Folk on the Rocks music festival in Yellowknife

We got pulled over by the police on our way to the gig. In our driver's defence, the speed limit on the highway had suddenly been changed to from 60 km/h to 20 overnight, in anticipation of the festival goers that would be swarming the roads on foot that night. To the police officer's credit, he let us off with a warning and he didn't make a big deal of the fact that I was obviously scrambling to put on my seat belt.

We had been invited to perform at one of the biggest music festivals in the Canadian North: Folk on the Rocks in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. It was a fantastic opportunity and experience and I was stoked for another chance to go back up north to one of my favourite cities in Canada.

With a population of less than 20,000, Yellowknife is a small town, even by Canadian standards. But it's one of the largest cities in the Canadian North, larger than any community in Nunavut including Iqaluit, so it tends to be a thriving hub for arts and culture in the north. Every time I go back there, I'm pleasantly surprised by just how much this city has going on for it - including a delicious culinary scene featuring a variety of ethnic flavours and fine dining, and lots and lots of fish; a tight-knit queer scene; and so much awesome music.

Although I've performed in Yellowknife several times before, including at NWT Pride, this was my first time experiencing Folk on the Rocks. I thought I had an idea of what to expect, but it was way cooler than I could have dreamed of.

First of all, the festival is held in the woods on the shores by a lake, specifically Long Lake. I had known that before, but I had not clued in that this meant that it was a beach festival. I love walking through soft sand, and there was no shortage of that. And with the long hours of daylight that comes with summer in the north, it was such a magical feeling to be dancing to indie band Operators in my bare feet in the sand while the sun set - and it was almost midnight!

Operators 

beach party aftermath

Despite the fact that it's a small town music festival, it featured multiple stages and lots of programming, so yes, festival goers do have to choose between the various acts that are all performing at the same time - tough decisions for music lovers!

Shad on the main stage

The Trade-Offs on the Lakeside Stage

It was clear that the festival had put a lot of thought into organizing the event. Because Yellowknife has soooo many artists and other creative folks, everything was splashed with mural paintings, even the outhouses and the trash cans.

 

The festival has also gone to great lengths with respect to social responsibility. I was impressed by all the efforts to preserve the festival space so that it could continue to be used in future years. There was recycling and composting available everywhere. We discovered this when we (gasp) threw out our paper plates in the trash can, and a volunteer hurried up to us to remind us that the plates   In response to an incident last year, the festival also designed a safe space policy which included the Safety Squad, volunteers dressed in purple who make sure everyone is partying safely.

Also, the hospitality was pretty great. The green room, for example, had a view like nothing else.

The artists' hospitality section also featured a fried fish dinner catered by the one and only Bullock's Bistro, one of the most famous restaurants in Yellowknife, known for their delicious fish sauce - don't try asking what the secret ingredient is though....

On Sunday, we wandered around town, trying to find a place to grab a bite and a little drink. I'd forgotten that everything is closed on Sundays in Yellowknife. Everything. Even the few restaurants that are usually open on Sundays were closed, because the owners were off at Folk on the Rocks. And that was the truth: Folk on the Rocks is the place to be in Yellowknife.

meeting up with old friends at the festival

 Because our flights were sponsored by the northern airline Canadian North, we ended up flying through Iqaluit, which ended up being its own adventure - but that's a story for another day.

Iqaluit Composting and Zero Waste

I've been working on a really cool art project lately with Ottawa-based artist Mailyne Briggs, who has been documenting her fascinating journey through the Zero Waste philosphy. The idea is to try to reduce one's garbage output to almost zero. It involves significant lifestyle changes (like not buying things that come in disposable plastic wrapping), but if we all became a little more conscious about waste reduction, you can only imagine the significant impact it would have on our landfills and the environment in general.

This Sunday, at Winston Square in Westboro, we're going to be doing a very unique art installation where Mailyne will be creating a work of art out of all of the garbage she's produced since she adopted the Zero Waste concept in February - apparently she can fit it all in a jar. While she's doing this, I'll be performing music to accompany her, using my synths and my loop pedal to create a soundscape.

I'll also be wearing this dress, custom-designed for me for this event by Ottawa fashion designer Brandi Tweed of Sabrina Jade Modeling.

