Flesh & Bone Volume 16

FLESH & BONE In pursuit of art and music VOL. 16

FLESH & BONE In pursuit of art and music

THE TEA M FOUNDER / EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Brandynn L. Pope

COPY EDITOR

Donald Kimber

DESIGN & LAYOUT

Brandynn L. Pope

COVER DESIGN

Morgan Fraser

COVER PHOTO

Miles Toland

ILLUSTRATOR

Jason Lambidis

WRITING TEAM

Sara Almlah Morgan Fraser Logan Grudecki Ashley Houston Donald Kimber Ethan Oviatt Dorian Pintaric Brandynn L. Pope Cale Zebedee

PHOTOGRAPHY TEAM

Courtney Cook Christina Kelley Clare Kim Rickie Miller Brandynn L. Pope Brittney Tambeau

INQUIRIES & SUBMISSIONS

fleshbonemagazine@gmail.com

WEBSITE

fleshbonemagazine.com

FACEBOOK

/fleshandbonemagazine

F EATURES 06

POLL QUESTION

08

STAFF STORY

Illustration | Jason Lambidis

Illustration | Brandynn L. Pope

68 ALBUM REVIEWS 72 PLAYLIST

MU S IC 14

The Wonder Years

17

Mayday Parade

Gallery | Rickie Miller Gallery | Rickie Miller

18 Griswolds

Review & Photography | Ashley Houston

20 Palisades

Interview | Ashley Housten Illustration | Morgan Fraser

22 SoKyle

Interview & Photography | Rickie Miller

26

Clay Cages

30

State Champs

Interview & Illustration | Brandynn L. Pope Interview & Photography | Rickie Miller

34

Albin Talik

46

Victoria Gray

54

Miles Toland

Interview | Brandynn L. Pope Interview | Brandynn L. Pope Interview | Brandynn L. Pope

34

AR T

54

46

Is crowd funding fair to the artist’s fans?

As an artist you often find yourself spending as much money, if not more, than what you end up making. With the internet artists are now given the opportunity to reach out to a broader audience to find the support in their art work.

Kickstarter and GoFundMe have been responsible for different inventions, art projects, and start ups for musicians. Though there are often benefits added to donating to an artists cause, is this process actually fair to the fans of the artist?

please do not reproduce Jason’s work without his personal consent

Yes 98% Whether you participate in crowd funding or not is completely up to you, and if you truly enjoy an artist and have the money, then why wouldn’t you support them that way? I think it’s a beautiful thing . . . people supporting the creation of the art that they love.

(DANNY FIELDS of CLAY CAGES)

Ideally, it is meant to be more rewarding for the fans of artists. You donatean amount you are able to give and are compensated with something of equal value. It isn’t a blind donation system. How will your favorite artists make work without support?

(RICARDO BOUYETT)

Crowdfunding is unstable territory that can empower fans or take advantage of their resources and trust. I think a good campaign is created when an artist truly needs something and rewards the support with gifts that the fan might spend money on anyway. (MILES TOLAND)

No 2% A lot of it is dependant on the artist making work.

There are a lot of amazing artists who have accomplished something beautiful from mutual support of their ideas. The trouble of the matter is that there are people saturating the market by simply not being willing to put in the effort to make their own money for their project. I personally feel that you see this with fresh musicians more than visual artists. It should be fair but there are still people taking advantage of the system.

(DMITRI O’HARA)

Not really, but it’s also dependant on what’s being funded and the artist’s status. For example: if a well known artist has dropped their label and wants to reach out to their fans for financial support, it’s not necessarily a bad thing, taking in to the consideration the average income of just being an artist. But, at the end of the day, there’s going to be a product at the end of it. What’s completely unfair is smaller acts asking their small fan base (40-50 friends and family members, unlike the x amount of hundreds of people who “like” or “follow” your social media accounts) to completely fund their project, because they refuse to save up the funds themselves. (JAKE FRIEDRICK)

DONALD

COPY EDITOR & WRITER “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.”

- Revelation 3:20 Do we all remember this year’s hit song, “Kanye” by the Chainsmokers?

Good, because despite what you might think of the song, or what its author intended, it has an interesting point. Do we not all want to be like Kanye? To believe, to truly believe, that one’s self is divine, to be sovereign beyond question, to impose one’s will without struggle or wonder. If one believes themselves to be a god, then who holds the power to deny their conviction? Who tells the divine: “no.” My understanding is that we all do. Each one of us dictates the actions of divinity everyday by choosing for ourselves. There is a part of each of us that is so complex in its beauty, unfathomable in its expanses, faultless in its injustice, and illogical in its perfect function that no word will do but divine. Decide amongst yourselves what God’s name is, it is inconsequential. God prefers proper nouns. I do not believe there is anything you can do to deny yourself, and so I am correct. We are enslaved by the mighty word of ourselves, which decides our every action, even our thoughts. All of existence spreads out from a single point just behind our eyeballs. And when the need arises, we are our own to judge. So . . . a) Heaven

BRANDYNN

EDITOR & HEAD PHOTOGRAPHER Conversations that reflect upon the year often lead to me saying, “this is the one that kicked my ass.” Though we choose to contemplate previous years with struggles and accomplishments, this particular one has built endless pillars to the monument of my memories. Most importantly, it solidified my ideologies, and pushed me further into embracing “adulthood.” Choosing to live in a positive perspective, I can reflect happily on graduating university, having a photograph of my own projected in the Louvre, taking part in two western Canadian tours, conversing with Frank Iero, and assisting archeologists in their research and documentation for six weeks. My passion in photography, the general arts, appreciation of music, and over consumption of oolong tea and black coffee has made me restless and constantly feeds my ambition. I hope to remain uncomfortably ambitious in the new year, in order to enable me to consistently appreciate the interludes of comfort and embrace new artistic perspectives.

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b) Purgatory

c) Hell

ASHLEY

WRITER & PHOTOGRAPHER I would love to start this off by saying that I cannot believe that the year of 2015 is almost over. Time truly has flown by! I’ll introduce myself: my name is Ashley Houston, I’m a 19 year old who works at Starbucks and enjoys being sarcastic 24/7. I have a huge passion for music and photography, and both were a major influence in my choice to join this magazine, which has been one of the best experiences of my life. I’ve spent most of the past year traveling, going to concerts, spending time with my family, dying my hair ridiculous colours, going camping, and getting little sleep. I’m always up for an adventure, discovering new things and putting myself out there as much as possible. I’m excited to see how 2016 treats me.

BRITTNEY PHOTOGRAPHER

Hi I’m Brittney Tambeau. I am currently a senior in college studying graphic design while doing concert photography on the side. From a young age I have had a passion for the arts and I am very lucky to be able to turn it into a career. Being able to tour across the country with my photography as well as work with different people because of my graphic design has really shaped me into the person I am today. Traveling is something I am very passionate about, and I am incredibly thankful that I got to do a lot of that this year. 2015 was a crazy ride for me, with many ups and downs, but I am very excited to see what the New Year has in store for me.

