Side By Side Weekend Returns to Club SAW July 29th-31st

View fullsize

Side By Side Weekend logo by Anna Rickenbacher

Side By Side Weekend is putting the notion that Ottawa is a sleepy city to bed! Returning in-person this weekend at Club SAW from July 29th-31st, Side By Side Weekend is the 613’s hottest independent music festival. Championing a DIY ethos while granting artists of all experience levels and styles centre-stage, the three-day festival features co-presentations from fellow all-star local programmers: Cinqhole, Debaser, First Crush, Sitting On The Outside, and Ottawa Showbox.

The stacked, genre diverse lineup features shoegaze, alternative folk, hardcore, bedroom pop and post-gig dance parties! Whether you’re gearing up to watch your friend’s band or eager to find your new favourite artist, Side By Side Weekend always has something for everyone. We’re excited for the weekend all-around and some of our top picks include Boyhood, Jasmine Trails, fanclubwallet and Bitch Stick!

We’ll see you in between sets on both Club SAW’s indoor and outdoor stages all weekend long!

Side By Side Weekend

Website | Tickets | Instagram

View fullsize

Side By Side festival poster by Anna Rickenbacher

---

Related Articles

Amsterdam Indie Quintet The Klittens Talk Humble Beginnings and Growing Closer with New Single "Canned Air"

View fullsize

The Klittens by Megan Bruinen

Indie Amsterdammers The Klittens have won us over with their latest single “Canned Air.” Premiering October 15th on So Young Magazine, “Canned Air” and its accompanying music video is the quintet’s first release since their 2020 debut Pigeonhole. “Canned Air” was written by the band’s lead guitarist and backing vocalist Winnie Conradi after a heavy breakup in search of catharsis through the comfort of friends. In her own words on the track, Conradi explains:

“The song builds up around a single note and gets more and more dramatic as the song progresses. The vocals fight for a moment in the spotlight and find togetherness in the choir, only to get distorted by a raw and loud break. In a way it follows some kind of 6-stage plot structure, as it ends in completion; an aftermath.”

Charmed by the outfit’s knack for frankness and writing our new favourite breakup song, we chatted with 3/5 Klittens —Kat, Laurie and Michelle—about growing closer together through the realization of “Canned Air.”

Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter for Also Cool: To start, can I ask about the origin story of your band?

Kat: Yaël and Winnie were sitting on a bench after school. I wasn’t there, but I can picture it. I’ve heard this story so many times; it’s almost like an old family tale. They came up with a band name, “The Klittens,” yet they didn’t have a band to name. I remember getting a call from them around that moment: Hello, we are starting a band and you are in it. We’re called The Klittens. And so it began.

Laurie: I bumped into Winnie at a concert and she knew through her roommate that I used to take drum classes in the past. After the concert, she walked up to me and asked if I wanted to join her not-yet-existing band for a few jam sessions. I was like, Sure, we’ll do some jam sessions and then awkwardly let our early friendship fade away. But, it turned out to be so much fun to play music together! These jam sessions got a little bit out of hand though.

Michelle: Winnie and I go way back because our parents are friends. She had told me about The Klittens and I remember thinking how cool it was that she had started a band. I’d always wanted to be in one, but it never really found people at the same level. Most of my friends who were in bands had been doing that since secondary school so they were much more skilled and comfortable jamming. When Winnie told me The Klittens were looking for a bass player, I had just started picking up guitar lessons again and thought to give the bass a try. Playing with them —as musicians at a similar level, but also and most of all as friends— has always been great fun and we grew a lot together.

AC: You've just released your brand new single "Canned Air,” congratulations! In your own words, what significance does this track hold for the band?

M: For me it’s a very emotional song, for several reasons, but partly because I think it was the first song we wrote that features all five of us singing. Developing it into the song it finally became was a process that has brought us closer together, especially through the way we explored combining our vocals.

View fullsize

“Canned Air” stil by Kilian Kayser

AC: Can you describe your band dynamic and creative process when it came to writing "Canned Air"? 

L: Winnie wrote this song at home. After finishing the song, she sent the demo to us and it was our turn to adjust and complete the song. Although the structure and melody of the song already were something that we all really liked, I had to spice up the GarageBand drum sample and Yaël tweaked the lead vocals. Every time we write a song it’s a different process; sometimes someone makes a demo, sometimes we just jam. 

M: In the original song, Winnie imagined the main vocals to be more spoken-word-like, but that developed into a melodic singing with Yaëls input. The two styles created a different atmosphere. When we were recording the song in the studio, we got Winnie to speak the lyrics and Yaël to sing them at the same time. So it became more layered in the process.

Also Cool: I’d love to know more about the music scene in Amsterdam! Are there any particular venues or local bands that you love?
L: There are loads of cool bands and there is a very dense and supportive indie scene in Amsterdam, but also in the rest of the Netherlands. A band we love is Personal Trainer, a project by Willem Smit, who has supported us as a band since the beginning. I think my favourite venue is Cinetol. It’s a beautiful building and the programming is very diverse. It’s really accessible to play Cinetol as an emerging artist, which makes it a very interesting breeding ground for talent. 

M: And then there are a couple of cool emerging post-punk/art rock bands, like Global Charming and a fungus. Venues that are worth paying a visit if you’re in town would be Garage Noord, Skatecafé, De Nieuwe Anita, and the former church Paradiso.

