A New Single Release, Plus A Few New Video Finds!!

As tomorrow is my 32nd birthday, I am getting this post up beforehand so I am free for whatever the day brings, but it is nice to get a new post up two days after the previous one for a recent change! To end May 2021, we have a post half devoted to Sault Ontario topics to start, but we'll end things across the river with new videos from E.U.P. artists. Here's what you should know!

New local noise metal project Molten Imp have released their first proper single release via their Bandcamp page on Friday! Entitled "Double Dose (Me)", this features two songs publically, both with two titles (Double Dose (Me)/Steeltonia" & "Rusted Hinges/News at 11:11"), but paid download copies do include two very short bonus tracks. Planned to be the "first in a series of virtual 7'' singles", this was independently recorded, but it was mixed by former Free Beer/Id Iota guitarist Dustin Goodall at Unsalted Audio (nice to hear him working on new music again!) Copies of "Double Dose (Me)" run for $4 at the above links. Without giving full thoughts on these tracks yet (as we might be properly reviewing this single on the SMS next month), these songs do have more of a metal component than Molten Imp's two prior standalone noise tracks, but still don't hold a lot in common with Boyd's AlgomA work. 

Molten Imp are definitely off to a quick start, and with a proper paid "single" already out, who knows how fast things will proceed for their upward trajectory! Again, "Double Dose (Me)" may very well be our next CD review on the SMS, so stay tuned in that regard, and buy/stream it above!

Next up, here's at least one more Treble Charger song that I've discovered from a compilation album that was not on one of their five studio albums! Back in 1998, Treble Charger's old indie label Sonic Unyon put out their compilation CD "Now We Are 5" in honour of their fifth anniversary, and it features recognizable acts like Shallow North Dakota, The Kittens, and Danko Jones, among others. Sonic Unyon had put out print runs of Treble Charger's first two albums, and while the local/Toronto indie/punk quartet had left Sonic Unyon prior to 1997's "Maybe It's Me", they did contribute to "Now We Are 5" with a live recording of "Ever She Flows" that is labelled as being from Rock 100.5 with Pat DiNizio in New York City. However, I can't find any record of a station there with that frequency. Also, Pat DiNizio was The Smithereens' frontman, not a radio DJ, so what's the story there?

As best as I can gather, the "Now We Are 5" booklet has an erroneous (but close) credit. From my research, I would hazard a guess that Treble Charger's performance was on WDHA 105.5 in Dover, New Jersey, a rock station then & now that Pat DiNizio made a number of on-air appearances with over the years. As for the song proper, it's a fine acoustic rendition of one of Treble Charger's signature songs from their pre-punk, Bill-led era, and it's nice of them to help support their old label on their anniversary like this! Give this acoustic version of "Ever She Flows" a listen below, and thanks to YouTube user CanuckShoegazer for uploading this last month!

We'll close today with some new videos from Sault Michigan, starting with a fresh upload from local classical metal project Theatre of Night's YouTube channel, set to "Military Theme Song Medley" from their 2012 American patriotic-themed instrumental album "The Dawn's Early Light"! Uploaded yesterday as a clear tie-in for Memorial Day tomorrow, this video is set to assorted pro-America and pro-US military video clips & photos, including a few of the band proper at the start and end. It's easy to forget that Theatre of Night have more public activity than just their Christmas album and tours, but with their momentum stalled during the pandemic, it is good to see that Theatre of Night are still working on stuff behind the scenes, let alone on something so timely! Give it a watch below, and hear/buy "The Dawn's Early Light" above for more metallized historical American standards!

Finally, here's a new video from Heavy Lies The Crown guitarist Ted Olson's YouTube channel last night, specifically of an instrumental composition named "Aurora". Despite the thumbnail, the video does not feature Ted on camera at all, instead only showing sped up footage of clouds in the sky, bookeneded with shots of power lines. As for the song proper (apparently recorded with his Strandberg headless guitar from the "Odin" video), it delivers the progressive metal goods and has nice forward motion without getting too brutal! Give it a listen below!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post on the site on Wednesday! Thanks everyone!

