DEAF Magazine - Issue #2

Issue #2. Quite the time it was putting this together. New experiences in balancing final exams and writing articles, working with collaborators and new voices, trying (in vain) to improve my graphic design skills... a LOT was learned creating what now lays in your hands and screens. Even so, and with this being a slightly shorter version of the original vision, I am more proud of issue two than one. I think having a second published issue is a huge weight off my shoulders, If I can do two, I can do three. Then four, five, and six and the momentum will flow.

It’s been a grand time working with the contributors I found after issue one, and they have truly made this newest release better and more fully fleshed out. A huge, huge thank you to Noah Gall in particular. His art is the glue that holds many of the pieces together and the paint that allows my vision to become real. Another massive thanks to Scoot who emailed DEAF after seeing the first issue and has been a creative force since then.

While some aspects of this issue had their mishaps, went through rewrites, last-minute changes and designs, and even some cuts, I think, more than anything, those stresses, issues, whatever, prove that the passion the folks behind these articles, art, and designs have is more than strong enough to grow DEAF into the best local music publication around.

Lastly, of course, I want to thank all the readers and supporters. It’s cliche, but, without you all, there would be no DEAF. So, thank you.

Well, read on then, dear reader! I have kept you long enough. Enjoy Charlie Shiv’s rant, the florid writing on ambient, and the clustered reviews and thoughts on noise. Stay DEAF, everyone.

Michael St. Cyr Editor, DEAF Magazine

Page 1- Editorial and Contents

Page 3 - Greetings from... Your Local Punks!

Local Singles - Pg. 5

Go Fuck Yourself: A Review - Pg. 7

Extended Play From Alberta - Pg. 9

Ayden Hamilton Writes On: HOME FRONT: Games of Power - Pg. 11

Scoot (I Shot JFK) erPie’s “Fuck That Little Green Bubble” - Pg. 13

Page 15 - LOCALIZED

NOIZE

On Puppets and Michigan... Pg. 16

Still Depths Run Deep: A Sit Down With Still

Depths - Pg. 17

Voices of the Ainur’s May Releases - Pg. 19

Page 21 - Abstractions

Quinn Benson Writes On Ambient 1: Music for Airports - Pg. 23

Mineral Format Memory Collective: Soundtrack With No Film

Terra Nullius: No Man’s Music - Pg. 27

Page 28 - HORRORSCOPES

THANK YOU

Thank you to Jeff and Joy for the undying support, even when I forget to do all my chores in favour of writing. Endless thanks to Noah Gall for his art and support. Thank you to all the new collaborators who wrote articles: Quinn, Ayden, Scoot, Micah, Brook. Thank you to Still Depths for the interview and t-shirt. A nod to all the Instagram graphic designers and YouTube tutorials, I’d be out of ideas and knowledge without them.

THANK YOU NOT

Screw you to Adobe, you are bleeding me dry with these prices. A massive fuck off to downtown Calgary traffic for making me late to several events.

No Thank You to Apple: my phone is slowly passing on into the great microchip in the sky and I’m dead-sure you all had something to do with it.

Artby Noah Gall

It is I, again, your punk-in-chief, returning to yell at you like your wine aunt. But this time, it’s issue #2 and I’m taking over right away. No chance is Mr. Editor-twigs-forlegs going to get a word in about the “evocative analogue damage” or “the realm of absurdity” of something or other before I’ve had my say. So, I locked him out of his apartment and set up a homemade beartrap inside his door to keep him occupied while I spread my seeds over the impressionable youth.

We made some progress last issue, but, clearly, you all are not getting the message as rapide as I hoped. Sure, some DIY shows appeared, a few more punk-inclined bands formed, and the summer months are always good those type of shenanigans, but I want punk ethics all the time, every time! And, considering the state of politics in this province (cough, cough, and spit on Smith) we’re gonna need a whole lot more young, rage-filled fire-bombers out and about, 24/7.

So, as kindly as I can, I’ll continue our crash-course in the doctrine of what it means to be punk. And I’m only going to say these next rules once, so you better take notes on whatever you have nearby.

LESSON FOUR: Vote. You don’t have a great many opportunities that can directly effect what happens in the world around you, but voting is the first way to do that. FORTY PERCENT of people did not vote in the last election. How could things be different if they did? We’ll never know. But maybe they would be better. Don’t leave it up to others.

LESSON FIVE: For fucks sake, don’t litter. Everywhere I go to these days people are leaving beer cans, cigarette butts, and food wrappers everywhere. Find a garbage can before I turn you into one.

LESSON SIX: Band tees are never out of fashion.

Well, well, well. You learned something today! You better take it to heart or risk a skateboard to the cranium if I catch you breaking the rules. But, hey, if you’re reading this, at least you’re interested. Now, buzz off. Go read the rest of this zine. I’ve got government buildings to deface.

L o C a l SINGLES

What’s the Plan sent their debut single “Can’t Explain” to the awaiting ears of their fans on March 25. Orchestrating local (and legendary) events like Whatfest, Growing Up In Nvrland, and soon opening for All The Time Everywhere, What’s the Plan? is a seminal feature of the local scene, supporters of all manners of punks, and warm-hearted guys who know how to tear a stage down with a couple power chords and some hair grease.

Charlie Shiv

Sourmouth!

(Annoying Song for Pricks / My Vietnam)

January 18, 2023.

Simple production doesn’t hold back Sourmouth’s recent double single release as both tracks rip a hole in both convention and the eardrums of listeners. Driven by the tanky tone of the bass and the angsty vocals, “Annoying Song for Pricks” is simple, catchy, and driving. Though, I would say the second track is the star. “My Vietnam” is slightly sardonic and pokes at reactionary culture while remaining a hard-hitting wailer of a song. A rallying cry, a moshing call, and a noisy second track on this local punk double-single.

Charlie Shiv

MINDSEED

“Up The Wall”

April 14, 2023.

