Lost Venues in Southern Ontario - THE JCC

Barux Haba!! Welcome to another installment of “Lost Venues” - it’s been over a year, but not to worry there are plenty of defunct venues not just in Toronto but all surrounding areas and I’m rededicated to bringing you, the reader, a little history lesson of Toronto and Southern Ontario hardcore.

In the centre of downtown Toronto, Bloor and Spadina, is the Miles Nadal Community Centre. Prior to the official name change it was simply known as the Jewish Community Centre or the JCC. For a short period of time (roughly two years I think – it seemed a lot longer) the majority of shows in Toronto were held here. Pretty much every touring band that might not have been big enough to draw at a bar played here. Like I said, I’m pretty sure there was only shows here from around 2000 to 2002 and the list of bands is pretty impressive. Saves the Day (LOVE Saves the Day), Fastbreak, The Swarm, Every Time I Die, 100 Demons, A Death for Every Sin, Blood Has Been Shed, No Warning ... and I'm just warming up!!

One of the best highlights of the JCC was during 100 Demons there was some drunk douchebag moshing like a … well, like a drunk douchebag. The song was done but this guy kept flailing around like an idiot and the “pit” was wide open except for Rod Full Contact who was taking a breather in between songs. So this guy stumbles into Rod from behind and I’m not sure if he knew this was the dude who ran into him, but regardless he proceeds to without even checking (you know, shoot first ask questions later) turn around and completely flatten him with a right cross. It was a beautiful sight to behold (because I was so fucking edge) and RIGHT on cue Sean Martin starts shredding “Eye of the Tiger”. You can’t write that shit!!!

So there you go, the JCC, a short lived mainstay in Toronto Hardcore, you can go there now and mosh in the Second Cup.

EDITOR’S SIDENOTE: I could not find a pic of a show here for the life of me, or a flyer. If you have one send it my way and I’ll update the picture.

Afternoon Delight

Drove down to Montreal last weekend to visit my sister who was back from the oil fields in Alberta.
Saturday night highlights included a 3hr karaoke session which can be found on youtube. For all you Arrested Development fans I can now confirm that is in fact extremely creepy and awkward singing "Afternoon Delight" just in the same room as a family member. Despite this, one other hightlight was an increadible discovery when we broke into a David Bowie song (forgot the name) ANYWAYS the star of this particular ditty was none other than ANDY BERMAN!!! Who you might ask is Andy Berman? None other than Kevin Arnold's high school buddy (probably #3 or 4 on the depth chart - Winnie #1, Paul #2, #3 Randy Mitchell/Doug Porter) CHUCK COLEMAN! WOW I was asking myself - how did this guy go from Hollywood A-List to karaoke videos?! I'd like to think the director was his grade school buddy who was looking for his "Big Break" in the film industry and needed a big star to make is video HOT and he did it as a favour.

So as you can see in the video, Andy is trying his best to smooth a shortie in the park, but maaaaaaan - she's having none of it! Ol' Andy will once again be going home alone. I bet this video is the farthest thing from his real life and he really had to pour on some of his finest acting!
So there you go. This is my personal blog now and I will fill it with dumb shit on a weekly basis.

Hardcore Dream Team GOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Well this one was a long time in the making.

We are happy to announce that the vinyl version of the To The Lions debut will be released thru Specimen 32 Records.

We met Tim Drew a few years ago in good ol London Ontario and have stayed in contact with him ever since. Tim is the kind of guy who believes in Hardcore with a passion. Someone who is willing to lose it all for the sake of the music and someone who respects it like no other.

We can be no happier then to have Goodfellow Records release the CD and Specimen 32 release the vinyl.

We will have solid release dates for June 07 as well as cover art and track listing very soon.

This is a very exciting time for us old men.

We still get stoked to no end over this stuff.

Renewed faith

So over the last few months my faith in the hardcore scene had been wavering a little under the pressure of the myspace millions (minions?) and seeing and hearing all the bullshit that they bring to shows these days. I go through this every once in a while, it lasted for three years once. But all it usually takes is one little reminder of why I love this music so much and I am back into it 100%. This past week I had three little reminders, and this could be pretty long, so go get a drink now.