CALE WRITER

2015 has been a strange year for me personally, although it’s harboured lots of self-growth for me as an artist. The beginning of the year brought strife, with the end of a band I had put my heart and soul into for over four years. I spent my summer travelling throughout British Columbia, sleeping in the back seat of my Grand Prix on roadside pull offs, couch surfing, days on the beach soaking in all the sun I could, and rekindling my romance with photography. With my guitar by my side, I wrote as much as possible about my experiences. Upon returning home, I went into full overdrive, doing whatever it took to improve my craft. Upon doing so, I found that I had created some of my strongest work with this new outlook. By the time fall hit, I had written an EPs’ worth of material, which I felt was ready to be committed to tape. 2016 ultimately holds a release of some of the most personal work I’ve created, and a proper tour to promote it, as the road has my heart and it’s the only place that feels like home to me. I plan to continue to push myself to my full potential, and to keep growing as an artist. Best of luck to all my readers in 2016.

CHRISTINA

WRITER & PHOTOGRAPHER If there is anything to know about me that is absolutely certain, it would be that there is enough love inside of me that my heart could burst at any given moment. I am generally elated, seldom silent, with a boundless thirst for adventure and a passionately curious mind. I adore the world, people, and especially how people view the world. For as long as I can remember, I’ve never felt more at home than when adrift in a crowd of complete strangers, embracing every ounce of beauty that is music. For that portion of time, everyone in the room is gathered for a mutual desire, regardless of who they are or where they come from. Uniting individuals from opposite ends together through a simple melody of expression will never cease to fascinate me. Bringing my camera along to capture the very moments that stir the soul is what I live for. To tell stories through my photographs is what will keep me headover-heels for the rest of my life.

“Listen to Tommy with a candle burning and you will see your entire future.” -Almost Famous

RICKIE

WRITER & PHOTOGRAPHER My name is Rickie, and I’m a lot of things. I’m someone who’s traveled around the sun nearly twenty times, but I never got any awards or medals, only a cake every few hundred days. I’m someone who puts peanut butter on both sides of a PB&J, with Jelly in the middle, (the right way). I’m a person who can’t seem to ever get her makeup right. Somewhere along the line I realized I was really good at pressing buttons, now in 2015 I run my own photography business along with shooting for Flesh & Bone Magazine. A lot of things have changed this year, I got engaged, I moved into my new house, I adopted a very spoiled corgi named DJ. Most of all I feel that 2015 brought me happiness. Happiness is something I haven’t felt in a very long time and it feels supercalifragilisticexpialidocious to be where I am now. 2015 was the year of growth and change for me, and I hope 2016 brings even more joy into my life, as well as for everyone else.

LOGAN WRITER

Hey, I’m Logan Grudecki. I’m currently taking Human Resources at the University of Lethbridge. My current favourite musical artists are Counterparts and Hands Like Houses. Aside from music and friends having my time, curling and skiing are also the other interests.

ETHAN WRITER

Oh hello, I didn’t see you there. My human name is Ethan. These are some things about me and also things that happened this year. I dwell in the geographic region of Calgary, Alberta and do not identify with the city further than that. I pretend to make music under the guise of the vocalist position, and impose my ego and lyrics upon unsuspecting patrons sometimes.

Yeah, okay, good start. I pretty much don’t do anything else. There’s a job I attend, but it’s basically a catalyst, enabling me to attempt to be creative.

Creativity is important, at least to me. The product of various artistic outlets is the only imprint I hope or expect to leave on this plane of existence. “Only upon the flush of a toilet, do I destroy art.” Currently, the performers I have chosen to lay focus on are music person Mac Demarco and photo guy Ren Hang. I don’t know enough about anything to try to sway or influence someone towards said artists, so just go look for yourselves. This revolution around the sun was really, honestly, just terrible. My surroundings are far from, “doing it,” for me, but some cool stuff happened I guess. The best musical showcase I beheld was easily seeing Circa Survive, Balance and Composure, and Chon in some weird opera house in Missoula, Montana.

Yes, truly no better sum of talent could be imagined. Seriously. Try. I harbour no care for much else, so maybe try not asking. It is upon writing this short column that I realize, not for the first time, how boring my life is and how little I have accomplished. I would give this piece one and a half out of ten.

Recommended track: reminiscing about being a child, followed by crying myself to sleep. Kbye.

MORGAN WRITER

Realizations, thoughts and experiences of 2015 from a bitter twenty-some year old: I. I’ve found that growing up means being honest. About what I want. What I need. What I feel. Who I am.

II. I found that just because your heart feels heavy, doesn’t mean you’re weak.

III. Do people actually go on dates, or is that just on TV? IV. I found that it’s okay to not be okay all the time. It’s okay to be a little weird, a little quiet, a little loud, a little self-centered.

V. Working on myself, by myself, for myself.

VI. One thing I want most in life? A pet sloth.

VII. Finishing college is like having an elephant removed from your shoulders, but being replaced with the weight of the 300 people trying to get the same job you’re applying for.

VIII. Listening to Childish Gambino every day on the way to work DOES get tiring.

IX. Do people even know how to use “you’re” anymore?

X. No more onions in everything please. You’re destroying my taste buds.

XI. Sometimes, all you want is to lay in bed, eat ice cream, and cry to your mom.

XII. There’s a quote by Benjamin Franklin that says, “Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.” I’ve done neither.

XIII. Pick up line? Uhhh . . . you mean beard?

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MUSIC

The Wonder Years

Rickie Miller

Motion City Soundtrack Rickie Miller

16 | Flesh & Bone

Mayday Parade Rickie Miller

T

he Griswolds are a full-of-energy, “life of the party” band hailing from Sydney, Australia, that leave you wanting more after every performance. I have now had the pleasure of seeing them perform twice, and haven’t been disappointed either time. The band formed in early 2012, and in September of the next year released their Heart of a Lion-EP, which jump-started their touring career due to the many positive reviews it received on popular blogs and music sites. After finding much success touring in their native Australia, the band made their first appearance in the U.S mid-2013 and began recording their debut album, Be Impressive, in January 2014, due to be released in August 2014.

The Wilderness Politics tour was made up of an impressive lineup which consisted of opener LoLo, who did a wonderful job of getting the crowd warmed up and the night rolling. The Griswolds followed, and New Politics closed out the night. The band had a catchy, powered set of tunes, which drove members of the audience into a singing and dancing frenzy. Hits such as, “If You Wanna Stay,” “16 Years,” and a cover of Vance Joy’s “Riptide” made their set well received by the audience. If you get the chance, I highly recommend seeing this band. They will surprise you every time with their chameleon-pop, and you will not be able to stop dancing. This band was supposed to be the next big thing, and well . . . they pretty much are now.

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Palisades FACEBOOK - YOUTUBE

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alisades has been around long enough to impress a lot of people, (since 2011,) and are currently signed to Rise Records. This has been quite a year, to say the least, for this band: their sophomore album Mind Games was released on January 13th, 2015, and this was the band’s first year playing the Vans Warped Tour. They also managed to tour with Our Last Night in Europe this past spring and a fall, as well as ran in the US and a touring with Fronzilla, just to name a few things that has kept this band busy. The band’s most recent release, Mind Games, seems to be a hit with both fans and critics alike. The album itself is pushing the genre boundaries in order to see just how many styles of metal can be successfully combined with the EDM and “Top 40” worlds.

