The Light Brights will release its debut this fall. (Scott Blackburn photo)

Coming from the Halifax/Dartmouth area, The Light Brights are Bethany Fulde (vocals/guitar), Chad Harrington (bass) and Andrew Dahms (percussion). The trio met in music school and has since created its own funky, bluesy, dancey rock sound.

The Light Brights have made a name for themselves in recent months, releasing a self-titled EP last fall and playing shows non-stop in the Halifax area.

The band is taking a break for the summer while readying its full-length release, The World’s A Changin’, which Fulde says “shines with musical-growth, and sings of the frustrations and wonders of both love and the Earth.”

Fulde and Harrington join us this week …

1. Tell us about The Light Brights. When and how you did you guys form?

Bethany Fulde: We met through the NSCC Music Arts program.  After the first six months, and after playing in both rock and latin/R&B ensembles together, I asked Chad and Andrew if they wanted to play in a band with me. They were like YEAHHHH! They were more of a rhythm section to my old singer/songwriter stuff, but once school was finished we felt a little more free with our creativity.  We started to mesh together and write together and really bring some soul to our new stuff — we’re not the same band you may have heard when we first started.

Chad Harrington: It was a music school thing, we met playing music together at NSCC. Originally me and Andrew were just Bethany’s rhythm section for her more folky sounding music. Then we realized we wanted to be a BAND. The new music is so much different, you can hear everyone’s influences. Very groove-based stuff … but also improvisational elements are in there too. We actually wrote most of the music together at band rehearsals. Bethany writes the most of the lyrics, but Andrew, our drummer, wrote a lot of them for a song Shine a Little Light, and I wrote all the lyrics for The Worlds a Changin.’

2. How did you get into performing/recording your own music, and what was the first major lesson you learned once you got your feet wet in the ‘business’?

BF: We started performing and recording as The Light Brights about a year and a half ago, though we’ve all done both with other bands and projects in previous years. We recorded our first EP through school, though a lot of it was re-mixed and re-recorded at Sound Shelter Studio, which is Chad’s recording studio.  By the time we released it (Sept. ‘09), we were already writing new songs and knew that we were starting to go in a different direction… that’s about the time I switched to electric guitar. We spent a lot of long days in the studio in the past six months, hashing out songs and getting the forms and lyrics and layers and tones the way we wanted them.

I think one major lesson we’ve learned is that things always take longer than you expect. I think it’s because we get so excited to do things like perform and record and tour that we hope to get it all done at once… but with all the marketing/promotion/networking to be done too, plus unexpected bumps along the way, it’s impossible, and it’s not worth rushing it.  It’s all about working hard and prioritizing… which can also mean playing the waiting game.

CH: It’s a lot of work…. you can’t just play a few shows and expect people will notice you. You need to make sure you promote every show. No sense wasting a gig, you need to let as many people know about it as possible. Sometimes it’s hard to do it all, but we try and we’re getting better.

3. As I understand it, you guys are on a “show hiatus” for the summer so you can concentrate on preparing the new album. How is the recording and all that going?

BF: Well, our album is almost finished (it just has to be mastered!!), and we are really excited to share it with everyone! We want to really let people know about our new music, so we’re taking the summer to promote through album reviews, radio play, a music video (which we recorded in May) for our single, Do They Know, and a making-of documentary about the music video which includes interviews and behind-the-scenes footage.

CH: The recordings sound GREAT, Andew Watt did a wonderful job mixing them here at my home studio (where we recorded the entire album) and were just waiting on mastering! Very exciting.

4. The album release and tour is planned for September. Are you still on target for that?

BF: Yes!  We’ll be having a CD release party in Halifax in September, and a Maritime tour to follow shortly after.  Dates will be released mid-July!

5. How extensive will the tour be?

CH: For fall, every inch of the Maritimes we can get to… eventually spreading to more of central Canada.