The music I'll be playing are pieces that I composed for this event, all along the theme of waste reduction. One of the tracks features an interview I did with Iqaluit resident Jim Little, who has been running one of the only composting programs in Nunavut for years. Finding True North wrote a great feature about him a while back, and setting his interview to dance music was a lot of fun.

You can check out some of the tracks I'll be playing here:

Anyway, if this interests you and you're in Ottawa, come see this cool performance!

Winston Square Live Painting Art Performance

Sunday, July 12, 2015 from 1-2PM

Winstone Avenue, Ottawa, ON

Event details

I'm still here!

I'm still here, I promised! It's been a hectic couple of months - I've now moved from Cambridge Bay to Ottawa, so I'm sorry I've been absent.  I've still been writing, mostly in form of music reviews for Apt613. My latest review was about South African jazz pianist Abdullah Ibrahim - check it out!

Lately, my band Scary Bear Soundtrack has been getting ready to release a new album that we wrote and recorded entirely in Cambridge Bay. We're running an Indiegogo campaign to raise funds to produce them on CDs. If you're interested in ordering a copy of the album for yourself, plus special perks, you should help us out here! We'll be releasing the album on Friday, August 14 in Ottawa at our album release party, so if you're in Ottawa, you should definitely come check it out.

Album cover by Devon Crosby

A Portland vacation: Day 3

(A continuation of our adventures in Portland. Read about Day 1 here and Day 2 here)

Our last day in Portland. The boys ate their eggs benedict brunch while I sipped on another mimosa as we watched the garbage truck painstakingly line up garbage cans down the street in a neat and tidy queue so the worker could attack them all on the same front.

Seems like quite the process

We discussed what we wanted to do with our day. We'd seen quite a bit in the last few days, but there's just so much to explore in Portland. We finally decided on a tour of the brewery scene in Portland. Unfortunately, none of the formal guided tours were running that afternoon, but we didn't let that stop us. We decided to do our own self-guided walking tour of the various microbreweries downtown. Yes, I know that some people would call that a pub crawl, but we call it tourism. 

And so, after grabbing a bite from the food trucks down the street, we headed out for some day drinking an epic pub crawl an educational brewery tour.

Our first stop was Rock Bottom Brewery, which had a restaurant connected to it. This place, like many other breweries, gave you the option of ordering flights, smaller glasses of the different kinds of beers that the brewery makes, so you can sample them all.

Our next stop accidentally turned out to not be a brewery at all, but a famous stop nonetheless. We were at Huber's Cafe, Portland's oldest restaurant, operating since 1879.  

You could real feel the sense of history about the place. The owner, a friendly older Asian-American man whose family has operated Huber's for generations, took us through the story of the place, pointing out which parts of the restaurant were still original, and showing explaining the portraits on the wall. He told us how in the old days, if you ordered a drink, you would get a free turkey sandwich. The original bar had discreet entrances so politicians could come and have a relaxing drink without people recognizing them.

We didn't have their famous turkey meal or Spanish coffee (made with Bacardi 151!) but we did grab more beer and coffee and enjoyed the quaint ambience of the place. 

Next, we moved to another brewery, Deschutes.

I was really fascinated by the woodwork for some reason

We ordered another flight of tasty beers, and also some food, as Deschutes had a pretty impressive food menu as well.  Portland just knows how to do food and drink right.

We had planned to move on to Rogue after this stop, but we were feeling mighty sleepy by this point, so we decided to head back to our hotel for a little siesta.

After a refreshing nap, we grabbed more food from the food drinks and headed out to check out the live music scene in Portland.

Besides brunches, beers, bikes, and hipsters, Portland is also famous for its thriving artsy music scene.  During the 1990s, house shows were popular - concerts held not in large formal music venues like theatres but rather in the living rooms of people's homes.  This is where musicians like Elliott Smith lived and thrived.  Portland continues to be home to many amazing musicians, including Carrie Brownstein of Sleater-Kinney. So we definitely wanted to check out a live show.

We caught a show at the Star Theater, where a full lineup of indie bands were performing. It was a good mix of local bands and touring bands from other parts of the States (Cherry Glaczrr, Summer Cannibals, Sunflower Bean, The Buttertones, Underpass).

