ANTIDOTE MAGAZINE SPRING/ SUMMER 2015

antidote

F

8

letters from the editors

rom the beginning, the philosophy behind the magazine has served as a forum for those who lamented about the lack of diversity within the fixed programming of urban clubs and events. The urgency to find the serum to counteract this toxic effect on mass popular culture is what fueled my mission. Thus, antidote was born. The question now, was how? Our manifesto was to find a remedy that would promote diversity over the monoculture of the mainstream, by highlighting experiences that have often been overlooked in the mad pace of contemporary urban life. It was our hope to expand the horizon of possiilities and encourage experimentation above and beyond the confines of your own personal bubbles. The task at hand will be to provide our readers with clues on where, when, why and how you could spend your time. I hope this comprehensive guide will be of great use to you, as we connect the dots, city to city.

Andrew Carter Publisher/Founder

2

W

ithin these pages is the work of dreamers.

It’s the work of those who love what they do, how they do it and want nothing more but to keep living it at all costs. They were Rockin the Bells in New York City, interviewing some of the best up and coming rock bands, attending amazing concerts, eating savoury dishes and living a life that some will only imagine. It has encouraged them to go out to do more and bring the ones they love for the ride. It has encouraged them to inspire you to do the same. These dreamers understand that the only limits that exist out there are the ones they place on themselves. For each moment of struggle, there was a moment to celebrate. To make it, they understood that they had to go out and keep creating positive moments to offset any struggle they faced in the creation of their dream. Issue 1 is here, the antidote has come. It’s time to enjoy the Party.

Nana Sechere Publisher

- Inside ANTIDOTE -

P lace s & Space s

Places to eat, Places to play, Places to shop, places to stay

—

The Art of Charcuterie The Bar Chef Why We Love Old Port

Sty le & Fa sh ion Hot picks for the season

—

You Can’t Sit With Us Express Don’t Repress My Fav Shopping Ever Venial Sin Get Outside

T h e Soun d a dvisory

A Quarterly prescription to hip music

— Interview with Phantogram Leveraging a City and Festival Wine and Dine T h e AP OT HECARY People & Perspectives

Euromaiden Frozen and Alone

STAFF

AARON PEARCE Aaron’ is a graduate from the university of Ottawa, his passions are music and fine art, so who better than to curate Antidote’s Sound Advisory as music editor. His discerning taste has landed him interviews with some of the biggest names in music. In this issue Aaron meets up in Montreal with Phantogram for an exclusive interview to go through their process and upcoming projects. Aaron will now be based in London England covering shows and interviewing up and coming talent the U.K has to offer..

ROY ANTHONY MORRISON Roy Anthony Morrison is a visual artist and fashion photographer. He is a contributing writer and photographer to publications in the U.S and abroad. He has been documenting the House music scene in NY since the late1990’s.

In addition he has been involved with fashion photography for over 10 years and has spent that last several years shooting Mercedes Benz Fashion Week. Roy Anthony Morrison is a graduate of the school of Visual Arts, and is based in New York.

MAURICIO ORTIZ Mauricio works as a commercial and fashion photographer out of Montreal and is trusted to capture some of the best images for leading advertising agencies. and magazines. Antidote had the pleasure of working with Mauricio on the Venial Sin shoot. His images are both bold, beautiful. and glamourous . On this project he hand picked his inspiration, the beautiful Santa Auzina. Through his lens Mauricio brings us a story of a gypsy curse.

Contributors Anthonia Bejide, Christos Spentzos, Erum Sheikh, Darien Wong, Jacob Crepeault, Jake Pitre, Jenn Ko, Jennifer Joy Cudmore, Jesse Moorman, Jessica Awad, Justin Lam, Julienne Styles, Leslie -Anne Barrett aka (L.A) Natalya Toporova Paula Aguirre, Shevon Miller, Simone Julien, Wassim Farrah

Antidote is published 4 times a year by 6ix Degree Creative Inc. | 173 Second Avenue Suite 1, Ottawa, Ontario K1S 2H6 Pinted in Canada, The Printing House Toronto 130 Adelaide St W, Toronto, ON. Enviromental Statement : All paper used to make this magazine is from sustainable sources and we encourage our suppliers to join an accredited green scheme. Magazines are now fully recyclable . By recycling magazines, you can help reduce waste. Antidote is distributed by LMPI ditributing. Every effort has been made to ensure accurate and complete listings, if any errors please contact or email immediately. Some listings may change at the magazine’s discretion.

Limited Copyright 2001 - 2015 6ix Degree Creative Inc.

Antidte Magazine Vol. 1

LAWRENCE RINGWALD

EMILY KENNEL

MELISSA MCMAHON

Lawrence is a former International Track & Field Athlete. Certified in Strength & Conditioning, Track & Field Coaching, and Personal Training. Lawrence now lives in Ottawa and dedicates his time to helping others achieve personal fitness goals through his business LBR TRAINING

Emily Kennel is a small-but-mighty writer with a passion for all the arts, museums, travel, reading, and goat cheese. Her goal is to bring the world of contemporary art to the forefront and keep you in touch with the latest happenings and trends in this unpredictable market.

“Our visions begin with our desires“Audre Lorde. Melissa’s passions are wine and literature, so who better to introduce us to Franciacorta a sparkling that people need to know about.. Melissa’s vast experience in fine dining has lent to her ongoing education and passion with wine and food.

JULIA ABRASKO Julia is rascally young lady with a serious passion for food. While being a proud foodie, cupcake lover, maple syrup guzzler, bacon connoisseur, and writer, she’s also a proud Canadian and enjoys exploring all that her wonderful home country has to offer. She also loves attending food festivals, music festivals, and other super fun random Canadian happenings, so it’s her mission to keep you up to date on all things in the great north

MARIA ARSENIUK

LUCAS MARIANO

Maria Arseniuk is a feminist cultural critic who interrogates popular culture, the politics of representation and power relations. Gender studies, travel and social justice are all on the agenda and in her spare time she likes to smash the patriarchy and challenge the status quo.

Lucas Mariano is a cultural hipster with an appetite for luxury. While pursuing a chic, city lifestyle, he keeps his earbuds plugged into the urban up and coming.

Since his graduation from Penn State University in 2009 Lucas has used his Journalism degree to live a mobile life. By car, bus or plane, he has ventured all over North America for a glimpse at cultural singularities. In addition to documenting city life for The Antidote,

OTTAWA

Clubs are for kids: Latenight restaurants offer a more communal mix that recalls the eclectic energy of the pre-bottle-service club scene - with fewer douchebags.

TOWN 296 Elgin Street Ottawa, ON (613) 695-3143 www.townlovesyou.ca There are only a handful of restaurants in Ottawa that, within only weeks of their opening, had become the talk of the town. With the Ottawa food industry growing exponentially and foodies becoming more cynical it’s not a surprise that Town, on Elgin, has made great strides impressing a wide demographic of food lovers and oenophiles which continues to sustain this reputation.

For those who have yet to experience town, first and rather compellingly you will be drawn to the lively, warm and dim-lit atmosphere. The colour palate is rich with warm tones, chalkboard textures, urban lighting features, great wood and artistic accents. However, this atmosphere is so cohesive and well put together that the soft rhythmic music, the clamouring of the kitchen, the fine details of the setting, and even amicable guests and their conversational hum all seem to contribute to the vibe.

Specials are etched into the wood framed chalkboard: tonight`s cocktails, dinner specials and honourable mentions. The staff members move gracefully, speak honestly and passionately. The Town servers are so warmly informative and their care and patience with any guest`s questions are actually very disarmingrefreshing! It is a dim, simply inviting atmosphere. It is a perfect escape from the invading over-priced pretentiousness of other similar establishments.

The food is spectacular and wonderfully created. It is blatantly clear that there is an underlying passion in these plates, a fine deliberate intention or in other words, a strong commitment to the love of food. Yes, we eat first with our eyes at town, but more memorably- we eat.

The tuna crudo is incredible. Topped with shallots, prosciutto, and truffle oil - it literally falls apart in the mouth.

Their ricotta stuffed meatballs must also be mentioned- as these meatballs singlehandedly instigated the buzz around town. Their brick chicken is moist, flavourful and presented beautifully alongside crusted fingerling potatoes and grilled seasonal vegetables drizzled with a demi. The seafood entree with crimini mushrooms is also incredibly seasoned.

To follow dinner try their simple, classic cheese plate or any of their house- made desserts.

In any case, the food is wonderful and the atmosphere is enticing. With a modest price-point, great vibe, and accessible location, this is perfect for a simple night out with friends, or a casual celebration.

Perhaps, you`ll sit quietly at the bar to relax and retreat from your workday.

However enjoyable, you`ll soon realize that: there is only one town in town

HOUSE OF BARONS House of Barons is a prohibition style barber shop in the heart of Ottawa. A place where guys can walk in, get a shave and a cut and take their mind of the pressures of everyday. The shop caters to men and those who want a classic mens haircut or shave. We specialize in cutting mens hair and shaving their faces.

481 Sussex Dr, Ottawa, ON K1N 6Z5 (613) 241-2427

“The art of salting, curing, and smoking meat,”as Murray Street’s Chef, Steve Mitton, defines charcuterie, is no easy task “It’s a lot of brining of fresh meats or taking whole muscles and being patient with it—either curing it in salts, liquid brines, dry brines, dry cures, slow smoking, long hanging times where you don’t touch the meat even if you’re tempted to feel if it’s firm or not.” The goal is to do it right for Steve, ensuring that his customers and regulars are completely satisfied with his exclusive charcuterie bar menu

Murray Street Charcuterie

Go lightweight: Drinking all night is an artform today. Be smart. drink what you can handle and offset with water every 3rd drink.

ANDREW CARTER

137 Murray Street, Ottawa, ON K1N 5M7 (613) 241-3533 If your taste buds are curious for a new type of delicacy in Ottawa, the art of charcuterie, as prepared by Murray Street restaurant, will grace your palate with new elegance. Although Murray Street has been around for over four years, it continues to make its mark on Ottawa’s culinary scene with this refined delicacy that requires a great deal of patience and hard work, ultimately resulting in the most divinely succulent prepared meats that you will have the pleasure of tasting.

From delicious, fresh made sausages, specifically the delectable Mettwurst, to the many freshly prepared pâtés, including the particularly popular Duck Liver mousse, and the array insanely savory salamis (which are my personal favorite), it’s the extra attention to the entire process, even before charcuterie, that puts Murray Street far ahead of the rest. Steve is completely dedicated to not only the freshness of his delicacy and respect for the sometimes arduous process it requires, but he is also

adamant about his guiding philosophy regarding the treatment of animals that he uses in this process. “I think the greatest part is that we use every part of the animal, which is why I got into charcuterie,” Steve explains. “It was the only feasible way to maintain that philosophy; to be able to use every last bit of the animal.” After witnessing disturbing wasteful practices of other, more large scale restaurants that he worked for in the past, Steve has made it his business to ensure great relationships with local farmers to check on how animals are raised, even down to the slaughterhouses, to make sure they’re treated well and as respectfully as possible all the way through. For Steve, its essential that he is proud of his product and process that it took to result in that final presentation of hard work, which also keeps costs low for customers without compromising the incomparable sensory experience that Murray Street charcuterie provides.

Navarra A Euphoric Escape of the Senses

137 Murray Street, Ottawa, ON K1N 5M7 (613) 241-3533

By: Julia Abraszko ANDREW CARTER I’m always in search of new sensory experiences to thrill my taste buds and enlighten my palate in the most delicious and exciting ways. After suggestions to try Navarra in downtown Ottawa rapidly accumulated, I had no choice but to try this Mexican-Spanish fusion gem of the capital city. Navarra is now at the top of my list in stellar dining experiences, and here is why.

First of all, the atmosphere of this establishment is like no other in Ottawa.

Subtle hints of old world elegance and graceful European flare are combined with a comfortable and intimate aura to immediately transport you into a world of comfort and class. I appreciate intimate dining experiences that don’t feel rushed, so this relaxing atmosphere was a huge plus. Every detail down to the gracious and knowledgeable servers, readily suggesting wine and food pairings for newcomers or anecdotes on inspiration behind specific dishes, are fashioned to create a personal experience for each guest. Before you even take a first bite, you feel right at home.

The food itself was simply out of this world.

After a glass of a vibrant, refreshing white wine, I enjoyed a Mexican brick layer dip that included a fresh tomatillo salsa, crumbled feta, avocado, radish, crema, and pickled cactus. This seemingly simple dip packed a punch of explosive flavors, with notes of sour, sweet and savory intermingling. I especially appreciated the texture of this dip as creamy avocado and crema mixed with the fresh tomatillo, finished with the soft pickled cactus—a perfect pairing with the crunchy tostada chips.

Next was the Dungeness crab salad, a recommended favorite of Navarra’s patrons.

This was possibly my favorite part or the meal and truly a dish that I wish I could eat all day for the rest of my life. I loved the delicate texture of this dish, as the grapefruit slices, silky avocado enrobed the crab with hints of sesame and mango, whisking me to paradise.

It felt like summertime transformed into an edible form, each bite better than the one before it. I simply couldn’t get enough of it.

Already in a dreamy state of bliss, I was then greeted with the Al Pastor mushroom quesadillas. The serrano chile salsa and pickled pineapple stood out in this dish, enhancing the savory mushrooms, creating a delicious, meaty texture. A smoky element to the dish harmonized all of its unique ingredients to result in a fantastic union of flavor. To finish, I enjoyed two of the most sinfully divine desserts in existence—or so I’m convinced. Between the Mexican chocolate Panna Cotta and Crema Catalana brûlée, I was in sweet tooth heaven.

The panna cotta, so light, airy with the slightest hint of cocoa, was accented so perfectly by salted pistachios in an unexpected and brilliant savory and sweet combination. The Crema Catalana brûlée was again an unexpected take on a classic dessert, accentuated by orange zest and passion fruit, amplifying the candied perfection of this exquisite treat.

Navarra took me on a culinary adventure, unmatched by any other restaurant of this contemporary fusion. With diverse textures and unexpected combinations of flavors, it is evident Navarra’s Chef Rene Rodriguez maintains true passion and love in his creations.

I was delighted and honored to experience the stellar and unforgettable dining experience that Navarra offers. Beyond excellent food and atmosphere through and through, all who appreciate taking the time to enjoy the finest things in life must experience Navarra.

A FLAVOR EXPERIENCE UNLIKE ANY OTHER

TORONTO

Splendido

BARCHEF

472 Queen St W (416) 868-4800

As a bartender and someone who is in love with mixology, I can honestly say that after visiting the team at ‘Barchef’. I realize that as much experience as I’ve accumulated, there is still a big mountain of knowledge out there. With drinks such as the Vanilla Hickory Smoked Manhattan, in which it takes about 25 minutes to create and is literally forged through Ice and Fire, you realize that ‘getting a drink’ can be much more than just that. It can inspire your taste buds to experience more than… just getting hammered. It can inspire creativity.

Frankie Solarik the owner and barchef, prides himself on creating drinks that push the envelope and hit as many senses as possible. When you enter Barchef, prepare to enjoy your drinks as you would enjoy a meal that has been delicately prepared especially for you. This is not your standard ‘line em up and pound them back’ kind of bar. If you do plan on that, prepare for an obscenely high bill at the end of your stay, as some of the drinks are priced to match the labour intensity and presentation of the cocktails. In addition, if you’re looking for a cosmopolitan or any drink that has more sugar content than a koolaid package, look elsewhere.

SPLENDIDO 88 harbord street, M5S 1G6 416-929-7788 Toronto, Ontario Written by Nana Sechere The pressure of taking over a restaurant that has produced 23 remarkable years of excellence might get to some, but for Splendido owners Carlo Catallo and VIctor Barry, it has been the most natural transition you can imagine. It was only a mere 5 years ago that the two proprietors took over from their legendary culinary predecessors and in 5 years, they have managed to take this incredible restaurant to new heights. Chef Victor Barry, at the young age of 29, has managed to add a youthful decadence of flavor to the menu, General Manager Carlo Catallo has engineered a dining service experience that leaves its patrons feeling as special as the dishes that have been skillfully prepared.

The Gladstone

La Carnita 501 College street, The restaurant unites the talents of Andrew Richmond, a designer turned chef, and entrepreneur Amin Todai, both of whom have been at the forefront of the the pop-up food craze. Over the last year or so, they’ve been sending food enthusiasts into a frenzy with their series of one-off appearances that marry fabulous tacos and mexican inspired dishes and a general party vibe. It is Richmond’s own interpretation of Mexican Street Food fused with some asian influences that really set it apart from some of the others.

Upon entering you can help but notice “Gringo” tiled at the front step, or the “meathead mascot - a Día de los Muertos ( a skull made up of taco ingredients) that act as the signage outside. You also notice the sand blasted concrete walls adorned with graffiti, as well as the variety of well design lighting fixtures.

Make sure you try the signature “In cod we trust” with “Voltron” sauce and a handful of other street food dishes like Mexican sweet corn ($7 for two cobs) Entree’s range around $10 and the vibe is second to none.

Make sure you give this spot a try.

The Gladstone 1214 Queen Street West

Nestled just west of downtown Toronto finds a truly unique landmark of the city’s history and current artistic intentions. The Gladstone hotel presents itself with a character that is bold, while firmly identifying the heritage of the 1889 building.

