The Gig: Slyde
Where: Hard Luck, Toronto, ON, Canada
When: 6 January 2012
In One Word: Windmills

How apt that Canadian metal veterans Anvil should be standing at the back of the room at Hard Luck Bar, while on stage a big-dreaming young metal band called Slyde were entertaining the crowd, playing a show that could be seen as the next step of their own Anvil-like journey towards that eternal quest of all musicians: To make it.

Steve ‘Lips’ Kudlow and Robb Reiner’s lifetime struggle to pursue their own rockstar dreams was captured wonderfully in the documentary Anvil: The Story Of Anvil. The success of that film, that had metalheads more watery eyed than Metallica & Lou Reed’s Lulu (but for altogether different reasons), has led to Anvil being forever immortalised in Canadian music folklore, while the band has toured extensively since and recorded their last album This Is Thirteen at Dave Grohl’s Studio 606. A poster story for determination, if ever there was one.

Anvil’s story drew lots of comparisons to the infamous metal mockumentary Spinal Tap, and the fun side to Anvil’s character added to the charm. Slyde have a comparable charm factor; a burly, Pantera-mold of metal band, they are not. They play a metal show that is actually enjoyable to watch, and in the moment it’s hard not to nudge the cute blonde nearby and inquire, “Are Slyde not the greatest band ever?!” With big hair windmills, deft keyboard arpeggios, a six-string bass, guitar tapping, face-twisting passion… it’s all ridiculous. Frontman Nathan Da Silva’s guitar case for his Flying V is even cut to the shape of the Flying V itself. Brilliant. Throw some socially and environmentally conscious lyrics into the mix, and you have an unusual – and more than just a tad geeky – metal band. Slyde are a heck of a lot of fun to watch. Yet while they are fun, none of what they do is a joke – being fun and resembling something of a caricature of a metal band is just part of what Slyde are about. With their presentation and performance, the band make a real effort to entertain their crowd. And with half the group already having moved recently to Toronto from Ottawa, they are serious with their ambitions. What really matters is the music…

At Hard Luck, the level of musicianship of this band was damn impressive. Slyde are so articulate. The classically trained Sarah Westbrook is frequently the extra dimension as she links and sets-up the guitar and bass players for all their fluctuations as the music goes from melodic metal to high-octane metal, with a distinctly European feel. The reception in Toronto was warm but if a little standoffish. If this was a rock club in Scandinavia it may easily have been a different story.  The fun, cheesy factor of their driving upbeat metal has a distinct Euro tang to it that would export well… Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, are you reading?

Without getting too carried away with poetic license, there is a bit of a sad irony seeing a band pack up their gear to the stage backdrop emblazoned with the giant letters ‘Hard Luck’. It’s still early days for this group, with just one full-length recording under their belts. At the moment they lack the one or two A songs they need to really pull a following. Yet 48 hours after seeing this show, I was still enthusiastically regaling to friends about Slyde: With some bigger hooks, Slyde could have their fans singing their tunes after the show too.

© Brian Banks, Editor, Music Vice

Watch out for an interview with Slyde, coming soon to Music Vice.

Video footage of Slyde performing new song “Take Us Away” at Hard Luck Bar

Internet links: Slyde

Share and discuss using the links below. Follow Music Vice on Twitter at @MusicVice. Long Live Indie.

Meeting Anvil
Earlier this month on Saturday 12 March, during Canadian Music Week 2011, I had the privilege of meeting Canadian metal band Anvil. Two years earlier, I had first learned about Anvil after first seeing them live on Friday night at CMW ’09 and then later that weekend seeing the Canadian premiere of their documentary Anvil! The Story of Anvil. That film was my highlight of CMW ’09. It is an outstanding rock and roll movie but also just an immensely powerful and moving human story of endevour and commitment… you should really see this film if you haven’t already. Fast forward two years, and here I was in the soon-to-opened Noble Street recording studios where around a dozen or so people, mostly press and industry, were invited to join Anvil’s Steve “Lips” Kudlow and Robb Reiner for a listening party for their next album Juggernaut of Justice, due for release in Spring.

