The Other Halifax

I happened to be around some rather bad radio the other day. The host was spouting on about one or another of those formulaic Halifax artists that have come to define our region to so many people. Not my thing. But the 5 minutes of mediocrity did remind me of all the fantastic music that IS pouring out of Halifax. Our city's underground has been on fire for a lot of years, and it's one of the big reasons we do this festival.

With something like 17 bands coming from away for OBEY IV, it was impossible to include anywhere near all our favorite locals, but we squeezed in as many as possible. They are listed below along with the pics and ultra-serious bios they sent us for the guide. We are so grateful to all of them for being in the mix this year. Check all of this...

Meat Curtains
The Meat Curtains were born out of wedlock last summer when all four girls were discovered on a CTV Live @ 5 talent search. They bonded over their shared love of sequins, teenaged boys, ham sammiches and active wear.
"Like Maya Angelo fronting TLC" -Bruce Frisko
www.myspace.com/meatcurtainsband

Cold Warps
A combination of The Beatles, The Beach Boys and The Ramones, but without all the sucky parts, and ten times better, and 20 times more talented, and 100 times more handsome. And also all the songs are about awesome things like science fiction and the internet. Faster, fuzzier, and way stupider, Halifax/Ottawa garage-punk at it's whatever-est.
www.myspace.com/coldwarps

Catbag
CATBAG accidentally materialized as a surf punk improv duo in 2008 and has since transformed into its darker hypnotic offspring--industrial lounge music--with the addition of free form saxophone. Catbag released the cassette "Creamweaving" in March 2010 and eagerly awaits its new self-titled 12" vinyl in time for Obey Convention IV. Catbag is Mitchell Wiebe, Craig Leonard and Dave Ewenson.
www.myspace.com/catbagsurfpunk

Duzheknew
Duzheknew formed in late 2009 when Halifax-based artist and musician Adam O'Reilly was in New York working as an artist assistant. What started out as a home-recording project in a new city turned into a creative outlet tapping into New Wave-era bands of the past such as: The Fall, Talking Heads, DNA, and more.

Adam O recorded a set of songs with Aron Sanchez from Polyphonic Workshop in Brooklyn (who produces Japanther) and received interest from the prolific pop-extradonaire R. Stevie Moore to collaborate on an upcoming split 7'. It didn't take long for his friends and peers back in Halifax to recognize that something special had happened to Adam O with Duzheknew while in he was away.

Duzheknew incorporates drone based compositions with no wave rhythms and lyrical vocal style reminiscent of Magnetic Fields / Smog to create atmospheric, engaging and artfully produced weirdo rock music. Live, the band shows obvious influence from early ninties grunge rock in the tones of the instruments, creating songs about sex, food and social politics, surrealist tales, and imagist dialog.
www.myspace.com/duzheknew

Dog Day
Somewhere in the deep woods of Pennant, four unusual companions join together in ritual to try and fix themselves with pop music. On rare occasion they come out of hiding to present their findings.
www.myspace.com/dogdaytheband

Gown & Ryan Kirk
Gown and Ryan make their live debut, sort of. You may have seen the horn/vocals finish to the omon ra/gown blow out jam at last year’s obey.... what to expect is up in the air. It could be an acoustic session, an eastern jam or a free jazz/psych blow out. It all depends on how the harmonic cosomogenesis (http://www.delphiassociates.org/) is flowing on the 28th. We are thinking along the lines of Flynt, Neil and the Dead(C), but who knows after the full moon.

Fuck Montreal
Fuck Montreal are easily pregnable by bacteria and other contaminants, resulting in serious risk of fatal infection.
Jenna, Alex, Jonathan and Blair are a skin disease characterized by a thickening of the keratin layer in fetal human skin. The band contains massive, diamond-shaped scales, and tends to have a reddish color.
http://www.myspace.com/fuckmontreal

Bad Vibrations
Raw, dark and steady, Bad Vibrations cut through every room and tear holes in the crowd and walls. Made up of two preacher’s sons and the daughter of a Japanese businessman this punk trio bring melodic dirge from the darkest corners of reality and present it in the new light for young and old. Come celebrate the release of their new 7 inch ‘Under Pressure’ in this new era of grunge chords and broken dreams.
www.myspace.com/bdvbes




D/A A/D
Over the last 6 years, Halifax transplant Alex Pearson has been creating some of the the darkest synth doom imaginable as D/A A/D. Equipped with a modular analog synthesizer Pearson sets out to engulf his audience with sub frequencies, while conjuring auditory apparitions with harmonic overtones. Pearson tries to avoid all the regular synth cliches and forge a new direction.
www.myspace.com/analogdoom

Chuck Blazevic
Since 2008, Chuck Blazevic has been primarily recording and performing under the Dreamsploitation moniker – including performances at Nocturne, Pop Montreal and The Atlantic Jazz Festival. His debut album, The Soft Focus Sound of Today, has been featured on The Signal (CBC Radio 2), in addition to making the Textura 'Top 50 Albums of 2008' year-end list. At Obey, Blazevic will showcase his latest work, which is characterized by spectral guitar treatments, worn textures (via damaged tape), and the energetic rhythms of the post-punk era.
www.myspace.com/accentblue

Chanteuse
Robert Drisdelle's Chanteuse project began with a collection of idiosyncratic covers of french pop tunes, but has overflowed into a multitude of DIY explorations: timbral workouts, mid-fi soundtrack sendups, chamber music, and a particular melodic sense that perhaps shouldn't go with any of it but somehow does, maybe. Chanteuse's OBEY set will involve a trio of winds and strings.
www.myspace.com/moresift

Tim Crofts
One of Halifax's most versatile pianists/improvisers, Tim Crofts has performed with Upstream Music, suddenlyListen, Symphony Nova Scotia, Jerry Granelli, Fred Frith, Eddie Prevost, Ghettosocks, IriSs Lab, Zokugaku and Joe Maneri. Tim will be performing new works for solo electronics featuring circuit bent and analog technologies. “The Piano is cool and all.... but I want to melt brains.”- Crofts
www.myspace.com/timcroftsmusic

L/P (Truro is close enough)
L/P, from Truro, Nova Scotia started in August 2008 and we are a post-punk/rock band. Previously a three piece band, we are now a four piece band with one proper release; E/P #1 (April 2009). L/P takes from eclectic influences and loves to rock n' roll. This summer we are releasing a 7" with a label from St.John's, Newfoundland.
www.myspace.com/bitemylp


Torso & Dark Cross
Hate noise body response
http://www.myspace.com/torsodeath

Long, Long, Long
Long Long Long is a rock band whose founding members came from Seattle, Washington, USA in the early 1970s. Going through several lineup changes, the only constant members of the group are sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson. The group rose to fame in the 1970s with their music being influenced by hard rock as well as folk music.
http://www.myspace.com/longlonglonggg

Chik White & Evan Cardwell
I will head onto the icy bay. Fight the eagle and the bear to lay my head on that frozen flesh. Close my eyes. Dream of warm summer winds.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gzhr2gqsEWY&feature=related