The restoration that the romanesque building received gave it a new life; luring the artistic and creative to stroll through its halls.

Each of the 37 hotel rooms takes the patron into another world. Artists were assigned to each room, bringing their own style and creative thoughts on what a hotel room should be. From suitcases piled to the ceiling, puzzle pieces scattered around the room, to sleek polished woods and modern decor. The hotel offers a place for each of our tastes and minds to feel satisfied.

The Gladstone Hotel offers more than just a collection of mesmerizing bedrooms. The choice of the welcoming Melody Bar; full of contemporary art, relaxed atmosphere, and some of the most renowned drinks Toronto offers will be tempting.

The Cafe, full of fresh smells of coffee and croissants, complimented by sounds of wine splashing into glasses and fresh conversation creates a worthy adversary in where to dine.

Toronto is encapsulated within the Gladstone Hotel. The unique rooms, distinct dining experiences, and impressive collections of artwork one discovers throughout the galleries, studios, and spaces of the diverse building leads to feelings of inspiration, tradition, and affable comfort. The biggest decision is which room to lay your head after the adventures erected in the wonderland premise.

MONTREAL

HOTEL GAULT

449 Rue Sainte-Hélène Montréal, QC H2Y 2K9

Montreal’s Old Port offers visitors to the lively metropolis a taste of class and elegance that reflects the strong heritage of the city, dating back to the 1600s. Hotel Gault has captured both the traditions of the city and sophistication of the Old Port district, while incorporating a fresh twist of contemporary life. The hotel’s structure dates back to 1871, a rich and detailed exterior welcomes those exploring the lively neighborhood that if filled with the finest restaurants, bars, shops, and art. Hotel Gault continues that sensation of rich and fresh tastes found in the streets with a select number of suites that enable spacious and fresh rooms that instill a sense of relaxation and home. In short, the claustrophobic would thrive within these spaces. Each room is tailored with fine woods and clean, inviting fabrics that present a modern sanctuary. The only thing finer than the interiors may be the views one looks out onto through the numerous

windows that fill the spaces. Hotel Gault brings a warm and uncluttered refuge from the decadent and fascinating streets that lie at one’s feet within Old Port.

The amenities offered by the hotel are numerous and gracious. The attendants are warm, but allow each guest to make Hotel Gault their home; whether through the rich and cozy den, with an impressive library within; delicious and simple cuisine to satisfy any appetite; or the shared balconies that offer up views worth more than a night’s stay. Hotel Gault’s most stellar quality must be the suites themselves, the space offered, the soft linens set, the magnificent baths that some could spend the entire trip within, and the knowledge that the street below are not bustling with business men and stressed citizens, but instead flow with men and women transfixed by the beauty of the neighbourhood and the little shops and boutiques that lay within each bygone building. The guests of Hotel Gault

are offered to stay in one of Montreal finest neighbourhoods without feeling they must sacrifice space or comfort to dwell in such a privileged district of one of Canada’s greatest cities. The hotel brings fresh taste and luxury to parallel the district’s warmth and creativity. Hotel Gault will be a treat to guests as they stroll through Montreal and have the ease of such a sanctuary always right around the corner.

WE LOVE OLD PORT

EGGS AND BACY? Prohibition 5674 Avenue de Monkland Montréal, QC H4A 1E4 (514) 481-8466 http://www.prohibitionmontreal.com Amazing Breakfast/ Brunch. Note: They take reservations for brunch

For those of us who grew up within roadtripping distance, Montreal was a place to misbehave when you were old enough to fight wars but not quite old enough to drink in U.S. bars. You can still cut loose, but even if you trade the Jäger bombs for Châteauneuf-du-Pape, the city still feels like it’s working overtime to blow your mind. So come hungry, clear your schedule, and prepare for the sight of plated pig’s head.

Afterward, you can be a grown-up and head back to the hotel…or hit wine-soaked oldworld-chic nightclub Philémon Bar and make your 18-year-old self prou

NIGHT MOVES

GREAT ESCAPES

Creating a unique club concept is a tough task for any entrepreneur, but Mike Perras, Michel Tardif, and international DJ jojoflores have found an amazing solution. Peopl is a concept from the creative wizardry of Jojo Flores, and if you ask me, it’s quite brilliant. If you haven’t heard of Jojo, his resume is quite impressive. He has been international DJ of the year 3 times, he owns an internationally acclaimed label called ‘GotSoul’, he has thrown events all over the world, in places like Tulum Mexico, and he has held weekly events in Montreal at some of the most popular venues in the city. One of these weekly events was named Peopl, and what began as a Sunday evening tea party from 7 until 11, has now transformed into a nightclub concept that is thriving in the Old Port of Montreal.

Ideally located, Le Saint-Sulpice Hotel Montreal offers a superb and unique experience in the heart of Old Montreal.

Adjacent to the Notre-Dame Basilica, and just steps away from the Old Port and several trendy bars, restaurants, art galleries, museums and shops, Old Montreal is definitely the most historic and touristic neighbourhood in the city, closed Downtown. This 4 Star-4 Diamond luxuary boutique hotel, features 108 authentic and inviting suites with cachet – overlooking the cobblestone streets or the lovely courtyard garden.

Enjoy the comforting warmth of the lobby or the refined cuisine of Sinclair restaurant and its marvellous sunny terrace, located in the heart of the hotel’s garden .

“We just wanted to create a party for people who didn’t want to go out on the weekends, and didn’t want to be in an environment where they felt uncomfortable. We wanted to create a space where they could let themselves go and still be at home on time to get to work the next day” Peopl as an evening tea party lasted for about a year, featuring musical performances from Jojo’s international contacts, and various special guests, including Tony Okuongbowa from the Ellen Degeneres show. The tea party took a brief hiatus while Jojo focused on touring, and then, Club UN, the place that was home to Peopl, went up for sale.

“I was approached by the owners and asked if I wanted to become a partner.

We negotiated a good deal where I was able to take creative control of the club, re-brand it, and come up with a new concept. I decided to use Peopl, because it was an existing brand and it was a continuation of that little party. It was a natural and organic progression.”

The partnership immediately began work on creating the new image of the club. Although there were challenges in creating a unique concept with staying power, Jojo was able to reach into his deep reservoir of contacts.”

The brilliant part about this concept is it embodies the maxim that business needs to evolve in order to maintain relevancy; The Peopl concept is ripe with transmorphism. With live music showcases, product launches, and vernissages, this is a space that festers creativity from designers, while the party people dance the night away and truly let themselves go. ” I feel like every cosmopolitan city needs a place like Peopl. I don’t want to claim to be the first one, but from my experience, I haven’t seen a lot of places quite like it.”

Rooney 395 Notre Dame Housed in the brick walls of a former antique shop, Rooney’s where the chic-but-cool kids go for classic essentials with some rugged flavor. Think Mark McNairy brogues, Hill-Side ties, and basic heavyweight sweatshirts from Canadian label Reigning Champ. It doesn’t hurt that the owners, Alex Danino and Michelle Golfman, just happen to be some of the friendliest cats around in a city that, ok, isn’t so much known for its hospitality.

Alex Danino has been influencing the way Montrealers dress since he opened Rooney with his wife Michelle Golfman in February 2006.

First carrying graphic-heavy tees, Nike dunks and indie streetwear brands like Alife, the shop is now the city’s HQ for Americana and old Brit-inspired apparel. Shirtmaker Gitman, Swedish label Our Legacy, Montreal denim company Naked and Famous (also at Les Étoffes), English designer Oliver Spencer and Washington-state manufacturer Filson are some of the brands one can find at Rooney.

CLUB PEOPL 390 Rue Notre-Dame O, Montréal, QC H2Y 1T9, Canada 514.849.1390 www.clubpeopl.com

emulsion

e

gastrolove

next to codliness Social Restaurant, located in the heart of downtown Ottawa, features numerous dishes to tickle your pallet.

Fresh for spring, we are featuring one of the tastiest seafood dishes we’ve ever had the pleasure of sitting down to eat; Social’s legendary Black Cod. What makes this cod so special? Besides the fact that it’s made with chef Jordan Holly’s Grandmother’s recipe for chutney (Grandma makes the best food), it is also made with some of the freshest Canadian ingredients. Visit Social restaurant to try it out or try your hand at creating this magnificent dish. Whatever you decide to do, you will not be disappointed.

FOODIE HIGHLIGHT

social

the fish

The Spaetzle

4-7 ounce British Columbia Black Cod Fillets 250 Grams Spaetzle Assorted Seasonal vegetables Beurre Blanc.... white wine, shallot reduction emulsified with cold unsalted butter Maldon salt Canola oil

1.

Use a heavy bottomed non-stick pan. For instance, a well-seasoned cast iron skillet will work best

Combine the following: Spaetzle 1 cup of milk Flour (enough to form a thick paste somewhat like a viscous pancake batter) 2 eggs Pinch of Salt Zest of lemon

2.

Using a spaetzle press, (if you don’t have one you can use a box grater)

2.

Pre heat the skillet on medium high heat,

3.

3.

Season the cod on the presentation side and set it onto a hot pan.

Press the batter through the press, directly into a pot of salted boiling water.

4.

When the dumplings float to the top, let them cook for 2-3 minutes.

5.

Proceed to drain off excess water and place the dumplings into an ice bath and reserve.

1.

4.

Sear for 2-3 minutes

5.

Transfer the cod to a pre heated 425-degree oven for approximately 8 minutes.

6.

Remove it from the oven and add 1-2 tablespoons of butter, 2 sprigs, lemon and thyme.

7.

Finally, flip the fish, and baste with butter

This dish can be done with any starch you like: sautĂŠed fingerling potatoes, mash, rice or even risotto with lemon.

Serves WWWW (4)

K

evin Kent has been transform-

the most remarkable blades you will ever

ing the culinary industry one

know in your lifetime, and they are all one

chef at a time. He doesn’t teach

of a kind..

new recipes or suggest new

Kevin visits Japan twice a year to seek out

ingredients, but he does give them the most

a new blacksmiths. As the story goes, it is

important tool to elevate their chef game – a

said that he sometimes has to prove his

damn good knife. It really does make all the

knowledge and skill in sharpening these

difference.Nestled in the heart of Ottawa,

revered instruments to prove worthy to work

Knifewear is situated precisely where it

with these blacksmiths.

should be: in the cozy cultural epicenter of the Glebe. Rather unassuming, surrounded by craft stores, coffee shops and jewelry boutiques, Kent’s hidden gem is on the

Here we take a look at some of the knives offered at Knifewear

cutting edge of its creative craft and this business does not mess around.

Knifewear, which has been slicing and dicing since July 2013, specializes in custom Japanese knives and other specialty knives, including blades for shaving, butchery, professional chefs and even housewares. Kent opened his

The Masakage zero Blue Carbon Steel Hunting Knife : Shirogami $272.00

original shop in Calgary in 2008. The concept originated after his time working as a sous-chef at St John Restaurant in London, England, but it wasn’t until after he met a Japanese blacksmith that his passion for the steel took him all the way to Japan. Now Kent and his team produce specialty cutlery using techniques and ancient traditions that are, in some cases, more than 700 years old.

We import from master blacksmiths. We

Photo Title Stainless Steel Hunting Knife: used for skinning to preserve organs. $233.00

don’t make knives. I do work for Masakage Knives helping them design knives.

While in the shop, you will immediately notice how passionate every single staff member is – this excitement, this energy is felt. Constantly sharpening their own knife knowledge, they are so eager to teach and convey their passion. Whether you’re there to purchase a knife for your home, seek an intriguing gift or simply admire the incredible craftsmanship, you will quickly realize that these are among

Stainless Steel Hunting Knife: used for skinning to preserve organs. $233.00

'

LIBATIONS Antidote’s city guide to the most notorious and hidden treasures for the most creative and tasty concoctions

Cocktail culture eventually exploded in this city, giving rise to a host of speakeasy-inspired bars and making it virtually mandatory for all new establishments to have a cocktail list of some sort. The best places tend to respect the classics, offering slight tweaks on drinks like the Manhattan, Negroni and Sazerac, to name only a few. Look closely enough, however, and you’ll also find novel concoctions that show off the creativity and skill of our city’s talented bartenders

FRANCIACORTA: ASCENDING

ELEGANCE

Champagne carries with it, that unaffected stone-faced character; the gentleman that observes and never smiles. Franciacorta is the lively, charismatic woman who is naturally graceful, filling the room with smiles and flickering laughter.

BY MELISSA MC MAHON

I

t was the early evening as the sun’s glimmerings rays were retreating slowly behind Ottawa’s western landscape. We were not due to the Majolini tasting for another twenty minutes, but anticipation had already rooted itself firmly in our bones.

The room was nearly empty and Simone, with his endearing Italian accent greeted us warmly and with pride. There were introductory hugs and polite kisses all around- left cheek, right cheek. We were handed two glasses of Franciacorta, smelling of cooked golden apples, with subtle biscuity aromas and delicate bubbles ascending. I looked around the room, candles were hanging around the old stone walls casting shadows along their rough textures. “Franciacorta,” Simone repeated the word passionately, although shy at first, he became increasingly eager to share with us the stories of Italy, his life and

his purpose. The family’s winery expressed his fathers vocation and his brothers quickly rose to the occasion, becoming one of the most widely respected Franciacorta producers in the world. “Have you ever heard of this? It’s Franciacorta!” Truthfully, I hadn’t..

For anyone who appreciates wine in a genuine way, the beauty of any glass is in its expression of sense of place. It comes from the ultimate knowing that what is in your glass, if produced in an honest way, will encapsulate the soils, the aromas, the spirit of the land from which it originates. In Italy, and many other places in Europe, sense of place is evident because the interplay between wine, culture and history is strongly evident and has been for many years. There is no exception for the region of Franciacorta of Lombardia, where winemaking goes back as far as 1570 when Gerolamo Conforti wrote the “Libellus

de Vino Mordaci,” a book on lively wines.

He advocates their vivacious, compelling character encouraging his readers to try them, “lest the gaseous output, delicate and prickling be lost.” Apart from tenacity, what differentiates this sparkling from that of any other in the world is its incredible elegance, one that is understated and simultaneously multifaceted- just like the land from which it originates. In the district of Brescia, gentle

Chardonnay, 10% Pinot noir and 5% Pinot blanc, this wine demonstrates great character even within the strictest regulations. Of the ten most prestigious wines of Europe, only Champagne, Cava and Franciacorta are made by refermentation in the bottle.

So, then, what differentiates Franciacorta from its French and Spanish rivals? At the forefront of the comparison, lie the obvious differences of terroir and climate. The more

designed to appease the aristocrats- the elite.

Now, more than 300 years later, is it really still as exclusive when it is consumed by all?

Champagne carries with it, that unaffected stone-faced character; the gentleman that observes and never smiles. Franciacorta is the lively, charismatic woman who is naturally graceful, filling the room with smiles and flickering laughter. The warmth and graceful refinement of Franciacorta is inviting and

rolling hills soften the mountainous horizon.

Being only hours away from the Alps, with lake Iseo to the north and Mount Oferno to the south, this terroir preserves a moderate climate. The landscape is every way as sensual as the wines they produce: gracefully refined, full of brilliance and wildly beautiful.

Interestingly, this region has produced wine since the 16th century but it has only been throughout the last 50 years that the production of Franciacorta made its revolutionary debut. Most paradoxically, the modern success of Franciacorta is based on one fundamental truth: that the formula of this wine was created without dependence on tradition or ancient requirements with which to relate. In 1961 when experimental winemaker Franco Zilian created his first 3,000 bottles of what was then referred to as ‘Pinot di Franciacorta,’ he was unaware of the success his innovation would bring.

The next vintage sold 20,000 until annual production increased to 100,000. Since then, it has risen to become the first Italian sparkling to earn the highest appellations award of DOCG, now selling more than 10.5 million bottles annually. Comprised of 85%

interesting differences however, lie within the facts that are for the most part, unknown. The region of Franciacorta has 1/10th the size of a wine growing area; and where champagne can expand their region, Franciacorta cannot. Champagne producers add sugar in the first fermentation- Franciacorta refrains. Champagne requires 15 months of fermentation and the DOCG of Franciacorta requires 18 for non-vintage and at least 60 months for riserva. Franciacorta spends a longer duration on the lees and is produced in smaller batches, with lower bottle pressure over time. It is wonderfully refined. And here is the kicker: champagne costs less to produce and sells for much, much more.

sensual. However, the most impressive differences are revealed in the glass, on the nose and in the mouthfeel. It sets itself apart from the rest of the crowd- and when you drink it, as do you.

Champagne has become the grey goose of the world: it is what the dry, indifferent and unaware bourgeoise ask for as their go-to.

The name Veuve Cliquot, although respected, has become the sparkling equivalent.

Champagne was created to once compete with its Burgundian rivals to the south- but that was the medieval era. Once upon a time Champagne made its triumphant debut during coronations in spacious, cold stone castles

The Original Trader Vic’s Mai Tai Ingredients

FORGET WHAT YA HEARD

RUM IS THE RAGE Owe rum’s current run not only created a renewed obsession with shareable Punches and Tiki- fun, but to premiumisation. It has allowed bartenders and mixologist to utilize craftsmanship and popularity of spiced rum and craft rum to attract new drinkers. Rum is a spirit imbued with exoticism but is frequently cast with the same party image as Tequila.

