Growing the Local Music Scene
Vancouver is known to be a nice, adventurous, and artistic city, but we seem to lack one essential side of social culture: music. In my experience, it’s constantly mentioned that there’s not a lot of music hype in the city or an abundance of local musicians and concerts. While there are some notable mentions, like Headly, upcoming rapper Boslen, folk artist Dan Mangan, SoundCloud rapper bbno$, Marina’s Trench, or maybe The Zolas, the list is small and quick to leave to bigger cities. But what if Vancouver became a place to come to for other aspiring artists?
To start exploring how we can create a better music scene, we should examine the factors that do the opposite. Covid-19 aside, Vancouver lacks a bustling music district where live music is easy to find and accessible to anyone looking. While Granville St is technically our entertainment district, it does have some of the most popular venues like the Commodore, The Vogue, The Orpheum, or Venue, it lacks some heart. Consider the possibility of a music district, filled with studios, concert halls, bars that support live musicians, and nightclubs that support local DJ’s. It would also be essential to have venues that can host music for audiences under 19, as currently, almost all live music in the city happens at bars and clubs where under 19 is strictly not allowed.
Another piece of the puzzle is actually getting people out and sending money that promotes the growth of musicians and the industry. For example, if a small rapper you like is visiting Vancouver, grab all your friends and have a fun night! Drink (responsibly)! Dance! Take Videos! Dress up! The more audience participation and the more people that do come out to these shows means a lot to the artists: It makes them want to come back. It would be our responsibility as citizens to create and maintain the reputation of the city that we live in. Part of that definitely means having the time of our lives whenever we can, and who wouldn’t want that?
Another idea to consider (Covid aside) is more local music fests, which is not only huge for young, inexperienced and small musicians a chance to be in front of a lively, big audience, but they’re also beneficial for small and local arts, culture foods, and connectivity.
We all love music. We want more of it, we want Vancouver to have more of it. If we can create a bigger music scene here with local artists, it means bigger artists too, and that means more economic traffic, more jobs, more opportunities, and more industry. By pushing for a more prominent music district, showing interest in more festivals, being engaging online and in-person we can create the bustling and alive music scene we all know we would love, here in Vancouver.
Meet The Zolas
If you like bands like cage the elephant or said the whale, you need to check out the local indie alt band The Zolas for all your rainy day mood swings.
From mellow string tracks to upbeat urban songs, the Zolas offer a variance of easy listening, relatable and likable music. They are super easy to listen to or even to throw in the background at work (I’ve definitely heard them at local coffee shops). I personally fell in love with “knot in my heart” and “cold moon”, two awesome songs that offer that recognizable Zolas sound.
The Zolas’ debut album, Tic Toc Tic, was released in November 2009. The album was produced by Howard Redekopp, who has worked with other Canadian musicians The New Pornographers, and Teagan and Sara.
Spill magazine reviews the not-so-good album Swooner, and I liked the way they described the last song on the album. “It’s only when The Zolas strip their sound back down to the basics that they feel at all sincere. “Why Do I Wait (When I Know You’ve Got a Lover)” offers nothing more than a basic background synth line and earnest vocals. The song, unlike anything else on the record, feels grounded in a real feeling, an honest emotion. It’s also the best and last track on the album” I have to agree that it was not the best album, but a nice song nonetheless.
This spring I was actually obsessed with the song Cold moon. It’s a sweet, humble little love song but has an interesting and unique bridge that changes the dynamic of the song while keeping the overall tone and energy. You’ll have to listen to know what I mean.
In recent news, this summer on June 8, 2020, the Zolas announced they would release their fourth studio album later this year following a promotion of singles, dubbed Z Days. The band decided they would release one single a month at the end of the month until the end of summer 2020. The singles released from the album, in order of release, included “Energy Czar,” “Come Back to Life,” and “Ultramarine.” I think it’s a nice way of gradually releasing music that people can enjoy for a bit then get excited for the next release.