New York, October 12, 1978 (32 years ago today), Nancy Spungen lay dead on the bathroom floor of room 100 in the Chelsea Hotel. She bled to death from a stab wound to her abdomin. Her boyfriend Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols is arrested for her murder.
But Sid died of a heroin overdose before the trial, February 2, 1979.
So this murder mystery was never solved. There's theories that it was a drug dealer that killed Nancy, or that she did herself in while messed on smack. And then there's poor Sid, who was too high to remember anything. I don't think it was him. He was probably passed out the entire time it happened. But anyway, so began the biggest unsolved case in punk history ...
Okay so I'm SUPER PSYCHED for this: Alexisonfire is set to release their new EP Dog's Blood November 2nd!!! It sounds like they're heading back to their hardcore roots, which is a little different from Old Crows, Young Cardinals. From the taste I got at the Casbys, I'm hoping it'll be more like the band's first self-titled album. They performed "Dog's Blood" at the Kool Haus -- it reminded me of the first time I heard ".44 Caliber Love Letter" ... pure bliss. It looks like George went back to his classic screamo, with a touch of Dallas to accent the soul-piercing music sliding off Wade's guitar in a fuck-you-type of liberation (breathe, breathe). Whoa. Anyway, I found a video of what I experienced, George's backwash and all. The picture quality is crap, but it's the sound that matters most:
I had the awesome opportunity to attend 102.1 The Edge's 2010 Casby Awards ceremony. It's a concert/awards show for Canadian artists and only those who were invited or won tickets could attend. I managed to snag the latter with a simple phone call from Molson Canadian after I entered a contest. I'll have to say the line-up was 50/50 - Hot Hot Heat, Tokyo Police Club, Hollerado, and The Trews were okay, but it was Alexisonfire, KO and Elias that made the night for me! To my great (and expected) joy, Alexis won favourite new single for The Northern. I managed to grab a glimpse of Todd and Adam from The Edge's morning show offering the award to George and Wade:
Sorry if it was a little shaky, I was psyched they finally won something. I also think George had every right to drench Todd with water -- George helped him cool off the intense (and possibly sexual) desire to see Dallas. Anyway, I had the luxury of seeing Dallas perform The Northern up close:
So I hardcore survived the crowd surfers wheeling over my head. Actually it was a closer call with Elias - who were one of the nominees. They deserved an award, so I'm giving them my own: The Crazy-Way-To-Play-The-Keys award. They're a different breed of band from Alexis, but I can't help but love their song All We Want:
The new artist KO also blew me away -- he deserved the favourite new artist award! Well he's one of my favs anyway. This is a snapshot of him performing Capable:
The whole experience was epic. There's nothing like a free concert with overpriced beer and amazing rock talent! Hopefully I'll get in next year ...
Another week gone by - quite chaotic (in a good way).
Well the major highlight was a pleasant visit from the Barenaked Ladies duo, Ed and Tyler. The best thing about videotaping these in-studio interviews - besides meeting the stars - is getting the inside scoop before the rest of the world. It's also a refreshing look at interviewing techniques. After a long hiatus, the Barenaked Ladies are back with a new album. All Alan started the interview with was a simple "so let's catch-up," and it went on from there. The less he said, the better the answers. He even pulled out a carton of a Barenaked Ladies flavoured ice cream: "If I had 1000000 Flavours" and ate a spoonful. It was very casual and very intimate. Interviews don't always have to be formal or follow a format. I find the more conversation and even statements tend to lead to well thought out answers. It was a really great interview.
To prepare me for this big interview, we had a Toronto indie band come in the day before. They're called Dinosaur Bones. It was a great opportunity for me to learn the importance of set-up time - we've got to test all the mics and cameras, and hook up the lights. And be quick about it. It was a good interview with a couple of very witty guys who were happy to escape their shifts at Boathouse. The host for this interview was Adam Morrison, and he explored what this band thought of the indie music scene in Toronto. To summarize, it's a challenge - camaraderie is great but the goal is to get record labels and the media to notice you. It seems that now "indie" is just the pre-stage to getting signed. After all, making music needs money. It's tough.
Meanwhile, outside the glamorous chats with rock stars, I was working on choosing five songs to list on the Explore Music website. It's for the Five Songs You Gotta Hear Today section. The research is the fun part, but honing it down to only five is torture - it's like winning 2 concert tickets to your favourite show and trying to decide who to take: your best friend, sister, or boyfriend! Anyway, I decided to give back to my local music scene in the end. I chose two unsigned bands from Toronto (Make Your Exit, The Balconies), and two signed Toronto bands (The Nightmares, Attack in Black). We also have to choose a "classic" song, and since it was David Bowie's birthday on Friday I chose his 1995 song "Hallo Space Boy." The music meeting was quite intimidating - having Alan and four other EM employees judging each other's choices was pretty intense. But Alan was ok with my songs, and he even chose The Balconies' "Ghost Fever" to put on the radio. I was pretty psyched, not to mention the David Bowie song seemed to intrigue Alan - score!
