May 2004

INTERSTELLAR

Purveyor of: Spacey dub tango for two
www.plan11.com

Interstellar is Rob Boak and Denis Dufour. Their music is easy to listen to. It is groovy. It pleases the ears. It soothes the soul. It charts the regions of this planet and others... They recently released their second album, ToSleepToDreamToWake, on Plan Eleven Records. The songs are quite lovely. Finding it difficult to free his ass from chez Moutray, our Blue Co-pilot exchanged e-mails with Rob and Denis.

How has Interstellar adapted itself to the 21st century? ROB BOAK: We haven't changed much at all since the last century. We have a certain way (of working) and that hasn't changed. DENIS DUFOUR: We've gotten into recording in bedrooms with computers, learning jazzier guitar chords, filling out our sound with a four-piece for live shows...

What/who's influencing your current creative endeavors (musically and otherwise)? RB: Toots and the Maytals (Monkey Man), Clinic (Walking with Thee), Horace Andy (Skylarking). DD: It's all over the place, as usual. Lately I've been into the new Squarepusher album, King Tubby, Neko Case playing with The Sadies, Neil Young's Greendale and the idea of telling a story through a grungy guitar-based album, the Swirlies, Dylan and of course, playing hockey.

Describe the relationship between your compositional ideas and visual imagery, specifically photography. RB: That would have to "multiples" – basically, I'm interested in coming up with repeating patterns in Interstellar's compositions and in photography I'm interested in multiples of objects. DD: Visual imagery and music can both be used to express similar moods and it's cool when they complement each other. For our album artwork (courtesy of Dennis Vidiac using photos taken by Rob), when we first saw it, it instantly struck that right chord for our music; sort of a dreamy urban collage.

Kraftwerk's The Man-Machine: please comment with regard to your experiences with "rhythm-boxes" vs. drummers. DD: I think drum machines done right can be just as effective and in some cases better than real drums, depending on the style of song. Kraftwerk would suck if they used real drums! Drum machines are nice because they do as they're told and don't have aspirations of playing other instruments. (easy there, Denis!! – percussive author) RB: Definitely man over machine for a live experience, but in certain situations and songs drum machines are perfect.

Club kids, dub enthusiasts, psych-out rock'n'rollers – how does Interstellar connect its various audiences? RB: Telepathically? It's not a conscious decision to connect with anyone. I'm just into writing psychedelic music; people either like it or they don't. DD: I don't think we would necessarily appeal to purists since we tend to blend various styles of music together. I think we connect more with people who have open ears and varied tastes, i.e. all of the above simultaneously!

To what extent does the remix play a role in song evolution? DD: We've never had any of our tracks remixed but we did have Jeff McMurrich (a.k.a. Infinite Systems) "dub-out" some of our songs, which turned out great. RB: Definitely someone can take a song in a direction that the original composer would never have thought of, though most of the remixes I've heard haven't impressed me much. Most of the time, I like the original better than anyone's interpretation.

How's the Hollywood film-scoring going? RB: Unless it's for Tim Burton, I have no interest in scoring a film... though many have said (after hearing our music for the first time) that they could imagine it on a film soundtrack because it conjures up imagery for them. DD: It would be great to do soundtrack work. I think the music we do is sort of soundtrack-y, anyways. We'd love to do Lost in Translation 2, if Sofia can't get Kevin Shields out of bed.

Your latest record is charting across Canada — will you be touring? If not, what will you do to nurture your younger female fan-base? RB: We'll be playing out-of-town shows in late summer – likely Southern Ontario and Quebec. DD: As for "nurturing" our fans, Rob and I both got married last year – sorry, ladies!

BY BLUE CO-PILOT

JAZZSTORY

WAVELENGTH 208 — Sunday May 2, 10pm

Purveyors of: The avant-jazz community
www.guildwoodrecords.com

Having played together for the last five years, Jazzstory has become a prominent force in Toronto's jazz community with their tight melodic structure and strong improvisational skills. Led by guitarist Tim Posgate, the band is rounded out by bassist Rob Clutton, trumpet player Lina Allemano and drummer Jean Martin. Together they open their magic book and chorally read from what is a never-ending story of musical reference. Marcel Gonsalves caught up with leader Posgate via the World Wide Web to exchange a few words.

