Getting ready for her EP release party Thursday April 10th at The Biltmore, Tamara Nile is pretty excited. After taking a break from her last release, Nile is back with a freshly pressed EP called Tingle and Spark, and she’s ready for people to hear it. Packed in a tight 5-song format, Tingle and Spark (EP) has many of the same folk sensibilities we’ve come to expect from Nile, but with added musical textures that include beats and synths. I, myself, felt a tingle and saw a spark as Nile spoke about creating her new album.

“I was influenced by bands like The Knife, Chromeo…having access to electronic instruments gives you a much broader pallet. If you imagine it like painting, it’s the difference between having two colours and a thousand colours to paint with.”

And while Nile stands behind her previous releases, she feels like they expressed only a fraction of her creative vision.

“That’s one of the reasons I took a breather after releasing The Cabin Song EP (2009). I was ready to evolve creatively but because I didn’t see anyone else doing what heard in my head, I felt shy to share it.”

These days, Nile doesn’t hold back. She’s always been interested in “blending genres and even different artistic disciplines together.” Recently, she’s been working with a dancer/choreographer Cayley Hanrahan on a multi-media theatre show that incorporates her songs as the backdrop and inspiration for dance and movement.

“I’m a fangirl for dance. To me, it’s just a natural extension of my first love, music. I’m enchanted by the way that dancers can create a visceral visual representation of how music affects the human mind, body and soul.”

Whatever her project, expect Nile to write honest songs with emotional gusto. Her full-length album drops in August. In the meantime, see her at the Biltmore Cabaret on April 10 with special guest Frankie and David Ward.

Check out T.Nile tonight at The Biltmore. Details and tickets online. 

Refill those ink pots and sharpen your quills, Poetry is Dead’s new issue is out soon. And this time with some funny people. To help launch their Humour Issue, Poetry is Dead is hosting a variety show, featuring poets, comedians and even some poets-cum-comedians. For your listening and seeing pleasure, there will be a plethora of readings, performances and sketches from issue contributors and local comedians.

Unfamiliar with the publication? Poetry is Dead is a semi-annual magazine full of poetry (obviously), art, reviews and essays, with an overarching mission to connect poetry and non-poetry readers. Sara Bynoe, a prolific Vancouver comedy performer let us in on what to expect from the variety show launch party (let’s hope there’s some debauchery!)

Sad Mag: How did you get involved with the Humour Issue Variety Show?
Sara Bynoe: I’m not exactly sure. It probably happened over Bangas at The Union. I contributed a poem to the humour issue. Oh and, I’ve been working for months to become Dina [Del Bucchia, the Humour Issue’s guest editor]’s BFF. My work seems to be paying off.

SM: What will you be performing?
SB: I’m in the opening piece and Cynara Geissler and I have been paired up to do a thing. I will not be reading any poetry. All I can say is that it’s going to involve music.

SM: Who are you looking forward to seeing perform?
SB: Everyone. It’s a great group of people. Don’t make me choose!

SM: What can the audience expect from the show?
SB: I’m expecting variety. Expect the unexpected. Here’s a tip, the bar will be open during the show. At least that’s what I’ve heard.

If poetry and comedy is your thing, then here’s your chance to see those two live. There will be some guaranteed knee-slappers.
Get tickets for the show here!

Wednesday March 26^th, 2014
Tickets: $20.00
Doors: 7:00 pm
Show starts: 8:00 pm
Venue: Performance Works
1218 Cartwright St
Granville Island

Last year’s Pick of the Fringe and this year’s Ovation Award for Outstanding Production, Small Theatre, is back! Sad Mag contributor Melanie Shim gets the inside scoop on what this year’s production is all about.

My first Archie-related memories involve visits to the dentist. My dentist is still low-tech and instead of a television, her office has an array of magazines and Archie comic books that you can peruse as you wait. But, I promise you that Riverview High: The Musical, which is based on those very same comic books, is like a palate cleanser to any uncomfortable memories of your dentist picking and prodding your teeth.

