Articles Tagged ‘music’

SOUND SEEKERS: Bluesfest 2013 — Gossip, speculation, and Fateema Sayani’s wishlist

Sound Seekers by Fateema Sayani is published weekly at OttawaMagazine.com. Read Fateema Sayani’s culture column in Ottawa Magazine and follow her on Twitter @fateemasayani

Bluesfest returns to Lebreton Flats on July 4. Photo by Mediaplus.

The annual speculation fest seems to have started early this year with the website Ottawa Start compiling rumours about scheduled acts for Bluesfest (July 4-14, 2013) on its website in early January. It listed Belle & Sebastian as a possible addition the lineup — and recently, the band confirmed its July 6 date via its website.

Ottawa Start suggests music fans who are looking for a sneak peek at the lineup may benefit from perusing the websites of nearby festivals (ie: Montreal Jazz Festival) and looking at blanks in the touring schedule of major acts to get a hint about who might be part of Bluesfest this year.

This tends to be the method for many news outlets year after year as reporters scour the web for concert listings. Thus begins the speculation season — along with the regular sport of bitching and moaning about various aspects of the festival. This is, perhaps, one way of getting through the drag-days of winter.

In keeping with the season, we here at Ottawa Magazine used our resources of concert listings and insider info to compile this handy lil’ guide to forecasting, complaining, and concert-going.

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  |  February 21, 2013 at 2:13 pm

STAR POWER: A Q&A with opera singer Wallis Giunta, who debuts as a soloist with the NAC Orchestra Feb 27/28

The 2012-2013 season has been kind to young mezzo-soprano Wallis Giunta. After a summer of international performances, the 27-year-old Ottawa native went on to make debuts with local company Opera Lyra, the Edmonton Symphony, and Concierto Madrid, all while enrolled in the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. This February, Giunta returns home to debut as a soloist with the National Arts Centre Orchestra. Here, she opens up to Ottawa Magazine’s Erica Eades about hometown pride, her love of Mozart, and the importance of staying grounded.

Wallis Giunta performs at the NAC on Feb. 27 and 28. Photo by Barbara Stoneham

How did you get into opera?
I started singing with choirs in Ottawa. First it was the Ottawa Central Children’s Choir, which led me to perform with the Opera Lyra chorus. Being in their chorus showed me how much I love opera and what a great career it would be.

What have been some of your favourite roles to date?
Cherubino [of the opera Le Nozze di Figaro] tops the list. It’s a pants role where I get to dress up as a young boy and pretend to be a pubescent 13-year-old troublemaker. But I also loved the role of Hermia in [Benjamin] Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The play is incredible, but what he has done with the opera is just magic.

You’re currently in year two of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. What attracted you to this project?
For developing young opera singers, this program is ideal to give us the exposure and the experience we need in the professional world. At the same time, it gives us the luxury of a little more time in the incubator before we’re completely on our own. The program involves a lot of different things, including singing lessons with a private teacher, language coaching, movement classes, and acting work.

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  |  February 21, 2013 at 10:00 am

WEEKENDER: From the Wild & Scenic Film Fest to the Oscars telecast, 10 events to entertain you this weekend

At the Wild & Scenic Film Festival, the film "Seasons" explores water in its frozen and expanded form. Photo by Mike Leeds.

WILD & SCENIC FILM FESTIVAL
In this one-day-only film festival, you get the chance to catch an eclectic mix of films tied to the theme of water protection and conservation. The Ottawa Riverkeeper hosts and all proceeds go to protecting the Ottawa River. The river won’t be the only thing winning: in addition to the compelling films being shown, there will be a silent auction and raffle. Thursday, February 21, $12, 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Library and Archives Canada, 395 Wellington St., www.ottawariverkeeper.ca/events.

BUST A MOVE AND TEAM TITTY TARTS’ BOOBIE BALL
The event’s name might be silly, but the cause is anything but. Come out to Lobby Nightclub for a fun evening benefitting the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation and “help save second base.” The evening kicks off with a VIP reception. 19+. Friday, February 22, 9 p.m. $30. Lobby Nightclub, 158 ½ Rideau St., www.ottawacancer.ca.

CARTE BLANCHE: 3 O’CLOCK IN THE AFTERNOON
Choreographer Ina Christel Johannessen brings Norway’s National Company of Contemporary Dance to Ottawa for the first time, directing 12 dancers in an event combining the visual arts, theatre, poetry, and movement. From $38. Friday, February 22, and Saturday, February 23, 7:30 p.m. National Arts Centre, 53 Elgin St., www.nac-cna.ca.

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  |  February 20, 2013 at 12:15 pm

SOUND SEEKERS: When you name your band Big Dick, you’re bound to get some attention

Sound Seekers by Fateema Sayani is published weekly at OttawaMagazine.com. Read Fateema Sayani’s culture column in Ottawa Magazine and follow her on Twitter @fateemasayani

Gilded frame or not, there’s no way you can call Dave Secretary, left, and Johnny O fancy-pants folk. They prefer to go by the name Big Dick. Photo by Rémi Thériault.

