Abandon All Fans!

Saturday, August 29, 2009 by tracyface
So Abandon All Ships posted a blog back on August 7th that can be read here. I'm a little behind on the times I know but I can't resist making a comment. Basically the blog told fans that their MySpace player doesn't load in anything but Firefox and if they use Internet Explorer they need to switch to the better browser. Now I personally only use Firefox and think it is the best browser, but I'm glad to report that a couple of people used their common sense and commented to the band that it is their responsibility to spread their music, not to tell their fans to switch web browsers.

Seeing as they dropped some dollars for their layout, Abandon All Ships should go back to Fashioned By Machine who made their layout and make them fix the problem. When your player doesn't work in IE, Safari, Chrome, OR Opera, it's time to change your coding because really...are all your fans going to switch web browsers to hear the five songs you have up? Probably not.

If you do have Firefox I recommend giving these guys a listen if you're into a Hardcore/Synth/Euro sound. http://www.myspace.com/abandonallships


Abandon All Ships!
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HAVE HEART!

Thursday, August 27, 2009 by tracyface
So it has been decided that I and some super rads friends are going on a four-day road trip to Boston for Have Heart's final show with Bane and a mystery guest. The show is on what is apparently National Straightedge Day, but how would I know I'm Canadian!

We are also going to eat at BOB EVANS at some point. We'll probably just mess around the whole way there and back in general. (Which is why we're taking four days to drive to Boston and back) I'm excited and poking around looking for some fun, crazy, and preferably cheap things to do along the way.



BOSTON STRAIGHT-EDGE!
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Alexisonfire Plays Durham College...Finally.

Saturday, August 22, 2009 by tracyface
First off, I just want to get it out there that The Diverse Attraction has posted a new song on their MySpace. It's amazing but was there ever really any question as to whether it would be amazing or not? Go check it out - the link is on the right side under "Unsigned Artists".

In other news Durham College finally did something right. They have tried to book Alexisonfire in the past and got repeatedly turned down. For some reason the school tried to book them into EP Taylor's, the college pub, which is not only one of the world's worst venues, but it is small and would sell out in two seconds. The band turned the offers down as I assume they saw no real benefit to themselves to play a small campus pub and justifiably so.

The SA finally smartened up it seems and have booked Alexisonfire and Metric to play Campusfest 09. They will be hosting an outdoor show in the Polonsky Commons. The show is on Monday, September 14th and starts at 6pm. (Although gates open at 4pm?!) As far as I can tell you can only attend if you are a student or alumni, or convince a student or alumni to buy a ticket for you and take you as a guest. Advance tickets for students and alumni are $15//$20 for guests...so there is a benefit to being an alumni!

I hope they play a lot of pre-Old Crows, Young Cardinals. Although, Dallas Green was quoted in the Toronto Star saying, "It's a statement to people who still want us to be the band we used be. I don't think we'll ever be that band." (Link to Article at the bottom) Evolving musically=good. Forgetting where you came from and basically cutting off fans of your first two albums....well lets just say the first time I go to a show and I don't hear at least the old classics that got them where they are today, I'm done with their shows. Just to clarify, I do like Crisis - they lost me at Old Crows/Young Cardinals.

Another note is that George was quoted as saying, "a lot more harmonizing and a lot more layering. With the screaming, you can paint yourself into the corner a bit." He should really clarify that he can still scream because I've talked to a lot of people who are under the impression that he has destroyed his vocal chords and can't anymore. I'm as curious as everyone else so it would be interesting to see him address this rumour.

Link to the Toronto Star article.

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Take It Back! - Rumors of Revolt

Thursday, August 20, 2009 by tracyface
I had the pleasure of watching these guys three times at Cornerstone this year. I had not picked up their album that much on my own but my friends were playing it a lot. I was somewhat surprised to find that I knew all of the lyrics and was singing along, which shows how catchy their songs are. They ended up being one of my favourite bands of the festival and I have since taken to listening to them an awful lot. If you're into hardcore punk I highly recommend giving these guys a listen, or even better - see them live if you can.

Take It Back released their Limited Edition EP, Rumors Of Revolt, on August 18th. The album has five songs total. Three are new and two are covers (”Rise Above” – Black Flag and “Turn Burn Again” – No Innocent Victim). Both covers are amazing in that Take It Back has added their own twist to the songs. I can't stand it when bands play a cover that sounds exactly like the original.

If you enjoyed their first album this EP gives you a fresh new sound that still embodies everything that you probably loved about the first album. Take It Back has managed to find a vocalist who can still belt out old favourites, but brings his own new sound to the table. It's a beautiful thing.

The band has left a small summer treat to tease me until their second full-length comes out on Facedown Records in the fall. I cant wait!


Take It Back! - Rumors of Revolt
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Barry Taylor Tells It Like It Is!

Sunday, August 16, 2009 by tracyface
Barry Taylor recently posted a blog to his MySpace titled "Why I was fired from 102.1 the Edge". I highly encourage people to read it in it's entirety so with hopes of just that I'm going to post it here:

"There are no delusions of grandeur going on here. But at the same time try and name another radio personality that managed to use his name to create a play on words for the title of a joke and a survey. Seriously. That’s pretty awesome.

