Century Palm: Reforming Musical Realms

Photo by Rico Moran

Toronto's Century Palm play a unique style of Post Punk/ New Wave with scads of gusto and charisma.  In a world full of people that seem to have been there and heard all of that, it takes truly exceptional group to stand out among their peers and predecessors and that's exactly what Century Palm does.  Their songs shimmer with melodic vocals that are encased in cold, catchy, sometimes even quirky guitar riffs which build high atop a strong foundation of bass and drums. Swelling saxophones and kindling keyboards, which sometimes take the drivers seat, are also march in succession.  This band takes elements of  Devo, Gary Numan, Siouxsie and The Banshees, Joy Division and Gang of Four and melts them all together to forge a sword that cuts most of today's humdrum lifestyle music into ribbons.

Interview by J Castro

Who is currently in the band and what does everyone do in it?

Andrew Payne writes a lot of the songs and sings them, and plays the rhythm guitar and the Moog.
Paul Lawton plays the bass and sings and writes songs too. His songs remind us that death is approaching.
Jesse Locke plays the drums and is amazing at it.
Alex Hamlyn is lead guitar, saxophonist, and knows the most about music theory of any of us.
Penny Clark is me. I am the synth player. Allow me to tell you the story of the band.

How did you all meet and decide to play music together?

PENNY: I met all those guys in 2013 on my first tour (of my life) with my other band Tough Age. They were playing together on that tour as a conglomerate Ketamines/Zebrassieres band. Ketamines was fronted by Paul and Zebrassieres was fronted by Andrew, so in terms of musicians playing in the band, Century Palm is kind of the fully fused version of that tour, plus me.

I moved to Toronto about a year ago and Paul played their initial recordings for me and I got really excited by the songs and started giving all kinds of commentary that was inappropriate for someone who wasn’t actually in the band. A few months later, they were looking for a new keyboard player and I managed to worm my way in there. We bonded by standing in a snow storm together for three hours.

S/T EP released October 16th, 2014 on Planet of the Tapes

What band or musician first inspired you to want to pick up an instrument and learn to play and/or write music?

PENNY: Mudhoney. Their music is so big sounding. Music is really connected to energy for me and that band has tons of it.

How would you describe your band to your grandparents?

PENNY: I would describe it in this manner: “You probably won’t like it. But you might! We’re playing pretty late. I guess it’s like rock music, basically.”

What sorts of things do you typically enjoy writing songs about? 

PENNY: Century Palm songs are very introspective. A lot about the inner self and that person’s experience with the external world. With my favorite parts, I have scenes that I visualize in my head while I’m playing them, like a beach or crickets at night. Nature stuff like that. 

I’ve heard people say that playing and writing music is therapeutic to them.  Have you ever found this to be true?

PENNY: Definitely.

Photo by Rico Moran

Does it annoy you or distract you at all to see some of your audience members fondling their phones while you’re up on stage performing?

PENNY: Usually I look up or down and not at the audience directly. Direct eye contact… is kind of weird if you don’t know the person and you’re not gonna have a conversation or something. But I would especially look away if it’s a phone-checking kind of crowd, because nothing will take you out of the song faster than seeing people who look like they’re totally disengaged with what you’re doing.

After one of your shows, what sort of feeling or sentiment do you hope your audience walks away with? 

PENNY: I hope they’re happy.

What is your favorite album to listen to from start to finish?

PENNY: Apollo Ghosts - Landmark

What’s the best advice anyone has ever given you that you still follow to this day?

PENNY: Be nice to people. Being mean in a “clever way” can be really fun and it is a quality that is generally pretty celebrated in our society but it is so useless for getting anything worthwhile accomplished. Don’t put other people down. Don’t have a power trip, be open to the people around you.

Valley Cyan 7" released August 22nd, 2015 on Deranged Records 

What is the best way people can hear and get a hold of your music?

PENNY: We have a 7” on Deranged, a 7” on Paul’s mysterious label SCI. In the future you can hear our whole album, when it comes out on Deranged, and another 7” when it comes out on Hozac.

We also just released a song as part of the Pentagon Black compilations that were released in the form of a poster. Get songs and decorate your house!

If you want to listen to Century Palm songs in a digital manner, you can use our Bandcamp. Our tape of the first four songs is sold out except for one copy at June Records, which as far as I know, is still there,

What lies ahead for the band in 2016?

PENNY: Mostly recordinnnggg and a few shows. In Toronto, we’re playing with Nap Eyes on April 7, and in Ottawa with Tough Age, BB Cream on April 22, and with Tough Age in Toronto on April 23rd. 

