Hinterland's blog: 05/01/2005

I have created a Myspace page for Hinterland. It's still somewhat embryonic. Check it out by clicking the link conveniently located in the column at right.

I dug out my old cassette copy of R.E.M.'s Reckoning (1984) recently and I haven't been able to stop listening to it ever since. With all the '80s-revival crap going on these days, I'd love to hear the return of the classic jangly "college rock" sound that R.E.M. helped invent. Damn, Mike Mills's parts still sound fresh. The guy ranks right up there with Andy Rourke on the list of great underrated bassists of the 1980s. I've got to get this stuff on CD to replace those old tapes I've had since high school. I can feel it rubbing off on my playing with Hinterland already...

The strangest thing has happened: all comments on posts prior to January 2005 have disappeared. This is not very cool.

The guys at White Whale Records are putting on what promises to be a fantastic show at Richard's on Richards on June 1 (that's this Wednesday). Kids These Days, Castle Project, and Blood Meridian are all on the bill. I highly recommend this gig.

Big thanks to everyone who came to our Media Club show on Friday. Good times. A strange thing happened: Lynn Coady, who was scheduled to do a reading, never showed up. Which is quite odd, given that she was advertised in every listing and on posters and handbills, and even got her own plug in the Georgia Straight. Actually, she even plugged the gig on her own site. Strange.

Also, someone was taking pictures of us throughout our set, but we don't know who it was. Was it you? If so, we'd love to seem them. Please get in touch.

We just got more info on the compilation for which we recorded our cover of Lush's "For Love". You can read all about it right here. I can't wait to hear this disc, and I highly recommend ordering a copy, as we will not be including that song on our upcoming album, so this will be the only place you'll be able to hear it. I am hoping we can acquire a few copies of the comp to sell at our shows.

OK, who reads Japanese? I found this review of our gig with the Album Leaf. Translation, anyone?

Of possible interest to indie-film fans:

LUCKY STARS
a feature length comedy

Vancouver Premiere & Fundraiser for the BC SPCA Biscuit Fund
May 26, 7:15 pm
VanEast Cinema
2290 Commercial Drive

Tickets: $8 in advance
$10 at the door
On sale now at Biz Books (302 West Cordova)
Black Dog Video (3451 Cambie Street)
Three Dog Bakery (2186 West 4th Ave.)
Sophie's Pet Palace (1280 Commercial Drive)

LUCKY STARS is a behind-the-scenes look at the dog-eat-dog world of canine thespians. When MOIRA, a music publicist, is dumped by her fiancé, PETER, she adopts a black lab named LUCKY to keep her company. However, Moira soon pushes Lucky into an acting career to compete with her the successful career of her ex's dog, RONALDO. As the canine capers unfold, Moira meets many unusual characters, including an eccentric rock star, an opportunistic director and an overly enthusiastic dog psychiatrist.

Shot over 27 days in Vancouver, LUCKY STARS was written by Jason Margolis & Maureen Prentice of Jump Communications (www.jumpfilm.com), and directed & edited by Margolis. It was produced by Margolis & Prentice along with Robin Chan of Like Minded Media (www.likemindedmedia.com). Executive producer is Carl Bessai (writer/director of the feature Emile, starring Sir Ian McKellan). Lucky Stars premiered at the 2004 Calgary International Film Festival and was nominated for Best Foreign Feature at the 6th Annual Bare Bones Independent Film Festival.

LUCKY STARS stars Lucky Prentice, currently on the shortlist for Best Pet in Canada in Animal Planet's 3rd Annual Best Pet Awards, sponsored by Iams pet food. Lucky is a labrador retriever who is not a trained actor dog. In fact, none of the dogs featured in LUCKY STARS were specially trained dogs, but were the pets of performers in the movie. Select other canine thespians include Woody Gronick (German Shepherd/golden retriever), Sammy Simpson-Gray (Pyrenees/collie) and Tinkerbell Jacob (pug).

Human performers in LUCKY STARS include Maureen Prentice (Halloween: Resurrection), Josephine Jacob (The L Word), Sara Walker (Bill Forsyth's Housekeeping), Ray Galletti (I Spy), Stanley Katz (The 4400), Damon Johnson (Chaos) and Peter Shinkoda (MTV Real World: The Lost Years). Select additional cast includes: Frida Betrani (Last Wedding), Brendan Fletcher (The Five Senses and Terry Gilliam's upcoming Tideline), Michael Scholar Jr. (The Collector), Elisabeth Rosen (The West Wing), Mackenzie Gray (The Collector), and Tobias Mehler (Young Blades). It features a soundtrack by such rising musical stars as Kids These Days, Wendy McNeill, Hinterland, Joe Brooks, and Jessie Farrell.

