Black Dots: An Afropunk Primer & Chris Murdoch Interview & Shows # 836, 835, 834

On June 10th, Montreal based label Pentagon Black released the first of their Pentagon Black Pamphlet Information Series. Black Dots: An Afropunk Primer is an eight-page essay written by Halifax musician, DJ and writer Chris Murdoch. The eight-page essay is somewhere in between a zine and pamphlet that also includes exclusive illustrations done by graphic designer/musician Raymond Biesinger. Inside over the course of 2800 words, Chris Murdoch covers his own experiences being a musician and attending shows in Halifax along with information about when Black first met punk in the UK and US. The pamphlet costs two dollars and all of the proceeds for the month of June went towards the Black Lives Matter Solidarity Fund in Nova Scotia. During the first initial days of the release, orders came in and numbers quickly surpassed the 500 mark. At the time of writing this article, 1601 copies of Black Dots: An Afropunk Primer have sold with over $3000 donated to Black Lives Matter Solidarity Fund Nova Scotia. You can still get a copy over at the Pentagon Black website.

Here is the Press release from Pentagon Black:

“In the first instalment of the Pentagon Black Information Pamphlet series, noted Halifax musician, writer, and DJ Chris Murdoch distilled his critical 2017 Black Dots presentation into pamphlet form. What's it about? When Black first met punk in the UK, the USA, and Chris' own life, and along the way its scant 2800 words catch large quantities of DIY spirit, noise, fury, skateboards and weirdness. Mentioned in the pamphlet: the Bad Brains, Death, Toni Young, Minor Threat, Don Letts, Red C, Nicky Thomas, Fire Party, Black Flag, Bubba Dupree, Void, Chuck Treece, Mike Cornelius, JFA, McRad, Thrasher mag, Ray Barbee, Underdog, Poly Styrene, X-Ray Spex, Neville Staple, Lynval Golding, the Specials, Ranking Roger, Simone Thomas, etc. Released in June of 2020, this eight-page pamphlet includes five illustrations by Raymond Biesinger. Mandatory reading.”

Chris Murdoch has also been involved in numerous bands in and around the Halifax music scene. Some of his credits include being in Outtacontroller, Word On The Street and Botfly to name a few. Recently Murdoch has been playing drums and writing songs with Souvenir. This band just released an EP entitled Beating Into Dust in February 2020.

Continue reading for an exclusive interview with Chris Murdoch. He covers his band history growing up in Halifax, bands that he has been a part of, recording histories and more.

RR: You recently released an information Pamphlet through the Pentagon Black label called Black Dots: An Afropunk Primer. I read that prior to this in 2017 you did a series of presentations on the subject. When/how did you first begin doing those presentations and what was the response like?

CM: Funnily enough, this all started as kind of a little art project on Instagram. That's all it was ever initially meant to be. In February of 2016 I decided to post a picture of a Black punk musician on my account each day, with a little write-up highlighting their work, in honour of Black History Month. I really enjoyed it and could think of a good handful of folks I didn't get to showcase in that initial go 'round (February is the shortest month; a big part of the reason why it was chosen to be Black History Month in the first place, unfortunately) so I decided to do the same thing in February of 2017. Shortly after, I was invited by my friend Dave Ewenson to turn the Instagram project into a talking performance and present it at that year's Everyseeker Symposium (formerly Obey Convention) in Halifax. Dave definitely deserves a lot of credit for the evolution of this thing into a kind of information session - that is likely not something that would have happened without his suggestion and support.

To date, I've only given the presentation four times: once in Halifax NS, once in Dartmouth NS, once in Montreal, and once in St.John's, Newfoundland as part of the first Out Of Earshot festival. I try to slightly modify the presentation each time I deliver it, and all four times have been significant and special in their own ways. The talks in Halifax and St. John's were the best attended, and therefore had a very special energy.

RR: The Black Dots: An Afropunk Primer is something unique. What led to releasing this pamphlet through Pentagon Black and how have people been responding to it?

CM: I hadn't really done much or thought of doing much with Black Dots for a year or so, as I'm always busy with work, family life, and music. A co-worker of mine encouraged me to give the presentation at work this past February, again in recognition of Black History Month, and that was a lot of fun. He took care of all the promotion and logistics of it himself, and it was open to the public. A couple months afterward, I received a message from Raymond Biesinger of The Famines/Pentagon Black about putting out some kind of version of the talk on a pamphlet that he would produce. Everything went pretty quickly from there!

The response has really been phenomenal. I've had friends order anywhere from 1 to 100 of the things, I've made new friends as a result of the project, had friends kickstart their own fundraising campaigns in conjunction with it, have had it translated into a different language or two, showcased in zines, etc. I've been so lucky.

RR: Over 1500 copies of Black Dots have sold so far with proceeds going towards the BLM Solidarity Fund in Nova Scotia. Do you plan on doing anymore writing, whether on this subject or anything else in the future?

CM: It was really cool how that came together. Initially, Pentagon Black was going to sell them through their webstore like normal, and Raymond asked if I'd like a few copies to distribute locally. I asked him to send me 25 with the intent of giving them out for free to a few folks I could think of who might want a copy. In light of all that's going on in the world right now, I thought it might be a good idea to sell them locally rather than give them away, just so I could collect money for the BLM NS Solidarity Fund and do something concrete to support my community at this time. I mentioned this to Ray, and was surprised when he said that Pentagon Black would do the same thing during the month of June. After that, it morphed into much more of a deliberate fundraising campaign, and I'm extremely happy to say that due to Pentagon Black's sales, they were able to donate $3154 to Black Lives Matter NS. Due to my local sales and some donation-matching efforts from friends, we were able to raise an additional $1100 outside of Pentagon Black's sales to donate as well.

