Sysko's Band highlight - PostModern People

Postmodern People and their demo music can be found here >www.postmodernpeople.bandcamp.com

A local 5 piece Indie Psyk Rock band I got to see with some other friends of mine a little while back but never got the chance to say anything about them. I love their stage presence and they bring a new sound to indie that is refreshing. with a nice high tempo drum line and some amazing female vocals that are easy to get lost in this is a band to check out as they progress because I know that they will :D

Check them out on FB here
and more of their Demos can be found here .

Throwback Thursday : The Nix Dicksons

Alley wine, Jack Kerouac, Captain Dickson and tying one on, a few things that come to mind when speaking of the late Nix Dicksons. A band formed by small town raised Tanner Holthe and friend Rob Wikstrom. A band who called the Marquee Room home and went through several line up changes including both Tammy and Kenton Amstutz, Dylan Keating, David Drebit, Sean Hamilton and Cole Paget just to name a few. There was even a time and point where I myself auditioned for the band. I remember the first time meeting Tanner back in 2010 at a fundraiser show put on by Drebit and the way he presented himself and the stories he told me once everyone packed up of the Nix left me so intrigued that I went home and listened to everything on their cbc page (link) and instantly falling in love with them. I then moved to Calgary and never got a chance to see them with their line up of both Tanner and Rob. It was actually with the departure of Rob where I had been invited to come for a jam at Kensington Jam House . Tanner's instructions where clear to just come in and come downstairs, don't take off my shoes because it's just a filthy jam house. But me being so nervous for it I rang the bell and a tall lanky guy with curly hair answered the door. Little did I know at the time that I had just met our now ex guitarist Gavin Boyd. He showed me down to the jam room where they where rehearsing. After the jam had ended I walked to the train and headed home. Of course I didn't pass my audition, but at a Black Phoenix Orchestra show (who also shared this jam space) I met Gavin and Risky Endeavor was formed a few days later. Much to everyone's surprise here I became a regular at their jams waiting for the time where we could run down and rehearse before the other band would show up. We all became great friends and I made my way to almost everyone of their shows as a three piece until they called it quits in January of 2013. This band I will forever hold in such high regards in my heart until the day I die and have me singing "Old Shore Road" at the top of my lungs until I have no voice.




Here's one for the memories

First of many throwback Thursdays :D - Silentpanic

Throwback Thursdays starts with one of my favorite bands from the past.

When I went to one of my first shows years ago I ran into a place that is not around anymore but they had local bands every Friday and Saturday and most of them were great and I being a lover of music was enthralled with most of the bands and how well things felt at the time and the sense of community was huge and I have been holding on to that feeling for all these years to try to create that again with other bands and artists so people can have the same experience that I had the first  Time I experienced the band Silentpanic and still to this day I loved their music .. Sadly they broke up and all went different ways but in retrospect ;) they are still in our hearts and remember those days!

Many people as you can see in this video were in love and in awe with this band and I will forever remeber the first time I saw them and the first time they played a show for me .. R.I.P Silentpanic!
Cheers!

Two parter interview with Anthony J About him and his bands !!!

With conflicting timing I finally got some words in with the elusive Anthony J!! Check it out!

Anthony - Hey man i'm online so whenever you wanna do this!

BSK- we can do this now dude !

Anthony - sounds good.

BSK- k im good ! Lets do this! I have always wondered about how you started with music and what you plan to do! Can you give me some insights ?

Anthony - I started music when I was 15. I grew up loving Meatloaf and Tom Petty so I really wanted to play guitar, but my parents wouldn't let me. Sooo I bought my own guitar after working at my first job a the public library. I joined my first band at the same time with my two friends, and we all not only started a band together, but learned how to play our instruments at the same time, so you can imagine it was awful at first.
It always seems to be but when you persevere like you have , that is when you know that you are going places.  ..

BSK-Just for our readers can you tell us what you have been up to lately in music? I am as you know a huge fan of DELUGE! .. But can you say anything about your other projects?

BSK- Well Deluge was funny because I didn't (and still don't) consider myself a real drummer, but I played a little for fun. A couple years ago they lost their drummer and since I knew them from high school they asked if I would drum for them, so I basically learned how to play the drums while in Deluge. I am just now starting to feel comfortable behind a kit. Right now Deluge is working on a new album and is recording next month. Black Earth is also currently in the studio. I don't have any other project on the go right now, except maybe I'll bust out an acoustic set one of these days. I have a bunch of acoustic song I've wrote but I've been to nervous to play them live.
Stage anxiety can be a bitch when it is solo !

BSK- What are you looking for in the future?
music wise or anything else?

Anthony - Right now I love what I'm doing and I love both my bands. I couldn't really ask for cooler people to have around. I'm working hard on discovering what makes a good song. I'm not super interested in becoming the best at my instruments, I just want to get really good at writing songs.

BSK- When you think of writing songs where do you get your influence from?

Anthony- Well at first it was horror movies, but more recently I've just been dwelling on the past while I'm at work. Now I really like to write about days gone by.

BSK- What would your ideal show be? Local or any place else?