6. If you weren’t in the music industry in some capacity, what would you be doing today?

BF: Working on a music therapy degree…I know that’s still music but I can’t imagine it not being directly related to my life — I’d be so sad! It’d be great to incorporate music therapy and working in a third world country like Ghana or Peru. I plan to go down there and volunteer in the next 10 years anyways… actually, if I wasn’t doing music at all I would already be doing that.

CH: Something creative… I used to get my creativity out by customizing old Volkswagens. I guess I still do… but not to the extent that I used to. I’m still always dabbling in anything I can. My cousin and I are planning on filming a short nine-minute thriller in August to be released in 2011 sometime.

7. What song or album have you been listening to most lately?

BF: Black Keys — Brothers, Rheostatics — Introducing Happiness, Bonnie Raitt – Live at The Rainbow Room. Oh, and I haven’t listened to it lately, but if you’re reading this and want some poetry and live jazzy jazz you should really listen to Tom Waits – Nighthawks at the Diner.

CH: I’ve been listening to ours. I’ve put so much time into recording and helping with mixing and such.   A little overdosed at the moment, but (I’m) still enjoying the songs, so that’s good! Other than that…  I’ve taken a liking to Zeus and Dan Mangan.

8. Other than the new album, what’s the next thing you want to accomplish, musically or otherwise?

BF: I can’t wait to really get touring! Maritimes in September, Quebec/Ontario soon to follow. More Maritimes in the late spring. There will definitely be a new album within the next two years, as we’ve already started working on a couple of songs together, and I’ve been writing a lot of bluesy stuff on my own lately (which I know the guys will funnnk up even more!). There’s so much we have planned, it’s just a matter of time!

CH: Albums, more. Record a few bands I’m not actually in. I’ve got some solo music I would like to spend some time on, folk /dance, sort of an organic electronic fusion possibly, that short film …  I want to build a custom electric bike. Too many ideas, not enough time.  So main focus is on The Light Brights.

Check back to EastCoastNoise.com next Friday for a chat with: Tim Isaac of Lovestorm and Isaac & Blewett

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Hey all,

I’m on vacation this week and next, hence the delay in getting the Fridays with … column up. So, as a bit of a weekend bonus, I’m throwing up two great interviews, with Kev Corbett and Kyle Cunjak.

I can’t promise I won’t be late again this coming week, but things should be back to normal the week after. We have a lot of great Fridays with … interviews planned, and the usual crop of news and notes.

As always, thanks for your continued support. Please spread the word, and sign up for our Facebook group here.

Cheers,

Eric

Fridays with … Kev Corbett

Kev Corbett recently toured Canada.

Kev Corbett recently completed a whirlwind tour of Canada promoting his latest album, Son of a Rudderless Train, which was released last year.

Mid-tour, he fired us off an interesting e-mail painting a picture of his two-month, eye-opening journey. The Nova Scotia singer-songwriter had “the task and trip of a lifetime,” as he put it.

We caught up with Corbett this week where he shed some light on his recent experiences:

1. What are you up to these days, musically or otherwise? (Feel free to plug whatever you’ve got coming up.)

I’m decompressing from three months on the road, and sorta gingerly planning my next move. I left Halifax on March 8th, toured to B.C. and back by train over the course of two months, drove again to Vancouver with my partner for Jill Barber’s wedding, then back to Toronto where I met up with Stephen Fearing for a week’s worth of dates around Ontario, then home. I just got home a week ago, so now I’m putting a lot of work into figuring out a routine, reconnecting with my partner, listening to a large archive of old vinyl records I inherited, catching up on sleep, writing the songs that came up while I was out there, re-imagining my sound, playing drums and doing manual work to clear my head and save up some money for new gear and producing the next record. Not working, ironically, is turning out to be a lot of work.

2. How did you get into performing/recording your own music, and what was the first major lesson you learned once you got your feet wet in the ‘business’?