Palisades are a band that is focused on being the best musicians they can be, and when you go to a show with them on the bill you can be sure you’ll leave knowing who they are. When I caught up with the band they said their philosophy is that if they’re playing in front of new people who have never seen them before, they know they need to give it their all in order to win over the crowd: “We want them to come back and be fans, and that’s why we need to be high-energy. Our music is high-energy, and we as people can be very high-energy. First impressions last, so we strive to make ours the best it can be.”

Whether touring consecutively for almost a whole year, constantly writing new music, or just working to better themselves, the band wants to make it known that there’s no stopping them: “There is a lot more that Palisades has in store for its future.

So far, Warped Tour, going to Japan, charting on Billboard, have all been huge accomplishments in our career. However we are nowhere close to being done, or even coming to the real life changing milestones.”

SoKyle FACEBOOK - BANDCAMP

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yle Carpenter, otherwise known as SoKyle, has been writing nearly his entire life, but only a few years ago did the hip-hop artist start taking his work seriously by performing on small stages and working with crowded rooms of people. Since then he has been able to share a larger stage with artists such as Hopsin, Dizzy Wright, and Jarren Benton in Columbus, Ohio. He was able to release Digesting The Present, and since then he has continued to take his gift of writing to the stage.

Everyone writes their songs differently, with some writing in the moment, while others write for long periods of time alone. Carpenter writers in his car, stating that, “I wrote at least 90% of my songs in my car, which is horrible to admit, but it’s the truth.” From a clever phrase that he tries to build from, to a really good instrumental he hears, he starts from something small and turns it into a huge song, all while sitting in his car. When asked about his first song he says, “To be honest, I mean, my first song was recorded in the basement of my aunt’s house, and it was about literally nothing. It was garbage.” He was able to take his passed experience from his basement to a new, less conventional, location and create something that he could actually feel proud to be a part of.

Even as a hip-hop artist, SoKyle’s first official show was opening for the pop-punk group Kid Liberty in Zanesville, Ohio. Despite the different music scene he had an amazing response from the audience. Kyle describes the feeling of being able to get a crowd really involved with the show happening around them as completely euphoric, and because of this, he has come to appreciate the intimacy of club and bar shows. Small venues allow him to be close to an audience, whether small or large, he feels always has its perks. “I’ve only had one bad response where I couldn’t get the crowd engaged,” he reflects, “you just want to go harder and harder and give it all you got. I haven’t done a set yet where I haven’t lost my voice.”

For Kyle, his main source of inspiration is “internal.” The fire inside of him when he preforms is what drives him to create and write new music, as opposed to other artists, historic events, or any other source of inspiration. He feels that this internal force can completely change your mood, or direct your entire day. It is something that drives him, and something that he has fallen in love with over the past few years.

It is hard not to recognize the current state of the hip-hop music industry, and see where people are directing their attention. Now that he has found a consistent drive in music, Carpenter opens up with his opinion on the industry, “a lot of people always pay homage to the Oldheads, the Tupacs, the Biggies.

Honestly, out of everybody there’s one person doing the best job at changing everything and that’s Chance the Rapper.

The guy has shows and everything like that, but hasn’t even charged for any of his music. That aspect is really changing the game.” Carpenter continues on to explain that this strategy is the best way to approach fans: “If you can build a fanbase like that where you can give away your music and just get paid for shows and merchandise, that’s an ideal way to go. I think that the state of hip-hip is kind of changing. There’s a lot of new artists coming up and everyone wants to compare everyone. Kendrick is doing great. J Cole is doing great. Drake is doing great. Find your lane, making music that you like. People will listen. There’s no reason to throw shade on people for doing what they are doing.”

Kyle’s career has blown up in the past few years, yet the only think he says he wants to change is that he wish he would have started earlier, using the outlets he has now. People are very easily influenced when they’re younger, and he feels it would have been easier to get more listeners and supporters back then: “At that age most artists have fear of expressing themselves, fear that people will make fun of them or tease them.

No, that’s not the case. If you make a decent product or a fanbase, high school and college is the prime time to do it.

Afterwards it gets a lot harder to have people take it seriously.”

As for music, Kyle has not really thought much about directing the future. He compares what he has now to a blessing, since it was not planned or premeditated. There was no pursuit of recognition, to open up for artists such as Hospin, or even to have an interview in a magazine. It all came out of his having passion. When asked specifically about his goals he states, “My mind set is, five years, I want to still be making music for fun that I enjoy and that other people like it. If it draws more fame or it becomes something where I’m making a good income from it, hell yeah.”

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Clay Cages Nashville, Tennessee is known as one of the major hot spots of the music industry. Though it is usually thought of as a country city, it has also proven to produce talented musicians of multiple genres. We recently caught up with one of those talented acts: Clay Cages. The alternative emo-rock group has steadily been gaining attention across the south, while opening for known artists such as Better Off, and The Early November. Now the band has freshly released their second EP, The Lenses We See Life Through, promising a bright future and a nod to the Nashville music community.

FACEBOOK - BANDCAMP

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t was Danny Fields first day of his freshman year in college that he first heard the ringing of a guitar playing down the hall. He had lived in Atlanta, Georgia most of his life before starting school at Middle Tennessee State University.

Being the youngest in a family of six, Fields points to his oldest sister as his inspiration, as she used to play the piano beautifully. It ignited his desire to pick up a guitar and learn a little bit about music himself, eventually leading him to take up singing and musical theory. Curious of the guitar in the hall, Fields wandered towards the music, intending to introduce himself to whoever shared his love of music and guitar. At the end of the trail he found Hayden Wadell, now one of Clay Cage’s guitar players. Due to the fact that Fields was from out of state, it was serendipitous for him to find a new friend on campus, especially in this way. The two of them became friends and found themselves hanging out in their dorms frequently, until they were introduced to a kid named Pierce. Pierce unintentionally started a web of networking to introduce the group to one another. It started with Pierce’s friend, Austin Rolison, now Clay Cage’s drummer, who happened to be interested in starting a band. On the same floor of Pierce’s dorm room, Fields found out that another passionate guitarist, Matthew Schumacher, used to play in a band through high school. He then became the group’s second guitar player. At first, the group was not too concerned about finding a final member and bassist. Fields recalls that they figured one would be found eventually. In their plans to have a first practice,they were able to find out that they had a friend of a friend who happened to play bass. This turned out to be Daniel Farrin, who would become the final member of the group.

Farrin joined them for their first ever band practice in Pierce’s dorm room, and from there Clay Cages was born.

When I inquired about their name, Fields informed us that the name Clay Cages derives from Corinthians 4:7 of the Bible. To quote it specifically, “We

now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.” Though it is a biblical verse, Fields explains that they do not necessarily relate the name with religion.

The name comes from the message of the verse, and upon switching “clay jars” to “clay cages” they found that it fit who they want to be as a band.

In September of 2014, the band released a six-track record by the name of Tension.

It marked a strong beginning point for the band, showing off beautiful and diverse musicality with moments of aggression. In less than a year the band has grown and matured to a sound that Fields describes as, “more indie / alternative than Tension,” though he hates to label the genres.

