IN Bed WIth MUSICFilMCULTURE AdAm SANdleR { M at h e w G o o d > B rya n a d a M s > n i c k e l B a c k > n i n e i n c h n a i l s } Iron Man Dave Martone +PLUS No moRe BUSh WheRe hAve All the IdolS goNe? dAve “the RAve” ogIlvIe BRINg It oN! JANUARY 2009 gonzomagazine.ca CAN JAN. 2009 / Issue 2 Vol 1 e d i t s s i in g 10 05 INPUT CD and DVD Reviews By John Kereiff 10 Adam Sandler An Interview with adam sandler By Fred Topel 13 film review A celebration of human spectacle 18 By Dean Unger 14 cast iron music Pushing the boundries with canadian guitar prodigy, Dave Martone By Trent Jackson 18 Rattling the bones Will Obama’s Eloquence be enough to excuse crimes against humanity? By John S. Hatch 22 the canadian idol experience Suzi Rawn reflects on her Canadian idol experience By Dean Unger 24 Dave “Rave” Oglevie Reflections of a Record Producer, Engineer & Re-Mixer By Nathan Stafford 30 That’s Gonzo Mathew Good, Bryan Adams, Nickelback and Nine Inch Nails By Jennifer Conklin 14 22 Editor’s letter or’s Edit This is your brain. This is your brain on culture. Welcome to the second issue of Gonzo Magazine - cerebral yoga for the gray matter. Timing is everything. Canada is a young nation measured in centuries – not millennia, fought over by three European nations and the Union to the south; it’s landscape scarred by epic battles – the Red River Rebellion, countless frontier skirmishes, the War of 1812, the Fenian Raids; home to countless aboriginal communities who quite rightly claim first rights; we’ve fought epic labour wars – all of which combine to form our dynamic and completely original cultural character. Because we have a young nation, Canadians are in the unique position to, at least in part, help create and nurture this dynamic cultural identity, as diverse as it is richly woven. For our relatively low per-capita population, Canada has also produced more than its share of successful musicians, producers, writers, inventors and innovators, all coming together to signal our coming of age on the international scene. The likes of The Band, Robbie Robertson, Steppenwolf, Leonard Cohen, Neil Young, STAYTUNED! The G Team is hard at work bringing you closer to what you want to dip your gray cells into… We’ve got you covered on what’s sizzling in the Canadian Music Scene, with thorough coverage of the Juno Awards and up close and very personal interviews with your favourite musicians. You can’t beat Gonzo on getting you the news, gossip, and hey why not a little fantasy too! Coming soon, dig out your cowboy boots and buttless chaps. We’ve got what’s hot coming straight to you from the BCCMA (BC Country Music Association) and the CCMA (Canadian Country Music Association). 4 r e t t Le Gordon Lightfoot, Donald Sutherland, Stevens? Charles Frederick Banting Innovator of insulin, Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, we invented basketball and five-pin bowling. Burton Cummings… April Wine, Rush, Triumph, Bachman Turner Overdrive, Trooper, Sweeney Todd, Chilliwack, Tom Cochrane, Bryan Adams, Loverboy, Platinum Blonde, Helix, Colin James, Jeff Healey. Musically speaking, the growing harvest of Canadian bands seemed to culminate in the 1990’s when radio stations found they no longer had to sweat to meet the CRTC’s 25% Canadian content guidelines. Since then the number of bands making it big has risen exponentially on a yearly basis. But it’s not just the golden-haired babes of the money machine that get lip service from company brass and comprise the staple media diet. There’s an Indie scene bursting at the seams with incredible talent. Bands are producing and promoting themselves independently, using the digital medium to carve out a completely viable and thriving marketplace where interaction with supporters is up close and personal. Keeps the big record companies paying attention as they figure out how to earn their vittles in this new age of music. Gonzo Magazine was created to fill the void of coverage on this thriving new cultural vista. Not only do we embrace local and national music scenes, we cast our light into the corners of the vast cultural landscape to flesh out stories that matter. The business of Canadian music and Canadian culture is in need of fresh thinking. In this, our second issue, we take an inside look at the challenges facing the Idol industry; our crack culture correspondent, Trent Jackson talks with Canadian guitar prodigy, Dave Martone; Adam Sandler talks about his new movie and his own storytelling antics at home; there’s a cutting retrospective look back at the legacy of the Bush administration, we go behind the scenes with Vancouver producer Dave (The Rave) Ogilvie and tons more. If you read something you like - or don’t like - and have something to say about it, or if you’d like to suggest an article idea, drop us an email. Enjoy! Dean Unger Senior Editor Publisher/Editor-in-Chief Teena Clipston 604-701-6560 teena@gonzomagazine.ca And for those only interested in the buttless chaps, we will be dipping our noodle into a little sex in city, Vancouver style. That’s not all. Stay tuned for 2010 Olympic coverage, political rants, celebrity interviews, travel, contests, and everything Gonzo! We will not, however, be printing our favourite drawings, poetry and or recipes… or any other lame-ass shit. Get your Gonzo on! Teena Clipston Publisher / Editor-in-Chief Senior Editor Dean Unger dean@gonzomagazine.ca Creative Director Jenn Compeau jenn@gonzomagazine.ca Advertising Brad Krauza 250-870-0576 brad@gonzomagazine.ca Teena Clipston 604-701-6560 teena@gonzomagazine.ca Contributors Jennifer Conklin, John Kereiff, Lori Wilbur, Nathan Stafford, Trent Jackson, John S. Hatch, Fred Topel Subscriptions to Gonzo Magazine are available for $30 per year + GST www.gonzomagazine.ca Copyright © 2008. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, without the written permission of the publisher. All rights reserved. INput By John Kereiff LUCKY The John Henrys (9LB Records) *** SONGS FROM THE STREET Murray McLauchlan (True North) **** On a snowy night in early December, I can’t think of a better way to stay warm than surrounding myself with the 36 songs on this 2-disc career spanning set. I hadn’t thought of McLauchlan in years before I saw this in on the shelf at WalMart. As I flipped it over for the track listing, a million memories threw me against the wall - from the ultra-goofy years of teenagedom in the 70’s, to my first fulltime radio deejay job in 1980, to becoming a father and a marriage casualty. It was startling to realize that Murray’s music had been in my life for that long. As the liner notes by Nicholas Jennings point out, “The best writers are alchemists, wordsmiths whose magic transforms personal experiences into universal truths.” Whether McLauchlan is singing about growing up, workin’ hard or growing old, you’ll see a part of yourself in almost every song- and therein lies his magic. The liner essay also mentions a time, when playing the Philadelphia Folk Festival, that McLauchlan’s room turned into jam headquarters. As he traded stories and played songs with Tom Waits, John Prine, Jim Croce, Steve Goodman and Loudon Wainwright III- how friggin’ cool is that?!? Centered mainly on that instantly recognizable voice, acoustic guitar and blues harp these songs are good company, pure and simple. Dig deep on this one and “Songs From The Street” just might become your new best friend. KEY CUTS: “Farmer’s Song”, “Shoeshine Workin’ Song”, “Down By The Hemry Moore”, “Whispering Rain”, “Try Walkin’ Away”, “Red River Flood” Is there such a thing as garage country? After spinning the latest from the Ottawa based The John Henrys, you’ll agree that there is. “Sweet As The Grain” bounces off of Neil Young, Steve Earle and Blue Rodeo. The name comes from traditional songs about a fabled railroad worker who challenged the first steam powered drilling machine in a contest of man against machine. “We picked ‘The John Henrys’ for our name because the story has so many undertones that we can relate to,” says singer/guitarist Ray Sabatin Jr. Indeed, they’ve latched on to the tradition of story telling songs, something there isn’t nearly enough of. There is more to The John Henrys than a ‘country music’ label implies but it’s also not far off the beam. Besides, according to the photo on the back cover, they’re not afraid to wear those swanky silk cowboy shirts with the flowers on them. Tongue in cheek? Maybe. True, there’s a Dick Dale-style guitar line that recurs in “Thought Yourself Lucky”, but that song feels like The Byrds or Gram Parsons as much as anything else. If your idea of country is the ultra-slick pleather that Nashville grinds out these days, you might not fully grasp this- but if you enjoy a good story, The John Henrys are your boys. KEY CUTS: “Ain’t Gonna Drink No More”, “Lost In The Canyon”, “No More Rock ‘N’ Roll” 5 INput SWINGING FROM THE CHAINS OF LOVE Blackie & The Rodeo Kings (True North) **** What started out in ’96 as a tribute to Canadian songwriter Willie P. Bennett, turned into a real band. True North sums up Blackie’s 12 year, five album career with a ‘Best of ’ that, like a good book, I just can’t put down. Blackie & The Rodeo Kings are Tom Wilson ( Junkhouse), Colin Linden (he’s produced Bruce Cockburn & Colin James) and Stephen Fearing. They realized there was a tasty chemistry when the three of them got together and decided to pursue it, particularly after a gig in Toronto. “I remember it being as rough as a bear’s arse” laughs Fearing. “We got off the stage” recalls Wilson, “and we said ‘what the f**k was that? Whatever it is hey, do you want to do that again?” Like many great collaborations, these Kings are greater than the sum of their parts. From their own songs to stunning covers of Fred Eaglesmith’s “49 Tons” and Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues”, you’ll have a tough time convincing your stereo to give this one up. Their folk, blues and rock blend is combustible and the booklet contains a twenty page history of the band by Rob Bowman that catches you up nicely with the group’s history. A ‘Best of ” should make you want to hear more, and that’s just what this does. KEY CUTS: “49 Tons”, “Folsom Prison Blues”, “White Line”, “Stoned”, “Water or Gasoline” 6 NORTHERN SOUL 54-40 (True North) *** One of