With the rise in premiumisation, rum has been on the upswing in the U.K by 6% last year and we can expect more of an increase in North America with rise of craft rum distillers.

1 oz light rum 1 oz gold rum 1/2 oz orange curaçao 1/2 oz orgeat syrup 1/2 oz fresh lime juice 1 oz dark rum (float Instructions Build in glass.

Shake with ice.

Pour back into glass without straining.

Garnish with a pineapple chunk, cherry and mint sprig.

TORONTO THE COUNTY GENERAL 936 Queen St W, Toronto, ON M6J 1G9 (416) 531-4447 www.thecountygeneral.ca

MONTREAL BARRACA 1137 Mount-Royal Est, H2J 1X8 (514) 525-7741 www.barraca.ca

OTTAWA The Belmont 1169 Bank St, Ottawa, ON K1S 3X7 (613) 979-3663

From the land of Guatemala comes Ron Zacapa’s old rum, aged at 8,000 feet above sea level (where the temperature averages 62 degrees) and blended from rums in the solera style. The rums in the blend range from a youthful 6 years to a hoary 23 years old (and are stored in a variety of casks, including old bourbon, sherry, and wine barrels). The result is an instant hit.

www.thebelmontottawa.com

3 CRAFT RUMS TO RUN AND ORDER NOW Rum has a long history of being distilled in America, and now it’s on the upswing again thanks to craft distillers such as Ipswich, Massachusetts Privateer that is made by Andrew Cabot, a distant descendant of the Revolutionary-era Andrew Cabot, who was a rum-maker in his own time. The other comes by way of Monterey California from distiller Bryan Davis. Lost Spirits’ 124 proof rum is surprisingly easy to manage even without water. It’s so smooth and well rounded you can’t tell it’s overproof. Made from Grade A molasses in pot stills, then aged in Lost Spirits’ patented hightech barrels. Best to grab a bottle extremely quickly, as this is a very limited edition. Only

240 bottles are made and exclusive to Bounty Hunter wines. $100 www.bountyhunterwine. com. Thibodaux, Louisiana is home to DonnerPeltier Distillers, which is in turn home to the Rougaroux collection, Rougaroux 13 pennies praline rum is made with local pecans and Louisiana’s famous cane syrup, it is not available in Canada so here is the website to make your order www.dpdspirits.com. Each of these will add many dimensions to your drink whether your sipping or mixing. Enjoy!

BY MELISSA MC MAHON

The season is upon us and one of the most essential components to hosting any memorable party is knowing who to invite. When it comes to wine, it is so easy to set yourself above the rest if you know what you’re doing.

Vintage bubbles for instance, are a no-brainer: incredibly elegant, welcoming and a beautiful rarity. They are a wonderful way to kick off an evening. The world of wine is an infinite one, so choose pieces that demonstrate your elegance and get people talking.

Argyle Brut, Willamette Valley, Oregon, 2008.

This vintage bubbly was an expressive little number. With notes of apricot, citrus and biscuit on the nose, fine mousse and persistent medium- bodied mouthfeel. The argyle was a stunning brut, with even more acidity than one would expect, with a refreshing lasting finish. Comparable to a very dry charmant-style prosecco in the mouthfeel, this sparkling is a perfect match for a cream based pasta, brie melt, or a rich seafood dish.

Santa Julia, Organic Brut, Mendoza Argentina, The Santa Julia was an outstanding organic, mountaingrown sparkling. Possessing a gorgeous golden-straw colour, she had delicate effervescence, and a great nose of pear, grapefruit and baked pasty. A much more balanced style and very elegant, she is a wonderful solo artist yet unobtrusive enough to pair with nearly anything.

Brandborg, Pinot Noir, Bench Lands, Oregon, 2008.

This brandborg was, without a doubt, one of the most interesting Pinots I have tried all year. The most impressive aspect was the nose, featuring hickory smoke, smoldering wet cedar, ripe raspberries, strawberry and sweet spice. This 2008 vintage was one of Oregon’s most successful years to date and the Brandborg demonstrated why. This Pinot is definitely a crowd pleaser!

Try this at home When pairing, we went complimentary. The heavenly match: a truffle rigatoni with smoked gouda, crumbled bacon, mushrooms, fresh parsley and truffle oil drizzle to finish. The acidity cut through the richness of the dish and all the hickory, mushroomy loveliness was not lost; we were smitten..

DEPARTURES

The french Quarter is perhaps one of the most famous districts in the world. With beautiful landmarks, exquisitely prepared cuisine, historic bars, and jazz clubs with a laissez-faire attitude. there isn’t a day spent in this city that you will regret.

I’ve embarked on two trips to NOLA and I’m I’m addicted. I spent quality time running through the garden district, uptown, midtown, the quarter, and the Bywater New Orleans truly has a flavour and spice for anyone

lucky enough to visit.

If this article doesn’t inspire you to head there, I hope you’re having an . amazing time in that virtual reality machine you’re hooked up to.

-------------------------Bourbon street in the French Quarter is perhaps the most famous street in the world, and as you’ve probably heard, the party doesn’t stop. it just resets between, 5am and 6am Some of the feature places to visit are, Lafitte’s, the oldest bar in New Orleans, .

Tropical Isle, home of the Grenade and

Shark Attacks, Razoo Bar & Patio with a beautiful outdoor courtyard and a litany of 3 for 1 happy hour deals, and preservation hall, one of the greatest and oldest live venues, New Orleans has to offer.

As much as these clubs and venues may draw you in, the true fun in bourbon is people watching.

Every type of character imaginable blends in a rich cacophony of alcohol fuelled intention. It’s perhaps the greatest modern day example of babylonian . debauchery.

TRAVEL NEW ORLEANS

With Nana Sechere

WAY DOWN ON THE BAYOU’

Departures > New Orleans When it comes to US cities, New Orleans Louisiana is truly as good as it gets. With its historic landmarks, exquisitely prepared cuisine, historic bars, and jazz clubs with a laissez-faire attitude, there isn’t a day spent in this city that you will regret. Here’s a quick guide to help you maximize. your time.

Whether it’s french creole, or southern influence, New Orleans knows how to prepare a meal like no other city I’ve been to. Incredible staples such as jambalaya, crawfish, gumbo, and Po-Boys are absolute musts, but keep in mind that as extreme lovers of cuisine, New Orleans chefs have found a way to take flavour to unprecedented levels with any dish they prepare. Some of my absolute favourite restaurants include, Dat Dog, home of the absolute best Hot dog you will ever have.

Do the right thing and order an alligator sausage. Allow the he chefs to work their magic.

Another restaurant I love is the Praline Connection.. It was the first place that I was absolutely dazzled by New Orleans Cuisine, and I will forever be grateful. It is without a doubt the best chicken I’ve ever had and I implore you to prove me wrong.

Other notables include Atchafalaya, Jacque-Imo’s Da Joint, Cochon, and Delachaise. Prepare to pack on a few

THE FOOD,THE FOOD The amazing thing about New Orleans, cuisine is that the high standard for food began during the Petticoat Rebellion, when 27 women sent from . France in 1704 staged a culinary coup

d’etat, marching on the French governor’s house, demanding better food.

With this serving as a foundation, and the inclusion of Native, German African, and Spain expect a high standard.

Time spent in New Orleans isn’t complete without a stop at one of the many jazz clubs in the various districts. If you’re a fan of music and all it can do for your spirit and soul, this city will give you a much needed dose that your own city may be lacking. Bands like the Soul Rebels, who tour North America quite frequently, can be found at places like The Blue Nile, Le Bon Temps Roule and Tipitina’s. Grammy Award winning, Rebirth Brass Band, can be found at the Maple, Leaf Bar on a fairly regular basis but before you take off for home, you have to remember who’s country it is, and pay homage to the New Orleans Saints. This city seduces you in ways you’ve never experienced. It’s like that vacation fling that gave you pleasure that took you to new heights. with all of that said, you owe it to yourself to get down to the Big Easy as soon as possible Ya Heard me?

The city of New Orleans knows how to impress visitors in a number of ways, but what struck me the most was in the innovation of flavor in the cocktail culture. From Sazerac’s and fizzes, right down to the drive through daiquiri, you’ll be able to find something nice to sip on quite easily. Here’s a list of some of the best of the best when it comes to something to sip on.

Pirates Alley http://www.piratesalleycafe.com 622 Pirates Alley St, New Orleans

Bar Tonique www.bartonique.com 820 N Rampart St. New Orleans

Have you ever tried absinthe? The spirit that led to Van Gogh’s attempted cosmetic surgery on his ear? I don’t recommend doing that, but I do recommend making a pit stop at Pirate’s Alley Café in the French Quarter if you feel like giving the green fairy a try. They use perfect technique and the staff members are friendly and attentive. Pirate’s Alley is definitely worth a quick stop as you bar hop

When you sit at a bar for a night of craft cocktails, the best part about that is watching the bartenders go to work. These bartenders are so exceptionally skilled that they make you feel like you’re watching a true bartender for the very first time. Bar Tonique is without a doubt what every cocktail bar should aspire to.

around the quarter

Arnaud’s French 75 https://www.arnaudsrestaurant.com/bars/ french-75 813 Bienville St. New Orleans

Cure. New Orleans Cocktail Bar www.curenola.com/ 4905 Freret Street, New Orleans, LA

Arnaud’s French 75 is one of the spots that has been known for its cocktails for longer than most people reading this have been alive. As you will notice, many of the most popular old world cocktails were invented right here in this great city, and if you’re going to have a French 75 in any bar, this is the best spot in the world.

This bar has one of the best cocktail lists I’ve ever seen; an amazing secluded patio, and singlehandedly resurrected the community it resides in. If that doesn’t say much about the power of this Cocktail bar, I don’t know what else to tell you.

Bacchanal www.bacchanalwine.com/ 600 Poland Avenue, New Orleans , LA

The Carousel Bar & Lounge http://hotelmonteleone.com/entertainment/ carousel-bar Hotel Monteleone, 214 Royal St, New Orleans

This place may very well be the best date spot you’ll ever come across. This place houses a store for old world wine, a backyard decorated with Christmas lights, and a stage for exceptional local musical talent. It also boasts amazing food menu, unpretentiously served on paper plates. If you want to experience amazing atmosphere, look no further.

The Hotel Monteleone is one of New Orleans major landmarks, and the Carousel Bar & Lounge is perhaps the birthplace of my favourite drink, the Sazerac. If you’re in the quarter, make sure to drop by and pay homage.

BOHTEN

Change

A VISION OF

G

Gone are the days where ‘eco-friendly’ meant that you were a tree-hugging hipster. Nana Osei of Bohten would like to usher in a new age where eco-friendly meets luxury. When Bohten sunglasses were first introduced, it may not have been the first of the wooden frames, but it is one of the latest in a line of shades that promote sustainability and giving back to the earth that nourishes us. Bohten is produced from reclaimed Ghanaian

wood, lined with water-resistant coating, and handcrafted in a zero-waste facility. With each year that Bohten has been in production, they have slowly added new designs and features to keep up with their luxury sunglass counterparts. The 2015 Spring/Summer collection features polarized lenses and prescription lenses as options for any design you choose. With creative designs from a dedicated team under the watchful eye of passionate entrepreneur Nana Osei, Bohten eyewear is definitely a brand to watch. Look for it at a retailer near you.

Understudy Oil on Canvas 120cm x 105cm 2013

Andrew Salgado

Interview by Emily Kennel

ART SPOTLIGHT

A Sense of Self from the Inside Out Despite cyclical and unpredictable economic troubles, there are few things that make better investments than art. Last May in the midst of a crippling recession Edvard Munch’s painting The Scream sold for a record $120 million at auction. This painting, which is one of four very similar versions, broke records by reaching the highest price ever paid for a work of art. The Norwegian painter, Munch died in 1944 and is renowned for his depictions of psychological struggle, which in turn went on to inspire much of 20th century expressionism. While Munch has already been established as an influential artist of the 18th century, the interest in contemporary art and emerging artists is just as coveted as works of the old masters.

Industry analysts are continuously baffled by the contemporary art market, which never fails to surprise and shock; which art receives

the highest bids is often difficult to predict.

One artist that has continuously impressed collectors and captivated the art world is Andrew Salgado. Originally from Regina, Salgado has been living and working out of London since 2008. His domination on the scene, and the changing face of contemporary art, is best encapsulated by the commission he received to paint six new works to be displayed in the front windows of London retailer Harvey Nichols. Within one hour all paintings had sold.

Salgado’s success is no mystery; he is a phenomenal artist. Producing mainly figurative works, he tackles the notion of identity in its many facets. Whether political, social, or something you can’t quite grasp, Salgado demonstrates how the politics of the body can convey much more than physical appearance.

His painterly treatment of the figures reminds

me of Jenny Saville’s own examination of flesh and its social connotations; an exploration of the body as an occupier of both public and private space and what this means in turn for a consideration of self. Where Saville explores the female body, Salgado focuses on the type of beauty found in the masculine. Opening this week in Ottawa’s La Petite Mort Gallery is Andrew Salgado’s most recent show The Smallest Heart’s Desire, which will feature eleven new works that explore a narrative sense of self; as our own best critic are we the hero or villain to our own story? I was thrilled to communicate with Andrew earlier this month and pick his brain on the contemporary art market, his own take on his ongoing success, and what we can expect from his upcoming show.

Emily Kennel: Originally from Regina and an alumnus of the University of British Columbia, you have been living and working out of London, England since 2008. How do you feel the art scene in London is comparable to that of the Canadian West Coast? Is there a large discrepancy between the two art environments?

As a student, I felt confident upon leaving Vancouver and coming to London to do my Master’s Degree, but London juggled my senses: not long after commencing my Masters, I would find myself comparing an artist’s craft to an egg, and though I assume there are schools that help students polish that egg, Chelsea College took my egg and smashed it on the ground.

Of course the option is to walk away from the mess, or begin the lengthy process of picking up the pieces. While this seems anecdotal in retrospect, at the time it was a lengthy and often-frustrating process of trying to redefine who I was as an artist, and to establish my artistic voice.

but I think the scene there is a lot safer than one that you’ll find in a city like London, for instance. Even academically: there is a lot more ‘control’ in the North American arts-academic world. In the North American system there is much more guidance – for better or worse.

You are guided and mentored and in the UK this doesn’t happen. I was taken aback upon first arriving in London at the sheer lack of direction we were given as Masters students. In fact, I very nearly dropped out of my Masters program 3-months in – I was so disillusioned by it all. I had a very negative experience at graduate school and I was immensely unhappy with a number of things both personally and professionally. After a certain period of time, however, I learned how to see what I first perceived as faults in the UK scholastic system as its fortes. I’m still not sure if that was just making lemonade out of lemons, or if it was a real revelation….either way, I’m totally contented on having stayed in the program: its lead me to where I am today. After graduation, however, the true wonders of the London art scene began to reveal themselves, and I’m here to stay…at least for now.

Andrew Salgado: Well, to be totally frank, I don’t see much crossover. I find that any art scene changes quite dramatically depending on the city. After my degree I lived for a year in Berlin – an amazing and alternative experience – with an art-scene quite different from what is happening in London, but even London is going through a cultural revolution at present, so I’m lucky to be geographically situated between areas like Berlin or London that are porous cultural sites. London in particular has a thriving art scene with openings, events, and great shows popping up regularly. It’s a spellbinding, fascinating, non-stop city – so I feel that I am still (and constantly) learning; but learning as a practicing artist is an entirely different world than learning as an art student.

I guess I see Vancouver as always being very photo-based, with a conceptually focused art scene. There wasn’t much breathing room for an emerging figurative painter such as myself and I think that there are a lot of painters from Vancouver, friends and peers of mine, with similar inklings feeling somewhat frustrated by the lack of a particular sort of opportunities in that city. It’s a shame, because I love Vancouver,

“I always have something to say, a determined perspective and in that sense the artwork becomes political.”

EK: Your work is quite literally selling off the shelves, as demonstrated most recently by your sold-out commissioned work for Harvey Nichols. In an age of recession, this feat has puzzled many analysts of the contemporary art market and proves once again that it’s always smart to invest in art. Why do you feel your work is so universally appealing and thereby commercially successful?

AS: I have no idea! [Laughs] I don’t know if I would think my work is so universally appealing, I think all artists appeal to a respective niche market, and I’m fortunate to have had a strong and growing response in the past few years.

Certainly, I know it appeals to different people for various reasons, sometimes people respond to the subject matter, others the colors, but others it’s the conceptual or political aspect that I’m ticking away at. It’s a thrilling feeling to know that my work is selling as it does, but this is accompanied with a certain anxiety and uncertainty; I used to think that as soon as my work began selling as it does now, that all my problems as a young artist would be answered, I’d have ‘had it made’ so to speak.

However, what I realize is that even with the modest successes I’ve received, it opens an entire new avenue of pressures. Every move I make, I now accompany by my own set of critical and crucial standards and continuous re-examination. It is important to me to take risks, and move away from comfort-zones, and try new things, but one opens himself up to

ostracizing old collectors if trying something too radically new. I suppose with each new articulation of my work, I might lose a certain audience, but I gain a new audience, so above all I find that of tantamount importance is the maintenance of my own vision…which I realize might sound like something of a cliché, but the only way to stay sane is to remain honest to my own process as an artist. A lot of clients want me to paint the same thing I was painting two, three years ago, but that’s not who I am anymore. I want to try new things even within the parameters that I have set for myself, I’m trying to take wild liberties and new strides both technically and conceptually.