Riverview High employs the premise of a common Archie scenario – boy meets two girls, boy asks both girls out to prom, girls find out and demand that boy chooses between the two. Throw in a few song-and-dance numbers and you basically have a perfect Archie-inspired musical.

Returning to the Firehall Arts Centre for a two-and-a-half-week run in August, Riverview High is high-energy, nostalgia-driven and fun, fun, fun. Set in 1996, the familiar story centres around our protagonist, Alex, played by Erik Gow, who is stuck in a love triangle and must choose between girl-next-door Cathy (Alex Gullason) and sophisticated Erica (Ranae Miller). Seeking help with his high school dilemma, Alex enlists his girl-hating, hot-dog-loving best friend Parker (Cameron Dunster), who is wrapped up in his own girl problems since Esther (Michelle Bardach) just can’t take no for an answer. Alex needs to make a decision fast because the girls’ other suitors, Randy (Lucas Blaney) and Dexter (Caleb Di Pomponio) are vying for their affections too.

“When Angela [Wong, author of the musical’s book] and I first starting talking about writing a musical, we knew that we wanted to write something fun,” says Stewart Yu, composer, lyricist and music director. “The idea of taking familiar characters and putting a fresh twist on it really appealed to us, so we took inspiration from things we grew up with, like the Archie Comics, Saved By The Bell and California Dreams. In some sense, our show is in the vein of Avenue Q and Wicked—both of which play on familiar stories and surprise you with what they have done with the characters.”

Boasting the Pick of the Fringe in 2012 and six Ovation Awards in 2013 (including Outstanding Production, Small Theatre), Riverview High promises an hour and a half of smiles and laughter, choreographed dance sequences and original songs. While the Riverview High gang will be putting on the same show, there are exciting changes to this production from its run last year during the Fringe Festival.

Yu explains, “Yes, there are definitely some new things happening this year. The Fringe run was an incredible learning experience for us. Riverview High was the first musical we had ever written, so we learned a lot about what worked and what didn’t during the Fringe run. Thankfully, the majority of the show was very strong—we knew we were on the right track with the extremely positive feedback about the show. There were just a couple of story arcs that needed fleshing out and some tweaking that we wanted to do. After working on the show again, we have a couple of script changes and new songs to share with you!”

While Archie and the gang are sometimes considered flat and unchanging characters, the creators of  Riverview High crafts real people in real situations and offers a new perspective on the Archie universe. This is why Yu thought Archie would be great source material for a musical. He says, “It’s a story about a clueless teenager who is forced to grow up, whether he’s ready for it or not. It’s a story about love, and whether or not you have the guts to follow your heart…I think the reason why Riverview High has held people’s attention is because we start off with these fairly one-dimensional archetypes and turn them into real characters that you can relate to.”

***

Riverview High: The Musical is social! Check them out all over the interwebs at their website, Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube

Riverview High: The Musical

Created by Angela Wong (book), Stewart Yu (music/lyrics, music director) and Mike Mackenzie (lyrics, director)

Firehall Arts Centre

280 East Cordova Street

August 7 – 24, 2013
Wednesday to Friday 8:00 p.m.
Saturdays 4:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.
Sundays 3:00 p.m.

Buy tickets online or by call the Box Office at 604-689-0926

Have you seen Sad Mag’s most recent Sunday Strip? Artist extraordinaire and frequent Sad Mag contributor Sara French, whose work was notably featured in our Vanimaux and Mad Mad World issues, provides cuttingly smart comic relief. Which is one reason, among her many claims to fame, why French is Sad Mag’s newest Vancouver Notable.

As a multidisciplinary artist who works in drawing, performance art, sculpture and video, French has participated in a variety of group exhibitions throughout Vancouver, including 221A, Gam Gallery and the Lion’s Den. Most recently, French exhibited Bills, a solo show in Winnipeg at the independent gallery 672 Sargent that displayed her collection of embroideries. She is currently working with a Toronto artist collective called Department of Unusual Certainties on an upcoming exhibition, slated for fall 2013, exploring housing development, internationally and within the Greater Toronto Area.