It was really a continuum. I trained as a drummer and really only ever wanted to be a pro sideguy, like the guys in Dave Letterman’s band, just versatile and nailing it every night. I did the waterfront cover band scene long enough to learn Crosby-Stills-type harmonies and hate everything else about it, and quickly ditched cover band school for playing in bands that did their own stuff.

There was a latin/jazz/funk project called Knifey Moloko, spent a year in Amelia Curran’s band, then took a position with a Francophone band called Blou, which toured really hard. It was 200 days a year of airplanes, and they got two ECMAs over the four years or so I was working for them. At first I loved the pace and I was proud of the work we were doing together; but in time I was feeling isolated, frustrated, and unfulfilled in the larger picture. I’d been writing a bit, just for my own purposes, and when I played some of my tunes for someone I was dating, she told me that those songs deserve to be heard and if I never played them anywhere I was an idiot.

I never had much ambition for the tunes as such, but the studio environment was a fascinating sandbox to imagine playing in, so I set about it, made my first record which came out in late 2005/early 2006, and then got invited to a huge songwriting competition at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Colorado. That was my first hint that I might be onto something. The more I experimented, the more people responded. I think songwriting is one way I process the world, and I think it plays into my pathological aversion to being misunderstood. Since then, for me, it’s been about finding my voice, finding my little tribe of colleagues and fans, and doing the work that I like.

Big lessons: I’d say they all come around to being true to oneself. There’s a lot of pressure to jump through stupid hoops, make focus-group music, be trendy, talk like a press release. The great thing about art is that you can choose your own boundaries, and let the chips fall. It’s empowering.

3. You recently completed a two-month cross-country tour by train and car. You sent an interesting e-mail our way that shed a little bit of light on your journey through Canada, but tell us what the trip was like for you.

It was the greatest adventure, like living in the movie One Week. I felt really lucky to be able to do it in the first place, and just tried to attend to all the tasks at hand — being easy to work with, doing a good show, advancing my places to stay and so on — while being as in the moment and openhearted as possible. I was couchsurfing a lot, and dealing with no downtime, even when I was alone on a highway. Some real highs and some real lows, constant wonder and through it all, I just had a huge job to do and I needed to keep on game. The mantra was: Enjoy this. This is just how it is and you’re the luckiest guy anywhere.

4. What was the most interesting thing you saw or experienced during the trip?

I was invested in the trip as kind of a beginning-middle-end process, but nonetheless I’d always wanted to deeply visit B.C., and I lapped that up with great gusto. I met a great friend in Vancouver, who had my back when I needed it most. I loved everything about Vancouver Island — my hosts in Victoria, old friends in Courtenay, the surfer culture and perfect tacos in Tofino, seven bald eagles circling at once in Ucluelet, the repeated wonders of Cathedral Grove. Wow. I’d long wanted to visit Nelson, and had it built up into a potential highlight, but it was ironically one of the screwiest, most painful gigs of my life. The rest of the lower mainland was stunning. I did a theatre show in Vancouver that was a lot of fun, capped it off with one on Salt Spring Island, and was simultaneously played on Valdy’s radio show there, which felt amazing. I went back to Vancouver, got a phone message that an uncle had died, and then had six days on the train to inculcate that before getting home for a week before leaving again to go back. At least on the second trip there, I could show my partner some of the things I’d seen. A large chunk of my soul lives there, I think.

5. What did you learn about Canada as you were criss-crossing it?

How really huge and diverse it is. The geographical fact is really cool: the way the rolling hills and mixed forest of the Maritimes gives way to the St. Lawrence river valley, gives way to the Great Lakes Basin, gives way to the Canadian Shield, gives way to the Great Plains, gives way to the Rockies. You really feel like you’re traveling. The people-diversity is amazing. Local food cultures are a lens through which I experience a sense of place, so things like Mennonite cream sauce on an Easter roast, or homemade elk sausages for breakfast, or a pemmican burger, or Okanagan wine, or borscht — all the things we don’t have much of here — these are gifts, ways that people say this is who we are. And especially when you’re staying at their house, you can only be grateful for the sharing. It engenders a larger sense of wonder and gratitude for the learning experience, a deep desire to make sense of it somehow.

