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Earlier this week I was browsing my twitter feed when I noticed the a number of posts using the hashtag #ImagineOctober20th . The tweets were Canadians speculating on what the country might look like if the Conservatives are voted out of power in the October 19^th federal election. The tweets also highlighted some of the controversial decisions made by the Tories including their commitment to fossil fuels, reduced funding for the CBC, and Prime Minster Stephen Harper’s refusal to speak with journalists, among others.

One of the main contributors to the hashtag was Stars frontman Torquil Campbell, who answered questions and chatted with fans, while encouraging posters to get involved in any way they can. In response to the hashtag a series DIY arts events have popped up across the country where musicians, writers, and other artist are coming together to share their distaste for the current administration. Campbell is hosting his own event in Toronto on September 30^th. The show will take place at 918 Bathurst and features performances by Feist, The Sadies, Dave Bidini, and more.

I recently had the chance to speak with Campbell about #ImagineOctober20th and the role artists play in politics.

Graham Isador: The first I heard about #ImagineOctober20th was through your twitter. Can you explain when the hastag is and why you got involved?

First I want to EMPHASIZE that this has no leader. There's no bank account. There's no office. There's just an idea and a bunch of people who feel hopeful about change in this country. What we hope is that people use their hearts, minds, and energy to imagine a new chapter in this country. That simple. It can come in the form of something as small as poem, or as large as a concert. If we all imagine the country we want to live in, maybe we can start to shift the dialogue and actually get it closer to that dream. And when another party does take over, they will know what the people who elected them expect. And they should be held to account for it just as toughly as Stephen Harper. I’m one voice among many. It’s just as much your thing as it is mine.

One of the main things you’re doing to promote #ImagineOctober20 are arts events across Canada. What role do you think artists have to play in politics?

In a healthy society artists can reflect the conscience and the emotion of the community. Artists speak about matters of the heart, which politics often dismisses as simplistic or unhelpful. I believe very strongly that art spreads compassion and empathy, and I think those things are sorely missing from a lot public policy.I think the reason so many artists have responded to this (#ImagineOvtober20th) is that they feel powerless and they feel afraid of public censure and judgement. The shut up and sing syndrome. This is a platform for the imagination. I think artists feel most comfortable in that realm, not in the realm of so called "politics".

I’m not a political person- I care about people and I see how public policy effects the lives of the vulnerable and the powerless. When they are it ignored, it fucking makes me angry. I think it makes a lot of us angry. Not just artists, but everyone. You know, conservatives think people suck. They base their policies around fear and selfishness. But people don't suck. Most of us know that. If you invest in people's goodness, good things happen.

There are a lot of parallels between #ImagineOctober20th to The Rock against Bush campaign in 2004. Are you at all concerned that associating a political cause with artists might mean people take these cause less seriously?

Anyone who would take a cause or issue less seriously because an artist spoke out about it is an idiot. Not to put too fine a point on it. I don't really have much more to say about that. We pay taxes. We raise our kids. We work for a living and we have as much right to speak as anyone else does. The idea that we don't is ridiculous.

The #ImagineOctober20th website lists a number of reasons to be tired of Harper and the Conservative Government. Is there any of their actions that stands out to you as particularly offensive?

For me, although I think almost all of their policies are wrong, the real problem with the Harper era is that it has made Canada a more divided, fearful and angry place. That's not leadership. I know lots of truly great people who don't share my political views. I have great, respectful, passionate arguments with those people that end in a beer.

The Harper government doesn't want to talk; they want to fight. For too long the left has shied away from the battle. I think people are ready now to stand up and call this government what it is: a divisive, arrogant mess that doesn't represent this country as we all imagine it. This movement is an attempt to move beyond that and say; ok, they are on their way out. We've had enough. Now what is going to emerge in their place? What kind of country do we want? And how do we get to that beautiful idea? The connection to that dream is what I think is resonating about the imagine October 20th movement.

You’ve expressed multiple times that what #ImagineOctober20th is a community. What do you mean by that? How can other people get involved?

All you have to do to get involved is do something. Make a t-shirt or a lawn sign. Have a party where you and your friends read essays about the Canada you imagine. Set up a concert in your town. There's a website you can send the info too and all that stuff will get posted there. All you have to do is find your positive energy and direct towards the morning of October 20th. That could be one amazing party, man. That's what we're suggesting. It's up to us, and if we take action and follow our hearts and imaginations, they will be beaten. We will have the chance to start again.

Please understand that I, nor Dan, nor anyone else is the leader of this thing. There is no leader. There is just an idea and a community. And that's all we need to have an effect.

Photos via: Twitter and Wei Ye Chen 
Graham Isador is a writer living in Toronto. You can follow him on twitter: @presgang

NOFX, Lagwagon, Dillinger Four, Strung Out, Swingin' Utters, The Flatliners, Masked Intruder, toyGuitar, Bad Cop/Bad Cop

The Myth

Maplewood, MN

August 28, 2015

No review, see photo gallery below.