For more information, please visit the LUCKY STARS website.

Here's the new poster. We'll be on around 11.

There has been a change to our show at the Media Club on Friday, May 20. ...As the Poets Affirm had to cancel, so we will now be sharing the bill with the lovely Portico, not to mention Maplewood Lane and Hejira. Doors open at 8:30 p.m. and the cover is $10. Pretty damn good for three of the best bands in the city. And Hinterland's playing, too!

Do come, won't you?

The observant among you will notice Hinterland's name in this Chartattack.com story.

My new favourite artist is Amy Ruppel. Her bird-silhouette paintings are cute and whimsical, but at the same time there is some vague underlying sense of melancholy about them if you look long enough.

(Observant Hinterland fans will notice that I borrowed the bird-silhouette idea for a recent gig poster. I didn't copy Amy, though; I did an original drawing based on a photo of a bird.)

The Starlite Room has these cool old chandeliers that sort of look like UFOs from underneath.

Michaela, upstairs at the Starlite Room.

Cam checks out the view from the Old Citadel.

The Starlite Room is located in a building called the Old Citadel, a former Salvation Army building built in 1925.

Our venue in Edmonton was the Starlite Room. It was a cool place.

We were fortunate to be able to stay with Gregg's brother and sister-in-law in Edmonton. Here we are posed in front of the van, which is parked at their house.

Cameron and Gregg try to figure out where the hell we are (the outskirts of Edmonton, that's where).

Tyler Durden... um, I mean Gregg... in the majestic Rockies.

John in the majestic Rockies.

Greg in the majestic Rockies.

Cameron in the majestic Rockies.

Michaela in the majestic Rockies.

Gregg demonstrates how easy it is to make friends on the road. I have no idea where this was; some faux-ghost-town tourist trap.

Mmmm.... chips....

Gregg and Cam exemplify the healthy eating habits practiced by Hinterland while on tour.

Michaela poses in front of the van at one of our fuelling stops. A few of the artists we listened to in the van: Yo La Tengo, Bedhead, Stereolab, Nick Drake, Television, Hot Hot Heat, New Order, DFA 1979, Metric, the Arcade Fire, Ride, My Bloody Valentine, Kinski...

The lovely waters of Shuswap Lake. Or something. My geographical memory has already proven to be unreliable.

Possibly the coolest drugstore sign ever, in Calgary. Unfortunately, they had turned the neon off by the time we returned to snap this picture of it. The other side says ROCKET.

Oh, the wacky antics bands get up to on the road. This is me, loitering in front of a 7-11 in Hope. At least I think it was Hope...

A few of us took cameras on our recent road trip. Here's one that Gregg took of our van parked in front of a certain national donut chain that supplied much of our fuel.

We did some interviews in advance of our recent Alberta trip. One was with the University of Calgary Gauntlet, and the other was with Edmonton's See weekly. We never did find a copy of the Gauntlet, but here's a bit of what the See article said:

"Upon the release of their 2003 debut album, Under the Waterline, parallels were quickly drawn between them and the likes of Cocteau Twins, the Sundays, and Bjork, most likely directly inspired by Galloway's ethereal voice. The band itself is built around her presence, completing the picture with Aeolian melodies that rely on heavily-effected guitar, keyboards, and flute... Her high, almost child-like singing makes for a surreal experience, creating a fog that embraces the ears."

I'm not sure what an Aeolian melody is...

Can't find Hinterland's music on CD at your local record shop? Under the Waterline is now available for download from Zunior. The price: a mere $8.88 for the whole album. Go here for all the details.

Please support Hinterland by voting for us in the Terminal City Vanguard Awards. There are a couple of categories that we might be suitable for: "Most pioneering local indie band/artist" and "Local musician with the most novel day job". The latter would be Michaela, since there probably aren't too many other philosophy instructors around who are also singers in rock bands.

The following people have won copies of Under the Waterline and Hinterland T-shirts from the recent contest that Cordmag.com was running: Jenny Waites of San Francisco and John Carlow of Victoria.

By the way, we recently returned from our Alberta excursion. Pictures and stuff coming soon!

Hinterland's blog

Friday, May 27, 2005

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

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Wednesday, May 18, 2005

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Monday, May 16, 2005

Tuesday, May 10, 2005

Sunday, May 08, 2005

Saturday, May 07, 2005

Friday, May 06, 2005

Thursday, May 05, 2005

Tuesday, May 03, 2005

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