Anthony- Right now I love touring, so my ideal show would probably be in a pub in a small mountain
town like Ferrnie. We've played a couple great shows there, where the crowed is just in the mood to party hard. In Calgary I like playing Dickens, Verns, and The Broken City the most. The bands on my ideal show would probably be The Shotgun Dolls, The Evidence, and Forbidden Dimension.
I miss watching the Evidence! Thay are rad!

BSK- I gotta go brotha but I have to say that I have
listened to your music to the point that it would become sort of creepy hahaha .. Lastly I have to hit you with the ever so popular question ..What would you do in a Zombie apocalypse ??

Anthony - haha I would find myself a gun and take my moterbike down to mexico.
Thanks for the interview dude! We gotta get together for a drink sometime soon!

BSK-
totally man! Thanks so much!

Anthony -no problem dude!

pt 2

Anthony -Im currently getting tattooed so i have time right now if you can
You wanna do it while getting tatted? That would be fun!

BSK-Yeah man!
Sounds like fun! Lemme grab a smoke and a brew and we will get down to it!

Anthony- Alphanumeric!

BSK- let's get into it .. Just for the readers that may not know much about ya can you give us a rundown of what you have been up to and how you started in music?

Anthony - Well I'm a welder by day and a struggling musician by night. I spent my later teen years playing with my childhood friends in horror punk band called Conniving Cadavers because we weren't cool enough to do anything else. After about 5 years we called it quits and now here I am in Black Earth!

BSK- What is up with Black earth these days?

Anthony -Well we just finished another tour through BC last month. We've spent the past year in and out of Echo Base studio recording our new album which we finished back in the summer. This last tour was actually to promote it but Constellations won't be dropped in Calgary until November 21st.

BSK-Sounds like things are going quite well

Anthony- Yeah its been rad!

Probably our best tour overall so far.

BSK- Fuckin eh!
What would you say was the biggest inspiration for the album and tour?

Anthony- Well we've moved away from the full on punk rock thing we used to do because we all got old and started listening to other stuff like Queens Of Stoneage. I decided to write more riffy rock guitar since I realized that Black Sabbath is the coolest thing ever. Erika went with a much prettier vocal style that really shows off her skill. She wrote most of the lyrics with a celestial theme.

BSK- The band has grown for sure from what I have seen ..  .. Is there anything you want to say about the band before I hit you with the speed round ?

Anthony- Well since Tyler joined on bass he has been a big help with making us more dynamic. We still love Rock And Roll and we still play it, but he has helped us make things much more interesting without sacrificing the catchy punk hooks that I love. We've also really focused on making our live show more exciting and high energy. But most of all we've really entered full on family mode.

Ahhhg this tattoo is on my shin, it is unpleasant.

BSK- What is the tatt of?

Anthony -I'm getting a leg sleeve of Aliens (from the movie Aliens) mixed with guitars.

BSK- Dude I was just talking with Zeb and it is funny you brought that up ... Speed round and we are gunna go full geek on this if you are down.

Anthony- I am very down

BSK- Marvel or DC ? .. this will set the interview for sure lol

Anthony- Marvel

Cooler bad guys

BSK- Good! lol .. I would never ask who is favored .. but this time for once who would you say is the best hero or villain in Marvel?

Vemon, hands down.

Not Carnage, VENOM!

BSK-. spider man or venom ?

Anthony - I am beyond stoked for that movie. Spiderman is cool but Venom would destroy him in real life. He would just eat his face.

BSK- If you would cosplay who would you go as ?

Anthony - Hmmmmmm Boba Fett

I plan to buy his suit one day and just hang out at Chinook
I want to go as Jar Jar if ever possible ..  Freak people out or entice conversation

BSK- Best breakfast food?

Anthony - Sausage!!!!
!!

BSK- Favorite thing in the world?

Anthony- science fiction probably. Closely followed by Rock And Roll, then maybe Sushi.

BSK- I have to ask and as you may know that my favorite question is what would you do in a zombie apocalypse? .. Yhink hard now ! lol

Anthony - I'd grab what I can and ride my motorcycle into The Rockies where I would make myself a fort and probably eat sushi made of people.

BSK- I would probably ride up there with ya lol .. Thanks for the chat brother and if there is anything else you wanna say say it now .. an I will see you soon bro!


Anthony- Decepticons FOREVER!!!

BSK-K we need to continue this talk later .. outside of public view .. Optimus will not like that comment

Anthony- Hahaha yeah man!

BSK- OI .. I will post this tomorrow !

Anthony- Thanks so much man!

BSK-No problem brother! I had mad fun !

Interview with Tanner Riedel of Magesty!

Magestry Band member and I chat about the band! Check it out !

BSK-I was just going over some of your tunes .. you down for the interview?

Tanner-Yes sir.

BSK-Alright let's get this fucker going!

Tanner-Sounds good!

BSK-Firstly I want to comment you on the video for Jack in the bottle ! ..
I have an idea as to what provoked that song/video but can you tell the readers a bit more about it?

Tanner-For sure! Yeah, it's pretty obvious what's it's about haha! I've always had an affinity for JD... fucking LOVE the stuff! It was written about a few outings I had while drinking it.
I know that stuff and I do not get along lol .. Any stories about those night you are willing to share?

