The CITY SLANG crew put together a special CITY SLANG questionnaire specifically for bands playing the Ottawa Implosion this week!
First up we have Dave Vassalottie, guitarist of Merchandise. And after that, we’ve got answers from vocalist Adrian Toubro, of Copenhagen band Lower.
Learn about their ice-cream day jobs, some scary childhood diaries, and their and advice on fighting! And subscribe to the CITY SLANG podcast for more interviews with Ottawa Implosion performers!
The Ottawa Implosion has some of our favourite bands coming to town, including Merchandise, Lower, Iceage, and Father Murphy. If you wanna part with us and loads of cool people, get your tickets now! Shows start on Thursday with Merchandise and Lower and House of Targ!
Dave Vassalottie (Merchandise)
Do you have a favourite Canadian band?
Neil Young and Leonard Cohen are my songwriting idols, but they’re not bands, so I’m gonna go with NoMeansNo.
What’s your weirdest experience in Canada?
Seeing an older woman shoot junk into her neck on the side of a real busy street at noontime in Vancouver. She was holding a compact mirror to line it all up. I see crazy shit all the time living in Florida, but that image remains vivid in my brain.
What is the best thing to happen at one of your shows?
I’m in another world mentally whenever we play, plus I’m blind as a bat. I never have any idea what’s going on during the show other than the sound of the drums and my guitar. The sets on this tour have grown increasingly nihilistic so I feel the best is yet to come. We’ll be lunatics by the time we make it to Ottawa.
What is the weirdest thing you’ve found at a second-hand store?
A small leatherbound journal that was once a child’s diary. There are only a few entries in it, but it’s pretty wild. Lots of adolescent ramblings about touching poop, the “rules of magick”, the death of an uncle, and how this kid’s dad “sucks fucking dick.” Crude drawings galore. Most of the book is blank, so I use it for my own note-taking now. Best $0.80 I ever spent.
What’s the worst job you’ve ever had?
Selling ice cream at a place that requires employees to sing stupid jingles and parodies to the customers. I lasted 10 days before getting the axe.
What do you hate talking about in interviews most?
Everything, especially music and the meaning of lyrics. I just hate talking in general. If this was a phone conversation, it would’ve been done after a few words.
Have you ever been in a fight? Do you have advice on getting into a fight?
No, not a real-deal street fight. I’m a pretty calm and mild-mannered guy. It would take a lot for me to want to physically lash out at someone, and even then I’d probably get whooped. My advice is to make friends with big and scary people that don’t give a fuck about anything.
What is the best curse word?
Fuckboy, or sonofabitchbastard.
Adrian Toubro (Lower)
Do you have a favourite Canadian band?
Leonard Cohen and his Army.
What’s your weirdest experience in Canada?
Playing at a Go Go-dancer club in Toronto was very weird but also an enriching experience.
What is the best thing to happen at one of your shows?
When a somehow a good vibe is created. And there is a game going on between the audience and us. It gives you confidence to mess about and do all sorts of funny stuff.
What is the weirdest thing you’ve found at a second-hand store?
Sorry, never found anything weird. Only useful items.
What’s the worst job you’ve ever had?
Working for a print company. It was excruciatingly boring and the people there tried to act like they we’re absorbed in the paper business. But it completely fell through because it just isn’t possible to hide how excruciatingly boring the print/paper industry is.
What do you hate talking about in interviews most?
How our band formed…
Have you ever been in a fight? Do you have advice on getting into a fight?
I’ve been in some drunken fights but I only took part to help friends or to get an adrenalin rush to keep sleep at bay.
What is the best curse word?
Bugger!
WE INTERVIEW SOLIDS AND "INTERVIEW" MERCHANDISE! PLUS AN OTTAWA IMPLOSION GIVEAWAY!
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GET TICKETS TO THE OTTAWA IMPLOSION! Email us at cityslangradio@gmail.com before our next episode (Oct. 13) for a chance to win a pair of tickets to the festival!
This week on the show, our plans to interview the band MERCHANDISE don’t go as planned! We play a set of phone-related tunes!
Plus an interview with SOLIDS, a spotlight on Ottawa implosion bands, and all the new tunes you can handle!
Ex Hex - Beast - How You Got That Girl
The Beverleys - Single - Hoodwink
Foam - Demo - Sludge
Merchandise - After The End - Telephone
The Nerves - The Nerves - Hanging on the Telephone
Protex - Don’t Ring Me Up
Reigning Sound - Love and Curses - Call Me
Iceage - Ploughing Into The Fields of Love - Simony
Hot & Cold - Skip Skip Ben Ben split - Flynt
Dories - Stripped - Drip
Roberta Bondar - Caustic - Caustic
Boyhood - Bits and Bobs - Balcony
Lower - Seek Warmer Climes - Unkempt and Uncaring
Holy Cobras - Drugstore
NAP EYES VS. MONOMYTH!
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Alanna and Travis harass CITY SLANG faves NAP EYES and MONOMYTH outside a venue! They dish dirt on themselves, explain how board games work, and get to the bottom of who has more in common with Kanye West.
Plus ragers from around the world, and BRUCE HAACK!
Tunes this week:
Nap Eyes - Whine of The Mystic - Dark Creedence
Monomyth - Saturnalia Regalia - Pac Ambition
Monomyth - Saturnalia Regalia - Patsy
Nap Eyes - Whine of The Mystic - Delirium & Persecution Paranoia
Iceage - Plowing Into The Field Of Love - The Lord’s Favorite
California Girls - Age of Consent EP - Dangerous
Salad Boys - Salad Boys - Dream Date
No.Negative - Album Blanc II - Feelin’ The Heat
Mexican Slang - B-Side - Season In Hell
Bruce Haack - Electric Lucifer Book II - Stand Up Lazarus
ALL SOFT ROCK ALL HOUR!
Everyone’s been partying too hard, so Travis plays a soft-rock show! ALL SOFT, ALL HOUR!
Plus an Iceage ticket giveaway that is sadly no longer valid! But thanks for entering!
Hear soft tunes from Jonathan Richman, Nick Lowe, The Men, Kurt Vile, Feel Alright, Old and Weird, Cousins, Makeout Videotape, Sean Nicholas Savage, Outdoor Miners, Sans AIDS, The Nerves, and The Sonics!
Stay tuned until the end for the return of the softest of all softies, LEWIS!
Originally aired: June 10 2013.
A FAMINES HISTORY LESSON AND OTTAWA EXPLOSION SPOTLIGHT!
Raymond of THE FAMINES returns to teach us about Soviet Russian art and what it would be like to paint with Stephen Harper!
Plus a summer preview of upcoming bands playin’ LIVE, LIVE, LIVE, Including Ottawa Explosion!
Hear tracks from Iceage, Vacation, Yellowteeth, Bill Orcutt, Tropical Dripps, The Yips, Black Tower, Mac DeMarco, Psyche Tongues, Holograms, The Mark Inside, The Sound, and Pure X!
And subscribe on iTunes if you don’t wanna miss a thing.
SHILLING SEASON! A FAMINES HISTORY LESSON! TOTAL T!
It’s funding drive time! Now accepting money transfers and questions to cityslangradio@gmail.com. Donate to CHUO and support community radio! KEEP US ON THE AIR!
We hear from Total T about his Taco Tuesdays! Raymond from The Famines teaches us a history lesson! And a preview of next week’s terrifying story about CATTLE PRODS!
We play songs by METZ, Kremlins, Iceage, THIGHS, Peace, Lantern, Blue Cross, The Famines, and Outdoor Miners.
Originally aired: March 11 2013