Their new EP, The Lenses We See Life Through, was released on November 20th. “Rust” was the first release off of the bands EP, and it very clearly shows the changes in the band’s sound. Field’s went on to comment on the change, stating, “we all still really love and enjoy playing the songs from Tension, however, the songs from the new EP, including ‘Rust,’ are becoming our new favourites. I believe that the songwriting in our new stuff is arranged much better than Tension, and has a very different feel.”

It is no surprise when you look at some of Clay Cage’s influences, (From Indian Lakes, Counterparts, Hrvrd, Moving Mountains, just to name a few,) how

diverse the group is when it comes to their sound. The group draws their influences from the feelings that they get from these artists, but not necessarily from the same writing styles. When asked about the plethora of influences, Fields explained that, “different styles of writing cause people to feel different things when they listen to it. With that in mind, when we are writing music and want to make a song feel a certain way, we reference our influences. If a certain band had a certain song that made us feel the way we want people to feel when listening to our song, then we take that influence and come up with something that’s our own and fits the song we are writing.”

Each member of Clay Cages comes from different musical backgrounds, and it shows in how they come together to display their impressive dynamics. It is their individuality that stands as a major theme for the band. That theme extends into their new EP, and as Fields explains, it is about, “certain stages of life, and how a person’s outlook on life changes. The person we are writing about doesn’t really exist. Instead, the person is a product of each band member’s own stories and

imaginations. From these blended stories something unique and special is born.”

The group stands behind the importance of individuality, and the sanctity of being your own person.

Clay Cages will grow still, even after the release of The Lenses We See Life Through. With the city of Nashville backing them, they have to push themselves in order to stand out in a sea of talent. Fields states that they are “constantly challenging ourselves to be the best musicians we can be, and write awesome music that we love. We have all definitely grown a lot as musicians and individuals since our time here began.”

Now the band expects to be playing more shows into the new year, with the possibility of a winter tour. The possibilities are endless for this band with a lot in the works for the band’s future.

STATE CHAMPS If you’ve ever dived into the pop punk genre in the past few years, you’ve probably heard of a band called State Champs from Albany, New York.

In just a few years they’ve released three EPs and two full-length albums.

Lots of hard work a dedication caused their 2013 full-length, The Finer Things, to reach number 2 on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart, and the October 2015 release of Around the World and back on Pure Noise Records. Since their formation in 2010 State Champs have toured with bands such as All Time Low, 5 Seconds of Summer, The Wonder Years, Tonight Alive and soon Neck Deep on another world tour.

FACEBOOK - WEBSITE

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recently sat down with Derek DiScanio, Tyler Szalkowski and Evan Ambrosio following the release of Around The World and Back to discuss touring, the new album, and even Vines! The band was delighted to start their local tour in New York City, a city that is like a second home to them. They also played another of their frequented spots in Western Massachusetts, but have been to a long list of countries in the past year or so. Derek tells me: “It’s dope, it’s very dope. We had never been anywhere before we started this band. It’s amazing to be able to go to these places multiple times and build a fan base from it.” He pauses, then continues, “But right now we’re all about the new songs. It’s really fun to play “Secrets,” the first single off of that. I also really like “Losing Myself,” it’s probably my favourite off the new album to play.”

On their current tour they’re hitting the east coast, the west coast, and everywhere in between. They tell me some of their favourite things about touring, such as cites to visit, places to eat, and songs to play live: “Melbourne is always a really good time. It’s kind of like the New York City of Australia I like to think. But the weather is better, the girls are hotter,” DiScanio explains. When asked about some of their favourite places to eat while on tour, Chick-fil-A was a pretty unanimous answer. Tyler tells me, “We love Chick-fil-A pretty hardcore. They don’t have them where we live.” They also pulled over every time they saw a Sheetz Derek says: “We’ll see a Sheetz, and we’ll have like 3/4 of a tank in the van and we’ll be like, ‘Yeah . . . we need gas I guess.’”

Last year, State Champs went on tour with 5 Seconds of Summer in Australia.

DiScanio reflects, saying, “Yeah, we were fans of the band long before they approached us. It was very fun and cool, we had a great time with those guys, they’re all really good friends of

ours now.” On the first date of that tour, State Champs faced one the biggest crowds they’ve ever played. Evan was so nervous that he asked Ryan to tell him that he wass going to be alright.

Now before nearly every show, they tell Evan or another member, “You’re gonna do good, man,” as a running joke. Tyler also prepares by doing hand stretches with Evan to avoid hand cramps while playing. Derek tells me, “Low-key we all get personally ready. Like, little things ourselves. We might take a couple shots to calm our nerves.”

State Champs recently released Around The World and Back in October, reaching thirty on the Billboard top 200.

State Champs is a very ambitious band, which seems to explain their success over the past few years. “We’re trying to take it to the moon,” Derek tells me, and goes on to say that, “We always stay goal oriented, so if we do achieve something we’re already one step ahead. It’s awesome, let’s celebrate, but what’s next. It’s continuous.” Tyler adds on, “I feel like setting goals is really chill, but I never want to accomplish a goal and feel satisfied. I want to set them so high. It’s like, cool alright next goal.”

Despite this, right from the beginning they were pretty stressed about the recording process. Working with a new producer, new engineer, and a new setting they’ve never been in before

was daunting, but once they started experimenting and hearing things come together it all became real for them. The boys in State Champs are hard workers, practicing every day for ten to fourteen hours in preparation for the recording process. Due to this, Evan suffered a hand injury right before they needed to be in the studio for the album. Evan recalls, “I had a crazy hard time recording because I actually injured myself the day before we started tracking, or actually the day of tracking. I just hurt my hand to where it felt like someone was stabbing me in the center of my hand. So it was hard to hold on. The way we had to arrange the songs, we were maybe playing for ten to fourteen hours a day straight, very long days of practice. Then we were like, ‘well we have to start drum tracking on this day, and we have to be done in three days with drum tacking.’ I felt bad for everyone who had to listen to me complain.”

Even for release week, they had the billboards in LA on their minds: “Yeah,

we were so excited about the billboard.”

Derek laughs and says, “I asked the label if we could get a billboard because of advertising, marketing, it’s a cool thing. That was my one thing and they didn’t reply or saying anything. But a few weeks later I got a picture from the head of our record label and he was like, ‘yeah you asked for it’. We’re gonna go see it on this tour.”

As for what the album says about the band, they just want to ride the wave and see where it takes them. State Champs say their album isn’t supposed to be preachy: “As far as putting off a vibe really, I feel that since we kind of write about normal stuff. I just want it to be like you have a place to belong.”

Tyler continues, “Like, a lot of people always tell me that they found a place in our music, or our record or our songs.

Like it’s really cool to offer some sort of place of acceptance. I feel that a lot of people turn to music because they don’t have anywhere to go. They’ve exhausted cheerleading, sports, karate,

or whatever. That’s the only vibe I really care about.” While some of the boys have been playing music for ten years or more, growing up themselves in the music community, they understand what it’s like to have a safe haven to go to at the end of the day. Derek adds, “We want to be relatable as possible, while still being refreshing. It’s a lot about, kind of just trying to find your place like Tyler says.” After a tough year in the pop-punk scene, everyone deserves a safe and positive music community.