Canada’s most popular bands is back with their first album since 2005. A magnificent “Yes To Everything”. Much to every 54-40 fan’s delight, this disc offers more of what makes these guys a genuine Big Deal- great riffs, catchy hooks and a driving beat that makes driving too fast a pantload of fun. These guys have sold over a million albums, spawning a dozen top ten radio hits that get you singing along before the first chorus. That continues here as “Snap”, the first single, has that unmistakable 54-40 sound. Neil Osborne’s voice is instantly recognizable and the band continues to perfect the craft of songwriting. There’s a darkness to 54-40’s songs that attracts me. You might expect the title song to be an uplifting rocker, but it’s a heart-breaking ballad about parents sending their children off to war and having them come back in coffins. It’s ridiculous that songs like this still need to be written. “Northern Soul” will have you tapping your size tens, singing along and thinking, often at the same time. “Oh my darlin’ how I fell for you/ on the shores of darkness I fell too soon/ teach me love and how to hold on to your fire.” Yeah, that Neil Osborne sure has a way with words- whew! Bottom line: if you like 54-40’s other stuff, you’ll dig “Northern Soul” too. KEY CUTS: “Northern Soul”, “To Face Your Eyes”, “The Chant”, “Snap” MediaKit To Book an ad call Brad Krauza 250-870-0576 brad@gonzomagazine.ca Teena Clipston 604-701-6560 teena@gonzomagazine.ca 08 An Interview with Adam Sandler Now that Adam Sandler is a daddy, he’s making movies for the whole family. His latest, Bedtime Stories, opened on Christmas day to give families a heartwarming laugh while the kids were home from school. Since it was a hit, expect to see more family friendly comedies coming from Sandler’s camp. The star of Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore, and singer of At a Medium Pace, hasn’t gone soft though. He’s got an edgy, Rrated comedy in the works with Judd Apatow. In Funny People, a movie in which he plays a dying stand-up comic alongside Seth Rogen, will be out this summer. We caught up with both Sandler the family man and Sandler the comedian over the holidays. Q: What kind of bedtime stories do you tell your own daughter? Do you mostly make them up or do you read books to her? AS: I read in the morning to little Sadie. Really, I’m not great at the bedtime stories. The bedtime stories are supposed to put the kid to sleep. My kid gets riled up and crazy and my wife has to come in and go, ‘Alright, get out of the room.’ But in most of the stories I make up for her, it’s similar to the movie. She gives me a subject, and we go from there. Every subject she brings up has to do with food. It’s always like waffles. Okay, there was a giant waffle and he met a blanket made out of 10 by Fred Topel pancakes. And then the river made of syrup they had to cross. I swear to god, every story, and then at the end of every story she’s like, ‘Cookies.’ Q: Did she like the movie? AS: I have a new dog named Baboo and I showed Bedtime Stories to Sadie, who’s two and a half. I brought home a copy, a DVD, and she watched it for about an hour and overall it was going well until she started saying, ‘Later, later.’ I said, ‘No, come on, let’s finish it, let’s finish this thing.’ ‘Later, later,’ she said. And I said, ‘Come on, we’re almost done.’ And she said, ‘Baboo, eat Daddy’s movie.’ So I was like, ‘oh all right. It’s not a good review.’ I hope my kid enjoys the movies I’ve made and enjoys some of the movies in the future. I don’t think she’s going to dig them until she’s maybe 14 or 15 or something, or 10, but I know I’ll continue to show them to her her whole life, ‘Watch Daddy now. This won’t affect you the way it affected all of America.’ Q: What were your favorite bedtime stories growing up? AS: The “I Think I Can” story was big in my life. My sister was going to dental school and I guess I used to say it to her all the time because she’d be crying about how much studying she had to do and my parents would put me on the phone with her. We’d be talking about the little engine that could and the whole “I think I can, I think I can,” thing. She said that it helped her at least smile going through the stuff. So see all the joy I’ve been bringing people for so many years? How about a big hand for me? Q: Do you want to make more family films in the future? AS: Absolutely, I loved it. I had a great time and it’s bizarre; when the kids are laughing in the audience, I tear up. I think I did a good thing. I’m happy to hear kids laugh and I’m happy it gives a place for parents to take their kids. I keep thinking about grandmas, because of my mother. My mother will sometimes take my kid to a movie and I’m like, ‘Oh, that’s going to be cool - grandma having a nice time with the children.’ I did have a great time doing it. I’d love to do it again. Q: What was it like going back to R-rated movies after making a kids’ movie? AS: When I was shooting [Bedtime Stories], I was like, ‘This feels good. I come home at night, I see my kids, I feel like I’m a good person.’ Then, Judd Apatow, he’s a longtime friend of mine, wrote a movie and asked me to be in it, and I was like, ‘okay’, and I come home and feel so filthy, and so sad. I can’t look the kids’ in the eye sometimes. I’m like ‘Oh god.’ So no, I’m not making every decision due to my children, but I do hope they never see these other movies. I do want to do more family friendly movies but it’s not going to be my way life. I’m a comedian. Q: Did you get any advice from your family growing up? AS: I never got a speech from my father: ‘This is what you must do or shouldn’t do’, but he led by example. He wasn’t perfect. He had a temper. I took some of that with me. He would snap sometimes. But as he got older, he started calming down. He learned about life, but the thing that he taught my whole family was that family itself is the most important thing and no matter what, if a family member needs you, you find a way to be there, you go and help out. He made us feel comfortable, made our family feel comfortable and respectful to other families. Q: Did you get your sense of humor from him? AS: Well, part of my father having a temper led to me developing a sense of humor trying to calm the old man down. Q: You act, do music, produce… Which is the most difficult? AS: None of them are difficult. I have fun doing them all. It’s not like I’m a producer who goes over budget everyday and I have numbers to run. I produce, I help to get the best stuff on the screen, that’s all I do. When I write, I just sit down with my friends and come up with ideas. When I act, it’s the same thing. It’s all about team work. Q: How do you decide which films you want to be in and which films you just produce? AS: I don’t know. If it’s something I feel I can do right, I’ll take it on. Others I think Schneider and Spade would be funnier at than me, I tell them to do it. Q: Is Funny People a new kind of challenge for you? AS: There have been times when I’m scared. I’m very sick in the movie. I find out I’m dying in the movie and I have to do a lot of stuff like that. I come into work thinking, ‘Oh man, this is going to be a rough day,’ and I have to think about stuff I don’t like to think about. Q: You’ve done drama before though. AS: I swear to god, doing Bedtime Stories, that was my dream when I was young and I became a comedian. I didn’t come out here to do movies like Reign Over Me. That wasn’t on my mind as a kid, growing up where I was like, ‘Oh, I want to be a movie star.’ I wanted to be Eddie Murphy, and that’s all I wanted to do. Then I got these other opportunities and I tried my best at it. Bedtime Stories is great because I show up on the set, I’m happy as can be. I feel good there. Q: How do you always find roles for Allen Covert and Rob Schneider? AS: Sometimes it’s like they visit me on the set and we say, ‘Throw this hat on and say a line.’ I hang out with those guys all the time, so if we’re doing a movie, I want to be around them and try to write something funny they can use. I usually ask with a threatening tone: ‘Would you like to be in my movie?’ and stare ‘em down. They say yes because I’m bigger than they are. g kvi travel DAVID L’HIRONDELLE Travel Specialist david@kvi.travel Toll Free: 1.877.717.1927 #140 - 2463 Highway 97 North - Kelowna - British Columbia - Canada - V1X 4J2 Ph: 250.980.1600 Fax: 775.416.8022 B.C. REG. # 26896 CLIA# 00-326233 11 A Celebration of Human Spectacle by Dean Unger Since the first of the recent spate of eco-documentaries hit the video store shelf back in 2004, the movie industry has maintained a regular staple of DVDs featuring human stupidity and excess at the expense of the environment. For those of us that can remember, the message hearkens back to the early 1980’s when David Suzuki began his lifelong campaign for responsible stewardship of the planet. His argument still carries weight, dangling there before us like a mother thrusting Grandma’s Stieff Teddy Bear in our faces, its arm in one hand, its limp body in the other, while uttering that dire phrase: just what have you done? The Day After Tomorrow, Roland Emmerich (2004), Al Gore’s An Inconvenient truth (2006), the Planet Earth series (2006), Leonardo DiCaprio’s 11th Hour (2007), The Great Global Warming Swindle (2007)… doubtless they all pose important questions, and are reasonably entertaining. But are we getting the message? Are we acting on the information? Or are we simply allowing ourselves to be entertained? Human folly and general apocalyptic conjecture is not new in the movie realm either. Low-budget, B-movies featuring the demise of the planet first started flickering on the silver screen as early as 1933, with Deluge and When Worlds Collide. The early forebears of the genre reached a plateau in the late 1970’s and into the eighties with China Syndrome and Silkwood, and culminated in the nineties with Erin Brockovich. From there the camera angle slowly shifted away from movies featuring plot lines with a hint of social conscious, to the other end of the continuum: fear-mongering and self-deprecating big budget epics like Earthquake, and the undersold Children of Men, to Lisa Simpson’s Lake Springfield pollution lecture: “An Irritating Truth”, a laconic treatment of an environmental