Studio Updates From Two E.U.P. Bands, Plus Lots Of Assorted Updates!!

For the first time in 12 days, we have an actual multi-topic news post on the SMS! Blame the Ontario lockdown for that, but hopefully things will start to pick-up once the province starts re-opening next month. Fittingly, given the slowdown of Ontario topics this month, most of today's post reflects Sault Michigan and area, but there are a few shorter Canadian topics sprinkled in the back half. We will have more of an Ontario focus in our last post of the month, tentatively scheduled for Sunday. Here's what you should know!

We'll start today with the latest updates from St. Ignace progressive metal quintet Heavy Lies The Crown, so what have they been up to in the past month? After an almost two week break from new Facebook page postings, the band posted a (sideways) photo of their studio on May 21st, which is captioned "Finish vocals." That appears to have been their current/future plan re: their new full-length album, and an emoji-laden post the next day implied that they had completed recording clean vocals, with screaming next in line. That night, H.L.T.C. posted this 22 minute video of Brandon & Nathan (I think) working at the computer on tracking the recordings. This is also sideways, alas, but it is an interesting fly-on-the-wall look at their studio recording process! It definitely sounds like Heavy Lies The Crown are deep in the process, but see for yourself above & below, and stay tuned for updates!

Next up, local blues/hard rock quartet Project 906 have unveiled another new studio track from their planned debut EP! As teased to premiere today at noon via this preview video on Wednesday, this is a studio version of their original song "The Comeback", which has been in their live setlist since at least August 2019 (click here to see 906 perform it then). The black and white video features all four band members performing their parts separately, and this notably features new drummer Gary Croad on camera for the first time, though I'm surprised he's only filmed from behind. Without reviewing the song in full yet (save that for our review of the EP, assuming it comes out), this is a relatively long and bluesy number, so fans of that side of Project 906 will be right on board! Unfortunately, external embedding of this video is blocked, but click here or above to give it a watch, and hopefully we hear more from Project 906 soon!

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:

 

• In their first Facebook page posting in over a year, Allstar Promotions revealed on May 17th that they are "working on booking shows for the fall/winter time" (presumably back at The Dreammaker's Theater at Kewadin Casino), and they hope that, once the border is re-opened, "it will open the doors to rock/country shows in our area", as half of their ticket sales come from Canadians. Fingers crossed everything goes smoothly for vaccinations and the re-opening this summer on both of the Twin Saults! No word on if Allstar's newly posted photos of Pop Evil & Steel Panther are hints for future shows or not.
• A Sault Ontario-based vocalist named Corey Derry is looking to jam with like-minded musicians, preferably on rock, blues, or (non-hair/death) metal music. In deference to the lockdown, he did ask for people to "send me something to work on until restrictions are lifted". I'm not familiar with Corey musically, but if you want to get more details, message him at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from last week!
  
• New local hard rock sextet Dealing Without have quietly added Jamie Labreche as their new drummer, replacing Larry Mousseau, as per updates to their Facebook page in the past two months. A reason for Larry's departure was not publically announced, but hopefully nothing bad happened! Jamie is a long-time bandmate of bassist James White's from Blind River's The Disciples of Rock & the local Rage Against The Machine tribute Stoned To Deaf. He should fit in fine with Dealing Without that way, and stay tuned for more from this promising new band when it goes public!
• This is old news now, but Sault Michigan FM radio station Rock 101 got a new website last year with a new layout, extra programming information, and a new web player that actually tells you what songs are currently playing & are up next, complete with artist trivia and news! From my experience, the end of some songs & DJ breaks can stop the player, but pausing & unpausing does resume playback. If you want to tune into 101.3 FM without a normal radio, keep the internet stream in mind!
  