EK: In your artist statement you describe your figurative paintings as more than mere representation of the superficial but rather a conscious reflection on the notion of identity and the multi-faceted exploration of ‘Self’. How do you feel that social politics can be explored and indeed developed through figurative art?

AS: This is something that is very important to me; for whatever reason, I have chosen the figurative to explore my concerns. I consider myself a type of activist through my work; I always have something to say, a determined perspective, and in that sense the artwork becomes political. It became politicized in 2008 when I was a victim of a hate-crime, which refocused the target and message within my work and elevated it from something decorative

into what it is and does to this day. While it’s become less autobiographical over the years, I still speak to concepts that are crucially related to my own sense of self, and a greater ideological concept of identity. I think this is another reason why people seem to respond to it…they see the power of emotion and thought that I approach the works with. I think all art is an avenue toward social politics. I am captivated by the idea of what I call ‘the thinking artist’ – that being the artist that is so sensitively aware of the concepts he or she is dealing with, or subverting, or challenging through their artpractice. I think a lot of artists tend to be quite self-indulgent and forget that there is a real world with serious, grave concerns operating outside of their studios. As artists, we lead a life of privilege and this can verge on indignancy – but we have a social responsibility because the eyes of change are turned to us to set by example: there’s something self-righteous about saying ‘this is what I do, and I think it’s important, and you should too’ so its brilliant to see artists that transcend this solipsism and actually discuss real world problems, or even if they are dealing autobiographically, as I tend to, to at least exhibit the cognizance that there exists a society with real ills and issues, and maybe – just maybe – use their talents to battle these concepts instead of a misguided sense of self-importance. Obviously, I feel very strongly about this concept. I think art should challenge barriers, assist the marginalized, and on an obvious level – inspire and inform.

Mask Oil on canvas with spray paint 70cm x 55cm 2013

Actor Oil on canvas 160cm x 120cm 2013

LE PETIT MORT A vibrant contemporary art gallery located in the busy By-Ward Market district in downtown Ottawa.

Visioned by Guy Berube, LPM is a vision of social ethics. He sees the artist’s struggle with self-awareness through visual art reflected back to the viewer not as passive recipient but as active participant in the creative endeavour. A signature feature of LPM is the feeling of discomfort many of the artworks evoke, which, as is the goal of subversive art, reflects the viewer’s personal projections back upon herself.

306 Cumberland Street Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1N 7H9 T. 613.860.1555

EK: Considerations of the masculine have recently been overlooked in the pursuit of a feminist scholarship. Ideas of male beauty and attention to the male form perpetuated early art historical reflections but have been recently cast aside as lingering faults of a patriarchal system. Even the idea of ‘beauty’ in the masculine disrupts the trope of the tough, warrior male aesthetic. How do you see your work rejuvenating this look at male beauty and why do you feel it is a necessary theme in your artistic narrative?

AS: Interesting. This is a great, informed question. Actually I’ve contributed a chapter to a forthcoming theoretical book published by the Art Institute of Chicago Press, the entry is entitled “The Sexualized Masculine Body” and it deals precisely with this contentious issue in theoretical study. More specifically, my contribution focuses on the masculine body as either ‘hetero and therefore empowered, or ‘homo’ and therefore a source of deviance and repression. I think that with the 20th and 21st centuries’ focus being shifted toward sugarcoating and overlooking a lot of issues that don’t fit into a feminist perspective. I think that the study of masculine sexuality and a male point of view in contemporary art has somewhat fallen into obscurity. I’m less interested in male beauty in a classical sense, and more interested in what I consider the beautiful monstrosity of masculinity…a concept that considers ideas of transgression in place of archetypal ideals, informed by writings

GENERAL HARDWARE

GALLERIE BAC

General Hardware Contemporary was launched in 2010 and is located in the heart of vibrant Parkdale, Toronto.

Principal and director Niki Dracos is a 15 year veteran of the design industry. General Hardware Contemporary brings new artistic talent to showcase alongside established provocateurs, Canadian and international.

The gallery features contemporary paintings, photography, sculpture, artwork on paper and video art

Located near Little Italy, North Montreal, Galerie BAC represents a permanent roster of emerging and midcareer artists working within the media of painting, sculpture and/or photography. Our mandate is to introduce clients to contemporary art and to support the careers of our artists.Galerie BAC is known to feature works by Canadian Post War artists such as Brandtner, Dallaire, Lemieux, Lemoyne, Letendre and McEwe

1520 Queen St W, Toronto, ON M6R 1A4 (416) 821-3060 www.general

6341, St-Laurent Boulevard Montreal (Quebec) H2S 3C3 www.galeriebac.com info@galeriebac.com 514.508.4099

of theorists like Georges Batailles and take and runs with concepts made prominent by related theorists like Barbara Creed. In many respects, I am interested in the darkest recesses of beauty and what that means in today’s society, and how I might thereafter translate that into paint.

Coupled with my own personal history and the experiences and pains I have endured as a gay man, I want to shine a light on the crippling of established norms: the figures I paint are always wounded, and vulnerable, and sites of interpretation. It’s a large field and I don’t expect to answer it anytime soon, but recently I’ve translated this into ideas of misanthropy, including a twinned portrait of homosexual serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer for my solo show The Misanthrope at Beers.Lambert Contemporary in London in October 2012; or most recently through concepts of insufficiency, self-doubt, and identity as a fallacy or performance in The Smallest Heart’s Desire for La Petite Mort in Ottawa, opening May 3, 2013.

sort of opera, with characters, in which the subjects fulfill aspects of myself that I can never fully realize. In some regard, I’ve made myself the villain through my paintings, always questioning who I am in a guilty until proven innocent type of method – always on the periphery of goodness. The Smallest Heart is my own heart – referencing the notion that we are each our own toughest critics. The show has 11 works, they’re warm, and complex in a very simple way, and I think provocative in a very intimate sense. I have no idea how people will respond to them, I can only hope that they’re received favourably and people understand the story being told.

EK: Our readers are already familiar with the exciting nature of La Petite Mort Gallery and are wondering what we can expect from your upcoming show?

AS: The title of the show, The Smallest Heart’s Desire, was originally intended to be a cheeky reflection on the smaller scale of the works for the show. But as I began painting, I realized I was still exploring the issues that I considered in The Misanthrope: the conceptual idea of goodness, and completion. I’ve created a

.

For more information on Andrew Salgado visit: http://www.andrewsalgado.com/

DRESS CODE ARM THY SELF

STEP INTO SPRING/SUMMER NICER DAYS LIE AHEAD, SO LET’S START DRESSING FOR THEM. OVER THE NEXT 38 PAGES WE’LL SHOW YOU HOW TO GET A JUMP ON THE ESSENTIAL LOOKS OF THE NEW SEASON BEGINNING WITH THE GENTS. HOWEVER THIS SEASON IS ALL ABOUT THE LADIES. WITH SOME STRIKING EDITORIALS AND CONTRIBUTIONS FROM ABROAD. IT WON’T ONLY BE THE HEAT THAT GETS YOUR BLOOD PUMPING.

UNPREDICTABLE WEATHER SO WHAT, WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED You’re gonna get rained on and you might as well get used to it. Wouldn’t you rather walk leisurely through oncoming showers exuding some killer confidence than run like an idiot clutching some old newspaper as it flaps over your head?

Getting wet doesn’t have to suck. Here are ten waterproof beauties that’ll have you dry as a baby’s bottom

These jackets are long enough to wear over a suit jacket to work and sharp enough to turn heads. Did we mention you’ll stay dry.

DUNHILL Dunhill’s Italian-made cotton rain coat exudes sophistication. Designed with a brushed face intended to repel light showers,

Burberry Porsum

Mackintosh The creators of the first waterproof fabric, this iconic British brand has a wealth of experience crafting the finest protective wear.

Discrete design features, like the belted cuffs and traditional chin strap in leather, elevate this coat above the ordinary

A.P.C With the streamlined shape of a traditional raincoat, this A.P.C cover-up exudes oldschool sophistication

Time to Reboot!

Give your dogs the treatment they need, buy a comfortable pair of shoes for the season. After the abuse they took this winter they deserve it. Some classic loafers and a nice casual walking shoe from Common projects will give you a lot of mileage. However the Rag & Bone Rowan leather boots will give your casual looks rugged appeal

The fifth-generation family business Francesco Maglia is dedicated to handcrafted umbrellas and produces each piece in its workshop on the outskirts of Milan. Constructed from materials sourced entirely in Italy, this handsome design features a distinctive chestnut handle that is expertly finished to enhance the natural beauty of the wood. $405.00

UP YOUR GLASS GAME

Creative Director of Shinola Mr Daniel Caudill says “If I have a choice, I will buy made-in-America” which reflects the spirit of the brand and its dedication to USA craftsmanship.

Hand built in its specialist factory in Detroit to Swiss-quality standards,

OLIVER PEOPLES Jack Huston Square-Frame Acetate Sunglasses

this chronograph watch is a sterling

This pair is made from chunky black acetate in a classic square shape, and is finished with silver pin detailing for a nod to retro style

steel case and flexible and resilient

example. The PVD-coated stainless rubber strap makes it ideal for those looking for high performance and understated style.

FRESH STYLE CHOICES FOR THE SEASON Here are some suggestions for essentials you need to get you started with for the season

NANAMICA CYCLING BAG > $475.00

IS NEVER <BLACK GOING AWAY We all know black is flattering, but it’s also extremely versatile especially when it’s done head to toe. You can wear it to the office, to brunch with the boys, dress it up or dress it down. You really can’t go wrong.

CHURCH CHELSEA BOOTS > $575.00

HASSLBLAD STELLER > $1,142.92

REMI RELIEF TIE-DYED T > $100.00

GIVENCHY POLO> $590.00

AQUA DI PARMA COLOGNE > $91.00

ADIDAS RAF SIMONS > $275.00

With the growing demand for men’s grooming products, Baxter of California distributes a line of skincare products for the discerning male. Baxter of California has come to the forefront of men’s grooming with their acclaimed products and their use of natural ingredients.

Baxter’s includes face wash, exfoliant, and moisturizer in their skincare line designed for all skin types. How-to videos available on their website makes it easier for the man new to daily grooming to use Baxter of California products

YOU CAN’T SIT WITH US

BY SHEVON MILLER

Antidote combs the globe for young talented fashion photographers with a passionate eye.

This season we have a fashion submission from Shevon Miller.

Shevon is currently a college student in New York City where she was born and raised.

Shevon essentially started as a graphic designer and photo retoucher, but after dating a photographer and having many photographer friends she emersed herself fully in to learning as much as she could with photography. After delving in her craft for a year sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s now been working with some of the foremost modelling agencies in New York creating some interesting editorials.

We are sure weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be seeing a lot more from Shevon in the near future.

Location: Time Square, NYC Photographer: Shevon Miller MUA: Kenya Clarke Stylist: Lou Lou Models: Alle @ APM Models Beatrice Gowns: Shades of Shay and Henrioci Collection Headpieces and Chokers: Nafessa Collection Jewelry: Of Hope Jewelry Shoes: H&M

FASHION

Week

2015 A DAY AT DIOR

- JJ CUDMORE

Paris fashion week “pret-a-porter” was well beyond a dynamic visionary rêve and my favorite optical ride was the Dior preta-porter spring-summer 2015 collection. Relentless and bold, delivering a fresh statement of high fashion ready-to-wear and desirably chic clothing, Raf Simons delivered the stunning collection before a starlit front row, in a puzzle of space conquest just as he likes. At the heart of the Louvre, I was ushered in right next to Kanye West, Dakota Johnson, Laetitia Casta, Olivia Palermo and all the savvy fashion bloggers. The only other Canadian in my line of vision was Tim Blanks; The fashion “it crowd” was out in full force.

Modernly refined, “twiggy-esk” models with a heavy step pounded the ground and the Cour Carrée was transformed into a gigantic, intergalactic sky lounge spattered in casual and intriguing versions of the haute couture collection from last July. “I wanted to continue to explore the ideas expressed in the seam,” explained the designer.

Continuing his work on his favorite looks, courtyard coats, Astronaut suits and lavish crinolines, Simons displayed high lux contemporary styling with his custom, distinct signature.

Up-close, one could only admire the large trapeze coats with intricately cut embroidered pockets that caused a reception of pleasure before the arrival of the ball dotted skirts and wedding style flowers on simple white tank tops. In addition, how could one not marvel at the lapel coats laced with laurel? Without a doubt, these were examples of ‘Simons-mania’ cut brilliantly.

The man killed it. The long black leather coats swung about following “it-list” approving murmurs. They had the sparkle that only a princess could want - in this case, the approving eye from the young chanteuse, Lordes. Add the energy of a soundtrack of techno, hip hop, and funk, and Raf produced a party reminiscent of French DJ, Damian Chouly.

Continued

R Anthony Morrison

A lux series of soft full leg boots paraded out with the beat of a drum. Eyes widened over these clear heels. The leather was hand-woven, some of which made by Italian craftsmen, demanded sixty hours to create and the price tag to match.

The reincarnated aviator sunglasses were staples of many spectators and once will once again achieve its status as the face accessory of the season. The shiny mirror beauties have been flying off European shelves since the release at the January haute couture show, which I am more than happy to say I attended.

All in all we had a great Paris fashion week, but Dior is one show that the word unforgettable will not do descriptive justice!

- JJ CUDMORE

AMANDINE RIGAUD , R A MORRISON

Tuxedo Blazer - Club Monaco Bra - TopShop Necklace - Expression Cross - Stylist own Ring - Material Girl Pants - Herry - Available at Alfie Boots - Rachel Zoe

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EXPRESS DON’T REPRESS The words associated with Madonna all hold strength and respect. Whether it be her groundbreaking music, her explorative imagery with Steven Meisel (whom every model and celebrity yearns to work with today), her iconic tours, expanding family or her highly reproduced aesthetics. One could argue that Madonna’s career is primarily based on aesthetics. The music has always been great, but it’s her visuals that have aided most in her reputation to transform with each album. Whether her hair colour, a cowboy hat, some bondage gear or a crucifix, Madonna knows how to catch the public’s eye and make them stare longer than most.

So three decades into her career, Madonna continues to be a topic of interest when it comes to fashion. Her close friends include Riccardo Tisci of Givenchy and the photographer duo Mert and Marcus aid in her relevancy of what is trending within the fashion world. As of late black has been the colour of choice for the Queen of pop. Appearing like the madame of the brothel in editorials for Interview and L’Uomo Vogue; not revealing too much but still displaying a dominant and sexual energy. As Madonna preps a new sound and most likely a new style for her 13th studio album, we can expect more risky choices, sexy attire and the Queen’s ability to keep people talking..

PHOTOGRAPHY PHOTO ASST HAIR MAKEUP STYLIST STYLIST ASST MODEL

Darian Wong (waywardwanderer.com) Savannah Golden Erum Sheikh (hairbyerum.com) Talysia Ayala for MAC Cosmetics Coreen Miller Caity Rowlands Helena @ Family Management

Bodysuit - Vincent Lee Collection Capelet - Evan Clayton Necklace - Kenneth Cole Glove - F21 Fishnets - Hue Thigh High - Club Monaco Boots - Rachel Zoe

50

Bodysuit - Evan Clayton Neckalce - Eliza Lau Shoes - Brian Atwood

51

Dress - Sexy Women - Available at Alfie Lace Choker - Stylist Own Ring - Elle Boots - Rachel Zoe

52

53

Top - American Apparel Necklace - H&M Glove - Stylist Own Underwear - Jones New York Thigh High - Club Monaco Garter - American Apparel Boots - Rachel Zoe

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HANDCRAFTED S Y D N E Y

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M E L B O U R N E

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D U B A I

winstonslegacy.com

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O N L I N E

MY FAV SHOPPING EVER A SUSTAINABLE FASHION SHOOT BY PAULA AGUIRRE

Paula Aguirre is photographer based in Argentina, and together with her sister Mariángeles, who’s based in Berlin run tHERAPY recycle and exorcise a sustainable fashion brand. The brand consists of reworked, recycled and upcycled vintage clothing that they acquire while traveling around. They promote ethical and conscious fashion through their DIY project and you can acquire their items through stores, pop ups and flea markets throughout North América and Europe. To get their desired aesthetic the sisters shoot all the Therapy looks around hotels, streets, and various locations with the intention to show all the places that inspire them.

This shoot takes place in a flea market in Buenos Aires, Argentina; and the story talks about their vintage and sustainable spirit.

OTTAWA

t e G

O

e d i s t u Russian-born entrepreneur, Natalya Toporova, certainly has a keen eye for fashion. As a graduate of the Richard Robinson academy for fashion in Ottawa, Canada, Natalya has taken everything she’s learned to create one of the hottest swimwear lines in the city of Miami, a place that expects and commands worldclass quality and flair for its renowned beach playground.

Meeting Natalya, you can instantly tell that she’s got the DNA of a true entrepreneur.

Her near obsessive work ethic and vision have propelled her as one of the designers to watch in Miami’s fashion scene, “I’ve always wanted to be a designer, but I never thought I had a chance in fashion unless I made a move to a big city. I started out like everyone else, but I strived for quality. Working in retail and boutiques gave me a good sense of what clients need and should get in their clothing or swimwear.”