It was a really cool experience: sitting there in the swanky master control room of the studio, with it’s ginormous  NASA space command mixing desk, while hearing the first play of Juggernaut of Justice from the FLAC files that Noble Street had received from Dave Grohl’s Studio 606 where the album was recorded. Rad.

It was also a slightly awkward experience. To hear the album track-by-track for the first time ever while in the room with other press and the band themselves… it was a unusual and the first time I’ve ever been in that situation. Of course, there was hearty hand-clapping and fond words after each song. For the duration of the play-through, Steve Kudlow stood standing next to the doorway looking thoughtful, and a bit inward, as he was likely gauging the reactions of the people in the room. Hopefully Steve was proud of his record. When the album had played through and we were back in the  studio reception area, Anvil’s publicist Paula asked me what I thought of the album and I wasn’t going to exaggerate the truth: “Well it definitely Anvil,” I replied.  But the best Anvil album ever, right? Sure. It’s the best Anvil that I’ve heard – I especially liked the more Motorhead style tracks of the album -  but it’s still Anvil. And as much as I love them for who they are, Anvil’s music is never going to change the world.

Dedication
The thing that really endears me to Anvil is not so much their music but their spirit. The reason Anvil’s story is so moving is because they never gave up. And that kind of dedication is something that has to be admired. Meeting Anvil during Canadian Music Week 2011 was special for this reason more than any other. Because even if I’m not a huge fan of their music, I still have a ton of admiration for Anvil for the same reason that most people do, due to that never-say-die attitude. Lips also has an endearing winning-grin. Definitely underdogs that I’m happy to see make it.

Being dedicated is something that has been on my mind a lot recently. As the editor and founder of Music Vice, I have a ton of fun and there are some amazing experiences but running a global online music magazine is a never-ending load of hard work. And this is not my job – it’s the reason I went to University but for me, Rock and Roll Don’t Pay The Rent. In fact, doing this costs me money…  the host servers, domains, bandwidth, etc. Music Vice is and always has been entirely an entirely independent, DIY publication: what this means in reality is that like most blogs and zines, we have no money and that myself and all the contributors involved do this for their own love of music. It’s a lot of work and a lot of dedication. I’m stoked to see how something that I started as a ‘zine in college nine years ago is now an online mag with some great writers and photographers helping out from three corners of the globe. I’m immensely proud of the work and content that we all put together and it’s especially cool when we get a big-hit story, such as recently when we covered The Verge Music Awards and outranked even the Globe & Mail by being number one on Google and the related news wires. Score. That stuff is cool. That’s the plus side of dedication: having a cool website that we can use as a soapbox to talk about music.

The downside to dedication is that sometimes you wonder what it’s all for. To give you a brief snapshot of my average week at present: I currently work at least 45 hours a week at my day job, often running to a coffee shop at lunchtime to catch up on website related stuff such including editing, writing, and all the emails  (currently my inbox shows 3227 unread emails – haven’t done a mass delete in two months), then in the evening if I’m not heading out to cover a show then I’m likely inside working on my monitor tan as I do more work for the site.  On top of that, I also now have to fit in time each week for my new indie radio show, Radio Wunderbar, and my band. At the end of the month I pay my rent and my bills and after groceries and the odd beer at a show, I still don’t even break even; that’s the bread & butter reality of it. It’s a common ‘starving artist’ living reality that is shared among some of my friends and so many of the  indie bands out there. We all have day jobs. To me it’s about survival and just continuing to be in this great city with its amazing music scene, which was the reason I hopped the Atlantic in the first place.

“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” – Einstein.

And maybe it is crazy. But dedication comes easy if you love something enough – like spending 30 years of your life studying lions. For the most part there is always a regular enough flow of great moments to make it all seem worthwhile. Like discovering a new favourite band or making a cool new friend. The odd thank-you is always welcome too, but we’re not in this for the back-pats; we just do it all because we’re hooked on music and we like to talk about it. Simple.