What is your Jazzstory? Our Jazzstory is often a story without narrative. This is no Diana Krall sings Cole Porter type thing. Think Jack Bush meets Riopelle or Ondaatje meets bp nichol or Murray Schaeffer meets The Dinner Is Ruined Band.

Ideally, what kind of ending does it have? I like to think our endings often have surprise to them. I guess I better not tell you much more, eh?

I hear you have a strong sense of community. How is this so? Wow, that makes me feel great that someone told you that. I guess I like to know my mail carrier's name, I pick up garbage in the park with my kids, my family supports local businesses whenever possible, I run a music festival that books my friends, I play shinny with my neighbors, I cheer for the Leafs. Is this what you mean?

How does this belief in community affect your approach to music? Or the outcome? I mostly like playing music with my friends, preferably ones that live within biking distance. I think our friendship in Jazzstory comes across in the music just by it being honest and meaningful music. Community is about caring and sharing and that goes for bands too.

What relationship do you feel to the Wavelength community? Is it important to you that it is a community? I feel loosely connected at best as I have not been able to attend many shows recently. I do feel connected physically as it is in my neighbourhood, I read the zine and check out the web site and I have some friends that are more involved. I think it is great that it is such a strong community and it's probably the main reason it has lasted so long and will continue to do so.

What was the first music you played for your kids? We always listen to CKLN and CIUT. The first proper name Dylan was able to say was jazz DJ/musician Bill Grove. Pretty funny!

What is the key to your philosophy as a bandleader? And separately, how much wiggle room do you give your players in compositions? Fun is most important, for all of us. Also, I try to either leave lots of room for self-expression or try to direct the music in a way that will utilize each musician's strengths. There is lots of wiggle room as these people always have ideas that are as good or better than mine.

Are you a school-trained musician? What do you think the advantages/disadvantages are of being taught jazz in an institution? I got an honours degree in music from York University called a Bachelor of Fine Arts. I love university, I still get excited by all the creativity and learning that is going on around me when I bike through the U of T campus. I love learning and that seems like something most artists have in common. There are many ways to learn. The advantages of University, especially York, were the well-rounded approach to learning. I studied dance, science, psychology, literature and of course lots of music. One of the disadvantages of school is that you don't end up having a lot of time to play your instrument. If I had had the chance to go on the road and earn my stripes as a sideman, gigging every night, I would have done that and perhaps done a university degree later on.

BY MARCEL GONSALVES

THE S.S. CARDIACS

WAVELENGTH 212 — Sunday May 9, 12am

Purveyors of: '94-style Can-indie (Candie?) pop
www.jessiestein.com

Jessie Stein is dropping out of university to pursue rock'n'roll full time. Her band, The S.S. Cardiacs, are recording an album that should be ready for public consumption around the end of May. Watch for it. Jessie handles vocals and guitar, accompanied by Andy Lloyd on bass, and Dana Snell on drums. Together, they delve into important issues with Sarah Kolasky: hockey, jingles, and food.

Where are you originally from, and how did you meet each other? Jessie: I'm from Montreal, and I met Dana 'cuz she was playing in The Bicycles, and I met Andy 'cuz I kissed his roommate. They [Andy and Dana] met at a party. Dana: Andy was really drunk... Andy: I tried to pick up Dana. Jessie: Yeah, Andy tried to pick up Dana, and then she asked me about it. Dana: 'Cuz I was frightened. Jessie: [laughs] Clearly it was meant to be!

How would you describe the sound of your music? Dana: Sounds like a rock band. Jessie: Today, it sounded to me like we didn't know what we were doing, but it was happening anyway. Sounds like magic, a little bit.

Why do you think bad relationships fuel so much music – indie pop or otherwise? Jessie: 'Cuz that's where our hearts are, I guess. If you're trying to be as honest as you can, or if you're an introspective person, then that's what's going to come out if that's what's happening in your life.

Do any of you have a secret passion for hockey? Dana: No. All I know is that at a certain time of the year people get really excited about it and I don't know why, and then I'm like, "Oh, it's the playoffs, I guess..." But it always kind of comes out of nowhere for me. Jessie: You have hockey moments? Dana: No, not really. Jessie: My roommates were watching it last night, and I was really bored. Andy: It's boring. Jessie:[to Sarah]: Print, "It's boring... Go Habs, go."