“Canned Air” still by Marc Elisabeth

AC: On a more present note: What does the future look like for The Klittens? How can we keep up the momentum surrounding this release and support you going forward?

L: We hope we have a bright future. We are trying to get back on track after not being able to play live shows and going abroad due to the obvious reason. It would be great to go back on tour in Europe or the UK again and play shows, meet new people and discover new cool places. We would love to go back to the UK, but it’s going to be tough due to Brexit. The best way to support us is by ending Brexit! In all seriousness, though, I think the best way to support us is listening to our music and recommending us cool record shops, radio stations, magazines, venues and festivals throughout Europe, and maybe even worldwide, so we can reach the audience we want to reach. 

M: What Laurie said, and… If you’re looking for a cool t-shirt, we have merch too! 

Watch the music video for “Canned Air” below!

The Klittens

Instagram | Bandcamp | Spotify

Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter (she/her) is the co-founder and managing editor of Also Cool Mag. Aside from the mag, she is a music promoter & booker, and a radio host & DJ.

---

Related Articles

C-Pop Duo Chinese American Bear Celebrates Mixed Cultures, DIY Music & Dumplings

Via Chinese American Bear

If you grew up mixed, you probably know the feeling of always being "in-between," or never enough of one culture or the other. I'm Mexican and Polish and grew up constantly looking for other people like me, trying my best to navigate my complicated and ever-evolving relationship with my identity. That's why when I found Chinese American Bear, I was so excited to not only love their bright and upbeat music but also to relate to the shared experience of being proud of all aspects of a mixed identity. 

Their name speaks for itself. Chinese American Bear is a bubbly C-Pop duo (Bryce and Anne) creating Chinese / English tunes that bring together their cultural experiences and backgrounds. It also turns out that Bryce is half-Mexican as well! The power of the Internet continues to amaze me. 

Anyways, I had the chance to interview the iconic duo about their music, their lovely origin story, and more!

Malaika for Also Cool: Let's start with the band's origin story. You two are married, so I'm interested to know how you met and when you decided to start making music together.

Anne: Yeah - happy to start at the very beginning. We actually met in high school in Spokane, WA! I was a senior, and he was a junior, and we were both in jazz band at the time. His best childhood friend Bryan was my neighbour, and he would come to pick me up in the mornings for jazz band. Bryan eventually introduced me to Bryce, and we've been inseparable ever since. Bryce actually grew up on a llama farm in Spokane, and our first date was petting and feeding the llamas. (laughs)

Bryce: Yeah, that was a real winner date. I think I used the llamas to get her to like me (laughs). As for the band's origin, the idea of the band came at a more tumultuous time in our life.

We were living in a small apartment in Brooklyn, NY and I was generally feeling boxed in by my music pursuits at the time. I wanted a new outlet of expression that was less serious because I was starting to focus too much on perfection and processes, which caused some of my creativity to feel stale. We were also getting ready to move to Chicago because Anne was about to pursue her MBA at UChicago Booth Business School -- so I knew my past 10 years in New York were coming to an end. That was very difficult to swallow.

On top of that, Anne was teaching me Mandarin, and she had always told me that "Chinese is a tonal language, so speak it like you're singing," so the language was on my mind. We were (mostly me) going a little crazy with all the transition and changes going on, and I kind of snapped. I had a bit of a "fuck it" moment and started to break down a lot of the creative walls I built up around myself. The walls that tell you that you need to do things this way or that way. I started to experiment with new sounds, ideas and wrote a song in Chinese. I showed Anne one of the songs (Xiao Xiong). I told her I had this crazy idea for this pop duo band where we'd write really fun, unadulterated, positive music using Chinese and English. She loved it, and we just started riffing back and forth about ridiculous song ideas, wearing wigs, outfits, lyric ideas, we'd beatbox in the apartment, etc. It was one of the most creatively explosive times for me. We were kids again. No limits, no filters. Magic!

AT: Yeah, it's been so much fun. I remember him playing Xiao Xiong for the first time, and we were dancing all around the apartment. I think we were taking videos of each other dancing too, pretending we were shooting a music video. (laughs)

BB: And it's still like that, which is crazy. And I don't know if this would have happened if it wasn't for all the uncertainty and chaos going on at the time. So it's a good reminder about all the positive things that can come from these negative experiences. 

AT: Indeed. And the band name came from us always calling each other bears (or Xiong in Chinese) as cute pet names. So Chinese American Bear felt fitting. 

Also Cool: How did the band in its current form come about, and how has your music changed over time?

BB: It hasn't evolved much, honestly, other than finding where we want this first record to live musically. We developed a philosophy for this project which I touched on before, and we're still living by it. We feel like children when working on this project, and I think people can feel that. We like fart jokes, and we want to write songs about dumplings!

AC: Your project celebrates your cultural backgrounds, which I'm sure has been influenced by your experience being an interracial couple. Can you tell us a bit more about this aspect of the project and how it's affected your creative process?

AT: Yeah, absolutely. My parents are Chinese immigrants, and I experienced a pretty typical Chinese American upbringing, a home environment that incorporated both cultures. One of Bryce's grandmothers was an immigrant from Mexico, so he's had some cultural exposure to our neighbour down south, but for the most part, Bryce has had a very all-American upbringing. So our cultural differences have been a huge part of our relationship. We've had conflicts from our different communication styles, comedic moments from differences in assumptions and expectations. 

