Interview with Matt Blais !! :)

BSK-hey how goes it?

Matt Blais

good boss how r u

BSK-I am doing great

Matt Blais

ok, fire away

BSK-Shweet man! .. First I want to know what you beginning in music was and if you can tell me about
your journey with Calgary music.

Matt Blais
Essentially, when I was young I didn't even think about being a musician. I was really into animals and wanted to be a marine biologist. When I saw the movie Free Willy, I wanted to be just like the kid and that kid had a harmonica. So I begged for one. That was my first musical instrument.

Matt Blais
Obviously I didn't talk to any whales with it but, years later when I started really listening to music, I discovered guys like Bob Dylan and Tom Petty who were song writers and they played harmonica. I thought it would be pretty interesting to give that a try. So I learned guitar and started a few bands. I wanted to play live even though we were terrible, but, we got better and better and eventually people were asking US to play gigs instead of us begging them. That has grown into the career I have today. It was all very gradual and accidental.

BSK-I love harmonica! I have been messing around with my Honers for a while . My favorite song of yours is " Goodbye sunshine"  The harmonica in the song is great! What was your inspiration for that track?

Matt Blais
Thanks! I'm pretty proud of that track. It came out of some tough times with band members and stress of trying to get things going in the face of adversity. It's definitely a song about naivety and loss of innocence. Goodbye to the rosey glow and hello to the harsh reality of this business. I've gotten bluesier as my career has grown and I thought that genre was the perfect vehicle for that theme and those words.

BSK-Do you have any big plans for the future with your music?

Matt Blais
Of course. I think the life of a musician is all about "big plans." In a week I head down to L.A to take part of MusExpo - We're hoping some great things will come out of that. A new music vid is in the works. I'm writing again, which is nice. So a new record is in it's seedling phase. I always have plans to tour. Basically, a whole bunch of smaller plans create the ultimate big plan.

BSK-I am stoked for ya man! that sounds like we have a ton to look forward to  as I usually have local musicians reading this blog do you have as an established musician in Calgary any advice for up and coming artists?

Matt Blais
The advice that's worked for me is "never be satisfied."  Knowing that you can always get more out of yourself, be it emotion or creativity, will always propel you forward. The desire to make each show more entertaining for the audience will get you the gigs you want. No artist should ever be too comfortable.

BSK-Sounds great to me , Always push yourself  is there anything you would like to say to the readers before I get to my last question?

Matt Blais
I suppose just, thanks for reading, thanks for listening and keep supporting the artists you love.

BSK-Right on! and now my favorite question ! What would you do in a zombie apocalypse ??
Hahaha, excellent question.  I think I'd be the kind of person to always keep moving. Gather a small group of trustworthy people with diverse skills and bounce from resource to resource. I'm not sure but I think could survive for quite some time . . .but then again everyone thinks that . . .until they get bit.

BSK-great answer!! Thanks for the interview man!! It was really fun!
thank you sir!

Matt Blais
it was indeed
BSK-Cheers man! it will be posted today ! thanks again!

Live shows this weekend!!!

I have missed out on some updating for shows but not this weekend !! Tons of shit to go and check out!
Fuck the snow!

Tonight!!
Steve McQueen Band is playing at the Kings Head Pub ( and tomorrow night too) here is the fb link for more info! Here.

The Bloody Hells are with The Escorts at Dickens for Punk rock'n'roll attack on Friday, March 28!
THE BLOODY HELLS, THE ESCORTS, THE ATIVANS and MASS CONTROL $7
First band 10 PM. link is Here.

Mr. Furious is playing Big Al's in Forest lawn and Sadly this is the bands final show together So if you are a Fury fan you should probably go! Link Here

Tomorrow!!

Scotty Bernier and Tanner James Holth are hosting the open jam at The Ship and Anchor on 17th ave. info Here

For those wondering about all ages venues I guess there is one at The Golden Age club, I hope it turn out well because they have a good line up tomorrow. The Best in Brutality Tour will be shaking the fuck out of that place!! more info Here

The Blind Beggar is Hosting Ruth Purves Smith, The Fast Nationals and Kill your Radio. info Here

The Press Gang is having their CD release party!!! The Stetson Stage on Macleod trail. With Bloated Pig, A War Within and Frightenstein !!! Sure to be a killer fucking show!! 

