POOR?? LOADS OF FREE EVENTS!!

We really wish everything could be free, but there are hard realities when it comes to putting together a weekend with artists from all over the continent and beyond. That being said, we are offering more FREE events than ever before. So there's no excuse. Everyone can get involved. Check it out....


Beau Labute Opening
Struggles and strange loops in collaboration with the future and the past -- a slow growth of mutant permutations through complicated minimalism. Layered drawings and paintings are cut and collaged, reinterpreted, and recombined to combat a never-ending flow of small mistakes -- obscuring and revealing plans within plans within no plans, circles and lines in that endless swamp of passing time.
Friday, May 28th, 6-7:30pm at Lost & Found with sounds by Les Beyond & Chanteuse. FREE AA

Campaign for Infinity Showcase
This year Obey fest falls on our 2 year birthday, and we've decided to throw a party! Coupled with the Weird Canada BBQ, There will be special anniversary releases, deals, and live performances from PIG, FRIENDLY DIMENSION, and THE ETHER.
Sunday, May 30th, 3:30-5pm at Lost & Found. FREE AA

Crowd Control Sound & Art Fair
The Obey Convention and Anchor Archive will once again present a special celebration of DIY culture. We have invited local and traveling record labels, zine makers, screen printers, and other talented folks to show off their wares for the day at the Bus Stop Theatre. Besides lots of tablers, the event will also include DJs from CKDU and Radiator Collective Showcase.
May 29th, 11:30am-4:30pm at the Bus Stop Theatre. FREE AA

Hidden Windows
Over the course of the festival, the Khyber Centre for the Arts will feature 'Hidden Windows', an exhibition of works by Kevin Hainey and Vanessa Rieger, Stacey Ho and Lindsey Nolan, Eleanor King, and Robbie Shedden.

‘Hidden Windows' takes its name from a video piece by Rieger and Hainey, a composition of lost moments taken from open webcams. Taking off from this title, the remaining works in the show also offer different views into thinking and seeing. Minimal drawings on found record sleeves are presented by Eleanor King. Rob Shedden exhibits his 'sightless' Polaroid portraits. Accompanied by Lindsey Nolan's drawings, Stacey Ho shows two audio pieces about each of her grandmothers.
Opening Thursday, May 27th, 6-7:30pm at the Khyber with sounds by Torso + Dark Cross, and D/A A/D. FREE AA

Origins
All music grows from improvisation, so improvisation is the earliest musical expression. Improvisation communicates culture and the sharing of ideas, so improvisation is the embryo for revolution and creation. Come and participate in an open musical experiment. Build, create, and destroy community through improvisation. All ideas and instruments welcomed, from rocks to iPhones.
May 30th, 2pm at a location TBA on our blog. FREE AA

Radiator Collective Showcase
The Radiator Family are a group of friends who build sounds. Many bands and artists make up the strange collective of artistic miscreants. Their showcase will range from fragile melodies to sonic grunge noise. Catch them at the Bus Stop Theatre during the crowd control sound and art fair.
May 29th, 3:30-5pm at the Bus Stop Theatre. FREE AA

Dirty Beaches / Omon Ra II Cassette

Dirty Beaches/Omon Ra Split C30 on Campaign for Infinity

This release has too much OBEY Convention content to ignore. Two great Montreal acts on the best tape label going in Canada. It's limited to 100 and almost gone.

order here

I LOVE THIS POSTER!!!!

BIGGER ON OUR SITE

Sell Your Wares at the Crowd Control Sound & Art Fair

Crowd Control Sound & Art Fair - Bus Stop Theatre
Saturday, May 29th 12PM-4:30PM
This spring the Obey Convention and Anchor Archive will once again present a special celebration of DIY culture. We are inviting local and travelling record labels, zine makers, screen printers, and other talented folks to show off their wares at the Bus Stop Theatre on May 29th. Besides lots of tablers, the event will also include DJs from CKDU and a Radiator Collective Showcase. The fair is absolutely free to the public, so we expect big crowds. Tables are ONLY $15 and very limited. To book a table, please email crowdcontrolsoundandart@gmail.com

Dirty Beaches Reverb Wash hits Halifax's Shores for Obey.

Dirty Beaches rockin' the rooftop. Photo by Caley Jones


Alex Zhang Hungtai is the conduit for the one man band Dirty Beaches. The project, now in its 5th year, has taken Alex wide and far, literally and metaphorically. Alex has performed in China, and in the last year completed two US tours. His music has also traveled a long way; initially a more introverted, experimental project, Dirty Beaches has evolved into a full on violent-twist-jive-rockabilly-whiskey throw down, with a penchant for doo-woppy ballads. 2009 was a breakout year for Alex, with releases on Night People and Fixture. In 2010 Alex has been busy on the road and lining up a solid release schedule, including a full length LP on Night People, splits with fellow Obey Performers U.S. Girls and my group Omon Ra II (On Campaign for Infinity), and an archival release on Beijing label Rose Mansion Analog. I am over-the-top-excited to have Alex perform at this year's festival. Alex is a tremendous artist and I know his visceral and veracious performances will have a profound affect on the Halifax audiences. Below is a short interview I conducted with Alex last week:

Z - Since you moved from Montreal to Vancouver you've been incredibly busy. Why do you think 2009-2010 was/has been such a break-through year for you?