I would love to do more writing on this subject in the future, time permitting. I've been approached by a friend with a publishing company about doing a book, so at this point I guess it's a matter of making some plans around the format and scope of the book, and then actually getting off my ass to write it! The former involves a bit of work, but the latter is definitely the bigger challenge.

RR: You’ve been involved in the Halifax music scene for quite some time. How did you first get involved and what was the first band that you played with?

CM: My introduction to the local scene here in Halifax came about through a friend named Megan, who took me to my first few shows. We were in school together (she was a couple years ahead) and she knew I'd been pretty obsessed with rock music since I was about 9 or 10 years old. I was going through a (fairly awful) nu-metal phase, and her boyfriend at the time played drums in a local nu-metal band, so a lot of my first shows were going to see them play. The VERY first local show I ever went to though, was a really rad mixed bill show that completely blew my mind. It was the spring of 2000, and a lot of people I saw perform at that show I am still friends with now: for example, my friend Dave Prime who would go on to drum in Risky Business and now owns and operates Prime Strength Club here in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia - just a few streets down from my house. Also, Nancy Urich, who would go on to play in Dog Day and now also plays in the band Not You with my wife, Stephanie.

Megan sang in the very first band I ever played in, but we never made it out of the basement. The first proper band that I played with was an extremely Misfits-esque band called The Villains, with one of my nearest and dearest friends named Mike. We were both still in high school at the time. We recorded an 11 or 12-song CD and played one show, and then the band kind of morphed into this other band called Hot Death, which was essentially a Samhain cover band that mostly played house parties. Good times.

RR: What was the first recording you remember being on with Outtacontroller and what was it like playing/recording with the band?

CM: The very first thing I recorded with Outtacontroller was a 4-song "sneak preview" thing of the LP we were working on at the time, made specifically for bandcamp. One or two of those songs ended up on the LP I recorded with them, Television Zombie, as well as my first proper recording with the band, Remote Control. That LP is the only one I've ever played on and I'm quite proud of it (https://outtacontroller.bandcamp.com/album/television-zombie), but there is something special about Remote Control. My friend Matty and I were still quite new to the band when that thing was recorded (she is the one who invited me in to the group in the first place), and I think a lot of that fresh-faced excitement was kind of captured within that recording.

Playing with Outtacontroller was a dream. The best shows ("best" as in packed venue, fun atmosphere, cathartic playing experience, etc.) I have played so far as a drummer were with that band. Hooks and big choruses are a major factor within the songwriting, so the music is just naturally fun to play live. We played in Moncton, New Brunswick a lot and had the best response there. I started to get teased a little bit for how much I would smile while we played, but I couldn't help it!

The band dynamic was a great one too - out of four members, Matty was the only one who wasn't a drummer (although she is such a naturally talented musician, she's probably a better drummer than me now) - so when the other two guys (the songwriters and core of the group, Terry and James) would have ideas for what they wanted on the drums, or would listen to me bounce ideas off them for how a drum part could go, it was especially easy to communicate. We did a bit of touring, just a few short rips to Ontario/Quebec and back, and always had tons of fun. Sometimes we'd roll up to a venue listening to some James Brown to pump ourselves up! I've always been a lover of many kinds of music, but Outtacontroller was the first band in years that I'd played in that wasn't a hardcore band. I learned a lot about drumming, recording, and just music in general from my bandmates in Outtacontroller.

RR: How would you compare and contrast being a drummer in a band as opposed to taking on vocals, as you did in Word On The Street?

CM: I'm not a shy person, but there has always been an element of safety and comfort with playing the drums - you're kind of hidden back there, and it feels like no one is really looking at you or really paying much attention to what you're doing, which can actually be quite nice sometimes. Fronting a band is the exact opposite of course, you're standing there front and centre with no instrument to hide behind or distract yourself with. It's just you and the audience. I see no issue with front people who prefer to stand still while performing - if the music is good then who cares? As a hardcore frontperson though, I kind of felt it incumbent upon me in WOTS to move around and be engaging, to make our live shows an exciting experience. I'm a big, clumsy dude though, and look a little bit ridiculous bouncing around while we play - WOTS footage is a bit embarrassing for me to watch for that reason, but I hope it made for an entertaining live show when folks came to check us out.

Also, as a drummer, I'm very used to "supporting" the music with a few ideas here and there, rather than having any major input within a band's artistic direction - if that makes any sense. I'm not saying that this has to be the case for a drummer in a band, but it was a role I felt comfortable playing. Again, that approach is completely antithetical to being the frontperson of a band, where a lot of times the lyrics and overall vibe of the band are largely informed by you. I wrote all of the lyrics to every WOTS song, and they're an important element within the band, even though they are mostly indecipherable hahaha. A lot of them revolve around the same personal politics that most people could identify with, but there are a number of songs specifically about instances of racism I've experienced. They've provided a good vehicle for getting out years of pent up anger and frustration - I suppose that would be one of the biggest differences between drumming and doing vocals (I certainly can't refer to it as "singing" within this context): hitting the drums hard can provide a bit of a release for me I suppose, but not really as I still need to be mindful of the song dynamics and rhythm. Also, I don't hit hard because I'm angry about anything, I do it because I think it sounds good and it just sort of comes naturally. When doing vocals for WOTS however, I just completely lose myself. Other than the timing required for a song's rhythm, ALL I'm focusing on is my anger in relation to whatever a specific song is about.