• Sault Ontario hard rock solo project Stonesmith GC (formerly StrykerGC) are back! On Monday, in their first post about their actual music in 7 years, Troy noted that "we are cutting a new album", and now have a full studio to work in. Very surprising news, but hopefully their relaunch is productive, and Stonesmith GC are back in our active band links! Coincidentally, I had randomly picked them for next month's Defunct Local Band Profile earlier this month, but as they are active again, I'll slide the profile to an alphabetically adjacent act, namely the Soo's own crash band, Sykotyk Rampage! Look for that profile on or around June 10th!
  
• Sault Michigan hard rock band Tarnished have posted Facebook event pages for concerts they're playing this weekend in Southwest Michigan, specifically in Grand Rapids and Vandalia, so click here for details on both shows, despite the minimal notice. Good luck on the road trip! For what it's worth, their newest Facebook photo is hashtagged with "threepiece", implying that they're not adding someone to replace Donald, but who's playing bass & drums now? We'll let you know if we hear anything!
  

 

That's all for today, but stay tuned for a new news post either on Sunday or early Monday morning! Thanks everyone!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: 62ndChamberMedia's Channel

A day early, but here's this month's YouTube Channel Profile, our monthly spotlight of a randomly selected YouTube channel whose content is at least half devoted to local metal, hard rock, or punk artists/concerts! This month's pick gives us some prominent extreme metal content from the local scene eight years back, so here's what you should know!

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62ndChamberMedia's channel (http://youtube.com/62ndchambermedia)

Owner: 62nd Chamber Productions owner Boyd Rendell (a.k.a. Darby Wigwaus), who is also known for his work as a vocalist and guitarist in extreme metal projects like AlgomA, BeeFMouTH, and Molten Imp

Channel Timeline: Launched on April 11th, 2013; Videos posted from May 31st of that year until June 8th, 2014

Channel Summary: The official YouTube channel for Boyd's inactive film production company, it's contents are primarily devoted to local musicians (mostly metal ones) that were active in 2013, which he either worked with or hosted shows featuring. While primarily of live concert footage, uploaded videos also include two interviews, a jam session clip of a private BeeFMouTH reunion, and teaser commercials for two AlgomA concerts.
 
Why You Should Watch: Local metal fans will be most interested in 62nd Chamber Productions' channel, and it captures a lot of the highlights of the scene from eight years ago! Hard to believe it's been that long since these were filmed. However, the channel has not been visibly used since 2014, preceding 62nd Chamber's website being taken down in 2016. As well, the channel does not include 62nd Chamber's short film work from the early 2010s, most notably their short film "The Last Strand".

 Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

 

GIWAKWA - Iron Lung --- from a LXII bootleg currently in production: The first concert video here is of inactive local death/doom metal quartet Giwakwa playing their original song "Iron Lung" when they opened for Sleep When You're Dead at The Oddfellows Hall in May 2013. The video title hints that this was from a "bootleg currently in production", but whatever that was alluding to never got publically released. Despite a green post-production filter and a low frame-rate, this video captures Josh, Chris, Nolan, and Chris at their usual brutality during this brief run, and hopefully the personal teasers about a Giwakwa reunion of some kind do come to fruition!

 

 

Sabrina Strange interviews The Bear Hunters: The most popular videos on 62nd Chamber Prouctions' channel are two interviews conducted by late local metal musician Sabrina Pelchat (a.k.a. Sabrina Strange), specifically with AlgomA and (as featured here) The Bear Hunters, a video which garnered over 1,200 views. Posted in October 2013 in advance of their set at The Big Loonie Bus Show, Sabrina asks the band (minus Josh) about their musical influences, songwriting, album release plans, experiences on the road, among other topics, before closing with a jam room performance of their song "Servitude". Both the interview and song are well done, despite some abrupt cuts, and this is a must-watch for Bear Hunters fans! Note that Sabrina's first public interview (with The Cretin from The Dayglo Abortions) was not posted on this channel, and has since been taken down anyway.

