We've got it all right here, folks! Everything that's ever been written up, photographed, and discussed on the Sad Mag website. Enjoy browsing our archives!
Seattle's First Annual Queer Music & Arts Festival
The Sad Mag crew is thick into production of our next issue, MadMadWorld, and we’ve picked a great city to go over our copy in! We are going to Seattle baby! (We are. For realsies. Like today.) The Seattle Queer Music and Arts Festival, and Sad Mag is taking a road trip!
From Mo-Wave’s Website: “We live in an age where pride parades are ubiquitous and queer culture is portrayed across all media outlets. Yet for some, televised and marketed gay culture is a vapid and self-deprecating representation of queerness. In our efforts to matriculate into mainstream American culture, we queers sometimes forget what makes us powerful: our ability to challenge the status quo, to push cultural boundaries, to redefine and set global definitions of art and music. Uninspired by mockeries of reinforced stereotypes, ‘Mo-Wave is an attempt to showcase queers as tastemakers and rule breakers in modern society. Additionally, ‘Mo-Wave aims to highlight the particular flavor that Seattle and the Pacific Northwest offers the rest of American queer culture, both historically and today. The inauguration is coming. April 7-14: Seattle, WA!”
Counterpoint, an online video series that showcases Vancouver musicians, launched this week with much hoopla and a little hullaballoo.
Counterpoint provides an new perspective on Vancouver musicians by featuring them outside of the group or band with which they are generally associated. Counterpoint invites all musicians to participate their series, regardless of age, genre, or the popularity of their instrument or genre.
The man behind Counterpoint’s concept, its mic, and the bass guitar, Collin Ankerson, joins Sad Mag’s Vancouver Notables lineup in order to answer a few questions about his experiences as a musician and as a part of Vancouver’s music scene.
Sad Mag: Who are you? Collin Ankerson: I’m a musician interested in deepening my understanding of musical language by playing with and talking to as many local musicians as possible.
SM: How did you get involved in the music scene in Vancouver? CA: I came to Vancouver equipped with my bass, which, combined with living on campus at UBC, led to a lot of opportunities to ‘jam.’ Making friends that way led to performing regularly with a few groups. I picked up a gig on craigslist once that actually turned into a really great jazz group and even led to us playing the Vancouver JazzFest.
SM: What was the first musical performance that you felt proud of? CA: Probably the open mic at a Borders books in Oviedo, Florida. I went down there by myself when I was a senior in high school and played solo bass. It was the first time I had ever attempted a solo performance, and the beginning of a lot of the ideas and techniques that are a major part of my playing today.
SM: What do you think the music scene in Vancouver is lacking? CA: The Vancouver music scene is lacking a good relationship between promoters/venues and performers. A lot of venues are unwilling to give smaller, local bands any guaranteed pay, so they essentially free themselves of any responsibility for providing quality entertainment. The venue wants music, but they don’t want to pay for it, nor do they want to curate it by actually listening to demos. That’s something I can’t understand. Why wouldn’t one of these venues want to put in the work to become the spot for quality local music?
SM: Favourite Vancouver musician(s)? CA: I want to say Dominic Chan who is a jazz guitarist with a really original sound, but I have lost touch with him and I think he may have left the city. So, I’ll say Jesse Cahill, a local drummer that performs regularly at the Cellar with Cory Weeds. He has a cool jazz/funk fusion style, and a quality that’s hard to accurately describe, but what I might call vitality.
SM: Favourite musical genre? CA: This is nearly impossible to answer, but I will say that I feel most informed by Classical and Funk/Blues. Being an electric bass player, it’s hard not to love funk, and I grew up listening to funk and blues by virtue of my dad’s record collection. When I began studying music theory, I fell in love with classical, and find that it heavily influences my performing and composing.
SM: Best Vancouver venue/night for seeing said genre? CA: Unfortunately, there isn’t a huge funk scene in Vancouver right now, but the Biltmore has brought in some great bands recently, including Charles Bradley and Antibalas.
Collin improvises with Young Pacific's Devin Miller in an upcoming episode of Counterpoint
SM: Where are you as you answer these questions? CA: In my house, frantically drafting emails to send to anyone in the city that I think may be interested in Counterpoint.
SM: Last album you listened to? CA: Taj Mahal – Recycling the blues & Other related stuff
SM: What are you most excited about right now? CA: I’m excited to get the Counterpoint website up and running. I hope that the people of Vancouver will be interested, and that I can continue talking with all of the talented musicians this city has to offer.
The day after the night after the weekend after all the holiday events treat yourself to a sassy dance mix and pretend like hell that hangover is “just a little headache.” Is there a better way to get ready for the next party than continuing to dance? Pamela Rounis brings you the designer playlist you need to heat up the holidays.
