Author Archives: Griffin Keyes

The Song (Does Not) Remain The Same!

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For Vancouver singer-songwriter-multi-instrumentalist- Colin Orchyk: the song does not remain the same. Colin takes a fluid approach to songwriting. He tries to take his songs in as many different directions as he can. He will change the lyrics, timing, structure, even the key of a song to do so. He does this in the name of creativity! A song is like a story, change one or two things, and all of a sudden the picture could look very different. Why stop at just one conclusion? One meaning? One purpose? To do so is to limit creativity and after speaking with Colin, that is clearly not an option. As people, we are always changing and going through different phases. As such, as Colin pointed out, it is unrealistic to assume that you will relate to a song the same way all the time. His own songs no less!

Colin began his musical career playing in a band called “Margot” in his hometown of Winnipeg. He moved to Toronto and eventually Vancouver to facilitate the growth of his career.  Today, he writes, produces, engineers, and releases his own music and plays the guitar, keyboards, and bass. In what he calls a “nod to the past”, Collin initially began to release his own music under the pseudonym “Margot’s Notebooks”. He was trying to develop his sound and identify as a musician without having to commit his name should he be unhappy with his work in this feeling-out process. Eventually, he decided to drop the alias and began releasing material under his own name Colin Orchyk. This was Colin deciding to dial in and get really serious about his music without having to hide. Oh.. he does this while studying full-time at UBC. When we first spoke, it was after I heard his single “National Forest” but since then he has released his first EP titled “Drive Down South”. At the heart of Colin’s sound is the atmosphere. He does so through expert handling of synthesizers, pads, and the right amount of special effects to set the backdrop just right. His understanding of space, and how to fill it up, is impressive. However, his more stripped-down efforts such as “Kisses from Kensington” and “Okay I Love You” show that Colin is equally at home with just an acoustic guitar and his message. In my opinion: Colin and his fluid-song writing approach are best defined by his two versions of “Drive Down South”.  Not only are the lyrics slightly different: the first is the 80s like synth pad groove while the second is an acoustic-folky masterpiece. Check him out!

Griffin

 

A Call For Help

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The Canadian Live Music Association is looking for signatures in support of an open letter penned to Dr. Bonnie Henry pleading for the lifting of the “no standing” rule at live music events. The Association says a lack of continuity in the application of COVID-19 restrictions has disproportionately and unfairly impacted other parts of the province while Vancouver and the Lower Mainland have returned to full capacity for live music events. I think you should support them.

The CLMA cites the following as reasons why the no-standing regulation should be removed

  • “mingling and standing” are currently allowed in restaurants
  • fans, while ‘having a seat’ stand, sing and dance during major sporting events or large indoor concerts
  • BC will become the only province in Canada to continue to impose a “no standing” restriction on GA venues
  • no scientific data has definitively indicated that standing intensifies the spread of COVID, and
  • live music venues, proud front runners in adopting vaccine passport systems, require ALL patrons to be fully vaccinated.

I have interviewed a handful of B.C. musicians during the pandemic. I have heard firsthand how difficult the past two years have been for emerging artists. The importance of playing live, in front of people, as a growing musician cannot be overstated. This is where they gain experience that makes them better musicians, performers, and people. This is experience can’t be replicated in a studio or casual jam session. Playing live teaches a band improvisation, timing, communication (with each other and the audience), and grows their confidence which subsequently “tightens” them up.
The skills they learn playing live make them better in the studio as well. This is especially true when they utilize a performance to experiment with ideas. Led Zeppelin, The Grateful Dead, and The Allman brothers are great examples of this. They would adapt their songs on the fly and improvise according to how they and the audience felt that night. Some of Led Zeppelins biggest hits were the product of live improvisation.

It is bad enough, that artists in the lower mainland have been robbed of almost two years of live performances. However, venues are now at full capacity and live music is making a comeback. Unfortunately, as it stands, the same opportunity is not being afforded to small, up-and-coming acts in much of the rest of the province, including the interior. COVID-19 restrictions have hit the Interior especially harder than the lower mainland. Discouraging travel and in so doing robbing them of the seasonal tourism that is a big part of their economy. Of course, case counts were much higher in the Okanagan than in the rest of the province in the summer, but much of that responsibility rests with tourists from the rest of the Province disobeying travel orders, having their fun, then leaving these communities to deal with the outbreaks that they cause. The provincial government has been tentative in granting the region the same freedoms as the rest of the province; especially after the outbreak following the Denim in Diamond Festival. However, does it make sense to allow large venues in Vancouver to operate at full capacity while the smaller venues of the Okanagan, which are used to cultivate and showcase local talent, are still forced to keep to 50% capacity while forcing audiences to remain in their seats? Especially when venues are every bit as diligent about checking vaccination status and enforcing masks. The truth is that live events (bars, nightclubs, concert halls) were the first to go following COVID mandates, and while the light is at the end of the tunnel in the lower Mainland, small venues in the rest of the province are well behind because of a government that is sending conflicting messages. This ignores the importance of small venues to local commerce and disrespects the musicians that rely on them.