DESTROILET live @ Bark at the Loon I: Four videos on the 62nd Chamber channel come from The Big Loonie Bus Show, a special one-off concert held at La Cucina (underneath Bucci's Place) in Echo Bay by AlgomA's promotion company Oh! Right Arm Promotions, with a bus being rented to get fans unable/unwilling to take the 40 minute drive there and back. With the exception of AlgomA (presumably as band members were the ones manning the camera), every band was filmed across multiple songs, including The Bear Hunters, Crimson Crusade, mystery act Telephone & Address, and as featured here, hardcore punk quintet Destroilet, whose black & white video captures 37 minutes of their usual fury. It's always been hard for me to identify individual songs in Destroilet sets, but lots of familiar originals and covers can be seen here, and everyone puts in a blistering performance!

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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! Next month in this series, our random selection has given us YouTube user skam705's channel, featuring dozens of local punk concert videos from the early-mid 2000s and the old (705)VideoMagazine. That should be a good one, so look for it on or around June 26th, and stay tuned for more news and notes on the site by month's end! Thanks everyone!

Slumshine - "Slumlord" EP Review!!

It's now time for our 143rd monthly CD review at The Sault Metal Scene, and we're back to new albums on this increasingly warm month, specifically by looking at local punk solo project Slumshine's second album "Slumlord"! Independently released to their Bandcamp page on May 6th, this EP is currently exclusive to that digital platform, though Slumshine did tease another cassette tape album release in February on Facebook, which could see "Slumlord" included in some form. Despite their use of plural pronouns (like we & us), Slumshine are solely represented by These Magnificent Tentacles frontman Brenton Ellis, clad in his requisite pink ski mask. You can buy "Slumlord" above for $5, and while it can be streamed for free on Bandcamp, consider buying it to support Brent's work! Featuring five songs running for just 11 minutes in length, this'll be a quicker review, but let's get it going!

Compared to Slumshine's all-acoustic debut album "SLMSHN" (which I have not reviewed yet), this EP immediately comes across as more experimental, courtesy of the 39 seconds long opening track "Avernus". This sounds like Brent left the recording equipment going in another room during a rehearsal, before ending with some loud effects, and honestly, it's barely a song. The first proper track (if still short) is "Pink Clouds of Destiny", which starts off as an acoustic instrumental before some om chanting helps transition into electric instrumentation, albeit maintaining the same guitar melody of the first half. I like how it sounds, and the guitar work fits both tones, but this feels like the introduction to a heavier punk song, moreso than it's own composition. Third is "BiPolaris", which is the first song on offer with proper lyrics, and those seem to grapple with mental health issues.

This song is thematically closer to the "SLMSHN" tape than most other songs on "Slumlord", but Brent does sing in more of a softer affected vocal tone here, until the backing vocals kick in late. The lyrics (complete with American national anthem allusions) seem to come from a personal place, but compared to their more punk leaning debut, this falls short for my preferences. Fourth is the EP's shortest song, entitled "Fuck You! Pay Me!", and despite the explicit (and presumably ironic) title, it is just a soft acoustic guitar instrumental number. It sounded pretty to be sure, but it's 35 seconds long. The EP's title track "Slumlord" is next, and I reckon it's about Brent experiencing the light in various forms. At it's base level, this is an acoustic song, but spacey post-production effects are layered over the track that can be distracting at first, but I got used to them by the end. 

This is probably my favourite song on this EP, and if stripped down without the spacey effects, it feels like it's ready for live performances! There is some good passion to Brent's singing as it goes, but the lyrical structure can be a little repetitive. "Slumlord" closes with it's longest track, "M'Guts", which runs for a blistering 3:09. Seemingly about wanting to get a fresh start & working towards a more ideal future, the title appears to reference giving your heart and soul to accomplish something, if with more graphic detail. This song is electric (though sans drums) and is arguably the most "punk" song on offer, but the production doesn't really emphasize the guitar work, as it takes a very quiet back seat role in the mix, already not helped without audible percussion. The backing vocals feel tacked on too. Overall, "M'Guts" has solid lyrics & a strong base for genre fans, but it doesn't sound finished.