RR: You’ve played with a lot of different bands. What are some of the bands that you’ve been a part of that people might not know about as much?

CM: I'm totally flattered that you would ask this. I'll probably rattle off more than I should.

Tone Deaf - A sort of "recording project" I did with some friends in high school. Really bizarre songs and skits about obtuse things, where we would often fuck with the sound a bit: for example, we did a song called "(S)lowrider" where I played a skeletal version of War's "Lowrider" on a cheap-ass Casio keyboard, and my friend Jivesh sang it. Then we took the recording and slowed it down to the point where it was unlistenable. It would be a couple years before any of us first heard Butthole Surfers, but that was EXACTLY the vibe we were going for.

BrainAmp - There's a town about an hour north of Halifax, NS called Truro - some of the most original and wonderful people I know come from there. About 15 or so years ago, Truro had this booming all ages scene with these really unique bands and kids in it - for whatever reason, a lot of them gravitated toward powerviolence. BrainAmp was essentially a tribute to that place and time period, specifically. I was the only one in the band who wasn't from Truro, and had NO business trying to play blastbeats without the chops, but we went ahead and did what we did (https://brainamp.bandcamp.com/releases). Played a couple of shows, and put out one demo recorded by Chad Peck (whose band Kestrels just put out a fantastic new record. J Mascis makes a guest appearance on it......no, actually: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37H4LxE9v3E)

Resistance To Theory - This was a two-piece band/project I did with my friend Alex Fountain. One of my oldest and best friends Erick Muise (now of Botnek; he also makes music under the moniker Tom Classic) was taking a Sound Engineering program at the time and needed a band to come in and record a couple of tracks. It was a perfect opportunity for Alex and I to play music together. We were both in an undergraduate sociology program at the time, so the name is a nod to that. We recorded two songs with Erick, and played only one show, in my friend Ian's bedroom! Alex's friend Seamus played bass for us. Sadly, Alex would take his own life a short while after we did the project. He was a beautiful and incredible person.

Negative Rage - This is essentially a solo project done by my friend Cody. It rules and think a lot of people are aware of it, but some may not know that I was lucky enough to play drums on the first NR release, Don't Wanna Talk (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JBukoM9fLg). The first live incarnation of the band played shows in Halifax, Truro, and Charlottetown, PEI.

Mean Streets - Two members from Word On The Street came together with two members from an incredible Halifax punk band called Mean Mug to form Mean Streets (get it?). We recorded a demo and played a handful of shows around Halifax - I don't think we ever played the same venue twice, which is cool (https://meanstreets902.bandcamp.com/). The demo was recorded by Luke Mumford, who has just put out an outstanding record of his own: https://drunkensailorrecords.bandcamp.com/album/st-lp-12

Rubbish Heap - This was a recording project done by Cody, myself, and our friend Tri, who played bass and recorded/mixed the songs. Tri had a makeshift studio at his place and was offering bands/artists to come and record for an extremely low price. That, paired with the fact that I was a new dad who had foolishly quit playing music and was craving it really badly, led to us making the Rubbish Heap demo (https://rubbishheap.bandcamp.com/releases). I would also dare to say that we are one of, if not the only Halifax punk band to have completely POC membership.

Botfly - Botfly are extremely well known throughout Canada and only have greater success ahead of them I’m sure. They are a trio, and the core lineup has been together for a while now - but I was fortunate to be the band’s original drummer. I play on the releases Parasitic Oscillation and Host: https://botfly.bandcamp.com/album/host

RR: You’re currently playing with Souvenir, how is this band different from bands that you’ve played with in the past and how/when did you first start recording the Beating Into Dust EP?

CM: Souvenir is perhaps the only serious band I've ever played in that is not a punk band. The three of us in the band all come from punk and hardcore to varying degrees, so I do hope those elements find their way into our music. The band's main influence is definitely the band Silkworm, although I'm not sure how much we really sound like them. Certain songs sound a little like Jawbreaker, while others have more of a Dinosaur Jr. feel to them.

Souvenir is also my first time writing some of the actual music for a band since back in high school, playing with The Villains (hopefully I've gotten a bit better at it since then). Beating Into Dust contains 6 songs; each member of the band wrote the music and lyrics for two. "Artifacts" and "Promises" are mine, but I asked my friend Lachie to sing them. I might try to sing a song on our next release.

After four years (!) of trying to play with Lachie and Dave (my bandmates in Souvenir) in different projects that didn't work out, Souvenir finally came together in April 2019. We wrote the first EP fairly quickly, and recorded it that September with Charles Austin at Ocean Floor Studio here in Halifax. Working with Charles is always a pleasure, and I'm really happy with how the EP came out. We're hoping to get back in there this September to record a follow-up.

RR: What's next for you musically? Are there any other projects that you are working on?