6. On Son of a Rudderless Boat, you have a who’s who of guest musicians playing with you. What kind of an atmosphere does it bring to the recording process when you’ve got friends coming and going all the time adding to your project?

Again, gratitude. These are peers, many of whom I’ve known and worked with in various contexts over the years, so I’d ask each to come in for a part here or there, and it’d take two takes of the chorus or whatever and they’re gone. Some needed to be paid, most didn’t, and I’d move mountains for any of them regardless. It enriched the process for me, because whereas I’d performed 99 per cent of the first record myself, I can’t sing soprano, play trumpet, etc., and to hear those sounds is still exciting. Some people were game, but we couldn’t schedule anything that worked for them. Other people offered, but I couldn’t hear a part for them that made sense, in which case, I just listened to what they thought. Some people didn’t show up until the third try. It was a bit stressful, because I was on a real time crunch to realize all that I heard in my head, but in the end, it was going to be as it should. I felt like my community had my back, so you just try to pay it forward.

7. If you weren’t in the music industry in some capacity, what would you be doing today?

Tough to say, as I don’t have any other skill. Maybe food culture and/or some kind of trade. I’m a hopeless foodie and I worked in restaurant kitchens before it came down to a decision point. I like doing manual stuff, like farm work, and building things. I’m doing some work now with some friends of mine who own a food business that’s expanded ridiculously in the last year, so it gives me something to do while the tour songs come out, a pay cheque to start recording them when they do, and a nice feeling of helping my friends build their future up.

8. What song or album have you been listening to most lately?

Strict Joy, by the Swell Season. It just hits me where I live.

9. What’s the next thing you want to accomplish, musically or otherwise?

I think I just want to continue to grow. I think the rest’ll take care of itself.

—–

Fridays with … Kyle Cunjak

The Olympic Symphonium, with Kyle Cunjak at left.

Fredericton’s Kyle Cunjak is one of the busiest guys in the New Brunswick music scene. If I recall correctly, I first knew him as a photographer. Then I saw him play bass for David Myles and Jill Barber at a fantastic, low-key concert at a small gallery in Sackville. Later, we’d chat about his own bands, such as Olympic Symphonium or Force Fields (formerly Fussy Part).

Today, he fires press releases my way and drops me a line about not only his bands, but the many he helps promote and manage.

As you’ll see, Cunjak has a ton on the go. But I’ll let him fill you in …

1. What are you up to these days, musically or otherwise?

Presently I am working on:

- slowly mixing the new Olympic Symphonium album
- printing a photography show for exhibit in fall 2010
- slowly working on a Force Fields album
- bookings for Snailhouse, Sleepless Nights and Petunia
- trying to find funding for a few albums that need finishing
- gearing up for the release shows for David Myles’ new record
- helping run a label/management team out of New Brunswick
- learning how to cook Thai food

2. How did you get into the music business and what was the first major lesson you learned once you got your feet wet?

I got into the music business by necessity because there was little to no labels, managers, publicists, booking agents, etc. … in English New Brunswick and we had albums/artists that needed help.

3. What song or album have you been listening to most lately?

I’ve been listening to a lot of old country, folk and bluegrass: Bob Wills, Harry McClintock, Bluegrass Album Band. Have you ever heard the Louvin Brothers – Satan Is Real?  It’s amazing.  Also can’t stop listening to the few rough mixes from Mike O’Neill’s new album, which is going to be better than most things.

4. What’s your favourite way to waste time or relax?

Swimming.  Pretty much my favourite thing in the world.

5. The Internet and social media are allowing artists to get closer to their fans than they ever were in some respects. What are your thoughts on this?

Totally fine, breaks down the barriers that once let rock stars get away with so much crap.  Everything has been done by bands in the ‘70s and ‘80s, so when I see macho jerks in a rock band trying to act cool and do something “bad” it’s just depressing.