So, what are my final thoughts on Slumshine's new EP? I like where it's going, but it feels unfinished. As music, I appreciate that Brent wanted to experiment beyond the acoustic punk-only sound of "SLMSHN", but that can be a mixed blessing. I haven't reviewed that original tape on the SMS yet, but it's a longer release in spite of it's acoustic trappings, which is why I speculated that "Slumlord" would only end up being one side of their teased new cassette tape. Beyond that, the music here is definitely more varied and creative in structure and instrumentation, and while I applaud that (especially on the title track once I acclimated to the effects), I'd have done more. "M'Guts" could really use drums & a more even mix, the softer affected vocals on "BiPolaris" weren't my thing, "Pink Clouds of Destiny" feels like an introduction more than it's own song, and the two 35+ second tracks don't add a lot of their own.

If the plan is to make this side A of the "SllMSHN" tape, then the story is obviously unfinished (remember, their other new song "Believe In Hugs" is not on "Slumlord"), but on it's own, this EP is a neat change of pace from their debut that seems to come from a more personal place of Brent's. For my personal genre preferences, their debut album is stronger and leans more into traditional punk (albeit acoustic), but there's stuff to like on "Slumlord", so give it a listen or buy it at the above links!

I hope you guys liked this month's CD review, but what will we be reviewing on the site in June 2021? I don't know yet, but our next "Where Are The New Albums?" post on or around June 2nd will give some hints as to possible upcoming albums. If no new major hard rock/metal/punk albums come out in time, we'll dip into the archives, but next month's review will not be of anything by Swampgut or As It Stands due to our 6 month anti-bias buffer rule. Given the reports about things slowly re-opening in many parts of Canada and the USA, just a reminder that, if there were concerts to tie things in with, and nothing new came out, I would try to tie in archive reviews with artists from those albums who happened to play live with their current projects in the same month (which we last did for Redefined in September). That will still be an option when shows resume, whenever that is. That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes next week! Thanks everyone!

Rock & Roll Heaven On The Borderline's Episodes On Sault Memorial Gardens Concerts!!

With news remaining very slow for the local metal, hard rock, and punk scenes, today seemed like a good day to dive back into local internet radio station The Borderline, so what else is available to hear there that would fit our coverage range? Let's start with veteran local musician/photographer Brian Tremblay's series Rock & Roll Heaven, which focuses on musical acts that have played in Sault Ste. Marie in the past, either through personal and guest recollections, or interviews with musicians who have came here on tour, and there are a lot of episodes you can hear on demand now on The Borderline's website. Last month, episodes of Rock & Roll Heaven were posted that explore the history of live concerts at the former Sault Memorial Gardens, which was our major concert venue and hockey arena from 1949-2006. While Brian's musical tastes can stray from our usual coverage, hard rock concerts there do come up, so what can you find within?

The initial Memorial Gardens episode runs for 63 minutes, and it is entitled "A Garden of Music", which primarily explores classic rock-leaning musical acts that played there through the early 1980s, and Brian does play DJ by airing select studio tracks from bands discussed during the show (a full playlist can be seen at this link.) At the 17:24 mark, Brian talks about being in attendance progressive hard rock legends Rush's third and final Sault Ste. Marie concert from 1977, which he fondly recalled, despite being poorly attended. In this segment, Brian played the live version of "Closer To The Heart" from their live album "Exit Stage Left", followed by "(Make Me Do) Anything You Want" by Toronto hard rock band A Foot In Coldwater, who opened for Rush on this tour. Fun 10 minute segment overall, and it's nice to hear some first-hand context about Rush's last local date from someone who was there!