If I had a decent lawyer and some money in my pocket, I think I could make a pretty good case against Mindseed for the heinous assault and battery of my eardrums. Their new single “Up The Wall” is a vomitous mixture of the whitest hip-hop, the grate of the pop-punk accent, and a truly non-threatening guitar solo that I can hear playing in a Camp Rock style Disney song. “Do you see me rolling around in Bugatti’s like Andrew Tate?” Gag me. The weak “anger” at the system (eye-roll) that Mindseed attempts to channel is laughably bad and, arguably, just a marketing tactic to attract “screw the system” type people who are too scared to say fuck.

Charlie Shiv

friend shaped brain cell (brain cell / brain cell (nightcore)) January 27, 2023.

Stumbling upon Calgary artist Friend Shaped and recent single “Brain Cell” is sort of like finding a raccoon hiding in your kitchen cabinet. You experience a range of emotions. Confusion (where did you come from?), concern (how have I not noticed you yet?), and then somewhat captivated watching this little creature do it’s thing. “It’s thing” in this case is create a truly emblematic example of an emo, pop-punk single. Astonishingly sparkling production, effortless vocals, endearingly honest lyrics (that are just a little tongue-in-cheek), and hooks that will snag even the most vitriolic pop-punk hater. I’m a little disappointed in myself for not finding them sooner. And, to avoid the same remorse when Friend Shaped inevitably explodes into recognition, check out their newest single on Bandcamp and anywhere you stream music.

Charlie Shiv

Regal Foul

One-Two Punch!

(Punch To The Face / Speak Out)

April 11, 2023.

What’s The Plan?

“Can’t Explain”

March 25, 2023.

“One, two, three!” yells Mitch McCallum on the intro of the first track off of Regal Foul’s newest double single One-Two Punch!, inciting me to turn up the volume and slip on my thickest heeled Doc Martens as I stomp and kick my way through Grandma’s heirloom dishware to the sounds of Banff’s best punk offering. Featuring thick, slugging guitar playing that’ll downpick its way into your shrivelled little hearts and the proper thunder of punk drumming, “Punch To The Face” manages to serve up a perfect mix of grimy, greasy punk protest with catchy melodies sung through the gravel-filled throats of McCallum and Gerry Roy. The second course is a somewhat lighter offering. If track one is the slam of a massive, judgemental steak on your plate, track two is more akin to a cream puff made with cool whip. I won’t turn it down, but a some real whipped cream might’ve been a more welcome dessert. Still, “Speak Out” features many of the great aspects of track one. The guitars keep on chugging, and the vocals push out catchy lines. I just wish it was a little cleaner, both in the mix and the playing.

“Punch To The Face” is the ripping hot older brother, while “Speak Out” is the younger, following (a little clumsily) in it’s footsteps.

Sweetheart trio of the Calgary punk scene

Charlie Shiv

At every punk show I’ve been to, at some point during the bands set, they will play what I call “The One-Minute Freakout.” If you’ve never experienced this, a one-minute freakout is a song, less than a minute in length, that contains simple, ideologically charged lyr- ics, usually repeated several times with unbridled feroci- ty. The instruments tend to be “played” with such a newfound violence that it looks like a fight between musician and instrument. The musician then, whether winning or losing this battle, will inevitably find themselves halfway across the stage, staggering around. Sometimes wailing, usually bug-eyed, staring at the crowd who are moshing harder than they have all night. The One-Minute Freak- out is short, violent, and a mid-show revival of energy. getting together and dicking around for a few afternoons.

And it rips.

It reminds me of a documented creative exercise in the likes of the popular “making an album in a day” genre of YouTube videos. The tracks that result from those are similar to the songs on Go Fuck Yourself. One or two ideas smashed together and that’s the song. Wash, rinse, repeat until greatness ensues.

Despite the pure simplicity, the songs stick in my brain in an infuriating fashion. Like a clingy child, loudly singing some inane phrase over and over

Now, normally, there’s a singular One-Minute Freakout on a punk album, just to get some diversity on there. But one local trio dare to ask a question that few have ever pondered: what if the One-Minute Freakout became an entire album? Calgary trio Go Fuck Yourself and their debut album “Go Fuck Yourself” features a whopping 22 tracks based around three ideas: the lyric, band name, and album title “go fuck yourself” which is used in every song on the album, three or four powerchords played in a different order, and repetition, repetition, repetition. Not one track overcomes the one minute mark, leaving this “album” at a meagre ten minutes long. It’s short. It’s silly. The song titles are real rib-ticklers. You can tell that the creation process behind this album was as simple as a few guys until it wears my brain down down and, suddenly, I find myself listening to “I Don’t Wanna Eat A Peanut In My Pita” for the third time today. It’s baffling. A little annoying. But I like it. Maybe it’s the image of a band tearing a stage apart playing “I’m A Little Duck And I Don’t Give A Fuck” with the fury befitting of a riot that amuses my little brain. Or maybe the songs are just fucking catchy and a testament to following your musical urges and leaving complexity behind for a while. Could be that. To accompany this little hooligan of an album, Go Fuck Yourself also created a community instagram page that features submissions of short music videos that accompany some of their songs. You can see the passion in them, even if many of them are silly. And some are legitimately dynamic pieces of animation and art. And that alone, the thought and effort to create a community art piece driven by the goofy music of this band makes this album a ten.

But, hey, whatever I think, I have a feeling that any of the three members behind Go Fuck Yourself would have only one response to my opinion on their album: “Go Fuck Yourself!” So go fuck yourself– er, find out yourself what you think, because, clearly, local trio Go Fuck Yourself weren’t thinking much when they made this album… and neither should you.

Listen to Go Fuck Yourself by Calgary punk trio Go Fuck Yourself at https://gofuckyourself3.bandcamp.com. Check their instagram @gfy.films to see features of short music videos that accompany the album.

“Stick It In”

Plëzher

February 17, 2023.

(Slaughter / Hellride / Vampire Capitalist / Traitor Bitch)

Strap your leather on and get on your knees for Deadmonton punk band Plëzher! Featuring the coolest musical makeup of all time, dual, distorted, thundering bass guitars fill your ears with pick-ripping riffs. And the tone of each bass is supremely crafted. Full, cutting, but never losing one bass into the other, the

two bass-slinging guardians of hell stand framing the central figure. Chains scrape, whips crack, and leather squeaks, when the demon-voiced vocalist of Plëzher commands her hellish domain. If you listen closely, you canhear the flames in her eyes crackle. Behind her, the heavy artillery of the drums send machine-gun rhythms in waves of speedy stick-handling.