Dave Secretary and Johnny O aren’t trying to over-promise with a band name like Big Dick, rather they’re advertising their wares, so to speak.

It’s not the message one finds in back-page classifieds, but a message about their style of bleak, challenging punk rock in the vein of the Victoria, B.C. band NoMeansNo. The Ottawa duo takes their name from NMN’s song of the same name. (We’ll link to it here to spare you the endless results one gets when Googling “big dick.”)

“It was one of NMN’s more popular songs,” bass player Johnny O says, “and it was a drum and bass song by that band, which corresponds with us being a drum and bass act.” He says the duo likes that they’re named after a Canadian punk band that tended to be musically progressive.

“I know the name is a little ridiculous, but the band itself isn’t terrible,” Secretary says. He plays drums in Big Dick, under the stage name he’s been using since the days of playing in bands such as Party Knives and hardcore act Van Johnson.

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  |  February 14, 2013 at 2:48 pm

WEEKENDER: Love songs, pancake meals, a craft beer fest, and the Funatorium are all on the bill this Family Day weekend

METAMORPHOSES
Director Jillian Keiley makes waves with Mary Zimmerman’s take on Ovid’s Metamorphoses, a collection of myths involving transformation.  The play interprets 10 of those myths and sets them in and around a giant swimming pool, exploring the ideas of water, fluidity, and change. The Romans could be a little saucy, so this one’s recommended for audiences ages 16 and up. On until Saturday, February 16. From $22. National Arts Centre, 53 Elgin St., www.nac-cna.ca.

Two families get together to discuss an incident involving their sons in God of Carnage. Photo by Richard Ellis.

GOD OF CARNAGE
Third Wall Theatre Company presents the outrageous tale of two sets of upper class parents who meet to discuss an incident that happened between their two sons. If you’ve seen Roman Polanski’s Carnage, this will sound familiar: his film is an adaptation of Yasmina Reza’s play. $35, seniors $27. On until Sunday, March 3. Irving Greenberg Theatre Centre (Great Canadian Theatre Building), 1233 Wellington St. W., www.thirdwall.com.

BRIGHT NIGHTS: THE 3RD BALTIC-NORDIC FILM FESTIVAL
Back by popular demand, the Canadian Film Institute presents the most recent incarnation of the Bright Nights film festival. Winterlude partners to bring Inuk, the hard-hitting Danish film and coming-of-age story that addresses the issues facing the Greenlandic Inuit, to Canadian audiences. Director Mike Magidson will be in attendance to introduce and discuss his film. See website for full list of films being screened and detailed festival dates. Friday, February 15, 9 p.m. $12, seniors/ students $8. Canadian Film Institute, 2 Daly Ave., www.cfi-icf.ca.

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  |  February 13, 2013 at 11:14 am

SOUND SEEKERS: Highlights from the 2013 concert calendar, including Elizabeth Shepherd, The Skydiggers, and more

Sound Seekers by Fateema Sayani is published weekly at OttawaMagazine.com. Read Fateema Sayani’s culture column in Ottawa Magazine and follow her on Twitter @fateemasayani

Elizabeth Shepherd, who performs as part of the NAC Presents series. Photo by Zuzana Hudackova.

It’s the dead of winter and some of us are buggering off to warmer locales, some of us are whinging and moaning about the cold, and some of us are celebrating the best of the season — such as those nice granola folks in Wakefield, Quebec who organize the annual In the Dead of Winter of Festival, which is a spin-off of a similar event that takes place in Halifax, Nova Scotia. This year’s festival, which starts tonight, features performances by Mo Kenney, Justin Rutledge, and others with balmy vocal tones. Full details here.

A couple of years ago, Elizabeth Shepherd released a jazzy album called Parkdale, which was full of observations about her Toronto neighbourhood of the same name. Shepherd’s got a cool vocal style which finds a line somewhere between hip-hop and doo-wop. On her current release, called Rewind, she takes a turn toward the mellow by performing standards like “Love for Sale,” but with more of an edgy delivery than the originals. She’s part of the NAC Presents Series at the Fourth Stage. See her there Friday, 7:30 p.m.

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  |  February 7, 2013 at 2:00 pm

SOUND SEEKERS: Hilotrons’ Mike Dubue on his borderline personality disorder, the new album, and the Kelp Records dispute

Sound Seekers by Fateema Sayani is published weekly at OttawaMagazine.com. Read Fateema Sayani’s culture column in Ottawa Magazine and follow her on Twitter @fateemasayani

Mike Dubue sits at the piano. Photo by Rémi Thériault.

After many years and three albums of dancing around the subject, Mike Dubue, the front man for the band Hilotrons has released a new album that more openly discusses his complicated head space.

The album is called At Least There’s Commotion! It comes out on 180-gram vinyl, CD, and digitally February 5 on Kelp Records.

Over 11 tracks, Dubue, 35, relays difficulties of head and heart, delivered in that syncopated, manic, Talking Heads-style familiar from previous Hilotrons albums.