Be sure to follow Century Palm on their sonic adventures on social media!

https://www.facebook.com/centurypalm

https://twitter.com/centurypalm

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No Problem

     Just because you aren’t reinventing the musical wheel doesn’t automatically justify your dismissal from the band world. Enter No Problem, they are made up from members of Wednesday Night Heroes, The Mandates, and the Throwaways, but don’t sound like any of those aforementioned bands. No Problem has struck for the musical heart of melodic punk hardcore, think early D.O.A. mixed with some Dead Kennedys, Adolescents and Viletones, and have no qualms about doing so. While most bands or musicians mellow with age like a fine wine, No Problem is proud to be a like a fireball shot of whisky that has a bite when swallowed.

Interview by Ed Stuart

Who’s answering the questions?

Graeme MacKinnon (Guitar/Vocals)

Give us a brief history of your musical background, some other bands you have played in and currently do play in?
All four members of No Problem have been quite active in the underground music community.

For myself, aside from duties in No Problem, I play drums in a band with my sister called Strangled and am also working on several other projects still in the development phase. From 1998 to 2008, I played in a streetpunk band called The Wednesday Night Heroes where I was able to tour all over quite heavily. 

Matt Bouchard currently plays in a synth-pop band called Physical Copies and before joining No Problem he did a lengthy stint in an Edmonton punk band called Let’s Dance. Steve Lewis played in a hardcore band called High Jinks and just recently left a riff raging band called Stepmothers. Warren who lives in Calgary used to be in a trash band called The Throwaways and is now blowing people’s bodies apart in his power-pop band the Mandates. So basically for all of us it is rather important to keep active and creative when it comes to music.    

Where is the band from?
No Problem is from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Who is in the band and what instrument do they play?

Graeme MacKinnon (Guitar/Vocals)
Matt Bouchard (Bass)
Steve Lewis (Guitar)
Warren Oostlander (Drums)

How did the band start?
With Wednesday Night Heroes on hiatus and Matt’s band Let’s Dance winding down, he and I started talking with our original drummer Ian about doing a back to basics hardcore punk band in the vein of early LA bands like The Germs, Circle Jerks, The Adolescents and TSOL and mix it with early Canadian bands like the Viletones, Subhumans and Personality Crisis. Once we started jamming it started to come together quite nicely, but once Steve joined and brought more of a hardcore vibe, I felt that’s when things really started getting interesting and it just clicked. 

What bands did you have in mind when starting this band?

Lots of KBD type stuff when we started, but as we progressed many other influences started to creep from Aussie punk to early European punk. Matt has been really into Flying Nun Records and stuff like Sparks or Harry Nilsson, stuff with really big sings, while Steve has always been on a guitar quest for the ultimate thick riff so a lot more hard rock doomy type stuff. For our current drummer lots of audio books like English versions of the Smurfs or Sweet Valley High, but that’s usually something we need to regulate or he’ll get too hot in the sweatpants. 

Basically we all kind of bring our own personal thing to the mix. Like later Kid Rock stuff or Load/Re-Load Metallica…just heavy hitters.

This is a question for Graeme. While Wednesday Night Heroes had a more street punk sound, No Problem is going toward early punk/hardcore. Most musicians tend to go away from punk/hardcore as they get older, but you have embraced it with No Problem. What were some of the reasons why?

No Problem is just a different beast. When we were doing Wednesday Night Heroes we were influenced by a lot of UK punk like No Future/Riot City Records type stuff, bands like The Partisans, GBH, Peter and the Test Tube Babies alongside The Professionals and other classics, so when we started No Problem we just wanted to do something different, gravitating towards early hardcore punk bands who were playing just raw rock n' roll with aggressive and reckless tendencies. And I think by not just worrying about speed or being angry, we could really push ourselves to do something a little different. Strange melodies or personal lyrics that might be more honest to what I’m feeling than just your typical punk affair.  

I read a quote from AuxMagazine, that states “I know No Problem isn’t reinventing the wheel, but if this record makes someone happy or gets someone into other cool punk records, or influences some young pukes to start new and exciting bands, then that’s a job well done.”  That is a pretty honest quote considering that some bands think they are reinventing the wheel when they are just merely playing their music like their influences. Is the mindset of No Problem, “This is who we are and what we do,” either take it or leave it?

