Author Archives: Flint Flint

Winning a Grammy in a Small Town

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Earlier this year during the Grammys, I learned that an artist from my hometown won his first Grammy Award.

That artist was Alexis Puentes, better known as Alex Cuba to his fans.

While he is originally from Cuba, he’s planted his roots in Smithers, BC and everyone from there knows who he is.

He wasn’t expecting to win a Grammy that night and was travelling back to Smithers from the Okanagan where he was playing a show when he got the news.

“It feels like dreams do come true when you push hard like when you go to get what you want to see in your life and the discipline to do what needs to be done which, is the work no matter where you are in the world it’s going to happen,”

-Alex Cuba, MyBulkleyLakesNow

This was a big thing for people in Smithers and the celebration was just around the corner.

First up was a huge mural that was made in the downtown core featuring Alex to celebrate his win.

But it didn’t end there. There was also a block party thrown by the town to celebrate his win, which featured the talents of other local artists including Mark Perry, another local artist who Alex looks up to.

“I’d love to one day be as famous as he is in Smithers, B.C.”

-Alex Cuba, CBC

The recent win and media he got also sparked Queens University to award him an honorary degree.

Cuba isn’t the only Canadian to win a Grammy, joining talents such as Shania Twain, The Weekend, Bryan Adams, and Nelly Furtado.

Having spoken to Alex on the streets, he’s an absolutely amazing guy with the strength of his fans and his town behind what he does.

Lizzo’s coming to Vancouver

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That’s right, all the rumours are true! Lizzo‘s coming to rock it at Rogers Arena on November 7th.

To me, Lizzo’s a fairly new name in the music scene. I only heard of her with the release of Good As Hell 2019 and since then, I’ve listened to more of her music and become hooked.

Now, the reason I say 2019 is because I didn’t hear of the song till then when she remixed the original 2016 release with Arianna Grande’s voice.

Another thing with Lizzo is how she’s an advocate for the black community and someone who believes in a positive self-image.

The last time she came to Vancouver was back in 2017 when she performed at the Alexander Gastown.

Since then, she’s released 2 studio albums and charted on the Billboard top 100 numerous times.

So of course, it was about dam time she came back to Vancouver to play at the biggest concert place around.

There are still some tickets available but you better get them fast as while the truth hurts, there’s not a lot of time to get them.

If you can’t get onto the concert bandwagon, you can also get her newest album “Special” which came out earlier this year on all music platforms.

Should Music Awards End?

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I’m sure that by now, you’ve heard of the Grammy awards, or the Canadian equivalent called the Juno awards.

Both are seen as awarding the best music from the past year an award and getting said award can boost that artist’s music sales.

Though, what are the criteria to win these awards and who even are the judges?

First off are the Grammy Awards and how they work.

So nominations start with either an individual nominating an artist/song/album or someone from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) doing the same.

The voting for who makes it into the top 5 is then done by industry experts and is supposed to be done without bias. Though there is likely still some favouritism going on.

Then the top 5 move onto a voting section by the NARAS members, without bias, and the winner is chosen from that vote.

So… what about the Juno awards?

Well, they actually make it quite easy to know how their voting process works by publishing this handy PDF chart.

So their both quite similar in terms of how the voting process happens but is it truly a way to define good music?

To be fair, the music that wins these awards are amazing pieces though there is also a huge catalogue of music from artists that’ll never make it to these awards.

The underground and cult music scenes are huge even in the Vancouver area so if you’re looking for a new artist to check out, maybe look there if you’ve exhausted these awards.

Now should they end? I don’t think so. I just think there should be more opportunities for artists to shine on them and more opportunities for the public to have some influence on the voting process.

Why is Nickelback Hated?

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So, it’s quite likely that you know of the band Nickelback and hearing that name might bring up some anger.

But why? And on top of that, why does liking their music stir up some people?

Well, as someone that admittedly likes some of the music Nickelback has produced, I went searching to find the answer.

The first thing I went looking for was any awards that they had won and… they do have some. They haven’t won a Grammy yet but they do have MuchMusic, American Music (AMA), Billboard, and Juno awards under their belt along with a few others.

Now that my theory of them having garbage music was disproven, I went looking into their history to see if something there drove people away.

I then heard about Kurt Cobain who wrote music back in the 90s, not long before Nickelback started their band.

After taking a listen to some of his music and relisten to some of Nickelback’s, I can hear a similarity in their styles.

So, I turned to Reddit and right there was a post about why Nickelback is a bad band.

“Nickelback is a media corporation’s horrible answer to the aftermath of a discord from a generation who lost their artistic leader in a true art.”

–BodatheDestroyer, Reddit

A business trying to capitalize on something that was popular.

I am starting to see where the hate is coming from though, Nickelback started as a cover band. Their thing was playing other people’s music.

For me, I wouldn’t be mad at Nickelback themselves but rather the label that signed them on and made them play that type of music.