And last but definitely not least is a show at my old stomping grounds Sidelines in Dover!! With 4 fucking awesome bands!! PERVCORE!! WORLD CLASS WHITE TRASH!! STATUE OF DEMUR!! FROM ANOTHER TIME!! info Here 

Get the fuck up and go see some shows and support local music!! Cheers!! - BSK

Up and coming Photographer to keep an eye out for ! - Elizabeth Joyal.

Elizabeth Joyal is a local photographer with great promise. Here are some of her shots!>

Check her out on the link above and shoot her a like! - Cheers! -BSK

News :)

So for the last little while I have been off and busy coming up with new things and some decisions I have made are that I will more than likely be managing bands again and also be putting on shows under the name ALTCitY ProduCtionS .. We will have some more to say about that soon :) Also I will be announcing our newest promotion member very soon!! .. We are just working out the details and life shit :P .. Spring in very fuckin promising and summer is quite figured out .. sorry I cannot say much about that yet but I can say wicked interviews are coming very soon and since I missed the band of the week this week I have some great things to make up for time lost .. Cheers! -BSK

Zeb's CD Reviews

Ghost Notes - Cowpuncher (Soaring Eagle Records)

I have yet to see this band preform live but a buddy of mine picked me up their new disc and I love it. It's a great mix between country and rock. For a good time with your buds or just relaxing at home it's a great listen. Essential Tracks - Back of Vans, Bridesmaids, Country Maiden Check out some tracks here

Where Do We Go From Here - 36? (Self-Produced)

Fronted by Taylor Cochrane this psychedelic band pleases all your senses. Witty catchy and great musicianship on this. It's almost like being high without the drugs. Also a great live band to see if you ever get the chance. Essential Tracks "Soul Searching" and "Head First"
Check it out Here

Miss Grizzly - Miss Grizzly (Self-Produced)

I've stumbled upon this gem recorded by the one and only Casey Lewis at Echo Base studios. A very progressive rock album with noticeable influences such as Coheed and Cambria and Black Sabbath this upbeat EP grooves and riffs you through 5 tracks and I'll be making my way to see them as soon as i can. Essential Tracks "Road House" "Go" and "Find A Way"
Check It Out Here


The Floor Is Lava - The Heart Set (Self Produced)

I had the joy of meeting these young lads last weekend while gallivanting out on the town. This indie art rock band has a real upbeat surf sound to them. They've informed me they are working on a new album so keep an ear out for them. Essential Tracks "I'm Not James Bond, But I've Seen His Movies" and "Sticks and Stones"
Check It Out Here

Sysko's Band Of The Week!! - Black Earth!

Black Earth is my band to show you this week!
A great Alternative band that you may or may not have heard of that is just great!
Erika, Anthony J, Steve and Tyler make up the band and really kill it! I first found this band because Anthony plays in one of my favorite bands in Calgary Deluge!! And if you know me then I have probably mentioned them before! the two bands share a song called runaway knight that Anthony wrote and has performed with both bands you can check it out with all of the other songs that they have here.
Black Earth has a great post punk sound with killer female vocals and a very strong guitar and drum backing that really compliments the vocals! check them out and shoot the a "Like" they deserve it!!

Cheers!! -BSK

Interview with Jen from Windigo and show info for Palomino show! .. Band of the Week gone crazy! :D

I planned the band of the week to be Windigo but I ended up with a lot more!!

Ok so I got to meet Jen from Windigo and chat about some rad things and some up and coming things like them playing the Palomino anniversary show March 29th here is the event :)

And here is what we chatted about!!

BSK-would you be down for a quick interview?

Jen -for sure man. ask away!

BSK- First thing is can you tell me about yourself a little bit and how you got into music and eventually Windigo?

Jen-lol this is definitely the condensed version of this answer...