First was hanging out with Chris Logan last Friday. One of the first things I thought when starting this band was, it would be cool to just get out and play a bunch of shows again, and then maybe record something. The first and only label I ever thought about putting it out was Goodfellow records. I've been friends with Chris since the mid/early 90's when Chokehold were the only band that mattered, and we played together in a band called 78 Days for a couple of years (and believe it or not we were signed to Trustkill Records, but good luck finding that record in their catalog). We've been talking about doing this To The Lions record for almost a year now, and it's taken us a while to get our shit together, but we sent Chris an unmixed track last week, and he instantly replied that he was "moshing right now" in his office. So now that we've convinced Chris we're actually going to finish the record, it will be officially be coming out in June 2007, exact date TBA. But the thing that really inspired was when he said "I'd probably be doing a lot better with the label if I put out shit I didn't like", but through almost 50 releases he hasn't done that, though I'm sure he gets hundreds of mascara smeared demos a month, and I'm honoured to be on that list of bands he does like. And he's older than me, and don't forget it ;)

The other things both happened at the show we played this wednesday in Burlington with Another Breath, Lions, The Kill Decibel and Eating Glass.

I can't say enough good about Another Breath. They were probably the best live band I've seen in the last couple of years, and just great all around guys. There ARE still cool, intelligent people in the scene, who don't only care about myspace, and "siq" mosh (speaking of sick mosh, apparently some young lady did actually barf on herself and get thrown out, but I must have missed it). And as always Steve and The Kill Decibel were rad, and still the best band in the area. And after a little misunderstanding being cleared up, Eating Glass are alright after all ;). They played a great first show and I look forward to seeing them again. Thanks Jose.

The last thing could have made me feel really old, but it actually did the opposite. Talking to a kid at the show about it being March Break for highschool kids, I said something like "yeah I remember highschool... that was about 16 years ago" and apparently he was only 15 as he proceeded to freak the fuck out. But that's right, hardcore has been my life for the last 19 years.

And buy this record, it's so damn good.

An ode to Joe Davis

We played a sweet show at the Formac with Lions, Another Breath, The Kill Decibel and Eating Glass. Quote of the night as we were setting up and I was in the bathroom washing my hands:
*kid runs into washroom*
Kid - "Daryl! Daryl! Oh man you have to see this!! You gotta see these guys - THEY'RE LIKE THIRTY YEARS OLD!!!! HAHAHA"

GOODFELLOWS

Ok so I’ve been told I have a lot of making up to do for that last post, which, seriously, I SAW HAPPEN TO SOMEONE ELSE. Anyways, trying to keep this blog bloggin’ the other day Matt Jones and myself met up with our buddy Chris Logan for some delicious Lebanese food. But there was more than falafels on the menu (Oooooooooooo-zing! Slam-dunk! Seven points!), we were meeting up to discuss our upcoming full length which we are super stoked to say officially is going to be on Goodfellow Records. We’ve been lucky to either have seen Chokehold, played in bands with Chris or just hang out with an all around awesome dude. This guy knows what’s up and I will once again reiterate (using the word stoked) how stoked we all are to be putting this record out with someone who pretty much has the same view on hardcore as we do – you know, myspace friends, black t-shirts, promo shots, magazine profiles – all things punk and hardcore!
This shit be droppin’ June 07 so look for it at all major retailers!

Best Buy

Random thoughts. The Best Buy at Yonge and Dundas - it might be a good idea that when you walk out after you paid that the big glass window to the right of the first set of sliding doors should maybe have a large masking taped "X" because sometimes people might think you can walk back into the mall and smash into it and everybody laughs at you and you run out onto Dundas Street crying and you see a girl you kinda like and now she thinks you're a total baby and you try to explain how the weather is fucking with your sinuses and she just laughs at you and calls you a dufus and then you end up thinking to yourself fuck can it get any worse and a car drives by and splashes a giant puddle/slush pile all over your pants.

Comeback Kid - CD release show

We're totally excited to be playing the Comeback Kid CD release show on March 8. I've heard the new record and it's pretty damn good, and the lineup for the show is amazing, so come early.

Newmarket this saturday

I don't think I've ever even been to Newmarket, maybe drove close to it on the way to the cottage or something, but we're playing there. This Saturday, February 3, 2007 we'll be at the Spotlight Theatre in beautiful (I'm assuming) downtown Newmarket. Spark assures me it's going to be huge...

Recording update and Brads Top 10 of 2006

OK I know we all aren't as "quirky" and "creative" as Senior Montoya Sparklebons (he lives in Toronto) so I am going to give you the straight goods as to whats been happening since we entered the studio on Oct. 28, 2006.

We have enlisted the pro-tool master talents of Charles Moniz to engineer and co-produce the record. Charles is a long time friend and band mate and now of course the Bass player of Avril Lavigne which is pretty gay for a hardcore band but pretty cool otherwise! We have been holed up in Charles studio for the last 3 months and are nearing the end.

This is a slightly different process then we are used to as we've always had the luxury of taking a month off to do this full time. However now in the world of "reality" we all now work, so its been a logistical nightmare fitting in the sessions between work, wives and home improvements. We however have not let the grips of mundane life interfere with the surgical precision being implemented on this project.