CM: The only full-time band I see myself in for the foreseeable future is Souvenir. It's been such a rewarding process creating music with those two guys, and I'm very excited to see what lies down the road for us. I've still had some cool opportunities outside of the band: Weekend Dads will be digitally releasing their new record, Good Hangs, very soon - I play drums on it. I like everyone in that band a whole lot, so that was a really fun thing to get to do. I played a couple of shows with them as well. Also, my friend Trevor Murphy has a new project called Sluice, where he writes and performs music in French; a recognition of his heritage. He's invited me to play drums on some upcoming Sluice songs, so I'm really looking forward to that. Thanks for the interview!

Show 836 (Originally Aired On July 4th, 2020)(The Pyramids, The Bags, Pure Hell, Outtacontroller, Souvenir, The Dirtbombs):

1. Sugluk - I Didn't Know
2. Saddle Lake Drifting Cowboys - Modern Music
3. Leland Bell - Messenger
4. King Khan & The Shrines - Let Me Holler
5. Big Joanie - Tell A Lie
6. John Brim - Rattlesnake
7. The Pyramids - Here Comes Martha
8. The Pyramids - Pyramid Stomp
9. The King Sound Quartet - I Wouldn't Put It Past You
10. Wolfmanhatten Project - Silver Sun
11. Mari Elliot - Silly Billy
12. Pure Hell - Noise Addiction
13. The Bags - Babylonian Gorgon
14. Bow Wow Wow - Radio G String
15. Bad Brains - You're A Migraine
16. The OBGMs - Torpedo
17. The Holders - Peoria
18. Outtacontroller - Stuck In The 902
19. Outtacontroller - Creeps
20. Word On The Street - Cut To The Chase
21. Souvenir - Artifact
22. Souvenir - Promises
23. JONCRO - Violet Hair
24. Pleasure Venom - Deth
25. Stiffed - Burn Again
26. Best Praxis - We Fell
27. Rough Francis - Teen Zombies
28. TV On The Radio - Dancing Choose
29. Junior Walker & The All Stars - Cleo's Mood
30. John Coltrane - Locomotion
31. Lloyd Cheechoo - James Bay
32. The Screws - Valleys
33. The Dirtbombs - Don't Break My Heart

Download/stream this episode here.

Show 835 (Originally Aired On June 27th, 2020)(Preoccupations, Alice Bag, Kestrels, Protomartyr):

1. Preoccupations - Unconscious Melody
2. Cindy Lee - A Message From The Aching Sky
3. Mac DeMarco - Ode To Viceroy
4. Dirty Beaches - Sweet 17
5. Sinkin' Feelings - Sinkin' Feeling
6. Matt Ellis - I Don't Wanna To Know
7. Alice Bag - Noise
8. Scratch - Melt
9. Constantines - Call Me Out
10. Rolling Blackouts C.F. - Cameo
11. Kestrels (Ft. Jay Mascus) - Grey and Blue
12. Tunde Adebimpe - People
13. Sleater-Kinney - Bad Dance
14. Protomartyr - Scum, Rise!
15. Black Barron - Seek Your Pleasure
16. Conduct - Bacchanal
17. No Joy - Hollywood Teeth
18. James O-L - My Tunes
19. Ron Leary & Dean Drouillard - Frontline
20. Bob Dylan - Goodbye Jimmy Reed
21. Bloodshot Bill - One & Own
22. Built To Spill - Honey, I Sure Miss You
23. Ty Segall & Cory Hanson - She's A Beam
24. Orville Peck - Roses Are Falling
25. Timber Timbre - Sewer Blues
26. Fiona Apple - Heavy Balloon
27. Luays - Fifty Fifty
28. Jordaan Mason - Pharmacy
29. Protomartyr - Michigan Hammers

Download/stream this episode here.

Show 834 (Originally Aired On June 20th, 2020)(X, Cloud Factory, Guided By Voices, Bob Dylan):

1. Dion Lunadon & Kate Clover - When Will I Hold You Again
2. The Magic Plants - I Am A Nothing
3. The Mummies - The Fly (Peel Session)
4. Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet - Telepathetic (Peel Session)
5. Les Hou-Lops - Ebb Tide
6. The Vibrants - The Breeze And I
7. Jeff Tweedy - Ten Sentences
8. Neil Young - Vacancy
9. X - Someone's Watching
10. X - Cyrano DeBerger's Back
11. Cloud Factory - Amnesia
12. Travel Check - Death of Chill
13. TV Freaks - ABC
14. Sweet Dave - The Long Ride
15. Eddy Current Suppression Ring - Insufficient Funds
16. Outtacontroller - Television Zombie
17. Souvenir - Meter
18. Gum Country - Talking To My Plants
19. The Courtneys - K.C. Reeves
20. Japandroids - Heart Sweats
21. Territories - Defender
22. Guided By Voices - Game of Pricks
23. Guided By Voices - As We Go Up We Go Down
24. Guided By Voices - Little Whirl
25. Guided By Voices - My Valuable Hunting Knfie
26. Bob Dylan - My Own Version Of You
27. Bob Dylan - Black Rider
28. Bob Dylan - Scarlet Town

Download/stream this episode here.

The State of Music: An Interview About Pentagon Black No. 4 & Shows # 716, 717, 718, 719

In the recent age of the Internet with the advent of streaming music, the compilation is something that seems to have fallen by the wayside. But, now even more so compilation albums are just as relevant as they were in the 80s or 90s. There are multiple uses for compiling music and instead of just randomly making an endless playlist that you can stream, a compilation album can serve many different purposes. In the case of the recent Pentagon Black No. 4 compilation album, it connects different bands across different parts and scenes in Canada. For the listener it makes them aware of some bands that they would have otherwise never even heard of. This compilation, as does Pentagon Black No. 3, has the effect of a bootleg live recording at times. When listening to the songs found here, there is a certain immediacy and intimacy that flourishes.