I grew up listening to a lot of classic rock albums with my dad (The Beatles, led zeppelin, Supertramp) and that interest eventually turned down a folk-ier path leading me towards more stuff like bob Dylan and John Prine, I just thought the acoustic guitar was something I was really interested in. so my parents bought me one I was probably 10, and I stared to learn some basic chord formations and wrote some pretty basic songs. I was very shy when I was young, so it wasn't really until high school when I started performing music and taking music lesions. all through high school I did a bunch of royal conservatory vocal exams and I was teaching voice lesions but I definitely preferred writing music and playing it. Eventually I convinced a couple friends of mine to play guitar and drums to some songs that I had written and members of the band changed until eventually the Band was called high quill. High quill was around for a year but eventually broke up and then Chris asked me to join Windigo.
BSK-Rad! .. So I was wondering if you had plans to do some recording any time soon?

Jen-We just did a bunch of live off the floor demos with our friend Eric Andrews. we have plans to use the demos as the very first step in pre production for our next album, so were going to go through the songs and essentially strip them down to what we like and what we think would be cool to add or what we should change or do differently.  we don't know when we will be recording the next album but plans are definitely underway.
BSK-I am going to do my best to make it to the show at the Palomino on the 29th for the show! I am sure it will be all kinds of awesome! .. Anything to say about the show?

Jen-Yay! I am really excited to play, our Friends The Ashley Hundred are some of the nicest most talented musicians I know and their album is awesome, you might even see our bands play a song at the end as one band if you're lucky!
BSK-that would kick ass!!  .. next question is a bit of a toughy for some .. What do you think of the state of the Calgary music industry and how it stands today? What would you change if you could?

Jen-hummmmm

I think the Calgary music scene for some has been hard to break into. There are a lot of existing clicks, and by that I mean bands who only play shows together. I think there is new amazing talent popping up everywhere, and we feel like our success with the music scene isn’t about stepping on peoples toes to get ahead of them we would rather make friends so we can share our knowledge and experiences and grow the community.
There are way more resources available to Calgary musicians now that help them out especially now that the Alberta Music office has opened up.
If I could change anything about the Calgary scene I would hope to see more all ages venues available.
BSK-you basically took the words out of my mouth  lol I love the scene but the cliques can be tasking but after you get past that point you are usually fine on your own .. and yes the all ages venues are depleting because there is no revenue coming in for the venues so they tend to fizzle away.. so my notorious last question that I ask is .. What would you do if there was to be a zombie apocalypse?

Jen-Oh man, probably contact my band and family and friends to make sure they were ok. Pack the essentials and head to the mountains. Weapon of choice, crossbow.
good plan! Well thanks for chatting! I had a great time! .. Keep in touch and I will hopefully see you on the 29th.
Cheers!

E.P review - No More Moments - "Hot and fresh"

No More Moments 
I am sure you have heard of them by now but if not these past band of the weekers are fucking killer punk rockers that oh so often play live shows throughout the Calgary punk and metal scene. I recently talked to Carlin of no more moments and he sent me to his bandcamp site for the band because they have just released some new tracks!! I listened to them a ton last night and it brought me back to the day of NOFX, Black Flag and chillin on the porch getting loaded and talking about music all day in the sun .. So needless to say i love these tracks! Thanks Carlin!! to check it out for yourself the tracks are right here>http://nomoremoments.bandcamp.com/ 

-BSK

Catching up + Band of the week! - The Promethean Labyrinth!!

Ok so just to catch up with y'all , I have been pretty with life things that keeps me pretty occupied. But I will still be doing band of the week, Interviews and model reviews along with some show and album reviews.. But sadly until I actually figure out a new way to get my show list for the weekends they might not be on here for a couple weeks :( But anyway I would love to do this weeks band of the week for The Promethean Labyrinth  .. < Click the link and like the page! You may have already heard of the psychedelic progressive metal band and if you have here is a reminder :D Their webpage for some music is here on soundcloud!! Check them out!!! Lead singer Maria Joaquin Created all of these! Look him up for more of his killer artwork!!

Cheers-BSK