Drawing from the philosophy of designers such as Alexander McQueen, Natalya chose to follow her own rules of creativity.

“McQueen designed to create art, emotion and strength in women, and that’s what I really strive for with my work. He didn’t follow other designers or what the industry asked for, he really stuck to his own design as an artist, and he pushed the boundaries—I loved that! I never follow trends. I like to be original and have my own energy. That’s what really makes people stand out.”

The swimwear ranges from edgy cuts with sporty colours, to flirty swimwear that can be worn for any occasion. A Natalya Toporova swimsuit enhances a woman’s figure and leaves her feeling sexy and comfortable in her own skin.

Photography. Natalya Toporova Model. Johanna Da Ru Model. Philipa Valencia Make up artist Mariah Mendez

Interview:

Natalya’s talent has been apparent from her early days in Ottawa’s Richard Robinson fashion academy, and if you ask her about any difficulties, she believes that her limits were self-imposed.

Natalya Toporova learned a craft in a challenging field, and is finding success in a city with lofty expectations.

“Living in Miami, was a little intimidating at first, but I didn’t let it get to me. Each year, I tailored my designs to fit better, and look stronger. I have been absolutely blessed with amazing photographers and models that believe in my brand and I’ve had the chance to work with a lot of people who helped bring my swimwear to life. Miami has given me the opportunity to explore my industry and even get into photography, which has really help my brand grow. In Miami, you have amazing beaches and weather—you just can’t go wrong. I have many goals, but in 10 years, I’m hoping to have my own store or have my swimwear in many stores near you. I just want to expand my brand on a larger scale”

V

V

enial

A MINOR TRANSGRESSION WITH DIRE CONSEQUENCES PHOTOGRAPHY - MAURICIO ORTIZ STYLING - YSO MAKE-UP - ANTHONIA BEJIDE HAIR - L.A MODEL SANTA AUZINA

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C

ome in my child. I sense a heavy heart.” ...........“Sit.”

My nervous hand searched for support as I carefully sat in a plush leather chair in what appeared to be a small cramped room.

“You have come to me with a tall order, why have you awoken me from my rest?”

“I’ve decided to come to you with this story because I feel that having survived, I owe something to the missing. If I fail to act, it would be a betrayal worse than what I have already done. I should never have left” “Are you aware of what you’re asking? The cost may be too great for you to carry” “I’m not concerned with costs; I only wish to see my sister again. It has been years since I escaped my captors, and the hold over me has finally subsided, its reach, at last, has no extension. My name is Lillian Henry, and it is my hope that with your help, I can at last put my demons to rest and find a way to help my sister. The events of this tale are impossibly hard to believe to most, but with your reputation, these events may not surprise you.“ “As long as you are aware of who you are dealing with we can move onto the next phase of our agreement, but I must hear your tale before I decide how I will proceed”

With that, I began my account of the day my sister disappeared. An account so incredible that it has led me here, to a woman with unimaginable power and influence.

A few years ago, I moved to Barcelona with my sister Leah searching for a fresh start to life. I had just gone through a rough divorce, and Leah, fresh out of college, was ready to start searching for job opportunities to gain more experience in the world of fashion. Why Barcelona? For me, it represented a chance to pursue my childhood dream. I wanted to travel through Europe before I went to college, but I fell for a boy, and left my dreams behind so that I could help create his. For Leah, Barcelona is one of the top cities for fashion in the world so it was a no-brainer.

Leah and I could not have been more different. We were 11 years apart, I had always been the academic, and she spent her time designing, painting, and creating. We also looked nothing alike, as if our mother had an obvious affair and my submissive father had just accepted it and loved us nonetheless. My ex-husband swore that I was just as beautiful as my sister, but just as it was with our marriage, his words and reality just didn’t match up. I have short brown hair with dark brown eyes and a petite stature. I also don’t focus on my looks on a day-to-day basis, because it isn’t my priority. Leah on the other hand had long beautiful hair, she was statuesque, and had the most spectacular blue eyes. The one thing I was jealous of when it came to her was the magnificent sense of beauty and fashion she was born with. It was effortless, natural, and her fun, quirky, personality seemed to accentuate anything she wore. We were different, in nearly every way, and I’m tremendously thankful that we never went through high school together and drew comparisons. Regardless of the envy I had, we loved each other as sisters could and I always did my best to look out for her

Dress Catherine Malandrino boutique Montreal, catherinemalandrino.com Shard cuff Quarry, Les Ă&#x2030;toffes boutique, lesetoffes.com Necklace Pearls Before Swine, pearlsbeforeswine.ca

Velvet dress Denis Gagnon, denisgagnon.ca Under wear at Simons boutique Montreal down town, , simons.ca Earrings and Necklace Arielle Depinto, arielledepinto. com Shoes Aldo, aldoshoes.com

.Barcelona was just as I had imagined. With its cobblestone streets, gothic architecture, and beautiful courtyards around every corner, walking in this city reminded me of a Carl Jung quote I had once heard, ‘Who looks outside dreams, who looks inside awakens’. Barcelona was my dreamscape; the journey to get there was my awakening. We spent our early months renting different apartments so we could explore the various neighborhoods. I rediscovered my youth in “El Poblenou”, when I realized that I was perfectly capable of keeping up with my 22-year-old sister, and even outlasted her a few times. Month number two took us to ‘L’Antiga Esquerra de l’Eixample’, where we realized that a gay man really can be a woman’s best friend, and as a result, had the best month of our entire lives.

With comfort in the city truly setting in, we realized that our budget had to tighten and it was time to use our new connections to help us secure work. We found a beautiful house in a quiet area of town called “La Nova Esquerra de l’Eixample”, and slowly but surely, work started to come our way. Leah had secured some work in a popular boutique in the city center, and I found some work at the University registrar office. Things were truly looking up and the two of us were finally getting everything we expected out of the move to this spectacular city.

Silk blouse Catherine Malandrino boutique Montreal, catherinemalandrino.com Chiffon long skirt Duy, duycollection.com Silk corset vintage Agent Provocateur boutique at Holt Renfrew Shoes Aldo, aldoshoes.com

Months had passed, and the fun-filled nights werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t as plentiful. We were city girls in every sense, which meant that we worked on a consistent basis. Leah began a fling with a gorgeous man from Madrid, who took up every other free moment she had. I found an opportunity teaching, so between lesson planning and marking, my free time was running thin.

One day Leah came home from a long day of work and proposed that we head into the city for a sister-night out.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 112

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WWW.DRINKRUMBLE.COM

get fit

REPS

ON REPS ON REPS These 4 upper body moves are functional movements that will increase your upper body strength and leave you with sculpted arms and a beautiful upper back. Each move is a compound move that engages a greater amount of muscles which uses a lot more energy than an isolated movement, thus burning more calories as you train. Now don’t forget to keep your core engaged by flexing your glutes and abdomen! These are “upper-focused” moves, but your core is your center of strength in your body.

Keep it tight to increase your force output and avoid any injuries or pain in your lower back. After a couple weeks with these moves, you’ll be able to drop and give me 10 easily!

Elevated Push up Start tight as a plank of wood.

Glutes tight with shoulders over the bar. Pull yourself Down to the bar to about midline (bra-line). Squeeze your glutes abd push away from the bar keeping your core tight. Make sure that your arms are about 45 degrees away from your body, so you look like an arrow.

Start at a level where your last two reps are tough while keeping perfect form. As you get stronger, move the bar down and work your way to the ground!

Rx: 3 sets, 12 reps

Inverted row Position the bar just below your hips and lie under it.

Grab hold of the bar and position yourself in a ‘table top’ position with feet planted and flutes engaged. Pull yourself up to the bar an ensure to “kiss” your shoulders blades to open your chest up to the bar. Lower and repeat.

Rx: 3 sets, 8-10 reps

1-arm bent over row Position yourself in a sturdy stance on a bench. Line your shoulder over your wrist and hip over your knee. Grab the dumbbell with the open side hand and pull up toward your body, then lower and repeat. Ensure that you are driving your elbow up and back behind you!

Rx: 3 sets, 10 side

Band-assissted Chin up

Squat to press

Start hanging with the band wrapped around one or two knees depending on the resistance. Squeeze your glutes and lead with your chest to bring yourself up to the bar. Keep your core tight as you pull. Slowly lower with a count of 3 and repeat. Tips: Have a friend spot you by giving you a tiny push on your upper back so you get complete reps!

Stand with your feet just wider than your hips. Hold a plate in front of you, with elbows tight to your body. Lower your body into a squat keeping the weight at chin level. In one wii,k motion stand up from the squat position and push the weight overhead with a big squeeze in your butt at the top. Hold for one second at the top and repeat.

Rx: 3 sets, 3-5 reps

Rx: 12-15 reps, 3 sets

Split squat jumps/ lunge jumps Start in a half kneeling position making sure that you have 90째 angles in both knees. Push with your front foot and make a quick switch in your legs. Try to kerp your chest up and pump your arms while you move!

Rx: 10 side, 3 sets

Lawrence Rignwald is hard. Seriously hard. So you think heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been stuck in a gym for 5 hours a day working hard at making you feel inferior, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d be wrong. Do these 3 moves twice a week. Stop being a soft bitch and try getting hard, especially those abs.

STRAIGHT LEG CRUNCHES

Starting Position: Lie flat on your back with your legs straight up (knees locked) and dumbbell in hands with arms extended parallel to your body.

Execution: Tighten your ABâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and aim to touch the dumbbell to your toes. Slowly lower your shoulders until they lightly skim the floor then repeat the movement.

AROUND THE WORLD

Starting position: Standing tall, place both hands on the dumbbell hanging in front of your hips.

Execution Keeping your eyes on the dumbbell at all times your arms straight and locked, slowly rotate the dumbbell around the counter of your body. Starting at the bellybutton, rotate over your head and back down to your starting position, then rotate the opposite direction to complete one repetition.

Routine suggestions: With Dumbbells, keep the repetitions between 10 and 12 and keep the movement slow. If you are a beginner or want to mix it up, try performing these exercises from 25-30 reps at an explosive pace.

SIDE WINDERS

Starting Position: In a semi-sit-up position,with knees bent and off the ground in front of you. Arms grasping the dumbbell resting on the abdomen.

Execution: Holding your knees off the ground and straight in front of you the whole time (do not allow your legs/hips to rotate) slowly twist the dumbbell from side to side gently touching the weight to the ground. To increase difficulty you can perform this task with straight legs and straight arms and or bend and straighten your legs in and out with each rotation.

LEARN HOW TO CHANGE AND ELIMINATE

HABITS A quick guide to understanding and defeating unhealthy

traditional thought process disassociates involvement in

replace current patterns. Removing ourselves from our

behaviors. Our habits affect our training and conversely

the execution of the action to the point that habits often

everyday environment (vacation, travel, different route to

our training affects our habits. The idea that a person’s

become unconscious behaviours.

work, different restaurant) provide great opportunities to

training habits and lifestyle habits are not mutually

The neural pathways (maps created to and by the brain

alter or modify routines. When our environment changes

independent is not new. Modern advances in human

and Central Nervous System) are very difficult to

our brain adapts and we generally have a more active

psychology are bringing new insights into how habits

rewrite or rewire once formed. Specifically, our habit

prefrontal cortex (we start making more decisions). If

are formed and changed however. Arguably, behind

forming behaviours are controlled by the basal ganglia,

you find yourself drinking unwanted beers or alcoholic

every habit (particularly bad habit) there is an addiction

this part of the brain is responsible in large part for

beverages on your business lunches for example, start

whether physical, psychological, social, or a combination

the development of emotions, memories and pattern

going to restaurants that don’t serve these options. Break

of the three. Understanding our habit formation process

recognition. Our brain’s prefrontal cortex which is highly

your current habits by identifying them (step two) and

can be a powerful tool in improving our training and

involved in decision making generally shuts down once

altering your environment (step three)

overall health.

a habit is formed and automated. Here, with prefrontal cortex absent, the habit basically becomes a behavioural

It is possible to change. You can form new healthy habits

A ‘habit’ can be defined as the following : ” an acquired

loop. Over time, and in order for our species to survive,

to replace the routines that are negatively affecting your

behaviour pattern regularly followed until it has become

our brain evolved to create automatic behaviour in an

ability to train and live a healthy lifestyle. (step four)

almost involuntary: the habit of looking both ways

attempt to conserve brain capacity and energy for other

Change and improvement require practice. Olympic

before crossing the street….an addiction, especially to

tasks. Early forms of multitasking perhaps. We are still

athletes, professional musicians, spiritual gurus, visual

narcotics…a constant or regular disposition or tendency;

very much a product of our evolved body. Understanding

artists, dancers, all practice thought and movement

prevailing character or quality…” (dictionary.com). Just

this is key. Recognizing our habits and or addictions and

patterns thousands of times before they even come close

how are habits formed? Habit formation occurs when

how they affect our brain chemistry is the first crucial

to perfecting them. Choose the gym, yoga studio, a brisk

behaviours (often new) become automated through a

step. (step one)

walk, a bike ride over watching tv for an hour. Your new

psychological pattern identified as a ‘habit loop’. This loop commences with a trigger or neural cue which essentially puts the brain into automatic behaviour display. This is a very important concept to recognize about our habits; once formed they are automatic, that is to say, our

The good news is that our brain is somewhat malleable and certain pathways can be rewritten to some extent. Just as repetition is the catalyst to forming habits, practicing alternative behaviours can eventually

healthy habits will take dedication and time but with enough consistency can become automated. How many of you reading this brush your teeth every morning or put your seatbelt on immediately after getting into a car without very little (if any) conscious thought?

Recognizing, controlling and eliminating bad habits begins with following four basic steps

1

Accept that you may have addictions to certain environments, food combinations or other substances that directly affect how your brain operates

2

Recognize your bad habit and understand this is an automatic pattern that can be changed

3

Change the environment or circumstances within which your current bad habit is thriving

4 Identify a new healthy habit and begin by consciously practicing a set schedule

N

o st ra t e gy i s c o m p l etel y fo o l p ro o f o r a n i m m e di a t e f i x w he n o ve r co m i n g ba d ha bi t s . T i m e a nd p r ac t ic e w ill ind e e d be y o u r b es t wea p o n s . Ac c ep ti ng f a i l ur e by no t pun i s h i ng o n e s e l f bu t r a t h e r t r yi n g ag ain is e xac t ly t he pa t ie n c e a n d c o n s i s ten c y n eed ed t o cr e a t e a ny po s i t i ve l i f e s t yl e ch a n g e . T he g r e a t e r t h e ad d ic t ion or form e d ha b i t, th e m o re res i l i en c e y ou w i l l ne e d. U l t i m a t e l y, ch a n g e w i l l be de t e r m i n e d by t h is d e g r e e of w i l l i ng ne ss. I f you are s i n c ere i n p ri o ri ti z i n g y our he a l t h , yo ur l i f e , i f ch a n g e i s a bs o l ut e l y w h a t yo u w an t , t h e n all that r em a ins is your wi l l i n gn es s to c rea te th e mo s t po w e r f ul h a bi t o f a l l : e f f o r t .

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Leveraging a City & FESTIVAL To Create a World Class Experience

By Nana Sechere Words by Lucas Mariano

Evellita menitis et odi volorit que voluptatecta am volupta orum aut minvernam iuntiuscia qui aces qui duci doluptup rent, eatem lab ipic te porempos et excepel

I

t’s become a yearly ritual for me.

possible without a consistently strong

All roads in early August will lead to

lineup of performers, a proper venue and

Montreal’s Parc Jean Drapeau for a

a magnificent host city.

year’s worth of auditory jubilation,

popular festival, Osheaga has brought in

delectable eating and feverish festival

the best performers that people want to

fun. With back-to-back record-breaking

see. The list of award-winning and world-

years in attendance, it’s clear that

renowned headliners that have capped

Osheaga has embedded itself onto the

off each evening isn’t just extensive, it’s

list of North America’s premier music

exhaustive. In only eight years of exist-

festivals. That could not have been

ence, closing acts on the River Stage

Just like any

include Sonic Youth (2006), The Smashing

a set of good headliners does not guarantee

the forest around you and the skyscrapers

Pumpkins (2007), The Killers (2008), Yeah

a good line up. Osheaga has traditionally

in the distance omit a hypnotizing glow. This

Yeah Yeahs (2009), Arcade Fire (2010), The

rolled out a schedule across the spectrum of

year’s festival outdid any of the previous

Flaming Lips (2011) and Snoop Lion (2012).

genres, with established and rising acts alike.

events in a few key areas. Aesthetics and

Even though Osheaga 2013’s lineup was a

Despite a rash of last-minute cancellations

flow were the most notable. With fewer

notch below 2012’s edition, each night still

(particularly to the chagrin of hip-hop fans),

traffic jams and stunning décor, everyone

peaked with a marquee band from one of

2013 still maintained that course.

was happier. The food at Osheaga 2013 was

three different eras playing to a joyous crowd of devotes and music aficionados alike. The Cure, Beck and Mumford and Sons each gave a performance that – based on the crowd

P

arc Jean Drapeu is a beautiful site

dramatically improved by the inclusion of

worth seeing, festival or not. With

Montreal’s finest food trucks. Not only could

beautiful greenery surrounding

you now get everything from a gourmet

you until the trees part, the view

burger by Winneburger to a fruit filled waffle

of downtown Montreal beyond the main

at Gaufrabec, but you also had more food sta-

However, as any frequent festival goer knows,

stages is especially climactic at night when

tions dispersed about the festival site. What’s

more, Osheaga partnered with Chevrolet for

food. Brunch at Restaurant Holder will leave

family owned, and for once, might admit that

the most unique social (social in both real life

you craving a second helping until next year’s

a restaurants Italian food is better than your

and digital) festival experience to date. The

Osheaga. On McGill Street in Old Montreal,

grandmother’s. The Manicotti Alfredo bursts

icebreaker tactic randomly paired two par-

you will find the best variety of French toast

flavourful cheeses across your pallet and can

ticipants at the festival via a numbered wrist-

in North America. Resembling potato strips

be accompanied by luxurious red wine.

band. The challenge was to use social media

more than French toast, the sweet-battered

(when there was actually cellular service) and

bread strips are dampened with a succulent

your eyeballs to find your matching number.

caramel rum sauce and accented by shred-

Of course there were prizes, but none were

ded Granny Smith apples. Don’t be afraid to

as memorable and long-lasting as the new

fill up since you’ll burn off the calories run-

friends – unless maybe you won the car.

ning from stage to stage later. If you want an

friendships that are founded. It’s a festival

After live music all afternoon and evening,

equally lavish dinner off of festival grounds,

necessity to be good to each other. You’ll end

then a night on the town, take a deep breath

head back to Old Montreal’s Da Franco Italian

up making connections with locals willing to

and set your alarm early. Montreal will fulfill

restaurant. If you grew up in an Italian family,

show you the underground nightlife scene, or

one more appetite of yours, this time with

you’ll know pretty quickly that Da Franco is

new Facebook friends you’ll reunite with on a

reaction – was well beyond expectations.