Portland seems to do live concerts right. A lot of the shows are all ages, which means teenagers can come and be exposed to all sorts of live music. But it doesn't mean they don't serve drinks; they have a separate section for those who are over 21 and want to enjoy a can of Pabst beer while listening to the music.  The alcohol section sort of has an "old people" feel to it - it's off in the back, with seats, while the all ages section is much more lively at the front of the stage where all the dancing is.  But I think that's how it should be. It's also a great way to avoid spilling beer all over other people.

It was a great way to end our trip to Portland, the magical city with so many things that I'm going to miss. We're definitely going to have to come back someday!

Portland: Where you can buy wine and small plates at the Starbucks

Parking tickets for smart cars

An airplane view of Mt. Saint Helens, perched above the clouds like a god

Food bank fundraiser - coffeehouse in Cambridge Bay

On Saturday, we held a fundraiser for the food bank.  We've done it before. We hold a bake sale in the community hall, where people can come in and enjoy yummy treats while listening to live music.  We usually play a few songs, but we make it an open mic so anyone in town can come on stage and display their talents.

This time, the regular organizer had to pull out because of a family medical issue, so Christine and I ended up taking over so that the event could still happen. I was worried for a while because I'm not as experienced in bringing the community together and rounding up volunteers, but luckily it went well. We had volunteers come in to help set things up and sell the baked goods, and people came in to bring their donations of baked goods.  It felt like the whole turn showed up to the event. We sold out of our baked goods completely. People also brought in non-perishable goods to donate directly to the food bank. Some people came by just to donate cash for the food bank, without even buying anything. We were able to raise quite a bit of money for the food bank.

Vicki's fancy coffee

We also sold hot dogs and chili (in a KFC container)

playing with our guest musician Talia Magsagak

The little girls loved our cover of a song from Frozen

 

A performance by local musician Ashley Otokiak, who is blind

It was really touching to see the generosity of folks in Cambridge Bay, especially after incidents that happened last week involving vandalism of local businesses. I feel really proud to be part of this kind and caring community.

I recently published a piece on CBC about how we can start addressing the food insecurity issue in Nunavut.  Supporting the local infrastructures that already exist to help needy families, like the food bank, is one great start. Of course, we need to do more than just donate to the food bank, like addressing the root causes, but it felt good to have a chance to contribute to the community.

the songs that formed 2014: a deeply personal list

Happy New Year!

Someone once asked me to list my top fourteen albums and top five songs of the year, but I’ll be honest. I live in a faraway land where there are no record shops or concert halls or really even a group of peers that listen to music that is not on the one radio station that we get here. My internet bandwidth is capped at 20 gigabytes and for that I have to pay $130 a month, so I’m not eager to go over that limit. I couldn’t list fourteen albums that were released this year, because I’m still catching up on what came out last year.

What I can give you though, are my top five songs that I discovered this year. How about two sets? The top five songs that saved my life, and the top five songs that devastated me, in the sense that they created something that is so raw and powerful that it shook me to the core.

The top five songs that shook me to the core this year

Erieau – Knot of Snakes (hibernaculum remix)

Shit, where did this song come from? I mean, I know where it literally came from – it’s a remix of the original Predator/Prey tune, which is already bizarre and fantastic on its own. You should check out the Predator/Prey double album that was release last year, by the way. Part of the band is from a land (Inuvik) that is just as faraway and surreal as where I am, and the guys are scientists that write concept albums about animals.  That in itself is pretty neat.

But then Predator/Prey’s Adam (who I guess goes by Erieau) went and remixed the song and produced this masterpiece that actually gave me the chills – and this was not because there was an Arctic blizzard raging outside. Adam has more or less skinned the song of every element that might have kept it familiar and comforting and what is left is this – this eerie, slow, electrified piece of ominous swells and echoes that takes patience to listen to. The Youtube-surfing short attention spans might skip this song after ten seconds, but it is worth it to sit still and listen to it the whole way through. I just wish I could write songs like this. Just don’t listen to it while falling asleep, because I kind of feel like it might give you a few nightmares?