Still, most of all, it's brought us very close together as we learn from and grow with each other. One funny bit is how Bryce was accustomed to a home environment with more sugar coating, daily pleasantries, and sensitivity to everyone's feelings. In contrast, my parents have a typical Chinese directness with how they communicate with family members. So when we first started going out, I'd tell Bryce something like, "your shirt is ugly," and it'd just rip him in half emotionally. 

BB: Yeah, that really crushed me. Haha. I'm an emotional man. It was such a stark difference to how I communicated, and it took a while to get used to. I had to stop thinking that I was being maliciously attacked or something.

AT: Also, because of our cultural differences, my parents were very unaccepting of Bryce initially. Being the conservative Chinese immigrants that they are, they were really hoping for a future son-in-law who was an Asian American doctor from an Ivy League school. Instead, what they got was a white musician who went to art school. They had a very difficult time accepting Bryce in the beginning, and it went on for years. In the end, they saw Bryce's true heart, actions, and intentions, and it stopped mattering what his career choice was or what he looked like on the outside. He's also very ambitious and works extremely hard, which my parents have come to appreciate.

BB: Yeah, it was tough. It's amazing how much we've learned from each other because of it. I've come to understand why her parents felt that way, their experience immigrating to the US, their struggles, and it quickly became understandable and well-intentioned. I feel so lucky to have learned this new perspective in my lifetime. 

AT: Yeah. And today, my parents love him as their own son. So I'm very grateful for that. And also grateful to get to navigate an interracial relationship with Bryce. As for our creative process, the music we create is meant to reflect the unique dynamic we've found as an interracial couple. We're both very silly by nature and have had so much fun incorporating our cultural backgrounds into our music, like making Dumplings with Bryce for the first time. 

AC: What are your musical backgrounds? What was the creative scene like where you're from?

AT: I grew up studying classical music. When I was six years old, I started playing the violin - quickly learned that wasn't my thing (much to the relief of my parent's ears) and switched to the piano when I was seven. I performed in concerts and competitions throughout my childhood and adolescent years and eventually minored in piano performance in college. After graduation, I moved to NYC and joined an amateur classical music organization and continued playing in small recitals with friends. I still try and play whenever I'm around a piano.

BB: I grew up studying classical and jazz piano, though not to the extent of Anne's training. Then switched to guitar around age 12. Played the saxophone as well. I started forming bands and recording on my little Mbox around then. I got my first pair of crappy monitors when I was 17 and became obsessed. I feel like that was when I got completely engulfed in songwriting and recording, and it hasn't changed. I moved to New York when I was 18 and played in a few bands, made some records, went on a few small tours, and collected more instruments and recording gear. I took some engineering lessons from an engineer I really admire (Greg Giorgio from Tarquin Studios). After that, I just watched every producer and engineer I worked with like a hawk. 

AC: What's it been like being 100% DIY? Do you have any advice for other artists who are just starting out?

BB: Being 100% DIY is incredible and freeing, and very fulfilling. It's a ton of work, though (laughs). That being said, there's a lot of value in working with and hiring professionals or going into a studio. 

My advice would be to just buy a little interface and mic and make as much music as possible (DM us if you need suggestions!). Then, spend 10% of your time watching videos and learning, and the rest actually doing it. On top of that, save some money for studio time, or work with people with more experience. Watch them closely, and ask them questions. Look for a mentor. But yeah, number one is to just do it every day and slowly build your skills and confidence. 

Find your voice, find the magic of recording music, and don't follow all the rules. If you don't enjoy recording music, and you only like songwriting, that's ok! Get involved in the community and find people to complement your skills. Also, for music videos - grab your iPhone, and learn an editing program! We've recorded all our videos using an iPhone.

AT: Bryce's mom and dad helped shoot our first music video. In one of the scenes, we're walking down an empty road near Bryce's llama farm, and it was shot with Bryce's dad holding an iPhone while sitting on the back of a pickup truck with Bryce's mom driving the truck. (laughs)

Still from CHINESE AMERICAN BEAR - 好吗 (Hao Ma) [Official Music Video]

AC: Tell us about your vinyl postcards for 好吗 (Hao Ma). Can we play them on a record player? Send them in the mail to a loved one? All of the above?

AT: Yup - our vinyl postcards are meant to be a fun memento to collect. They're literally in the shape of a rectangular postcard, but you can play it on your record player, and it has our single Hao Ma on it. You can order it online and send it to yourself or to someone else as a gift. We also include a personalized note that's written by one of us! Shout out to Josh from Vinyl Post. 

AC: Are you involved in any other creative projects? If so, can you tell us a bit about them?

BB: I have my debut solo record coming out early next year under the moniker Milk Jennings. One of my favourite artists Sam Cohen, produced it, and I'm super excited about it! I have some crazy music videos in the works for it. I'm also an animator and have animated some stuff for Ashe recently. Big fan of hers!

Still from CHINESE AMERICAN BEAR - 好吗 (Hao Ma) [Official Music Video]

AC: Who are some musicians/artists in your scene who you think deserve more recognition?

BB: There are a lot of amazing artists from Taiwan/China that we've discovered. Some already have a pretty big following around Asia, but not as much appreciation in thie states. Bands like The Fur., Huan Huan, deca joins, Wayne's so Sad, and The Chairs. All so incredible. Also, Tommy Pixel is a good friend who is really pushing new ground both musically and visually. He's one of the best. 