The sky is the limit for the boys, and you’ll definitely be seeing more of them over the next few years.

Albin Talik Art expands into so many mediums of expression. While some people remain focused on one particular medium, there are those who have to try out a few different things before one form resonates on a deeper level. Though originally finding expression through music, Albin Talik found himself more fully in the unique creation of paintings called “paper paintings.� Each of the images that he makes are composed of thousands of tiny pieces of paper made into a mosaic. Now that he is thirty-five years old, he lives and works in Krakow, Poland, continuing to create these elaborate, but beautifully crafted art works.

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or nearly eleven years of Albin Talik’s life he played music professionally, proudly commenting that he recorded several albums, varying from rock to electronic music.

During that time he also started collecting instruments from around the world, including the Chinese Pipa, Indian Sitar, Celtic Dulcimer, several mandolins, guitars, and “strange” percussion instruments. Music is a vital part of his life, and where his passion for creativity began. He has built himself a home-recording studio, and still produces music for video games, the theatre, and the occasional commercial. This was all where it started. However, by the time he was thirty, he had decided to take up drawing, just on the spur of the moment. He stated, “at that time I wanted to develop musically, look for other sources of inspiration, colours and shapes to get a new glance at composing the music.” It was during this exploration that he suddenly started to notice himself being absorbed by the world of painting rather than his long-time dreams of being a rock star. When asked if he would ever cross over the two mediums of music and painting, he went on to explain that “I am a workaholic and I love new challenges.

It means that when I get a request of composing the music I get down to it wholeheartedly. That is why sometimes it is difficult to combine these two activities, so I decided to push music on the back burner.”

Though he still involves himself in various musical projects, he has decided to devote himself to visual arts completely. There was a part of him that did not want to admit to it, but his passion for painting overcame that of his music. He went on to

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say that, “One day, I came to the conclusion that through the visual arts and painting I can express much more. In other words, somehow I feel that this [is] exactly what I was looking for all my life. They might not be perfect, but I really feel that my paintings can talk about myself and communicate my feelings. It is not difficult for me to write a song, but making a good painting is much more complicated. That is why it is so fascinating.”

Having invested little time in visual arts for so many years, Talik remembers his first painting class as the deep end of a pool that he was thrown into. He visualizes, “I saw in front of me still-life: violin cases, fruits, several different materials, glass. Oh my God, you were not there. I was scared. I was expecting one subject, an apple or a cup. And then my teacher said: ‘you have here a celan sheet of paper and go to work.’ Of course, I was not able to draw even a single object. I had no idea about the perspective. It was a disaster.”

Though the initial fear could have been crippling, Talik stuck with it all.

He took the classes step-by-step.

More than anything he wanted to skip all of the “boring” drawing. He wanted to jump right into the oil paints, “just

like Chaim Soutine.” It took months for him to finally realize that drawing was the foundation of painting, and that’s when he started to put more of his attention into it. If it had not been for those classes, he would not have learned the important lesson that painting is a continuous learning process. Even when he started with oil painting, he came to realize that his own still-lives remained difficult to document. He could not bring himself to create something from scratch, finding it easier to copy someone else. He went on to stay that, “I started to copy an image of a Flemish master. I have to admit that the picture came out very well. I could not believe it . . . Of course I was trying to copy thousands of images, from Cezanne to the Tetmajer to improve my drawings.”

Attending those painting classes were a step in the right direction, giving Talik more confidence to continue working towards something new.

The work that defines his artistry now actually came as an accident, simply just happening one day. He went on to explain that, “at the beginning of working with paper, every change I made was kind of a challenge. I was spending hours looking for the perfect colours and trying various ways to blend them. The other thing I had to test out was the best bond for all these paper pieces. Actually, I was developing the technique at first.” He goes on to consider the challenge of creating a beautiful transition of colour from the light to the dark, but how with every image it becomes easier. In order to organize himself, he has hundreds of plastic envelopes filled with pieces from newspapers, albums, brochures, and other booklets. In the beginning of this journey, he saw it as something a little easier than drawing, that later turned into him creating something much more complicated. Talik explains that, “In the collage you need to combine the pieces of newspapers and try to

make a nice composition. I wanted to gain much more. So I started to cut the paper into pieces and try to counterfeit the brush strokes. I really like collages, but I love paintings, so I try to use the college technique to make it look like an oil painting.”

Being such a unique medium, Talik finds inspiration in the method itself.

In a sense, he ended up being his own form of inspiration, finding pride in how he came to it himself: “in my opinion, the most important thing for the artist is to find [their] own way of expression.” He went on to use different materials such as charcoal and dry or oil pastels, but in the end came to realize that the paper-works was what he resonated most with.

With this technique, Albin Talik has created imagery that stands on it’s own, clearly belonging to him before anyone else. Specifically, he has created series of work such as Rumination and Pyramids, which have found some of the most recognition. His Rumination

series engages with a protagonist overwhelmed with sadness, experiencing strong emotions of being one-on-one with the dark and his own dark thoughts. The title itself is defined as the obsessive or persistent thoughts that tend to linger on the negative. Talik focuses on the idea of loneliness within these paintings. He wants to explore the struggle with life and living on your own, when you are. Talik describes it as, “full of black thoughts [that] hurt like daggers.” He finds himself imagining the images as a mask engulfing the real faces, and this is the way he portrays them in the paintings. He went on to state that even showing people as faceless or with masks always comes off as disturbing in one way or another. That is something that he has found love in.

Moving on to Talik’s other dominant series, Pyramids, this collection is another way of looking at the world.

This time, it is based more on trying to understand the nature of human beings. Talik explains this nature as “the good that exists in us, and evil, from which, after all it is hard to escape,” he goes on to explain, “I realized that I have a right to not be perfect and to make mistakes. On the other hand, [I have] to learn how to be a better person. Wrong choices in life do not always end in failure.”

These thoughts are then expressed through black and white pyramids, which play off the symbolic duality of human nature. He found it important to note that many of the paintings contain a visible light: “the bulb.” This object symbolizes something good, warm, and hopeful. He expresses how it can be “called to” as some kind of strong energy, or God. More than anything, he likes to ask questions, as the series is constantly evolving. He went on to state that, “at the moment I feel strongly fascinated by dark matter, dark energy, or black holes. One of my favorite paintings, Paul Gauguin painted the masterpiece titled, Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where

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Are We Going?, I love this image and also look for answers to these questions.” That is what he finds so important in the exploration of art: how it allows him to understand who he is. Art enables him to tell stories and potentially move people while still developing himself as an artist.

Though he has found an expression in his art that can be recognized, it does not stop Talik’s motivation to become a more mature painter.

He wants to find more skill in his art and “safely operate the light.”

He wants to create an atmosphere, specifically of synesthesia, to enable people to feel with all of their senses.

He is continuously striving to use his paintings and the colours within them to contrast the way people feel, and create something more than a piece of his paper-painting. It is his continuous desire to create and explore that has gotten him so far. His journey is difficult, and he recognizes that he is continuously learning from it, but as it stands now, he still is creating something beautiful to help people, including himself, and find more insight into the world.

