Sled Island Featured Artist ~ Ladyhawk

This rock quartet hails from Vancouver and have been around since 2004. Formed by best friends (singer/guitarist Duffy Driediger, lead guitarist Darcy Hancock, bassist Sean Hawryluk and drummer Ryan Peters) from Kelowna, BC, Ladyhawk have made a name for themselves in the independent scene despite some reported struggles.

Signed to Jagjaguwar records (home also to Pink Mountaintops, Julie Doiron, Okkervil River, Women and the new Dinosaur Jr.), the group released their self-titled debut album in 2006 and quickly followed with the 12" EP Fight for Anarchy a year later. When it came time to record their second full-length, the four holed themselves up in an old barn with no working bathroom in Kelowna. As they toured in support of Shots (release in March, 2008), the band expressed in an interview the disheartened feeling when very few people showed up for their U.S. shows. However, Canadian performances were better and the group forges on...

READ THE REST ON OFF THE DIAL!

Sled Island Featured Artist ~ SSRIs

Calgary’s Sled Island festival is almost upon us and Off the Dial is running a cool daily feature. Every day from now until June 26th, we’ll showcase one band who will be playing this year’s festival. Here’s our first featured artist!

June 23rd, 2009 @ Tubby Dog with Sub-Linguals, Jonathan Toubin, Noah York

Vancouver’s SSRIs will be playing the very first day of Sled Island at Tubby Dog on Tuesday, June 23rd. The quartet (Elliot Langford, Joseph Hirabayashi, Anthony Dallas and Aaron McKinney) are self described as “weird/punk” which sums up their sound quite nicely. Their music is very raw, sometimes chaotic and experimental and should translate live quite interestingly. Just as chaotic their music can be, so his their history.

READ THE REST OF THE STORY AT OFF THE DIAL!

Sled Island Organizer Speaks to NxEW

Sled Island, as previously reported, is Calgary’s mammoth multi-venue music and arts festival and it’s less than two weeks away! In anticipation of the festival, NxEW was able to line up an interview with festival founder Zak Pashak.

When asked why he continues to choose Calgary as ground-zero for Sled Island, Zak Pashak says, “I think the festival encourages open-mindedness and has a larger political purpose in bringing smart people in Alberta together.”

Now in its third year, Sled Island has garnered lots of attention locally, abroad, and online as the premier showcase for Western Canadian bands and visual artists. After witnessing thousands of music fans flock to Sled Island two years in a row, the City of Calgary’s Mayor’s Office has started to play an active role in supporting the organizer’s desire to promote emerging artists and youth culture.

“More people are getting involved and people are putting a lot of love into making [the festival] work,” says Zak. “Teresa Byrne in Arts and Culture [at the City of Calgary] has been amazing. If you see her and you like Sled Island, please give her a hug!”

The biggest difference in store for this year’s festival is the selection of Olympic Plaza as the main outdoor all-ages venue. On Friday evening, there is a stunning line-up, including The Summerlad (Calgary), Malajube (Montreal), Biz Markie (NYC), M5 (Calgary), Anvil (Toronto), Holy Fuck (Toronto), Liars (NYC) and The Breeders (Dayton). This will no doubt be among the noisiest night in downtown Calgary’s recent history. Zak highlights Liars as being a potentially difficult band to book:

“Maybe Liars would have been really hard to get except they are huge fans of Colin Newman's so they wanted to come. They are going to blow people away.”

Colin Newman, front man for Wire, an influential post-punk band that rocked the festival in 2008, was chosen as this year’s guest curator. For the past year, he has been helping with the “big picture” strategy for the festival in an effort to make it as good as it can be for the city. According to Zak, Colin fell in love with Calgary and the fans that enthusiastically supported his band last year. He will also be performing with his new project, Githead.

As for great local showcases, Zak points to the shows at the Bamboo on Thursday and at The Lord Nelson throughout the festival. A remarkable feature about Sled Island is its unique ability to host shows in unusual venues. This year boasts the addition of the local hipster hotdog stand, Tubby Dog, unique, posh art spaces like TrépanierBaer, the John Dutton auditorium at the central branch of the Calgary Public Library and the Higher Ground coffee shop to the list of innovative spaces from past festivals.

To grace the stage of these myriad venues, there are over 250 bands scheduled to appear (including 50 from Vancouver alone!) If all this seems overwhelming, Zak noted some key changes to the festival website that are designed to help navigate the line-up. One of the main challenges in organizing this kind of event is that many bands are virtually unknown outside “music geek” circles, but he ensures that, “the website is less cluttered and a pretty powerful tool. With a little digging, you can start to find out some very interesting things about the bands we booked.”

The addition of a regular podcasts on the website has also made the discovery of new artists much more approachable.

The main festival runs from Wednesday June 24th to Saturday the 27th, but there are related events, parties, and screenings scheduled from Tuesday to Sunday.

If you are thinking of making the trek to Calgary for Sled Island, Zak says, “please do.”