The band’s newest February release, “Stick It In” contains four gruesomely descriptive and violently demanding tracks. Plëzher covers feminist topics like reproductive rights and the traitorous nature of pro-life woman lawmakers, rips the house down on one roaring song about a subverted world where men become the ones prostituted, moves to a quick tear em’ up track about blood-sucking capitalists, and drys for a bloodbath of violence on one song about the cops.

“Stick It In” is a roaring motorcycle of an EP, with four screamin’ demons riding low. So, sharpen your heels, grab a baseball bat, and prepare to piss on the patriarchy while Plëzher’s new EP plays from the rooftops and you ride with the four members on a red-hot chopper. Find “Stick It In” on Bandcamp and Plëzher at a local BDSM club near you.

Charlie Shiv Punk-In-Chief, DEAF Magazine

“Terrified” On My Side

April 28, 2023.

(Flares / Blood / Disco Rules / Shakes / Snares)

With the soaring shrieks of a Muppet-soundalike vocalist leading the way, Deadmonton punk trio On My Side released their latest EP titled “Terrified” on April 28th. Full of frenzied energy and grit, Terrified is meant to be experienced live and a-live with the full energy of the band flooding through you and the roar of social unrest echoing in your cavities. Unfortunately, no one wants to enter the Edmonton city-limits, so listening to the new EP on repeat will have to suffice.

With skull-crushing tracks throughout, On My Side explores the hardcore, civil unrest side of punk.”Disco Rules” is a subversion of the popular 70’s “Disco Sux” campaign and highlights the racist and homophobic undertones that permeated the movement, while “Snares” is a reminder that corporations are just pieces of shit wearing suits without their workers. “Blood” demands that the barring of LGBTQ+ people from donating blood come to an end.

It’s clear that On My Own is taking punk back to it’s protest roots, demanding change, and demanding it loud in each song. And, it’s only slightly paled by the fact that all of these inflamed lyrics, screaming for a better world, are delivered by someone who sounds like a rejected Jim Henson character. But, hey, I guess it’s time to put on makeup, it’s time to light the lights. It’s time to meet On My Own for a raging protest tonight. Find On My Side’s new EP “Terrified” on Bandcamp and all streaming services.

Charlie Shiv

Complete Freak, DEAF Magazine

“Virus”

Alberta Rats

March 1, 2023.

(Virus / Do You Wanna Hang Around / Goth Girl / Parasites)

Rats, long exterminated from Alberta, have returned to the province in a group of four. The last sighting of these fabled varmints was almost a year ago with the release Shut Yer Mouth, a classic-punk informed single with a good dose of the rougher side of The Kinks. But Alberta Rats, returning with sharper teeth, have managed to create a nest of four new tracks in the time since. Written by Rich Purves, Virus was released on March 1, 2023 under Trap One Records. Alberta Rats take a political stance right off the bat with track one: “Virus.” Straining out lyrics against nationalistic patriotism, misinformation, gun-rights activists, and Proud Boys, it’s obvious these punks are raging against the many ultra-nationalist hicks of the province. With that strong of a start, you would imagine the rage and indignation would keep rolling. Instead, prepare to be disappointed on track two: “Do You Wanna Hang Around.” Taking none of the energy or anger built from the first track, the second song is a drivelling love song about thirsting after a woman. And, there is far too much use of the word “baby” for my liking. “Surely, track three can’t be worse?” you think. But, you’d be wrong. “Goth Girl,” is a lusty drool over (you guessed it) a goth girl. One with “big dark eyes” and who drinks wine with shots. If I think about this track any longer my acid reflux is going to flare up. The fourth track, thankfully, returns to some semblance of the first and is, by far, the catchiest. Simple and infectious bass playing drives the final song; “Parasites” is a condemnation of greed, billionaires, and the parasitic nature of wealth. It is so close to being a great finale for the EP, except for one, enormous flaw. The drums fall deeply out of time during the chorus. Every. Time. There really is no excuse for being out of time when recording. Metronomes, click tracks, and numerous production techniques are available to prevent it.

Alberta Rat’s Virus is an EP that could have been a great double-single with a few tweaks. Instead, it’s two good tracks sandwiching two drooly lust songs that should have remained in the discard file.

Charlie Shiv Professional Gutter Rat, DEAF Magazine

The first piece from new DEAF contributor (and Soylent Green band member, friend, and producer) Ayden Hamilton is a heartwarming review of HOME FRONT’S March 3 release Games of Power. Reflecting on childhood, summer nostalgia, 50’s romance, and coming-of-age movies, Hamilton introduces the incredible Edmonton duo with his heart on his sleeve and his pen to the paper.

I often live in my head, reminiscing inside old memories of the long, long summers of my childhood where I had all the time left and everything to experience. That period in time would be beautifully soundtracked by the Edmonton duo Home Front and their debut record Games of Power (released via La Vida Es Un Mus), as their album released some sort of hormone in me that engulfed a sense of coming of age and innocence. The bouncy, dissonant synths and catchy guitar lines accompanied by hard hitting post-punk and darkwave drums, create an atmosphere that buries you up to your neck in a thick fog of dance punk, synthwave, and post punk and a million other accumulations of genre. The vocals also provide the perfect foreground of revolutionary, scared, and protestful lyrics that are delivered by a voice that can only be described as already iconic.

can only be described as already iconic.