Jon Spencer Blues Explosion

Manning Bar

Sydney

August 7, 2015

As Karl Marx said, the relationship between a band and the context it is playing in is metabolic. Both are changed by the process of interaction. Actually, Karl Marx did not say that. If he did, he certainly was not talking about bands and the venues they hold court in.

In a dark and sweaty club Jon Spencer and comrades shine like a diamond, in this slightly bigger affair with an audience mainly comprised of burly men, they still worked their magic. The immediate and long-term impact of Jon Spencer's ouevre is difficult to overstate. In modern design "form follows function," but what form do you choose if you decide that it should function in any particular way? Jon Spencer Blues Explosion is a lil' bit more out there than their descendents The White Stripes and Black Keys. The trio is operating in a space that's completely their own: mixing a myriad of styles  from funk to hippity hop via hard rock to punk to a unique, subversive melange. Less than Spencer's theatrics and the tight machinery that JSPX has always been, your humble narrator was enthralled by Russell Simins pounding like a madman while locking grooves in perfectly. A highlight of the show was him taking over vocal deliveries along with Spencer wildly gesticulating to put his Theremin to good use.

Another enjoyable, chilly Friday night on the beautiful campus of the University of Sydney.

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Photo by T.

“We were standing in the middle of the square. There were snipers on the roof. Riot cops all around. People had already been killed. And she turned to me and said: we could die at any second, are you okay with that? And I thought, well, this is where I have to be. So we lived in seconds. We went second by second. It was all that mattered.”

I’m sitting with Mark Marczyk and Marichka Kudriavtseva. For the past twenty minutes or so I’ve asking the couple questions about their time on the Maidan, the site of the Ukrainian protests that turned violent early last year. In the aftermath of the protest Ukraine was invaded by Russian troops, and since that time the country has been at war over annexed territory. While media coverage has dwindled, Marczyk and Kudriavtseva stress to me that the struggle is still happening. People are still fighting.

Later this week the couple – who met on the Maidan - will premier Counting Sheep at Toronto’s Summerworks Festival alongside their gypsy-punk band Lemon Bucket Orkestra. Counting Sheep is an interactive mixed-media performance that uses music, movement, found footage, and food to tell the story of revolutionary Kyiv. Marczyk and Kudriavtseva created the performance as a gateway to their experience as protesters. They wanted to share the intense joy and utter terror that they found on the square.

“Everything I’ve done with my band, from the type of music we play to the way we perform, I learned through Ukraine,” explains Marcyzk, “When I saw what was happening I knew I needed to be there. I wanted to help with the skills I knew best: storytelling and music.”

Marcysk, a Canadian of Ukrainian heritage, was scoring a film near Kyiv during the protests over the government’s decision to bring the country closer to Russia. When Marcysk arrived on The Maidan – Kyiv’s centeral square - he found people of all walks of life, from all areas of the country, who had organized around the cause. The Maidan had turned into a functional tent city. People were sharing food, helping out with various chores, and protecting each other for the greater good of their country. Marcysk was floored by the sense of community and overwhelming warmth of the people. The same night he arrived the first of the protesters were killed.

Marczyk and Kudriavtseva speak about their experiences in a calm and precise manor. Rather than scaring them away the first deaths on the square intensified their need to stay where they were. The two connected because both were writing about their experiences, blogging and sending out reports through news outlets and social media, and because in the wake of everything that happened they began to play music for people living on The Madian.

“Making any art in Ukraine became political,” adds Kudriavtseva. “Most of the artists in the country became protesters and drawing attention to yourself during the protest was dangerous.”

Marczyk and Kudriavtseva stayed until the tent city was broken up and after that visited hospitals as well as battle sights to share their music and collect people’s stories. Counting Sheep is an effort to continue that work and bring those stories, as well as their own, to a wider audience.

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I caught an earlier incarnation of Counting Sheep earlier this year while doing coverage for Now Magazine. The performance – much like Marczyk and Kudiavtseva’s band Lemon Bucket Orkestra - isn’t the easiest thing to explain. It’s an experience more than a piece of theatre. The audience is invited to participate in the show, playing the part of the protesters as they slowly descent from celebration into sorrow. 

I left the theatre that night overwhelmed with mixture of emotions and feeling truly grateful for the chance to create and write like I do. The show offers a unique glimpse at people whose lives were turned political by circumstance and is a reminder of how quickly those things can be taken away.

Marczyk and Kudriavtseva for their part aren’t looking to beat anyone over the head with a message, but by sharing their experiences honestly, they point to a situation that is much, much bigger themselves and the overwhelming need to stick up for the things you believe in any way that you can

Dates for the show can be found here. 

The So So Glos, Desaparecidos

Paradise Rock Club

Boston, MA

August 4, 2015

I went for Desaparecidos - Conor Oberst’s (of Bright Eyes fame) hardcore band - who put out the great political punk album Payola this year, 13 years after their first album Read Music/Speak Spanish. I gotta say, though: The So So Glos absolutely killed it and were the best part of the night.