Sled Island - Full Band List

All 251 bands from A to Z:

40 Thieves

a relative distance

Adam Power

Adelaide

Aerosol Constellations

Agnostic Mountain Gospel

ahna

Analog Bell Service

Andrew WK

Anvil

Axis of Conversation

Azeda Booth

Backbone of Science, The

Band Name

BATTLE SNAKES

Bayonets!!!

Bebop Cortez

Before Dawn

Beija Flor

Bell Tower

Bend Sinister

Benath These Idle Tides

Better Off Dead

Bikeland

Biz Markie

Black Death Boners

Black Dicks

Black Mold

Blind Shake, The

Blist

BLOOO BOI

Blue Violets, The

Bob Quaschnick

Boogie Monster

Book of Black Earth

Bownesians, The

BRAIDS

Brain Fever

Brasstronaut

Breeders, The

Brenda Vaqueros, The

Bronx, The

Calum Graham

Cam Penner

Cam the Wizzard

Chris Gheran & the Graveyard Gang

Christian Hansen & The Autistics!

Clea Anais

Coathangers, The

Colin Decker Free Fall, The

Colourbook

Cool dad

Cripple Creek Fairies

Crosstown Rivals

Curtis Santiago

Cut Off Your Hands

Darcys, The

Dead Science, The

Deformer

Desert Boots

Desiderata

Dieselboy

Doer and the Doddler, The

Dragon Fli Empire

E.L.E.V.E.N.

Eamon McGrath

Endangered Ape

Envelopes Filled with Cash, The

Evaporators, The

Evidence, The

Ex-Boyfriends, The

Excision

extra happy ghost !!!

Famines, The

Final Fantasy

Fine Mist

Fond Of Tigers

foonyap

Fox Opera

Francis Cheer

Frantic Artillery Featuring Bijaan Lalani and Grady Welbourne

Friendo

Get Down, The

Get Through Summer

Ghostkeeper

Gift Eaters

Gift of Gab (from Blackalicious)

Githead

GOBBLE GOBBLE

Good Luck Assembly, The

Grass featuring Erin Thrall and the Lily Quartet

Great Orbax Freak Show, The

Grim Beat, The

Hamas

Hank and Lily

Hazard Lights

HEALTH

heat-ray

Hobophobes

Hollerado

Holy Fuck

Homage (Dustin Lee)

Hot Little Rocket

Hot Panda

Hours, The

INDIENSOCI

Instinct

Japandroids

Japanther

Jenny

Jezibelle

Jim Brown as Rank Nubah

JJ Shiplett

Jody Glenham

Joe Nice

Joel Fraser

Joel Learoyd

Jon-Rae Fletcher

Jonathan Toubin

Jupes, Les

Keser

Kilbourne

King Khan & BBQ Show, The

Kirby Criddle

Kisses of Fire

Knots

Knucklehead

Kris Ellestad

Ladyhawk

Last Plague

Lauren Mann

LAZERTAG

Liars

Library Voices

lint

Lucas Chaisson

Lucid 44

M5

Madcowboys

Main Drag, The

Malajube

Mark Sultan

Matthew Skopyk & The Future

MC Juakali

Meat Draw

Medicine People, The

Meggido

Michael Rault

miesha & the spanks

Mikey Mmmuscles (aka Mike B)

Moby Dicks

Mohawk Lodge, The

Monotonix

Morgan Greenwood

Mothfight!

Mount Analogue

Mount Eerie

Mt. Royal

Myelin Sheaths

Neckbeards, The

Neckers, The

New Danger Kids, The

NEW FIGHT SCENE

No Gold

No Horses

Noah York

Novillero

Nu Sensae

O'Death

Obits

Octoberman

Oldfolks Home

Outlaws of Ravenhurst, The

Oye!

Pack A.D., The

Paperbacks, The

Passenger Action

Pete Samples

Pine Tarts

Press Gang, The

Priya Thomas

Puberty

Quintron & Miss Pussycat

Racoon

Ramblin' Ambassadors

Random Task Collective

Re-Mains, The

Rebel Spell

Reuben Bullock + Ben Bullock

Ricca Razor Sharp

Rio Bent

Robin Hunter and the Six Foot Bullies

ROCKET REDUCERS

Rub, The

Ruben Young

RUDE CITY RIOT

Rural Alberta Advantage

Sabretooth

Sadlier-Brown and the Sound

Sarah Clark

Sean Nicholas Savage

Secret Brothers

Seven Story Redhead

Sex Party

SEX WITH STRANGERS

Shagbots, The

Sharar

Sharp Ends

Shearing Pinx

Sheepdogs, The

Sit Still!

Sleepyhead

Slim Pickins

Slim Twig

SNFU

SONS OF YORK

Sounds Like BS

Space Rabies

Square Waves, The

SSRIs, The

Stamina Mantis

Stolen Organ Family Band, The

Sub-linguals

Superfantastics, The

Susie Forsyth

Swank

swwords

Team Building

Thank Magnets

That's the Spirit

These Arms are Snakes

Thighs

Tricky Woo

Twin Crystals

Up in Smoke

Von Zippers, The

Walk Off The Earth

Warbird

Warbrides, The

Whitey Houston

Whitsundays, The

Wicked Awesomes!, The

Women

Woodhands

Woodpigeon

X-Ray Cat

Yells, The

Yes Nice

York Redoubt

Yukon Blonde

Zebra Pulse

Whew! More info about scheduling and tickets available at www.sledisland.com. If I missed any, feel free to add to the comments section below.