6. If you weren’t in the music industry in some capacity, what would you be doing today?

I’d likely be pursuing photography more actively.  I’m not complaining though, having photography be strictly an artistic practice has given me a lot more freedom and peace of mind within the medium.  I’m a huge advocate for film and every time I take on a commercial job and shoot digitally it gets me down.

7. What’s the most interesting thing you’ve learned recently?

The fact that Roger Miller did all the music for Disney’s Robin Hood gives me even more respect for the man.

8. If you could hit the “delete” button on anything related to music (a song, artist, trend, whatever), what would you delete?

I love this question and have thought about this often. I’ve tried to think of who I could erase to get rid of the manufactured music movement in the ‘80s and ‘90s and EVERYTHING that followed but that’s likely just an evolution of a pretty face singing someone else’s music that has been around forever and you can’t get rid of someone without then losing an important part of musical history.

After much deliberation it’s come down to either Smash Mouth or Insane Clown Posse.

9. What’s your favourite thing to drink (alcoholic or otherwise)?

Picaroons beer, V8 (the original, in the can), and fresh-squeezed grapefruit/orange/lemon juice (called Grarorange Juice). Not at the same time.

10. Finish the sentence below and please elaborate on what you mean:

The east coast music scene … difficult but rewarding.

Because we are so isolated from most of the Canadian music industry, we have to work harder than the rest of Canada to get respect and support. It sometimes gets me down because I see so much talent that is given up on because it’s too much work and people lose their steam and break down. However, then I go watch a show or listen to a new record and realize that the best music comes from this region and if the rest of the world doesn’t know about it, it’s their loss.

11. What’s the next thing you want to accomplish, musically or otherwise?

If I could get Forward Music Group to a point where we’d be guaranteed at least 3,000 units sold of any pressing if would give us so much more freedom to take risks and put out more experimental music or side projects and spend more time on actually doing the thing we’re working towards … MAKING MUSIC. I can’t tell you how frustrating it is to spend 1/2 of my day on the computer when my instruments are what I should be concentrating on.

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Moncton's Cop Shades will soon embark on a cross-country tour.

We’re a week behind on Fridays with … and I honestly wasn’t sure why until I finally heard back from Moncton’s Kyle McDonald (Cop Shades/The Woods) a few days ago. Unfortunately, McDonald’s home flooded last week and he’s been holed up in a hotel for a week while trying to sort through the mess Mother Nature threw at him.

Fortunately, McDonald is taking it all in stride. The ever-busy Moncton musician has a new project, Cop Shades (also featuring Remi Cormier and Colin Muir), and the band is hitting the ground running. It released a free EP (download here) earlier this year, produced and edited its own video (view below this post) has a full-length album out soon, and will soon be touring the whole damned country. Not bad for a band just getting things going, no?

McDonald fills us in:

1. Yours is a name I’ve heard around Moncton long before I met you in person. I think the first time I saw your name was on a HOPE album. Tell me a bit about how you got involved in the local scene and your experience over the years.

It really started back in ‘93 when I was blown away by the quality of the local bands. It surprised the hell out of me to think countless bands/artists are being paid big dollars to put out the mediocre stuff they do — meanwhile I’m finding some of the best stuff I’ve ever heard made by local dudes jamming in basements.

My first band in ‘94 was called THE GLADES, whose first gig was a Harrison Trimble High School Battle Of The Bands show which also featured the first gigs by local bands The Ditchpigs and Sour Grapes. I got a bootleg cassette copy of the show and it really sparked my interest in bootlegging these incredible local bands I’d seen around. Another factor in my interest was because a lot of the bands around town didn’t have a recording — I soon realized if I’d bring my own little gear setup and record the show in the best quality I could, that this was the next best thing to getting a copy of an album. From there it basically turned into a bit of an obsession in trying to achieve the best possible quality recording, ultimately resulting in me recording bands in my basement after having graduated from Recording Arts Canada back in ‘98.

