Absolutely Free, photo by Darren Rigo
By Will McGuirk
“It’s about being lost in your own thoughts when everything feels as though it’s coming apart around you. It isn’t the start or end of something, but it’s the in-between that can feel like an oblivion.” - Will Whitwham, The Wilderness Of Manitoba
Clever Hopes, photo by Kyle Gatehouse
By Will McGuirk
“‘Remaining Light’ expresses the frustration felt towards invincible and corrupt institutions that uphold structural inequities, including police brutality and manufactured poverty experienced primarily by racialized communities. Written during a heat wave in the summer of 2016, the song dishearteningly remains as relevant as ever today.” - Absolutely Free
“‘Sparrow’ is my little ode to freedom. It was the perfect ‘escape’ when I was held ‘prisoner’ in my basement, as I wrote it in my home studio while I was in quarantine.” - Chin Injeti
“The song touches on the blinding love that you feel when you’ve found the ‘one.’ It’s like nothing else matters because they are all you see, want, and care about. Almost as if, they have this divine control over you.” - Lexxicon
Absolutely Free, photo by Darren Rigo
By Will McGuirk
This edition of the Open Mic is brought to you by the letter K and the number awesome. Thanks for the years of support Killbeat.
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“We all spent a year inside. Not just in our homes, but inside of ourselves. For me, it began with the surreal experience of life imitating art in a scary way. I was ready to accept certain fates... But it didn’t go the way that I expected, and now, the strange calm that I was struggling with for so long is gone, and the world feels new again.” - Jasper Sloan Yip
“Human bodies are like celestial ones; just as a planet’s course is carved out in relation to others, our course - where we go and what we do - is compelled by forces of attraction.” - Steph Yates, Cots
“ I see Christianity and Capitalism as large-scale pranks pulled by the powerful and this video aims to celebrate some shining slivers of artful resistance." - videographer Cashew Soda: Silver Pools’ “Crushed Hat”
“I just try to make music that is honest about how I’m feeling.” - Peter Sagar aka Homeshake
“To have time on my hands and a studio at my fingertips certainly helped in making this record, but thematically, there’s a kind of reflection in the music that maybe comes from having spent so much time at home as well.” - Charles Spearin
”Typical coming-of-age feelings of loss and confusion were further conflated by prioritizing an emerging potential of a new virtual identity more ‘real’ than a physical self.” - Matt King, Absolutely Free
Absolutely Free, photo by Colin Medley
By Will McGuirk
The Early Morning Rain and Sundown are on my mind - there you don’t have to read my mind now - I’ve been humming Gord Lightfoot’s hymn of the airliner of late, “because I miss my loved ones so” and somehow think I may never see them again - so I say don’t take it all for granted - take this as a sign - we miss touch and the wheels and wings which bring us closer.
“Hear the mighty engines roar - see the silver bird on high/ She's away and (eastward) bound - far above the clouds she'll fly/There the morning rain don't fall and the sun always shines /She'll be flying over my home in about (five) hours time.”
and the Sundown ?- no not that, this. . .
“What did I say
Where’s your head
No one is immune “ - Jon Stancer, Chase The Moon
“Fuck it… even if we could make the video we want to make right now, this is probably the video we should be making.” - Nation of Language
“We, after all, as if nature set out to remind us, currently face an unanimous threat, unilateral and ubiquitous, and would do well to emerge from this aware of both our impact on others and the impact that others have on us.” - Luke De-Sciscio
Deanna Petcoff
Yes its not warming up and yes its summer and no you are not supposed to be worrying about frost on your plants when the solstice is nigh but get used to it. Climate’s achanging and change is a foot but magic too is afoot with a double hit from Bon Iver plus tracks from Jenn Grant, Deanna Petcoff, Sara Gougeon, Cat Clyde, Language Arts, Electric Youth, The Strangemakers, Altered By Mom and Absolutely Free. Worry less, act more, cover your flowers.
Micah Erenberg, Photo by Colin Medley
By Will McGuirk
Great tunes for you on this wet Wednesday and to brighten up your rather moist humpday we are featuring a photo gallery of our pal, Colin Medley, he who documents the Canadian indie scene with aplomb and a careful eye for the everyday life of musicians, no rockstars in Medley’s orbit. Dig into new tracks from Micah Erenberg, Close Talker, T. Nile, Absolutely Free and Badge Époque Ensemble and let us know what you think.
Absolutely Free, Photo by Colin Medley
Shows
Absolutely Free - Thursday, May 9 @ The Garrison, Toronto (CMW)
Badge Époque Ensemble - Saturday, May 11 @ The Garrison, Toronto (CMW)
Badge Époque Ensemble, Photo By Colin Medley