When we set out to lay down the last 2 and a half years of being a band down to just 10 songs on a 30 minute disc we all agreed that this would be our most critically judged disc (by ourselves)and decided that we would make it as perfect as possible. What does this mean? Well it means being put under the microscope by the extremely sensitive ears of Charles Moniz (sometimes taking 3 days to finish 1 guitar rhythm track). However more importantly to you, it means audio perfection as well as more mosh for your buck! In all seriousness its the most work we have all put into a record and we hope all the hard work shows.

We just finished guitar tracking and now are in the starting stages of vocals. Album should drop by June 07 and although we've gone back and forth I still cannot release the name of the fine label(s) putting this out just yet, but all details will be revealed soon including a future masterpiece of a cover by Matt Jones that blew me away in just the baby stages of work. Its gonna be good trust me.

Anyhow we will have video of the sessions and some candid pics soon enuff for you all!

In closing I will present my "better late then never" top 10 of 2006.

10)Hot dogs
9)Killswitch live - Elements Kitchener
8)Children of Bodom: Chaos Ridden Years DVD
7)My Ipod
6)Martin Brodeur - still the best!
5)Killswith Engage - As Daylight Dies
4)Birth of my nephew Keegan
3)Soldano Avenger
2)Esp Viper Standard
1)Hot dogs

Brad "The Spazman" Casarin

THE BIG UPDATE

Fuck updates!
I'm sick of being all "blablalbla we're recording blablalbla" fuck what boring shit.
I know you all want to hear about what I'M DOING. Well let me tell you cuz this blog needs some intersting shit in it. Peep this. I've been working hard the last 5 years on my zine that is gonna blow your mind. It was called Carry On Pickpocket but I think i'm changing it to Ghetto Ditch Pig. Shit just has more punch!

So I'm gonna post a rough story I've been working on for the zine about this dude I keep seeing on the subway that has the biggest head i've seen. I just saw him yesterday and we made eye contact and I started laughing because I had just finished writing this and thought I'd probably never see him again. It's not cool to look at someone and start laughing (but still funny none the less) but fuck man I couldn't help myself! BLAMO! There he was, in all his glory! BIG HEAD WITH A BIG COMBOVER. God damn. Ok without further adieu - Enjooooy!

So today I saw him again. The guy. The guy that easily has the biggest head I’ve ever seen with my own two eyes. Hell, maybe even the biggest head I’ve seen with my own two eyes, on tv and in a book. I even sometimes doubt it when I look away, then think, “fuck dude, you better look again just to make sure” and dammit, sure enough, it is one massive head. I call him The Brain. This dude must be so fucking smart. Like reads three books at once, works on algarythms and thinks chess is for pussies. Then I’m starting to wonder if because his brain is so big maybe he’s psychic. And everytime I wonder if someone can read my mind I start thinking about boners. Jesus Christ. Which is total bullshit because I’m not a homo, I’m all about tits, swear to god. If this guy was so smart though, would he be wearing Velcro shoes? Maybe he’s not so smart, maybe I shouldn’t call him The Brain. But maybe HE IS SO SMART – Velcro shoes? HELLO ultimate time saver because he doesn’t have time to waste on stupid fucking shoe laces!

Spark's TOP TEN 2006

Well, I guess this should have been done yesterday, but better late than never!
It's 6pm and I'm finally seeing straight and still trying to remember how the fuck I got home last night. Thanks to Keri and Michelle for taking such good care of me and making a wonderful breakfast.
ANYWAYS - ON TO THE LIST!!!
2006 was a fantastic year of the lord and I'm going to take this opportunity to share some of my TEN PERSONAL HIGHLIGHTS of the year. Drumroll! Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Sparkie Clarkie's Top Ten for 2006 are ...
#10 - The Book Club for Men
#9 - Explosions
#8 - Beer
#7 - 3 Days of John Joseph - American HC at filmfest, spoken word, then FVK
#6 - Gorilla Buiscuits Reunion
#5 - Front row for Slayer
#4 - Lifetime live and 7"
#3 - Freedom Haters Bicycle Club
#2 - Seeing the Cuban National Baseball team play in Havana
and the #1 person, place, thing of 2006
MASSIMO'S PIZZA FUCK I"M SUCH A PIG

Top Tens of 2006

So this will be the first of (hopefully) 5 top ten lists from everyone in the band. It's a busy time of year and we're still chugging away in the studio trying to get the record done, but look out for lists coming from the other guys over the next couple of weeks. But let me kick this off...