2. In addition to the work you’ve done with a lot of bands, I believe you have quite an extensive collection of local music from over the years. Are you making a conscious effort to collect all the Moncton music you can?

I definitely buy as much local music as possible. The more support the better — whether it be buying it, spreading the word about it or going to see the live show. I’ve got a pretty ridiculous sized collection but I still have a long way to go. Plus I’m missing so much prior to ’93, but I’m always on the hunt. That said, I’ll take this opportunity to mention that if anyone out there has any local band recordings (releases or live shows) that they would be into sharing, please e-mail!

3. Is there a “most prized possession” amongst the collection?

The one that sticks out the most is a cassette by local band SYNTAX ERROR from 1986 called COW, SHOE, NOSE, BRAIN who are sort of like a young Acadian French version of the Dead Kennedys meets DEVO. Totally flew under the radar; these guys could have had a huge following.

4. Tell me about Cop Shades. How’d you guys form?

COP SHADES was formed by Colin Muir and I in the summer of 2009. Our other band, THE WOODS, which I sing and play bass in, were in a bit of a slow period where we were in the process of jamming with a new drummer and we were forced to kind of take our time with it as we only had one day a week to put in any progression time.

Colin and I had so much time for musical creativity that we had catalogued about three albums worth of songs for THE WOODS and it was getting to a point where we had to stop. When I started playing music back in ‘92, I was a drummer, so I thought it would be neat to jump behind the kit again, and have Colin pick up my bass which was a new thing for him as he was strictly a guitarist.

My cousin Jon 10 was initially going to sing with us but after one jam in, he realized he would be moving out west within a couple months and as such we knew we’d have to find another vocalist as the whole point of the band was to put our excess musical creativity to some active use during our downtime. Remi Cormier from the Peter Parkers and Colonial Quarrels found himself with a serious amount of musical time to spare and I always found he had a couple songs in the Peter Parkers where he would kind of really let loose vocally. I thought it would be neat to see if he would be into it and sort of take that more weird/aggressive approach to his vocal style I’d seen prior since I recorded both Peter Parkers’ full lengths. He was 100 per cent down and we decided it would be neat for him to run his vocal mic through his huge Peter Parkers guitar pedal board and try to put it all together to form something that felt different, original and relevant to us.

5. You released an EP not too long ago and have an album and extensive tour on the way … is it important to you guys to really hit the ground running?

Absolutely. The band was formed with a bit of a different mindset to that which we put into THE WOODS. With this band we wanted it to be very off the cuff, as underproduced and raw as possible. Too many bands around the Maritimes have a good thing going and have ambitions to get up and tour or give it a go as best they can, yet it never seems to amount to anything more than talk due to hundreds of different reasons.

We figure we’re not getting any younger and it’s not going to get any easier, why not just flat out make as much happen as we possibly can and just get out and do it? As such, we wrote and recorded our initial EP in 6-7 hours and decided to make it available online for free just to get out there and spread the word. A few months later we shot a video which cost us a whopping $0 with a handheld camera in our basement and I personally edited and released it. We’ll also have our debut full length released in time for our August tour.

Bands who focus too much on making money, taking weird business-like approaches to their music, or complaining that their album was ripped to mp3 and is being listened to by people who haven’t paid for it, in my personal opinion are on the wrong track. Music shouldn’t be looked at as a business until it’s somewhat forced upon you through doing what you love and people really dig what you do on a mass scale. The majority of independent bands in this day and age sell their albums to people who attend their shows and like what they hear, or just flat out want to support the band. You can’t really fight the way the mp3 has changed the music industry as a whole despite the fact there are also so many drawbacks as a result. The best music you’ll find in this world is created by those who don’t conform to any sort of code, trendiness or standard of “how things should be done if you want to succeed.”

6. Is the big tour coming up exciting? Scary?

The big tour is extremely exciting. Just prior to that, we’re doing a set of five Maritime dates in the second week of July with Pembroke, Ont. band FLYING FORTRESS, which features ZUKU songwriter/frontman Brandon Wars.