The second episode (entitled "A Musical Hockey Barn") can be heard at this link or above in the second (lower) file. It's formatted very similarly to part 1, and runs for almost as long, but it does creep later into the 1980s in the second half, and thusly talks about more hard rock acts. There's also more recommendations from friends and listeners than in "A Garden of Music", for what that's worth. Hard rock fans will be most interested in segments from 18:02 on, starting with Brian's recollections of Vancouver hard rock icons Prism's local stop, including their songs "Spaceship Superstar" & "Flyin'". At 29:08, Brian looks back on Canadian guitar icon Kim Mitchell, who played the Gardens solo and with Max Webster, and he played his classic song "Lager & Ale" in this segment. Next, at 34:13 in, Brian talked about Alannah Myles, who opened for Kim locally at the show Brian attended.

Rather than go the obvious route by playing "Black Velvet", Brian chose her track "Still Got This Thing For You" to play on air. The last show Brian talked about in this episode was a triple bill from Canadian hard rock legends Moxy (not Moxy Fruvous), Goddo, and Trooper that he saw at the Gardens in the late 1970s. Moxy's segment begins at 40:04, and he plays their song "Ridin' High" here, before switching to Goddo at 45:01, from whom he plays "Walk On", and gives some extra detailed information on meeting and helping frontman Greg Godovitz much later on. Fitting of the headliners, he covered Vancouver hard rock favourites Trooper last at 52:52, and he plays their two first singles to close, "Baby Woncha Please Come Home" & "General Hand Grenade". A third episode was teased, perhaps diving into Gardens concerts in the 1990s, but it sounds like it's dependent on listener recollections and requests, so contact Brian if you can help.

I enjoyed listening to these episodes, especially when Brian had unique thoughts on specific concerts to share beyond just if he liked the bands in question, and his biography details in between were also welcomed! Re: a third episode, I wonder if getting a hold of Duane Roy (author of the Soo Stories book about Memorial Gardens concerts) would be worth considering? He definitely had strong recollections of shows there. Even if a part 3 isn't imminent, there is more to discuss from Rock & Roll Heaven (now linked on the SMS), so give both of Brian's Memorial Gardens episodes a listen above, and stay tuned for a new post of some kind by Saturday! Thanks everyone!

Tarnished's Article In The Sault Evening News, Treble Charger On MuchMusic In 1997, And More!!

News remains slow as of late, thanks in large part to the ongoing Ontario lockdown, but I have cobbled together enough material for a proper news post on this Sunday morning! Below, you'll find lots of assorted topics from the last while, plus a 24 year old MuchMusic clip featuring a familiar local band, and leading off, a rising local hard rock group's recent attention in a major local news outlet! Here's what you should know!

Sault Michigan hard rock band Tarnished got a nice article from The Sault Evening News on Thursday, so what should you know from it? Actual newspaper copies aside, the online version of the article is officially behind a paywall (open to online subscribers only), but if you switch to newspaper mode on your browser quick enough upon opening, you can freely read the article, which explores how they launched and got their name, their musical influences both before & since joining Tarnished, their fan interaction and keeping a public profile during the pandemic, and their future plans & aspirations. The article is informative and a fun read for fans, and it's great to see an active hard rock band in the E.U.P. getting some local press attention! Scoops include a likely return to outdoor acoustic gigs on Portage Avenue this summer, a show in Grand Rapids in two weeks, and more at undisclosed locations in late June.

Note that bassist Donald Alexander is not featured in the article whatsoever, while Josh Fair is credited as being their bassist again rather than drummer, so did Donald leave the band? As "Donny Wayne", he was credited on bass in this Facebook event page for their Royal Oak show last month, but the venue wrote that up, and Tarnished themselves last acknowledged him via Facebook videos from their Hulbert gigs in March. If Donald is gone, it's a shame, as he seemed to fit in well with Tarnished, but we will let you know if that is inaccurate or if they announce a new drummer or bassist. In any event, read Tarnished's full Sault Evening News article at this link or above!