 

 

Tayos: The Rock Music We Need

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A few weeks ago, right on my home page, Spotify notified me about a new song titled “Shadow Man”. It was good, very good actually. I expect no less from the Chilliwack rock band, “Tayos.”. By Tayos standards, Shadow Man is relatively straight forward, but  it does the same thing that left me awestruck to begin with: their ability to compose songs that draw on diverse influences, and the way they display their technical capacity without overindulging.

Shadow Man” had me thinking of Alice in Chains in the mid-90’s. Lead singer Connor James’ gravelly voice is paired with the same warm, heavy-Strat sound that makes AIC albums like “Jar of Flies” stand out. However, when I heard the song for the second time,

the opening chords reminded me of Stone Temple Pilots. The opening chords all of a sudden take me back to Collective Soul, and wait a minute.. is that Layne Staley or Scott Weiland?

 

 

They deliver a fluid style of rock that has the power to bridge the gap with audiences that wouldn’t ordinarily appreciate the genre. To Tayos, there is more room for innovation in rock music than most think. It doesn’t have to be rehashing the basic chords, pentatonic scales, and structures that defined the genre in days of old.Lead singer and rhythm guitarist Conor James, Bassist Raphael Medina, Drummer Mykal Storey, and lead guitarist Bryce Richardson, have found their sound. A style-bending, innovative, rock act that can challenge the perceptions many have of the genre and stand out in a landscape that is dominated by pop music. I had the chance to interview Conor and Mykal and they speak like veterans; not a young band that has been sidelined by COVID-19 restrictions for nearly two years! The technical ability of the band (especially the lead guitar work of Bryce Richardson), is only matched by their discipline to use it in the name of a good song. They refuse to define themselves musically because in their eyes that could hamper the free-flowing creativity that produces their best work. They have their influences.. and no surprise they all came from VERY different musical backgrounds, styles, and interests. Bringing this together creates an album like “Flintlocks and Feathers”: so diverse that it’s hard to believe you are listening to the same band at times. Compare the bluesy-folk-like foot-stomper that is “Last Thursday” to jangly indie stylings on “Vacation Song” and you will see what I mean

With the Vancouver live- music scene beginning to recover, look for Tayos to stand out as the creative juggernaut of hard-rock act that the genre so desperately needs.

Griffin Keyes

 

A Step In The Right Musical Direction

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The City of Victoria has introduced a “Music Strategy” that aims to support local acts and cultivate the local music-scene. The goal is to turn Victoria into a world-class musical destination.

The “Music Strategy” is guided by 5 missions

  1. Remove regulatory barriers and create music friendly policies.
  2. Preserve existing spaces and encourage the development of new spaces.
  3. Build local capacity for artists to develop their music careers.
  4. Grow audiences and expand access to music in all its forms.
  5. Seek partnerships and collaborations to explore new innovative music platforms and experiences.

Victoria, British Columbia, waterfront at night

To achieve these goals, a number of different measures will be required, including: creating more mid-sized venues, expanding public transportation hours to promote travel to and from events, and creating a prominent musical hub in the city. The hub will feature live venues, rehearsal space, recording studios, and spaces where musicians can connect with photographers, graphic designers, and others who can help them create promotional material.

This plan was developed with the help of SOUND DIPLOMACY, a company that analyses local music scenes and then recommends ways to better them. In the case of Victoria, the company found a lack of late night dining options, ride-share options, and mid-sized venues to be problematic.

I have interviewed a handful of B.C. musicians over the last year and it has opened to my eyes to how directionless, confusing, and plain difficult of an industry it is. Throw in a pandemic, that halts live-events for almost two years, and an already tough industry is now a lot harder. The impact of COVID-19 on tourism, hospitality, and small business is very apparent. However, few realize how devastating it has been for musicians, especially the young and burgeoning. The stories I have heard are similar. A band or musician is finding their footing; a few recordings and some local appearances already under their belt. Then the pandemic happens: robbing them of live performances and making collaboration more difficult, especially in the early stages of the lockdown. Despite the challenge, most of them stayed creative and kept on writing songs. Others focused on effect use of social-media to keep on growing their fanbase and name recognition. Travis James, a singer and songwriter from Vancouver, found success in his hometown by singing to people on Vancouver beaches and posting it to Tik-Tok. I first came across his music by seeing one of these videos and landed myself an interview in the process. The creatives will be creative…

However, there is no substitute for playing live. It allows a musician to develop their communication, improvisation, timing, and confidence; skills that make them better in the studio as well. Regardless of any success they found online or otherwise: every musician I spoke with stressed the importance of performing-live and how they longed for the opportunity to return.

It is important to realize that being a musician does not end with playing your instruments well and writing good songs. Increasingly musicians have to act as their own manager: booking venues, utilizing social-media effectively, asking stations to feature their work, and generally taking the initiative to create opportunities and seize ones that present themselves.

The creation of a ‘symposium’ –  a place where musicians can work together in professional development and the other side of being a musician – is something that the ‘music strategy’ committee head Kathryn Calder would like to see.

“Professional development, knowledge about entrepreneurship, all these things that go into being a professional musician or being in the industry. It’s going to be great to partner up and really bring some of those things together in a cohesive way.”