The opening track on Pentagon Black No. 4 is by Guelph musician Steph Yates. “The Bitter Part of the Fruit” is an acoustic, Bossa Nova tinged track laced with heartfelt melancholy. This is an example of the different types of music that you will find on this compilation. Not everything is melancholic, not everything is acoustic, and not everything is rough sounding despite the fact that all of the songs on this compilation were recorded with cellphones. But, all of the 19 tracks found on Pentagon Black No. 4 are bursting with the seeds of creativity and cohesion. Don’t Bother (from Toronto) attack with the politically charged “The Rebel”, Usse (from Saint John, New Brunswick) dig into noisy experimentalism on their track “Negative Bolt, No Action”, while Vancouver’s Orange Kyte tackle the shoe gaze and psychedelic genres with their track “Downfall”. Fashionism (also from Vancouver) brings high energy with their power pop dynamics in “Checking Out the Checkout Girl”, Montreal’s Property// bring moody synth rock with their track “TragicSimLoss”, Smokey & The Feelings “Blow” sprouts with gusts of indie folk from Edmonton, Alberta, and Halifax’s Outtacontroller contribute their fuzzy garage sounds with “Too Much Tonight”. These are just some of the examples of the types of songs of differing genres from different parts in Canada found on this release.

With Pentagon Black No. 4, the label takes the theory of a compilation album, keeping it focused and at the same time a little more experimental than the previous compilations that they have released. In addition to this, they cut out the physical element, but not completely. Musically this release, like all of their “Paper LP” releases, features a digital download code that is included with an art element. The artwork for this release comes in the form of a postcard illustrated by Lisa Czech. Also, the compilation is only two dollars to purchase in its entirety. In the process of all of this, Pentagon Black stays true to their minimalism ideology. All of the recordings have a lo-fi element since they were all recorded on cellphones, but this doesn’t affect the quality of the music. They are using technology, but aren’t overcomplicating things. Pentagon Black puts a twist on an old favourite finding an in-between of the past and present way of releasing a compilation album and from this essence an art form blooms.

Get Pentagon Black No. 4 here.

Keep reading for an interview that I did with Raymond Biesinger & Drew Demers of Montreal’s The Famines and also of the Pentagon Black label:

RR: The compilation album is an art in itself. Putting it together, deciding what’s included, what goes where and the artwork. What led you to wanting to put out compilation albums with your label Pentagon Black and what is the general process that you go through when compiling them?

RAYMOND: Yeah, as we played around with the poster-and-download format, it kind of “told” us what to do. When we realized it held limitless minutes of music, we realized we could present a lot of music. When we realized it was cheap to print and people saw it as a valuable thing, we realized we could print a lot of them and not get burned, financially. When we realized it was inexpensive to mail large quantities around, we realized we could decentralize distribution of the records among dozens of musicians and see what happened next.

DREW: In general, we approach bands that we love that are community builders in their own scenes and take it from there. Once all the tracks are in, Raymond (or Lisa recently) works on the art side to properly represent each of the tracks and I get to work on trying to discover a flow between the songs that makes sense.

RR: Why do you think compilation albums are still important today? Do you feel they are more beneficial to independent artists?

DREW: Compilations are more important now because it’s become difficult for a band to cut through the impenetrable wall of the Internet, to get heard by more than just their peer group. I think they are equal parts beneficial to the artist and the consumer: for artists, they get to tap into the fan base of a few dozen different bands, getting exposure in unknown places. For the listener, it's a chance to become exposed to groups they may not have heard before.

RAYMOND: The world is a dangerously libertarian and individualistic place where all kinds of established powers work for themselves and against your average human being. Maybe there’s another way?

RR: Pentagon Black No. 3 & 4 are made up of live recordings from cell/smart phones. This gives the compilations a certain bootleg-like immediate/raw quality. How did you come up with this “phone comp” format for these particular compilations and would you say it is similar to live bootleg recordings that have been released in the past?

DREW: Pentagon Black No. 3 came very close on the heels of the second one, which was a very polished collection. All the artists put their best foot forward. We knew we needed to do something different with that release, both in format and delivery. It was sort of obvious. Any time we write a new song, we use Voice Memo to capture a reference of it. Listening back, they’re at least “listenable” if not “good” sounding, and so easy. We figured it wouldn't be asking too much of bands to supply us with a track that way. You could consider it in the same family as a live record, except that due to the fidelity of the phone recordings, it sounds like every band recorded in the same room.

RAYMOND: I think we were hanging out near Brasserie Beaubien when we decided it was an idea worth trying. The risk was incredibly low—no recording costs, no mastering, we already had the (very easy) technology down, we knew a bunch of bands that trusted us because of the first two compilations, and printing 500 postcards is dirt cheap. That same “low risk” environment bled into the adventurousness of the recordings. Garbageface recorded his track while walking around Peterborough singing into his phone, Special Costello’s while driving in western Nova Scotia. An early version of Steph Yates’ track had her cat in it, Usse described their recording as “their free-est yet” and Fashionism spontaneously cusses at us in their intro. So much of this is unfiltered or untried. I honestly haven’t thought of these as akin to “bootlegs” until you just mentioned it now.