AC: Finally, what's the best way to support Chinese American Bear right now?

AT: The best way to support us is to listen to our music on YouTube or Spotify! We'd also appreciate you subscribing to any of our channels and/or following us on Instagram to keep updated on new music. Our vinyl is available on Bandcamp. Links below!

BB: Tell your friends and family. We have a full-length record we're almost finished with as well, so stay tuned. Oh, and we have free stickers that we ship worldwide. DM us!

Chinese American Bear

Instagram I YouTube I Spotify I Bandcamp

Malaika Astorga is the co-founder of Also Cool. She is a Mexican-Canadian visual artist, writer, and communications specialist currently based in Montreal.

---

Related Articles

Mitch Davis Writes Breakup Songs That Sound Happy On New EP "Bear The Cold"

View fullsize

There is something to be said for the way an artist’s debut is sometimes less about finding their voice, and more about setting it free. Such is the case for Montreal-bound songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist and DIY-enthusiast Mitch Davis, who shared the two first singles from his to-be-released full-length on Arbutus Records earlier this spring.

Davis has bounced from coast to coast across Canada throughout his musical career and has been involved with reputable acts like Faith Healer and Elle Barbara’s Black Space. While his interest in music was fostered at a young age, it has grown into way of finding community and exercising his passion for a unique craft that can be simply described as gear tinkering — but surely anyone involved in the world of sound production would tell you it is more than that. For Davis, it has been a means of bolstering his self-confidence as an artist to go solo with songs he’s kept in his back pocket since he relocated to Montreal from Edmonton a few years ago. 

With analog recording and production being something completely outside my comfort-zone, one of the first questions I asked Davis was about how he first picked up (what some consider to be) such a niche pastime in the age of digital mixing and mastering.

“I first got into learning about analog equipment when my own gear would break and I didn’t have the money to fix it,” Davis shares with a smile over our video call. “Getting to know my gear inside and out has been a great way of saving money, and the knowledge I have has been so important in terms of accessibility. For example, you can buy kits to make replicas of really expensive gear. I made a clone of a TR-808 for seven-hundred bucks, when it normally retails for five to six thousand.”

At the same time, Davis’ knowledge came in handy when moving to Montreal as a source of income, as someone who doesn’t speak much French.

When the pandemic hit, Davis found himself spending more time in his at-home recording studio — located in one of the many warehouses in Montreal’s abandoned textile district off of highway 40. Like many of us, Davis was confronted by self-reflection in isolation, which lit a creative spark in a new vein. 

“At one point, I had written this bassline, and I knew I wanted to make into something eventually, but it wasn’t until last March that I finally decided to figure it out and appropriate it into a song.”

After some one-on-one time with said bassline, Davis produced Bear the Cold, a bright EP that acts as a teaser for his debut record of exclusively “breakup songs that sound happy,” set to release later this year.

View fullsize

Mitch Davis shot by Kensey Crane

Seeing as Bear the Cold marks Davis’ first musical endeavour in a number of years, I wanted to hear his feelings on starting a new project based on something coming to an end (i.e. a relationship).

“It feels pretty strange. I guess I just hit a moment where I was ready to make music again, and that happened to be what I was feeling at the time. I think I was subconsciously cheering myself up with the music itself, as opposed to the lyrics. I felt rewarded, to a small extent, by being vulnerable. [Vulnerability] is something I appreciate in people, and I wanted to try and represent that for myself. As far as I can tell, a wide variety of people are responding well to it — which kind of surprised me!” Davis grins. “Something I personally struggle with is reading something I wrote in a very vulnerable state and then wondering if it’s too vulnerable. Sometimes it’s difficult to tell the difference between lyrics that are just like, pure, raw and emotional and lyrics that are just way too… overly simple and personal? Even though this can be a challenge, I’ve really learned to trust the past version of myself and following my instincts with this record, both in lyrics and sound.”

Before moving to Montreal, Davis was in Edmonton for quite some time and involved in completely different musical projects, whose influences can be picked up on Bear the Cold. As a former rapper and producer who also played “in indie rock bands forever,” Davis EP harnesses sunny rhythms and grooves with a funky punch. Reminiscing the jack of all trades’ legacy of some of his favourite artists, such as Stevie Wonder, Todd Rundgren, Sly Stone, and Paul McCartney, Davis gives us a glimpse into the magic of being involved in every step of your record’s conception from start to finish — especially without a band to bounce ideas off-of IRL.

In closing our conversation, Davis branches off of this notion of solitude and remarks, “It has been so weird [being separated] from the music community. I miss the feeling of going to a show and seeing someone come off-stage completely energized, and the feeling of playing shows and being able to try-out a half-written song live. That’s why I’ve been posting clips and things online; to gauge reactions. But I do miss trying out songs live where they exist for that night, and that night only,” he laughs.

Though Davis remarks that he imagined himself “becoming a hermit in a loft with a studio or something” upon moving to Montreal, he’s excited to reintroduce himself to the music scene with Bear the Cold. Check out Davis’ 7”, along with a recently released music video for the title track, directed by Jordan "Dr. Cool" Minkoff.

---

Mitch Davis

Instagram | Twitter | Bandcamp

Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter (she/her) is the co-founder and managing editor of Also Cool Mag. Aside from the mag, she is a music promoter & booker, and a radio host & DJ.