Sled Island VIP Passes Selling Out; Schedule to Be Announced Monday

Originally Published on Off the Dial

Calgary's Sled Island Festival is quickly approaching and fans looking to get their hands on VIP passes for the entire event better get a move on.

According to festival organizer Zak Pashak, VIP Passes, which run you $199 and guarantee you entrance to ANY Sled Island event, are selling out fast. Naturally, quantities are limited so if you plan on attending the event and want to make sure you don't miss a second, visit SledIsland.com to get your hands on said passes.

There are also $99 Passes which give you access to any Sled Island event, pending capacity. In essence, this means if you want to see a particular Sled Island show at one of the many local Calgary venues hosting various concerts, art shows, films and comedy performances, you have to get there early. Both passes guarantee admission to the festival's Main Site.

Festival organizers will be announcing the schedule for Sled Island Festival on Monday, June 1st, 2009. It takes place June 24th to June 27th.

This year's Sled Island Festival features the Breeders, Andrew W.K., Women, Tricky Woo, Final Fantasy, the Bronx, Mount Eerie, the Whitsundays, Hot Little Rocket, the Pack A.D., Sub-Linguals, Agnostic Mountain Gospel Choir, Ladyhawk, Monotonix, Holy Fuck, the Cripple Creek Fairies, Liars and many more!

what happened last night? WOMEN...a show review

Flemish Eye recording artists Women were headlining the show last night at Henotic here in Lethbridge, with Lorrie Matheson and Mark Davis as opening acts. It's been said that Lethbridge turns into a ghost town once school's out, and you could have argued that point based on the lack of crowd in the venue.

Mark Davis started things off with his charmingly simple acoustic songs, but not too simple to bore the listener. Very reminiscent of Neil Young's stripped down songs, his material contained lyrics of love and loss, some heartwarming melodies, and were infectiously hummable. His time as co-leader of roots rockers Old Reliable has served him well with the ability to craft beautifully contemplative tunes that made you feel like sitting on a porch beside a lake would be the best thing you could do with your life. His accompanying band of bass and drums kept things very minimal and gave the songs just what they needed to fully round them out.

Lorrie Matheson served as bassist for the previously mentioned act, and then took up the stage with his own solo acoustic set. Matheson is obviously and extremely talented singer and songwriter, which made his decision to start his set out with an obnoxious amount of feedback that carried on throughout the whole first song even more perplexing. Not surprisingly, more than half the crowd walked out in confusion after yelling at the sound guy to fix it (who had no idea what was going on). Whether he was trying to be ironic or what is still in question to me, but the worst part was that there was a beautiful song hidden beneath it. The rest of his set would have made Ryan Adams jealous, because he pulled from his playbook and one-upped him. "Falling Down Sober" was definitely a stand-out, and his use of a loop station permitted him to stack some great vocal harmonies and interesting guitar lines on top of one another. An amazing set was capped off with him finishing on an acapella number, walking off the stage and leaving the bar. Enigmatically excellent.

Women seemed pretty drained as half the band was falling asleep behind the merch table prior to their set, although this was their 10th show in 10 days, and had driven to Lethbridge all the way from Salt Lake City, Utah last night. Add to that a completely incompetent soundman who was unable to get any vocals into the mix, and you had a frustrated set of Women's jarring, jangle-rock. When everything started feeding back and the soundman kept insisting it wasn't his fault (even though Women had turned off all their amps), you could tell they wanted to get the hell out of there. Said soundman eventually found that he had their monitors completely off the charts, and they finally continued on for their last few songs (albeit still vocal-less). Women truly do have a great sound, noise-rock indeed, but still accessible with nicely melodic guitar parts. Odd time signatures drenched in reverb that feel just challenging enough to keep your ears working, but not too confusing for the uninitiated listener. They'll also be playing the Sled Island Festival this summer up in Calgary, so keep an eye out for them there.

Tricky Woo return to life for Sled Island Festival

This year's Sled Island festival in Calgary promises to be a great time with some stellar acts on tap. Full line-up will be available on June 1st, but some stand-outs already announced are Novillero, Women, Flash Lightnin', King Khan and BBQ Show, the Evaporators, Final Fantasy, Ladyhawk, Holy Fuck, Japandroids (should be medically cleared to sing again by then, hopefully) and most surprisingly - Tricky Woo. One of my absolute favorite acts, and there hasn't been a peep out of them in quite some time after they finished touring in support of their last album, First Blush (Last Gang Records). Andrew Dickson was been playing in Mongrels for some time now, but it's puzzling what has brought them back together all of a sudden. According to Chart Attack, it's because Dickson has been working on some Mr. Peanut style jams...

Whatever the case, it will be great to see them unleash their wild stage antics once more. Find out more about Sled Island festival here.

Music, comedy, art, film...a festival in Alberta and NONE of it sponsored by Big Oil???

How enlightening...