I mean, you take a 2000s coming of age movie, put it into a can, I would want this album to be thrown into the ingredients list as well. The opening track “Faded State” is a perfect summer anthem that instantly gets stuck in your head and helps drive you slowly but not too carefully into the album’s infectious state. The album has lots of dynamic when it comes to the feel of songs. Huge, diving, and catchy, Nation just fucking punches you in the face and makes you want more. But also, moments like Contact make you want to go on a long 1950s drive with your girlfriend to a cliff somewhere and make out. But then, immediately after Contact, you’re abused by post-punk rawness on the track Crisis, and, all of the sudden, you’re a greaser with a leather jacket with absolutely no fucking care because you’re cool as shit. The album, while being incredibly nostalgic and endearing, is also fresh and new in a similar way that

LCD Soundsystem is; huge textured soundscapes and grand production. As you listen, these little flickers of sound, or static or textured elements just ever-so lightly spark out of the distance and you’re just like, “dude, what was that?” It’s really sick how they’re able to hold such a warm familiar place in your heart and also tear it open at the same time. I think the title track holds a great example of this as it hits you with such a great deep bass, shotgun guitar lines and the greatest drums on the whole album. Beautifully mixed track by Nik Kozub.

Games of Power is a confident, convincing record that tries to reveal the fact that we live in a world of lies, corruption and broken realities and yet it still leaves you hopeful in a weird way. It’s like yeah things are fucked but this record is awesome and I’m glad they know it’s fucked too. Home Front are an exciting act for the Edmonton/Calgary scene of punks right now and hopefully spark something new for the local music scene.

Ayden Hamilton DEAF Magazinew

F c K THAT L i tt l E GREEN BUBBLE

Contrary to popular belief (the most fucking annoying phrase ever), Spotify does not pay artists ‘per stream’. It pays artists per percent of the market they own. If payment was ‘per stream’, it’d be somewhere just under a quarter of a cent, with Dr*ke making $52.5m for 21.5b streams, *d Sh****n making $6.6m from 2.7b streams. I didn’t ever want to mention artists like that in a punk zine, but fun fact for y’all! When you pay for Spotify Premium, your money goes to those people. What’s that? You don’t listen to them? Doesn’t fucking matter, they own a significant percentage of the market, so you’re paying their salaries.

Going to a show, getting some merch, or just donating to the artist straight up will typically help them out more financially than listening on Spotify. If Spotify did pay per stream, you’d (on average, teehee) have to listen to over 22 hours of music to give them a dollar, and if they’re signed with a label, it won’t even be a dollar for them.

and if they’re signed with a label, it won’t even be a dollar for them.

Piracy isn’t even the “loss of a sale,” as assholes define it. There is no physical product no longer available to be sold. There is nowhere near a guarantee pirates would have purchased anything given the option of pirating didn’t exist. Usually, they just wouldn’t bother. But often, if they were able to access some piece of art for free, and they found it personally valuable, they will give that artist money. Nearly every time I’m watching a movie I’ve never seen, I’m accessing it by torrenting it. I own over four hundred blu-rays, many of which are films I first saw by pirating. Would I have even bothered to check them out if I wasn’t able to access them for free? Who fucking knows.

Check out ‘weareumaw.org/justice-at-spotify’ for more reasons Spotify can rest wit my nuts on their chin. Scoot “I Shot JFK” erPie

Windows - BLOCK THE SPOT

Mad shoutouts to Mr. Pond for developing this! This will give you all the perks of Premium Spotify other than downloads (sry, suppose that feature is still being worked on x-x).

DESKTOP MOBILE

Note: Additional (probably better) instructions exist on the github page, but this is pretty easy! I believe in yr ability to figure this out pal. :)

Step 1: Get on yr computer! Make sure you have the desktop application of Spotify, not the Microsoft Store version and you

Step 2: Go to github.com/mrpond/BlockTheSpot. Scroll down to where it says Installation/Update.

Step 3: Click the link BlockTheSpot.bat. If yr computer prompts you with whether you want to Save/Save As, or Open/Run the download, hit Open/Run! If it just downloads, just double click it once downloaded to run it!

Step 4: This should open up a black box wit text! Type Y, and hit Enter!

Step 5: BlockTheSpot should do the rest! Hit any key to continue, and enjoy the perks of Premium Spotify!

Mac - SpotX

This baller tool just works idk it has a lotta swagger.

Step 1: Have the official Spotify app installed. Go to github.com/SpotX-CLI/SpotX-Mac.

Step 2: Close Spotify completely. Run The following command in Terminal: bash <(curl -sSL https://raw. githubusercontent.com/SpotX-CLI/SpotX-Mac/main/ install.sh)

Step 3: Yea that’s kinda all! Get excited.

Android - xManager

“It’s A Movement. We Are Resistance. Freedom For Every- one.” This program goes fucking hard fr. For more info go to: xmanagerapp.com

FEATURES: No ads, unlimited skips. No song downloads. NOTE: If yr device isn’t able to install .apk files, you need to enable that before you can do this. It’s pretty easy, just give it a quick search! :)

Step 1: Go to xmanagerapp.com on yr Android device. Hit the Download tab and download the app. Have the official Spotify app uninstalled.

Step 2: After it’s downloaded, open it and you should get a prompt to install the app. Install it!

Step 3: Open up the app, it’ll take a bit to boot at first, this is normal. You should get a prompt that it needs permission to access storage, allow this. Next it will give you a prompt that it needs permission to install unknown apps. Accept this prompt and scroll down to xManager in the ‘Install unknown apps’ tab and enable it. Now go back to xManager.

Sep 4: Decide if you want Regular, Amoled (same as Regular but wit a new coat of black paint), or Lite. In the xManager app, hit the dropdown arrow (V) for the version you want and select Latest.

Step 5: Follow the prompts for download, it’ll then ask to install. Accept and soon you’ll be asked if you want to install Spotify. Hit yes.

Step 6: You should get a notification that the update has been installed, and now you’re done! Open the Spotify app and enjoy the features of Premium for free!

IMPORTANT NOTE: After installing and logging in, make sure to reopen or force close the Spotify app to enable the mod features.

iOS: To be honest, I don’t have an iPhone. I couldn’t really test this one, and it seems slightly more difficult than other methods. Apple, go fuck yourself.

