Slowcity.ca Open Mic with Haviah Mighty, Snotty Nose Rez Kids, Valerie June, Alex Cuba, Overcoats, Metric, Lukas Nelson, Tedeschi Trucks Band

Will McGuirk June 21, 2021

By Will McGuirk

“This song is my protest – a reminder that regardless of all the conversations, the chatter, the media, the justices and injustices – this feeling and fear we walk with, is as present as ever. After all these years, encountering the police as a marginalized person still triggers pure fear. These feelings within the production – the intensity and depth of the chords, the stress and tension of the pacing – it all mirrors the feelings of paranoia, fear, control, and our innate will to survive when encountering law enforcement. Having UK-based artist, Yizzy, bless this record brings it full circle. From a light skin male’s perspective from somewhere else on the globe, our experiences still mirror one another, a further testament to the eerie similarities of trauma among Black folks.” - Haviah Mighty

“The community was able to look on the bright side even though news media still fail to see and recognize us as human beings. No matter what label you throw at us, we know who we are and where we come from.” - Young D, Snotty Nose Rez Kids

“It took me a really long time to come back to the home in my heart. In a physical sense, that’s Texas and Hawaii. But in a spiritual sense as well—I think I finally decided not to run from who I am and who I am destined to be.” - Lukas Nelson

“When I began to imagine this album, I knew I didn’t want it to be small in any way. Neither did I want it to be known forever as the album that was born out of the pandemic. I was convinced that it definitely was the moment to aim at creating something very special, unique and vibrant, fuelled by the very deep emotions that this time has brought out of all of us.” - Alex Cuba

”This song is heartbreaking but we think it tries to show that there can be beauty in the wreckage." - Overcoats

Slowcity.ca Open Mic with Edwin Raphael, PIQSIQ, Haviah Mighty, The Gertrudes, Leah Barley, Craig Strickland, Moscow Apartment, Kodiak Arcade, Jesse Roper, Overcoats, Bodysnatcher,

Will McGuirk December 15, 2020

By Will McGuirk

Its an uncomfortable place we find ourselves in, under, holding our breath, we are our own bubble, above, hope is just the slightest change in hue on the surface, hazy, mirage, a promise weak as water, but we must turn to this maybe as we know the darkest darkness lies still below. We must rush towards the surface for air, for rebirth, for a new becoming.

“Producing this song was a bit of a challenge to hone in on really feeling underwater, I also essentially looped the main guitar to portray the vicious cycle of anxiety with constant additions to reflect and parallel the textures of the sea and the abstract nature of feeling underwater.” - Edwin Rapheal

<a href="https://piqsiq.bandcamp.com/track/coventry-carol">Coventry Carol by PIQSIQ</a>

“Essentially, this song is about the low expectations that people have of those that don’t follow or fit the status quo, and how I’ll push to overcome those doubts and surpass those expectations. The 'occasion' is my downfall, and in this song, I fight its existence,” - Haviah Mighty

"“Emergency To Emergency" is an attempt to express and reflect on some of the anxiety and profound sense of isolation so many people are experiencing at this time…” – Greg Tilson, co-composer for The Gertrudes

jgtilson · Emergency To Emergency

““Enemy” was written a few months ago at a time when it seemed like the world had never been more divided. It’s about falling apart from someone you love, hoping that through your differences you can still find compassion and common ground. “ - Craig Strickland

Hidden Pony · 18 (Thieves Like Us Remix) - Moscow Apartment

KodiakArcade · Silicon Hill - Single

JesseRoper · Right Now

Slowcity.ca Open Mic with Overcoats, Avett Brothers, Figure Walking, Family of Things, Mear, Kandle Osborrne, HollowGraves, Avatar,

Will McGuirk July 9, 2020

By Will McGuirk

We have moved from binary to hybrid, from pixel to stream, from crisp to blur, from walls to windows, we are moving as one towards one with the language of music.

"This feeling of restlessness and being stuck in your room is common amongst all of us, so we wanted to make a video that made that frustration beautiful and made us feel like we were all together" - Overcoats

"YKB" is a testament to finding pathways to a brighter and kinder future, and quickly. Once the dust settles, when the high fades and the worry subsides, we can rebuild what it means to be human again and what it means to love fully.” - Family of Things

“It’s not necessarily a failure when a relationship ends, but perhaps rather a conscious, mature realization and a new beginning.” - Mear

Kandle Osborne · Better Man

HollowGraves · Tequila Sunrise

Slowcity.ca Open Mic with Storry, The Dunlop Brothers, Nathan Smith, Overcoats, Alexandria Maillot, Best Coast, the Actual Goners and Scenic Route to Alaska

Will McGuirk February 6, 2020

By Will McGuirk

Cyberspace is the space one enters when one is on the phone I have heard say but forget where and I wonder what is the space one enters while listening to music. Where is that acoustic space, what is that place, because if we could find it I’m wagering we would set up house.

“I needed to strip to make money to pay for the music so that I wouldn’t have to strip anymore. I remember people saying I just wanted the easy money. But let me tell you, there was nothing easy about being an exotic dancer, going back to an industry that had caused me a lot of trauma.” - STORRY

"It’s a soul-searching song about chasing your passion and learning from love. It’s about the joy and pain of loving someone, and about learning to love yourself. Consequently, it’s also about what you decide to work on in your life and how you choose to spend your time off away from your work." - Justin Dunlop

“The idea you have to fight for who you are, what you want, and what you hope to see in the world became poignant for us. We realized the thing to do is not to wait for life to get easier, but to start fighting harder.” - Overcoats

"The music video represents the unsettled, peculiar frame of mind I was in when writing Someone to Keep You Warm, The song lyrics paint images of darkness and discomfort, straying from a sense of home and leaving an aftertaste of discontent. The video translates many parts of it visually as a twisted dance between the protagonist's unkept and unhealthy lifestyle and the ghost-like mirages of those affected along the way. It is a story of a haunting, or rather, one's past catching up to them." - Alexandria Maillot

“This album is about leaving the darkness for the light, but still understanding that nothing is ever going to be perfect. It’s about burning it all down and starting from scratch even when the idea of that is fucking terrifying.” - Bethany Cosentino

Slowcity.ca Open Mic - As the Fall brings new beginnings with Leonard Cohen, Jenn Grant, Iskwe, Frankie, Overcoats, Donovan Woods, Julian Lamadrid, Aphrose, Once A Tree,

Will McGuirk September 20, 2019

It seems the Fall is the start of much, rather than the end; modern society seems to work in opposition. Perhaps its the school year or municipal budgets that evoke such an impression. Or perhaps all of this is the culmination of work submitted, quietly, anonymously, slowly, diligently, one seed at a time. I may perhaps never sync with this rhythm but there are those who do.