RR: How does Pentagon Black No. 4 differ from No. 3 and what are some of your favourite bootleg/live recordings that you’ve heard?

DREW: They’re different in that artists were taking bigger sonic risks this time around. There is more experimentation and diversity among the tracks. And a bunch of saxophone. Personally, the live version of “The Human Factor" by Oneida is one of my favorites. I have it on vinyl but my partner doesn’t allow me to play it at home because she hates it. It's 15 minutes of improvised drums and screaming.

RAYMOND: Agreed. It was easier to coax tracks out of bands, too, which is why it’s a few songs longer. And there isn’t any Famines on it. And the Rolling Stones’ “Got Live if You Want It” live LP is a sonic mess. I love it so much—it sounds like the Stones gone punk. We named one of our songs “Got Lies if You Want Them” as a bit of an echo of it.

RR: Lisa Czech did the artwork for Pentagon Black No. 3 & 4. When did you first discover her art and how did she become involved with the album art for these recent compilation albums?

DREW: I’d seen her work on posters around Montreal for years but didn't know who she was. We wanted something that stood out as wholly different from the style of the first two, which are easy to spot as Raymond's work.

RAYMOND: I’d bought a few prints of hers over the years, and her B&W-dominated obsessively-detailed art was a clear fit. She’s the only person besides me we’ve ever trusted with a Famines release or comp. I think we may even have been considering her for a Famines record cover before this?

RR: You were involved in the 2018 Flourish Festival recently. The Famines played and in addition to releasing this compilation there was an art exhibition of sorts. Can you tell us a bit about what this entailed?

DREW: We played with Whoop-Szo, Klarka Weinwurm, Lonely Parade and Motherhood, and all of these bands have appeared on at least one of our compilations. In a way it was the unofficial Pentagon Black showcase. We also hung up each of the compilations, the Pentagon Black Famines singles, our Complete Collected Singles paper re-issue, a PRIORS record, and a picture of my leg tattoo (also known as the 7th Pentagon Black release). All the exhibit labels showed a download code, too, and anybody who wanted could download the releases for free. That's at least 106 songs.

RAYMOND: Yeah, it was all ten Pentagon Black releases, left to right, chronologically. Oh, and we added the “Stay Home Club” paper single—our very first paper release. That was on another label (Psychic Handshake, RIP). They basically said “we’re going out of business so do whatever you want as long as it’s cheap, you crazy boys.”

RR: Your label is called Pentagon Black. What inspired the name Pentagon Black?

DREW: We discussed a handful of combinations before arriving at Pentagon Black. I can't remember the exact flow, but black is a touchstone of our vibe and the pentagon is a visually striking shape to rally around.

RAYMOND: The minimalism and starkness of it is expressive of the Famines. And it sounds nice, too.

RR: Do you think that Pentagon Black will ever release anything in a physical format or do you plan on sticking to digital releases?

DREW: We haven’t discussed it officially, but I can confidently say we will always release on paper with digital. Vinyl and cassette are too expensive and wasteful. CDs are equally wasteful, perceived as uncool, and move slower because of it.

RAYMOND: No comment.

RR: The first two Pentagon Black compilations were more studio recorded affairs, while these last two were live. Do you plan on doing more compilation albums and if so, what do you plan on doing next?

DREW: We've put a lot of work into pushing compilations and scene building, but have put zero work into recording and pushing our own music lately. So the next release is going to be by and for the Famines. We haven't closed the book on compilations, but it hasn't been a week yet since No. 4 was released. We're taking a vacation from making any grand plans.

RAYMOND: Good call. As much as we talk about how “easy” our formats are on musicians, this stuff is exhausting. I just want to be a guitarist and singer for at least half a year, tour around, record a bit, talk to the musicians we’ve worked with, and maybe they’ll tell us what comes next.

Show 719 Play List (Originally Aired On April 28th, 2018)(Pentagon Black No.4 Part 2):

1. Billy Lee Riley - Flyin' Saucer Rock & Roll
2. Big Mama Thornton - Wrapped Tight
3. Bo Diddley - Down Home Special
4. The Gories - Be Nice
5. The Space Plan - High Noon In Death Valley
6. Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet - Who's Afraid Of Alison Hymer/Wow Flutter Hiss
7. Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet - Babakganoosh
8. Young Fresh Fellows - Taco Wagon
9. Secrets - Take Another Look
10. Marbles - Fire and Smoke
11. The Revelons - 97 Tears
12. Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Oliver's Army
13. The Clash - White Riot (UK Version)
14. The Ronald Reagan Story - Ronnie (I Voted For You)
15. Nocturnal Projections - Nerve Ends In Power Lines
16. Nocturnal Projections - Moving Forward
17. Visitors - The Orcadian
18. Preoccupations - Espionage
19. A Place To Bury Strangers - Execution
20. Heart Attack Kids - Platonic Love Bomb
21. Cellos - Exodus
22. The Famines - Stay Home Club
23. Fashionism - Checking Out the Checkout Girl
24. Outtacontroller - Too Much Tonight
25. Steph Yates - Bitter Part of the Fruit
26. Paul The Tailor - Why Won't You
27. The Ketamines - Spaced Out
28. The Replacements - Hitchin' A Ride
29. Tough Age - 50 Girls 50
30. Guided By Voices - Space Gun
31. Frankie Cosmos - Apathy
32. Subway Sect - Don't Split It
33. The Rolling Stones - Under My Thumb (Live)
34. The Rolling Stones - Get Off My Cloud (Live)

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for April 28.