STILL DEPTHS RUN DEEP - A Sit Down with STILL DEPTHS

Michael St. Cyr

fter attending a grad ceremony, completely unprepared and dressed in an unsuitable outfit to be attending a rowdy show in, I ran through Calgary’s downtown, rushing to make it to the Palomino before Still Depths took the stage. I’m sure more than a few strange looks were sent my way. A suit-wearing, satchel lugging kid, manically scratching at his dress-shirt chafed neck and running at top speed down the streets is probably a sight worth noting at almost 10 o’clock at night. But I was far too focused on getting there as soon as possible to realise the judgement (or the danger) that comes with hustling down 7th avenue alone.

Screeching to a halt, skittering over the pavement and cigarettes, I just about threw my ID at the bouncer. I slipped past the upper level patrons, leapt down the stairs, thrusted a twenty dollar bill into the hands of the ticket taker, and took a place at the back wall of the room.

It became immediately apparent that I had missed Still Depths.

I was horrified by this–I had planned this interview to happen after watching their show–and felt a terrible journalist. Feeling the need to make recompense and as an act of reconciliation for my lateness, (and because I am obsessed with the band), I bought merch and apologised for missing their show. Always gracious, the band very kindly explained they weren’t going to hold it against me.

After enjoying the last acts of the night, we grouped up outside the venue and, as the members loaded the last of their gear into a car, we decided to sit down at South Bow Park, just across the street from the Pal, and talk.

After enjoying the last acts of the night, we grouped up outside the venue and, as the members loaded the last of their gear into a car, we decided to sit down at South Bow Park, just across the street from the Pal, and talk.

DEAF: Well, best to begin at the beginning. So, how did Still Depths come to be?

Megan: Well, me and Justin have been friends since our High School years, and then he was getting a band together with one of our other friends and he messaged me and said “Hey, do you wanna be in our band and play bass?” I had never played the bass before. But, I said sure. And then Brendan joined a few months later–we put up posters around the UofC campus that said looking for a drummer–and then we got in contact.

Justin: Drummer for our “alt rock” band.

Brendan: I thought it was gonna be lame as shit.

(A chorus of laughter.)

Brendan: But we started playing and it was really, very cool.

Justin: We were so– we couldn’t really do shit back then.

Brendan: It was still cool–

Justin: It was just fun at that time. Brendan: –compared to what I was used to, anyway.

DEAF: But it started as an alt-rock band?

Justin: I mean, y’know, sort of.

Brendan: Shoegaze, maybe.

Megan: Kinda.

DEAF: What does alt really mean anyways, right?

Justin: Some genre. Some art made by musicians. Something like that.

DEAF: Brendan and Justin, you live in Vancouver now, right? And Megan, you still live in Calgary. How has that worked? You two fly in for shows here in Calgary, and when you play in Vancouver is it just sans-bassist?

Megan: Sometimes I fly out.

Brendan (Spookily): Carbon emissions… skyrocketing.

(Laughter floats up into the night sky.)

Megan: Oh, yeah, we are single handedly killing the planet.

Justin: Yeah, it’s all us.

Megan: It is a challenge. It’s kind of like, y’all do the jamming, and then I’m like “Hey guys, wanna play a show?”

Justin: Yeah. It sucks, though. I wish we could play together all the time. It feels right.

DEAF: So, you guys wrote Best plan for your life in Vancouver and recorded it all there?

Trio: Yeah.

DEAF, to Megan: And then, how was that for you? Did it change anything that you weren’t involved?

Megan: It was fine. I mean, really, that one was their project, so I wasn’t in the recordings of that album. But, I was super excited about it, and I supported it all. I heard the demos and stuff and I thought it was sick. It was super cool hearing it after it had sort of come together instead of being there the whole time.

Justin: I’m glad that we didn’t like…

(There is a pregnant pause as the band seems to consider what could have happened when Justin and Brendan moved away.)

DEAF: That you’re still together.

Justin: That we’re still together, yeah.

DEAF: Even if you’re apart, distance-wise, it is still a band.

Justin: Because it’s so much better when we play together.

DEAF: So, if you were playing a show together, would you prefer playing in Vancouver or is it better back here in YYC?

Brendan: It’s a tough question to answer because–also, (indicating the recorder) is this wind protected?

His music audio mixing mode never fully off, Brendan adjusts the audio recorder to reduce the hot wind blowing off the city streets. We shuffle around into a new form of clump.

Brendan (continuing): But, yeah, Vancouver is less pressure to play because less people know us. No one is expecting anything and it makes it easier and less stressful. But here, it’s also good because a lot of people know us. You see all your friends and it kind of hypes you up.

(Brendan and Justin go o-mouthed and laugh.) Brendan: Where did you find that?

DEAF: It was on Bandcamp. How did a roast beef pan make its way onto the album?

Justin: It’s like a stainless steel, roast beef pan and then we had the lid and pan and we used those, like, head massagers on them to make noise.

DEAF: Experimentation like that, with different objects and instruments, how important is that to your music? Do you look at an object and think “I could make a song out of that?”

Brendan: Totally. It makes it easier to write songs because it gives you a limitation to work around, whereas if we play our own instruments, there’s so much you can do.

DEAF: But, if it’s a roast beef pan, you’re making it up, so there’s no right or wrong. Justin: I feel like you could spend some time getting good at the roast beef pan.

DEAF: And, Brendan, you also play saxophone?

Brendan: No. I just use it sometimes. I just got it for cheap and I just blew into it and made some sounds. If it was the right note and I’d quickly hit record while my fingers were still in the position. It’s usually just an added texture.

DEAF: When you guys are on stage, are you guys yourselves, are you a character, or are you something else entirely?

DEAF: That’s a good balance. You have freedom to try different things in Vancouver and here you still have a community that knows you and comes out to see you.

Brendan: It’s a very good mix.

DEAF: When you were doing the album in Vancouver, Brendan, you mixed it. I thought the production was fantastic first of all, but also, compared to Pioneers Eat Dirt, it felt like a step up. What was it like mixing Best plan for your life and how was it different from PED?

Brendan: I think it was easier to mix the second one because I gave less of a shit. The first–it sounds bad–the first album, it was the first thing to ever release to the world. It was a lot of pressure. I’d sit in my room for, like, four hours every day–

Justin: You were working on it forever. The hours you put in were crazy.