---

Related Articles

Kue Varo: A Chat About Art, Community, and Reclaiming Self

View fullsize

Photo credit: Ariana Molly

Kue Varo (She/Her He/Him They/Them) is the solo project of songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Kat Spreen. After years playing in bands, Kue moved from Calgary to Montreal to find her own voice, looking inwards to explore the complexities of identity and self representation - uninhibited and all uniquely hers. The title of her debut album, Daffodil 11 - coming out on January 28th! - was inspired by Kurt Vonnegut’s Slapstick, the famous novelist’s exploration of the idea of building social support networks to counter the loneliness imposed by a capitalist world.

Also Cool got to chat with Kue about her sensitivity to color and light, her love of art, and her collaboration with Ariana Molly on the sultry music video for “Just Don’t Lie” - the first single off Daffodil 11.

Maya for Also Cool: Kue Varo - what does the name signify? How did this musical project come to be?

KV: Kue Varo is a gender ambiguous name which was on my radar because I perform in drag sometimes. I just wanted [a name] that wasn't super gendered. Kue is actually from Star Trek - the character Q - but I spell it with a “K” because my given name starts with it. I tried to keep that part uniform. I went by a different name in a project before this one, so I wanted a smooth transition - and for my fanbase to find me if they wanted to.

Varo is the last name of my favorite surrealist painter, so I borrowed from her name - Remedios Varo. She's had a really huge impact on me. I found her paintings one day - I just decided when I was like 12 or something that I needed a favorite painter - it was just really important to me.

I needed to know - who paints the things I really connect with? So I spent probably two weeks just Googling - going to online galleries all over the world and searching for someone who paints the way I like it. And I ended up finding one of Varo's paintings. I just instantly was like, "This is exactly what I love. This is what I would paint if I were a painter." So my love of her work still stands today. She had enough of an impact that I wanted to take on some of that - the energy that surrounds her art.

AC: Do you think that your painting reflects that as well?

Color is really, really important to me. I'm very sensitive to light in general - more so than most people. It can cause a lot of headaches, unfortunately, but because of it I can tell subtle differences in color really well. So in that respect, yes - I think we both share a love of rich, intense colors. I'm not a visual artist by trade, I do music. Painting is very much therapeutic for me - I don't have mad skills - I just love to do it.

I've been playing music [in front of other people] for about a decade. As a 20 year old I played in bands in my hometown and in a city just outside of Calgary. It was always with a bunch of guys - no shade to that - but I definitely let it stifle my creative voice in a lot of ways.

After years of dedicating myself to that project, I decided, along with a move to Montreal, that I wanted to find my own voice again, and really take the song writing part to heart. That's why I started playing music [in the first place]. When I was a kid, I learned piano not because I wanted to play piano, but because I wanted to write songs.

It was a huge missing piece and was making me really sad in ways that I didn't even realize. That's why this project exists. It's me reclaiming myself - as a voice and as a conduit to the creative forces that be. I don't take full credit for everything I write.

When things flow out of you, you're sort of taking from the collective conscious and you just get to be the translator, which is where your unique voice comes in.

View fullsize

AC: How did joining the Montreal DIY scene been for you creatively? In terms of possibilities for collaboration or any new influences you had during this time?

KV: The first bit was really hard because I didn't have any contacts when I first moved here. It was obviously a huge leap and didn't happen really quickly, but with the creation of this album I ended up meeting some other people who also came from Calgary. [One of them] happened to be working in a studio - Rena Kozak, the producer of the album. I hadn't worked with a female producer before, so I was really excited to collaborate with someone who wasn't a guy - for reasons like I mentioned before. I play music with a bunch of guys still, and I love them, but it's really nice just to have somebody else around. She really helped me get the most out of what I was doing.

Now I share a studio space, like a co-op studio space, with some people who run a label called Baby Horse Records. They're all friends of mine, they're all musicians, and they're all super talented.

I've been welcomed by two different groups and I'm very much in love with both of them - I'm very lucky. This is a really good time to ask me that question because I feel very full and accepted - and lucky.

AC: I've been like rethinking my relationships with people lately and have been really mindful and appreciative of the support and sense of community I feel.

I heard that the title of your album Daffodil 11 is from Vonnegut's Slapstick - which also ties into the whole idea of community building. Was that on your mind when you were writing the songs?

KV: Slapstick is my favorite book and Vonnegut is my favorite author. I've read almost all of his works and I'm trying to collect the last few books. Yeah, Slapstick was heavy on my mind. I actually have a tattoo that's also in part because of [that book]. It was the perfect thing for me to read when I started letting the voices of adulthood come in and say, "There needs to be a good outcome for a good deed to mean anything."

The idea of doing something fully and authentically, without attachment to the outcome - just because it's the decent human thing to do - really speaks to me. That was really heavy on my heart when I was making the album and is still. Hopefully it will be forever because I think it's an important virtue.

AC: You mentioned that you sometimes perform in drag and that you are gender fluid. Can you talk about expressing your identity as an artist - do your drag performances ever reflect your day-to-day experience?

KV: I flip-flop around, it so depends on how I feel when I wake up in the morning. Clothes are very important to me because they're me expressing myself and how I feel every day. I'm sure that I'm also really vain. I'm sure that's a thing too, but I like to think it's because I'm just an expressive person. So I'll just love myself - I'll keep that lie (laughs) .

I definitely have boy days and girl days and I think it's pretty obvious to anyone who's around me a lot - because my whole demeanor changes a little bit.

