Our Recap Of Bone Yard 225's Interview On The Borderline!!

It's been a while since we've talked about on-air content on local internet radio station The Borderline (they haven't had a lot of new hard rock/punk-leaning programming beyond what's in their music rotation in a good while), but on Wednesday, local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 were interviewed by Adrian Vilaca on the Smart As Trees podcast! This is the first Smart As Trees episode that's really crossed the SMS' radar since their Clusterfolk episode in 2022, believe it or not. The interview is conducted by Adrian with all three members of Bone Yard, and just a warning before listening that there is some adult language. After introducing Greg, Alex, and Warren, the interview proper begins with frontman Greg Simpson acknowledging their beginnings in 2009 as a country cover band with him singing and playing guitar, with his old band Stiffler's Mom coming up along with Warren's own original music.

The reasoning behind tacking "225" to their name is finally brought up in an online context next, as the band wanted to differentiate themselves from the multiple other bands elsewhere named Bone Yard without rebranding fully, so a friend inspired them to add the number 225 based on placement of B and Y in the alphabet (B is the 2nd letter, Y the 25th), a'la biker codes, plus the existence of the angel number 225. Despite my initial assumption when the name extension was announced last year, it is not a reference to the United Steelworkers Local 2251, which I was corrected on at the time. After addressing the band's own colourful language and imagery, they introduced their debut original song "F.A.F.O." (as in, "fuck around & find out"), which is played on-air at the 7:10 mark. When the interview resumes, Adrian asks about the sing-along aspect for that track and how it went over when Bone Yard first played it live.

Next, we hear about their live shows and their recent runs of shows in Sudbury, plus planned on-the-road gigs in Thessalon and Kirkland Lake this summer, and Greg said that they're apparently exploring the possibility of playing shows in the United States. Warren did note that they're looking at writing new originals and working on a few new covers, seemingly implying that they might be doing a studio cover or two as well, and they're also trying to garner a loyal cult following as they continue getting their name out there. As of recording the interview, they had 79 shows booked for 2025, and the guys credited their support system as well, before their second single "Gypsy Spell" was played at the 18:45 mark. When the interview picks back up, Adrian asks the band about their charitable involvement in Toystock (for Christmas Cheer) and the Dragonfly Run (for ARCH), and what inspired them to support these causes.

The late Tyrone Souliere (Alex's former Mojo bandmate) is invoked here when discussing their support for ARCH and fighting cancer. Next, they discuss the fan support that they get, with the band criticizing the costs involved to both go out to see live music, and for venues to have the setups to host full rock bands, especially post-pandemic, while not being afraid to speak up about their issues with the state of live music in spite of the talent performing in the Soo. After discussing their belief to question things and debate the issues, Adrian plays their newest song "Fuck!" at the 35:35 mark. In the last three minutes of the interview, Adrian asks what Greg, Alex, and Warren's "desert island discs" would be (as in, if you were stranded on a desert island, what albums would you want to listen to indefinitely?), before closing with plugs for their social media and the guys giving Adrian a t-shirt, as seen in the teaser video below!

Uploaded to the band's YouTube channel prior to the interview's live debut on The Borderline, it features an on-air plug for the station from your local 225, plus photos from the interview and sample audio of their own music. Overall, this was a good interview that set things up well for fans of Bone Yard as they enter what should be their biggest year yet! Given how long they've been running, the fact that they're making such a push into original music and tour dates in 2025 is very neat, and while I did have some trouble differentiating Greg & Alex's voices, it's an informative listen for fans of "the dirty 3", so give the full interview a listen at this link, and stay tuned for more news and notes next week! Thanks everyone!

Belated News Coverage & Interviews About This Year's Clusterfolk Music Festival!!

Today, I wanted to give a much belated look at some of the coverage for April's revived Clusterfolk Music Festival, which had hard rock involvement via The Uncanny Valley, though they did withdraw from the proper Clusterfolk concert at The Rockstar Bar on late notice. In case you need a refresher, Clusterfolk in 2022 was primarily an online festival concocted by Jackson Reed, 180 Projects, the NORDIK Institute, and various grant organizations, with Bad Taste Cinema filming high quality music videos of eight young and (mostly) local indie/folk acts, with mixing & engineering done at Unsalted Audio. The eight videos had staggered uploads in April leading up to the concert, with Jupiter Marvelous, Distich, and late replacements Sainte Marie (who didn't get a Clusterfolk video) performing at The Rockstar Bar to cap off the festival on April 23rd, and reactions seemed to be positive!