Victoria Gray “ My name is Victoria, and I go by the online name Victoria Clare Gray,

(which is my name for reals,) on pretty much every social media site. I usually introduce myself as a drawer, but I also like the term ‘maker.’ I like to experiment with printmaking, embroidery, carving, and all sorts of mark making - I guess they’re all quite authentic. The more modest the medium, the more I seem to enjoy it.

Drawing is where my heart really lays. Dark inky lines and details attach me to pencils, dip pens, and India ink. I have a love of the grim weather and rocky landscape of the North of England, and think there’s couple of key themes/subjects that flow through my work: duos, birds, insects, survival, weeds and wild flowers, magic and the moon, to name a few. ” WEBSITE - INSTAGRAM - ETSY

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When did you decide to start taking your illustrations and incorporate them with print making? What is so significant about the process of print making, for you?

What do you find yourself most inspired by? Are there any specific artists that you have always admired or pushed you About a year ago I got into printmaking; to take more time with art?

I’m completely self-taught. It’s lead to me to be more bold and decisive about my mark making. I had a lot of trouble at first transferring the detail of my drawings onto the screen, but by experimenting with printmaking I think my style evolved, and it pushed me towards a cleaner style. I’m really attracted to the tactile qualities of hand-pulled printing. I prepare my own screens at home in my home studio. Pulling thick, inky details onto cloth feels like an all-encompassing response to trudging through the dark, earthy forests of the grim north.

It’s a process I really enjoy. Especially producing a print of an artwork that is completely handmade, that’s a lovely feeling, and each pull of the print has character and texture.

Yes, I have to say a lot of artists that are working right now, today, inspire me the most. Amanda Nedham for her links to/fascination with Natural History, Fernbeds for her delicacy. It just blows my mind. Richey Beckett, obviously, for his bold inky details. Have to mention the Poison Apple Print Shop for their magical elements and technique as well; Adrienne Rozzi’s printmaking is at such a high level, she taught me to be bolder and more decisive with my line making if I want it to translate to screen-print. In terms of the classics, I’m clearly into Audubon. He managed to get such life into his compositions.

Explain a little bit about the Cecropia Comic. What inspired it and what are you trying to say with all of the imagery? In Though you have an “All the future, would you like to do Beings” gallery, you also have something more with comic one specifically set aside books or your other means of for birds. Is there something specific about birds that you are visual reading? drawn to in art?

They’re creatures that I’ve acquired knowledge about from my family since I was a nipper. In my adult life I’ve become more interested in them I guess. I often like to pose them against insects, (my other fascination.) I’m getting into some large scale pieces at the moment, focusing on birds & insects. Kind of a Predator/prey vibe.

Winged creatures haunt me I think.

I would love to do more things like this.

It is my intention to create more of a collection of drawings that tell a story.

Whether they’re snippets from my own drawn universe or a linear story, I’m not quite sure yet. The Cecropia piece was my first small story that I wanted to tell using no words. I’m constantly inspired by the life of moths. Just the story of an insect. You can decide what I’m saying.

Are there any themes that you What would you like to do with like to explore in your art work? your art work in the future? How Do you have a favourite thing that would you like it to be used? you like to express in your work?

Definitely. I touched on some key subjects that I like to focus on in the first question, but apart from the apparent themes/subject matter, I’d like to get back into exploring scale more. I’d love to create more largescale pieces with staggering detail. I want to push myself more because mark making is where my heart truly lies. I explored the idea of scale at University, (doing my Fine Arts degree,) and I’d love to get back into that.

I would love to tell more of a story within my practice. Create a world. A narrative.

Again, I’m not sure if this will lead me into Illustrator territory. I’d like it to be looser than that. I’m not keen on having words alongside. Can you tell I don’t want to be tied down with making any decisions just yet?

What exhibitions do you have coming up in the future? Or are there any other projects that you are excited about taking part in?

I’d love to fund my own solo exhibition.

I have something in mind for quite a dark/nighttime exhibit. It may not be a possibility for quite some time in terms of funding, (especially doing it myself, ha).

It’s nothing too crazy, just my pieces, but shown in the right environment, at the right time, with the right vibe. Do you The topic I find myself fascinated with know what I mean? Nothing too white in relation to art is social media. The walls/glaring lights. Something earthier. positive relationships I’ve built with artists Something more magical. online gives me a supportive network that I need. I have a very self-lead practice and enjoy that, but having that creative network there, you’re part [of a] giant, worldwide discussion, whatever the subject.

What is one thing that you have found yourself very passionate about when discussing the topic of art, whether it revolves around pursuing it as a career, or other topics that stem from an artist’s work?

Miles Toland Out of Santa Fe, New Mexico comes the enthusiastic visual artist Miles Toland. Born into this “dimension” approximately twenty-five years ago, he has always had the compulsion to “reassemble matter” with his own hands, and the determination to finish any project he has started. Due to the support offered by both his parents, as well as his schools, he has learned discipline and has been able to refine his skill into a creative career.

We were able to catch up with him and discuss the excitement he has for his projects.

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or Miles Toland, his excitement about the process of self expression grew from his teenaged years when he was first exposed to graffiti culture. It became the gateway for everything that would become of his artistic career.

Toland explains how it meant that, “art was no longer the southwestern landscape painting on my living room wall, but a potent energy that made me focus on improving my letter styles and actively seeing the urban landscape through the creative lens.”

He was able to extend his love of the craft by attending the Cornish College of Arts, where he obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. During his schooling, Toland pursued painting and video in the hopes of fulfill his desire to merge both light and sound with his paintings. Reflecting back on his first mixed media experiments, he tells how he blasted his paintings with colour changing LED lights to some of his favourite soundtracks. He continues on to say that, “My desire for more precision led me to projecting custom made video animations directly on top of my paintings. Suddenly, I was able to create much deeper narratives by using the video to bring

motion into the people and elements of my paintings. These paintings became doorways into living worlds with movement and sound.” Looking through Toland’s portfolio, his audience can see the progression of his work with mixed media, whether it be in two-dimensional form, or brought to light with video. He has found inspiration in corners of the world such as, “synthetic art experiences, trusting foreigners while traveling, unexpected geometries in fruits and veggies, transformational music festivals, lucid dreaming, Indian spices, and purple thunderstorms.” These inspirations have become an important part of discipline as he continues to work on his own as well as in a formal setting.

As an extension of his own personal education, Toland took up a residency program at Vaayu Vision Collective in India. While there, he experienced a tremendous amount of freedom, which suited both how he prefers to goes about making art, and live his life. He went on to explain the Vision Collective as a “DIY art playground for the selfmotivated bohemian life lover.” His time spent in residency has resonated

in his heart so profoundly that he has purchased another one-way ticket for a 2016 residency. Toland recalls that the days spent on his first residency consisted of, “a blend of climbing coconut trees for breakfast, painting long hours on a rooftop studio above a surf shop, playing on a beach with the laziest of dogs, (that they claim are reincarnated hippies from the ‘70s,) organizing art and music events for other artists in residence, kiteboarding when the weather got windy, and enjoying life with inspiring world travellers that somehow ended up in Goa.” The whole experience helped bring Toland to terms with the impossibility of control, and though there was a lot of artistic freedom there, there had also been times where he had not been able to go to the wood store due to the extensive calendar of Hindu holidays. As such, he did not have the tools to build panels with perfect angles, and often the neighbourhood cow would stomp

out the water connection.