I like Carl Jung a lot because he also always speaks of having two sides to himself - the scientist and the spiritualist. There's always this duality within him and I've always felt that duality within myself. I grew up in a pretty religious setting that had some serious, hardcore gender roles imposed. So luckily my family is really cool and loving, but there's still a lot of me decluttering all those experiences.

I definitely take advantage of that in art because. I mean the best part about - well not the best part, but the best superficial part, I suppose - about being an artist is that you get to play dress-up and nobody really cares. Which, in Montreal, is not as big of a deal because people are very expressive with the way they dress anyway.

Coming from a super small, super conservative, really just prairie town Alberta, the whole idea of playing dress-up is a much bigger deal. I guess the duality is an everyday experience - and that's totally normal. In terms of dressing up in drag, it's only for performances, as like with who you are as an artist.

View fullsize

AC: You also introduced yourself as being neurodivergent - how do you think being on the spectrum enriches your experience and your expression of it? You said earlier that you're sensitive to light and see differences in colors very well. Musically, do you think there's also an expression of that?

KV: I think, because it's a processing difference, it would have to have some influence on how I'm going to output what I've processed. Also socially, I think. I'm quite good at pretending to be good at socializing now.

It's been 20-some years - it's been a long time and I didn't know what was up. I was a really late diagnosis. Having the ability to reframe my entire life with things that made sense was really awesome. Sensorily, being a musician can sometimes be a little tough. I have to know when my limits are coming because otherwise it's like, "time to go into a dark room for a while", but it must serve me in some way artistically. At least being a slightly different perspective is valuable. I think it would be impossible for literally how I experience the whole world not to change how I make art about it.

AC: The video that you made with Ariana is so amazing - what is the story behind the song "Just Don't Lie"?

KV: I have residual effects of being a super self-righteous person. In my youth I was really well-intentioned, but my intensity factor wase a bit much for a lot of people. This is also part of being on the spectrum - lying is typically really, really difficult to comprehend. I can't speak for everyone, but hearing from other people that I know are on the spectrum, lying [takes time to understand].

It's taken me until now to realize that small lies are okay and everybody does them. So the song is me poking fun at myself, my younger self, for being so adamant with what I expected from other people. That's why I say, "Forgive how intense I am, because I want it to be right."

AC: What about the video itself?

KV: It was a lot of fun to make. Ariana came up with pretty much all of it. I basically told her to just go crazy. I wanted to do something fun and she loved the song, so I just gave her free reign . All of it had themes that we both felt matched the song, so a lot of things happening and then happening in reverse. A lot of symbolism - like water and fire. We're both pretty into the subliminal power of symbolism. That's how it came to be - it's largely her. So I won't take credit.

AC: And the aesthetic? It's sultry, romantic - was that something you were going for initially?

KV: Yeah, that's part of my artist female persona. I describe it as my artist male persona being a cross between a 1960's bad-ass beat poet and a grungy nineties guy. And then my female persona is more of a sixties to seventies pop goddess, dream-girl type.

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

Written by Kue Varo (Katrina Spreen)
Produced, Recorded, Mixed by Rena Kozak
Bass: Rena Kozak
Drums: Chris Dadge
Synth: Scott Munro
Lead Guitar: Kue Varo
Rhythm Guitar: Matthew Spreen
Vocals: Kue Varo
Video: Ariana Molly

January 28th is the official album release day - it has taken almost two years!

Follow Kue Varo on Instagram

You can find the first single, "Just Don't Lie" on Spotify and everywhere else.

Premiere: St John's Property and Illustrator Isha Watson Team Up to Release "The Isolator"

View fullsize

“The Isolator” cover art by Isha Watson

There is nothing quite like a collaboration between pals, no? This is certainly the case for the uber-talented friend group of St John’s-based new-wave band Property and illustrator and animator Isha Watson. Today, the quad release “The Isolator,” an allegorical song originally about the mundane observation of tourists in St John’s, that has since taken on a new meaning in the wake of COVID-19 and under Watson’s artistic direction in the form of a gorgeous music video. Off their upcoming EP Think Electric!, Property’s single offers an honest punk undertone in both sound and intention with punchy danceability. When coupled with Watson’s pastel-laden video, “The Isolator” becomes a comforting soundtrack to get you through yet another day of pondering the meaning of life in quarantine. Check out our interview with Property and Watson below to hear their thoughts on life in St John’s, creating together, and abolishing the myth of productivity.

Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter for Also Cool: Hey Property & Isha Watson! Congrats on the release of "The Isolator" and it's accompanying music video. To start, can you tell our readers about your projects and yourselves? 

Isha: I am an illustrator based in St. John’s, originally from Perth, Australia. I moved to Newfoundland three years ago and fell in love with the culture and surroundings. I made it my intention to immigrate permanently. Originally a graphic illustrator, I challenged myself to take the next step by making my illustrations come to life. I’ve been animating pretty consistently ever since.  

Property: Hi! We are a band based in St. John's. Our names are Sarah (guitar/vocals), Jack (guitar), and Liam (bass). We all grew up here and live here in a house downtown. We started this band in 2016 and have been playing in St John’s and touring Eastern Canada ever since. We play guitar driven music with a drum machine, and more recently with our friend Jacob live on drums. 

Also Cool: For Property: How did "The Isolator" come together in terms of production? Were there any particular scenarios or influences that had an impact on the sound and feel of the final product? 