catastrophe created by Homer Simpson. Recall for a moment, the first horror flick you saw as a kid and how for months after, alone in your room, you were terrified at the possibilities that lay hidden under the bed. Five, perhaps six movies and several years later the edge had worn off; the genre no longer carried the same wholesale investment in fear. Could not this sobering procession of human spectacle movies desensitize us to the reality of the impact we have on the planet and dull our inclination? I’ve already seen Gore and DiCaprio’s films, do I need to see another DiCaprioesque oratory – a shuffled deck of facts and a somber-faced narrator, barely breathing, uttering his funeral dirge. Many producers would argue that all they can do is deliver the goods. They can do nothing to ensure that the lines between entertainment and a force for real quantifiable change are not blurred. In perhaps a weak-kneed effort to establish credibility, many apocalyptic feature movies incorporate a statement by some well-thought scientist or environmental group figure-head as to the efficacy of the movies premise. In an interview for Timesonline, Tony Mitchell, director of the London disaster movie Flood, spoke about the timeliness of the movie and its potential effect on viewers. He explained that he didn’t want his audience leaving the cinema in a somber depression and seemed to make the distinction that his movie was purely for entertainment value: “Let’s not get carried away with ourselves, global warming can be a mood killer. I don’t think that people who see the film will be quaking in their boots and worrying about their homes.” Yet the threat is very real for many people. Conversely, Some may argue that war is very real in many places in the world yet we continue to make movies about it purely for entertainment value. Most of us believe wars are something we are powerless to affect so don’t entertain the notion of trying to change policies or potential outcomes. War is something that happens outside our realm of influence, fomented and carried out by “they” and “them”. Trouble is, where foreign policy is concerned we have our finger on the collective trigger. If something isn’t working we simply change our policy, our approach, and change the outcome. The environment is a different sort of creature. We have no control over forces we’ve set into motion decades if not centuries ago. And many people in positions of power seem oblivious to these consequences, even when they are beat over the head with the Kyoto Accord and receive paternalistic admonishments from Mr. Suzuki. Rest assured, the environment and global warming will continue to be a campaign platform, and fodder for the Hollywood grist mill… as long as it is in vogue. A list of the various travesties brought about by human ignorance here would be redundant. We have established a dependable track record clearly showing our ineptitude at responding appropriately to curb our behavior to avert environmental disaster. The consequences of global Warming are just another inevitable result in our portfolio of human ignorance. Though admittedly, Al Gore did do a service to humankind, as mentioned, Mr. Suzuki has been packaging and repackaging the same message for decades. And the ground has come slowly indeed. Human folly has become a spectator sport, kindred to the Roman coliseum: look what it’s like to be eaten by a lion; kindred to public executions: look what will happen if you steal bread or miss church? We need to resist the urge to sit on our respective couches with mouthfuls of popcorn muttering indignantly at “they” and “them”, “the faceless corporation” that plows ahead oblivious to consequence, the nameless mass of people streaming down metropolitan streets in their SUV’s, bumper to bumper on clogged superhighways. Will big budget movies make a difference? Probably not. Will Al Gore and DiCaprio make a difference? Only to the degree that people realize this is not entertainment but a call to action. Will Hollywood continue to make eco-documentaries? Patricia A. Michaels, environmentalist and nature photographer so aptly points out, “the degree to which the environment stays front and center ultimately depends on how well it sells. As the well worn saying goes; the color of Hollywood is green”. g 13 Cast Iron Music Pushing the boundaries with Canadian guitar prodigy, Dave Martone By Trent Jackson Dave says he’s tired of fighting with snow and empty bottles and girls and obligation. Being holed up in his East Side home is getting to him. He tells me they just got nailed with another dump of snow and that he expects to be stuck in the house for three days eating food and sleeping. It’s some body’s idea of a cruel joke – the worst kind to play on a society of coastal city dwellers who are used to a temperate climate; weather that’s usually mild-mannered, like the country itself. This is weather they’ve not seen the likes of for as long as the young can remember and the old care to forget. So much for Global Warming he says. What Global Warming? I can feel the Klutlan Ice Cap pushing at my rubber-soled hi-tops as I battle the creeping glacier with a rum and coke in one hand and a blow-torch in the other. I decide right off that this man and I have something in common. I hear he’s somewhat of a minstrel so I ask him when he started playing; about the first time he heard the melodious pinning’s of steel string over wood; the very moment he was struck with epiphany after which his life would never be the same. “I started playing around 10:30 this morning,” he says, laughing. “What a fucking ass-hole eh?” he says of himself. I tell him I couldn’t yet agree as I’d only just met him. “No. Really. I started when I was six years young. A long time ago. I didn’t even want to play the guitar. My father forced me to play. It was the repetitive beatings that did it for me. That’s what fathers’ want – they want their sons to live the life they had lost, and failing that, they want them to follow-in their footsteps.” Dave tells me when the beatings stopped working, his dad would bribe him with money. “He would pay me ten cents an hour to play. We’d keep track on a calendar on the fridge. At the time I had an obsession with Hot Wheels so I would save up money from the hours of classical composition torture and then as penance I’d go out and buy the best cars on the market with the blood money I’d earned. “Classical was all I knew. After playing a couple of years I was starting to actually enjoy it. As far as I was concerned, guitar was a clean instrument,” He pauses looking out the window, at the snow. “I guess the epiphany really happened when a friend of mine brought over Black Sabbath’s Greatest Hits. I shit my pants when I heard that album. At that point I’d never heard anything like it. Imagine a little kid always hearing antiseptic classical music and all of a sudden hearing Iommi cranking out his wicked riffs. The guitar is screaming, and the drums are pounding and Ozzy is biting the heads off people. When it was over I’m sitting there thinking, what the fuck just happened?” Dave tells me that after his virginity was inadvertently stolen by the unholy trinity known as Black Sabbath, Dave immediately sought council with his father. “Then the beatings really started,” Dave laughs. Dave started writing when he was seventeen, after making the pilgrimage to Fanshawe College, a recording and engineering school in London, Ontario, where he cut his teeth academically. “At the time my biggest influence was Yngwie Malmsteen, and everything I wrote and played emulated Malmsteen, which was of course ridiculous because the guys a monster.” At this point it occurs to me that, as a matter of course, someone should have advised a more practical trade? “It’s like I said - my Dad, he’s the one who forced me into it,” says Dave. “He was a bricklayer all his life, and before I went off to school, he had me work with him. He worked me like a freakin’ dog; ten hour days carrying twelve inch blocks with your hands. I went threw industrial strength gloves like silk underwear on a truck driver. My hands were crippled. Then I had to go to band practice after that. At the end of it, just before I went off to college, Dad took me aside and said, ‘You worked really hard. I wanted to show you what it’s like to have to work a shitty job every day of your life. I hope that you don’t have to do what I did. So go and make a career in music. Do what you love.’ “You know if you’re lazy in this industry you’re not going to get anywhere. Whose gonna do it for you? I’m glad that he made me carry those twelve inch blocks around.” Before talking to Dave, I spent several days listening to his music. I could tell straight away he was trying for something, the bigger picture, trying to get behind the cozy veneer of modern convention; he lived and played on the fringes of accepted forms, and at one point in his storied career, played that raucous brand of heavy metal called thrash – the kind of music that threw beer in your face and hugged you all at the same time; that kicked you when you were down and helped you back up again so you could keep partying. I couldn’t help but point out it wasn’t a huge market segment. I wondered aloud if he still dabbled in thrash or was it merely a phase? 15 “I used to play in a thrash band,” Dave agrees. “ I used to listen to Anthrax – Fistful of Metal, Raven, Helloween – Walls of Jericho, Slayer, early Metallica. I never really enjoyed the solos though. Looking back, it seemed like a lot of nonsense. I was in it for the heavy riffs. “I really have lost my taste for progressive metal. For me it became too angular, too clinical, too mathematical and predictable. Not like punch-you-in-the-face or anything, but it lacked the weirdness that I covet now. “My style was informed also from listening to Art Rock, like Dream Theatre, and Rush, too, was a big influence. By the late nineties I was more or less finished with the genre. In 1999, when we had finished with the Zone album, there was a song we did called Seventh Dimension. It was ridiculous – it was like thirteen minutes long. It was one of those epic songs that were big in the seventies and eighties – lots of melody. But Ridiculous nonetheless. It’s really ridiculous and I’m not ever going to write anything like that ever again. But I think everyone has to go through their periods of development. It all influences what they eventually become.” Now he’s a philosopher too. Great. I try to throw something cerebral at him, just to see if it’ll stick. I ask him, ‘Does everything spring from what has gone before? Is it really possible to come out doing completely your own thing? Is it something you have to think about? Or does it just fall in your lap, the way a warm pizza might fall in your lap when you’re drunk and hungry?’ At first it’s as if he doesn’t quite know what to say. There’s an awkward pause. “I listen back to the stuff I was writing when I was trying to be like Malmsteen and I’m amazed I couldn’t see how retarded I was being. I mean, the guy was a master - he’d already done it, so there was no point in my trying to do the same thing again. There are so many people that do that in the music industry – basically replicate what someone else has already done. The point is, most successful musicians get big because they came out doing something different from the start. Sure there are others who come along and mimic what’s already been successful but they will never be as big as whoever did it first. They just imitate. Myself included. It’s like I said, when I started out it was about copying what had already been done. I had nothing to say that was new or original. “By the time I was 21 or 22, I was going to Berklee College in Boston, and I made a pact with myself: ‘starting today, I’m not going to play anyone else’s stuff anymore. I’m going to stop playing everybody’s licks and only play what I have of my own. In order to do this 16 I had to imagine that if I did play anyone else’s stuff I was going to be shocked with twenty-thousand volts of electricity and be killed instantly. That was my mantra.” I flinched. I couldn’t decide whether this man was mad or brilliant… Perhaps a bit of both. He told me that for the first year of his pact, he played the worst shit he’d every heard in his life. He persevered; digging deeply into the vagina of Hathor, Goddess of Rock; throwing stones at the three lesbian muses, distracted as they are with their own beauty. Like Odysseus, Dave returned from his long inward journey holding up the reward: his own voicing, his own way of relating to the guitar, the guitar itself, now his loyal bitch. “I taught myself to listen to music differently,” Dave says. “I taught myself to listen to different music. All of a sudden I noticed some of the elements I was hearing starting to creep into what I was playing and it began to take shape. I started to think about the guitar and music as “sound” and to experiment with it. It wasn’t about subconsciously thinking about creating my own sound; it was basically trying not to imitate other peoples sound. Doing that resulted in something completely my own, what people now call the Martone sound – whatever the hell that means.” The whole thing had taken an unexpected turn. I realized at once I would be remiss not to try to wring some sonorous nugget of truth from this man for anyone who’d care to read the ramblings of this half-cooked Don Juan. I’d have to think on my feet. I suddenly recall a conversation I’d overheard in the room next to me at some dive that had been inundated by a busload of groupies from a Metallica concert. “It sounds as though you like to hit very dip, bend and peak. This seems to be one nuance that at least in part defines your style,” I say, pausing for a drink of Rum. “Do you find it a challenge to play the back-beat or build tension by manipulating what you don’t hit as much as what you hit? Dave laughs. “Good question,” he says, my ruse undetected. “It’s a symptom of a young player. As your music education and your awareness grows, as you evolve as a musician, it becomes more about the space in between the notes that make the notes act and react up with one another. It’s as much about the notes you don’t hit as the ones you do. And you can’t tell that to a young player. “My dad kept saying to me when I was young, ‘turn that cast iron music down.’ I would say, ‘Dad its called metal.’ ‘I don’t care what the fuck it’s called,’ he’d say. ‘Turn the fuckin shit down.’ So I realize now that it’s the space you put in front of something that’s important. For instance if you have a band that likes to play fast, if you listen to them play fast for four or five minutes, you get bored. It doesn’t sound as effective as when they first started. On the other hand, if you have timing and hesitation and anticipation, you can build up from something that might be mellow into something incredible that just slams your face into the wall - because it’s such a contrast. It’s one of the things I like to play with. It’s one of the key ingredients in my music and my experimentation. “I used to think in terms of systems and theory of music but now I play by ear – I go where it sounds like the music should go. It’s like passing through doorways into the next logical passage.” Now he’s on a roll. It’s like I’m not even there. So I let him go. “…It’s a question that comes up a lot. When it comes to writing songs many people get lost in structure. I try to get my students to think about structure. I ask them to pick their four or five favourite songs and pick apart the arrangement – I don’t mean theory wise, I mean simple structure; how many measures in the first verse, how many in the second, is there a bridge? How many measures in the chorus and so on. And what happens is they’ll probably see a similarity in their top four favourite songs and go, ‘Oh wow I had no idea’. It’s an exercise in perception. You start to see the big picture – the song will lead up to its logical conclusion; the ending is the sum of its parts. Suddenly, for most people, looking at it this way, song writing starts to make sense. I try to get across that there are really only twelve notes in music. And you can play either a major variation or a minor variation. I try to get them thinking about using each note as a springboard into the next part, finding their way using as many of the senses as possible – touch, vibration, sight and sound, sometimes I swear I can even smell sound. I try to envision it that way.” While he’s talking, I light a cigarette and stare out the window at a young man in an old jean jacket and tattered corduroys, strumming a beat-up guitar for change on the corner. I asked Dave if he thought a person should get an education in music before setting out on the road in search of fame and fortune. I told him for all his education, I knew a guitarist with nothing but street smarts and a fine guitar, could probably whoop his ass. ‘Lookin at him right now,’ I say. “I’m not sure how to comment on that. Fine, go to some of these schools, but your dad better be a doctor and your mother a lawyer. Because it’s so much money, it’s absurd. I think it’s probably cheaper to go to Harvard to become a lawyer than it is to go to Berklee. And there’s no pay-off to go around saying ‘Oh I got my degree in songwriting for $150,000 US dollars. Now what? “But that being said, there are so many things that they teach there; they teach you to analyze and to pull apart and dissect. But it doesn’t guarantee that you’re going to be a rock star or be famous. That’s the fallacy a lot of kids have to overcome. Do it for other reasons – not to become famous. If it happens to work out that way, great. “What ultimately winds up happening is a lot of them end up smoking weed and drinking and they fail. They’re away from home for the first time and they just can’t even put two feet in front of each other. To answer the question, I think that any education, any information and any knowledge is great knowledge – all the time and in anything. It doesn’t mean you have to go to a huge school. There are so many on-line sites that teach, there’s so much stuff on YouTube. It’s out of control. “Speaking of YouTube, it’s a wonderful tool for marketing, for breaking in,” he says, stirring me from my trance. I forget about the busker, thinking I’d better pay attention. “There’s got to be something to it. You look at some of the stuff that people are getting 300,000 hits on. All those 300,000 people are looking at something. That’s not saying it’s not always good – a lot of times it’s crap. But if all those people are looking at the crap and know the name of the guy who made the crap, then it’s got to be good in some way right?” The three Rum and Coke’s I’d had since the interview started were getting to me. Suddenly I felt like I was trying to ride three bikes at once? I heard somewhere Dave played with Joe Satriani. He’d played with Satriani and Vai for that matter. “I never actually played with Steve Vai. I hung out with Satriani. I never have partied with either of them. It’s more of a friendship, business type of thing as opposed to a let’s-kick-our-feet-up-and-smoke-somecrack kind of thing. “Basically we are who we hang out with and we get where we are because we’re not smoking crack. They’re (Vai and Satriani) there because they persevered and pushed beyond the limits of what they believed they could do. Of course there’s a certain element of luck and finding the right people too. “Sound to me is amazing,” Dave says. “What I did do at engineering and produc- tion school, I took a lot away from it. I have this acute sense of hearing. It’s like I’m almost blind and I’m always trying to feel my away around, to understand the alchemy of sound. For me, sound is like painting with colour. When I’m in it, it seems like anything’s possible. Dave Martone has played professionally for 27 years, with some of the world’s most elite musicians. He’s kept company with 3 Doors Down, Steve Morse, Jennifer Batten, Paul Gilbert, Yngwie Malmsteen, Marty Friedman, Seymour Duncan, Greg Howe, Joe Satriani and drum greats Chester Thompson, Mike Portnoy, Greg Bissionet and Gene Hoglan. Martone’s last record “Clean” has just been released by Magna Carta Records from NY www.magnacarta.net with world wide distribution. The amazing Daniel Adair (drummer for Martone ) who also plays with Nickelback as well as David Spidel were integral in the making of this album! Martone also works for the National Guitar Workshop www.guitarworkshop. com as well as Berklee College of Music