A New Local Metal Band, Northwest News Coverage, And Much More!!

For this last post of the month, we're tackling some assorted news items, plus lots of recent news attention for a talented local punk band, and adding a new metal band to our links, so here's what you should know!

We have a new local metal band to add to our active band links, and they are Troubled Mind! Essentially the successors to the defunct Skull After Betrayl, their lineup features S.A.B. bassist Adam Brett on vocals & guitar alongside frontman Mike Vincent (also formerly of D.O.T.H. & The Bear Hunters) on vocals & drums. You may also recognize Adam & Mike from working together in past bands like Death Rise and Despised Eyes, though with Troubled Mind, they'll be playing more operatic and alternative metal. No word on potential bassist additions yet, but they have teased adding keyboards to original material, which apparently "do not make sense." Launched earlier this week via their Facebook page, Mike has revealed plans to post a video of Troubled Mind jamming so we can hear how they sound, and hopefully they can build on the steady promise that Skull After Betrayl had during their brief run! Stay tuned for more on Troubled Mind as it rolls in!

Next up, here's the recent Village Media-related news coverage of local indie/punk quintet Northwest, who as you may know, opened for The Poor Young Things at LopLops last night! SooToday's Donna Hopper was on hand for their Rockstar Bar show last week to talk to Northwest for both this SooToday article and the newest episode of Local2's Tuned webseries, so what should we know within both? In the SooToday article (posted on Thursday), it's revealed that Northwest's name was indeed inspired by the name of Kanye West & Kim Kardashian's daughter (very much in the news when they were formed in mid-2013), while it was confirmed as well that Northwest's self-titled debut EP was created to gain exposure while they work on their proper full length debut album! Frontman Wayne Watkins confirmed in the article that they're focusing on writing right now and not rushing into recording, but this is promising to hear!

The article also includes positive remarks on their recording process and personal relationships, and it's a good read! Donna also included 9 photos from their set (albeit all black & white), and they're excellent in quality, as usual! Note however that neither the SooToday article or Tuned episode feature coverage of The Cover Up and The Pixo Control, who also played last week. As for the Tuned episode (also uploaded on Thursday), Northwest are the lead story, where Donna talks to the guys outside of The Rockstar Bar about their inception, EP, album plans, and why they don't play live all that often, among other topics. It's a good watch, though Wayne and guitarist Greg Callaghan definitely do most of the answering in the interview. There's also performance footage from their set interspersed during their segment, while the closing performance footage continues Tuned's 12 Musicians of Christmas spotlight from LopLops, this time via Case's Music owner/Lake Effect member Jay Case's set.

Also, the "News & Notes" segment on upcoming concerts is once again not in the actual episode, instead in text below it, which now appears to be a permanent change. Myself, I'd prefer to see it included in the episode itself, but this time, they did plug more shows than usual (four, in this case), including Northwest's LopLops show yesterday. Strong episode as usual, so give the new Tuned episode (which we can't embed here) a look above!

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

• After briefly being rescheduled to the same day as next week's Benighted concert at The Oddfellows Hall (which would have apparently begun before and ended after it, while featuring common bands), the postponed Blood Shed Productions 11-way split release house party was quietly cancelled earlier this week for unannounced reasons, as per the deletion of the Facebook event page. That said, the split was officially released earlier this week, so contact them at this link if you want a copy before the Benighted show!
• The One Bad Son-headlined concert at The Rockstar Bar on March 21st will have a low admission price of just $5 (no advance ticket sales), so there's a great added bonus if you want to check out the return of this talented Saskatoon hard rock band next month! Our source is the new official Facebook event page.
• Local punk/grunge solo project Telephone & Address will be joined by Boxes of Boom frontman Sam Decter for an opening set at the planned "Rust Orchid" CD release party at The Gore Street Cafe on March 12th, as per the official Facebook event page. This is a bit of a surprise, but Sam's music has creative qualities, and he should fit in on the 12th!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes as we begin a new month, plus our previews of both of this week's battles of the bands! Thanks everyone!