Find your spirit guide and take a trip with us for Clara Engel’s most recent relsease Visitors Are Allowed One Kiss. It’s doom folk, “avant-blues hymns” centered on dusty, raw vocals and acoustic guitar. Hauntingly beautiful and meditiative, Engel’s international collaboration builds a dark fairytale of a record. Jess digs into themes of seduction and death’s release, and Dylan explores how depression is perfectly captured in “Once A White Owl.” Heavy but worth it, friends. Get in the loop!
Episode 31: SirenPhase
Windsor-based metal prog rock with an intense apocalyptic maybe-not-so-distant future narrative. The most densely concise concept album we’ve done on AFL, it’s Siren Phase’s Origins EP. Dylan muses on the influences of H.R. Gieger in sci-fi, and Jess recounts her experience with The Purge franchise. Subscribe on iTunes and Stitcher, and stay tuned for news about A Very Open Mic Night!
Bonus Episode! Updates and Upcomin’s
There’s a LOT going on with music in the GTA. Dylan and Jess offer their take on music news, a great online community for performers and vendors called Gig Salad, upcoming bands for AFL, and some thoughts on national treasures The Tragically Hip. Stay tuned next week for Siren Phase, and check out this episode for a taste of their sound. Get in the loop!
Episode 30: Social Potion
After a stellar anniversary showcase, we’re back with a LOT of easy to love tunage! We tucked into Social Potion‘s first release, and is it ever a lovely take on adult alternative pop with a real Women & Songs meets Aimee Mann feel. Some things we get into: King Lear references, keeping yourself together after a breakup, pranking your drunk dad on Christmas to hit those high notes in Beatles Rock Band (Carmen can. Dylan’s dad, not so much), and what it’s like to meet your heroes. EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT ALERT so stay tuned till the end!
AFL Anniversary Showcase: Big Otter Creek
Closing out the night for our showcase is a band that had been close to my heart since I moved to Toronto 6 years ago. Big Otter Creek’s Dan Gangon was one of the first people I met in the music scene here, and if you’re not sure who he is, just check out your facebook page and you will find you’ve got 18 friends in common and he has played music with about half of them.
As one of the band’s singers (sharing this role with fellow guitarist and equally wonderful John Bridgens), Dan’s undeniable rasp and alt-country style has made them a force to be reckoned with. Their current lineup of multi-talented dudes also includes Ben Healy, Jake Saenz and Jesse Shapiro. Since releasing the Orange Takes (from way back to Ep 3!), their sound has fleshed out with a third guitar, and new songs from both Dan and John that range from bluesy and plucky to shuffly and sweet.
The real shining star of Big Otter Creek is the fact that these fellas are so consistently them.
When a band changes their lineup (in this case losing one member and gaining two), it can be a catalyst in their demise or (also in this case) it can breath new life into their old tunes, and bridge the gap to new music. But the Big Otter Creek brand remains intact. There’s a phenomenon I’ve observed with people torn between the big smoke and the sticks energy of city folk stirred with their insatiable desire to get back to the country will always be a relatable notion to great Canadians, especially during our fleeting summers.
It’s not easy to toe the line between tight, harmonic guitar driven blues and softer, jangly country flavours, but BOC delivers in a big way. Don’t believe me? Better come see for yourself tomorrow night. You can tell me right to my face that I was right 🙂
RSPV already! 4 great and varied acts in one night, how can you go wrong?
AFL Anniversary Spotlight: Phill Hood!
I know what you’re thinking. Jesse, isn’t this showcase for killer bands you’ve highlighted on the show? I have scoured every Feedback Loop episode and could recite them front and back in my sleep, but I’ve NEVER heard a review of Phill Hood and the Exclamation! You wily liar!
And you’re right. But you HAVE heard releases from every other band member in another form. PH&E!’s stellar bass player John William-Blakeley guest hosted our chat on two of his other projects and what it’s like to moonlight in real estate. Fiddler Jarred Albright is one half of the folk-romatics Rye & Fairytales. Drummer Charlie McKittrick’s (sadly defunct) TimeGiant was featured here. And doing double duty on June 30th is Jake Saenz also of Big Otter Creek. Phew!
So to gear up for this AFL all-star set, I got the scoop from the man himself on his upcoming record, working with his best friends, and what it’s like to produce your own album from the ground up.
Since putting the band together last year, they have been in and out of recording at Phill’s home studio, and working out the tracks at shows around Toronto. Their sound has been compared to other great Canadian Celtic-tinged rock acts, but with a bend towards late 90’s alternative. The debut album, Travel, focuses on Phill’s geographical changes as much as his personal ones. Born and raised in Newfoundland, moving to Toronto for university, traversing the U.S. as part of the Tartan Terrors (with Jake, too. Does that guy ever sleep?), it’s all in the mix. Think Spirit of the West featuring the Barenaked Ladies, getting a hit on Big Shiny Tunes 9.
Their second single, Nelly, was met with a huge response at a show in the spring. The clear influence of Jimmy Eat World and some high-octane emotional lyrics made for a powerful track. The band’s stage presence is also a shining example of what working with your friends can bring to a performance.