What's your favourite jingle? Dana: "Faaa-bric Land, Fabric Land!" Jessie: Good one! Dana: Isn't that the best? I love how they say it twice, and it's different. Jessie: It's brilliant! So complex... Dana: And they've had it for like, twenty years. They got it right the first time.

What do you think of V8 and Mott's Clamato? Dana: I really like them. Jessie: They're the grossest things of all time.

I heard this would spark controversy... Jessie: We're breaking up! I can't be in a band with you! Andy: I am indifferent to the issue. Dana: I like Mott's Clamato a lot. Andy: Actually I live off Mott's Clamato. It's my only intake of vegetables.

What about pulp or no pulp? Dana: Pulp. Jessie: Pulp. Andy: Pulp. Jessie: Yeah! We're back together. Dana: Saved by pulp. Jessie [to Sarah]: How do you feel about pulp?

I don't like pulp at all. Andy: You're out of the band, Sarah. Jessie: I was really considering asking you to be our lead triangle player.

Wavelength editor Wesley J Ramos thinks "Jessie is so sweet that he's got diabetes." Jessie: [giggles] That's really sweet.

BY sarah kolasky

PATRICK WOLF + FINAL FANTASY

WAVELENGTH 212 — Sunday May 09, 11pm (Patrick Wolf) + 10pm (Final Fantasy)

Purveyor of: "Bjork as a boy?"
www.patrickwolf.com

FINAL FANTASY
Purveyor of: Owen going solo guitar crazee!

U.K native Patrick Wolf – touring as a two-piece with a lovely harmonium player named Eva – will be appearing as part of Wavelength 212. His album Lycanthropy is out in the West on Tomlab. Local boy-wonder Owen Pallett is opening the show with his solo violin and sing project Final Fantasy. As Trans-Atlantic pen-pals, Owen and Patrick rang up some very hefty phone bills.

Patrick Wolf: What did you think of the album?

Owen Pallett: It's so strikingly English! You sing with an unabashed English accent, you sing about London and your English eyes...

PW: It's not a contrived thing. I just try to make my music as honest as possible, and I think a lot about England. The new album coming out in the spring is even more English.

OP: What's it like?

PW: It's kind of wordy, expressing a specific type of Englishness that I haven't really seen documented except occasionally in Thomas Hardy. I've been spending a lot of time in Cornwall and immersing myself in the more Norse side of English culture. It's a culture of ghost stories, really wild, pagan and uncivilized. That's the England I identify with more, not "cup of tea, spot of milk" cleverness that we're usually associated with. And I like my English accent! It's way better than sounding American.

OP: I dunno. I like Americans. I really prefer American culture to British culture. Brits tend to mistake cleverness for humour. And they all dress and look the same.

PW: Really?

OP: I'm exaggerating, but c'mon. Americans are great. They can get sacrosanct and over-serious, but most of the time they're really funny.

PW: No, that's true. Brits are really scared of sincerity. It's a culture here where if you get too successful, people knock you down. The only means of survival is to take the piss out of yourself. Like Robbie Williams. Outside of Britain, though, I'd really like to hear more music that doesn't rely on resurrecting music that was made 20 years ago. Even if the output on Tigerbeat6 is kind of spotty, I really like the fact that the artists are aspiring to create something new.

OP: So...what's inspiring you these days?

PW: What a dumb question. Umm... Well, I'm moving out soon. I'm going to live with my friend Ingrid — she's from Toronto too. It's kind of a secret. We're moving into a house down by the railroad tracks.

OP: Why is it a secret? Your parents don't know? Or are you squatting?

PW: My parents know I'm moving but they don't know I'm squatting. This house has just been empty for a long time so we're moving in. There's going to be a roller skating rink and a sculpture garden, I'm really looking forward to it.

OP: Wow. I don't know how easy it would be to squat in Toronto.

PW: I get to ask you a stupid question now. How would you describe your music?

OP: Oh God. The easiest description would be that I'm taking everything I've liked about all the bands I've been in and doing that. I'm also taking everything I've hated about all the bands I've been in and doing the opposite.

PW: That's not really a description.

OP: Well... I'd describe my music as being like the feeling you get when you meet your boyfriend's parents for the first time. And you're white and they're Asian. So you're really happy to be meeting the parents of the boy you love. But you're also on your best behaviour, you don't want to seem like a racist "white devil" or anything. So you're doing your best to not say anything insensitive or presumptuous. Then you realize that your caution is itself pretty presumptuous, and you're probably looking really distant and disinterested. So you're super happy, but also delicately trying to walk that line between being too comfortable and being too detached. That's how I'd best describe what I do.