The band had a particularly Boston introduction: Josh Kantor, the organist for the Red Sox came onstage and played the old-time baseball “Charge!” song before cornily introducing The So So Glos one at a time - “And next up base, ON BASS...Alex Livne!!!” Each So So Glo laughed as they walked on stage, four of the five wore oversized baseball caps while Ryan Livne sported a mohawk and wide, never-blinking eyes but a loving smile. Alex Livne and guitarist Ryan Livne are brothers, while drummer Zach Staggers is their step-brother, and you can immediately tell that these guys are a family band having a great time. They gave off that good-guy-punk vibe perfectly - the kind of vibe I got when I saw The Menzingers or Diarrhea Planet, the latter of which The So So Glos have toured with. I could tell I was going to have a fun time.

They opened with a song off their first album, “We Got The Days,” and during the instrumental breakdown Alex Livne addressed the crowd: “This song is about being the underdogs, Boston - you know what that’s like. Don’t worry, we’re from New York, but we’re no Yankee fans. We’re all American - we’re all on the losing team, blindly hailing freedom. Let’s give it for being American!!” The band exploded back into the song while the crowd exploded, too - one of the louder bursts of enthusiasm I’ve seen for an opening band.

Alex Livne’s showmanship can’t be overemphasized. Halfway through the show Alex handed off his bass to guitarist Matt Elkin so he could focus on the mic and the crowd. Wearing a Wu-Tang t-shirt and snarling like Iggy Pop and Joe Strummer, Alex had this modern-punk energy that absolutely made the show. Although kind of cliché, just shouting “Hey!” and pointing the mic at the crowd to shout it back over and over really works if you can pull it off. And the highlight of the night was when Livne introduced the song “Speakeasy.” “This is a goofy song we wrote about being in New York and being upset with the Internet. Just glazed over at a screen and having a million friends but being alone. It’s anti…” Livne paused for a moment, and someone shouted “social media!” “No, I wouldn’t say anti-social-media,” Livne responded. “And it’s not anti-information. We can debate about what it’s anti later, but it’s definitely anti. I mean just look at this guy.” Livne pointed to a kid looking at his phone (in the front row!) “His face is glowing from his phone, and he doesn’t even know we’re talking about him right now.” Throughout “Speakeasy” Livne danced around and literally blew a whistle when he saw people checking their phones. Sometimes he would point them out and make a frowny face as he drawled the lyrics. It was hilarious and sad at the same time.

I had listened to The So So Glos before and liked them, but they were infinitely better live - songs like “Black and Blue” took on a whole new, huge life on stage. The sound was way more raw and they really jammed out - I wish they did this more in studio. I gotta say, I’m a fully converted So So Glo now, and I’ll have to see them every time they come to Boston.

It was obvious that everyone was there for Desaparecidos, though (particularly for Oberst) and the crowd screamed from the bottom of their lungs as soon as they saw him. Unfortunately, he just didn’t have the stage presence to match those screams. He stood on the far right of the stage with his hair covering his face, expressionless as he growled angry lyrics about racist CEOs (“Golden Parachutes”) and the rebel-hacker organization Anonymous (well, “Anonymous”). I guess the point of a show with Oberst isn’t really to have fun, though, so what else should I have expected? He let his words carry the weight of the performance.

The band sounded great but also sounded exactly like their studio recordings, which can be a good thing and a bad thing. They even started off with the first three songs of Payola in order; I closed my eyes and wasn’t sure if I could have told the difference if they had just plugged in their iPod and turned on the album. This wasn’t as true for their old songs. “Manana” and “Greater Omaha” were particularly powerful, with Oberst and the guitars together sounding like a rapid-fire cannon. Maybe Desaparecidos need just a while longer to really work out how to play those Payola songs, but it’s totally worth going to their show just to hear those Read Music/Speak Spanish songs.

Regardless of which album they were playing, though, there was still a real catharsis in singing those angsty lyrics with Oberst and everyone else. Before “MariKKKopa” (a song with a memorable opening line, “There’s a lynching at Home Depot of the last day laborer”), Oberst addressed the crowd for one of the only times during the show, saying, “This song is about the state-sanctioned, institutional racism that goes on every day. You can get away with a lot if you have white skin in this country. And if you disagree, you’re a fucking fool.” Most of the crowd was white, but a few black hands went up in the air along with the white ones and clapped like crazy after that. It made me conscious of how relevant Oberst’s lyrics were to so many people; it made me wish he talked to the crowd more.

Near the end The So So Glos came back on stage to join Oberst in a couple more angry songs, but it was hard to stay pissed with their smiling faces crowding around the back of Oberst’s shoulders like one big, activist-punk family. By the end you couldn’t help but love The So So Glos and really respect Oberst for still singing the general public’s frustrated thoughts full-throttle after all these years. They still have a ton of shows - in Philly, D.C., Denver, Omaha (Oberst’s hometown), Chicago, Nashville, and plenty of others. You gotta go.