“It’s just fun. I look back and see JW and Charlie getting a groove together, and then Jake is right there with some crazy new guitar tone. He’s a gear head like me, so we really get some great stuff. And when it’s done, we stick around to check out the next band. Something people overlook, just stay and support each other if you can. “
On recording in his home studio, which has changed 3 times since the album began, Phill also had this to say:
“It’s freeing to have complete control. I can come home after a great set and ride that high, have the mics set up so I can lay down something whenever I want to. But it’s my first crack at producing such a large-scale record, [He produced a 4-track hip-hop EP last spring and the award-winning score for a children’s web series ] so there’s always new tricks to learn. YouTube tutorials really are a goldmine. That, and, just working at it until it has the feel you want.”Â
So when can we expect the record release? Phill, a savvy businessman but always an artist first, has decided the album wouldn’t be complete without a final track composed just weeks ago and inspired by a getaway to Northern Ontario. While it may delay the release of Travel, and his band mates have certainly teased him about getting it out there already, it’s certainly a fitting addition to a body of work already brimming with songs that capture what it means to explore and discover. Not just the scenery, but the self.
In the meantime, check out their first single, Obvious and don’t forget to swing by The Hideout June 30th to hear all their tunes live!
AFL Showcase Spotlight: In Divine Providence
Our second artist celebrating with us for the AFL Anniversary Showcase is a good friend and incredibly talented rapper, In Divine Providence. Like every great hip hop act, he also goes by Walt D. His record Darkside/Lightside was a force to be reckoned with and took us two episodes to explore.
I had the pleasure of joining him in the studio for a few sessions, and thought it prudent to use my fly-on-the-wall status to get some dirt on exactly what goes into the branding and marketing of a new artist in the hip hop community, one which has seen tough times in Toronto. Pay-to-play and the constant stream of unsolicited mixtapes being handed out without context have plagued the industry, and many live music venues simply fill more seats when their house band is playing mostly covers their audience can sing along to. Walt has high hopes for what rap can do to affect change, be it on a social, political or personal level:
“I wanna contribute to hip hop and I want to be part of a group that throws shows up that help build that scene. We need to come together as a group, not brag about our ability to make money and rap about what we are. I want to be part of what that change is.”
When it comes to marketing, the bravado of a secondary persona is key in bridging the gap. IDP is the embodiment of the animal inside, brazenly spouting explicit and often disturbing truths, while Walt D is his more subdued, pragmatic and positive beacon of hope. The label rep was quick to endorse this duality, and offered some words of wisdom on how and when to utilize both:
“If you can’t do your hook and then go like this <holds a mic out to an imaginary crowd> so they know it, then you can’t give them anything else new until you get there. Then you can say hey, guys do you mind if I try a few new ones for you? And they will love it.”
So now we have our homework: Darkside/Lightside. I’d star with this. Learn the hooks, and sing along with us June 30th!
Episode 29: Foreign Film Star
A project apart for Jamie Reaume of Cowboys in Cardigans, it’s an atmospheric rock record called quite appropriately, The Moon Landing. One part complex and psychedelic instrumentals, one part late 90’s sexy slimy alt rock, it’s absolutely worth the trip. Jess and Dylan explore themes of depression and anxiety, and also Ridley Scott’s impossibly positive “The Martian.” Get in the loop and don’t forget to bring your friends to our showcase June 30th at the Hideout!
AFL Showcase Spotlight: Yanis
As most of you lovely Loopers know already, we are gearing up for the first annual AFL Anniversary showcase night June 30th at the Hideout in Toronto. Our first performer, and a favourite among our fans, is folk singer/songwriter Yanis.
In true folk legend form, our first exchange with Yanis was a personal thank you for the purchase of his record, and every exchange since has been littered with insightful, generous and impossibly sincere compliments and musings. He is also a fan of the show, giving real feedback on his experience with it, which is the sort of thing every creator needs to hear on occasion to remember their purpose. As a host of this show, I define myself more secondarily as a musician. Yanis was quick to nudge me on when he might hear my own music, and while that’s not what I’m here to promote, it reminded me that he was on our team. It all comes down to the Woodstock mentality, at least from my perspective. Wanting to share the spotlight, to talk to each other through music, to offer words of encouragement. Much like love, I think making music and consuming it are always guaranteed to give you more back that you put out. His record, Queen Kari, is such a perfectly sweet and sour take on so many themes of love and youth that I continue to listen long after the episode has aired. In response to our curiosity over the father-figure-as-villain tracks, Yanis had this to say:
“In case there was any concern, The last two songs are not autobiographical. In fact I’ve invited my parents and sister to the AFL show.”
Great songwriting is often about telling a story that isn’t your own, and giving a voice to those impossible to articulate sensations. I have a feeling that to hear him up close and personal will be even better, so add June 30th the your calendar and come check Yanis out!
Alt-country folk with some heavy metaphors and a particular tilt on Windsor, this third release from Allison Brown, Stitches and Incisions, will surprise and delight. With a laundry list of collaborators and tunes that explore the divide of border towns or the decrepit hospital who once stood tall, it’s a songwriting powerhouse and beautifully executed. Dylan weigh in on Windsor culture and Jess digs deep into recent hero/villain stereotypes that get taken to task in “Your Enemy.” It’s a personal and insightful episode, so get in the loop!