Daily power outages would interrupt power tool sessions, and Toland had no other choice but to take the time to relax and submit to the raw lifestyle that India offers. He went on to express that, “this surrender led me to painting on asymmetrical pieces of scrap wood and making street art in picturesque villages and chaotic dirty cities. India has made my creative process much more flexible, and given me confidence to create just about anywhere with just about anything.”

When describing his style, he claims that it “bridges the realms of street and spiritual, balances the organized and organic, and dances at the intersection of concept and craft.” Incorporating “sacred geometry,” he structures his pieces to celebrate how everything in existence is branched and structured by this same geometry. Specifically, he is inspired by the flower of life and the golden spiral, which are a foundation for the visuals of reality. Toland speaks of sacred geometry with great passion, explaining that, “chemistry, particle physics, cellular biology, and our current music systems are just a few fields of expression that are intertwined with the flower of life. The golden spiral,

or the fibonacci sequence, is like the fingerprint of nature, ranging from tiny nautilus shells to cosmic galaxy spirals. We literally embody this sacred geometry, and it feels right to honour that in my art.” His themes exist in expressing what he explains as, that “melty feeling of transcending past the physical realm into an interconnected love web of consonant colours and shapes.” He grounds the abstract feeling by creating a natural form to be considered as the “experiencer.”

In the times that he paints faces, they often have their eyes closed as an expression of moving the feelings inwards. Most recently, portraits that he has worked on do not bear any faces, but rather have meditative mandalas or are merged with the natural essence of his materials. Faceless portraits take away direct representations, and are able to express the feelings of people on a personal level, while also erasing signifiers of race and gender. Toland goes on to say that, “we are essentially all made of the same loving energy!”

Continuing that he belief that when people surrender themselves to their

“authentic frequency” that they naturally settle into the beauty of structured patterns. Those geometric measures he takes in his artwork represent this balance within the state of existence.

Whether it is made in the studio or finds a place in the streets, Toland’s art works on a “complementary loop.”

Both his studio based work and that he creates on the streets are aesthetically similar, and ring true with his style, but his street art pushes him to be efficient as well as fearless. In comparison to street art, that which is done in the studio seems to him to be both intentional and technical. In his words, “street art is a spontaneous quickie, and studio art is tantric love making.

I need both.” At the moment, Toland has noted that working with wood grain and acrylics is a personal favourite of his. The paint on treated wood grain “skates” as it is being applied.

Further, the use of the grain speaks powerfully to Toland, and becomes a collaboration with expressions of nature. Though he is partial to this technique, he is ultimately happy,

“no matter what aspect of reality I’m manipulating into art,” so long as he is creating. During his time in Goa, India, he took some time to experimenting with bamboo, rope, and fabric in order to create a crystal structure that he would be able to live in, as well as a 3D video-map for art events. The new medium consumed him as if it were to be one of his paintings. With this in mind, he continues to look for words to dismantle and reorganize the painting genre. In the winter, he intends to work with a laser etcher and cnc router for another painting project taking place in Florida, expanding on the fact that

“our culture has an obsession with rectangles and I’m ready to explore new presentation methods!”

Toland has an undeniable passion for creation, which he takes out into the streets, and back into his studio practice. He has rendered artwork that appeals to audiences on both an aesthetic and spiritual level, and with more artwork to follow, Toland expresses how life is currently teaching him to be his authentic self without any fear from external judgment. At this time it is important to act boldly on his intuition and as he playfully says, “flip an over easy egg without a spatula, and do a proper handstand.”

ALBUM REVIEWS City & Colour ALBUM: If I Should Go Before You RELEASE: 09/10/15

STAND OUT: “Killing Time”

AUTHOR: Morgan Fraser

If you’re a City And Colour fan, and you’re expecting something similar to previous albums, you might be pleasantly surprised.

If I Should Go Before You, is seemingly more complex than his others, leaving you with a folk, ambient, progressive-rock album. The classic City And Colour sound isn’t gone, but is instead expanded upon.

The biggest surprise on the album is the track “Killing Time.” It’s refreshing, funky, and smooth. I love the upbeat sound, mixed with the right amount of sorrow portrayed within the lyrics: “Right now it feels like killing time, I’m running from the shadow of my former shadow’s life.

Sometimes I wonder if I was ever really there?”

Clutch ALBUM: Psychic Warfare RELEASE: 02/10/15

STAND OUT: “Decapitation Blues” AUTHOR: Ethan Oviatt

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Deeply entrenched in science-fiction tropes, emerges Psychic Warfare, the eleventh studio album from Maryland native band Clutch. The experiences that accompany creating this volume of music is quite apparent. Album eleven is, for them, a definite high point, which finds a satisfying balance between squeaky clean and gravelly. Clutch shows no sign of aging, and continues to bring their southern-tinged classic rock sound with resounding confidence and poise. If one is looking for a riff-heavy rock album, look no further. Unfortunately, that’s about as far as this album goes. While technically sound, and spot on production wise, there isn’t really a lasting impact felt. The exception being the closing track, “Son Of Virginia,” which starts off meandering,

8.5 This album is the sound I’ve been waiting for from City And Colour, and I didn’t even realize what I was missing until now. He brought the softness and raw aspects from his album Sometimes and took the upbeat, smooth feeling that’s found in tracks on the album. The Hurry and the Harm. The eleven track LP is filled with heartache, death, and relationships, which gives many flavours, but doesn’t leave you feeling bored. If I Should Go Before You is evidence to the amount City And Colour has grown from its minimalist beginnings. Dallas Green could serenade me anytime, and I would never, ever complain.

6.5 but comes to an extremely energetic climax. The track serves as a gem at the end of a solid, but somewhat lackluster album. There are lyrical hooks abound, but a disappointing lack of originality present, which is a chance taken by any band adhering so strictly to the classic rock and blues formulas.

Psychic Warfare might lack creativity in some aspects, but delivers exponential head-bang opportunities, so Clutch is forgiven.

Coheed & Cambria

9.5

ALBUM:The Color Before The Sun RELEASE: 16/10/15

STAND OUT: “The Audience” AUTHOR: Cale Zebedee

Upon hearing the album for the first time, I sat back speechless. I’ve been a dedicated Child of the Fence for over a decade, and The Color Before the Sun gave me all of the same goosebumps that the New York native’s 2002 full-length début, Second Stage Turbine Blade did.

All of the group’s previous works have served as a narrative, telling a story about a fictional universe based on front-man Claudio Sanchez’s comic series, The Amory Wars. However, the latest release is the first to stray away from this format, and is ultimately a more personal record.

Tracks like the album opener, “Islander,” and the first single “You Got Spirit, Kid,” easily hold true to the Coheed that

we’ve grown to love: these songs use heavy guitars, pounding drums, and as many hooks as possible to create the catchiest chorus, which won’t be leaving your head for years to come.

Despite this, there are also some tracks where the group pushes the envelope on what they would normally create. The acoustic track “Ghost” talks about the struggles of anxiety, and how one wants to feel free from the chains that it creates.