PW: That's a good answer.

BY PATRICK WOLF AND OWEN PALLETT

JUNIOR BOYS

WAVELENGTH 213 — Sunday May 16, 11pm

Purveyors of: Pro-future pop
www.electrokin.com

The Junior Boys are made up of Jeremy Greenspan, Johnny Dark, and Matt Didemus. Their music is pro-future pop – think The Pet Shop Boys 3030, only remixed by Manitoba and Fennesz (for real). Their latest record, Last Exit, on U.K. label Electrokin, has been garnering what can only be quantified as a shitload of positive, gushing prose across the globe. Jeremy and Bunk Bedouin nearly came to blows, but then pulled it out of the fire.

You sound like the past but exist in the present. Are you anti-future? I hope I don't sound like the past. Although, the past sounds more like the future than the present does. I'm as pro-future as they come.

But it could be argued that synth-pop is not new ground – so why are the Junior Boys revisiting it? I think it's too bad that making pop music with synthesizers has been pigeonholed into a moment in the past. I don't think we are revisiting new wave. If we were, we're going about it all wrong. We'd need a lot more vintage gear.

So, uh... how long until the backlash? I think I'm feeling it in this interview. Heh.

Okay – wait: Do you think computers can feel? If so, are they angrily watching us? My computer is way too slow to feel anything.

If a Roland SH-101 had to fight a Minimoog to the death in some sort of LFO-Off, who would emerge victorious? Get real! A Roland SH-101? Moog would lay on a DDT Jake["The Snake"— ed.] Roberts style.

Wouldn't it rule if laptop musicians put straps on their computers and rocked them Chick Corea style? That's what our live show is about, yo!

What's your compositional process? Do all three of you work together at the same time? No, the band isn't actually a three-piece – it's just that I worked with two other people collaborating on songs. Some of the songs I wrote with John, some with Matt and others by myself. I like working with other people. The pace isn't as good alone. You have nothing to feed off of – it's much faster and exciting when you write with people.

Electronic music gets the gears sometimes for not being engaging enough in a live setting — how do you feel about this, and do you feel you've overcome it? I hope we put on a good, entertaining show. We try to make it feel live, and we've tweaked things to make everything have that sound and feel — but we're just getting started. We're not like most 'bands' — in fact we're not a band at all. We're two producers who wrote an album on a computer and are trying to present the illusion that we jammed the whole thing out.

Do you find working in the electronic realm more or less difficult than previous set-ups? Believe it or not, this is much more of a "traditional" set-up than we are used to. I don't really know much about being in a band.

Analog or digital? Digilog.

BY BUNK BEDOUIN

IN SUPPORT OF LIVING + ROB TYLER

WAVELENGTH 213 — Sunday May 16, 10pm

Purveyors of: Hey, film can be ambient too!

In Support of Living is a collective headed by Toronto space-rocker Brad Ketchen of Hollowphonic. ISOL will be performing live scores to Portland, Oregon experimental filmmaker Rob Tyler, who has previously done videos for The Microphones and Wendy and Carl. Wesley J Ramos electronically discussed the melding of music and film with Brad and Rob.

How did you guys meet and what was the genesis of the melding of the film painting project and the band participating? BRAD KETCHEN: Joachim Toelke (formerly of Southpacific) told me about Rob and his work. ROB TYLER: I was/am working on a series of short films about inanimate objects called Novice Robots(i.e. blenders, electric can openers, washing machines, etc.) and I originally contacted Joachim to see if he would beinterested in recording a song for an oscillating fan movie. He was busy or out of the country at the time and he referred me to Brad. We swapped each other's videos and CDs through the mail. I took a liking to the In Support Of Living recordings he had sent. I asked him to compose somemusic for my film paintings and he has since recorded two songs for the film painting. BK: It was perfect timing because Hollowphonic's was on a down low and this project is a perfect fit with my interest in sound design and score work. With the industry in a slump, I could satisfy my interest in working with sound for film and combine it with my musical interests and it keeps James and I generally inspired and motivated to create.