Matt's Top Ten of 2006
1. Getting Engaged - Puerto Vallarta, Mexico (so emo)
2. Grade Reunion Show - Opera House, Toronto
3. Lamb of God - Sacrament
4. Lifetime - 2 Songs 7"
5. Killswitch Engage Live - Elements, Kitchener, ON
6. Gorilla Biscuits Reunion - The Phoenix, Toronto
7. Inflames - Come Clarity
8. Katatonia - The Great Cold Distance
9. Deftones - Saturday Night Wrist
10. The Haunted - The Deadeye

Texas ...

So while all those suckers were holed up in a basement studio, I, along with a few others drove down to NYC to see Texas is the Reason's 10 yr anniversary of Do You Know Who You Are? I think I'll pass on the nostalgia and stories of first listening to this band. What is really important is letting all the kids out there know that Santa is in fact a black man. I did not know this. He is not from the north pole but plays the keyboard on St. Marks. I asked him if he knew whether I'd been naughty or nice to which he replied "wwahahahah mee deebeebpidodo!" BUSTED! I still have 25 days to get it together. I then asked his elf who was playing the bass what it's like working for Santa and all he could do was ask me for money. Not really sure what that was all about but I gave him a buck in front of black Santa so I really think there's a good chance I will get Wii with three games hopefully. My apartment doesn't have a chimeny but it shouldn't be an issue.

In other news Texas Is the Reason was great. Moving vehicles put me to sleep in 47 seconds. Rob got mugged and was bitten by a nyc rat the size of a dog. I also slept with a ghetto ditch pig. STREETS OF HATE!

THE BIG TIME

That's right! After two years, we've finally made it! You can't see it in the picture but just to the left of that dude in the bandana was seriously about a hundred kids waiting in line. Ok fine just to the left of that dude was a guy walking his dog picking up it's shit. We tore up Peterborough a few days ago with our good friends in 'BOWT TO SNAP and new friends in 3 Point Stance and there was another band called what the shit but we were at a bar when they played. NOT COOL. Regardless it was a good time and this band definitely gets me laid alot.

Important news! We are for serious recording right now, shit is laid down as I type and there will be another supremely amazing blog that I will write about it with great pictures probably of me singing shirtless and with a horrible beard. Something for everyone to look forward to!

Stay tuned!

Black Eyes and Broken Bones Comp

Get ready for the newest cd compilation from Under Pressure records, after 4 succesful english all canadian hip-hop compilations and one french hip-hop compilation we went back to our punk roots. We decided it was time to reach out to our extended hardcore family and release our first all canadian hardcore compilation entitled Black Eyes & Broken Bones. This compilation features 31 groups from across Canada including the likes of COMEBACK KID, TO THE LIONS, FUCKED UP, CANCER BATS, FINAL WORD, VIDEO DEAD, CURSED, CONFINE, ARISE & RUIN, and A PERFECT MURDER. This compilation will be available for free on the cover of issue #12 of Under Pressure magazine and will also be distributed at Vans Warped Tour and Exclaim's Agressive Tendencies Tour. You will also be able to find this comp at hardcore shows across Canada, where some of the bands on this compilation will be performing, so don't forget to keep your eyes out at the merch table.
For futher info on this compilation release contact karyn@underpressure.ca

Track 23 - TO THE LIONS - Ride the Apocalypse

The real update

The real news this week is we're starting to record our first full length CD October 28th! It's going to be 10 or 11 songs, with a few from the demo rerecorded and 7 brand new songs that'll melt your face and cause spontaneous throwdowns.

Oh yeah, and we're playing with some band called Hatebreed in London on October 26th. It's at Cowboys (aka The Drink) with Sworn Enemy and Scars of Tomorrow. That place is not that big, so I'd think it'll sell out pretty quick. You'll probably have to get tickets soon if you haven't already. And we basically started this band 2 years ago just to play this show, so we're stoked.

Beer bottle solo

We haven't had an update here for a while (again! what's up "Master of the Blog"??) So here's a short little clip from a show at the Underground in Hamilton a couple weeks ago. It's only 1:30 long but Brad shows off a wicked improv beer bottle slide guitar solo. What you don't see on screen is our wasted friend Jerry shoving a Bud into Brad's hand mid song, what else can you do but slide solo??

Sudden Impact reunion!

September 22nd we're playing with 80's legends Sudden Impact in Toronto. This one will bring out the old timers for sure. There may be a cane check at the front door, and for once I definitely won't be the oldest guy at the show. Brad's stoked because DRI was on the same label. And another badass flyer...

Sneaky Disease Video

Gotta admit YouTube is pretty rad when you can do stuff like this. This is from our first Toronto show back in January at Sneaky Dee's with Cancer Bats. Thanks to Trevor Ydreos for the video...