S – Brunch

I’m happily married, so I have no idea why this broken-hearted song resonates with me so strongly. It probably has something to do with the unsettling jarring guitar riffs hovering mostly in minor chords, dueling guitar parts which more or less seem designed to induce panic and anxiety. The song is like the musical form of a late night phone drunk message left on an answering machine to an ex-boyfriend after you’ve been awake for hours with insomnia, and all of these thoughts that you know you should not think just keep crashing around inside your head and piling up until you feel like you are drowning. Okay, maybe that’s why this song destroys me so quickly.  I may not spend time any more hosting imaginary arguments with ex-lovers in my head, but I am an occasional insomniac, and that’s what this song feels like: insomnia-induced panic.

And then it just ends. Not on the tonic chord. The notes just fade out, feeling unfinished. Why would you do that to me?

Haley Bonar – Last War

 Maybe it has something to do with the opening bass line, so subtle and minimalist and yet hinting of something dangerous, followed the entrance of Bonar’s soft soprano vocals, sounding wistful but growing more and more intense as the song progresses. This track is a beautiful example of how to build up a song until it hits a terrifying climax.  There are ambient guitar noises blaring in the background that you don’t notice until the second or third time listen to the song, but it gets buried in your subconscious right away.  There is so much going on in this song, like an overwhelming panic attack, and this song does it so well. This song destroyed me, and yet I listened to it over and over and over again.

Ejecta – Afraid of the Dark

I really am a sucker for songs that gradually build up. This song has a misleading “introduction” that lasts for almost half the song – the true character of the song doesn’t really reveal itself until the tempo picks up around the two minute mark. But it works, because it keeps you waiting, holding your breath until you think you’re going to pass out. The melody is repetitive but haunting. The vocals are somehow both sad yet hopeful – despite the imagery of the lyrics about one’s heart being afraid of the dark, and about one’s fears, the supporting synth-dominant music has a certain driving sense of resolve, of somehow surviving despite the tragedies, which I feel like really captures the simultaneous senses of feminine sadness and feminine strength.  And maybe that’s why I really love listening to this song.

Tanya Tagaq - Fracking

Listen to the song here

I was so, so, so shocked when Animism won the Polaris Prize this year.  Happy, of course, but surprised.

I live in the same town that Tanya Tagaq grew up in, a tiny remote isolated community deep within the Arctic circle. It is a beautiful place full of majestic things but also incredible pain and tragedy.  In the sky above we have northern lights that dance all night, and at the same time children go hungry because their families have nothing to eat.  The Inuit have survived harsh environments, colonialism, and even now pervasive social issues of poverty and mental health issues.  Can you hear this suffering in this song Fracking, where Tanya Tagaq sounds like she is gasping with sobs, and then choking for air, and then crying out like a woman being attacked, and then snarling defensively? Because that is what I hear in her music. When you listen to this song, can you also picture the beautiful land and water that is threatened by the carelessness of human progress? That’s why this album is so brilliant. 

The songs that saved my life this year

Fitness Club Fiasco – Goldmine

Do you worry that you’ve become too cynical and bitter lately? Are you afraid your pessimism has grown so strong that nothing will make you smile in a sincere not-sarcastic manner? Not even a bunny rabbit. Give this song a listen.  This song is so sweet. It’s so damn cute.  You’re going to sing along, even though you never let anyone hear you sing.  You’re going to dance, even though you know you look ridiculous.

Bowjia – Hold me close

The problem with winters here is that the perpetual darkness can make you tired, all the time. .  I was at our local gym, trying to coax my spirits up with some healthy exercise, and then this song came on my iPod.  All of a sudden, the weight room became a night club, my elliptical became a dance floor, and even though I was alone, I had a burst of energy and enthusiasm I hadn’t felt in a while.  I swore to myself, “This is awesome! I’m going to run ten kilometres every day!”  I didn’t, by the way, but still this song pumped me up and made me feel great.

Alvvays – Adult Diversion

I know you feel it too sometimes. Your alarm clock goes off and your bed feels like a womb that you are being forced out of, and you involuntarily think the thought I hate everything because you do not want to get out of bed. But you tell yourself sternly that you can’t think thoughts like this first thing in the morning, because otherwise how are you going to get through the rest of your day? But how do you motivate yourself to get going? Play this song while you brush your teeth and pack your lunch. It’ll do the trick.