Life in an indie band is a crazy amount of hard-work and dedication
Anvil’s story is all about hard work and dedication. There are thousands of other bands out there right now who are busting a gut to try and get somewhere with the music. Among these were my favourite bands from Canadian Music Week: The Black Phoenix Orchestra, who drove across Canada from Calgary to be in Toronto for CMW;  the Zoobombs, who toured North America this month with stops at CMW and SXSW to try and build their fanbase and  find a record label here; and right here, in my adopted home of Toronto, The Mercy Now are one of hundreds of talented bands in a very big fish pond who are slugging away to get somewhere with their music; and the fantastic Berlin Brides from Greece, who returned to Canada again (they played Indie Week last October) but are still yet to find a label here despite managing to pack-out their CMW showcases. (The Berlin Brides ended their CMW experience by being guests on my new indie radio show Radio Wunderbar – they were great, look out for the podcast soon on Music Vice!)

Illegitimi non carborundum

The bad side to all this obsessive dedication is that sometimes you have to deal with some bullshit. It’s part of life but this is especially inevitable in the music industry. There are plenty of cool people in the music scene but there is also no shortage of  low-life rats and assholes. Unfortunately, I ran into a few of these rats in the build-up to Canadian Music Week. I’ll say nothing more but it’s the usual tale of lies, false promises and general shittyness from music biz people. This kind of stuff is an a chore and a hassle. At these moments I remember; “Illegitimi non carborundum” – don’t let the bastards grind you down. Life is too short.

Sounding Off
Earlier on Saturday at CMW, before meeting Anvil and seeing the Zoobombs, I met up with Darren McDade, frontman of the Black Phoenix Orchestra. Darren was one of the most real, straight-talking, non-bullshit, musicians that I have had the priviledge of meeting. Off the record, Darren told me a few stories about the bad side to being in an indie band, with some stories of lies and let-downs from agents and promoters. It was refreshingly honest. On the record, he had this to say (mildly explicit, F-bombs from yours truly included):

Sums things up nicely.

Best of luck to all the bands who made it to CMW, I hope you all got something positive from the experience. Stay dedicated. The next big one in Canada is NXNE ’11, can’t wait! (Who cares about the Junos? Not me!).Big shout to all my awesome contributors who make up team Music Vice, with a special mention to Toronto contributors Natascha, James, Renee, Caroline and Darcy for all  the help with CMW coverage. Thanks , as ever, to the bands, promoters and labels who help continue to support this website by providing access to artists, their shows and music. Long live indie!!!

© Brian Banks, Editor, Music Vice

SOUNDWAVE 2010 PREVIEW

February sees the return of one of Australia’s most innovative and exciting music festivals for those who like their music fast and hard. With over 40 bands on the tour, the question of which acts to see will surely be at the forefront of the minds of Soundwave attendees, so here’s Music Vice’s guide to who’s who this year. We recommend:

The Creepshow
Bringing more to the psychobilly genre than most, the Creepshow’s keyboard-laden tracks and powerful vocal melodies owe as much to the Sunset Strip hair metal scene of the late 80s as they do to the Nekromantix. Sticking to the well-worn psychobilly subject matter of demons, scorned women and the undead, the Creepshow are sure to be a fun start to proceedings.
Related link: The Creepshow at Scene Music Festival 2008

The Aquabats
Perhaps best known for being the band in which Blink-182s Travis Barker cut his teeth, and being the guys behind kid’s TV show Yo Gabba Gabba, this group of goofy Californian ska-punkers are a must-see for Soundwave 2010.

Comeback Kid
For the hardcore fans in attendance, Comeback Kid brings to the table all that a hardcore band should be. Break-downs a plenty and a level of musicianship above par for the genre mean that Comeback Kid will more than likely win over a slew of new fans on this tour. Get there early to avoid disappointment.

The Weakerthans
Flying the Americana/folk rock flag on this tour are The Weakerthans. This group from Winnipeg, Canada proves that you don’t need a stack of Marshall amps and cookie monster vocals to move a festival crowd, though the rock n’ roll fans will also find plenty to like about The Weakerthans. A strange blend of Lucero, The Eels and Weezer; this is another band to look out for this year.