Brendan:–and, over-mixing, it just makes it sound worse. You trick your ears into thinking something is wrong when there isn’t. But, the second one was, again, less pressure. People know what we sound like, so it felt like we could just do our thing.

DEAF: I was looking through the info on the tracks of Best plan for your life. You play some interesting instruments on there. A roast beef pan?

Megan: I think we kind of struggle with being expressive on stage sometimes. I feel like… we’re kind of awkward. For me, personally, I’ll just kind of be standing there and then I’ll remember: I’m on stage, I should act like a musician.

DEAF: You’ve played in Vancouver, you’ve played in Calgary. Lots of different venues. What, to you, is the perfect venue? Or, does it matter at all?

Justin: Nah, it’s better to play at certain places.

Megan: You definitely want certain things. The sound, the general crowd. If you get payed, how you get treated.

Brendan: I think the Palomino is the closest to the perfect venue. The sound is good, the people there are great.

DEAF: Do you think all art is political?

Brendan: Bullshit. I think it’s bullshit.

Megan: Actually, we were just talking about this earlier. I feel like our philosophy is not to make political statements for the sake of making statements. If there is a statement, it really matters to us and we think it’s important to include.

Justin: I think, sometimes, making political stuff can raise horrible feelings in yourself, especially when you have to keep performing them over and over again and you’re reminded of whatever horrible thing you made it about.

Brendan: I don’t think it’s inherent in the music. You can make it about political stuff, but I don’t think it’s always there.

Megan: I mean, from a sociological perspective, whatever you wrote it about is a part of the system. There’s a context behind everything, but it isn’t political in the way most people mean.

DEAF: My last question for you, Still Depths, is this: When you make music, is it a form of therapy for you? Is it work that, in the end, is rewarding? Or, is it a need, a natural part of your existence on this earth?

Brendan: I’m not kidding, we just got asked this in another interview, like, two weeks ago. My answer then is the same as now: I don’t find it a bad thing or a good thing, work or therapy, or whatever. It’s just like… I have to.

Justin: Cuz if you aren’t doing it, what are you doing?

DEAF: You’re just in the zone.

Megan: Yeah. Just in the zone and trying to play properly or whatever. And, then, like, I remember I should try to be somewhat exciting. But, up on stage, it’s just fun getting to play with your pals and you can get into it and dance around when it comes naturally.

DEAF: It’s more about playing and not so much that you’re doing a show.

Megan: I try to think–even to just ease the anxiety of playing in front of people– we’re just playing and they’re just there.

Justin: It’s way better when you try to stop seeing two feet ahead. And then it’s just moving pictures. That way you don’t worry about “why is this person just standing there?” You’ve just got to do your thing.

Brendan: I feel like it’s the only thing I’m supposed to do.

Justin: There’s definitely low points, of course. Megan: It’s hard. It’s a lot of effort. You haul everything in, and get everything together, and you think “I’m going to have to carry this all out again later.” And then you start playing… and it’s like “Oh, yeah. This is why I do all that. It’s worth it.”

Follow Still Depths on Instagram

Michael St. Cyr

@stilldepths and run a potato peeler over your eyes to make sure you don’t miss any of their upcoming shows.

VotA 105: IV: Into the Darkness Below by Mortlach

There is only one way to describe Into the Darkness: Unsettling. At every turn of the album, from pieces that sound like chase themes in horror movies (with the rain, leaves, and footsteps to match) to the organ-like drones that roil the hidden edifices of the soul, there is a profound feeling of something horrific waiting to be discovered around the corner of the next track. The use of percussive effects, a fusion of lofi and electronica drums and sounds, is perturbingly well arranged, punctual, and extensively dynamic, all of which contribute to an overall fantastic example of Mortlach’s commitment to dark, chilling ambient that disquiets you as much as it satisfies.

VotA 103: Relics by Gate Master

A dark and oppressive blend of dungeon synth, black metal, and religious music, Relics inscribes a past revelation into musical form. The first and title track embraces you with the vortexual shrieks, black metal drums and guitar, and the trumpets of revelation that close the song. On “The Last Rites of the Anchoress,” a baritone-voiced priest commands a foreboding ritual into being, marking the close of the Anchoress’ life and deepening the journey into a gloomy end of humanity. Further down the album, the swirling shadows descend on “Down From the Sky,” rapturing what remains of the world and lifting the shadowy souls upwards in “My Journey to the Stars.” It’s a grim album that explores the dark reality of an archaic religion yet still calls to the future and the supernatural end-of-theworld.

VotA 104: Pilgrimage by Meadow Grove

In a genre as new as dark ambient, it’s almost a contradiction to call Meadow Grove’s new album, Pilgrimage, a sort of classic or revival. And

VOTA: May’s Monthly Releases

yet, listening closely, it feels like the only proper words to use. Pilgrimage features synths and pads that have been an ever-present texture in other dark ambient and dungeon synth works. Still, they don’t feel stale by any means, and neither do the other calls to predecessors of the genre that add to the sonics of the project. The introduction, “Kaebbiven Friary,” harkens to environmental experimentation of programme or descriptive music; music that imitates a non-musical narrative or environment. Many of the works on Pilgrimage seem to fall closer to traditional ambient or even cinematic music. These

different elements of precursor genres to dark ambient and dungeon synth make this album one that pays homage to the older classics, but in doing so loses a shade of uniquity that I find to be vital to the genre. Pilgrimage is certain of itself and a solid addition to The Voices of the Ainur’s catalogue of releases, but lacks the chaotic, unpredictable nature that could push it beyond.

VotA 106: The Thinning Of The Veil by Chattox

3/5 2/5

The Thinning Of The Veil, Chattox’s latest release, is, in many ways, like an old wiz-

ards spellbook. By that I mean arcane, experimental, and rather bloated. Ideas, sparks of dark and intriguing musical parts, are rife through the album, and that isn’t a small feat; the amount of new sounds and structures is praiseworthy on The Thinning Of The Veil. They just need to be nurtured. The flute and effect soaked synths of “Illemauzar Rising” and “Venturing Beyond the Veil” are excellent, and strong examples of Chattox’s production and ear working together to create great sonic direction. Unfortunately, weak percussive sounds and circus-like rhythms leave little space for the good parts of this project to shine. With some culling, punch, and a little bit of restraint, Chattox’s novel textures and ideas could become a force to be reckoned with in the dark ambient scene.