The mindset for No Problem has always been let’s make songs and write lyrics interesting to us, let’s just do what comes naturally and hopefully people will respond. We feel like we are from a city or a part of the country that no one cares about so I like to think even though we aren’t “reinventing the wheel,” we are still creating a sound unique in our interpretation, but in a way that is true to whom we are.
I mean there are a lot of cool bands floating around the universe - the Total Controls, the Crazy Spirits, the Omegas, the S.H.I.T.s or the Una Beastia Incontrolables and all of them are great at what they do so why would we want to re-do or copy them when they are already doing something great and original. I find it really easy these days to be so literate and up to date with current bands that sometimes you run the risk of inadvertently copying them. The same types of songs: the same artwork even. And don’t get me wrong I wish I wrote the Total Control song “Flesh War,” but I didn’t so why even try to come close to something like that. It would be a disservice to our own music and to theirs if there was another “Flesh War” called “Skin Fight” or something and we reversed the chord progression.

What is the scene like in Edmonton? 
It’s coming along. Just like any city it comes and goes in waves. Sometimes there’s tons of bands and loads of kids, but at the moment it is kind of in a transitional phase. Lots of cool bands starting so hopefully that will translate into a greater number of punters.

So far, No Problem has had pretty good luck with labels. How did the band hook up with Deranged Records? 
Gord has always been very supportive of Canadian punk and I think after we recorded the first LP in Toronto with a mutual friend Jonah Falco he was interested in hearing the finished product. Luckily he was into it and it really helped us get our music out to the people. Our relationship with Deranged has been easy and Gord has always been really supportive of what we want to do.

No Problem has had a couple of European tours. What were some of the best places to in Europe? Favorite shows?

Germany has always been great, but on the last trip the shows in Italy were the most insane. People went nuts and the after parties were so fun. We toured with Voight Kampff from St. Louis and they have got to be some of the best people to ever tour with. So many characters making great music and they were so fun to rage with and in Italy we definitely tore the dancefloor a new hum-dinger.

What are some things you like about all the digital avenues presented to musicians nowadays (Bandcamp, blogs, blog writers, Facebook, smaller record labels, internet magazines, etc.) to help bands today? And some things you don’t like?

To be perfectly honest, don’t care.

Where can people hear No Problem?

I believe there are bandcamps out there so you can listen to the tunes. iTunes is another way. You should pick up the physical records, order direct from Deranged Records or snag them at your local shop and if they don’t have ’em demand they get ’em or you’ll riot. But if massive group violence isn’t your thing than just come to the gigs and buy records off us, the best and the cheapest.

What’s next for the band?

We will be releasing a tour 7” with three brand new songs. The EP is called Kid Killer and I think this is some of our most bleak stuff yet, so pick it up and slam to it.
In June, we are going to be playing K-Town Fest in Copenhagen, Denmark and touring all the usual stomping spots so keep your eyes peeled for dates.
Thanks so much for the interview and I hope to see some wild fuckers at the gigs.

Cheers.

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Impulse International

      When I first heard the full-length album Point of Action (on LP on Deranged and CD on Dirtnap Records) by Impulse International I felt an overwhelming sadness and disappointment.  Sad and disappointed in myself that a record of this magnitude can exist in the world since 2009 and I am barely hearing it in 2013!  Boy did I miss out on this one (I still hang my head in shame as I am typing this).  Impulse International set loose music that’s got elements of catchy as a cat’s claw punk rock bang, power pop groove amid stabs of new wave strut while holding hands with 1960’s, mod , and r & b cool.  This band somehow chews all of this together, swishes it around and spits it out in your face, and the taste is delectable. 

Interview by Jay Castro

Who’s answering the questions here?

This is Adam, a.k.a Julius Buck, a.k.a Captain Beef Shield

Who is in the band and how do you all earn your keep in it? 

I play guitar and sing.  JD Romeo plays the bass and Rob does the drumming. 

Are you guys all originally from the NY/NJ area?

I wish we all were.  I took a like hiatus to go back to school and have kids.  That took me to Florida where the grandparents are aplenty and the University is cheap. 

You said the band formed when you were “orphaned from previous bands”, that’s a hilarious way of putting it!  What bands went to the corner store for a pack of smokes and never came back for you guys?

My old band, Dirt Bike Annie, started losing members one by one but we would still keep playing shows.  A member would announce their last show and have a big send off .  Eventually, it was just me and the drummer. 

Rob played in Jersey City bands the Ankles and the Alpha Males.  I think there was band rivalry that caused both dissipated at the same time.  It’s hard to share a drummer. 

JD played in Philly hardcore and noise bands.  He has a semi-hollow Fender Coronado, which would feed back like crazy.  He got kicked out for being too darn loud. 

What sound did you have in mind when starting The Impulse International? 