Show 718 Play List (Originally Aired On April 21st, 2018)(Pentagon Black No.4 Part 1):

1. Iggy Pop - Rock And Roll Party
2. Sex Pistols - God Save The Queen
3. Ivy Green - I'm Sure We're Gonna Make It
4. Epsilons - Drunk On Love
5. Epsilons - Evil Robots
6. The Unintended - Stay Calm
7. Jon Langford & His Sadies - Up To My Neck In This
8. Mayhemingways - 14th of January
9. Born Ruffians - Ring That Bell
10. Baby Giant - Such & Such
11. Human Switchboard - Fly-In
12. The Waterfront - Normandy (On The Beach)
13. Damaged Bug - The Mirror
14. The Government - None of the Above
15. Kim Gray - Reflection of You
16. The Exploding Hearts - Shattered (You Left Me)
17. Kevin Morby - Baltimore (County Line)
18. OCS - Wait All Nite
19. OCS - Tower & The Wall
20. Indian Wars - Walk Around The Park
21. Curtiss A - Bad News From Phoenix
22. The Suicide Commandos - Weekend Warrior
23. The Minneapolis Uranium Club Band - Vanishing Point
24. Don't Bother - The Rebel
25. The Orange Kyte - Downfall
26. The Cavemen - Thug
27. Nap Eyes - You Like To Joke Around With Me
28. Nap Eyes - Everytime The Feeling
29. Gary U.S. Bonds - Quarter To Three
30. The Ugly Ducklings - Nothin'

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for April 21.


Show 717 Play List (Originally Aired On April 14th, 2017)(Hot Snakes, The Spits and The Wipers):

1. Messer Chups - House of Exorcism
2. The Phantoms - Peter Gunn
3. The Garry's - Relics
4. La Luz - Cicada
5. Bonny Doon - A Lotta Things
6. Lucile Furs - Another Land
7. Papermaps - The Missed Connections
8. The Voidz - Leave It In My Dreams
9. A Place To Bury Strangers - Frustrated Operator
10. Yellow Magic Orchestra - Solid State Survivor
11. Safe Word - You & Me
12. Lychi - Not Sorry
13. Middle Sister - The Diplomat
14. Eamon McGrath - Cartographers
15. Dusted - Backwoods Ritual
16. Hot Snakes - I Need A Doctor
17. Hot Snakes - I Hate The Kids
18. Ten Million Lights - Revolt
19. Shark Toys - Three Dogs
20. The Spits - 2018
21. The Spits - Remote Kontrol
22. LTD - New Stains
23. Guitar Army - I Wanna Be Like You
24. Garbage Face - Rock Music (Kawithitnow)
25. Garbage Face - That Guy Is Cool (Sick!)
26. Paul Jacobs - The Basement
27. The Wipers - When It's Over
28. Destroy All Monsters - Nobody Knows
29. The Gruesomes - You Gotta Believe Me

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for April 14.

Show 716 Play List (Originally Aired On April 7th, 2018)(Archie & The Bunkers, Husker Du, Nap Eyes & Ty Segall):

1. Creation's Disciple - Psychedelic Reaction
2. Phil and The Frantics - I Must Run
3. Archie and The Bunkers - The Traveler
4. Archie and The Bunkers - She's A Rockin' Machine
5. Naked Giants - Everybody Thinks They Know (But No One Really Knows)
6. Frankie Cosmos - The Ballad of R & J Vessel
7. The Damned - Idiot Box
8. Iggy & The Stooges - Shake Appeal
9. Psychic Void - Day Dreamer
10. Husker Du - From The Gut
11. Husker Du - Sunshine Superman
12. Hellaluya - Iggy Pop
13. Cartoons - Bugeyed
14. Young Canadians - No Escape
15. Spizzenergi - Mega City 3
16. Devo - Wiggly World (Live at The Walker 1978)
17. Ought - Disgraced In America
18. The Magnificent 7's - Dirty Road
19. James O-L & The Villains - Foolsome Tourist
20. Bloodshot Bill - Pretty Little Girl From Mars
21. Baby Giant - Sky Writer
22. Leonard Cohen - Stories of the Street
23. Nap Eyes - Roses
24. Nap Eyes - Follow Me Down
25. Chain & The Gang - I Hate Winners
26. Ty Segall & White Fence - Easy Ryder
27. Ty Segall - You Say All The Nice Things
28. Danny & The Darleans - I'm Right Here
29. Preoccupations - Manipulation

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for April 7.

The Famines Interview & Show # 694

The Famines formed in 2008 in Edmonton, Alberta as a two-piece band featuring singer/guitarist Raymond Biesinger and drummer Garrett Kruger. The band employs a minimalist approach to their music which draws on fuzzy garage sounds and 70s protopunk, and have described themselves as being “an art cult noise garage duo”. Now based out of Montreal and featuring drummer Drew Demers, who joined the band in 2014, The Famines released several seven inch singles via the Mammoth Cave Recording Co. and a variety of other labels from 2008-2011.  The singles were eventually collected on a full-length LP as The Complete Collected Singles: 2008-2011. A cassette was released in 2008 titled 14 July 2008, which captured the band in their first live performance. The cassette was released with a companion booklet that was 268 pages. All of the band’s artwork has been designed by Raymond Biesinger, who in addition to being in The Famines is an accomplished illustrator.