Next up, here's a newly discovered TV interview with inactive Sault Ontario/Toronto indie punk quartet Treble Charger! Uploaded by YouTube user Uncool Dispatch last month, this aired on the long-running MuchMusic show Much West, where host/former VJ Terry David Mulligan spotlighted music from and in Canada's west coast. Treble Charger were on tour in Vancouver at the time, and the interview was conducted outdoors (in the rain!) in the Yaletown district there. The interview appears to be circa November 1997, as per the scrolling on-screen text beforehand, and it features singer/guitarist Greig Nori and then-new drummer Trevor McGregor. Here, Terry asks Greig & Trevor about their recent work with Smokin' Worm Records, the search for rising new musicians to tour with, issues in working with major labels, and how their music was evolving in a changing landscape. As well, a dog gives his valued input!

The video also includes a clip of Treble Charger playing "How She Died" at the University of British Columbia, and it ends with the full video for the version of "Red" from their third album, 1997's "Maybe It's Me". I feel like there's missing context in this interview that would have been cleared up in prior segments of this Much West episode, but it's a fun look back at Treble Charger in their transitory phase before going punk, and the discussion's loose but professional! It is a shame that Bill wasn't part of the interview though, given that he was still their primary singer then, including on "Red". Give Treble Charger's 1997 Much West interview a look below!

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

 

• I have moved local acoustic punk solo project Ashoka At The Show to our inactive band links due to a year's inactivity. Darren has updated their Facebook page frequently in the past year to promote his e-gaming exploits with NHL 21, but he has not promoted Ashoka At The Show as an active musical act since May 9th of last year, ironically noting his plans to work on more songs. Hopefully we hear from Darren musically again in the future, he's a multi-talented guy!
• Former Sense of Truth/Skeyes of Seven frontman Cory Murchison posted a new original song named "Love's Countryside" onto his YouTube channel last week! The song was originally written for his grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary, and he added instruments to it for this new version as a gift for his mom on Mother's Day. Due to the hyper-personal nature of the song and attached slideshow, I opted not to embed it here, but Cory put solid emotion into this well composed track, which you can hear above!
• New local noise/industrial metal project Molten Imp now have their own Facebook page, where they revealed that they will have a new single to unveil on May 25th (one week from Tuesday), and are also planning to release a full length album on CD this fall. Promising early news to be sure, and see above to hear what Boyd's up to!
  
• The annual CBC Searchlight competition is back for 2021 as CBC Music looks for the next great undiscovered Canadian talent, so click here for full details on this year's competition and if you want to throw a late hat in the ring! As best as I can tell, the only locally based band of any genre to enter so far is indie rock quartet Man Feelings, but this year's Searchlight interface is not fun to navigate, especially when you can only narrow down bands by province or territory. The top 100 voted bands move on as of Thursday with huge prizes on the line, so see above for full details!
• As you may have noticed, the annual Sky's The Limit fundraiser concert for Children's Mental Health Week did not take place (virtually or otherwise) this month, and I could not find a public statement from Algoma Family Services about why it was cancelled in 2021. Held at the auditoriums at The Tech and later Korah Collegiate from 2016-2019 before going virtual due to the pandemic last year, The Sky's The Limit sought to raise awareness for mental health among local youth, with artists like Mike Haggith & Electric Church among the lineups. Hopefully The Sky's The Limit comes back next year, as it served an important purpose!
• Defunct local black/doom metal band Woods of Ypres were ranked #1 in Metal Hammer magazine's list of the 50 greatest cult metal bands, as seen in the current May 2021 issue! They even got a full page write-up that you can (partially) read at this link via the Woods of Ypres fan club Facebook group, though parts are out of frame. It's amazing to think about how big Woods of Ypres have gotten in the decade since losing David, and hopefully getting this kind of press in a major metal magazine will only help expose them to a wider audience! If you have this issue, give it a read!
  

 

That's all for today, but stay tuned for a new post of some kind on the site by Wednesday! Thanks everyone!