I had a friend Heather (a.k.a. Suzy Sleaze, a.k.a. Saturday Suzie) who would make me mix tapes (actual cassettes) of garage and power-pop bands when I was in Dirt Bike Annie.  She turned me on to all this great 70s/80s Rock’N’Roll like the Boys, the Only Ones, Holly and the Italians.  It was the perfect musical progression from pop-punk, still catchy and fun, but with a little more bravado and swagger .   I tried changing the style of my song writing in Dirt Bike Annie, but we just couldn’t pull off.  It sounded forced and lame.  When we broke up I started writing non-stop; simple, catchy, wild, Rock’N’Roll.   Within two weeks, I had a new band together. 

Who were some of your musical role models growing up?  Who inspired you to learn how to play music and pick up an instrument in the first place?

Well, obviously, The Jam is an influence, being a powerful, clean tone, three-piece punk rock band.  As for mod style, its cool for bands to look sharp.  I cringe ever time I see a guy in shorts on stage. 

Growing up, I was a skateboarder.  So I would by every tape of every band I saw referenced in Thrasher and Transworld magazines.  So, The Dead Kennedys, Agent Orange, Black Flag, The Dickies, Butthole Surfers.  I guess I grew up on quintessential American punk rock.  In the late 80s, punk rock was still pretty fringe.  All my friends were into metal (like Ozzy) or guitar wankery (like Joe Satriani).  None of them played bass (who would want to be the guy who stands behind the guitar wankers?  Right?).  Anyway, a friend drove me to the music store, helped me pick out a bass and I was playing Crazy Train by the time we left the store (there is not really much to the Crazy Train bass line). 

You are recording some new songs, how is that going? 

Being that I live in Florida right now, this is hard.  Rob and JD just sent me some files of Bass and Drum takes they did, but living in a house with wife and two kids, finding the time and space to lay down proper guitar over dubs is a challenge.   When I do have a chance to record, sometimes things just down sound right and I’m back to the drawing board and I’m banging my head thinking I’ve just wasted so much time and have nothing to show for it.  That can be frustrating.  I miss the days of having a regular rehearsal space where all the gear is set up and I can just flip some switched and press record. 

There is also something to be said for recording in the same room as the rest of the band.  I know Guided by Voices used to record long distance and all, but man, it is hard.  You miss so much when you can’t communicate on the spot.  And Skyping while you’ve got all your music software open just isn’t convenient. 

I recently read that out of all different art forms, music has the power to alter a person’s disposition the fastest.  Do you agree with this?  Do you have any favorite music that you can put on that will always lift you from a slump?

Well, I don’t know if its true for everyone, but yeah, crank up some Jossie Cotton and try to stay in a bad mood.  On tour I would listen to Andrew WK’s first album (specifically, Its time to Party) right before we would have to play because it would put me in a 100% psyched mood every time!

Do you think Rock N Roll can still be an influential force for kids in a fast food age?

I hope so.  I’m in college now and this kid was all shocked and in awe that I actually know band’s names and had whole albums by these bands on my iPod.  The kids I met in school mostly listen to and rely on Pandora to introduce them to new music.  There was one girl in my class that never heard of the Violent Femmes.  I almost threw up.   I imagine the ones that want to find unique Rock’N’Roll will seek it out.  When they hear it in a movie, they’ll scan the credits to see the band name and then get that record, or pirate download it or whatever they do.  The medium may have changed, but teen angst can’t be gone, right? 

You guys have been around for quite a while now, and have been around this great big world.  What has been the most memorable show the band has played good or bad?  Where was it and what made it so unforgettable?

By far, the Idiotarod show we did in Brooklyn.  The Idiotarod is this crazy dress-up shopping cart race through Brooklyn and Manhattan and The Impulse got to play the after party.  It was a giant costume party with bands and DJs and everyone was having a ball.  They Roller Derby girls got on stage for our song “1 Girl 8 Wheels” and it was just wild.  I lost my phone at the after-after party.  It was that good. 

If a year from now you were celebrating the best year the Impulse International has ever had, what would you be celebrating?

We would probably be celebrating a tour.  If we were tour again, that would mean people really cared to see us.  Sadly, having family responsibilities sort of means that you don’t get to hit the road to play VFW halls to 15 people anymore. 

What music have you unleashed on the world and where can people hear it or buy it?

Greennoiserecords.com 

Derrangedrecords.com

Gethip.com

Hmmm…a quick Google search tells me that eBay may be a good place to shop, too. 

What are does the band have in store for us in the near future?

New songs for sure, but probably not a vinyl release.  It may have to be online only as this internet does not seem to be going away.

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