In 2014, The Famines recorded a full-length album that was to be released on Mammoth Cave Recording Co., but that label which started in 2009, announced they would cease operations as a label in February of 2015. Instead of leaving their album’s pending release in limbo, The Famines came up with the concept of a “paper LP”. They tested out this concept with a “paper single”, 2015’s “Stay Home Club/Who Wants Disarmament”. The idea was relatively simple, the release would be a digital download coupled with a large 20X30 newsprint poster. They applied this concept to what would become the full-length album Too Cool & Other Songs, which was released in July 2015. It was also released on their own label Pentagon Black.

Too Cool & Other Songs marked the band’s full-length album return after four years, it was also the first release that featured artwork that was in colour and not in black and white, as all previous Famines related releases had been. The artwork also features images on the cover that correspond with lyrics that are found on this nine-track album. Recorded at Drones Club in Montreal by Christian Simmons, Too Cool & Other Songs captures the band in a new re-energized state. The album starts off with driving drumbeats and moments of feedback before launching into a fuzzy riff driven tale inspired by the fashion industry. With lyrics such as “Put on your dark glasses so you can’t see shit”, “You got a capsule collection of tanks, tubes and tops/supernatural selection via pricey shops” and a chorus of “Too cool/Too cool/Under fashion rule/The way the world’s going/Too cool to live”, this song contrasts warlike imagery describing the battle of being involved with this industry, while at the same time contrasting it with the contradictions and problems found within it. This viewpoint could also be applied to other mediums such as the music industry, or to someone who views themselves as being really cool or hip by mainstream standards. “Hail To The Taxman” picks up the pace and intensity, as “Attack Machine Blues”, described as a dismal hop in the album’s liner notes, lyrically rallies for finding your own voice amongst values that are forced upon citizens in our everyday environment that come from political forces. “Five Ways” is even more frenetic while “Who’s Next?” brings the pace down a bit and drifts into Kraut-rock territory.

“Fast Times” fades in with a guitar riff sounding like a radio distress signal that gets louder as the drums shuffle towards the first verse of the song. This track takes a critical look of our modern culture dominated by the immediacy of the Internet. With lyrics such as “Dear the internet/Look what you’re doing to us/Making things so fast we cannot keep up” and “That feeling of inadequacy is spread around so well it can kill I can tell” and lines such as “Not check my email 700 times a day”, this song illustrates the quickness of technology and how we lose something in the process. “Zero Sum” is a hard hitting track with lyrics such as “If you want one thing/You cannot have another” that contrasts the theory of the zero sum game to life choices such as loans and being a home owner, while “I’ll Save My Sympathy” attacks in a barrage of drum fills and deep cutting guitar riffs in which Biesinger proposes saving his sympathies for someone worthwhile as opposed to someone who isn’t. With words such as “I’ve got plenty of tears/But I have none to lose” and “I’ve got plenty of tears/But where they go I choose”, this song bites and cuts deep into the listener’s subconscious with an undeniable conviction. The album ends with the six minute and twelve second epic, fiery song “The Rumour Mill (Has A Name and Face)”, which has been The Famines live set ender for many years.

In the liner notes found on the artwork it states: “Listen, enjoy, reflect and seldom stop.” This could take on many meanings not just in the context of The Famines, but in general. With Too Cool & Other Songs, The Famines question what surrounds them as the lyrics are expressed in vivid and engaging ways, finding space amongst the musical chaos that surrounds them.

Since the release of Too Cool & Other Songs, The Famines label, Pentagon Black has released three paper LP compilations. Pentagon Black No. 1 & 2, which compiles previously unreleased studio recordings by bands across Canada, were released in 2016 and 2017. Compilation No. 3 followed in June 2017, which was a compilation of rough sounding live recordings made by smart phones of bands from Canada. It was released on a postcard. An album was also released by the Montreal band Priors, featuring Famines drummer Drew Demers in March 2017.

For more info on Pentagon Black and The Famines, visit www.thefamines.ca

Check out my interview with Raymond and Drew of The Famines here:



Saturday Night Playlist:

1. !Action Pact! - Times Must Change
2. Chain & The Gang - What Is A Dollar?
3. LCD Soundsystem - Change Yr Mind
4. Laura Sauvage - You're Ugly When You Cry
5. The Courtneys - Mars Attacks
6. The Bad Signs - Love Lock
7. Thee Rum Coves - Tell Me Something I Don't Know
8. Les Wild Ones - Mon Amour
9. Simply Saucer - Bullet Proof Nothing (CJSW Session)
10. No Aloha - Sway (CJSW Session)
11. Psychic Void - Morning Anxiety (2017 Demo)
12. Cellos - Bury Me On Highway 3
13. The Famines - Attack Machine Blues
14. The Famines - Free Love Is A Sales Technique

THE FAMINES INTERVIEW

15. The Famines - The State of Music
16. Lee Ranaldo - New Thing
17. Gord Downie - Wolf's Home
18. Bonny Doon - Relieved
19. Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Fish N Chips Paper
20. Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Why Don't You Live Me (Like You Used To Do)
21. Nick Lowe - Cracking Up
22. Leonard Cohen - My Oh My
23. Howlin' Wolf - Moanin' At Midnight
24. Lou Reed - The Last Shot

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for November 18.