Yeah, the lyric 'seeking my speech and destroying my words' tells the story of me, quite inebriated on Jack, lying on my back, ripping up Metallica's 'Seek & Destroy'! According to a friend the next day, I was hardly able to speak, but I could play the song just fine haha!

BSK-LOL that is rad! ... What is the future of the band? I know you have some wicked ideas!

Tanner-Our plans for the future are to simply keep playing as much as we can so that we can get our sound out there. As do a lot of bands, we have faced some adversity. Our drummer, Mike, is currently attending Berkeley college of music in Boston, and Alem, our singer, will be headed home to India for a couple of months over the holidays. But early in the new year, when everyone has returned, we will be hitting the stage hard and most likely be recording an EP!

BSK-Sounds like a great amount going on with you guys .. Plus Berkeley is a great institution for music   .. What is your favorite band/ artist of all time?


Tanner-Yes, we are all proud of Mike! And naturally, his being there is only going to leave us with a fucking stellar drummer! Hahaha! As for my favorite band, it has always been Led Zeppelin! They just ROCK!

BSK-Alright it is speed round time  .1 what is the best breakfast you have had?

Tanner-Cold pizza and beer.

BSK-Nice!.. What is the best instrument you have wanted/ played?

Tanner-Gibson Les Paul... I have an Epiphone now, but it's just not the same haha!

BSK-Redheads, Blond, Black or brown .. how do you like your ladies?

Tanner-I will tell you I like any of them, but if you ask the other guys they will immediately tell you, "blond"... haha!

I guess I do kind of favor the blonds!

BSK-Hahaha .. I am a sucker for the red myself but not very picky lol .. Last question and my favorite because, well it is my favorite .. What would you do in a zombie Apocalypse?

Tanner-Go to the Winchester! Hahaha!

BSK-Hahahaha fuckin great answer!

BSK-Thanks for chattin with me dude! We will be in touch for sure!

Tanner-Sounds good! Thank-you!


BSK-no problem man thank you!  Cheers brotha!

Check out their video here!!!

This weekends shows!!

Tonight!!
Chron Goblin is going to be rocking the hell out with Doberman , Poison Pens and Hagface at Nite owl .. Info here

Jason Elmore & Hoodoo Witch is playing at The Blues Can
info here

Tomorrow!!

Burning Daisy is going to be rocking Watchmans pub
info here

Black Pheonix Ochestra is with Open Air , Cygnets and The District Heat at Dickens pub
info here

X.92.9 presents Paper Lions and friends at The Gateway
info here

The Buffet E.P release party is going down at Watchmans pub
info here

Sunday!!
JDs Benefit is going to be at Kings head pub
info here

Go and do what you can to support local music!!! Cheers!!! - BSK

Alt-Mare before Christmas: Alternative Rock and Burlesque Show

So as many of you know we are throwing a Christmas Party on December 19th at Lord Nelson's and it will feature some of the coolest Alt. Rockers in Calgary and some Beautiful Women doing Burlesque. We have decided to get into the Christmas spirit and donate proceeds from the door to Operation Christmas Child, we are also accepting Shoe Boxes for them and Non-Perishable Food Donations for the Food Bank. Bands will be selling presale tickets and will be able to keep their proceeds to help fund their musical endeavors. Event here $10 Advance Tickets $15 at Door $5 with non-perishable food item or A Shoe Box for Operation Christmas Child

Up first we will be having Quade (Ex-Cooper Collective) (8:30) preforming a solo set of new material which he promises will kick the night off right. Links Coming Soon


Pop Punk group Sparrows Over Spain will be the first band preforming. Consisting of ex members of both Rockets and Dinosuars and DELUGE! and The Freshman Year, they have been hard at work recording their Debut EP with Eric Andrews of Evuis Studios which will be released early next year, they will be sure to get you dancing you can check out their live video for "Affleck Will Never Be My Batman" here



Then we will have the beautiful Aces and Eights Burlesque troop preforming and they are keeping their act Top-Secret so you will have to make sure to stick around and see what they have up their sleeves.

Following Aces and Eights we have Risky Endeavor keeping things going, with their self-titled EP freshly released at the end of September this band has sparked quite the interest of the community including both CJAY 92 and X929 Calgary's New Rock Alternative. Missing them might be Risky check out their EP here


We have good time two piece rockers Grandola up after and they'll sing you anthems that will make you crave cheeseburgers and tasty beverages you can check out their latest EP here


Following Grandola, Aces and Eights will be back for another round

Black Mamba Tales who also released a brand new EP this fall will be keeping us going through the night their Self-Titled EP can be found here


Last but not least The Path Less Traveled will close out the night. Fresh off the release of their new album Cast out the Cowards they will be ready to keep you going to the very end. Check out their album here


Don't forget that if you decide to bring a shoe box these are the things that they suggest you put in them

-Soap
-toothbrushes
-Toys
-non perishable food items
-Kind words
-all sorts of toiletries
- lighters
- paper and pens
And all things you know that the kids would need