In advance of the concert proper, Clusterfolk did get some positive press from regional news media that I apologize for missing until now! CBC Radio One's Northern Ontario culture/lifestyle show Up North did a 10 minute piece on Clusterfolk on April 11th, where producer Bridget Yard talked to Jackson about the genesis of the new Clusterfolk, how things came together (apparently they had wanted to do the festival in 2021 if not for pandemic challenges), aims & aspirations, what the original 2010-2011 Clusterfolk was like, artist feedback, a preview of the Clusterfolk concert proper (albeit before The Uncanny Valley and Bad Actors dropped out), and plans to bring back the festival in 2023 as an in-person summer event, before playing local folk duo Distich's song "Seams" from their festival video. Effective promotion to be sure with some new info, but I am surprised that host Jonathan Pinto didn't ask the questions.

If you didn't catch the feature live on Up North on 89.5 FM, you can hear it on demand at this link, so definitely do so if you want! CTV Northern Ontario's Christian D'Avino spotlighted Clusterfolk in this piece for the former MCTV on April 22nd, featuring interview remarks from both Jackson and Bad Taste Cinema owner Curtis Carriere, and while there's not a lot of new details to glean from it, the regional network television coverage was surely appreciated, so if you missed it on channel 11 (Shaw) or 2 (over the air), click here to see it for yourself! SooToday's Lisa Dobrovnik also covered Clusterfolk for this article on April 5th that approached everything from a future lens, as it beat other outlets to the punch, but it's definitely also worth a read to see how this came together! However, the biggest coverage was via Adrian Vilaca of local internet radio station The Borderline, so what should you know there?

On April 20th, Adrian interviewed Jackson about Clusterfolk for this episode of his main Borderline series The Smart As Trees Podcast, which runs for a solid 53 mintues, so what do we learn here? The interview starts with Jackson discussing his promotional work at the old Cafe Natura and what he's done artistically and abroad since then, before playing Jackson's original song "Go" with his recent solo band The Tweeds about 5:30 in, before getting into Jackson's promotional company Ears & Eyes, and then outlining Clusterfolk and the staff behind it, with Jackson discussing all four of the bands who were supposed to play at The Rockstar Bar, obviously still including The Uncanny Valley, who are brought up first as the intended headliners. Jackson noted that their music video for "Stuck In Rotation" was actually filmed at Unsalted Audio, and you can hear it at 16:10.

Sudbury folk duo The Bad Actors (the other late withdrawals) are brought up next, though Jackson doesn't bring up that their song ("Kelly's Wine") was not a video in the series. That song is played at 22:05, and Jackson does plug Sudbury's Will Powers (who the Bad Actors replaced initially) afterwards, but doesn't get into that lineup change on air. Distich are plugged next with "Seams" played on air 28:10 in, before Jackson plugs something I didn't know until now: All eight Clusterfolk songs were released as a compliation album on Bandcamp on April 19th! The album (put out through Jackson & Will's indie label Care Records) is a totally free download (no "name your price" option), but you can also order it on cassette tapes for $10, and it was sold at the concert! I recall seeing private Facebook pictures of Clusterfolk tape cases, but I never heard anything about a public release, so why wasn't that pumped up more?

Incidentally, a formal album review of this tape wouldn't be imminent, as I typically don't look at compilations with only one or two hard rock/punk songs (this is why I never reviewed the Dunnplugged CDs), but I really should buy a tape for myself! Jackson last discusses mixed-genre local band Jupiter Marvelous, and their song "Stress" is played at 38:55, after Jackson & Jacob Quarrell's joint song "The Moon" at 34:50. The last 10 minutes features Jackson discussing his post-secondary music program experience, the Clusterfolk poster design, the 2011 Clusterfolk (Jackson did get the old organizers' blessing to use the name), hopes to bring live bands back to the Bellevue Park Bandshell, and final hype for the Clusterfolk concert proper, before playing Jackson's solo song "The Sun" on air at 50:30. Very informative interview with lots of push for the concert proper and the overall conceit of the festival!

I do wish they'd have at least mentioned Storm Rausch, Xeno, and Gabrielle Dumas (the other three Clusterfolk video/album acts who were never advertised for the concert), but kudos to Adrian for having Jackson on for this much time to hype Clusterfolk, and here's hoping it comes back bigger & better in 2023! Definitely visit the above links for all of the Clusterfolk coverage, and check out all eight songs on YouTube and/or Bandcamp, and if you have a cassette deck, consider buying a tape for yourselves! Still surprised that wasn't hyped more. That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tarnished), And A New Metal-Centric Borderline Radio Episode!!

I had originally planned for a new post to go live tomorrow, but as we have LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, one on very SHORT NOTICE, let's get it up here on this Saturday morning! Those new dates make up the first half of this episode, while we'll wrap up with a newly discovered radio show that heavily discusses local metal music, so here's what you should know!