Anti-Flag
For the politically charged, activist punk rockers in attendance, you need go no further than Pittsburg, Pennsylvania’s Anti-Flag. While their lyrical content may be too much for some of the older, more jaded festival-goers to endure, there’s no denying Anti-Flag’s ability to pen a catchy hook and capture an audience.
Related link: Anti-Flag Interview

Reel Big Fish
Last year’s Soundwave festival was a veritable haven for late-90’s ska fans, with Goldfinger and Less Than Jake playing back-to-back sets. This year Reel Big Fish will be catering to that crowd, and with one of the best festival songs ever in their arsenal (1996’s “Beer”) they are sure to please.
Related link: Reel Big Fish Interview

Paramore
Equally sure to please a lot of people are Paramore, who will be the must-see for many of the younger crowd attending Soundwave. Of all the pop punk and emo bands that the last decade gave us, Paramore were a more-likeable cut above the rest and became one of the biggest bands around. With their third album Brand New Eyes topping the charts everywhere back in September last year, their popularity only seems to be growing – worth a look.
Related link: Paramore at Kool Haus, Toronto

Anthrax
If you don’t know why you should be seeing Anthrax then you don’t deserve to be going to music festivals. An absolute staple of 80’s heavy metal and more influential than the Bible, Anthrax know what they’re doing, and they do it well. Predictions are for a sweaty mass of hair and leather to contend with at the front of the crowd for this one, so if that’s not your thing it’s advisable to enjoy Anthrax from a distance.

Alexisonfire
Another one for the hardcore kids, this Canadian 5-piece have a strong following, which has been growing as of late thanks to their latest release, Old Crows/Young Cardinals which provides more crossover appeal than previous releases.

Anvil
As some of the elder statesmen of this year’s Soundwave, Anvil prove, in much the same way as Motorhead, that three old men can rock harder and better than the current trend of 5 or 6 piece heavy rock acts. Anyone who has seen the recent documentary Anvil! The Story Of Anvil will know that this band has well and truly done the hard yards over the last three decades and will be a solid bet for your festival-going dollar.
Related link: Anvil at Canadian Music Week 2009

Placebo
Brian Molko and pals return for what seems like their thousandth run of Australian festival shows. With an ever growing back-catalogue of hits to draw from, Placebo rank highly as one of Australia’s best loved rock and roll imports, being the soundtrack to so many happy summers, and this tour promises to be no exception. Again, crowds will be heavy for this set and pitty goes out to whatever unfortunate bands draw the short straw and have to play at the same time as Placebo.

AFI
Doing their best to cheer up the emo kids this year will be California’s AFI. With the increasingly prominent electronica aspects to their recorded efforts, it will be interesting to see how this translates to a live setting. There’s no denying the charisma or vocal range of front man Davey Havock nor the band’s songwriting skills, even if their fashion choices can raise more than a few eyebrows.

Faith No More
And finally, your headliners. Securing the newly-reformed talents of San Francisco’s Faith No More has proven to be an absolute coup for the organisers of Soundwave. While partially to blame for the rap-rock nu-metal explosion of the early 2000s, FNM are so, so much more than that. Mike Patton is without compare as the mad scientist of rock and roll and drummer Mike Bordin is a sight to behold. This is guaranteed to be a truly “Epic” performance. Do not miss.

Dates:
Saturday 20 February – Brisbane, Qld
Sunday 21 February – Sydney, NSW
Friday 26 February – Melbourne, VIC
Saturday 27 February – Adelaide, SA
Monday 1 March – Perth, WA

For tickets, full lineup details and all sorts of other goodies, check out Soundwave.com.

Canadian Music Week 2009 Review
Festival review and photos by Music Vice editor Brian Banks, March 18, 2009

Canadian Music Week is a three day music festival with over 500 bands playing in venues across Toronto. It’s a whole lot like NXNE, which runs in June every year.

