David Gold's Final Interview, The Launch Of SMC Radio, And More Recent News!!

Another month is upon us, so let's kick off the merry, merry month of May with a new news post to catch up on more of the recent backlog! This includes a few assorted recent updates, a surprise new internet radio station from an originating source you may not expect, and leading off, a poignant interview with a prominent local musician that I've never seen before. Here's what you should know!

If you subscribed to the former British metal magazine Terrorizer, you may have read what was purported as the final interview with Woods of Ypres frontman David Gold in issue #219 from February 2012. Terrorizer wasn't as available locally as magazines like Revolver or Decibel before publication ceased in 2019, so this easily may have bypassed even diehard fans, but it was posted onto the Woods of Ypres FanClub Facebook group by member Parker Caldwell last week, so now we can read it without hunting down this issue on eBay! Click here to read the whole thing, I recommend doing so in full screen mode or with a zoom. The interview was conducted by Terrorizer journalist Adrien Begrand just one week before David's death on December 21st, 2011, which makes David's remarks even sadder, as he reflected on how he hoped for more from the band personally & commercially.

David does reflect on recording "Woods V: Grey Skies & Electric Light", their shift to doom metal, and how recording each of their albums affected him emotionally, but he is candid about his mindset after a decade of working in and promoting Woods of Ypres without finding a true change in lifestyle or financial security. I don't wanna quote anything directly because this seriously deserves to be read verbatim. It is a sad read knowing what happened a week afterwards, but David still held out hope that this album would change things for Woods of Ypres, and it did, though who could have guessed under what circumstances. Read the whole article above, and thanks to Parker for uploading this in full!

Next up, here's a neat discovery that some of you may be long familiar with: St. Mary's College has launched an internet radio station! The Catholic high school at 868 Second Line East is now home to SMC Radio, which first aired in October of last year exclusively on Stationhead, which you can hear at this link or via the mobile application when the station is online (i.e., not weekends, at least not yet). Spearheaded by teacher Mario Rocchetta, SMC Radio's genre seems to be primarily top 40/contemporary hits, but they have aired themed programming blocks and listener requests, and on-air DJs (all students) appear to have some say in the rotation. Hard rock/metal-wise, the Friday afternoon show Lunch with Laur did air a Hair Nation episode in February, with a special all-Poison/Bret Michaels episode following in March, which is very relevant given recent coverage of the station (more on that in a bit!)

In the past week, SMC Radio has gotten spotlighted in this article by The Sault Star's Brian Kelly and via matching press releases on SooToday and SaultOnline, so what can we learn there? The Sault Star article features comments from student DJ Hailey Laberge (who plays a lot of classic rock and underground indie music on air), graphic designer Nicholas Legacy, and Mr. Rocchetta, who also noted that some popular broadcasts have seen fellow St. Mary's faculty sharing their own favourite songs on air, and the hope is for involvement with the station to count towards an academic credit. The press release pumps up a lot of the station's exposure and reach so far, while also noting the Instagram video linked below, where Bret Michaels himself highly praises the station & staff. Also, Mario Rocchetta is a big fan of Poison & Bret, even singing with Bret in Sault Michigan n 2016!

Full disclosure, this was written on a Sunday when the station was offline, but kudos to Mario and the Knights students for putting something like this together! Outside of Algoma University's defunct podcasting series, Sault Ontario school radio wasn't really a thing before now, and SMC Radio updates their social media accounts way more frequently than Laker Radio in Sault Michigan! I think it would help if they both got 24/7 autoplay rotation & added the station to other platforms like TuneIn, but they're on a good trajectory, and hopefully their on-air content keeps a strong and diverse focus! Give Bret's shout-out a watch below, and tune in to SMC Radio on Stationhead during the week to see what's on air!

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A post shared by SMC Radio (@smcknightsradio)

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

 

• Local concert promotion agency and pop-up venue host Dryer Fire are plotting a full post-pandemic return, as per this SooToday article by Chris Belsito on Friday! The Nicole Dyble-led company (which succeeded her old venue The Gore Street Cafe in 2018) did promote sparingly at The Klub last year, but she is hoping to regularly book events on a more normal schedule again this year. She has launched a fundraising campaign on Indiegogo to get $5,000 to book five shows in mid-2022, and has gotten booking requests from touring acts. Hopefully things run smoothly, it'd be great to see Dryer Fire healthy and in full operation again!
• Bands are being sought for this year's Sault Pridefest's Loud & Proud Family Fun Day at The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Center, which will take place on Sunday, July 17th at 1:00 PM. Hard rock bands did play at this LGBTQ+ festival event pre-pandemic, including The Din in 2017 and Re:Born in 2019, so the door's open for SMS friendly acts to return. Message organizer Amanda Zuke at this link or via the Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from Tuesday for more information!
• While the band still has not detailed their full lineup or sound on social media, personal Facebook posts confirm that new Sault Michigan rock band The Nameless (who opened for Buddy Repperton & The Camaros at Three One Three on Ashmun last month) are a quartet featuring singer/guitarist Joshua LaCoursiere and Tantrym Tyme alum Michael McLeod on bass. The identities of the other two members are not out yet, nor is any real indication of their sub-genre or set beyond who they opened for, but we'll let you know when more is confirmed, and check out some pre-show photos on their Facebook page!
  

 

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