Ambience on air. Radio-alive sound. The dotted vision you have after rubbing your eyes. These are real abstractions in your mind.

Abstractions illuminates new and old, local and international ambient, lofi, muzak, furniture, and all other forms of atmospheric, unobtrusive music.

Abstractions is asleep. You hear Just the murmurous sounds of its Breathing and movement, caught candidly by an awaiting device.

Try to distill the lack of sound down so far that it becomes audible.

Best listened to in a state of complete relaxation and with headphones.

Ambient 1 - Music For Airports: How Electronic Music Changed Forever

The late ‘70s can be best described as a metamorphosis period for music. Punk’s sloppy and aggressive style was transformed by bands such as Television and Talking Heads into tighter, more stylistic post-punk. Disco, an underground dance movement popular with marginalized groups such as the LGBTQ, became a mainstream phenomenon by 1977. During this time, another genre would undergo metamorphosis: electronic music. Electronic music during the 1970s was a showcase of synthesizers, and often had the artist demonstrating how futuristic the technology at the time could sound. Early electronic records often closely resembled minimalistic classical pieces with acts such as Vangelis and Wendy Carlos representing classical ideas reimagined using syn- thesizers. During this time, former keyboardist Brian Eno of glam band Roxy Music would put his own fingerprint on electronic music. After leaving the group, Eno teamed up with King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp to create 1973’s “No Pussyfooting” and 1975’s “Evening Star,” Both of which used Eno’s synths and Fripp’s guitar to create soundscapes lacking traditional structure and instead featuring ambient loops. The latter album, “Evening

Star,” and Eno’s solo record, “Discreet Music,” would mark electronic music’s evolution into ambient music. Eno wanted to create music that would be “as ignorable as it is interesting,” and with his 1978 album, “Ambient 1: Music For Airports,” he would do just that. Music for Airport’s first track, titled “1/1,” is hard to even consider an “electronic” song; it’s made up of ambient tape loops featuring both acoustic pianos as well as an electric piano, which play sparingly over the seventeen-minute long track. “1/1” is a song that is timeless whereas other electronic albums at the time were known to seem space-aged or futuristic. 1/1 is a blank slate that is able to be used as a filler for any environment. The second track, titled “2/1,” is a stark difference from the opening track. Like the first, the track contains ambient loops; however, instead of a piano, this track features haunting vocals without any other instrumentation. Where 1/1 had a simple, calm, and soothing feeling, 2/1 feels more haunting and takes the listener into a darker atmosphere in which an otherworldly presence sings to them. Despite being haunting, the track is still just as relaxing and sparse as the opening, continuing to provide a relaxing experience for the listener. The third track, titled 1/2, is a blend of the first two tracks into one, consecutive idea. The increased amount of piano is a breath of

fresh movement that propels the track while still maintaining the serene calm of Eno’s signature style. The track also features the haunting vocals of 2/1 which blend perfectly with the piano. 1/2 leaves much less space than the first two tracks and is likely the song on the album that grabs the attention of the listener the most. The finale, 2/2, is a departure from the first three tracks completely. While still keeping the same tone and relaxing quality of the rest of the record, 2/2 feels much more electronic and mechanical than the other three. This track uses strictly Eno’s keyboard sounds rather than vocals or acoustic piano. The track uses an ARP 2600 synthesizer that gives it a signature sound akin to Vangelis or Tangerine Dream. However, what Eno is able to do in this track is make this futuristic sound pleasant and safe. The track feels like a comfortable, familiar future rather than an exciting, yet unpredictable prospect that other electronic artists at the time imagined in records such as Jean Michelle Jarre’s “Oxygene.”

Eno’s music for airports is so integral to electronic music because it was able to take the technology used by electronic musicians and make it feel safe, serendipitous, and familiar. It’s timeless. Present. It explores the softest side of electronic, allowing it to feel warm, but no more intimate than a piece of furniture. Other electronic albums of the 1970s felt like distant planets, spaceships, and major advancements in humankind. Ambient 1: Music for Airports felt like a white wall, present and captivating but just as easily ignored and synchronized with the rest of a space.

Quinn Benson

Whitney Kosuke Ota has never been one to colour within the lines.

For those who have listened to any of Ota’s projects, that statement may seem redundant. Sonic landscapes of previous work range from hi-fi to lo-fi, noisy, shapeless tunes to saxophonic ramblings that sound like Coltrane’s schizophrenia acting up. While comfortable on stage, Ota has not confined themself to just the performance side of things. Ota ran Unit Structure Sound Recordings, a label dedicated to experimental sounds and bone-rattling improvised music. Even releasing a few of their own projects on the label, Ota experimented early on with modular Eurorack synths, instruments that would return later and spark the recently released Mineral Format Memory Collective.

The history of Ota’s work is of little use when trying to predict their next project. The only guiding principle in their music is that every subsequent release will be different. And the same is true of their newest release, Mineral Format Memory Collections beats a new path away from Ota’s old masks and monikers, leaning into sci-fi synths, spacey sounds, and cinematic music.

Taking on the role of a sci-fi film score composer, WKO arpeggiates their way through Mineral Format Memory Collections with classic synth sounds courtesy of Eurorack modular synths. Making use of the infinite customisation available through the combinatory nature of these synths, plucky melodies crawl up and down in broken chords and outer-world pads grow and fall with the thrum of space. Particularly vivid in its sonic cinematography is track three, “Initiation Discovery.” The slow buildup of the moving scales over top an amorphous chord envelope evokes the reveal of a massive planet on the horizon or the plunge of a deep-space rocket through

atmosphere. To successfully have an album of soundtrack-like music, its vital to draw up those images in the listeners mind and track three is ideal in its accomplishing this. It’s a terrific track, balancing both the wonder of space and the innate danger that the environment comes with. Both full of the wonder of sci fi discovery and the danger of the unknown, “Initiation Discovery” is the best track off the album by far.

