Showing posts with label mcbully. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mcbully. Show all posts

Friday, December 24, 2021

Room 206 Vinyl Re-Release Information, A New Video, And Much More!!

Before everyone opens their presents under the Christmas tree, here's a new news post on this Friday morning, and it includes a new concert video, some assorted recent updates, and leading off, new details on a major album re-release for you classic punk fans! Here's what you should know!

As you may know by now, the long-anticipated vinyl reissue of defunct local punk band Room 206's 1994 album "2 Innies & An Outie" was officially released on Wednesday! Remastered and pressed on vinyl by veteran local punk musician Mikey Hawdon's new local boutique label Soolebrity Records, pre-orders for Saultite customers can be picked up at The Rad Zone, and surprisingly, there are limited copies for sale for $40, so there must have been less than 206 pre-orders, which is all that will be made. Unless I have missed something, there is not a digital streaming/download copy of the album (at least, not yet). I definitely pre-ordered one in the summer and I finally have the album in my possession (copy #72), making up for the fact that I've never seen a cassette copy of it in the wild. Elements of the album's contents have made their way to Facebook already, but what can I glean from it?

If you didn't see the photo teasers on the Mike's Lunch Music Facebook group, the album comes in a plastic sleeve with the information sticker in the bottom right, and inside, you get a sheet with a collage of band photos & documents on one side, and lyrics, credits, and liner notes on the other, as well as a Soolebrity Records sticker. The remaster-specific information includes the credits for the bonus covers of Room 206's "Good Enough" & "I'll Be Around", which feature Mikey himself on vocals & guitar and his Inner City Surfers bandmate Dave Bahun on lead guitar, plus No Use For A Name/Face To Face bassist Matt Riddle (no, not the wrestler), and mixer Scott James from Greyskull Records on backing vocals. Goldfinger's Darrin Pfieffer drums on the former and No Doubt's Adrian Young drums on the latter, which also features Surfers/Rising Tide frontman Dustin Jones on backing vocals.

As for the record proper, it is in a nice translucent gold vinyl, and confirming prior photos, all ten songs are on side A. There is no side B, it's completely smooth and does not have it's own label, which does strike me as odd given that "2 Innies & An Outie" was originally on a cassette tape (unless that was single-sided too?). It's great to finally have the Room 206 vinyl remaster for myself, so visit The Rad Zone A.S.A.P. (well, after the holidays) to see if they have any copies left in stock, and look for our review next week!

Next up, here's a new live video of local garage/hard rock quartet The Uncanny Valley during their Rockstar Bar debut back in August! For one reason or another, the video of this song (their new original "Fumbling Through") was only just posted to their YouTube channel on Monday, marking their first video there in over a year and their first from a public concert (their Rotaryfest video is on a separate personal YouTube channel). Our best look yet at The Uncanny Valley's current lineup, the video prominently shows a keyboard on stage, though I have not seen footage of them making use of that instrument yet, let alone which band member plays it.  The song proper is solidly composed with more of a southern rock bent and a deliberate pacing, so it should play well with fans, but the bright & warm stage lighting isn't optimal for viewing the band. Give their new live clip a watch below!


Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:

 

  • Wyld Stallyns bandmates Jesse Cook & Jonas Gasperas are looking for a bass player to join their current band, and while they play all genres, "funk is a must". It is not clear whether this search is to fill a vacancy in The Stallyns (who featured Ben Garcia on bass after becoming an electric band this summer) or not, but note that they have not been seen live since August, pandemic acknowledged. If you want more details, message Jonas at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from Tuesday!
  • Former local rock bassist Nathan (Jonna) Bouliane is back home in Sault Ste. Marie through early January, and he has his equipment on hand if any local musicians with studio recordings want to record a music video while he's in town, as per the Musicians Wanted Facebook group last week. Nathan has extensive work in film production via his own McBully Productions imprint, most recently via the video for Ottawa folk musician Almyr Jules' song "Don't Go", so message him here or above if you want any details on possibly shooting a video with him!
  • I have removed 2011-2012 Sault Michigan hard rock band Swayze Train from our inactive band links, as their last surviving online page on Reverbnation doesn't have enough surviving band info to warrant an informative inclusion (their Facebook page has long since been taken down). The bridge between fellow early 2010s local bands Electric Motor Fish and Toast, Swayze Train had a talented lineup, and hopefully Melissa, Mike, Scott, Tony, and Tyler are doing well!


That's all for today, but have a Merry Christmas, and we'll see you guys with more news and notes on the site soon, including this month's YouTube Channel Profile on Sunday if all goes well! Thanks everyone!

Sunday, January 13, 2019

A New Local Solo Project, Chase Wigmore Updates, And Much More!!

Here's another new post for your Sunday afternoon reading, and it includes some assorted recent updates, the return of the bumped Northern Film Showcase write-up from Friday's post, and the latest from a prolific solo artist, but let's lead off with a new local act that we recently came across!

