Defunct Local Band Profile Series: Paraside

As expected, the 10th of the month is bringing us another monthly feature post at the SMS, and it's our latest Defunct Local Band Profile! As always, this series features a profile on a local metal or hard rock band that have either disbanded or have been visibly inactive for a full year, and like the rest of the entries in this series, this month's band was randomly chosen from our local metal/hard rock band links. This month's band (our 25th profiled since this series started) didn't last a long time, but they were frequently seen at their height, so read on below for what you need to know this month! (Updated on May 7th, 2013)
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Paraside

Genre: Alternative Metal/Hardcore

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Members:

Jake Vachon, vocals
Brock Kinnunen, lead guitar
Greg Sacco, rhythm guitar

Michael Hagerman (Changing Waves), bass

Alex Hagerman (Changing Waves), drums

Audio/Video: Online media from Paraside's brief local run is in short supply, but a few pages have samples of how they sounded! Their MySpace page features low quality live recordings of their original songs "Butterfly" and "M.I.A." (along with their "Alarm" intro track), and I've since uploaded each one to our YouTube channel. Also, their Facebook group features three short (and also low quality) videos from early 2008 jam sessions. That's all from Paraside that I know of, but you can see their three jam videos as one combined YouTube upload (with brightened video quality) below!

Info/Analysis: Paraside were a young local hardcore band that were frequently seen at local concerts between November 2007 & April 2008, mostly at all ages hardcore/punk shows at The Oddfellows Hall. Paraside opened for notable out of town bands like The Rebel Spell, The Flatliners, and Three For Fallacy during their run, along with sharing the stage with local hardcore quintet As It Stands on at least three occasions. Details on Paraside beyond their concert dates are minimal, though according to their Facebook group, singer Jake Vachon likely left the band in the spring of 2008. Paraside's likely last show was on April 20th, 2008 as openers for Dead & Divine, and they last used their MySpace page on May 27th, presumably going inactive that summer. Band members Michael & Alex Hagerman were highly visible locally in the hardcore quartet Changing Waves through mid-2012, while guitarist Greg Sacco has worked on a solo acoustic project in later years. It's hard for me to critique Paraside due to the low audio quality of their posted material, but I can tell that they had good energy, solid guitar work, and a well varied sound, and I do detect band chemistry. It'd be nice to get clearer audio or video of Paraside, but check them out and see if you like what you hear!

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There, I hope you guys liked this month's profile! So, what's in store for this series next month? Well, our next 1-1-1-1-1 cycle between the twin Saults begins next month, but because the first band I chose doesn't have enough substantial information to support a whole post, we're doing two bands from each of the twin Saults next! Yes, both bands were chosen randomly. So next month, we're looking at the short lived 2009 hardcore band Lorax (formerly Loyalty Is Dead), and the late 2008 Sault Michigan metal project Hands of Betrayal (that I think featured Slackjawed Rats alumni), so watch out for these on the site on or around April 10th! That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news this weekend! Thanks everyone!

Local Metal Video Showcase!!

Who wants to see some new videos/songs! I've got them today for our latest local metal video showcase, featuring the latest videos from a popular local metal band, the latest solo recordings from a pair of local guitarists, and some new song uploads I've made to compliment an upcoming feature post, so read on below to get caught up!

Let's start today's post with some brand new videos from local extreme metal quintet Winkstinger... sort of! As edited at least in part by Paul Boyer, two new Winkstinger videos were posted onto drummer Jonas Gasperas' YouTube channel late last week, and they feature some existing footage of the band combined with video effects to create some new uploads altogether! One, entitled "Winkstinger - The Video", features a mix of about 3 minutes of video footage culled mostly from concert videos I shot (I sure ain't complaining!), band photos, and stock footage video, mainly from old Batman serials. Interesting mix, and though no attempt is made to sync the footage with the featured songs (their cover of the Blues Brothers car chase song & their original "Stop! You Can't Interrogate Someone With Brain Damage!"), it's a fun little video that showcases Winkstinger well! The one I'm embedding below though is a video made for their song "Where'd We Go Wrong" which combines my video of them from the Garden of Bedlam-headlined Rosie metal night last July with grainy video effects and lots of weird and amusing cartoon and video clips. I like the mix of this one better for syncing with the song, and it's definitely an interesting watch, so check it out below, and see much more at the above links!



Next up is Sault Ontario solo artist Mike Cliffe's newest song "Lost Soul Blues", as posted to his YouTube channel on Saturday! Described as a "guitar oriented dark blues variant" with "mournful synth", this is definitely one of Mike's slower and darker sounding originals of recent months, but it still has a bluesy flair while sounding fairly down and deliberate. The visualizations also go with the track's mood nicely enough! Not his heaviest song, but the mood makes up for it well, so check out Mike Cliffe's newest solo song below!



Also new from local guitarists is Neno Jovanovic's new solo instrumental cover, and this time, it's of The Misfits' "Astro Zombies"! Uploaded late last month onto his YouTube channel, this is of Neno playing along with the original track again, and in this case, he sounds clearer than the original! That could be expected to a point, but he flows very well with the original song, and if you like The Misfits, you should appreciate Neno's latest cover! Check it out below, and hear more of his solo work at the above links!



And finally for today, I wanted to note the additions of a couple of new audio uploads to the SMS' YouTube channel. If you're following our schedules, Saturday will feature our next Defunct Local Band Profile on Sault Ontario hardcore quintet Paraside (featuring the Hagerman brothers from Changing Waves.) In that spirit, and like I've done in earlier months when this came up, I've decided to post some extra material from that band's heyday onto YouTube, and in this case, it's the three audio tracks that Paraside have on their MySpace page. These got lost in the shuffle a bit thanks to the Dead In The Van video uploads, but you guys should definitely know about these, especially if you enjoyed Paraside's brief late-2000s run! The songs are Paraside's originals "Butterfly" & "M.I.A.", along with their "Alarm" intro, and I've combined them into two uploads to post onto YouTube for preservation! I tacked the "Alarm" intro to the beginning of "Butterfly" to avoid posting a 45 second instrumental by itself needlessly. These were live recordings & have fairly scratchy audio, but there's glimpses of talent and chemistry underneath, and you do hear a Changing Waves-esque sound underneath the audio quality issues!

NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED!! All credit for these songs goes to the former members of Paraside & the hard work they did to make these songs, I'm just trying to share them with a wider audience! These are good glimpses back to 2007 & 2008 despite the recording quality, so check out Paraside's songs at the above links, and here's their "Alarm" intro, followed by "Butterfly"!



That's probably all for today, but stay tuned later this week for more news, our Paraside profile, and hopefully my review of "Woods V", among other posts! Thanks everyone!

Local Metal Video Showcase!!

It's video time at The Sault Metal Scene! Today, we have a bunch of new videos to share in this local metal video showcase, including our first live videos of a new local band, our first taste of a new Lion Ride song, some solo work from a local guitarist, and this week's classic video! So sit back, relax, and enjoy these new videos!

The first video footage of new Kinross hard rock trio Banned is now online! Two videos from the band's set at last month's Music In The Park event in Rudyard are now online courtesy of YouTube user Ashley Traynor's YouTube channel, who uploaded them yesterday. We previously saw videos she uploaded of a Banned predecessor, featuring Banned members (and her father & brother) Don and Alex Traynor from a January talent show, but these new videos are officially of Banned! Two videos were uploaded, which feature Banned covering Bad Company's self-titled song, The Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Under The Bridge", and Quiet Riot's "Bang Your Head (Metal Health)", with each member handing lead vocals on a song! Alex handles Quiet Riot well especially, but it's nice to see all three members getting a crack at lead vocals! Solid performances for a debut, though I have to ask, where are they playing? Just in front of a random building with no stage? Hey, it works! Check out the Banned videos at the above links, take a look at their cover of "Bang Your Head (Metal Health)" below, and go see them in Pickford this weekend!



Next up, this video comes from the weekly series "The Unscene", about the culture & lifestyle of longboarding (a surfing/skateboarding hybrid sport), and it documents The Brittania Classic finals from Brittania Beach, British Columbia this past April. Directed by Marcus Fryia (who posted this onto Lion Ride's Facebook page last month) and featuring narration by longboarder Riley Harris, it was uploaded to YouTube by longboard manufacturer Sayshun's YouTube channel on June 30th. But wait, why are we talking about longboarding on a local metal site? Simple, because new Lion Ride songs make up the soundtrack! The video first features "Snail Trail" from their forthcoming full length album, which is a great song, but after that, we get our first ever look at the studio version of "Bang Bang, Bye Bye"! This song had only previously been heard from live recordings and concerts, but the guys at Sayshun must have gotten clearance to use the new song for the video! Awesome to finally hear it, even if it's overlayed with longboarder comments!

Sounds great, but of course, I'll hold complete judgement until we hear the full unedited version on the CD. Plus, the video has some cool insights and looks at longboarding, and Lion Ride suit the sport well for a soundtrack! Check the video out below, and for reference sake, "Snail Trail" starts 44 seconds in, while "Bang Bang, Bye Bye" starts at 3:29.



Thirdly today, here's some new solo videos I've came across of a Sault Michigan-area guitarist! These come from current Swayze Train guitarist Scott Savoie, who you may also recognize as a former guitarist in the defunct local death metal band Insipid Brutality. Scott's been running a YouTube channel since February, and it currently features three videos of him playing some solo guitar pieces. I can't prove the genre of Swayze Train yet, but there is some heavier stuff on his channel, including a shred solo & a tapping riff (both recorded in April) that show off his skills well! However, the newest and most substantial video posted is of Scott covering "Spoils" by Protest The Hero, and it's a solid rendition! It blends into the song well, and his guitar ability is clear and very nice, thought the video is a touch fuzzy. Good stuff though, hopefully Scott posts some more videos on his channel! Check out his Protest The Hero cover below!



And finally for today, here is this week's classic video! I contemplated using one from a Hollow band member, but I was having trouble converting files for those, so this week, we'll tie in the video with two members of Changing Waves, who'll be playing tomorrow night at The Roosevelt Hotel! Three years before launching their current band, the Hagerman brothers (Mike on guitar & Alex on drums) initially rocked the scene in the defunct hardcore quintet Paraside, who were visibly active from November 2007 through the spring of 2008. Also featuring singer Jake Vachon and guitarists Brock Kinnunen & Greg Sacco (Mike played bass), Paraside made their own waves during their brief local run, including opening slots for bands like Dead & Divine, The Holly Springs Disaster, and The Imports! Material of theirs is hard to come by online, mostly consisting of low quality live recordings on their MySpace page, but I did come across some video footage of Paraside in action! Three videos from Paraside jam sessions circa February 2008 were filmed by Krystal Crosato and uploaded onto the band's Facebook group on February 6th of that year. The video quality isn't spectacular, and it suffers from low lighting and distorted audio, but you can make the band out well enough, even if I can't name the songs!

NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED!!! All credit for these videos (which I combined into one single video) goes to Krystal Crosato and Paraside! Besides, this video does not have a wide audience anymore, especially when there's no video tab on their Facebook group to make these easily accessible (it took trial and error to find these), so if you want to see the original videos, head to http://facebook.com/video/?oid=7086500431. That said, take a look at the only video footage I've found of Paraside below!



That's all for now, but stay tuned later tonight or early tomorrow for our weekend metal/hard rock concert previews! Thanks everyone!