Other tracks on the album are more sullen and crooning. That contrast is best displayed on tracks six and seven, titled “She Knows My Condition (Part 1)” and “She Knows My Condition (Part 2).” Part one is five minutes of longing and lamenting with brief pop interludes. He sings: “I know something about living in my own prison. I try to keep up above the water with you.” Part two is hyperbolic. It starts with a scream, and then bursts into a minute-and-a-half of operatic pop about said condition.

The musical ups and downs are just one tool of telling for this concept album about borderline personality disorder (BPD).

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  |  February 1, 2013 at 1:00 pm

SOUND SEEKERS: Ottawa recording news — part two! Featuring The Good Luck Assembly, The PepTides, Laurent Bourque, and more

Sound Seekers by Fateema Sayani is published weekly at OttawaMagazine.com. Read Fateema Sayani’s culture column in Ottawa Magazine and follow her on Twitter @fateemasayani

A hazy view inside Gus Van Go’s studio in Brooklyn, NYC. Ottawa band The Goodluck Assembly recorded their forthcoming EP there — in the middle of Hurricane Sandy. Photo by Jamie Kronick.

Last week we told you about the band Fevers. They are recording a full-length album with rock star producer Laurence Currie (Wintersleep, Mardeen, In-Flight Safety, Holy Fuck). It’s set for release this May. This week we look at what’s on the 2013 recording roster for some other Ottawa songwriters and bands.

The Goodluck Assembly will release their new five-song EP called Demonstrations in May. The Ottawa indie-pop band started out as Sojourn, recorded an EP in 2007, and later won the Big Money Shot radio contest, worth some $300K in deals and gear. The band members hand-delivered more than 500 copies of their 2011 release Glowscape to fans in Ottawa and filmed the recipient’s reactions. Then they set off to write this new album. In October of 2011, brothers Mike Libbos (bass, guitar, vocals) and Bruce Libbos (guitars, keys, vocals) holed up in their respective makeshift bedroom studios to start crafting the tunes. Last fall, they set off to the Williamsburg hub of Brooklyn, NYC, to record with producer team Gus Van Go and Werner F (The Stills, Hollerado, Priestess), along with drummer Jamie Kronick (also an Ottawa commercial and editorial photographer). The recording sessions started just before Hurricane Sandy hit and the band hunkered down to record during the day and even bunked with their producers for the odd night since lineups at the gas stations meant they couldn’t get back to their accommodations across town. “The days after Hurricane Sandy were a mix of feelings,” Mike Libbos says. “A sense of relief to have survived, a time to pick up the pieces, and being thankful for everything you have, along with moving on and not looking back.”

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  |  January 25, 2013 at 12:00 pm

WEEKENDER: A Great Lakes photo exhibit, the first-ever Nature Nocturne, and six more events to beat the winter blues

A photo of Owen Sound, Georgian Bay, Lake Huron, by photographer Stephan Gaydos.

STEPHAN GAYDOS: GREAT LAKES PROJECT (FREE!)
What happens when something as wild and natural as a lake becomes central to industry? The School of the Photographic Arts: Ottawa (SPAO) Artist-in-Residence Stephan Gaydos spent seven long months patiently observing four of the Great Lakes (Huron, Superior, Erie, and Ontario), paying special attention to their industrial ports. From those captured images, he’s put together Great Lakes Project: Observations and Appropriations, a study of industrial landscapes. On until Monday, December 30. Red Wall Gallery, 168 Dalhousie St., www.spao.ca.

NATURE NOCTURNE AT THE NATURE MUSEUM
If you’ve ever thought, “Gee, I wish museums would stay open after hours for some grown-up fun,” good news! In addition to the Museum of Nature’s amazing exhibits, there will also be interactive art installations by the Luminartists, heARTbeatgal, and Greta Grip to stimulate your mind while you groove to the music of DJ TDot, the Ottawa New Music Creators, and classical guitarist Chris Milne. No need to worry about going hungry, either: food and drink will be available for purchase. Friday, January 25, 8 p.m. to 12 a.m. $20. The Canadian Museum of Nature, 240 McLeod St., www.nature.ca/nocturne.

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  |  January 23, 2013 at 12:18 pm

WEB EXCLUSIVE: Chatting with Rolf Klausener, the man behind The Acorn, Silkken Laumann, and the Arboretum Festival

Rolf Klausener is someone who lets creativity guide him through life. Not only is he lead singer and principal songwriter of one of Ottawa’s strongest indie music exports of the last decade, The Acorn, but he’s also a unique personality that embodies the transformation of Ottawa’s arts and culture scene over the years. For the better part of a decade, Klausener has gone through the highs and lows of being a local musician — including at times questioning whether Ottawa is the right place for an artist to be.

But Klausener has stuck around O-town. And with the band going through a transition phase in the last few years, he’s taken the opportunity to explore his creative desires in different ways. Here, Klausener chats with Matias Muñoz about his other projects — including the Arboretum music, arts, and food festival, and his new musical venture Silkken Laumann — as well as how the city’s arts and culture scene has transformed over the past decade.

Rolf Klausener of The Acorn plays around on a ukulele in his studio in Centretown. Photo by Pat Bolduc.

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  |  January 22, 2013 at 10:36 am

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