We have a new local death metal solo project to add to our band links, namely Black Cloud! Publically launching their Facebook page in November, Black Cloud is led by local singer/guitarist Peytan Andreola, who some readers may recognize from musician searches that he conducted in 2015 & 2016. Public details are minimal as of yet for this project, but Peytan has posted four original demo tracks onto Black Cloud's Reverbnation and Soundcloud pages, as well as three videos on their Facebook page, so what can be said on these? The most unique aspect of these songs so far is their inclusion of Shamanic and trance elements, plus what he calls "world drums", so much so that two of his videos are just of him playing skin drums rather than a traditional kit. You'll even here a flute instrument of some kind at times, and "Fade" & "Count The Calling" are the most experimental in the above regard.

The audio quality of the demos isn't pristine, and Peytan should work on the song structures and vocal clarity, but there's enough unique elements here that Black Cloud already stand out on their own merit, and I'm curious to see what he has in store next! Here's Peytan playing Black Cloud's death metal original "Blood Red Hands", and give more a look/listen above!



Next up, here's the latest from local experimental/folk/metal solo artist Chase Wigmore, who posted on his Facebook page on Friday to update fans on his recent studio work. In that post, he admitted that the other four unreleased EPs in the "12 EPs of Christmas" series are complete, but he didn't post them as page likes allegedly dropped while he was posting the first eight, and he apologized to fans who may have been turned off by him posting too much. I can't speak for everyone else, but for someone who covers Sykotyk Rampage and Mike Haggith (two acts who have far more canon albums in their repertoire than Chase), this amount is nothing, and I'm glad to see him pumping out so much new music! Partially thanks to our coverage of the first 8 EPs of Christmas last week (thanks for the positive words!), Chase said that he will get the other four posted, but before that point, he has some teaser material from another EP to share.

As previously hinted, he plans to put out a 27th canon "album" after the 12 EPs series concludes, entitled "Solving The Human Condition", and this (untitled?) teaser track was shared on Friday from it as a Facebook video. The song sounds a little like Chase shredding over top of the sounds of city life and traffic (complete with police sirens), and if nothing else, it's a nice showcase of his guitar skill and soloing! How will the full release turn out? We'll let you know when more goes public, but give Chase's new upload a listen below, and stay tuned for updates, including on the teased Rednecks Saloon show later this week!



Also, here's some information on an upcoming event that has some SMS-relevant content! Prolific local bassist & filmmaker Nathan (Jonna) Bouliane and his local/Ottawa company McBully Productions are hosting their second annual Northern Film Showcase on Sunday, January 27th, and following last year's surreal/fantasy theme event, this year's will be centered around music videos from local artists. The idea is to unite local musicians and filmmakers for networking, collaborations, and exposure therein, and students, filmmakers, and musicians are encouraged to attend. There will be a music video viewing party, live performances to be announced, and some industry experts will speak about the music industry and how filmmaking and video production can play in. The cover video on the Facebook event page confirms that Mike Haggith's video for "The Nature of The Times" will be screened, alongside videos from Mike Mikus, Jackson Reed, Kalle Mattson, and Audiosmile.

No word on if we'll see more videos than these 5, and for reference, Audiosmile are the new EDM/rock project from Anthems vs. Oceans' Dave Hunter. The Northern Film Showcase will be held at Shooters Downstairs Lounge (formerly Breakaway Bar & Grill) at 69 Dennis Street, just down the road from The Oddfellows Hall, and it is a 4:00 PM matinee, with tickets available for $10 at this link & presumably at the door. There are some unknowns yet, but this sounds like an intriguing way to spotlight musicians and video producers alike, and hopefully there's a great turnout in two weeks! Give the full cover video a look below, and see above for more details!



Finally for today, here's three shorter assorted news items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:

  • In a post thanking fans for their successful return shows at The Rapids Lounge this weekend, Sault Michigan hard rock quartet 415E noted on their Facebook page this morning that "we'll see you in a month." No word as of yet when or where the presumed show(s) will be, but there are four weekends in February you may want to keep an eye on until a public reveal!
  • I have restored Sault Ontario death metal solo project Gorrifier to our inactive band links! As you may recall, this was headed up by Pillory frontman/Id Iota bassist Robert Sartini in 2014, but their initial Reverbnation page was quietly deleted by year's end. Well, Gorrifier quietly launched a new Reverbnation page at some point after Pillory's 2016 reunion, so they're back at last. I don't believe Gorrifier have fresh updates, so they'll remain in our inactive links at the moment, but Rob's six brutal death metal instrumentals are still highly worth checking out at the above links!
  • Local/Thompson, Manitoba hard rock solo artist Mike Haggith was interviewed on Thompson adult contemporary station 102.9 CHTM on Friday morning! The interview was conducted by DJ Maxwell Healey, where they discussed "The Nature of the Times" and Mike's upcoming album "Bridges", and his single was also played, marking Mike's debut song appearance on FM radio. No word on if the interview was recorded for posterity, but it's great to see Mike getting more exposure and recognition in Thompson!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates on the site this week! Thanks everyone!