A maven of music, a food snob and a stickler when it comes to good design, those of us who know Pam regard her as a passionate person for all things creative. Pam received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Emily Carr University of Art & Design in 2006 and her diploma with honours in Illustration and Design from Capilano University’s IDEA Program.
When Pam isn’t doing her design magic for Sad Mag, she enjoys being a soprano diva in the Kingsgate chorus, making elaborate meals and then eating them, and making daily playlists for your listening pleasure.
On Sunday, join Sad Mag and the Kingsgate Chorus at the Cobalt (917 Main) for a holiday fundraiser.
Also featuring Mount Pleasant Regional Institute of Sound (MPRIS) and DJ Ruggedly Handsome, you can look forward to boozy holiday crafting, sing-a-longs, a dance party and a photobooth.
Entry is only $10 and it all goes straight to the Crisis Centre. Doors at 8PM!
The Crisis Centre has been providing emotional support to youth, adults and seniors in distress since 1969. As a safe place to turn when there seems to be no hope, the Crisis Centre is operated by 385+ front line volunteers and a small team of professional staff who support and empower individuals to see their own strengths and options, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
In 2011, the Crisis Centre impacted more than 93,000 lives across BC through its three core programs: 24/7 Distress Phone Services, YouthInBC.com, and Community Education. Learn more about the Crisis Centre.
Jenny Ritter is the goat herding, choir conducting, former member of Vancouver Island’s beloved, now defunct, folk band The Gruff. Now she’s struck out on her own on the mainland and is releasing her first solo album.
For a bright spot in the cold and rainy winter months. Jenny Ritter brings Bright Mainland to the world tonight (October 13) at Saint James Hall. Sad Mag talked to her about leaving her previous band behind, busking for the internet age (i.e. crowd funding) and starting Vancouver’s best choir – and now their potential rival group.
Sad Mag: How long have you been working on this album?
Jenny Ritter: The process started last October. I started a crowd-funding campaign and I raised about half of the funds I needed for the album. I wouldn’t be releasing the album without that money, so it was pretty amazing. We started recording in March of this year. We went over Mayne Island and did a recording-slash-retreat. My producer (who played most of the instruments on the album), my drummer (who I brought from Saskatoon) and I just hid out in this house in the country. The only hitch was that I lost my voice as soon as I got there, so what was supposed to take ten days in total ended up taking another month. We recorded everything but the vocals and then I came back a month later and finished it in May. I’ve been sitting on it for a couple of months and I’m just releasing it now.
SM: What did you think about crowd funding as a way to finance an album?
JR: It was a great experience because it made visible the support network I have. It was interesting to see people I know and that I don’t know come together to help the project. I don’t want to call it donating because everyone who contributed gets some kind of reward for it. There were a couple of dissenters and I got some negative feedback from people who thought that crowd funding was akin to begging. But people will think what they think. I guess they’ve never tried to do a project they couldn’t afford to do on their own.
SM: How does your solo work compare to the experience of working in a band?
JR: It’s really different. I’m basically a dictator now. It’s a lot more work than being in a band where to some extent we split up the work, but now it’s just me calling the shots. It’s been difficult, and sometimes I wish I had back up, but I also find it kind of liberating to make the decisions myself and execute them as I see fit. I like having control over it. I’ve been joking a lot about being a control freak and I guess I’m starting to realize it’s not really a joke.
SM: How would you describe the sound of this album?
JR: I would describe it as indie folk. I would describe myself as a folk musician. I’m obsessed with folk music – new and old – so I think I have that in me. The songs that I write are not folk songs in a traditional sense, but they’re influenced heavily by it. So while I feel like a folk musician, I’m presenting the music in a rock band format with a drummer and an electric bass player and pedal steel and whatever electric instrument I can get my hands on. Just because you’re a folk musician doesn’t mean you don’t want to rock.
SM: What can people look forward to seeing at your album release?
JR: A lot of happy people. We’re going to play through the album beginning to end. I have a number of guests including members of my choir, the Kingsgate Chorus, who recorded on the album. I have some new songs too. All sorts of things will be unveiled. The general message of the album is hope and positivity, and I think when we perform that kind of feeling goes out to the audience. This will be my biggest show in a long time – biggest in terms of audience, and the size of the band, and excitement. And whenever the Kingsgate Chorus gets together there’s a lot of giggling, so I think they’ll be a lot of that too.
SM: How did the choir get started?
JR: I started the Kingsgate Chorus when my band broke up. There’s a specific feeling you get when singing with other people that I was longing for. I missed that harmony that you feel when…well, when you’re harmonizing with people. So I got a handful of friends that were really supportive and then within a few months it became about thirty people. I’ve now even started a second choir called the Mount Pleasant Regional Institute of Sound – the name still makes me laugh every time I say it because it’s so unnecessarily official sounding.
When I started the first group, I found that a lot of the feelings I had about life getting better were connected to the choir, so they ended up singing on some tracks on the record. And if you have a choir you might as well use them!