www.berklee.edu doing clinics/master classes for them. He has directed 3 successful School of Rock Guitar Sessions for Tom Lee Music in Vancouver Canada. www.tomleemusic.ca g Rattling the Bones Will Obama’s Eloquence be enough to excuse crimes against humanity? by John S. Hatch It is generally considered a courtesy for a newly inaugurated President to overlook any sins of the past incumbent in the interests of ‘looking ahead’ and in the knowledge that the same good manners will be repeated after his/her own end of term. The most extreme example of this was Gerald Ford’s pardon of Richard Nixon after the latter’s ignominious resignation. Arguably necessary for the health of the nation after its ‘long nightmare’, it was nevertheless handled badly, and Ford paid a price by becoming a one-term President. Not to trivialize Nixon’s crimes (and part of the flawed pardon process meant there was no allocution, no admission of guilt, no mention of the many crimes besides Watergate), the three articles of impeachment [1] mentioned the actual break-in, coverup, including the payment of ‘hush money’, misuse of the FBI and IRS, ignoring subpoenas, spying, and such matters (remind you of anyone?). For these ‘crimes and misdemeanors, he undoubtedly would have been impeached, but he resigned to avoid that outcome, and was pardoned for any of his actions which might have crossed the line into illegality. However one might have wished to see Mr. Nixon brought to account, no one argued that the pardon itself was illegal. The matter was handled constitutionally, and people got back to their lives and the nation tried to move on. But what of Mr. Bush? It could be argued that his domestic crimes far surpass anything done by the Nixon Administration, and while some saw Nixon, Kissinger, McNamara and others as international war criminals, there again Bush has far surpassed Nixon in the number and nature of crimes against humanity, if not the numbers of dead. It’s hard to keep track once you surpass a million corpses. [2] And yet in Bush’s case, impeachment has always been ‘off the table’ due to the peculiar spinelessness of Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats, and their willingness to sell out justice to gain power that they’re too servile to exercise in any meaningful way. Having stated that he would request that his new Attorney General investigate whether crimes were committed during the previous Administration, Mr. Obama seems to be distancing himself from that view, as if investigating the most serious crimes known to man would somehow constitute a distraction. From what? And isn’t that what Mr. Bush said about an investigation into 9/11 even as the public clamored for one? An investigation into America’s greatest terrorist attack would distract f rom the war on terror, said Mr. Bush (or was it Inspector Clousseau?). [3] Indeed there would be a lot to investigate: domestic spying on a colossal basis, domestic illegal detention and torture, misuse of the FBI, ICE and other federal organizations, ignored subpoenas, illegal signing statements, treason… The AG would be kept busy on the foreign policy front too. Kidnapping (Italy has warrants out on 22 CIA operatives with regard to one case alone), illegal detention, torture (which we know with certainty was planned at the top) [4], vile torture - possibly the lowest indulgence of which humanity is capable, embraced with zeal by an administration which uses terror to fight imagined terror. (Given a preponderance of evidence, many of us do not believe that 9/11 was concocted in a cave, but perhaps in boardrooms a lot closer to home.) Then there is the matter of two illegal invasions. Attacking Afghanistan had nothing to do with capturing Osama bin Laden, who it seems is more valuable as bogeyman on the loose, and everything to do with establishing and protecting an oil pipeline. There has been precious little rebuilding but plenty of indifferent collateral damage. One woman who lost her home and her entire innocent family was called a beggar by American officials and was ordered off American embassy property in Kabul. And there has been plenty of innocent fodder for Bagram, Guantanamo Bay, and the many secret dungeons to justify the unjustifiable and bogus ‘war on terror’. The invasion of Iraq was as absurd as it was brutal and criminal. The MSM didn’t report what went on in Fallujah. Indeed, America seems now in the business of murdering journalists who simply do their jobs [5], where almost no structure escaped severe damage. Water and power infrastructure were deliberately destroyed. America did what it falsely accused Saddam of doing in Kuwait—it kicked seriously ill patients out of a hospital in order to make room for potential American casualties. It bombed others. American forces prevented ‘military-age’ males, roughly 12-65 years old, from leaving the city and then declared a ‘free-fire zone’ on anyone remaining. They used white phosphorus and thermobaric weapons. They used snipers against unarmed civilians. They killed, and killed, and killed. [6] It was like Poppy’s ‘Highway of Death’, [7] but worse. Congratulations, Junior, you finally outdid the old man. Not even animals were spared. A new day needs to dawn in America, and that is what President elect Obama has promised. But that can’t occur if the past is not acknowledged and reconciled. A harmless skeleton or two left behind in a White House closet is one thing. But in this case the rattling of bones could drown out Mr. Obama’s eloquent voice and poison his Presidency. If it’s indeed time for change, then it’s time to stop pretending that America can do no wrong, and to bring criminals to justice, whoever they are. g Notes: [1] Nixon Articles of Impeachment http://www.watergate.info/impeachment/impeachment-articles.shtml [2] Casualties of American Recent Invasions http://www.unknownnews.net/ casualties.html http://www.antiwar.com/casualties/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_Iraq_War [3] Bush on 9/11 http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2004/04/b44775. html [4] Torture from the top http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2008/06/17/BL2008061701006.html http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-rutten18-2008jun18,0,6744652.column [5] Targeting American journalists http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0209-01.htm http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0218/dailyUpdate. html http://www.infowars.com/articles/iraq/strawman.htm http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_/ai_n11857350 [6]Fallujah, The Hidden Massacre http://www.democracynow. org/2005/11/8/u_s_broadcast_exclusive_fallujah_the [7] Highway of Death http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highway_of_Death John S. Hatch is a Vancouver writer and film-maker. The Canadian Idol Experience by Dean Unger In the wake of season 7 of Canadian Idol having been cancelled, season 3, top four finisher, Suzi Rawn, reflects on her CI experience – before, during and after - and discloses a behind the scenes perspective of the pursuit of stardom. What does it take to win the music lottery? A combination of the right look, stage presence, talent and perhaps an element that figures in more than you’d expect: being in the right place at the right time. Before making her debut on Canadian Idol, Suzi Rawn was the front-line for her Kamloops, B.C. band, King Size Suzi. Together, they toured British Columbia and Alberta, and recorded two full-length albums over a period of two years, with Suzi acting as agent, manager and publicist. In 2005, desperate to gain some ground in the business, Suzi tried out for Canadian Idol and made it through to the top ten. Quickly becoming a fan favourite, it looked as though Rawn might make the grade, but wound up being voted off after making it to the final four. As proven by the past successes of Idol undergrads, if a contestant makes a good showing, develops a solid fan-base, and places top five, they still have a crack at making something out of the publicity afforded by being on national television. The reality of what we see on television is far from what actually takes place. “There’s a lot people don’t know,” says Rawn, “Despite being a better person for it, the experience left me with some concerns about the industry and the way people are treated.” “Before I chose to try out for Idol, I struggled with the stigma that I would somehow be selling out what I had been trying to build with King Size Suzi - a reputation and a brand. I was worried that if I took the chance and lost, it would hurt what I had already done in my career.” But despite early misgivings, she took the leap of faith. “One of the first surprises for me was that during national audition week, contestants have to go through not one, but two auditions judged by the show’s producers before they get to the celebrity judge panel,” Rawn says. “The really bad ones that wind up humiliating themselves on national television are chosen for just that reason.” Like any business, the network and the record company are in it to make money. Tight schedules, very little, if any, creative input and having virtually every moment of every day scheduled, are all part of the experience. “Most of the viewers, and the contestants themselves, go into it thinking that the truly talented will rise to the top and that the system is an unbiased representation of true talent,” Rawn says. “Even for those who get voted off early, Idol has become a viable option for musicians trying to break into the market, as evidenced by Daughtry, and Hedley lead singer Jacob Hoggard. Before most of these people became recognizable on the show, they were unknown’s who had not performed outside their shower stall or in their car driving to work. On the surface, exposure on Canadian Idol means - for those lucky enough to make it to the second audition stage - their face and their name becomes a potentially brandable product.” The elephant in the room however, appears to be the actual process the contestants go through to be part of the show. Past contestants are saying the opportunity may not be all it’s cracked up to be, or, at the very least, was not what they expected. Others are content to have experienced the lifestyle for a brief