Post COVID Concert Experience

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A couple of weeks ago, I had the privilege of seeing my first-ever concern in person. And yes, I even got myself VIP.

During COVID, a lot of concerts were either cancelled or had their dates postponed up to who knows how many times. So, when I heard that a band I follow called Set It Off was coming to Vancouver, I jumped on those tickets.

The first thing that jumped out to me was not needing to wear a mask. It’s just one of those things I was used to and now not having to seemed wrong. Especially as I was going to be meeting the band face-to-face.

Meeting Set It Off during their Vancouver Concert

After the VIP treatment, I got to see the first opener and it was one that wasn’t advertised. Nonetheless, Victoria Anthony was absolutely amazing that night and also got to live out her dream of playing at the Vogue theatre.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CjejFJJLDmk/

The next thing that was apparent was my ears and voice weren’t gonna be working the next day. Wish I had known that sooner as I had to do an interview the next day.

After the openers, there was a break and in that time, I got to meet a few other fans from the area which I was surprised at how many there were.

Now, I had been told that concerts have a lot of energy at them, but I was not expecting the energy when SIO did come out on stage. I was also surprised at how close everyone got when they came out.

After the show had ended and an encore cheer so loud it almost broke the building, the show was over.

After the experience I had at that concert, I’m looking forward to the number of concerts coming back to Vancouver now that COIVD’s over for the most part.

Alan Walker’s Back in Vancouver

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By now, you’ve probably heard of Alan Walker and some of his music, even if you don’t know the name.

Well, after releasing his own line of NFTs and running an alternate reality game (ARG) he’s taking things to the extremes with his Walkerverse Tour coming to Vancouver on November 25th.

Now if you’ve heard any of his music, you’ve probably listened to his song Faded which became an international hit back in 2015 and put this British-Norwegian artist on the map.

Since the release of that song, he’s continued to release more music including his song Extremes though I hadn’t heard about it till learning of his show in Vancouver.

The last time Walker was in Vancouver was in 2019 with his Aviation Tour. Since then, he’s continued to play shows worldwide, including in China.

Out of all his songs, Faded is the one that I most associate with Walker and was also the first of his that I’ve heard.

Little fun fact about the song, it’s just a condensed version of a song called “Fade” which came out in 2014.

Before being condensed, it was over an hour long!

Part of the reason I like that song is how it resonates with the struggles of mental health which I deal with.

The show is for 19+ only and starts at 10 pm.

If you want to attend the concert, get your tickets fast because before you know it, they’ll have faded out of existence.

Blink-182’s Coming Back to Vancouver

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Blink and you will miss it as Blink-182 is coming back to Vancouver on June 27th as part of their 2023/24 World Tour.

This announcement came out along with one about a new single titled Edging.

Along with the new single, you can expect to hear other new songs off their upcoming album.

Joining them is a band called Turnstile. They’ve been together since 2010 with their highest peaking song “Mystery” hitting #16 on the US Main Rock chart.

With that, Blink’s also performing in Vegas as part of the When We Were Young festival with a bunch of other rock acts like Green Day, Set It Off, Sum 41, The Offspring, and more!

Your guess is as good as mine. Regardless, I’m very proud of and thankful for my time with Blink-182. We shall see…

-Matt Skiba

Until recently, the band had been disbanded for 10 years and in that time, they were still active with one of them marrying into the Kardashian.

Another thing that happened was the departure of Matt Skiba from the band which was confirmed on his Instagram.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CgGR3JPMcFX/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=083d214e-fd81-4d68-bba7-0cbe61adb1c2

In terms of their music, I don’t listen to blink a whole lot as I’m not a heavy listener though I have heard some of their stuff and it’s quite good.

If you are a listener, be sure to get your tickets here soon as they’ll sell out fast.

Blink, and you’ll miss it!

Safe and Sound Music Festival

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The Safe and Sound Music Festival is coming to Burnaby on May 29th and this is an amazing chance to listen to some of Canada’s best music.

The headlining artist for this amazing event is none other than multi-Grammy Award nominee Ty Dolla $ign but he’s not alone.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CcTqWpXPeft/

Also partaking in the event are:

  • CKAY
  • Ayra Starr
  • Rascalz ft. Kardinal Offishal
  • KTOE
  • Ninteyfour
  • Arami the Corrector
  • Teon Gibbs
  • And more!

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cc9F-roPJV5/

There will also be some amazing food vendors there so you can get your festival food fix.

There’s also some leisure games for those times the croud becomes too much.

It all happens at Swan Guard Stadium and you can get your tickets here.

It’s recommended you take ride share, car pool, or take transit. It’s only a nine minute walk from Patterson Station.

There are two gates that will get you into the event and those 19+ will get a special wristband allowing them into the 19+ only areas.

There’s no better thing to go and do right before hitting that Monday grind.

Get out and enjoy the Safe and Sound Music Festival.