Gig/Concert: Canadian Music Week
Venue: Various venues in Toronto, ON, Canada
Date: March 12-14, 2009
Headliners: Bloc Party
In one word: Oldschool

Thursday, March 12
My first experience at CMW 2009 started on Thursday, March 12th, as I made a brief visit to the Royal York in downtown Toronto to pick up my media pass. I timed this to coincide with Gene Simmons keynote speech and media Q&A. An opportunity to see Simmons ‘in the flesh’ so to speak – or at least that plastic surgery, as seen in Gene Simmons’ Family Jewels – was too much to resist.

Simmons appearance at CMW became a springboard for a promo event for his label Simmons Records, which is operated under the wing of Universal Music Canada. Nobody should be surprised that Simmons used the CMW spotlight for some self-promotion. Naturally, Simmons has some personally-vested interests in his own label, and everybody knows that he is a master of self-promotion and merchandising. People have moaned that he doesn’t ‘need’ any extra money, but of course he still has the right to earn. The biggest reaction to all of this, aside from the money topic, is the resounding cry – what does Simmons know about the Canada music biz? Probably not a lot, but if it turns out a few bands get helped out by getting on his label, then heck, that can’t be a bad thing, can it? After all, we are in the middle of a bloody recession…

Well, according to the opinion of ‘some guy’ called Bob Lefseftz, Mr Simmons has no business at all in Canada. Lefsetz and Simmons sat down together in front of the media for half an hour of what resembled a playground shouting match – with Bob questiong Gene’s motivations and calling him asshole, and Gene responding with jokes about doing Bob’s mother, and generally poking fun at Bob by qupping that he’d never heard of him before. (Amusing clips of Simmons vs Lefsetz can be found online; check out YouTube, or watch the entire showdown here, courtesy of CityNews.)

Friday, March 13
Snore! Away from the industry schmoozing and verbal bruising, Canadian Music Week kicked off properly for me on Friday night. With so many bands playing from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m., in venues across Toronto, it was a skull-scratcher to figure out where and when to go. I decided to spend Friday night in and around the venues on Queen Street West, as that area had the highest proportion of bands and venues per square kilometre.

My first stop was at the Hideout, after I was drawn inside by some sweet pounding rock music from local band Cathartic. I only caught the very last moments of their set, which came to an end sometime after 9.30. I then headed further west on Queen Street in search of more music, but for a moment all the venues were quiet, as the bands who had played the 9 o’clock time slot had finished their sets, and changeovers were happening. I chose to go inside Velvet Underground, where a crowd was gathering for a Toronto band called Anvil.

Lips of Anvil at Canadian Music Week

“There was a comedy element to it all, but that’s part of the Anvil package – a classic 80’s metal sound, with some questionable lyrics but an undeniable charm.“

I’d never heard of Anvil before, but here inside VU were a posse of fans adorned in Anvil t-shirts and denim jackets with Anvil patches. At 10.20 p.m. Anvil came on, with their lead singer & guitarist Steve ‘Lips’ Kudlow making his entrance by delving into the crowd. Lips, with his crazy eyes and crazy hair, set off a charging set of 80’s hair metal. There was a comedy element to it all, but that’s part of the package – a classic 80’s metal sound, with some questionable lyrics but an undeniable charm. Anvil are a lot of fun, and I’d find out more about them the following day.

Over at The Reverb I caught the last fifteen minutes of One Second 2 Late, a young band from Newcastle, Ontario. I was reeled in by the band’s onstage ebullience; it was a highly-charged performance, with the leaps and bounds of the band members being accented by some fallout style lighting, with the lamps dialled to ‘atom bomb’ mode. Although, ultimately, their chug-a-long pop rock failed to make a lasting impact on me, and I’d pretty much forgotten what I’d just heard by the time I headed downstairs to the Kathedral. Playing were a similairy named band from Alberta called 10 Second Epic, who were less energetic, and less interesting too. I stayed for a couple of songs before going in search of more music.