Anyway, music aside, I got to partake in a few Corus Entertainment business meetings. Although brainstorming marketing campaigns and listening to updates from each department seems dry, it was insightful. Listening to the up-and-coming with Corus really opened my eyes to the broadcasting business.
Anyway, next week is supposed to be way more intense - and I can't wait! Here's the Barenaked Ladies interview:
So, I'm relatively new to this blogging doo-dad. One thing I'd like to check off on my new years resolution list is "start a blog" - wait, scratch that - "keep my blog updated." This I thought I'd do with interesting music news, BUT I also need the "blog" or "personal opinion" element. I've always been scared to touch that bias-y kind of writing ... and who cares what I think anyway? Well I do (duh), so I've decided to blog - like, actually BLOG - about my internship with Explore Music. Hey, it's still music!
I believe I was the only one in my journalism class to start my free labo*cough* ... ahem...internship early. But for good reason: it was my TEENAGE DREAM to work with Explore. I know some people may say "music has always been a huge part of my life" or "I can't live without it." But for me, the truth is music was always just "okay." It wasn't until I started listening to Alan Cross and 102.1 The Edge during those late nights painting last-minute art pieces in high school that I actually started to give a sh*t about music at all. More specifically rock (punk/grunge/classic/indie etc.). One night I heard Alan do a show on the Sex Pistols - who I knew nothing about. I loved all the info and heroin-crazed stories of Sid and Nancy so much that now I'm a total fan of punk in general. It was a refreshing slap-in-the-face coming out of the Spice Girls and Backstreet Boys generation.
Anyway, back to the internship. So I started in December, roughly three weeks early. I know crazy right? Working for free and giving up my holiday break -- what was I thinking?! Well I was SUPER PSYCHED and couldn't wait to dive in. And it was a good thing I did, or I would've missed out on being a part of an interview with Massive Attack and their controversial porno-music video; Jared Leto giving his latest news on 30 Seconds to Mars after a $30 million lawsuit with EMI; and, more importantly, asking George Pettit from Alexisonfire (ONE OF MY FAVOURITE BANDS!!!!!) about his now 14-day-old son Owen Edward - which I got to write about and post on the official Explore Music website. All this in the last three weeks, wow!
Band interviews are the everyday for the staff at Explore, and I think that attitude helps me keep my cool when I'm meeting my idols. The first time I met Alan Cross was a bit of a shocker. I was told he was on xmas vacation, so I wasn't expecting to see him. But as I was heading to the elevators to check-out The Edge studios (also majorly cool), I wasn't expecting him to walk out of one directly in front of me. My stomach dropped, I blabbered a "hullo," and that was it. I felt like I made a stupid shy-school-girl impression of myself. But I was redeemed when I helped prep his interview with Jared Leto. This was the feedback I got:
Alan: Did you do the stuff for 30 seconds to mars?
Me: uh..uh...ya, ya I did.
Alan: Wow that was REALLY good. Exactly what I needed. Thanks for that.
Me: *all smiles*
Boy was I ever high on life then.
Anyway, this is probably a good time to explain what I do. I'm the interview-prep gal, and I also help Andrew the content manager with social media stuff - like getting Explore's YouTube site up and running. It's really cool to see how it's growing, I guess my online media class paid off after all! Not only that, but we get to wear JEANS -- I was told "this is rock n' roll afterall." It just keeps getting better. Right now we're working on our Indie Giveaway, where we "give away" a different Indie band's song everyday. I get to research and listen to them all - talk about awesome homework. After a lot of prep-work, the first one was posted today: Jason Bajada's "Tired of Talking" - sorry I'm getting all music-nerdy right now.
I'm also getting the insider on how the music industry/journalism works and how private production companies survive (barely), which was lacking in J-school. The program is all about the CBC, and there isn't a lot about music or even entertainment, so I thought this would be a great opportunity to explore! It's REAL. As in the REAL ROCK WORLD. Nothing is sugar-coated and everyone works super hard to keep the shows running. This is what I wanted to learn, since my passion and interest lies in music journalism. I'm afraid of the rumours that there is a possible decline in rock criticism, as quality is being abandoned for quantity. Hopefully I'll have a better grasp when I'm done.
Anyway, that's my re-cap on the last three weeks. I'm LOVING it! I can't wait too see who's coming in next!!!!!
Here's a crazy in-studio performance by Down With Webster - and yes, the drummer is in his underwear!