interlude and are happy to let it go like yesterday’s half-sweet frappacino cup. For Suzi and her band, the experience proved initially to be a windfall. “We all felt like we were on the verge of something big, selling out shows, selling all our merch, being really busy and well-known… It really is amazing when you feel like everything you’ve worked so hard for is finally showing results. We were so close we could almost touch it.” The wave came to a sudden crash after the record deal was signed. Suzi says she noticed her band was slowly being forced out of the equation by record company management who cited the need for a more professional look and feel. “The further you go down the Idol rabbit hole, the more individual brand power is there for the taking,” says Rawn. “It’s a great marketing opportunity. Beyond that, be prepared for the reality of the industry itself. Much of what happens is beyond the singer’s control. You are quite literally, along for the ride. The contracts, should you decide to go through the Idol and Idol affiliate networks, can literally, if not handled right, wind up holding your career hostage for several years.” In the end, even for the contestant who takes the Canadian Idol title, the ride may only last as long as the nine months they are on tour with the Idol entourage. After that, the star-making machinery is often pulled out from under them and they are left to fend for themselves. For those who are unprepared, it can be a rude awakening. For those who know some of what to expect – it can be a great opportunity. “Just remember going in,” says Rawn, “There is no free ride. Case in point: RCA Records announced last year that it would drop fifth-season runnerup Katharine McPhee, the latest American Idol finalist to be dropped from the BMG label following Ruben Studdard, and Taylor Hicks. McPhee’s camp contends that she simply wasn’t given the marketing or promotion she needed for longevity in what boils down to a fickle market. Is it a case of the product simply not being what the market wants? Or a case of the industry clearing the way for the next big thing? Aka: next year’s idol. Music producer, and former lead singer of Moist, Mark Makoway, in his book, “The Indie Band Bible,” comments on the problem in relation to the industry in general, explaining that most recording funds are often used up making an album. “Video expenses are usually charged back to the artist’s royalty account, so the reality is that most artists never actually see money from the sale of their records. Money generated from album sales essentially goes to make and promote the album. Artist’s do receive money from other sources: live performance, merchandising, and publishing, and performance royalties.” Essentially it’s a money machine geared toward short-term profit using a cookie cutter formula that is recycled from year to year. Jacob Hoggard (Hedley) made the decision to break free from any Canadian Idol contract obligations and recordings that he would have had no control over. It was, in all likelihood, a business decision to use the platform to promote himself and his band. Given his success, let history speak for itself. “Overall I took it so seriously that I kind of wrecked the glory part of the experience for myself,” says Rawn. “I wish that I knew what I know now. As much as the show is a competition, it was far from it backstage. It was more a competition against one’s self: self-confidence, stage fright, performance capability. Song selection for me was also very stressful because the themes of the show were never in my comfort zone and there was little choice in song selection. We got to choose from what was available and what fit the show.” “Although there were many percs like getting free phones, to special treatment and national recognition, people have to aware of the myth around the lure of success and be real about how the experience will affect your life regardless of the outcome.” After all of the legal positioning and her initial disappointment with her experience of Canadian Idol fame, Rawn says she lost her passion for music for a while. “When nothing happened with the band and the management team I was placed with after Idol, when I realized the manipulation behind the whole thing, I went from thinking my lifelong dream was about to come true, to losing everything: financially, with relationships, and, I believe, with my integrity as an artist. I had to completely re-evaluate where I was and what I expected from my career. “After a time of transition, I started playing music again with friends, wrote a bit, and started experimenting with solo stuff, electronically. At the moment I’m transitioning out of Rock and doing a D.J course at The Rhythm Institute, in Vancouver. I had to rediscover making music for the joy of it, not thinking about what “genre” my music would fit into for radio, or how people would respond to it in dollar signs. All of that was antiseptic to my creativity. So this time I’ll just lay down what I’m into. “Too much of the time, people get sucked in and sheltered by their current reality. If someone from our western culture, with all the luxuries we take for granted, were to go and live in a cave in India for a week without all of the things they rely on, they’d sure learn a lot about who they really are. At the end of the day, music is part of who I am, and I’ll always do it.” Suzi is currently working on her second solo album in Vancouver, B.C. g 23 Dave “Rave” Ogilvie Reflections of a Record Producer, Engineer & Re-Mixer By Nathan Stafford David Bowie, Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson, Motley Crue, The Grapes of Wrath, Killing Joke, The Odds, Violent Femmes, Skinny Puppy. These are a few of Dave “Rave” Ogilvie’s clients. Always leaning on the innovative, looking for what’s new, and not afraid to venture outside his boundaries, Dave Ogilvie’s journey has led him around the world and back again. His studio career began as assistant engineer to the late Bruce Fairbairn (Van Halen, Aerosmith, Loverboy). Soon, the twentysomething began taking on projects of his own, usually working in the wee hours of the night. His first producer credit was on 5440’s critically acclaimed Green Record. “I was Bruce’s guy at Mushroom. I was assisting on a 54-40 session, and they got sick of the person they were working with and asked me to come on-board. I was like, ‘Wow, I ‘d love to.’” Eventually, studio work led Dave to cross 24 paths with Industrial Rock pioneers Skinny Puppy. He went on to produce, engineer and mix 9 albums and 10 - 12” singles for the band. This injection of new blood helped Skinny Puppy break new ground, while Dave established himself as a pioneer of an exciting new sound that mixed electronic, metal and Goth. “With Skinny Puppy, I got to travel a lot. I met Al Jorgenson from Ministry, ended up working with him a lot. I met Trent with Nine Inch Nails, Severed Heads from Australia, and all of a sudden, I was able to leave Vancouver and get into the international market, which is a hard thing to do.” Dave built a reputation early on for experimenting with new sounds, new mediums, and the use of computers in rock music. “Back when computers first came along, I was like, ‘Bring it on!’ Computers are a necessity for us now, and to use them in music is just second nature.” Industrial-God Trent Reznor has been a staunch supporter of Dave’s work, enlisting him to work on some heavy-duty projects over the years including Marilyn Manson’s Platinum-selling record “Anti-Christ Superstar”. “Making that record was a lot of work because we had to create everything from scratch. We didn’t use any guitar amps on the entire record. Basically all we did was work. Once and a while we’d go out to a movie. I’d hate it, because we’d all be ready to leave but we’d have to wait for Manson to put his make-up on.” In 1997, Motley Crue hired Dave to work on Generation Swine. With the return of Vince Neil, they planned on re-releasing their ’83 hit single “Shout at the Devil”. But there was just one little snag when they hit the studio. “We got down to doing vocals, and Neil couldn’t even come close to hitting the notes. Finally I just cut my losses and went to Tommy & Nikki and said, ‘I gotta use the old vocals’. I fit the vocal tracks from the original song into this whole new recording.” In 1997, Dave worked on the Nine Inch Nails song “The Perfect Drug”. The song was written for the David Lynch film, Lost Highway, with subsequent re-mixes released on The Perfect Drug Versions, or Halo 11, EP. “I got to deal with David Lynch while we were doing this, and that was a whole other concept. Here’s a filmmaker that I love, and he’s turning to me going, ‘It’s really nice, Dave, but I think it should be a little more blue.’ I looked at Trent, who’d been dealing with the guy for 3 weeks. ‘What does he mean? What does ‘blue’ mean?’ Apparently that’s how he perceived things – everything was on the colour spectrum.” The Perfect Drug is one of the most successful singles in Canada, sitting in the Canadian Top-50 Singles charts for 208 weeks on Nielsen SoundScan. Another Reznor connection came with the re-mix of “I’m Afraid of Americans” by David Bowie. Ogilvie produced the re-mix, featuring rapper Ice Cube. Dave says he narrowly averted disaster with this song. He sent the tracks to Ice Cube in L.A. where Cube would add his own vocals and then send the song back for mixing. “I put the tape on, and I see they’ve done 4 vocal tracks. So I put on the first track and it’s West Side Connection and Ice Cube is going ‘Yeah. Yeah. Come On.’ And you can hear them opening beers and smoking joints. Track 2, more of the same. I guess it’s gonna be on these last 2 tracks. Track 3, more of the same. Track 4, I got a 20-second bit of rapping. That’s it. We just paid 25 Grand, and they gave us nothing.” Despite his disappointment with how things had progressed, Dave still managed to turn the track into something interesting. In the end he managed to loop Ice Cube’s vocals with Bowie’s and got an unearthly mix like something from another planet. Bowie must have been pleased in the end, as the track was included on a CD/Vinyl Single, which was released in the U.S. by Virgin. With such massive success under his belt, Dave soon had record executives calling him about his own music. “One record label approached me and said, ‘Do you have any music that YOU want to do?’ I said yes, but I never have time, I’m always working on other people’s records. They said, ‘Why don’t you give us some of your demos’ but I didn’t have any at the time. I had pieces of songs. I didn’t have a singer or anything, but I told them, ‘Yes I have a singer’, and I thought of Katie B. I liked her, I liked the sound of her voice, so I approached her and said, ‘Do you want to sing on some songs? I think I have a record deal, but I don’t have a band.’ We did some demos, it turned into Jakalope, and all of a sudden, I had a record deal and this whole new world opened up for me, being in a band and labels and all that. The last four years, I’ve been seeing a whole different side of it.” The Jakalope project lives on with new singer Chrystal Leigh, formerly of The Perfect Strangers and Kelowna/Vancouver band “Closing Iris”. Check it out online at: www. myspace.com/jakalope or www.myspace. com/daveogilvie You can be sure of more boundary-smashing music from Dave in the years to come. His methods are unorthodox, and he gets results. More than a producer, more than an Engineer. Dave works with a band, he doesn’t just record them or mix their songs. He becomes a 5th or 6th member of that band. When Dave is in the mix, the artist-producer relationship takes on a whole new direction, and the result is evident in the final product. “You can’t be lazy. If you want to be lazy, nobody’s gonna notice you,” says Dave. g Dave’s Career at a Glance… > Dave heard The Talking Heads’ record “Remain In Life” > Attended recording school in Montreal > Moved to Vancouver, began working at Mushroom Studios > Within 2 weeks of arriving, became Bruce Fairbairn’s go-to studio assistant > Produced bands like 54-40, Grapes of Wrath, The Doughboys on his down time > Met Kevin from Skinny Puppy, forged a relationship with the band > Ventured outside the Vancouver Market > Worked on Nine Inch Nails’ “March of the Pigs” singles remix album > Co-produced Marilyn Manson’s Platinum-selling album “Anti-Christ Superstar” > Moved back to Vancouver, had a family > Started the band Jakalope, wrote and produced 2 albums > Recently recorded 16mm, Birthday Massacre, Xavier Rudd > Re-Mixed Puscifer track for Maynard James (Tool) To be continued…. “Your referral is our greatest compliment....” K’s Crafts Strong, Affordable, and built to last! We are always open to suggestions, questions and any special orders you would like to make. We are making these products for you the customer where our goal is to make strong, long lasting and affordable products that you will be satisfied with for a long time. Art Krauza • 250-765-0286 • kscrafts.com Looking at You! Photography & Imaging Event, Band and Promo Photography Kevin Kienlein 250-545-8340 Vernon, B.C. www.lookingatyou.ca • looking@uniserve.com Home of the Best Country Music in the Okanagan! 1978 Kirschner Rd. Kelowna Night Club & Liquor Store 28 Salmon Arm Lori Wilbur on Still Alive and Well Festival goers singin’ the blues over the announcement that the 2009 Pemberton Festival will not take place this year can find solace in knowing the Salmon Arm Roots and Blues Festival is “still alive and well” with acts like Johnny Winter and Bedouin Soundclash, now signed to play this summer’s festival, August 14th-16th. Once perceived as a sort of little sister to some of the larger fests in the country, Roots and Blues has developed a reputation over its seventeen-year history for presenting line-ups that allow it to hold its own with the big boys of the western festival circuit like Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver. Worldrenowned artists like the Neville Brothers who appeared last year, fulfill the crowd’s desire for higher profile acts, but the real appeal of Roots and Blues lies in its presentation of lesser known up-and-coming acts like Baskery, who also performed in 2008. The flaxenhaired trio of Swedish sisters’ frenzied banjofunk had the grounds buzzing with as much excitement as much bigger acts, selling out their vast CD stock by mid-weekend with attendees clamoring for more. The Festival’s solid reputation for this type of diverse presentation and its topnotch line-ups are what keeps fans coming back. “Roots and Blues delivered a great combination of artists last year,” says Andrew Foulds of London, Ontario who already has his tickets for the upcoming Festival. “Everything from newer bands like Plants & Animals to some of the older bands like Spirit of the West and the Nevilles. I grew up in Kamloops so it’s nice to go back and visit beautiful BC and catch some great music at the same time.” Over the years, the Festival’s rural location in the city of Salmon Arm, BC at the top of the Okanagan Valley has produced more than music onsite, spawning some interesting moments for those in attendance with some of the harshest and also some of the most breathtaking elements nature could send its way. In 2001, the tranquil nighttime skies set a perfect canvas for an organic lightshow as the aurora borealis flickered above for all three nights of the event, accentuated by a dazzling display of the Perseid meteor shower on Sunday night, just prior to Great Big Sea taking main stage to close out the Festival. In 2003, forest fires in the region rained falling ash over audiences for its three day run, creating an eerie veil overhead while blackouts in the east that same year also resulted in some of the performers having to be replaced due to cancelled flights in other regions. Never a dull moment to be had at Roots and Blues. With an iconic blues figure like Winter who still plays as if his arms were on fire, and bands like Bedouin Soundclash already onboard, it’s a sure bet the 2009 event will host one of the most exciting line-ups to date. Log on to rootsandblues.ca for the latest on artists being booked and ticketing information or call 250-833-4096. g Travelat’s th O Z N GO by Jennifer Conklin Validity Matthew Good realized quite recently that someone just wrote a book about him. He was never interviewed, nor were any of his family or friends. He assumes that it’s written from things read online and in print. Needless to say he is rather peeved. I have read biographies about artists that were not authorized but I always read it knowing it was an opinion and likely not a true telling of the artist’s experience. Taken from Matthew Good’s blog post titled It Never Ends: I seem to be under the misguided impression that when someone pens a biography about you that you do not endorse, nor are contacted about, that it must be labeled an ‘unauthorized’ biography. Interestingly, someone has taken it upon themselves to write a biography about me, without my knowledge, that claims to detail my life based on, well, nothing. I wasn’t interviewed or contacted, no member of my family was interviewed or contacted, nor were any of my friends. Thus, one can assume that much of it is based on – I don’t know… Internet history? How can anyone claim to write about the making of records unless they interviewed those involved and expect anyone to take it at face value? I have no idea if it (the book) goes into my personal life, but that runs the risk of a serious law suit depending on whether or not inaccuracies were included that were not fact checked by contacting those that represent me (not to mention private legal encumbrances that would land certain parties in serious hot water). Beyond that, the title of the book is hideous – “Ghosts In the Machine”. Not exactly original. Then again, it looks to have been published by a very small company or one of those ‘do it yourself ’ deals, so I suppose that’s to be expected. I haven’t read it, nor do I plan to. In fact, I don’t sanction it whatsoever as any representation of me, my work, or my personal history. Because Matthew Good is very open online about his life I guess one could assume they had the makings of a bio-book, but come on! I read his blog daily, I’ve read the old school manifestos; I’ve even exchanged emails with him on occasion and had the pleasure of having an online spat with his ex-wife. Could I write a book? Of course. Would I? Nope. It’s a little too paparazzi for me. Putting someone’s life to paper without even having spoken to him or her directly makes the whole process dirty somehow. So, no, I will not be buying this book. Stalker Scariness Bryan Adams, now living in the UK, has a Romanian mom/son stalker team on his trail. Adams, who has a home in Chelsea, signed an autograph for the mom and son in a London restaurant and they proceeded to follow 30 Trent Reznor him around and wouldn’t leave him alone. According to the Daily Mail, Adams went to the police and they advised him on some safety issues and helped install a panic alarm but thus far it is all still being investigated. If Bryan Adams can’t live a low profile life, stalker free, there isn’t much hope for anyone who is afflicted with the curse of fame. I know, I know, it’s in the job description. Do you think Britney Spears signed up for what her life has become? My teenager recently made me watch Britney’s For the Record documentary. Couldn’t help but feel a lot of empathy for the young tart. At one point when she said she did not know a life any different than the one she’s got, all the attention, camera flashes and parasitic hangers-on. I started to see her more as a regular person trapped in a really fucked-up realm of reality. She is as easy to dismiss as she is to covet. I am not saying she is my new BFF or anything (I’d need a reality TV show to pick a new one of them!) but you can’t help but feel a little sorry for the flailing lass. Speaking of Lame Is it just me or does the new Nickelback album, Dark Horse, sound just like all their previous records? I am sure this isn’t news to anyone so I don’t know why I am going to go off about it but I am. They have clearly found a formula that works for them; it generates income, wins them awards, and brings them fame. But much like most popular music acts of our time, I find myself unable to make mention of art or quality whilst discussing this bands music. I admit right off the bat I have never purchased a Nickelback album but I somehow know all their older radio hits. These days I listen