Sault Michigan hard rock trio Tarnished have announced a slate of summer concerts through mid-July, so where can you see Alex, Nathan, and Josh next? How does TODAY sound?! Tarnished will be pre-race entertainment at the Rock The Locks 5K (not 4K) race in Sault Ste. Marie, with their set slated to begin at 5:55 PM at/near the race's starting line at Brady Park on East Water Street. Obvious apologies for the short notice, Tarnished only acknowledged this date on their Facebook page yesterday,  and I did not find a recent reference from the Rock The Locks organizers towards their involvement on social media. Given the setting, I wouldn't be surprised if this was an Alex/Josh acoustic set, but Tarnished weren't specific. The day of may be too late to try and newly register for the run, but click here for full details on how to attend in any fashion, and this is definitely an all ages event. Hopefully the show and run go well for all involved!

As for the other newly unveiled Tarnished dates, their next two announced shows will be outside of our coverage area, including a return to The Erickson Center For The Arts in Curtis (90 minutes west of the Soo) on June 30th, followed by a show in Mackinaw City in the Lower Peninsula on July 9th, venue unlisted. Their next truly local date will be a return to the Hulbert House Bed & Breakfast in Hulbert Township on Saturday, July 10th at 7:00 PM (cover charge and age limit not stated), though the band has not specified whether it will be indoors like their four-piece gigs from the spring, or if it will be on their outdoor stage once again. We'll let you know if the band or venue elaborates! The final new gigs will reportedly see Tarnished hit The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino on Friday, July 16th & Saturday, July 17th, which seem to indicate that Kewadin is resuming concert bookings at their on-site lounges this summer!

For full disclosure, Kewadin Casino's website has not announced a live date schedule for the Rapids or Northern Pines Lounges at press time, but clearly Tarnished are confident about these bookings, or else why plug them? Assuming nothing goes awry, these would be 9:00 PM events with 21+ age limits and no cover charges. Visit the above links for more details, don't miss them TONIGHT at the Rock The Locks 5K, and here's Tarnished live!

Finally for today, let's look at an internet episode that aired on Sault Ontario internet radio station The Borderline back in April as part of station owner Adrian Vilaca's Smart As Trees podcast, entitled "Jimmie Chiverelli & A Sault Metal Story"! Given the title and some of the discussion, I just wanted to clarify that while I love the idea of the episode, I knew nothing about it until now (if I had, it wouldn't have taken me two months to cover it here!) The guest of honour is former Kalle Mattson drummer Jimmie Chiverelli, who metalheads may recognize as the original drummer for defunct local progressive/death metal band Gates of Winter (then credited as James Chiverelli), and he definitely maintained his genre love despite his later local music work! The 67 minute podcast starts with Adrian & Jimmie discussing the origin of metal in general and in the Soo, and the first played song is an early local metal example, Amethyst's song "Snakeye Strut" from their "Innocent As Hell" CD.

Next, Jimmie talks about his introduction to heavy metal music, how he learned drums, his early band experience, how Gates of Winter formed in the early 2000s (I never knew Mike Yakasovich from Northwest factored into their origin), and the earliest demo recordings that Jimmie recorded with Yak and Bryan Belleau, complete with part of "Into The Chapel" being played on air. They next talk about Gates of Winter's self-titled 2005 demo (which I still find is underrated), which notably featured programmed drums rather than his own live recordings, and Jimmie also discusses their early gigs, often at Madison's Pub and The Oddfellows Hall at that time period. After noting how he discovered new metal music in the early-mid 2000s, Jimmie discussed his first major live metal concerts in the Twin Saults, and discovering Woods of Ypres when they toured here early in their existence.

Adrian and Jimmie discuss some other contemporary local metal bands from the mid-2000s next, like Soldiers of Misfortune & Fitswitch, as well as loyalty to extreme metal subgenres, and the connection of metal to classical music, even playing Metallica's cover of "The Ecstasy of Gold". Afterwards, Jimmie talks about metal's modern trajectory and the classic throwback bands that have popped up, while also discussing other local acts like Garden of Bedlam, The Bear Hunters, and Pillory, as well as the demands of playing in a metal band, and his stockade of filmed concert footage from his tenure in Gates of Winter. The interview closes with what Jimmie's done (musically & otherwise) since leaving Kalle Mattson in 2011, and suggestions that Jimmie should host a metal show of some kind on The Borderline, before wrapping up by playing "Far Gone" from the 2005 Gates of Winter demo.

This was an entertaining listen, and Adrian gave Jimmie lots of space to offer his own personal thoughts and experiences, both as a musician and genre fan! Jimmie came across as eloquent, humble, and appreciative, and I like that the backing incidental music wasn't as loud as it can sometimes be for Sev's Cellar episodes. I wish I had knew about this episode before now, but give it a listen at the above links, especially for the early Gates of Winter insight, as that band is definitely missed around here! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site next week! Thanks everyone!