In 2014, she will engage in a one-year artist-in-residence for Harcourt House Artist Run Centre.

Sad Mag: Who are you?
Sara French: I am an artist that works in performance art, drawing, video, textiles and writing.

SM: How did you get involved in Sad Mag?
SF: Through my friend Maegan Thomas who writes for Sad Mag. We used to work together.

SM: How did you get started in illustrating?
SF: I was studying English at York University and I started volunteering at an art gallery on campus, Art Gallery of York University or agYU. I liked what I saw, so I started doing it. Once I started, I realized that drawing has so many possibilities and I have never given up.

SM: What or who inspires your work?
SF: I do a lot of work, so that is a big question. I have a day job, I work to keep clean, I workout, but then I make art, which I think is the work you are referring to. I wouldn’t categorize my art making as work. When making art I am inspired by life, I am inspired about the way people live and the choices of living. I explore life through art and the endless odds that we may embrace or not embrace. Life is vast and art helps me engage with it in a more detailed way. I can be different people, explore different lifestyles, try different habits, use my other hand to write, and more. In addition, I am inspired by people, my family, writers, artists, acquaintances, collaborators, friends and myself.

SM: Where are you as you answer these questions?
SF: I am in Edmonton in my room at my desk.

SM: What’s the last comic book/book you read?
SF: My boyfriend has a zine that is 24 pages of amazing comics that he issues every month. It’s called Fatras by Vincent Roche.

I also recently read the first 5 Walking Dead comic books by Tony Moore and I have Black Hole by Charles Burns waiting to be read on my shelf.

SM: What piece of work are you most proud of?
SF: Wow. That’s a hard question. I’m proud of it all, rather than one specific work. But if I had to be proud of one work the most it would be my Norman Eberstein project which I began during my Masters at ECUAD [Emily Carr University of Art and Design] and it’s still ongoing today. The project is vast. Basically I created a character and he is Norman Eberstein. He is an unpaid, self-licensed, non-insured, altruistic, benevolent security guard that has performed at over 30 events and locations over the past 4 years. Most recently he performed at a queer cabaret night in Edmonton called “Queer Summer Night’s Dream.”  He has produced a collection of bookworks that are his loggings and reports from his shifts. There are videos, photos, relics, abject remnants, documentation, which are all a part of the project that one day I hope to exhibit.

SM: Who is the one person that has most effective influenced your work?
SF: A lot of women come to mind when I’m asked this question: my best friends, Maryam Yousif, Lois Klassen and my mentor whom recently passed. She was 83 years old, and taught me diving, sailing and swimming, at summer camp. Jan Moldenhauer is her name. One of my favourite writers, whom I’ve met, is Chris Kraus. All these females have greatly affected my work. More importantly, K8 Hardy. She is an amazing artist. She is represented by Reena Spaulings in New York and recently exhibited at the Whitney Biennial. I feel like we are alike, which probably only exists in my head. She makes amazing videos and now she is making fashion. I like all female artists doing DIY now, especially Claire Fontaine and Bernadette Corporation. Most importantly are the people I know personally.

SM: What are you working on right now?
SF: Currently I am working on a new character named Reena Smith who will be performing for an exhibition that is being created in collaboration with the Department of Unusual Certainties, a Torontonian artist collective. The theme of the show is housing development, internationally and within the Greater Toronto Area and it will take place in Markham, Ontario.

SM: What are you most excited about right now?
SF: I was just awarded artist-in-residence for Harcourt House Artist Run Centre here in Edmonton. Starting November 2013, I will begin a one-year residency with the gallery that will conclude with a final exhibition. It is a huge honour and I’m very excited to get started.

***

To see some of Sara’s ongoing projects, visit her three blogs below:

FRNDSHPBRCLTS – a collection of her friendship bracelet making works

Collage College – a document of collage parties she has held and will hold

Napkin Collection – an archive of her napkin collection