The inquiring emails have gotten out of control. At last count there were 7. Let’s deal with this before someone gets hurt. There were some statistical rating issues at the Edge. These began a couple of years ago when the station started to air six, two minute commercial breaks an hour instead of three breaks of three to four minutes. The station suffered - except for the morning show as they were the only time slot that didn’t change to the six commercial break format.

This new format created times when there would be two minutes of commercials followed by a song followed by another two minutes of commercials followed by a song, two more minutes of commercials, another song followed by a minute long promo followed by a song.

It should also be made clear that in radio the only times that really matter for generating revenue are Monday to Friday between 6am and 6pm. I worked Mon-Wed evenings starting at 7PM and weekend afternoons, A.K.A. – prime time. And according to Ross Winters I was a problem.

Ross Winters. The latest Program Director at one oh two point one the Edge. The guy who continually calls all the shots. When one thinks of Ross one word comes to mind: Adonis. Cut from the pages of a romance novel, the man turns heads when he walks into a room; the ladies stare with lustful eyes and the men stare with envy. He speaks with a slight accent that moistens the loincloths of every female within ear shot. The only thing sexier than his long, chestnut-brown hair are his muscles. A man among boys.

The first thing Ross ever talked to me about was how much money KROQ in Los Angeles made. This wasn’t a good sign. He casually continued to express his ideas on making the Edge like a Top 40 station but with grunge music. “Zee Edge must appear sexier to all zee people of Toronto” he told me. “Like Paris Hilton.” But he pronounced Paris like Pair-ee so I was confused at first. From that point on I was pretty positive I was fucked. Sounding like a monotone burnout doesn’t really work with Top 40 Radio.

Changes came quick with Ross. The music played on the station became incredibly restricted and really repetitive. In the past I was allowed to have input at the station’s music meetings. The meetings happened weekly and it’s where we’d decide which songs to add. Enter Dr. Don Mitchell, the Music Director and Assistant Program Director.

Don is a six foot six, 300 pound African-Canadian who lives and breathes Gangster Rap. When Don was hired a few years ago the Canadian Music Industry instantly stopped and thought: Why, in the name of all things holy would one of the biggest new rock stations on the planet, whose musical integrity and credibility are unmatched, hire a Music Director that is the absolute antithesis of the demographic they’re trying to reach? Don became known in Toronto music circles for his catch phrase, “Nigga, here’s my mother fuckin’ philosophy…”

Ross and Doc decided all music at the Edge would be based on what other stations were playing. They also sent out for a ton of research to try and tune them into what the demographic liked.

One of the last music meetings I was at we were trying to decide which Canadian band to add. Ross liked band A because he had met the lead singer and thought she was sexy. Don wanted band B because they were being played in Edmonton and Calgary, I offered band C. Band C had three sold out shows at Toronto’s Massey Hall that month and band C’s iTune sales were exponentially greater than band A and band B put together.

Dr. Don looked at me like I just pissed in his soup. “Nigga, here’s my mother fuckin philosophy,” he snapped. “Fuck three sold out shows at Massy Hall. I could take a shit on stage and sell out Massey Hall. Why don’t you take your Barry Funny Ass out of this mother fucker. “ Ross agreed and I wasn’t allowed at another music meeting.

Another nail in my coffin came with the whole electric car chaos. Holy crap that upset people. The coverage received more attention from outside media than any other thing that happened on the Edge in the 7 years I was there. Awesome. Management is gonna love the publicity. No. No they didn’t. I was immediately told to not talk about the issue on air.

I was also told I talked too much about music. The 420 Thought was replaced with familiar Foo Fighter or Pearl Jam songs. The Blue Jay Breaks I did with my dad were also axed and for the record, while we covered the Jays this season they were 21-12. Since I was fired they’ve tanked to 49-51 ....so…yeah. Pick a side.

As the station continued it’s homogenization it became clear changes were coming for those who didn’t fit in. The music became even more repetitive to the point where I’d be playing the same song twice in a four hour shift. No artists were to be interviewed on the air, aside from the morning show. Announcers were told to talk for 30 seconds or less and our content was heavily scrutinized.

Finally on a Tuesday in May I was called in before my shift and let go for rating reasons. As an email went out the following day the first person to reach out was Martin Streek. He was very supportive and let me know he had my back. A few hours later Ross had him come into the station for the last time.

So that’s it. In the end it’s not a big deal, it’s a business. The Edge’s number one goal is to make money. Some have asked about Megaphoneman. Sadly he was let go too. Was it discriminatory? Let me put it this way, now that he’s gone Corus Entertainment employs no vocal-impaired Megaphonites. The days when a former opera singer who lost his vocal capabilities due to expired cough syrup and subsequently had to speak through a Megaphone was allowed on the Edge are dead. But let us not forget those days and they will live on as the Spirit of Radio."


Barry shed a lot of light on a lot of things...at least for myself. For a further interesting read check out The Ballad of Martin Streek. I've linked to a blog posting of the Globe & Mail article because I feel like the poster's insight as well as the comments by reader's offer up some food for thought as well.

R.I.P. Martin Streek - R.I.P. CFNY
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