B

eyond the festival’s music and activities, and the city’s food and booze, what makes a festival great and most memorable are

the bonds that are strengthened and the

vacation. If you’re lucky, you’ll have your best friends alongside you from home the whole time. Sure, spending a long weekend together could be tense by night number three, but oh the stories you’ll have to tell after a festival done right – a festival like Osheaga..

Far left : Chanteuse ; Wild Belle This page ; Daughter performing

The view of downtown Montreal beyond the main stages is especially climactic at night when the forest around you and the skyscrapers in the distance omit a hypnotizing glow

PHANTOGRAM

Listening to Voices, Phantogram’s latest album, offers an escape for listeners. The dark cinematic music ushers you into the night, into a buzzing mind that is both racing but self-aware. Sarah Barthel and Josh Carter perfectly emulate their music. The duo seems most comfortable talking about time spent in silent countrysides and late night recordings.

They understand the beauty in the quiet and in the dark. Voices, their sophomore LP, is a dense album of dark analog synths, sparkling sounds, rough guitars and the pair’s delicate vocals floating throughout like a lullaby. They have translated the thoughts and senses of that unnerving four-in-the-morning insomnia into a cohesive and expansive record.

Barthel and Carter first came out with a bang in 2009 with Eyelid Movies, an album that struck a chord with listeners, notably for the single “Mouth Full of Diamonds.” The song caught the attention of many critics and fans such as Big Boi of Outkast. The album was fresh, sounding unlike anything else at the time. Since then we’ve seen a whole genre rise with releases from CHRVCHES, Lorde and others offering a similar blend of trip-hop, r&b and rock. After signing with a major label and releasing a number of EPs, the duo is ready to show the world a deeper and more orchestrated attempt at album making with Voices. The use of an outside producer to help polish and evolve

It’s when most of the writing and producing worked best for us naturally; when you’re alone and it’s dark out you fall into this other world.”

Aaron Pearce sits down with the band to talk about process, and recording in the country

the band was a major step in defeating a sophomore slump. Phantogram sought input from acclaimed producer John Hill. I recently sat down with Sarah and Josh in Montreal to discuss collaborations, the new album and whether the creators of dreamy dark songs sleep well at night.

While the urban myth may not permeate as deep as Bon Iver’s escapes into the countryside, Phantogram have previously discussed their late night musical creations in an isolated barn hidden within upstate New York. Josh is hesitant to credit the countryside, but states “I mean, all of our records have ended up in the country, but that’s just a matter of where we’re from

and where we’re most comfortable creating. I think that what does have an impact on our writing [is] being around nature and writing at night, it’s kind of like a whole different energy that comes out in the country. It’s just different and evokes darker feelings, that environment.”

He adds, “Whether we’re in Nashville, New York, L.A. or on a farm upstate New York, we probably would, because of who we are, make the same music and themes lyrically.”

Based on the dark and dreamy music birthed in said location, I had to ask how well the duo sleep themselves. Sarah chuckled responding, “We do work at night so we’re kind of in a dream-creative mode. We worked all through

the night when we wrote this record, start[ing] at 8:00 at night and work[ing] till 4 am. It’s when most of the writing and producing worked best for us naturally; when you’re alone and it’s dark out you fall into this other world.”

Josh nods along and adds, “Since we’re very visual people as well, how we write [benefits from dreams]. Dreams are very inspiring, so abstract and vivid. We tend to both remember our dreams. We have a lot of friends who say they ‘didn’t dream last night’ and, well, you dreamt, you just don’t remember. It shows how lucky we are [to remember dreams and have that inspiration].

Continuing the topic of inspiration for Voices, songs like “The Day You Died” and “I Don’t Blame You” led to my next question. Did any relationship trouble or breakups aid in the construction of the album? Sarah is quick to answer, “No, the record is meant to be for whomever is listening. Those people who have personal demons is the best way to describe it, there isn’t any anger trying to come out, it just seems like it in some lyrics like the “The Day You Died.” It seems to be directed towards somebody, but it’s meant to be directed towards whatever is in your life that is upsetting you.” osh agreed with Sarah, saying that “Lyrically all of our songs touch on life, love, death and [those] things in general. Our lyrics try and have open interpretation for people. When we listen to songs and know exactly what they’re about it changes it, you want to come up with your own feelings, occasionally I like knowing exactly what [a song is] about, and it can make it more interesting, but if I found out [that a song is] not about what it’s always meant for me, I’ll think of it differently after that. [The meaning will] change how I listen to the song and ruin that awesome feeling, whether I made up the lyrics or interpreted them differently. I think art should be interpreted as an individual [experience] for everyone.”

The art Phantogram produces had a hand from John Hill on their latest effort. I asked about

working with the man behind the boards of songs from the likes of Santigold, Shakira, M.I.A and Wavves. Sarah responds that “It was great, it was awesome because we always needed another ear.”

“Well we wanted another ear, not needed,” Josh is quick to correct.

Sarah continues, “Just in general as artists, allowing other people to hear your stuff who have good input is always a good thing.

Sometimes you can spend a lot of time in your own brain just going back and forth, is this good or bad. Josh and I do that often with our music so it was really nice to have somebody we trusted and [who] was able to add a lot to different elements [to the record. John Hill] had a ton of different analog synthesizers that we were never able to use before because we had our small setup, our small amount of equipment for the last two records but he had all these new things for us to use which was beneficial for us.”

The choice of producer is always a massive concern for artists, especially when it’s the first time entrusting your sound and album to them.

Phantogram’s decision to work with John Hill was a timely and thought-out decision. Josh said, “We met with nine different producers to co-produce the album. I think when we met John Hill, Sarah was saying that him and I have

very similar personalities and that’s why she liked him, so it was a matter of trust. Plus his work is so diverse, from pop acts like Shakira to Wavves, punk rock, hip-hop, he did stuff with Jay Z, then Santigold and M.I.A. We just thought he’d be a really good pick for us since we have such a wide palette as Phantogram and that he’d be a good match.”

Josh and Sarah already had constructed much of the album before Hill’s arrival. His polish and input was partially due to the need for new territory both in terms of instrumentation and with what the final product of each song would be. Josh elaborates that “we both felt incapable of writing a song under four minutes long, we tried to get to the meat and potatoes of songs for the record, not that we needed to, but it was a goal.”“It was influenced by The Beatles,” Sarah explains. “Where [their songs are] only three minutes long, but everything just happens.” Continuing to discuss the choice of producer she says, “It’s different with every producer. It took us a while [to choose] because some don’t want to co-produce and this was a co-production. Josh produced most of Voices before we got to John Hill and a lot of other producers we met with didn’t know what they needed to do. That’s why John was great, he had all these interesting ideas to add on to what we already had and I think that’s difficult for some producers cause they want it it to be like this, but John’s great because he wanted to collaborate.”

Josh adds that, “A lot of producers we brought it to said this great but you guys already produced an album so just put it out, john worked his way into our project without compromising our vision.” I asked Carter if there were any other producers he’d like to work with in the future.

“I don’t know, Chris Coady was high on my list.

He produced the Beach House records. He was a super nice guy, New York City based, and I like him a lot. In general since we built such a nice relationship with John I’d like to work with him again.”

Josh proves to have a clear concept of Phantogram, a drive and knowledge of music that comes across throughout the course of the interview. While the duo share writing and singing roles, Josh’s interest in production has been a key part of Phantogram’s success. The blend of trip-hop with traditional rock and pop carved the pair a niche that has seen a whole genre of similar styles come after their debut.

Based on the grand scope of genres sprinkled across their discography, Phantogram’s own

blurred these days with genres and modern technology.”

Phantogram’s open mind in regards to new styles and collaborations has become a major part of their story. Their work with Big Boi on his last album Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors created hype and acclaim for the duo and for the rapper. Barthel explains, “Big Boi was a big fan of our music and especially Josh’s beats. So it wasn’t like we’d throw him an idea and he’d be like ‘well…’ It was always ‘this is awesome, let’s use it.’ We’d just keep adding onto it and collaborated really smoothly with him.”

“I mean, when you’re collaborating with others… we get set in our own way and you have to open up that side of you for collaboration.” Josh turns to his partner, “Sarah and I work together. It’s collaborating, but it feels like we’re psychic twins, like one working unit. So [with collaborations] you have to just let go and leave it up to the universe and it can be a lot of fun.”

Recalling songs by A$AP Rocky, Big Boi and Danny Brown, I ask why they think the rap community has become so open to collaborating

[Ghostface Killah]. I’d want to see if that meshes or if Ghostface doesn’t like him cause he’s biting his flow.” Josh pauses, “Not to stir waters. Also I’d love to do the first tribute song for MCA with Mike D and Ad-Rock, I think that’d be really cool.”

Satisfied with the conversation, covering inspirations and collaborations that led to Voices, I had one final question that resulted in laughter from the duo. “Coming back to the earlier topic of sleep, I just wanted to ask, what’s the weirdest place you two have ended up sleeping?”

They both fall silent and start to ponder over their lives on the road and adventures.

Considering their sleep-less nights creating music meant to be listened to by the moon, I knew it was a relevant question. Sarah finally turns to Josh and responds firmly, “In our friend’s farm. He invited us to stay at his house outside of Detroit. We slept next to a chicken coup and there were spiders everywhere and mildew and it was just… yah, disgusting.”

At this point Josh is laughing and agreeing,

I think hip-hop artists are looking for something different, something to make them travel somewhere else. It needs to be done correctly, not like hip-hop rock mash-ups. musical taste was the next topic to discuss. “I was listening to Gladys Knight and the Pips on the way here,” explains Josh on the variety the two artists enjoy. He mentions Four Tet, while Sarah mentions Flying Lotus when asked who the two are listening to in regards to electronic music specifically. “I don’t think the two of us listen to electronic music much.”

Sarah jumps in, saying “No it’s not what we gravitate towards. Except who’s that cool producer from London?” Josh and I both start spewing names like we’re on a game show. “He doesn’t have an album yet,” She continues. Josh wins when mentions Jai Paul. “Yes, Jai Paul is awesome,” exclaims Barthel.

Josh states, “I think all music these days is electronic.”

Sarah adds, “When I think of electronic I just think of computers and technology that bands use, which means electronic is very vague.”

Josh clarifies, “I don’t consider ourselves an electronic band. I picture, like the Aphex Twins.

If you listen to any hip-hop, it’s all electronic.

Pyromania by Def Leppard is all recorded to a click track. You plug in your guitar and amp into the wall. I think everything is kind of

with pop and electronic artists as of late.

Sarah said, “It’s always an interesting topic to think about cause it seems as though artists are trying to grow in general and musicians and artists just want to keep creating and evolve. It seems like the natural thing to do is find other outlets or influences to be a part of; to create something new. I think hip-hop artists are looking for something different, something to make them travel somewhere else. It needs to be done correctly, not like hip-hop rock mash-ups. When it’s done right, like working with Big Boi, he understands that level of collaborating with a different genre without making it sound cheesy.”

I turn to Josh to list a few rappers he’d want to work with, as I had read previously he’d be open to producing hip-hop. His face lights up, but attempts to remain modest, “I always have silly ideas,” he shrugs. “I wanna execute ideas that are little bit, almost, taboo. I want to do a track with A$AP Rocky and Aesop Rock in the same song. I think that would be cool. I’d like to do a track with Ghostface and Action Bronson in the same track because Action kind of sounds like he’s highly influenced by

“Yah it was damp and a little gross, no offence to my friend. Just very back-country.”

While the sound of chickens may not be sampled on an album anytime soon. A country night will be an association for me when it comes to Phantogram’s music. As polished and shimmering as some songs may be, they remain organic creations of two skilled artists producing through late nights.

The duo’s strong pop sensibilities mashed with their respect and love for so many styles of music has continued to elevate their sound.

Josh and Sarah will continue to expand their horizons and experiment while remaining two people who just love spiritual nights making haunting music.

Vanbot A Melancholic And Joyful Debut: An Introduction to Vanbot

Synth pop inspired by the 1980s dance music of artists, like early Madonna, have become a major genre today in music. Robyn and Goldfrapp are two of the most successful in this genre, but a new artist has recently debuted an album full of sparkling synths, melancholic lyrics, and an authentic voice. Vanbot is a new duo consisting of vocalist Ester Ideskog, and production by Sebastian Forslund. The album, titled Vanbot, is a beautiful collection of both upbeat and more leisurely paced tunes that all contain Esther’s high, fairy-like voice, and honest reflective lyrics concerned with aspects of love.

The album is like a diary with the most elegant and expansive production, highlighting the structured songs and always complimenting Ester’s genuine voice. Vanbot’s debut is not a strict foray into generic pop, some production wouldn’t feel out of place on a James Blake album. A forlorn sad undertone can be sensed throughout the album.

The album is more mature than a simple break up discontent, instead it is analyzing, longing, depression, the joys, and optimism. When asked to sum up the album in just two words, the response is “intoxicating and sticky.”

Both members of the duo originate from Sweden, when asked about the influence the musically talented nation had on her, Ester explains, “I could blame the cold dark winter or praise the light summer where the sun never sets. It does something to you, you start a new life every spring. But I think one of the reasons are the community music schools where everybody gets a chance to play an instrument in early ages. There are also a lot of opportunities to study your interests a few years after high school. That´s where it all became real to me.” That goal to be a professional artist would prosper when meeting her current producer, Sebastian. “Sebastian and [Ester] met eight years ago when [they] studied music together in Stockholm.” She describes him as “almost like a brother to me.” The process between the duo consists of Ester writing and recoding “at home in [her] tiny tiny studio.”

After the core writing and vocals have been designated She elaborates the genius of Sebastian; “When I feel I have nothing more to give the song, he puts his hands on them and turn them into gold! I learn so much from him!” That gold consists of the elegant and beautiful synths and production attributed to Sebastian. The relationship between the two artists is strong as they enter the international music stage. Ester thinks they’ve “found a sound that is perfect for Vanbot and [they’ve] improved and perfected that sound.

“It hits me sometimes that Sebastian already seems to know where to

GIVE THESE A SPIN And call us in the morning

By Jacob Crepeault

Doldrums The Air Conditioned Nightmare The new millennium has ushered in a bundle of groups attempting to sound like late-90s/early 2000s idols. Radiohead is a band that has been beaten to a pulp by angst-driven young adults trying to get their muzzled music to hit the right note. Most have failed in an effort to reach Radiohead standards but in a completely unexpected way, Montrealbased Doldrums may have struck a chord. Combining catchy club beats with enough Yorke-isms to make a proper follow-up to In Rainbows, Doldrums commands centre stage with slick production, earworminducing lyrics, and a fresh perspective on electronic music.

Kendrick Lamar To Pimp A Butterfly To love oneself is often a struggle. Kendrick Lamar’s illustrative new album encapsulates a compelling chronicle of stardom. The music of Flying Lotus is an obvious influence on the jazz-infused stylization of To Pimp A Butterfly. Kendrick’s unfiltered metamorphosis grows and swells

until his glorious majesty bursts from a cocoon. The pure juxtaposition of the hellish “u” and the empowering “i” hits the ball right out of the park. The album is a transformative experience, heavily doused in personal turmoil, that will be one for the ages. Even though it may not be the album fans of good kid, m.A.A.d city wanted, it’s the final product of true artistry at its best.

Twin Shadow Eclipse Front to back, Twin Shadow’s third studio album is a groundbreaking achievement of soul-spilling emotional content. As his first major label album, Eclipse polishes up the rough spots present on previous albums with a glimmering sheen. “To The Top” sees Twin Shadow at his best, highlighting a sense of ecstasy within both the singer and the listeners.