They are a two-piece sort of basement crust metal duo with a stoner/thrash edge that are absolutely blowing my mind. I really hope people come out to see them as they won’t be disappointed.

From there our first show of the tour is Aug. 4th in Quebec City, straight to Victoria, B.C. and back in town for Aug. 29th. We’re really excited to just get out and make it happen. Unless you’re a cover band, it’s completely unrealistic to expect to get big guarantees or to stay in hotels every night on your first cross-Canadian tour. Too many bands don’t end up getting around to doing it because they believe there is a “proper” or “right” way to go about it when the reality of it is to just get out there.

Unfortunately so many incredible bands don’t have the means to get out and tour because of responsibilities like demanding jobs, houses, wives and children. Fortunately for the band, we have none of the aforementioned ties, which makes it easy for the three of us to jump in an SUV and go. We’re playing with loads of different bands all across the country with completely different sounds that we specifically hand-picked to play with because they are our either our friends who we already love or bands that we’ve discovered that we personally like and would love to see live. We’re all equally excited for what I’m sure is going to be an experience of a life time (in one way or another!).

7. What song or album have you been listening to most lately?

This is a tough one as I’m constantly listening to so much “new-to-me” stuff. Three albums come to mind:

Husband & Knife – Ghost Highway (2010) which is an ambient/acoustic one-track EP by my very close Halifax friends KC and Evan. You can download it for free at http://www.divorcerecords.ca/ under the FREEWAVE section.

Acid King - III (2005) which is an album by the psychedelic stoner/doom rock band which is fronted by Lori S. who happens to be the ex-wife of Dale Crover of the Melvins. I cannot pull myself away from it.

The Doers – Gaiety (2007) which is an album by the Vancouver-based acoustic punk/pop/experimental trio who also happen to be very good friends of ours. Frontman Sean Maxey is actually doing the artwork for our debut full length which we’re very excited about.

8. What’s the most interesting thing you’ve learned recently?

Get flood insurance. My basement was recently flooded near waist-high in sewage, ruining nearly every piece of gear I owned. Luckily I had insurance though am still trying to pick up the pieces but so many don’t have the insurance or flood coverage. It’s worth the money if you own expensive stuff, believe me!

9. Finish the sentence below and please elaborate on what you mean:

The east coast music scene is … is so under recognized and appreciated — it’s unreal. People think they have a grasp on “East Coast Music,” meanwhile most are only familiar with about 10 per cent of it.

I wish there was more attention and appreciation on the efforts of those that are taking the DIY route and less of those who are being raved at because they do things like apply for grants and play the ECMAs. It would be nice if the ECMAs could accept and appreciate all different forms of east coast music equally, but unfortunately this isn’t the case.

It was cool they introduced the “Loud” category but lets be honest, it’s a pretty wide area. You could be anywhere from rock to noise to black metal to stoner to psych-rock, to punk and you’ll be lumped and judged in the same category.

Most Canadians believe East Coast Music thrives primarily with Celtic and traditional when the reality is simply if it doesn’t fit in that or another popular category, or conform to some sort of system of “how to be popular on the east coast” — it just flies under the radar and is never paid any attention for the most part.

There is this amazing website based out of Edmonton called Weird Canada which focuses on honest, DIY, original music that doesn’t get the press like everything else does. Also equally as important — the OBEY Convention (which was created and is run by Darcy Spidle of Divorce Records in Halifax) showcased a ridiculous amount of this kind of stuff, from the Maritimes and all over the world as well. In my opinion, it is hands down the best Canadian “festival-type” out there. Expect to hear about OBEY more and more as the years pass; every show part of it was sold out this year.

Check out Cop Shades’ video for North Korean Arts Degree below, and check out all the band’s tour dates online here.

COP SHADES – North Korean Arts Degree (Official Video) from Superbob Records on Vimeo.

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