Slowcity.ca Open Mic with Chastity, Ekelle, Charlotte Day Wilson, Ada Lea, Joy Crookes, Alex Cuba, Fleece, Graham Wright, Talleen, Mary Jennings, Jon Stancer, and Rise Carmine,

Will McGuirk August 26, 2021

By Will McGuirk

“‘When You Were Mine’ is a song I wrote about an ex-partner that ended up being with a man after we broke up. It’s a song about accepting their love, but wishing the same for myself. I wrote it with the backdrop of Brixton because that is where their love unfolded and where I spent a lot of my childhood. We recorded a brass section (it was my first time recording brass and excited was an understatement); we wanted it to sound messy so Japanese whiskey was involved and listening to lots of Ebo Taylor.” - Joy Crookes

“My social media feeds are crammed with dire and insistent warnings from scientists, experts and activists, and newsreels showing floods, fires, hurricanes and other horrific, climate related catastrophes. All of this chatter and imagery were swirling around in my head at the time of writing this song.” - Jon Stancer

“We wanted to reflect how our society can sometimes be shrouded in mystery and symbolism, money being the driving force behind the illusion.” - Alex Crow, Talleen

Slowcity.ca Open Mic with Arkells, Sameer Cash, summersets, Krief, Le Couleur, LAL, Sam Roberts Band, METZ, and the Happy Fits

Will McGuirk August 21, 2020

By Will McGuirk

Its time I think for all of us to take a breath. Its been one hell of a year. Although we collectively hit the pause button back in Spring its still been go go go, an incessant propulsive hammering of dread, and with the country opening up, schools back and bubbles enlarged that sense of dread is amplified. I miss festivals. I go annually to rejuvenate my soul. I need it, I need trees and water and dirt and campfires at dusk and sky, so much sky. But there are trees in my yard and sky between the buildings in my city and water a drive away so I have been getting my festival vibes in fragments but still getting them. So do yourself a favour, grab some campfire vibes, go small, go slow, choose time, choose tunes, where ever you can, however you can, find a moment; outside, away from it all, remove the mask and breathe in deeply. As deeply as you can, feel it as deeply as you can, fill your boots. . . , pause. . . , and then strap on the mask and get back in the fight.

“I kept trying to find ways of communicating this illusive feeling that seems to plague my generation. This access to everything, but the need for nothing – it manifests itself in all aspects of our lives, from relationships, to the internet.” - Sameer Cash

“As we took this journey without the noise, the people, and the parties in our warehouse apartment, along with the constant grind outside, I found beauty in the stillness of our block.” - LAL

"Essentially, in my mind, it comes back to the need for some light. A way forward. To shine some kind of bright light on the future, the path that we’re walking and not giving in to despair," - Sam Roberts

Slowcity.ca Open Mic with Dawes, Shirley Collins, Busty and the Bass, Mike Block, Jenny Banai, Le Couleur, Lou Canon, Aiza, Scenic Route to Alaska, and Krosst

Will McGuirk July 22, 2020

By Will McGuirk

Reach out but don’t touch yet, stretch out to feel but don’t feel anything yet. . . do you feel comfortable in your skin, out in your skin among other skins. . . didn’t you feel more comfortable inside when you interacted with the world online. . . where, when skin didn’t matter. . . ready for that space again, ready to retreat further inside and leave the outside out there. What has changed? You have changed.

Scenic Route to Alaska · Closer

METZ releases 'A Boat to Drown In', new album 'Atlas Vending' drops in the Fall

Will McGuirk July 21, 2020

By Will McGuirk

Intriguing video and then the Furry shows up unleashing the fury of this new track from METZ. “A Boat to Drown In” is the first single from the upcoming album, ‘Atlas Vending’, which will be out October 9, 2020, on Royal Mountain/ Sub Pop.

The single is a relentless headbanger, a numbing number that weighs in at over 7 minutes! and opens up a whole ship’s container of anticipation for the album itself. Its also the musical equivalent of pounding out day after day, blow after blow, a bloodied beating of this pandemic.

Tracklist
1. Pulse
2. Blind Youth Industrial Park
3. The Mirror
4. No Ceiling
5. Hail Taxi
6. Draw Us In
7. Sugar Pill
8. Framed by the Comet’s Tail
9. Parasite
10. A Boat to Drown In

Slowcity.ca Open Mic with Haviah Mighty, David Strickland, Le Couleur, Grace Gillespie, the OBGMs, Alex Izenberg, Mike Block, Bros Landreth, Owen Barney, Chris Grey,

Will McGuirk July 8, 2020

By Will McGuirk

The vocabulary around electronic media is drawn from water - waves, streams, surfing, navigating, and the fuel for electronic media growth has been music. Music is as ubiquitous and necessary as water. Music is utility.

“Thirteen speaks factually and candidly, to the painful journey of Black people in North America. And it speaks to how that journey has morphed into continued racial prejudice, using the media and using the law. To get rid of white supremacy is to identify it at its root. I hope when people watch Thirteen, they feel moved to do their part in reversing white supremacy. I hope we can begin to see one another as equal – a dream I've always hoped could one day be a reality. And I hope people realize that it's going to take WORK! Who is willing to work, to make change?” - Haviah Mighty

“Much of my time is spent trying to reassure myself through rationalizing and acceptance, heard in the song’s verses, coupled with outbursts of inward frustration that I express in the choruses. I think it’s a pattern we have all been through throughout lockdown. We are trying with all our hearts to make the most of this gift of time and be ‘grateful for the day’ but then realizing that we are sipping coffee and trying to create (or just get on with work) while ambulances are filing past.” - Grace Gillespie

Mike Block · Expression of Concern (feat. KINAN ADNAWI)

“As dancers, we express ourselves through movement. We tried to capture what it was like for us in that moment and empathize with those who were going through the same thing. It’s easy to forget we don’t fight this by ourselves, and this video is our way of reaching out to say we are there with you.” - Liam Caines, Royal Winnipeg Ballet