Property: The song was written and arranged pretty much exactly a year ago this month. We recorded it half with our friend Jake Nicoll and half at home during the first month of quarantine. It’s a reflection on living in St. John’s for a long time and working a service job that interacts with the tourism industry. It’s like this funny thing where people come here because they saw tourism ads on TV; so, when they get here they expect to see that untouched and “authentic” image of Newfoundland that they are sold. It’s funny to be on the other side of that sometimes. In the song “The Isolator,” is a sort of tongue-in-cheek euphemism for the island. But it totally takes on a new meaning in Isha’s video. 

AC: For Property and Isha: How did you work together to conceptualize the video? I'm interested in the characters and their repetitive actions of personal business; was any of that drawn from your own experiences in insolation, or is it rather a cultural artifact of the times we are in generally?   

Property: Isha made the animation and conceptualized it pretty independently! After the initial month of lockdown in Newfoundland (which we spent together in our house watching movies every night..) we were allowed to join “bubbles” with another household, which was Isha’s household where a handful of friends live. The animations are definitely reflective of that period of time, and the characters in the animation are us and friends doing the sort of things that we did, and do, to pass the time. So in this way, the song is kind of given a new meaning with the video and the context of the times. It can become a sort of reflection on the past (pre-pandemic) and then a reckoning with the present: being unemployed and in quarantine and engaging in monotonous activities.

Isha: While the song "The Isolator" was written a year ago, I began on the animation aspect of the music video in the midst of COVID-19. The inspiration for the video was purely built on the repetitive nature of day to day life during the pandemic. Overcome with boredom the majority of the time, projects like playing video games, knitting and nail filing (as referenced in the music video) were examples of what my friends and I did to fill the time. Only being able to see eachother inevitably resulted in some artistic collaboration. 

View fullsize

Property (photo provided by the band)

AC: On that note, the theme of self-care, in many forms, is really apparent in the video! I'm curious to know how both of you have been balancing that with your respective work (music and visual art) when there is so much pressure to create in the supposed "free time" offered by the pandemic? Which we all know is a sham, but still… It's sometimes hard not to compare ourselves with others.  

Isha: Before the pandemic, I always had an issue with being productive on my time off. I had to be doing something to avoid feeling aimless. I live in a house with six other people, so there were countless activities happening all the time which I incorporated into the video. Every morning I had a routine: I’d wake at 7:30am, shower, dress, drink a lot of coffee and sit at my desk for eight hours working on my animation. Treating the video like a job and pretending I was going to work helped me feel better when things felt pointless. I actually asked Property if I could make the music video for them, and from there the collaboration came together pretty seamlessly.  

Property: We’re all working in service or are in online school (or both) at the moment, so things are a little different than they were during lockdown. But over quarantine and the summer, there was this sort of haunting feeling that we should be making a bunch of new music, and finishing our almost completed EP. But we were all grieving the loss of tours and shows and festivals that we had booked for the spring summer (as well as the state of the world), and it sort of felt like there was no rush to make any new music or release anything.

To stay motivated, at the beginning of the summer we set some pretty relaxed goals about a 2020 release for our new music/videos, and we’ve been adhering to that pretty well, which feels pretty good. Now that music stuff is starting to happen again in new and innovative ways, we think 2021 will bring a fresh start and maybe (hopefully!) a proliferation of new releases and bands from friends in our beloved St John’s scene and across the country. 

 AC: What advice would both of you give to fellow artists hoping to work with each other on a multi-disciplinary collaboration while adhering to COVID-19 protocols?

Property: Since shows are few and far between, and harder to pull off with adhering to protocols, doing collaborative media work has definitely been a focus for us the past while, mostly music videos and live videos. Best advice would be to run with everyone’s ideas and trust your collaborators to do their thing! Try out new mediums and make stuff you wouldn’t usually make!

Isha: It’s obviously a really weird and hard time to release any sort of music or art knowing that opportunities to show and exhibit your work are going to be inherently different. However, it’s been nice to have more time to work on my own stuff and get better at things I was neglecting before the pandemic. Sarah has a project with Amery Sandford called “I Don’t Do Comics” that is a cool platform to make art, even if you’re not an artist, during the pandemic.

AC: Before we let you go, are there any upcoming projects that either of you are working on that you're excited about and would like to share? 

Isha: I just finished a print fair for the local music festival Lawnya Vawnya, and I’m selling some new prints at the Top Floor Art Store in St. John’s. A lot of my inspiration comes from my friends, and the supportive arts scene we all exist in. 

Property: We’re releasing our EP called Think Electric! by the end of 2020 (we don’t have an exact date set yet), and we just released the first music video from that EP last month that we’re super excited about. Thanks so much, Also Coo!

Watch “The Isolator” below

Property
Instagram | Website | Bandcamp

Isha Watson

This interview was conducted over email and has been condensed and edited for clarity

Related Articles

Premiere: GG Love - "It Could Still Be A Win"

View fullsize

Photo credit: Kensey Crane

As the hot summer days come to an end, autumn’s mystery and nostalgia gently envelop us, inspiring reflections on relationships past and present. The leaves might be falling, but MTL pop group GG Love’s new video for “It Could Still Be A Win” from their upcoming album, How Do You Define Love?, channels a golden-hued optimism that may best be attained by dancing with disco balls in an enchanted forest…

Their old-time friend, Regularfantasy (who we also interviewed in January), caught up with Georgia Graham (GG) and James Player (JP) on everything from how the band got together to what their signature Pump Pump moves are (keep reading for context!).