Falling behind track three, but still a worthy listen, “In Visible Visions” also contains the distinctive movements of a filmic piece, but the order and story it tells is harder to pin down. Pieces of the song draw colourful scenes. The playful, contrasting two synths that counter each other from 1:00 to 2:30 are a highlight. What loses me in the track is the end. The energy that grows and pulses in the first half is lost when it appears to go nowhere towards the final minutes. It’s close to a great piece. It feels disjointed, unfortunately.

That disjointed feeling I get from listening to “In Visible Visions” persists with the other tracks. And that is where the question I started to ask myself comes in: What is a soundtrack without film? Excluding tracks three and five, the remaining five tracks fall short of great, due to, what I would call their non-obtrusive, cinematic quality.

A non-obtrusive cinematic quality is found on many soundtracks, where the accompaniment tends to contain pieces meant to reinforce an emotion and fill space. They end up “non-obtrusive” and easy to listen to, serving

apecifically to support the visual and emotional elements of the film. Most of the pieces off of Mineral Format Memory Collective fall (disappointingly) into that particular category of soundtrack. “Exeter Brook,” the second track, is a far too long four-minutes of meandering reverse piano. As a space filler on a soundtrack, it would be unremarkable, though possibly effective, depending on its use. As a song on an album, it wanders around, dragging the listener with it, only to eventually land nowhere.

It’s the disappointing truth of Mineral Format Memory Collective. A few expansive tracks, vivid and inspiring, are drowned by pieces that feel like afterthoughts.

WKO has always pushed the boundary and experimented with style. And there is nary a time where I will not applaud an attempt to do something different. It’s just that, with this particular project, WKO lacks an engaging, interesting direction throughout the whole album.

Mineral Format Memory Collectivedisappointingly leaves me looking for the film that fits with, and supports, the album’s soundtrack.

Michael St. Cyr

TERRA NULLIUSNO MANS MUSIC

In the description that accompanies Terra Nullius, the composer behind Military Grade Peace, Barry James McCarthy, writes “This is music to zone out to, something to take you somewhere else.” And while, yes, the album is simple and rather unobtrusive, Terra Nullius, in its endless drones and sparse melodies, manages to achieve what many bloated albums cannot: the album is transportative.

Brian Eno, father of ambient music, said “For me, the central idea [of ambient] was about music as a place you go to,” and Terra Nullius, as much as it is ambient music, is a setting. It’s a world built up by intervention upon a constant drone that the listener takes in, and uses to build a world. In two tracks, both close to half an hour long, the album achieves both an incredible dedication to worldbuilding yet remains soothing.

“Terra Nullius” is a Latin expression that translates to “nobody’s land.” In International Law, terra nullius refers to an area of land that is unclaimed, but can be taken by a state when the area becomes occupied. It’s a perfect title for the two tracks on this album. The songs themselves belong to no one and have no innate ownership or meaning. But, when the listener experiences the pieces, they become their own, taking ownership of the narrative that they build around the droning ambient.

The first track, “Terra Nullius Part 1,” is part watery drone, part far-off whale sounds, and part mysterious melody. The whole piece sounds like an underwater videogame OST, balancing the fear of being in an unnatural environment with the relaxing sounds of oceanic creatures and the wonder of discovery. It’s vivid in it’s simplicity, and draws up fantastical images in the mind when listening.

Track two, “Terra Nullius Part 2,” is a rolling, sawing, synth drone that dips in and out of tune and experiments with sliding microtones. My mind explodes with images taken from a deep-space starship when listening. Double suns, entangled in a gravity dance and unearthly moons with craters the size of an ocean. It’s dreamy. Though, not in the way that it feels absurdly ethereal. Rather, track two is relaxing and creative. A track to close your eyes and imagine to until, suddenly, you realise that the constrained world of your imagining has become a dream and taken a life of it’s own.

Terra Nullius is nobody’s until it is yours. It is an album that you make your own, explore, become hypnotised by, and create a story to give the endless, swirling drones meaning.

Michael St. Cyr

HORRORSCOPES

Aries: Your current occupation is leading nowhere. Try something more suited to your personality. Like scrubbing public washrooms. Or garbage-truck driver.

Lucky numbers: You’re not lucky.

Sagittarius: I’m getting a premonition about the stocks. Yup, you need to invest in deodorant. Like, right now.

Lucky numbers: 8, 7, 6, 5.

Taurus: Do NOT let yourself into that china shop, but you would be plenty cooler if you grew some real big horns.

Lucky numbers: 4.

Gemini: Watch what you’re eating. Watch closely. Closer… Aaaaand gone! Pretty good magic trick, huh?

Lucky numbers: 0 (calories).

Capricorn: Your back hurts.

Lucky numbers: Ouchie.

Aquarius: When you were born, the doctor added a secret extra organ somewhere. Just thought you should know that.

Lucky numbers: 16, 24, 36, 48.

Cancer: 99% of gamblers stop right before they win big. Don’t allow yourself to be part of that 99%.

Lucky numbers: 7, 7, 7.

Leo: A cloud of plague approaches you. Fear not, the cure is as follows: book a preemptive doctors appointment, cancel last minute, do a handstand and ta-da! Cured!

Lucky numbers: 1000, 65 743.

Virgo: Virgo means “Virgin Maiden?” Yeah, that sounds about right for you.

Lucky numbers: You aren’t getting any.

Scorpio: Major structural damage has occurred to your home due to a spell cast by a secret wizard in your neighbourhood! Prepare for full-on magical warfare and put down a circle of salt.

Lucky numbers: 101.

Libra: Ughhhh. Boring!

Lucky numbers: 13, 2, 1 635 842.

Pisces: You are so nice. Honestly, I hope things go well for you this month.

Lucky numbers: Whichever ones you like most. :)

@DEAFZINE @DEAFZINE @DEAFZINE @DEAFZINE @DEAFZINE