Can you briefly describe your work and how the art and the music inspire each other? BK: In Support of Living was formed with idea of a collective of musicians and artists to combine a mixed media format as well as an arrangement where James and I could do mixes on our separate workstations and not always be dependent on a live band format. At it's most stripped down, it's me and James Gray in a more electronic set. In a full band scenario we are joined with live drums, percussion, flute, stringed instruments and so forth. RT: I have been painting colour and drawing shapes and scratches on Super-8 and 16mm film for – off and on – five years now. When projected, the film creates swirling images of colours and shapes, very soothing and mellow. This is very tedious work, very time consuming and often very frustrating. When I got the ISOL demos in the mail, I would lay on my floor for hours and just paint and draw on film while listening to them on repeat. Many of the paintings that I am proud of were created this way. I guess it's just natural for the two – ISOL and the film paintings – to go together. Like peanut butter and jelly I guess. BK: The colours and the movement of Rob's film's definitely inspire the musical piece from the first time I sit down to view the films, so inspiring in fact that normally a musical idea comes to me instantly and the track is created in a night.

Tell us about the pending music video for the band and perhaps your upcoming projects we should know about. BK: Basically, Rob shipped me some rolls of Super-8 and we went up north to an open field and shot ourselves doing different things, including playing table hockey. I believe Rob plans to cut out our likenesses and glue them to 16mm film. RT: When the film is developed, I am going to cut out each frame individually and glue and tape the small Super-8 frames onto to clear 16mm film leader (leader is the stuff people put on the beginning of films so that a film can be loaded into a projector). It should create a soothing shutter effect that should work well with ISOL's music. As far as new projects in the works, my short film Blender: Rotation Test 1-3 is screening in a few film festivals this spring and summer, and my short movie A Closer Look At Parking Lots is touring around to architecture schools in the U.S., part of an abstract show called "Up In Smoke" put on by Microcinema International. BK: My next assignment, I believe is to create a track around the oscillating fans. I promise

BY WESLEY J RAMOS

THE WORLD PROVIDER

WAVELENGTH 214 — Sunday May 23, 12am

Purveyor of: Montréal cowboy karaoke rock
www.theworldprovider.net

The World Provider is one-man entertainment plus keyboard from Montreal via Toronto and Ottawa. The new album Enabler will be released in May on Ta-Da Records. Kristine K caught up with the World Provider via e-mail.

I heard you had joined the Canadian ex-pat contingent in Berlin briefly. How were you received by German audiences? Do audiences react the same as they do here? The Berlin gig was a Murphy's Law fiasco of epic proportions, but the audience was cool. The reaction is more or less the same everywhere I've played: a mixture of delight and confusion.

Jim Avignon is also a solo musician/cartoonist avec keyboard in berlin. Were you able to meet him or play any shows together? Nope, sorry. I never heard of the guy. Berlin is a big town.

"If errors still occur please notify the world provider of the problem." This was what I got when I Googled your name. Is it ever tiring being the Provider? Only physically . As I get older, I really feel the flailing-around the next day. Actually, at a recent Toronto gig I sustained a knee injury which may be permanent.

What sort of artistic "innovations" have occurred in the last while? Surrealism, cubism, abstract expressionism, post-modernism, and a return to photorealism.

After five years what makes you keep on going? The smiles on the children's faces.

Montreal: Why are you there and not here? I love Toronto, but it's not the right place for me at this particular time of my life. I needed to rewire my system, and Montreal has been very good to me.

What does it have/not have? Has: a mountain, French, great architecture, girls who smile at you instead of giving you an evil glare. Doesn't have: Enough good live music venues, a really good video store, enough hustle.

What is the biggest blight to humanity these days? Wealthy, corrupt and sadistic world leaders.

What are ya gonna do about it? Probably just complain.

BY KRISTINE K

NANOBOT AUXILLIARY BALLET

WAVELENGTH 214 — Sunday May 23, 11pm

Purveyors of: We have toys and words with which to toy with you

After a few years of radio silence, two members of Montreal proto-indie-tronic pop group Pest 5000, Patti Schmidt (also host/producer of CBC Radio Two's Brave New Waves) and Kevin Komoda, have joined forces with fellow human Lewis Braden to create an all-new nanorobotic music ensemble. Their self-titled release, on the new label Ta Da (run by Schmidt and Jeff Waye), is entitled (hold your breath) The Nanobot Auxiliary Ballet and the Museum of Modern Insect Art with the Office of Woodland Security present: TylenolandAdida the deadly ballerina, featuring the Chillbot Slider, the PushButtonMaster and the WhiteHotFunkbot, and Dr. Idiotbot if it can make it. Or you can just call them the Nanobot Auxiliary Ballet if you like. They visit Wavelength on May 23 as part of a mini-tour with the artist behind Ta Da's second release, none other than The World Provider.