Even the collaborative tracks, “Alone (feat. Lily Elise)” and “Old Love/New Love (feat. D’Angelo Lacy)” don’t undermine Twin Shadow’s commanding power. As far as pop records go, this is one of the boldest and complete efforts in a long time.

Lower Dens Escape From Evil Summer appears to be right around the corner. As the weather gets

take my songs before I even explain my vision” Ester continues, the duo have developed their relationship and the debut album is the evidence that they are on the same page. Vanbot is not the only electro-pop duo on the scene with Goldfrapp and La Roux having large fan bases. Vanbot does have a clear difference between the other synth pop stars, her work fits somewhere between those performers, with more defined synths, excellent writing, and fragile vocals. “Goldfrapp and Robyn have inspired me. I actually enjoy the softer albums from Goldfrapp more than the disco ones.” Other inspirations for singer include “Royksopp, Empire Of The Sun, The Knife, I Blame Coco, The Chemical Brothers, Jonsi, Nina Kinert and Crystal Castles. No surprise, huh?”

Vanbot has a defined Swedish sound with pop melodies that have been around since Abba, and cold synths like Robyn and the Teddybears among others. When asked, Ester discusses The Knife, Adrian Lux and Robyn as some of the Swedish talent she’d love to collaborate with.

Collaborations with any of those artist would work wonderfully with Esther’s sweet and vulnerable voice, but for now, the focus is on Vanbot and the magical debut.

“My goal has simply been to do this record and try not to care so much about the response. But once I got started it feels natural to hope that it will lead somewhere. In ten years my dream is to have released a few more records, have had the opportunity to tour around a bit and have been able to live on my music.”

The name Vanbot comes from a persona Ester uses on stage; Vanessa.

“My alter ego Vanessa started as a joke, but has become a way to express myself. It’s like playing a role.” The persona is an on-stage way to let lose, to become the entertainment for the audience. “Vanessa reflect[s] some of my qualities and represents my music better than I do!” “All songs are written by Ester, but performed by Vanessa. Ester is more artsy, Vanessa is better on stage,” Ester laughs admitting she must sound “schizo!” The idea of an on-stage personality has become quite common in music today, with Beyonce being the most mainstream example with her Sasha

warmer, so does the music. Lower Dens’ new album Escape From Evil presents a colourful collection of soothing melodies; perfect for any lazy summer afternoon. With its dazzling echo of sky-high vocals and reverberated guitar riffs, Escape From Evil is a tropical paradise. Its accessibility acts like white sand nuzzled between bare toes as its gentle presence gives a calming pleasure and atmosphere.

Fierce alter-ego. Ester proceeds to say that she might not use the name Vanessa for long, but “it will always be like steeping into a role when on stage.”

The critics have begun to take note of the extremely new act, with British music blog Popjustice, among others to announce their admiration for Vanbot. The success of other similar artists like La Roux and Robyn have allowed for Vanbot to have a genre with devoted listeners ready to enjoy another synth and melancholic musical world. When asked, Ester responds that “I’m overwhelmed with the international listeners! I never expected this great amount of support.”

Ester embraces the technology allowing the international audience to grow quickly, using Twitter, Facebook, free songs on Soundcloud and emailing her fans, wanting them to know to “keep on emailing...and I will try to answer ASAP.” Vanbot is still new and ready to take on the music world embracing their lush music. The fans are what drives all of the success and hopes the duo have for the future and the deserved success of the album. When asked about the international listeners, Ester discusses them emailing her and being overwhelmed, but sums it up with an honest statement; “You really mean everything to Vanbot.”

That acknowledgement will help Vanbot build devoted fans who will, without a doubt, love the duo’s musical debut.

Charli XCX CONTINUES TO BREAK TH RULES!

Charli XCX is practically a pop veteran after only a brief time in the spotlight thanks to her ever changing (but still cohesive) discography that’s gone from the dark electro pop of “You’re the One”, to the Tumblresque mashup of sounds featured on her debut LP True Romance, her turn as a hook girl on the inescapable “Fancy”… not to mention writing “I Love It” and her own summer hit “Boom Clap”. Charli knows her way around a bloody good pop hook, the genres and styles may change but that fact never does. “Break the Rules” continues that pattern with a Nineties-esque instrumental that recalls Garbage more than typically EDM breakdowns. It’s a sexy and catch number that makes me only slightly cringe at the line “I don’t want to go to school, I just wanna break the rules”. Charli is the classic pop star we all need, the best part? While many are searching for Swedish help for their pop-star moments, we know Charli can do it all on her own.

SHOT BY WASSIM FARAH

WINE AND DINE Home-grown Rhymes from Ghettosocks and DJ Jon Deck The hip-hop industry is a tough market to compete in. In order to sound relevant and topical, rappers need to figure out ways to bring innovation to the game. Darren Pyper, an Ottawa-born rapper known by his stage name of Ghettosocks, offers his tongue-in-cheek lyrics, masterful flow, and help from instrumentalist DJ Jon Deck to form a collective of attractive hip-hop. Ghettosocks has grabbed the attention of the rap world by gracing the stage with such icons as the GZA, Nas, The Pharcyde, The Herbaliser and others. His eccentric method has also been placed on several music charts, most notably a #1 spot on Exclaim! magazine’s Earshot Hip-Hop chart.

The duo of Ghettosocks and Jon Deck most recently collaborated on We’re Gonna Drink A Lot Of Wine This Year, Boys, a sample-based mixtape that takes inspiration and quotes from the likes of the Wu-Tang Clan and even John C. Reilly’s fictional Dr. Steve Brule character. The splurging drawl of Ghettosocks trudges along to Deck’s jazzy beats in the stuffed 22-track album.

Ghettosocks keeps his composure throughout his songs, never faltering and always remaining at his strongest.

The mixtape is a conceptual project about, you guessed

it, drinking wine. The theme of that eclectic liquid trickles through the songs, making appearances in such dedicated lyrics as “Crushed grapes make me wanna sip, make me wanna flip”, a small reference to Nas’s “Affirmative Action”. Not only does wine take the centre stage of the mixtape but the desire to return to classic hip-hop also makes a persuasive statement. The record-scratching, the rap samples, and the toned-done rhythms are all signs of a return to a contemporary sound that has been sorely missed in the genre.

Another cool feature of this mixtape is its local appeal.

Ghettosocks, being an Ottawa native now located in Halifax, namedrops several things that will ring familiar to Canadian crowds. The mention of riding the OC Transpo bus and visiting Montreal’s Osheaga music festival give a Canadian flair to the sensational music. The songs themselves sound massive, worthy of the highest acclaim, while they retain a sense of homeliness to the former lives of the performers.

Ghettosocks and DJ Jon Deck bring a style similar to that of MF Doom, one that allows for meaningful rapping atop clever uses of sample cues and inventive concepts. Their recognisability may be still in a primitive

stage, but with a little hard work and loyalty to the genre, Ghettosocks and Jon Deck have the potential to bring back the renaissance of hip-hop to the big stage.

Words by Jacob Crepeault

Fill in Weezyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s face with unique tatooâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and win tickets to Osheaga Arts and Music festival July 31st - August 2nd email info@antidotemag.com or mail to P.O Box 1735 Ottawa, Ont for your chance to win. Contest closes June 15th 2015

P ROJEC TOR S With Jake Pitre

Some t hin gs are guar an t eed, or at l east seem in ev i tab le. T h e ma in charact ers o f I t F o llow s a nd Two Days, One N i g h t, v ery di ffe ren t f il ms, b ot h sp en d th e i r t ime o n scr een fi g h t i n g th e i r own respec t i v e i n ev i tabi li ti es. On ly o n e i s a h o r ro r movie, but bot h feel h o r r i fy i ng in t heir own way, c o u n t i n g down to a powerf u l en d i n g, u n cle a r whet her eit h er w i ll w i n th e i r fight. In t he en d, b ot h r efus e to be govern ed by p r edestination, con f ron t i n g t h ei r fate wit hout back i n g d ow n

It Follows Directed By: David Robert Mitchell 2014

a There are plenty of terrifying moments in David Robert Mitchell’s It Follows, one of the best horror films of the last decade. There are a couple of effective jump scares, though the blank look on one character’s face following one of them suggests Mitchell isn’t too keen on them himself. No, the film gets a lot of horrifying mileage out of people just walking toward the camera, perhaps never more brilliant than in a 720-degree pan in a high school with someone walking toward them from outside only to be forgotten about and never confronted. Was he following them, or was he just some guy walking?

Sounding a lot like an anti-sex PSA (it is not that), It Follows is the story of a virus that haunts whoever has sex with the last person it haunted. In other words, to get rid of the slow-moving menace that follows you, you have to “pass it on” to someone else. Though the metaphor is obvious, it never feels like it takes a solid stance on the sexual politics of adolescents, which is ultimately for the better.

Instead, it offers itself as an incredibly creepy exploration of the isolating sexual terrors faced by young people, presented in a sort of timeless world with bizarre e-readers, the crumbling

buildings of Detroit, generic clothing, and old televisions.

It works so well because Mitchell’s team of teenage horndogs are actually quite complex in their expressions and relationships, fumbling through interactions while dealing with the problem at hand sometimes only as an afterthought. Rich Vreeland’s score is also phenomenal, adding expertly to the offkilter atmosphere with his aggressive synths.

The cinematography is equally ambitious and committed to upping the paranoia at all opportunities, making the audience squirm whenever a character lets their guard down for just a moment (whenever It isn’t onscreen, we search frantically for It), and putting everyone in gorgeous compositions to distract. The paranoia contributes to the theme of inevitability, such that death itself is slowly coming for all of us, but with well-developed characters like these, we hope not too soon

Two Days, One Night Directed By: Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne 2014 a Empathy is a difficult concept to grasp, and it is even more difficult to capture onscreen.

The Dardenne brothers, renowned Belgian filmmakers, are used to communicating subtle emotional truths through moving images, but with Marion Cotillard they have found an angelic vessel in their search for grace.

Cotillard, as solar-panel factory worker Sandra, flits from co-worker to co-worker in a Biblical series of empathetic tests, a duality of trials with both sides navigating the complexities of interpersonal relationships and economic hardship. To be clear, however, the Dardennes are at most marginally interested in the labour politics at play. As ever, the personal is political by happenstance, and the focus is absolutely on Sandra’s inner travails and those of everyone she meets with. Every individual life has value and significance, a simple thought writ large here, perhaps tragically so as Sandra must confront her own self-worth as she defends herself and pleads to her co-workers. It is a humiliating thing she is forced into doing, but she is persistent, Cotillard carrying herself as damaged but determined. Harnessing a formal realism that never provokes and boldly following a repetitive melodrama format, the

unassuming deep emotion becomes achingly apparent as we sympathize with everyone we meet. Sandra is one graceful cog in a mostly well-meaning collective, fighting for her chance, against an oppressive system and, really, against herself. The mind can reject that yearning for compassion, that wish to be the best version of yourself, but sometimes the fight is all that matters, regardless of the outcome. Cotillard shows this on her face and in her voice, in her movements and her hesitations, using every nuance at her vast disposal to communicate a feeling or a certain truth. Sandra has no choice but to try, despite herself, and the elegant simplicity of the camera and the composition allows for a directness that only alleviates the value of the Dardennes’ typical approach. As she visits each co-worker, we receive a different response, and witness the spectrum of moral dilemmas being played out. It is the spectrum of what it means to be human, which is to fail, which is to offer generosity of spirit, which is to lash out, which is to revert backward into oneself. As one of the best films of 2014, Two Days, One Night encouragingly suggests that though the fight

Photo Title Rum fugiatem quat animent mod et labo. Xima verate

I couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t believe that an entire city could step up to defend 200 people

Euromaiden An Inside Story of the 21st Century’s Most Successful and Controversial Revolution

A story from Maria Arseniuk with contributions from Anton Mikovl Are you with the press? Can you take my photo before those bastards shoot me dead?” asked the man on Maidan. It was Thursday, February 20, 2014 – the day that Ukrainian ex-president, Viktor Yanukovich unleashed a deadly assault that left nearly 100 non-violent demonstrators dead, many of them students. I was not with the press. I was just a girl with a camera determined to document the humanity and complexity of the 21st century’s most successful, yet controversial, revolution.I arrived in Kyiv earlier that week armed with only a Canon and a goal: to capture the human nature of the EuroMaidan struggle – the pain, the hope, the resiliency and the perseverance of the Ukrainian people, and to present a perspective independent of Russian media; media which consistently portrayed us as depraved, radical, extremist, ultra-nationalist and fascist.

While I arrived in a moment of relative calm, the situation quickly escalated. In the end, hundreds were left dead, thousands injured.

In telling this story, my story, and the story of tens of thousands of EuroMaidaners there needs to be an unlearning of the propaganda that the neoliberal apparatus has fed national and international media sources covering the events beginning November 23, 2013.

Many people, unfamiliar with the crisis, have asked: “All this? All this bloodshed over the rejection of an EU trade agreement?” I cannot be more clear about this sentiment: EuroMaidan is not about a mishandled EU agreement that

ex-president Yanukovich abandoned on November 23, 2013 in favor of a $15 billion bailout from Putin.

It is not about European integration or accession; EuroMaidan was, and remains, about confronting the rampant corruption, oligarchy, extortion and dictatorship of the Yanukovich regime – a regime which laundered $70 billion in government funds into 18 private Swiss bank accounts while pensions and salaries plunged in a country where the average monthly income is $486 – the second lowest in Europe. Although the EU agreement was a catalyst for the initial student demonstrations from which EuroMaidan was born, it is the Ukrainian people’s yearning to move forward from a corruptocracy to a democracy – with or without European integration – that is the ideological foundation of this movement.

Initially, in the early stages of EuroMaidan in late November, students came out to demonstrate against Yanukovich’s unilateral dismissal of the EU agreement. They were beaten, and dispersed, by government forces. The following day countless others came forward to stand, symbolically and physically, with the student demonstrators. One of those people was Anton Mikov.

“I was at work, and all the information was coming in via Facebook and from friends who were downtown,” he would later tell me. “I couldn’t believe that an entire city could step up to defend 200 people. I arrived in the evening, when

things had more or less calmed down. I came out not for European integration, but against the leadership who considered themselves above the people. Yanukovich believed he had the right to determine destiny. I came with my friends to prove that the people are the power.”

As November slipped into December, EuroMaidan grew in size and influence. 200 people transformed into 20,000 people. Some of them stood for EU integration, some against it, some were neutral. All of them stood for the freedom of Ukraine and its people. As EuroMaidan grew, so did the initiatives of the demonstrators. Many, including Anton, were involved in multiple strategies: “I attended many peaceful meetings by the Democratic Alliance, and I drove people around as part of AutoMaidan, to the homes of those in positions of power, to show them how the ministers live while our hospitals crumble. For one of these acts of resistance, outside of the gates of Yanukovich’s palace in Mezhigyria, my car was set on fire.

When it was relatively calm I built barricades with the self-defense units, and with the Right Sector and other nationalists I defended against the attacks by the Berkut and internal military forces.”

By the time I arrived in Kyiv on February 13, 2014 EuroMaidan was approaching its third month. Ukrainians – from Kyiv, Lviv, Ternopil, Lutsk, Donetsk, Kharkiv – as well as Georgians, Belorussians, Armenians and a handful of Russians had already mobilized a resistance to government forces. Men and women, students and professionals, young and old, Christian, Jewish and Muslim guarded the barricades.

They protested, peacefully, and unarmed. They stood together, united, as a vanguard for social justice.

By then the first four victims of Yanukovich’s onslaught, including Yurij Verbytsky a programmer with a PhD in mathematical physics, had been killed. Verbytsky had been kidnapped from his hospital bed, along with fellow EuroMaidan activist Ihor Lutsenko. His body was later found, tortured and mutilated, in a forest.

The last thing that Verbytsky said to his brother was, “We are at the point of no return. Either the government destroys us or we will destroy it. I have made my choice.” Many, alongside Verbyskty’s convictions, made the same choice.

They continued their fight against the totalitarian regime, against the propaganda machine, against corruption that enveloped our country.

And I continued to photograph them – determined to preserve their humanity, their identity, their dignity and their struggle for a fair and free future.

Within a matter of days, the situation in Kyiv intensified. On February 18, 2014 the drastic escalation that would mark the revolution for years to come began.

Berkut, the state controlled riot police, armed with water canons, grenades and bullets, attacked demonstrators indiscriminately. The EuroMaidaners, armed with little else but cobblestones uprooted from the main plaza, bricks, and Molotov Cocktails, stood their ground. I left that morning headed to Maidan – only to arrive to a closed subway station, with people helplessly milling around it. “If they’ve closed the subway, you know something is very wrong” one older woman speculated at the door. Something was very wrong – Berkut had started silencing people with bullets. Closing the subway ensured that more activists couldn’t join, but more importantly, it ensured those under attack had no escape. I returned home later that day. The events of the day were transpiring faster than news sources could report it. Social media kept us informed. Fixated on Twitter and Facebook, calls for volunteer drivers, blood donors and fresh water collection flooded my newsfeed. Kyiv was on fire and the world was fixated on Sochi.

