Swampstravaganza & Mike Haggith Updates, And Much More!!

Before we recap the results of last night's VM Radio Battle's opening night, here's a new news post to clear out some recent items, including a sudden new EP release, a unique video, and more, but first, here's some honestly overdue news on a big upcoming concert event!

We'll start today with some big updates for the fifth annual Swampstravaganza, now at The Canadian Nightclub on Saturday, May 9th, including that the annual multi-band all ages concert now has an official website! Created through Wix, the page includes photos and band lists for the past 4 installments at The Oddfellows Hall, an official logo, a $10 admission fee, and confirmation that this year's Swampfest will begin at 5:00 PM with the first band starting at 6:00 PM, with timeslots alotted for just 8 bands. This would make this year's event the smallest yet in the Swampfest series, but it would allow for a more manageable schedule! Also, the former "Sewer Swampstravaganza" branding is now only designated for the first year's concert in 2011, with "Quagmire", "Marshland", and "Bog" replacing "Sewer" to label later installments (no word on what this year's swamp-esque name would be.) As for confirmed bands, there's such high demand for this year that promoters have opted to roll out official band registration forms to apply to play, so what should you know on them?

We won't get into the legal jargon, but full details on what bands should bring and expect can be read at this link, where you can also sign up to potentially play this year, and what you need to provide in your application. I know many local artists want to play at this year's Swampstravaganza, so if you want in, act A.S.A.P. via the above links, stay tuned for updates, and the show's website is now in our "Other Local Metal Links"!

Next up, here's the latest from a solo performer from last year's Swampstravaganza, that being Haggith drummer Mike Haggith, so what's he currently up to? yesterday, Mike put a new digital EP named "Of Cars & Criminals" on sale via his Bandcamp page, which compiles three songs from his upcoming full length studio album "The Warinside". The EP (which is available on a "name your price" model) features the title track, "The Snake", and his newest song "We Met As Surrogates", which was just unveiled on his YouTube channel yesterday as well. Featuring Haggith/Din bandmate Curtis McKenzie on guest guitar and/or backing vocals on all 3 tracks, this EP is a nice teaser for fans awaiting "The Warinside" in full, but we'll hold on a review of this EP until the full album's expected release, as it'd be redundant to review both. Check out "We Met As Surrogates" below and the whole "Of Cars & Criminals" EP above, and don't miss Mike Haggith & The Din at The Speak Easy Battle of the Bands TOMORROW!



Also today, here's a unique look into local guitarist/Audiofumes podcast host Mike Cliffe's work behind the scenes, as this video (uploaded last week to his YouTube channel) is of him running a soundcheck for a live podcast, using The Bear Hunters' "Collapse The Sun" as background audio! It's an interesting look at the technical side of things (and not odd when you look at other similar videos on Mike's channel), and fans of The Bear Hunters who don't have "Eternal Hibernation" yet may like the audio sample! Give the video a look below, and definitely consider checking out Audiofumes, it's a quality podcast with notable, local, and underground artists galore!



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

• Local all-female hard rock/punk quartet The Danger Cats have unveiled their first ever studio-produced original song via their new Reverbnation page! It's of their song "Wanted Man", which was produced by AlgomA's Jamie Vincent and mixed by Cross Dog's Mark Rand, according to their Facebook page. It's nice to hear a great quality version of one of their originals, and fans should love it, so check it out at the above link, and don't miss the girls at the VM Radio Battle of the Bands next week!
• The Hiroshima Mutant Mindframe, the local/London solo metal project from Our Place Or Yours guitarist Matt Parr, now has a few new songs uploaded to their Soundcloud page in the past month! They include two acoustic songs (named "Huh" & "A Very Special Acoustic Song", the latter being longer and better composed) and the 49 second unfinished "Heavytrack" (no space) that has a lot of djent-heavy potential! Give them a listen above!
• Local musician Tammy Hill is looking for a singer, guitarist, and drummer to start a punk rock band that would play both originals and covers, as per her post on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group on February 19th. If you're interested in trying out, message Tammy above or at this link!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our recap of last night's VM Radio Battle of the Bands opening round later today, with weekend concert previews and our Speak Easy Battle review to follow! Thanks everyone!