Regularfantasy: Who are GG Love?

Georgia Graham: The project started with just me. I played one solo show in my living room in Vancouver before moving to Montreal. James and I started making music together and it grew into a band, for many years with KÌzis Cota on bass. Now the band includes James, Jane L. Kasowicz Chris Hernandez, and myself.

RF: What does the name mean? I know this was your nickname a while back (back when we used to work together at a hair salon) - how did it come about?

GG: GG are my first and last initials - and Love is my middle name. I typed it into SoundCloud when I made my very first demos without really thinking, and then it just stuck.

View fullsize

When did it all begin for you, musically? What inspired you to start a band?

GG: I wrote the first GG Love song, Leave Your Car, on a keyboard I found at my mom’s house back in Victoria in 2012. Before that I was writing and performing kinda folk songs and sometimes playing in other people’s rock bands. It felt good to get the drum machines going. 

JP: Georgia and I met while we were in a production of Jesus Christ Superstar. Georgia played Anas, the priest, and I was the guitarist in the band. We started making music together soon after that.

What are you influenced by in your music?

JP: All of us in the band have a lot of diverse musical interests that influence how we make music together. I’m really interested in improvisation, and that’s sort of my approach to guitar playing, both in recording and performing - improvising inside a pop song structure. Lately I like Mary Halvorson a lot.

I also really like 50s pop music and doo-wop.

GG: I love collaborating and am interested in pushing the performance aspect of a live show. Earlier this year I performed as Tall GG on the shoulders of Laura Jeffery (one of the dancers from the music video) wearing a long coat. I can’t really experiment with performance in that way these days, so I’m turning to video to channel some of that energy. 

View fullsize

What is “It Could Still Be A Win” about?

GG: It’s not about a specific person, but more of a reflection on relationships from my early 20’s. I wrote these lyrics about 5 years ago, so the line about being called out felt a lot more light-hearted. It’s about being skeptical or disappointed by someone, but also seeing their potential. 

Have you acquired any new COVID hobbies?

JP: I started a work out group called Pump Pump. At first it was my friend David and me. Now there are 32 people in the Instagram DM thread - which is the maximum number you can have. You can find us every other day in Jarry Park at either 10am or 6pm by the hill. 

GG: I started sewing and modifying my clothes which feels pretty classic COVID. 

What’s your signature Pump Pump move - GG how’s your knee?

JP: Frog leaps.

GG: Romanian deadlift. I’m trying to remember to do my physio exercises for my knee, thanks for asking.

View fullsize

What about the vid - where was it filmed? Why frog? Why Clown?

JP: It was filmed on Mont Royal near the cemetery last fall. 

I’m pretty obsessed with Fall. I’m also sort of obsessed with frogs. I had a frog costume in the closet, so this seemed like a good chance to combine the two interests. I also really wanted to film at night and have a fire looking something like the midnight society from AYAOTD (Are You Afraid of the Dark - the 90’s horror series).

GG: A lot of it was improvised so I can’t really explain the clown - it was just the vibe of the moment.

You tend to keep yourself busy - what other projects have you been working on?

GG: I co-curate an annual photography slideshow called Magic Lantern that’s coming up soon. We also just filmed another music video (that features Pump Pump!), so I’m working on editing that. 

JP: I’m going back to school. Electroacoustics. Today’s my first day.

Check out the video for “It Could Still Be A Win” below:

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

SoundCloud

bandcamp

GG

James

Jane

Chris

Premiere: Antoine93 Volume EP

View fullsize

Photo credit: Jordan Weitzman

Bedroom pop has never been more true to its name - mid-lockdown, post-breakup, and trying to keep his head above water amid a global pandemic - Antoine93’s new EP on Montreal indie label Your Approval Isn’t Needed (Pascale Project) is a stark contrast from the typical lo-fi sounds associated with DIY bedroom productions. 

Taking on a polished, dancey, hyperpop aesthetic, Antoine 93’s production style gives us sparkly party vibes, while his lyrics reveal the prevailing rawness and vulnerability that we could all relate to over the last months. Looking back on the writing process, Antoine joked that what started out as love songs ended up just being about breakups. A big 2020 mood. 

As the title suggests, Volume is meant to be loud, and stands for forging your own creative platform. As an independent artist, and until recently feeling like he didn’t fit into the prevailing queer scene, Antoine embraced his own aesthetic with this album and in the spirit of his friend Pascale’s Your Approval Isn’t Needed label. Who says DIY releases can’t be glossy pop with a punk essence? 

Half of the proceeds from this release will be redistributed to Taking What We Need, a Montreal-based volunteer-run community group dedicated to helping trans women, trans-feminine (AMAB), and two spirit people get what they need through discretionary funding. 

Learn more about Taking What We Need here

Download/Listen to Volume by Antoine93

Bandcamp Spotify

Cover art by Samantha Blake

Songwriting, production, mixing, mastering: Antoine Lahaie

Additional songwriting by Seamus Dalton on “We Got a World” and “Speed”.

Listen to Volume on Spotify. Antoine93 · Single · 2020 · 5 songs.

Antoine93

Instagram Spotify

Your Approval Isn’t Needed

Bandcamp Instagram

Related Articles