Jenny Ritter plays her album release concert October 13th with Tim Tweedale on steel guitar, Jay Hosking on bass, Kevin Romain drums and members of the Kingsgate Chorus.
A new performance inspired by slides of a family trip to Banff National Park. Blending sonic reverberations with performance installation, ‘remarkable concussions’ releases memories of the snow to be sensed, sounded, and mixed with imaginative wanderings, created by Mirae Rosner and prOphecy sun.
This show is a part of of Mirae Rosner’s Parks Canada series – an ongoing set of performance and video investigations into the relationships between bodies and landscapes. Previous developments have occurred in collaboration with dancer Holly Holt and media artist Jesse Scott, including I am a star: universal landscape detection methodology, a video performance that aims to mimic scientific instruments with the sensing body.
Remarkable Concussions and Other Memories of the Snow 7:00PM August 4th, 2012 Hammock Residency (1923 Graveley) RSVP on Facebook
Hammock Residency is an emergent based arts residency program, where artists spend time with their ideas, and if they want to, present them.
Thanks to all who came out to Sad Mag Issue 9 Release + Hip Hop Karaoke last night! It was an amazing time and we’re thankful to all of you for joining us to celebrate the newest addition to the Sad Mag family!
If you missed out, you’ll be able to find Sad Mag Issue 9 at a retailer near you soon. If you’re subscribed, you already have an issue coming your way!
We thought we’d share the outpouring of happiness and love with this song from geneva.b, Issue 9 cover girl and brief West Coast transplant. It’s rare to have consecutive sunny days in a row in Vancouver, so seize the moment while it lasts and enjoy this new track!
I think I really started to like living here when I got into playing ball at Kits Beach in the spring of 2009. Playing ball and reading on the beach is basically my dream vacation except I don’t have to go anywhere so it’s perfect.
I also really like my neighbourhood. I live just off of Commercial Drive—among artists, graduate students, and other undesirables. I don’t know how to cook, so the crazy restaurant density nearby is helpful. It also appears to be the only neighborhood with other black people. Most of all though, I appreciate that I’ve stumbled on a great crew of friends on my block—an outgoing, thoughtful, spiritual community that embrace me despite my transience.
The best way for the CBC to thrive is to build a community of supporters who have a true sense of ownership over the organization. To this end, as part of a national campaign led by media advocacy groups Open Media and Lead Now, Gen Why Media is bringing together seasoned professionals, up-and-coming CBC talent, outside experts, media innovators, and citizens in a celebratory event that will add new energy to the CBC and help articulate a fresh vision for public media.
Opening Performance: Intercultural performance that showcases Canada’s diverse talent, cultural innovation, and artistic excellence.
Storytelling: Three cultural creators tell stories about their lives as Canadians, and how the CBC has been pivotal to their goals, careers and understanding of their country. Stories from:
Christine McAvoy (local music blogger and photographer)
Ivan Coyote (writer, storyteller, performer)
Wade Davis (author, anthropologist, National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence)
Dialogue: On-stage “living room conversations” where participants reflect on the CBC and progressive media platforms, asking questions such as – How do we imagine the future of Canadian media? How will the CBC grow over the next 75 years? What areas for growth, change, transformation, and innovation could it pursue? What ideas or models could inspire its next generation of work? Participants:
Jarrett Martineau (independent cultural producer)
Kathleen Cross (Professor at SFU School of Communications)
Sean Devlin (of Shit Harper Did)
Steve Pratt (Director of CBC Radio 3)
Nettie Wild (acclaimed documentary filmmaker)
Closing Performance: Local super group of indie musicians. Performances by: Dan Mangan, Aidan Knight, Hannah Epperson, Zachary Gray (of the Zolas).
Everyone loves gingers! We love them so much we fear that they are going extinct, even though that is a baseless rumour. Fortunately, there are plenty of redheads in Vancouver, and they are all coming to Ginga Ninjas!!
Ginga Ninjas is first and foremost a celebration of gingers, featuring the Greff Band, the Isotopes (with redheaded guests!), and the Dead Voices. It’s also a celebration of ninjas, who are also cool. Come for the music, stay for the ninja photobooth by Christine McAvoy and St Patrick’s Day shenanigans!
Details:
GINGA NINJAS
St Patrick’s Day!
17 March 2012
The Cobalt (917 Main)
Doors at 8PM, Show at 9PM
$8 at the door (gingers get in free!) RSVP on Facebook
A new performance inspired by slides of a family trip to Banff National Park. Blending sonic reverberations with performance installation, ‘remarkable concussions’ releases memories of the snow to be sensed, sounded, and mixed with imaginative wanderings, created by 
I think I really started to like living here when I got into playing ball at Kits Beach in the spring of 2009. Playing ball and reading on the beach is basically my dream vacation except I don’t have to go anywhere so it’s perfect.