A - Being isolated from your friends always encourages productivity, albeit painful at times. My definition of friendship is much like the concept of family. I grew up without my family after age 14, so I spent a lot of time with friends growing up. There were older brother figures that I looked up to, and it has shaped me into the person I am at right now. Without them and those experiences, I am nothing. Those experiences morph into soundscapes in my music, or themes, even. They will always be there, like re-occurring characters.

Another reason for this year's intense schedule would be credited to my release on Night People, ever since my first tape release with them, I have been getting a lot of offers from labels, tour requests, etc, along with blog reviews. I hate letting people down, so I put the mileages into it. Been very lucky on those tours, making just enough money to get from one city to the next, with gas and what not into consideration as well. Met a lot of kind people on the road that gave us a little extra cash just so we could make it, and to the people that bought my merch, my thanks goes out to them.

Z - What's it like making music for you on the West Coast?

A - This year's winter in Vancouver has been so mild in comparison to Montreal that I almost secretly chuckle to myself whenever I look out the window. The area I live in (Hastings Sunrise) has a lot of trees, mountains, and old people. When I first arrived in October 09, I would listen to the twin peaks soundtrack my friend Conor got me for my birthday, and take little walks. However, there is one similar coincidence that my Montreal apartment shares with the Vancouver one: they are both very close to the train tracks. I love trains. oh boy. I like how they look, how they sound, I love walking on train tracks, I love riding trains, I love everything about them. Sometimes at night you can hear the train whistle, and it makes you want to be on that train, and just leave town. But that's just me. In China you can still smoke on trains, too. Although that's slowly changing now. I heard they banned indoor smoking in Shanghai this year. I hope it was only a rumor.

Z - One of things I really dig about Dirty Beaches is its exploration of minimalism. For the last five years you have used basically the same simple equipment and have created a world of sound, always light on resources but heavy in sound and spirit. Can you explain your approach and how you keep things fresh?

A - The approach to minimalism came out of necessity. My first release on Fixture was recorded with multiple tracks, with overdubs and layers. The problem was, I could never play it live. I had a hard time dealing with other people playing them, because they never got it right. I hate being the tyrant type too cuz I've been in bands with them when I was younger. So I never wanted to become that person where you write all the stuff and force, trick or manipulate other people to play the parts that you wrote. That shit is whack. And fucked up too. I think Bands should be formed out of friendship, and the idea of collaboration in mind.

Once I got over the idea that I was not going to be in a band, but a solo performing artist, things started to open up. I began recording my materials LIVE, almost identical to my live set up so I could translate my performances onto recording.

Whenever I'm out of ideas, I just watch a shit ton of films that have been on my watchlist. Lately I've been really into Tsai Ming-Liang, and Hou Hsiao Hsien (both based in Taiwan) and random forgotten gems from the 80's (like Willem Dafoe's first role in THE LOVELESS). Nick Cage and Val Kilmer flicks in the 80's are great too. I watch them when I'm sad and Val always cheers me up. He's the best.

Z - Given now that you are in your 5th year of the project, how do you hear the next 5 years of Dirty Beaches? How can we expect your sound to evolve or change?

A - I know I will always be making instrumental music. I've been doing that for the past 10 years. So I don't think that's gonna stop anytime soon. I've also started to make videos, and am currently working on my first short film, which is kind of a pilot for a digital download series part detective/film noir and other genres mixed in, starring my friend Bernadino Femminielli, who is a amazingly gifted musician based in Montreal. It will be fun to score it.

In terms of more ambitious ideas for dirty beaches, I'd like to try making sound installations for DIY spaces. I had an idea for the album HORROR that I put out on Fixture, but it was too costly financially to realize.

Z - Will Dirty Beaches always be a one man band and are you working on any collaborations?

A - I think dirty beaches will always be a one man project. Like films, that main character will always be longing for a place where he does not belong. An eternal damnation from home, misplaced, in exile, with nothing to hold onto.

However, I would love to throw it all away and start a new band that's not about any of that stuff I just mentioned.


http://www.myspace.com/dirtybeaches



Song of the year! True Blue, video by Alex Calder

Slim Twig - Style and Sound

We're all psyched that Slim Twig is coming to town for this year's OBEY Convention. You may recognize him as 'Billy Zero' from Bruce McDonald's fantastic 2007 film Tracy Fragments starring Ellen Page. He killed it in that movie, but his musical output may even more impressive. What's so great about the guy? Why do we think he fits our festival so well? It's the absoluetly ingenius combination of styles that he's come up with. So fresh to these tired ears! Slim Twig is this fun-as-hell rockabilly sound and persona all twisted into a bunch of crazy avant-garde tomfoolery. Think Elvis meets Merzbow. It's big time entertainment that's not scared to fuck things up in your brain. Check out the above video that Dona Arbabzadeh did for his track Birthing and Birthing from the Derelict Dialect EP. And there's more over here>> http://www.myspace.com/slimtwig

Ottawa's Kaleidoscopic Holy Cobras

Earlier this year these guys sent DIVORCE a curious cassette packaged in some cryptic photocopy of a female cult ritual or some other kind of weirdness. What I'd heard of Holy Cobras in the past I liked, so I slipped the tape in my deck and gave the volume knob a crank. Damn! This little demo was the best thing to arrive in my mail box all year. I still listen a couple times a week. It's pure psychedelic rock gold--laid back, hazy riffs and manic frontman washed in reverb and delay. Simple, perfect, and amazing. To top it off, I'm told they have one of the most nerve wracking live shows around. We had to get them. Here's a schedule hint: in an effort to keep the lineups strange, we put Holy Cobras on with Dog Day. See you there. MYSPACE