to a radio station that refuses to play any Nickelback songs (The Zone 91.3 FM in Victoria, BC). This prompted me to go to their website where I listened to “Gotta Be Somebody”. Yeah…it sounds like any/every other NB song I have ever heard. I will go out on a limb and ASSUME the rest of the album is more of the same. It’s catchy I guess, but so generic. The older I get the more I expect from the music I listen to. I already have a collection of the mindnumbing crap from when I was a teenager, now I want music to mean something, tell a story worth hearing, make me reach deep and gawd forbid: THINK. I want to be amazed; I do not want to be fed something generated to perpetuate a mindless market. Currently I can download ANY music I want to for free, yet I still buy albums because I want to support artists and their art. Nickelback to me is a machine, punching out the same crap they always have, no evolution, no growth. As William Shatner would say “I can’t get behind that!” Reznor Resonates Saw Nine Inch Nails Dec 5th in Victoria. WOW. I am not a fan of big arena shows but Mr. Reznor and Co. kicked my ass. Not only was the music in fine form, the stage show/ lighting/visual effects were astounding. It was reminiscent of seeing Tool at the same venue a year prior. They had cameras set up around the venue, projecting on the giant screen at the back of the stage. The screen was split into boxed sections, some of the boxes were showing live images, some were showing pre-recorded images/video (someone bent over a washroom sink getting their hump on), some were showing a live feed of fans rocking out, the band, etc. During “Closer”, Trent Reznor would move out of sight, to the rear of the stage and sing into the camera positioned to project onto the giant back screen. “Hurt” was incredible live, despite the young drunk girl who wouldn’t stop screaming like a banshee in my ear. It was all really amazing. I got a great laugh out of the venue’s stand on cigarettes. It was widely publicized that if you showed up with cigarettes in your pocket or bag you would not be permitted entry until you got rid of them. Fair enough. As a non-smoker I am a little bit in love with the “smoking in public” crackdowns but that’s just me. The funniest part of it was, once inside and seated, the smell of pot smoke hit you like a cement truck. Nice work guys. Chad Kroeger 31 Editor’s letter s t r s e t c n e n v o c &e > Jan 15 - Vancouver Tha Railway Club Bob Kemmis, Ben Sures, Poor Elijah www.therailwayclub.com > Jan 15 - Vancouver O’Doul’s Restaurant & Bar Live Jazz Karin Plato Trio www.odoulsrestaurant.com > Jan 16- Vancouver Rio Theatre All Ages Show Kathleen Edwards www.livenation.com > Jan 16 - Kelowna The Habitat Music BC Interior Office Launch Party w/live entertainment www.musicbc.org > Jan 16 - Vancouver The Railway Club Team Winston Showcase Wanting, Nat Jay, Savannah Leigh Band, Winston www.therailwayclub.com > Jan 16 - Vancouver Trees Organic Coffee Friday Music Night Various Artists www.treescoffee.com > Jan 16 – Cumberland The Waverley Mobadass Feat. Wide Mouth Mason co-founder Earl Pereira www.waverleyhotel.ca > Jan 17 - Victoria Sugar Nightclub The Return of Los Furios To The Island Los Furios, Brave New Waves www.ticketweb.ca > Jan 17 - Vancouver The Media Club Sex With Strangers Adjective, The SSRI’s, ACCOST www.themediaclub.ca > Jan 17 - Victoria Alix Goolden Performance Hall Kathleen Edwards, Dustin Bentall www.ticketweb.ca > Jan 18 - Victoria Lucky Bar Atomique Productions and Kool FM Present… Lights, Chad Michael Stewart www.ticketweb.ca > Jan 18 - North Vancouver Capilano College Performing Arts Theatre Cap Folk & Roots Les Yeux Noirs (604) 990-7810 > Jan 21 - Vernon Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre Rebuild Hurlburt Presents… Randy Bachman www.ticketseller.ca > Jan 22 - Vancouver Richards on Richards AMS Events Presents… Hey Ocean! www.amsevents.ca > Jan 22 - Victoria Logan’s Pub Island Metal Feast Archon Legion, Unleash The Archers www.loganspub.com > Jan 23 - Vancouver The Balmoral Princess Productions Presents… Cockney Rejects www.ticketmaster.ca > Jan 23 - Vancouver Pat’s Pub & Brewhouse The Stereo Three Do Pat’s Pub! The Stereo Three, Rockpile, The Living Deadbeats www.patspub.ca > Jan 23 - Vancouver The Railway Club CITIZENS FOR AIRPLANES CD RELEASE Citizens for Airplanes, Matthew Walko, Carlo Dizio, Way to go Einstein www.imuproductions.com > Jan 23 - Vancouver The Commodore Ballroom > Jan 22 - Vancouver Richards on Richards AMS Events Presents… Hey Ocean! 35 Editor’s letter s t r s e t c n e n v o e c & Randy Bachman & Wil www.livenation.com > Jan 23 - Coquitlam Red Robinson Show Theatre Honeymoon Suite, Prism www.ticketmaster.com > Jan 24 - Vancouver The Media Club Tenant Dreams of Treason, Cry of Silence, Finite State Machines www.imuproductions.com > Jan 24 - Courtenay Old Church Theatre A Winter’s Eve Concert Strathcona Symphony Orchestra (250) 337-5205 > Jan 24 - Victoria Metro Theatre Atomique Productions Presents… Jeremy Fisher, Hannah Georgas www.ticketweb.ca > Jan 24 - Victoria Sugar Nightclub Rotting Christ Manic Ritual, Epicurean atomiqueproductions.com > Jan 24 - Kelowna O’Flanagans Pub Mountainstock Music Festival Hardwire Spears, Girl Goes Electric & More mountainstockfestival.com > Jan 24 to Feb 1 Prince George Various Venues COLDSNAP MUSIC FESTIVAL Alex Cuba, Marc Atkinson Trio & More www.coldsnapfestival.com > Jan 25 - Vancouver The Media Club Pro Soul Alliance Launch Party Performances by Pro Soul Artists www.prosoul.com > Jan 26 - Vancouver The Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts Theory Of A Deadman www.ticketcity.com > Jan 27 to Feb 7 Vancouver Performance Works 34 PuSH International Performing Arts Festival Dean Wareham, Gunshae & More www.pushfestival.ca > Jan 30 - Victoria Sugar Nightclub Bison BC, Hierophant, Crown the Wolf www.sugarnightclub.ca > Jan 30 - Victoria Soprano’s The Switchblade Valentines www.ticketweb.ca > Jan 31 - Vancouver The Red Room Magnetized Productions Presents… Nylithia, Red Ant Army www.myspace.com/magnetizedproductions > Jan 28 - Duncan Duncan Garage Showroom Colin Linden www.duncangarageshowroom.ca > Jan 28 - Vancouver The Orpheum KODO DRUMMERS OF JAPAN (604) 665-3050 > Jan 30 - Vancouver The Bourbon TARL, JORDAN CARRIER, Colette Trudeau www.imuproductions.com > Jan 30 - Vancouver The Railway Club LOS CAMINOS CD Release Party Los Caminos, Swank, MEXICAN DRUG PATROL www.imuproductions.com > Jan 31 - Vancouver The Bourbon The OUTLIERS STOLEN GEAR FUNDRAISER The OUTLIERS, Black Mondo Grass, ANATHEMATIC www.imuproductions.com > Jan 31 - Vancouver Richard’s On Richards Divine Brown www.livenation.com > Feb 1 - Metchosin New St. Mary’s Church Touchig Bass With The Classics Sooke Philharmonic Chamber Players www.sookephil.ca > Feb 1 to Feb 8 Victoria Various Venues The Victoria Film Festival victoriafilmfestival.com > Feb 1 to 11 - Vancouver Norman Rothstein Theatre The Emperor of Atlantis Live Staging www.cityoperavancouver.com > Feb 2 - Vancouver The Commodore Ballroom Cradle Of Filth w/ Satyricon, Septic Flesh www.livenation.com > Feb 3 - Surrey Bell Performing Arts Centre Jaydee Bixby, The Higgins www.livenation.com > Feb 5 - Victoria Sugar Nightclub Bob Marley Birthday Bash Rasta Reuben, Selassie iPower, Fredlocks Asher www.ticketweb.ca > Feb 5 - Prince George CN Centre Loverboy www.onlineseats.com > Feb 6 - Vancouver The Orpheum Theatre Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad Broken Social Scene, Tegan And Sara www.showtimetickets.com > Feb 6 - Nanaimo Port Theatre Bob Marley Birthday Bash Fredlocks Asher and Rasta Reuben www.porttheatre.com > Feb 6 - Vancouver The Beaumont Stage Vancouver City Limits Wanting www.myspace.com/wanting > Feb 7 - Vancouver The Bourbon The DARKEST OF THE HILLSIDE THICKETS www.imuproductions.com > Feb 8 - Vancouver The Commodore Ballroom Meshuggah www.livenation.com > Feb 8 - Kamloops Interior Savings Centre The Rankin Family www.onlineseats.com > Feb 9 - Kelowna Kelowna Community Theatre Bryan Adams www.onlineseats.com > Feb 10 Saltspring Island Artspring Daniel Okulitch www.artspring.ca/tickets > Feb 11 - Vancouver The Commodore Ballroom LYKKE LI, Wildbirds and Peacedrums www.timbreproductionsconcerts.com > Feb 12 - Vancouver Queen Elizabeth Theatre Sarah McLachlan www.sarahmclachlan.com > Feb 12 - Vancouver The Red Room Wide Mouth Mason www.myspace.com/magnetizedproductions > Feb 13 - Vancouver The Commodore Ballroom Murder City Devils www.sealedwithakisspresents.com > Feb 13 - Vancouver The Railway Club DANNY ECHO CD RELEASE PARTY Danny Echo, Cinderpop, Arctic www.imuproductions.com > Feb 13 - Sidney Mary Winspear Centre Double Diamond, TUSK (250) 479-3076 > Feb 14 - Nanaimo Red Martini Grill The Lounge Lizards (250) 753-5181 > Feb 16 - Vancouver St. James Community Hall Rogue Folk Club Stephen Fearing, Dave Gunning www.roguefolk.bc.ca > Feb 17 - Vancouver Vancouver Public Library Central Branch Music of the Whole World (FREE show) Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra 604-331-3716 > Feb 17 - Victoria Element Nightclub Kardinal Offishall www.elementnightclub.ca > Feb 17 - Victoria Sugar Nightclub Kool Keith atomiqueproductions.com > Feb 18 - Vancouver The Bourbon Three Chord Rebel Productions Presents… PAYDAY MILLIONAIRE, The Emangolons www.myspace.com/ gordberry Feb 20 - Vancouver The Biltmore Cabaret A.C. Newman www.biltmorecabaret.com > Feb 20 - Vancouver Queen Elizabeth Theatre David Byrne, Brian Eno www.livenation.com > Feb 20 - Victoria Lucky Bar The Laundronauts www.myspace.com/ cloveandanchor] > Feb 22 - Vancouver Richard’s on Richards The Yardbirds www.rockitboy.com > Feb 23 - Victoria The Red Jacket LA Riots atomiqueproductions.com > Feb 26 - Victoria Royal Theatre Bill Frisell, Russell Malone www.jazzvictoria.ca > Feb 27 - Vancouver The Commodore Ballroom Hawksley Workman www.ticketmaster.ca > Feb 27 - Esquimalt Esquimalt Legion Mile Zero www.milezero-band.com > Feb 27 - Port Alberni Capitol Theatre Shona Le Mottee (250) 724-3412 > Feb 27 - Duncan Duncan Garage Showroom Prevedoros, Golden and Joy duncangarageshowroom.ca > Feb 28 - Vancouver The Peanut Gallery (436 West Pender) Hard Feelings, Defektors, B-Lines www.myspace.com/ toothextratction presented by:
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