Next up, I tried to get into Rok Boutique, but the place was rammed, so I got turned away. I’m glad this happened, because otherwise I might not have walked into Bovine Sex Club that night. Over at Bovine I caught the dying seconds of Voodoo Bunny, and then hung out until GrimSkunk came on at midnight. GrimSkunk were absolutely class!

It’s getting near three years now since I first landed in Canada, and I cannot believe I’ve never heard, or even heard about, GrimSkunk before. Man, I’ve been missing out! It turns out that this Montreal rock band have been around since the late 80’s. During their forty minute set at Bovine, I got to hear a taster of their back catalogue – “America Sucks” and “No Sympathy” were a couple of the songs that I managed to pick up on straight-away.

“GrimSkunk maintain an overall identity to their music, despite it being so eclectically diverse. They touch a nerve with me that very few bands hit.“

GrimSkunk’s vocal work was shared by two guys – Franz Schuller on guitar, and Joe Evil on Keyboard. Franz has a more grungy or reggae style of singing, whilst Joe is more of a shouter and screamer. GrimSkunk maintain an overall identity to their music, despite it being so eclectically diverse. They have a brilliant sound, rich in elements of rock, grunge, prog, synth and reggae, and they deliver it with a punk rock intensity.

GrimSkunk touch a nerve with me that very few bands hit. GrimSkunk at Bovine Sex Club is a gig that I’m going to rave about for a while to anybody who will listen. The very next day I was out searching for GrimSkunk albums in the record stores on Queen West.

I spent the rest of Friday night at the Bovine, where I saw Brazilian band Black Drawing Chalks, who capped the night off nicely. A fun show with some solid tunes, and with the most blatant groping incident I’ve ever seen at a gig, when a middle-aged lady grabbed between the legs of the lead singer.

Saturday. March 14

At the National Film Board cinema, I attended big movie of CMW: Anvil! The Story of Anvil. The NFB is a really small theatre with one screen, which seats some 100 or so people. I know the place, as it was the venue for Reel Awareness last year – a film festival by Amnesty International that I had helped organise. Nothing at that festival had come close to the amount of people that were lined-up to see Anvil here at CMW. There were two lines that snaked down the stairs from either side of the narrow corridor. You really won’t find a more polite and patient bunch of people than Canadian metalheads, as everyone had waited patiently and helped each other form orderly queues. The venue was packed, and extra seats were brought in to the theatre to accommodate people standing on the sides.

“…easily one of the greatest rock ‘n roll movies ever made.“

The movie was an absolute triumph; easily one of the greatest rock ‘n roll movies ever made. The film documents a year in the life of Lips and the other original Anvil member Robb Reiner (drums), who are both now over 50 years old. It charts their beginnings, to a career peek in 1984 when they played the Super Rock festival in Japan, alongside Whitesnake and Bon Jovi. Interview clips from Slash, Lars from Metallica and Lemmy from Motorhead all cite Anvil as being a hugely influential band, that for various reasons had their career swept under the rug, and never got a big break.

Anvil have never given up on their childhood dreams of rock stardom and ‘making it’, and the movie by directorial debutant and life-long Anvil fan Sacha Gervasi does an excellent job at capturing the band’s undying desire to still do themselves justice, and to get the break they feel they deserve. The movie is an Access All Areas view into every aspect of Anvil’s struggles and endeavours. There are more laughs than Spinal Tap, but you also get such a personal glimpse into the life and struggles of the band, especially of Lips, that you’ll need a heart of stone to not feel moved at the critical moments.

The screening of Anvil ended with warm applause. Later that evening Anvil were inducted into ‘The Indies‘ Hall Of Fame, at the Royal York. To me the old school stole the show at CMW, after discovering the excellent GrimSkunk, and with Anvil rightly earning the most headlines of the weekend, stealing the thunder from British band Bloc Party, who were the actual headline act of CMW, for whatever reason.

© Brian Banks

Photos from Canadian Music Week 2009

Anvil

One Second 2 Late

GrimkSkunk

Black Drawing Chalks

Links:
Anvil – www.myspace.com/anvilmetal
GrimSkunk – www.grimskunk.com