WHOOP-szo – Has It Been So Long?

Unlike my other songs on this list, this song is not fast-paced, designed to pump you up. Instead, its relaxed rhythm has a comforting effect, like a friendly pat on the back or a warm hug. It really stands out against the rest of the experimental art album, written and recorded in Nunavik. Overall the album is quite good, but this song is the sweetest.  Maybe it’s coloured by the wonderful conversation I had with Adam when I interviewed him. He just really comes across as a thoughtful man full of insights.

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – Until The Sun Explodes

This song, with its catchy synth-guitar riffs and boy-girl harmonies that are so typical of the band, is a ridiculously awesome cheerful picker-upper. Also, the music video is great for those who like nostalgia.

I have also been giving to my friends mix CDs of my favourite songs that I discovered in 2014. Here's the track listing:

Fitness Club Fiasco - Goldmine

Diamond Bones - Something Like Summer

Alvvays - Adult Diversion

The Pains of Being Pure At Heart - Until The Sun Explodes

Le Blonde - Let it Burn

WHOOP-Szo - Has it Been So Long

The Hours - Steady Glazed Eyes

Mathematique - Summer, but i don't know

Vogue Dots - Turns and Turns

Haley Bonar - Last War

Para Palabras - Bodies

Police Des Moeurs - Dernière Chance

Ejecta - Afraid of the Dark

Bleu - Tidal Wave

Bowjia - Hold Me Close feat. Mallory

S - Brunch

Emmy The Great - Swimming Pool

Alma Elste - Heart Melter

Erieau - Knot of Snakes - hibernaculum remix

I discovered a lot of these songs through the fantastic CHUO FM radio show Ladies First, which you should all listen to. Lina has great musical tastes that seem to be very closely aligned to mine.

the children's Christmas concert

Last week I attended the children's Christmas concert that put on by the elementary school annually. Normally people would probably think it's a little strange for me to be attending an event for elementary school students, especially since I don't have any kids, but the children's Christmas concert is actually one of the biggest, most favourite holiday events in town.  Cambridge Bay does love their children after all, and who can blame them when they're so cute you could eat them right up pinch their adorable cheeks.

It was an important event for Cambridge Bay.  Doors opened a half hour before the performances were to start, and the gym was completely packed from wall to wall, with every seat filled, every spot on the wall leaned on, and even the floor completely covered. I stupidly arrived ten minutes late and had to squeeze myself a spot on the floor.

Meanwhile, the kids were looking their best.  The girls were wearing their prettiest dresses and the boys were wearing dress shirts and ties. They could have easily been going to junior prom (if you went to junior prom as a seven-year-old). 

The concert was led by a wisecracking emcee who effortlessly switched back and forth between English and Inuinnaqtun, and never let an opportunity for a joke pass by.

I was impressed by all the efforts that had gone into putting on the show.  Each class had an Inuinnaqtun portion, with the kids singing songs like O Come All Ye Faithful and Silent Night in Inuinnaqtun. The grade one students also did the world's most adorable jigging demonstration, and I swear, there is nothing cute than watching small children dancing with their partners with furious feet.

 

This spells something

Some of the older kids also danced some jigs. 

Other performances included a Cambridge Bay re-writing of Jingle Bell Rock, Christmas poems, a play about Christmas elves breaking into a toy store, the most charismatic Frosty the Snowman this town as ever seen, and the Arctic version of 12 Days of Christmas,  all while the smaller kids in the audience excitedly calling out greetings at their older siblings on stage and enticing them to break the fourth wall.

A Christmas play

Frosty the Snowman

Students talk about why a horse-drawn sleigh would be impractical in Cambridge Bay

Rewriting Jingle Bell Rock

3 arctic hares

2 shiny ulus 

and a pair of sealskin mitts for free

-The 12 days of Christmas in Cambridge Bay

As you can see it was a fun evening for the whole community and a chance for everyone to be proud of the Cambridge Bay youth. And a great way to start the Christmas season.