Who are the members of the Nanobot Auxiliary Ballet and what sort of toys do they play with? Patti: The Chillbot Slider, The WhiteHotFunkBot, The PushButtonMaster. I think that's all pretty self-explanatory.

We understand that "Nanobot Auxiliary Ballet" is the short-form of a very long official band name. Can you please enlighten us as to the whole story. Patti: Part of it involves incorporating things we find funny. We did seriously — for a minute — consider calling ourselves TylenolandAdida (that's two copyright names in one, and who could sue that combo?). It also incorporates mishearings our friends have had about what we're called (thus the deadly ballerina); there's the Ben Katchor-inspired Museum of Modern Insect Art, and the politically motivated Office of Woodland Security. We've also taken out major paragraphs in our time too — say goodbye to the Blatti Blitt Bland. Plus we add a phrase if say our friend, the lovely and talented Slideprojectorbot, is with us. It grows. Plus we mean to confuse and intimidate... working?

It has been quite a few years since we last saw you onstage with Pest 5000. Are the Nanobots descended from Pest at all, or is this an entirely different entity with its own history? Is there any musical/stylistic overlap between the two groups? Patti: The obviously overlap is people/bots. Kev and I have been making songs together since around 1992. We did most of the core writing for P5K and so that would seem to be the common element here. Of course while we can't help sounding and being who we are, we're trying to stretch out (and sometimes reduce) things with NAB. We always used drum machines and keyboards when we made music as Pest — and after five or six drummer divorces... Of course, Lewis is a lovely human too — he comes with his own unique instructional and musical manual.

From your unique vantage point in Montreal, what's your take on the Toronto music scene right now? Unlimited expansion or imminent crash? Patti: It's nice that there's a manic indie scene now... there's been always small pockets of that....but for a city the size of T.O., why do many of my favourite things come from Mississauga? Kevin: May the world revolve around the musical genius named Don Pyle and shower incredible riches upon his domain. Lewis: There is always unlimited expansion with music. Now whether or not Toronto is gonna lead the way, I don't know. Maybe.

Do you think nanotechnology will ultimately help create a better world? Patti: How can it lose? It's little. It's cute. It's smart. It doesn't take up much space... it probably won't complain much. Lewis: Damn straight! Think how it will change the face of porn alone, the ramifications are endless.

BY JONNY DOVERCOURT

THE THREE RING CIRCUITS featuring JENNY OMNICHORD

WAVELENGTH 214 — Sunday May 23, 10pm

Purveyors of: Electro-dub non-power-trio power

A few months back, Kim Temple (aka Temple Threat) lost her voice and called in sick for her Wavelength gig, so an impromptu replacement was formed: Dean Williams (QuasiMojo; electronics + drums), Matthew Nish-Lapidus (mn-l; guitar + electronics), and Jonny Dovercourt (bass + guitar) and sometimes featuring Jenny Mitchell (The Bar Mitzvah Brothers; Omnichord organ). This will be their third show. Ryan McLaren got the skinny and the fat.

Musically, how did you end up where you are today? What brought you to this band and this sound? MN-L: Sound? What sound? It's probably safe to say that we don't really have a "sound" yet. But we're getting there. I guess it's just the combination of all our independent influences, some of which are the same, and I guess that's what brought us together. DW: An open-ended challenge to Kim Temple. We are the anti-Kim Temple. Jonny is Kim Temple's evil doppelganger and arch-nemesis. Stories of their week-long battles will echo through the great halls, as a thousand gongs ring out and golden confetti rains from the sky. Jonny kicks ass FOR THE LORD. JD: It's true, I bio-engineered a supervirus which disabled KT's larynx and silenced her oh-so-dulcet tones, thus allowing for 3RC's spontaneous creation on the Wavelength stage a mere six hours later. But evil? We're here to dissolve Manichean opposites and turn the machines against themselves.