“Young Love” on the other hand, is more of a spacey, slow groove, with minimal guitar in favour of mostly vocals and drums. With this release, Coheed and Cambria prove that they are still a force to reckon with, even twenty years after their formation.

Crooks ALBUM: Are We All The Same Distance Apart RELEASE: 30/10/15

STAND OUT: “Schone Seele”

AUTHOR: Dorian Pintaric

Crooks’ debut, full-length album, Are We All The Same Distance Apart, has come up nothing short of amazing. Crooks is a melodic/emotive post-hardcore band from Cheltenham in the United Kingdoms who has steadily gained popularity in the last eight months. They got their start signing to Headphone Music/Equal Vision Records and releasing their first single, “A Few Peaceful Days.” I first heard of Crooks shortly after they released their video for “Tired Eyes,” (from their EP Nevermore,) but did not think it was amazing, or even anything.

Despite this I did take note of them. Several months later they released a video for “A Few Peaceful Days,” and I was blown away.

The instruments were mesmerizing, the lyrics were poetic and straight forward, and the vocal progress made by Josh Rogers was absolutely brilliant: never had I been so excited to hear more. In October 2015 my wish was granted with a string of singles and their record release. Every song has a little gem of some sort that makes me really

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believe this band’s outstanding potential cannot go unnoticed. Instrumentally, I have not heard a record this strong in a very long time. From their powerful start with, “Above Me,” to their interlude songs such as “May Be,” and “Windy Little Town,” this album holds the attention of the listener and does not let go until the last note. Lyrically, this album tends to focus on darker topics such as hopelessness, personal struggle, and death. One of the most impressive aspects of this album is Rogers vocal development.

In prior releases such as “Nevermore,” or “Still,” Rogers tends to switch his vocals between passionate screaming and delicate clean singing. In this record, Rogers only sings, making some of the emotional transition of songs such as “Above Me,” “Windy Little Town,” or “From the Sticks to Bitterness” quite difficult for any musician of the genre. However, Rogers has seemingly no problem displaying his emotions while still maintaining a beautiful sound.

Deafheaven ALBUM: New Bermuda RELEASE: 02/10/15

STAND OUT: “Gifts For The Earth”

AUTHOR: Ethan Oviatt

San Francisco five-piece band Deafheaven present an absolute monster of a black-metal album in their third full-length release: New Bermuda. “Monster” is a deliberately chosen word in this case, as the tracks that New Bermuda is comprised of are a freakish hybrid of unreasonably heavy, grating, black metal riffs and luscious, enormous, post-rock walls.

A Deafheaven review, post 2013, cannot be written without mention and comparison of/to their previous offering, Sunbather. Whereas Sunbather was a gateway black metal album featuring expansive, reverb soaked instrumental interludes and rather listener-friendly metal mixed in, New Bermuda is the polar opposite. While cleaner and softer parts are present on the new album, the focus is clearly shifted towards the heavier side. The “filler instrumental”

Foxing ALBUM: Dealer RELEASE: 30/10/15

STAND OUT: “Night Channels”

AUTHOR: Morgan Fraser

Foxing is a band I wish I had heard about earlier. Listening to their first album, Albatross, just put me in such a good mood. It flows and dances, leaving me with an upbeat “ready to go” feeling.

While their second album Dealer, is a bit more serious and self-aware, with each song trickling into the next.

Dealer is an expansion upon their first album, and it’s a record about loss and moving on. It definitely hits you with a few emotional punches: as you connect with certain strings of music, all you can do is lay on your floor and stare at your ceiling, connecting to the difficult emotions portrayed within this album.

My favourite song lyrically, would have to be “Redwoods.” Although musically it doesn’t do too much for me, the lyrics really stuck. It’s so beautifully written, for example: “Lord, let her in or don’t let her

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8 tracks of albums past have been condensed into five tracks that are pounding and headache inducing in their uncompromising heaviness. Tracks like, “Luna,” and “Baby Blue” feature positively monolithic onslaughts of pure black metal craftsmanship and fervor.

Accompanied by crushingly depressing and honest lyrics such as, “I imagined the overcome before the endless truth of instability and futility. Now I know.”

However, during this transition, some of the creativity and distinction has been lost in terms of the lighter end of the spectrum. Heavy music fans worry not, but if you’re a passive listener, or choose to listen to Deafheaven because of their low-mixed vocals and lush, drawn out, shoe gaze inspired songs, you may want to stick to their back catalogue.

6.5 leave.” If I could combine the words from “Redwoods,” and the sound from “Glass Coughs,” you would have my favourite song on the record. BUT, since that isn’t the case, “Night Channels” would be a close second. “Night Channels” starts off soft, and builds anticipation and sound as the song develops. The piano drew me in, and the passion made me stay.

This album is slow burning. When I really want to listen to music, I listen to it at night. I give the album I’m listening to, my full attention and open myself to feel something. This album is massive, in terms of content. While musically, they stripped it down to the necessities, they loaded up thematically and emotionally.

Foxing has constructed something brilliant, which moves forward and compels me to really listen.

7.5

The Marquis ALBUM:The Marquis RELEASE: 16/10/15

STAND OUT: “All My Friends Slowly Start To Die” AUTHOR: Cale Zebedee

Dark and ambient are the first two things that immediately stick out in this début album from Montreal artist and mastermind, Dillon Steele, better known as The Marquis. Steele manages to create his own form of industrial, new wave, shoe gaze, that easily mimics the likes of his predecessors, such as Echo and the Bunnyman, The Cure, or even Depeche Mode. At the same time, Steele gives his sound an original spin, rather than rehashing these influences.

With most of the album being rather straight forward, I’m most captivated by the final track entitled “Ancient House,” which turns into a synth powered, yet meticulously planned chaos. I’m looking forward to hearing what a full length effort brings.

ALBUM RELEASES 12/18 12/18 12/18

Pur ple Midwes t Modes ty Tell Me I ’ m Pr etty

B a r o n e ss B e fo r e T h e ir E y e s Ca g e T h e E le p h a n t

01/08 01/15 01/15 01/22 01/22 01/29 01/29

Black s tar N ot To D is appear D eath Of A Bachelo r D ys topia Yes , I ’ m A Witch To o Pr omis e Ever ything This I s Acting

D a v id B o wie D a u g h te r Pa n ic ! A t T h e D isc o M e g a d e th Yo ko O n o B a se m e n t S ia

02/05 02/26

Wonder ful Cr azy N i g h t I Like I t When You S le e p , F o r Yo u Ar e So Beautiful Yet So U n a wa r e Of I t

E lto n Jo h n The 1975

PLAYLIST _____

Here are some suggested tracks brought to you by the staff.

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Might Soothe You? 4 What Pity Sex You’re Gone 4 Now Justin Craig Thomas Parsons

4 Prey The Neighbourhood 4 Slam Seaway Lie, Lie 4 Lie, Metric It Feels To Be Defeated 4 How Before Their Eyes Feeling 4 The Justin Beiber ft. Halsey Heads 4 2Coleman Hell Waterboy Returns 4 The Modern Baseball Too Much 4 Way Wavves

click on the 4 buttons + images to play the song!

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