March sometime and their first English single will be out February 24. Everyone knows Rough Trade from being the Smiths label. So cool. The Constantines have signed with Sub Pop. And everyone already knows this one but Victoria band Hot Hot Heat have signed a major $$ deal with Warner US. You should see their apartments now! Lots of new DVDs, turntables, and nice BIG beds! Quite a change from when 5 of them all lived in a 2 bedroom apartment. Ha. So Canada is finally getting the recognition it deserves for having good independent music. Most people only know us for Celine Dion, Alanis Morrissette, Nickleback, Barenaked Ladies, Nelly Furtado, and such. well there’s lots more too Canadian music! Not to mention all the legendary musicians from Canada. Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, The Guess Who, to name a few. Watch out world 2003 is going to be the Canadian invasion! Hahaha.
That sort of brings things up to date a bit with me. I’m planning on going back to the UK this year for a bit of a holiday.. And other than that we’ll see what happens. I’ve got a boyfriend in Vancouver right now so I’m not going anywhere for a bit. He’s rad though. Anyway, ahem. yes, things to look forward in the Vancouver area in the next little while.
February 14 – My 22nd Birthday @ Mod Club/ Honey
February 27 – Sparta @ Commodore
February 28 – Ted Leo @ Pat’s Pub
March 5 – Ladytron and Simian @ Commodore
March 19 – Supergrass @ Commodore
Yeah. and go check out the Organ in Ontario on their 10 day tour. Feb 25
- March 9 if you live in the province.
Happy Winter everyone! Stay safe. Hugs and Kisses, Mar
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