So, is 3RC in a state of evolution or flux right now? How can you see it evolving in the future? DW: I don't think we've achieved a steady state. We are presently unstirredfruit-on-the-bottom yogurt. Matt is our token fruit on the bottom. MN-L: Flux-olution. Personally, I can see us evolving into some sort of lizard. A lizard that plays noisy melodic music and has an infatuation with technology. JD: Each rehearsal seems to be powered by a flux capacitor; we experience weekly leaps of mutation forward. At this exponential rate, by the year 2005 we will have actually traveled back to the year 1955 and invented all forms of modern popular music as we know it. The only snag will be that Matt and I will have to stop Dean from accidentally marrying his own Mum.

Do you guys like word games? Lets do some analogies: Black is to white as 3RC is to [blank]. DW: Pffefeurneuse! MN-L: Cantaloupe. JD: Hagiography.

Ketchup is to grilled cheese sandwiches as 3RC is to [blank]. DW: Dissonant melodic instrumentation! JD: Audience make-out sessions! MN-L: Celine Dion. They really should be on the same plate with each other.

What's the best thing about this band? DW: I think the best thing about this band is the zero-stress factor and the (relative) lack of form. This is a nice vacation, coming from another band where everything is painstakingly structured. It's like a day at the spa, or at least like I imagine a day at the spa to be, but with more computers and less towels. But equal amounts of hot mud. MN-L: Only having worked solo in the last few years, it's nice to work with other people. But I'd say the best thing about this band would have to be the freedom it provides to try new forms of music and combine all our musical interests into one big amorphous blob. JD: Dean and Matt are nice and funny guys who show up for practice when they say they're going to. In fact, they are unnervingly punctual. Also, they are bigger gearheads than me and can show my Luddite punk ass how to Make Things Work. Also, Jenny shows up to play gigs with us and brings her own special brand of wide-eyed awesome.

How does each of you define success? Have you achieved it? Is it even something you strive for? DW: You've made it when you get hate mail from someone other than ex-girlfriends. I strive for the undiluted ire of my peers via electronic mail. MN-L: Success is when you have a show and people know what they're going to see. We haven't really had the "where is this relationship going" talk yet, but that might be successful too. JD: Success is when I get up in the morning and I possess the raw materials to make a satisfying cup of coffee.

BY RYAN MCLAREN

GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS

WAVELENGTH 215 — Sunday May 30, 11pm

Purveyors of: Songs of love and subway stations
www.greatlakeswimmers.com

The Great Lake Swimmers play beautiful, folky-sounding music. However, don't be surprised when you talk to Tony Dekker and you find out he's as punk rock as anyone could be. Makr corresponded with Tony, "the main dude", to find out what's going on. Damn, I should have asked which Great Lakes he's actually been swimming in...

How did the Great Lake Swimmers come into being? What were you up to before this all started? GLS was basically a solo project to begin with. I crossed paths with some talented Torontonians who were like-minded and they added some flavour to the acoustic songs I had written. It feels more like a band these days, albeit an ever-changing one. These musicians in question (W. Kofman, Sandro Perri, Nick Zubeck, Erik Arneson, Almog David, Colin Huebert... band members in varying capacities) I met through playing solo shows and through mutual friends when I moved here from London, Ontario. I went to school there for literature, but I grew up and lived in the Niagara region until I was 19. I was writing and playing in bands there since I was 16 or so, while living on my parents' farm.

Your album was recorded in an abandoned silo. How did you hook that up? I knew about an old silo on an abandoned farm in my hometown of Wainfleet and sort of became obsessed with the idea of recording songs in there. At first it was like guerilla-style recording, very secretive, until one night the owner of the property showed up and asked us just what the hell we were doing on his land. It turns out that he was the father of a childhood friend of mine, so we were allowed to continue. Small rural towns have hundreds of eyes that you don't even know are watching you. He was particularly rattled by the fact that we had brought in a gas-powered generator and stayed out there until very late at night, most nights.

Is Toronto an important place to you? I still feel that there's a lot about Toronto that I don't know – I guess I still haven't quite shaken seeing the city through the lens of a tourist yet. I really miss the quietness of small towns, but Toronto has so much going for it musically speaking that I feel it's where I'm supposed to be right now. I have a more regular band here now, who are fantastic to play with, and I like working with the fine folks at the weewerk art space; I like how the music and art worlds overlap through them. So yes, I would say that Toronto is an important place to me right now. Like the old saying goes, you can't drop a piano out of a window in Toronto without hitting a musician, and I'm thrilled to have this particular piano hovering precariously over me.