On the 20th my father, stepmother and I left in the morning for the blood bank. Blood reserves were becoming depleted and the injured were arriving in hospitals by the hundreds. Leaving the hospital we stocked up on cases of water and drove down to Mihailovska Square where volunteers were collecting essentials: water, blankets, generators, medicines.

The sound of gunfire pierced the air before I

even made it to Maidan that afternoon. As I got closer, people were running, yelling “Snipers! Snipers!” Indeed – Yanukovich hired snipers, perched upon hotel “Ukraine” to fire into his own people. As I got into the heart of the protest, a young man not too far from where I stood, took a bullet to the chest. Volunteer medics rushed to him, risking their own lives to save his. The atmosphere was one of pure panic and chaos – raw emotion marked the faces of everywhere I looked. As the end of the day approached the death count neared 100 – Heaven’s Hundred.

Undeterred, we all came out again to Maidan the following morning. Someone asked me if I wasn’t scared. Of course I was scared. But, I choose fear over intimidation. Fear over inaction. Fear over apathy. Fear over helplessness and certainly fear over complicity with injustice.

As Yanukovich fled to Russia and was replaced with an interim government backed by the opposition, Ukrainians were left with the reality of recovering from one of the bloodiest revolutions in modern European history. We were left to heal and rebuild in the midst of tragedy, and we were left to flounder in an economy on the brink of default. And we will. Because this is a story of perseverance. The sacrifices of the Heaven’s Hundred were not, and will never be, in vain. While the mood remains somber, we look to the future with a glimmer of hope,

200 People Transformed into 20,000 people.

Some of them stood for EU integration, some against it, some were neutral.

All of them stood for the freedom of Ukraine and its People.

knowing that the people and events of EuroMaidan will forever shape Ukraine.

I asked Anton, if you ever had the chance to meet and speak with Yanukovich, what would you want to say to him? He replied not with anger, nor with vengeance – but with a knowing calmness to his composure: “There was a film, ‘Good Bye Lenin!’ about the unification of Germany and about the people who were able to reclaim their country and to become one community. If I ever met Yanukovich, I would tell him “Good Bye Viktor!”

Good bye Viktor; with love, from Ukraine.

The sound of gunfire pierced the air before I even made it to Maidan that afternoon. As I got closer, people were running, yelling “snipers! Snipers!” Indeed - Yanukovich hired snipers, perched upon hotel “Ukraine” to fire into his own people.

- SHORT STORY F ROZEN AND ALONE

BY JUSTIN LAM

It was about 11 o’clock at night and already it was dark, freezing, and windy as all hell, just like in the movies right before some poor bastard gets murdered. I stood beside my car working my way slowly through my last pack of cigarettes, freezing to death while watching the bay windows of the house in front of me. Inside, exactly thirty-seven people shuffled around the two story home, all exchanging stories of their day at work or that funny thing their kids did last night. To call it dreadful would be an understatement. To call it boring didn’t seem to quite do it justice.

I was in my spring jacket, which on any other day would be perfectly suitable for an October night. Someone inside had swiped my hat, and like an idiot I left my scarf inside. The cold wasn’t really that bad, but after standing outside for so long, the wind was really starting to take its toll. The thing was, I just had to get out of there. If I had spent another minute inside there was no telling what I would do. I mean, you can only hear about Janine in accounting so many times before jumping off a bridge becomes a good idea .

I took slow drags off my last cigarette while planning my escape. If I had remembered to take my scarf, I could have avoided going back into that hell hole, but seeing as I was standing out here scarf-less I would have to think of some clever goodbye. “Oh, yeah I’m heading out. I’d love to stay, but I think I left the oven on.” Really? “I left the oven on?” who was I? Some middle aged housewife baking a roast for dinner? Maybe honesty would work best. “Yeah I’m leaving. Why you ask? Well Jeff won’t shut up about his kid, Mary’s voice is starting to give me a headache, and if I hear about Janine one more time I’ll burn this fucking place to the ground,” as much as that made me chuckle it definitely wouldn’t work. At best they would think I was an asshole and at worst they may ask me if I was okay, as if there was something wrong with me.

The party wasn’t showing signs of slowing down and I could swear people were starting to look outside for me. I don’t even know why I showed up to this damn thing. Sure my sister Edith pretty much begged me to come, and I think in the

back of my mind I sort of expected to bring a girl home with me, but just like most parties, I was cold, miserable, and alone. Besides, when had I ever done anything Edith asked of me. Don’t get me wrong I loved her as much as anyone loves their sister, but these were all her friends and ever since she married Dave she’d gotten real bleak.

My cigarette was down to the butt when I caught a set of eyes peering at me from the window. “Damn” as I said that, the cigarette fell from my mouth and exploded in ashes on the road. “Alright, I’ll just go in, grab my scarf, and slip back out the door,” that was the plan and as long as I followed through with it, it would have to work. As I made my way back to the door the sounds of conversation and laughter only got louder, and I was pretty sure I heard a bottle of champagne being opened. If I’m being honest, from the outside it almost sounded like a decent party.

We hadn’t seen our friends and worst of all, we had barely seen each other. We agreed to head out on Saturday night, and to finally allow ourselves to be the sisters we once were.

We began our Saturday with Tapas followed up by a few glasses of Tinto de Verano, Barcelona’s version of sangria. This is where the night started to turn, I only wish I was talking about the hangover that would occur.

When Leah drank, sometimes she would get a little mouthy. It was a combination of her youth, and an ingrown belief that she could move mountains if she so desired. As a proud sister, this ingrown belief pushed her to get top marks in her graduating class. As an embarrassed sister, this ingrown belief she had, created many fires that I had to put out. The two of us toured the streets that night, and at one point, in a drunken stupor, the last thing I remember was an old homeless woman who jumped up in an empty courtyard about 100 meters away and shouted what I believed was “go back to your own country”. Some of the older Spaniards are none to pleased with the amount of tourists who flock to their beautiful cities and crowd their streets. Leah, being the outspoken drunk she could be, retaliated with a ‘fuck you’ and a childish laugh. I really wish Leah had ignored this woman because I am of the firm belief that you should always try and resolve conflict in . the most civil manner; you never know who or what you are dealing with.

The next events happened so quickly, that no one within the crowd of people was capable of noticing or even reacting. Although she was about 100 meters away, the old woman moved with impossible speed and appeared in front of Leah in what felt like seconds. She blew a cloud of red powder in Leah’s face, which caused her entire body to go limp and her cheeks to blush a peculiar shade of purple.

Before I could react, the woman appeared inches away from my face, and the next thing I could see was the purest white light you could ever imagine; a light I can still see as I speak these words.

“La rubia está despierto” I began to stir in what felt like an upright position on a plank of wood.

“Así es la morena” I felt weak as my eyes opened. All I could see was the same bright light as before. All I could feel was cold iron secured tightly on my wrists.

“Bienvenido my children. This is your new home.”

The room felt cold, damp, and had a metallic scent that reminded me of dried blood and rust.

“Leah??? Are you there???”

I promptly felt the force of a fist colliding with my stomach.

The strike caused me to vomit on the shoulder of my attacker. I would have keeled over if the chains on my wrists weren’t as tight as they were.

“You cannot speak to your sister. Your sister has no respect for her elders, so I have silenced her voice for the time being. You witness the lack of respect and do nothing, so I have also silenced your eyes.”

The old woman from the courtyard had brought us here, and all I could imagine was the terrible things she was about to do. She began to speak once more.

“You are under our spell. Your people call us witches, we see ourselves as true saviors of our land. This is our home and your souls will forever be trapped here. The two of you will never know the true outside world; you will only know death. This house acts as a portal, and many souls from around the world have come here to rest. It is you who will relive their suffering for all of eternity.”

My eyelids began to flicker uncontrollably.

My body began to feel possessed by a strange force and in a flash I was transported to a house bathed in sunlight. My eyesight had returned. Leah wore a beautiful golden dress fit for an awards ceremony. I had never seen anything like it before. The material resembled a warm golden viscous liquid, and Leah possessed the fluidity to make it look effortless.

“I’m so excited for tonight my darling” Leah gazed at me with loving eyes, as she danced and twirled with a glass of bubbly in her hands. Confused by her statement, I caught a reflection of myself and realized that I wasn’t in my body. I stood approximately 6ft tall, I had dark hair and I wore a beautiful tuxedo. My mind was fully aware, but I also realized that I was not in control of my actions. It was as if I were paralyzed and forced to watch a strange scene in a film.

friendly English voice piped up and asked how I was feeling. I explained that I had no idea where I was, and how much time had elapsed. They explained that I wandered into the crowd in a bit of a trance, and had collapsed at the market stand. He drove me to the hospital where I stayed for nearly a month as they treated my eyes and helped me rehabilitate.

“That is quite the tale my child. The amount of resilience you have is immeasurable” “I sit here lost, blind, and filled with pain.

My sister is trapped in purgatory and there is little chance I will see her again. I came to you with the hope that everything I’ve heard is true and that you have the power that people claim. You can hear the dead, and I only wish that I could reach out to my sister in her purgatory to help her find a way out.

Is this possible?”

“You will be with your sister once more but you must come with me Leah gazed at me with loving eyes, as she danced and twirled with a glass of bubbly in her hands. Confused by her statement, I caught a reflection of myself and realized that I wasn’t in my body. I stood approximately 6ft tall, I had dark hair and I wore a beautiful tuxedo. My mind was fully aware, but I also realized that I was not in control of my actions. It was as if I were paralyzed and forced to watch a strange scene in a film.

“Dance with me” Leah twirled once more, and sipped from her glass of bubbly.

“I love you. I always will, but it appears our dance is over.”

“Dance with me”

Leah gazed at me with scorn.

Leah twirled once more, and sipped from her glass of bubbly.

“I was willing to do anything for you, but you have betrayed me with that... that whore.

You’ve never experienced the consequences of your actions. Everyone around you has to go through the pain you cause. Maybe now you will know the pain I have felt”

“I love you. I always will, but it appears our dance is over.”

Leah gazed at me with scorn.

“I was willing to do anything for you, but you have betrayed me with that... that whore.

You’ve never experienced the consequences of your actions. Everyone around you has to go through the pain you cause. Maybe now you will know the pain I have felt” What appeared to be a romantic moment quickly became tense, and Leah’s loving gaze transformed into a look of shame, anger, and sadness. She turned toward the chandelier and launched herself into the air, plummeting to her death from the second floor right into the mezzanine.

---------------------------------------------------------“I felt my eyes flicker, and all I could see was an impossibly bright light. The smell of rust and blood had gone, and I could feel the heat of the sun. A crowd gathered around me and I could hear a cacophony of language. One

What appeared to be a romantic moment quickly became tense, and Leah’s loving gaze transformed into a look of shame, anger, and sadness. She turned toward the chandelier and launched herself into the air, plummeting to her death from the second floor right into the mezzanine.

The feeling of loss consumed my body and I crumbled to my knees. I had never known such sadness, and immediately felt the weight of the emotion from seeing Leah perform such a terrible act, compounded with the weight of sadness from the soul I had temporarily inhabited. I felt helpless, confused, afraid, and sickened to the very core of my being.

Once again the white light flashed before my eyes and I could feel an immense flow of warm liquid streaming down my face.

“That was the first of many my child, there will be others”

I heard Leah’s muffled cries in the room. She must have experienced the same vision, but was unable to cry out just as I currently was. I couldn’t see a thing, all I could do was feel and watch these visions as I stood and did nothing to stop these deaths.

I couldn’t tell you how many visions I had, or even recount each one as vividly as the first, but Leah’s beauty, and her death would collide in each instance. My desire to reach out and escape this prison would grow with each moment my blinded eyes would flicker. There had to be a way to escape. No matter how bleak it seemed there is always a way.

My eyes flickered once more, and Leah stood in an elegant black evening gown, staring at me with candles in hand.

“You’ve finally made it! How was the drive?”

Leah walked toward me and gently kissed my cheek “I made so much food for us, we should be full for a week! Come! Let’s sit” Leah walked toward the couch to sit, but a pair of ghostly hands seemingly rose from the carpet and caused her to fall over the coffee table. As she lay there in pain and confusion, the ghostly hands appeared once more, this time placing a tight grip around her elongated neck.

I felt myself cry out, but my body was paralyzed due to the appearance of multiple hands placing me in a powerful hold around my ankles, upper thighs, and around my seemingly powerful chest.

I watched as Leah’s face turned blue, and the ghostly hands fazed back into the house and out of sight.

I walked toward Leah’s body with a heavy heart, and a hopelessness that I feared would last forever. In this moment, I knew I had to act. The visions were getting worse and more frequent, and this house that we kept appearing in seemed to possess a curse that would never be lifted. As I felt my eyes begin to flicker, I began to question why this witch had put us here. Why on earth did one comment warrant this senseless suffering and pain for two sisters who only desired a better life?

My sadness transformed to anger and I began to pound my fists on the ground in frustration.

I suddenly realized that I was in full control of my body. The room felt as lifeless and my skin was as cold as ice. I walked over and instinctively checked her pulse only to realize that there was still life in her veins despite the corpse that lay before me.

There was still hope. This world did not hold as much power as I once believed.

I found the nearest exit and ran into what appeared to be the back of the house covered by trees and dense bush. To my surprise, Leah appeared wearing a beautiful white dress.

I turned my gaze away for the briefest of moments, and looked back to find her lying amongst the brush, lifeless.

I sprinted toward a gate to the right of Leah’s body, and hopped over with relative ease. I

had never been athletic before, but I found advantage in the body I had now inhabited in this purgatory. As I reached the front of the house, the warm light of the sun replaced the cold dark night. I stood on the driveway, unsure of where to run, only to catch a reflection from the window in the front entrance. Leah stood in the window bay of the house in a beautiful dark pink dress, gazing at me with longing in her eyes. She appeared to be trapped in the house and from the look she had, there was no escape for her. We stood for a minute, staring at each other, as the tears rolled down my cheeks. As we stared at each other, Leah’s eyes caught life and I could see her mouth one word ‘Run’ I ran toward the front step, opened the door and was immediately struck by a strong gust of wind.

I ran into the front entrance, where I had once witnessed Leah’s dead body wrapped in the viscous golden dress and called out to Leah as loud as I possibly could.

“Leah! Let’s get out of here. I think I’ve found a way. Try and snap out of this, we can fight back!”

Leah continued to gaze out of the window, “Leah! Snap out of it! It’s the only way! Try and think!”

The wind grew stronger with each forceful word I spoke. As I attempted to enter the room in which Leah stood, the gust of wind carried me out of the house, and launched me from the step and onto the ground. My head hit the concrete so hard that I could feel blood trickling from the top of my skull. Just as I rolled over to my left in an effort to rise to my feet, I saw her, my beautiful sister Leah, dead in her magnificent dress.

The old woman materialized from the gust of wind on the steps to the house, and with the snap of her fingers, my body shot upright.

“You have found a way to defeat your purgatory. You have a strong mind my child.

You may go” “I… I… I am not leaving without my sister!”

“Unfortunately I cannot control that. I have the power to place people in this purgatory, but once they are in, I cannot take them out.

She will continue to relive these deaths for eternity. You have been granted new life. Now go!”

I could feel the world pulling away from my sight, but just as the world turned black, I glanced toward the window to see my beautiful sister Leah staring back at me with love and longing in her eyes. The visions flashed quickly. The viscous golden dress, the black evening wear, the angelic white dress, and the exquisite dark pink dress that she wore as she lay lifeless beside me, all blended in a composite of color, that faded to black and out of my reach.

---------------------------------------------------------“I felt my eyes flicker, and all I could see was an impossibly bright light. The smell of rust

and blood had gone, and I could feel the heat of the sun. A crowd gathered around me and I could hear a cacophony of language. One friendly English voice piped up and asked how I was feeling. I explained that I had no idea where I was, and how much time had elapsed.

They explained that I wandered into the crowd in a bit of a trance, and had collapsed at the market stand. He drove me to the hospital where I stayed for nearly a month as they treated my eyes and helped me rehabilitate.

“That is quite the tale my child. The amount of resilience you have is immeasurable” “I sit here lost, blind, and filled with pain. My sister is trapped in purgatory and there is little chance I will see her again. I came to you with the hope that everything I’ve heard is true and that you have the power that people claim.

You can hear the dead, and I only wish that I could reach out to my sister in her purgatory to help her find a way out. Is this possible?”

“You will be with your sister once more but you must come with me.”

“Were are we going?”

“A ritual must be performed, but you must maintain full trust that she will rise from the depths of hell to be with you and to see your family.” ____________________________________________ As the two walked down a small narrow path, Lillian became uneasy “Where are you taking me?”

“I’m taking you home” Lillian’s heart rate increased as she slowly began to realize the trap. She was now in the company of her captor, who had cleverly disguised her voice as Leah recanted her tale.

Fear targeted Lillian’s core and suddenly her body began to weaken “…how?”

The question was met with silence as Lillian lost control of her body and was carried off into the dungeon that housed her eternal damnation.

The last thing she felt was cold iron around her wrists. The lasting smell of blood and rust would stain Lillian’s soul as it re-entered the purgatory she had escaped months earlier.

As the woman plunged a knife deep into Lillian’s abdomen, a smile crawled across her face.

“Welcome home my child. You were a fool to believe in your escape. Now, rejoin your sister.

Purgatory is forever” .

VISION OF CHANGE

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