The Full Rundown On Mikey Hawdon's Interview On Sev's Cellar On The Borderline!!

Back on April 8th, Mike "Sev Micron" Severin from local internet radio station The Borderline interviewed prolific local punk musician Mikey Hawdon for an episode of his interview series Sev's Cellar, which you can hear on demand at this link, so what should you know here? Like the Mike Haggith episode we last talked about, this is a 2+ hour interview broken up into two halves, but here, the first half is in the first (higher) file on the website. After briefly talking about his old local band Old Hat (a.k.a. The Roll-Ons) and playing a song of theirs, he plays the cover of The Replacements' "Favourite Things" from the Mikey & His Uke series, so if you actually want to skip ahead to just the interview, that starts about 6:30 into the first 78 minute file. In order, Sev talks with Mikey about how he's managing in Toronto during the pandemic, his local upbringing (The Fairmounts' band name actually comes from the street he grew up on) ...

...how he grew to love music, his fandom of Back To The Future, his beginnings in actually playing music, his inspirations, how he acquired and started playing the ukelele, and how the Mikey & His Uke series began and evolved into it's current form, before playing the cover of The Ramones' "Bonzo Goes To Bitburg" from that series. Afterwards, Mikey discusses songs he loves, some of the concerts he's played that Sev has seen both locally and in Toronto, Mikey's plans to move back home, some of the trademark personal/free-form questions that Sev asks in every episode, and the best concert Mikey ever played, which segues into audio of his defunct Toronto-based Green Day tribute band The Dookies covering Green Day's "Welcome To Paradise" at the Montebello Rockfest in 2015, before Mikey talks about the two people he'd love to have dinner with.

After playing the Mikey & His Uke cover of The Buzzcocks' "Ever Fallen In Love", Sev told an anecdote about discovering The Sex Pistols thanks to Monk from The Rad Zone, before diving back into some of the personal (and sometimes silly) questions, and his front line work in his day job, before playing "American Jesus" from the Mikey & His Uke series. Next, they talk about Mikey's appearance on Global News last year, plus more of Sev's trademark questions, and then play The Fairmounts' "Kicked Off Queen" (which Mikey explains the backstory of, and it references Toronto's Queen Street, not ours). The first half concludes with how Mikey got Harry Waters Jr. (Marvin Berry from Back To The Future) to sing his rendition of "Earth Angel" from the movie for an early installment of Mikey & His Uke, which is played in full. Now, what should you know about the interview's 57 minutes-long second half?

Part two also begins with another Sev's Vault feature about his old Toronto punk band The Throbbin' Hoods, before segueing into "Send You Back To Lithuania" from The Fairmounts' newest album. There is a longer wait for the continuation of the interview proper, which picks back up around 17:30 with a lot more of the fun personal questions, his hockey fandom and celebrity autograph collection, and a Rising Tide song even gets played to reference the topic of discussion at one point! The proper musical discussion picks back up with the inspiration behind the name of The Fairmounts' new album "Eik Namo" and the experiences he had drumming with The Inner City Surfers, before playing the Mikey & His Uke cover of The Pogues' "Streams of Whiskey" (this is the one from St. Patrick's Day that his Surfers bandmate Dustin Jones appears on). After thanking Mikey for coming on and plugging his upcoming plans, ...

...Sev plays Mikey & His Uke's version of Joan Jett & The Black Hearts' "Bad Reputation", before suggesting future plans for the series and playing The Fairmounts' "Never Gonna Be Me". With a musician like Mikey, there is a lot of ground to cover, so bands like Lion Ride and Detroit don't get mentioned, and only The Fairmounts and Mikey & His Uke get played on air in full, but this is a great interview featuring fun topics of discussion from a local musician who has seen and done so much here and in Toronto over the years! This is a long listen, but click here or above to hear this Sev's Cellar episode in full, and stay tuned for a new news post of some kind by Sunday! Thanks everyone!