Your songs have a very subtle brilliance to them. Who has influenced you as a songwriter? I was very young when I heard old-time country coming across the AM radio of my dad's truck, but I don't mean to romanticize that. I sort of grew up on punk music (as a belief moreso than as a genre) in my formative music-playing years, and graduated into extreme music and the more challenging aspects of noise through my university years, and I think that some of that ethic, especially the DIY one, has stuck with me. The rediscovery of country music, particularly of the 1960's and everything before that, however, was also an important turning point for me. As a whole, I feel a strong connection towards it in that they were able to express themselves in a clear, honest, and straight-forward way, but in simple, parabolic terms. On top of that, there is a certain connection with/respect for nature and rural life and its attitudes that I feel informs much of my song writing. Country and folk music is really the original "outsider" music, if you stop to think about it. In the end, it's all just music, and I guess it strikes some people; others, not so much. I write music from my heart and it's something I'm compelled to do more than something I choose to do. I am constantly surprised and yet warmed that people make connections with it.

BY MAKR

UNRAVELLED BROWN CASSETTE TAPE LYING ON A FREEWAY

WAVELENGTH 215 — Sunday May 30, 10pm

Purveyors of: The drones of Winterpeg
www.geocities.com/unravelledbrowncassetetape

Unravelled Brown Cassette tape Lying on a Freeway is the brainchild of Winnipeg electro-denizen Chris Friesen. The UBCLF moniker comes from the Douglas Coupland novel Microserfs. Anne Sulikowski spoke to Chris via e-mail.

Explain the Unravelled Brown Cassette tape Lying on a Freeway. UBCLF is myself and recent addition Terence. The project is almost three years old and is actually celebrating its birthday with this spring tour. Images I associate with the name is "walking down the street and you look down and periodically come across old cassettes that have been broken and are lying all unravelled on the ground."

Tell me about your music set up AND favorite piece of music gear. I basically use any instruments whether it's an "actual" one like a bass or keyboard or a non-instrument one like a walkman or toy. Best piece of gear is a toss up between my line six delay loop pedal and my boss loop station.

Describe your music writing process. I actually don't "write" music. It comes out unconsciously during a performance. It's random occurrences that happen and then it's me trying to recreate that into something else.

I see your music as very emotional even though it is mainly instrumental with no lyrics. Does your music reflect events on your daily life? What inspires the drive needed to record your songs? Music is very emotional to me. It reflects my daily life. If I have had a "stressful" day, it's going to evident in the songs. It may just be a more feedback-laden performance or it could be a more subdued performance. It depends. As for the drive, that's intangible. It's something I can't explain. It's just there. I have been obsessed with music and sound for as long as I can remember. It started with me singing myself to sleep and continuing into volunteering at CKUW (www.ckuw.ca) as an on-air programmer.

Some may see you as a noise artist. Is there such a thing as noise music? Please comment. I don't consider myself a noise artist. I consider myself to be a pop artist. Pop is, to me anything that has a melody. I can stand under air vents and if I listen long enough, the fluctuations in sound create a melody, thusly, a "pop" sound.

Are you involved in any collaborations? Please describe. Yes, I am collaborating with a variety of artists for a "remix" project of a UBCLF piece. As well, I will be collaborating with you (Anne of Worthy Records) in some fashion; that is yet to be determined. By the time this has come out I will have taken part in an event being put together by Rob Menard of The Absent Sound (who will be at Wavelength June 13 — bookin' ed.).

Best and worst live moment. Do you find it challenging to do electronic improvisations live? The best are those moments where you are completely lost in the sound and you have no idea what's going on around you outside of the sound. The worst moments are the ones when little things bug you about the performance, like a pedal doesn't do what you wanted it to do at a particular moment — things that most people won't pick up on. It's the "perfectionist" in me that is the worst moment. The only thing I find challenging is the price of 9-volt batteries.

On room101.net, your bio seems to be a break-up letter. Has heartache inspired your music? Yes. Heartache is a part of life, whether it's a break up or not getting a raise at work.

Please state your favorite Canadian artist. Presently I have been addicted to Aidan Baker, Low Frequency Pilot, Proximal:Distal, Building Castles Out Of Matchsticks, The Evaporators, Horribly Awfuls, Boat, Nagasaki Fondue, A Silver Mt Zion, the list goes on and on. I love the Tragically Hip too.

BY ANNE SULIKOWSKI