 

In my opinion, this initiative has enormous potential for encouraging and impacting young musicians. They have a lot to share with us and by helping them, we are investing in our own culture, communities, and economies.

Griffin Keyes

Making Contact: Travis James

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If your from Vancouver and spend any amount of time on Tik Tok, there is a good chance you have come across Travis at some point. He is a seriously talented musician with a style that I would describe as halfway between John Mayer and Mac Demarco. I sat down with Travis and we talked about his influences, songwriting process, style, and how he has utilized social media to keep growing while concerts aren’t an option. You can find him on Spotify, streaming an acoustic set from his rooftop through Tik Tok, or, if you’re lucky, singing to you on a Vancouver Beach.

 

That time the Canucks almost landed Gretzky.

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One of the big what-ifs for Vancouver Canucks fans was when the team nearly landed Wayne Gretzky ahead of the 1988-89 season. The Edmonton Oilers won the Stanley Cup the year before., Gretzky’s fourth with the team. Wayne was coming off another season of posting video-game numbers: 40 goals, 109 assists for 149 points! There had been rumors for several years that the Oilers were looking to move Gretzky, allegedly due to the financial issues facing Oilers owner Peter Pocklington. However, in the summer before the 1988-89 season, a Gretzky trade was in the cards, and the two teams poised to land him were the Canucks and the Los Angeles Kings.

Wayne Gretzky was coming off a 149 point season in the summer of 1988.

However, the asking price was astronomical. The Oilers asked for $25 million in cash, three first-round picks, franchise goaltender Kirk McLean and Greg Adams, who was coming of a 36 goal 76 point effort the season before. As much as Brian Burke wanted to land the Great One, the numbers just weren’t there. Even if the team opted to sell their future for Gretzky, who was already 28, in a comparatively smaller market like Vancouver, recovering 25 million dollars is nearly impossible. Burke explored every possible option to swing the deal. Still, ultimately, he and then-GM Pat Quinn decided it was in the team’s best interest to pass.

We all know what happened next; in a move that rattled the hockey world, Gretzky was traded to the Los Angeles Kings on August 9, 1988. What stings for Canucks fans is that Los Angeles landed him for less than what the Oilers asked of Vancouver. Only $15 million in cash, Martin Gelinas, Jimmy Carson, and King’s first-round picks in the 89 draft.

In hindsight, though the move may have been a difficult pill for Canucks fans and all Canadians to swallow, Gretzky going to Los Angeles was ultimately a good thing for the NHL. Along with Mike Modano, by playing in an unlikely hockey market, Gretzky was instrumental in growing the game’s popularity in the United States. The NHL made more fans and created more teams.

During his first tenure with the team, Brian Burke brought the pieces together that made the 1994 Stanley Cup run possible.

Despite not being able to land the “Great One,” Brian Burke would do great things for the Canucks. He would draft Trevor Linden in the upcoming draft and go through a logistical nightmare to get Pavel Bure to play in Vancouver. Along with Kirk McLean, these two would be key figures in the team’s 1994 run to the Stanley Cup final. So no, we didn’t get Gretzky, but everything worked out alright. Don’t forget, the Great One would never win the cup again after leaving Edmonton!

Frank Shorter: The man who invented running

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After a year’s delay, the 2021 summer Olympics begin in Tokyo in July. As such, I decided to share a bit about my favorite athlete: Frank Shorter. People don’t talk about Frank as much these days, and I think that has much to do with his

The 1972 Olympic Stadium in Munich, German. Where Frank won his gold medal in the 1972 Olympic marathon

nature: humble, low-key, and intensely focused on his sport. His victory in the 1972 Olympic marathon was the first gold medal in the event from an American since 1908. It remains the last. His success in Munich was more than an individual triumph; it was the beginning of the “running boom” of the 1970s. It is for good reason that Frank is known as “The man who invented running”.

Before the 1970s, running was not an activity that millions of ordinary people do casually as a part of their fitness routine. Professional runners ran, of course, and other athletes ran to supplement their training, but that was about it. At that time, the marathon was in its infancy stages, a mysterious event and largely unexplored frontier in the sport. Today, hundreds of marathons occur each year; anyone of varying ability, physique, and background can participate.. These events received little press or commercial success.

Frank was unique in that he had the speed of a middle-distance runner (the 5000 and 10,000 meters) but the endurance of a long-distance runner. Standing at 5’11, 135lbs, and sporting a hippie mustache, he was quite the spectacle. Frank ran track for Yale and achieved his first breakthrough by winning the 6 -mile in his senior year at the 1969 NCAA meet. After graduating, he briefly attended medical school at the University of New Mexico. However, he dropped out once it began to interfere with his training. A move to Gainesville, where he would study law at the University of Florida, was the change that elevated him from a great-runner to indisputably the best runner of the first half of the 70s. He won four-straight Fukuoka marathons (from 1971-1974), two gold medals at the Pan-American games in 1971 (in the marathon and 10,000 meters respectively), a gold medal in the Olympic marathon in 1972, a silver medal in the Olympic marathon in 1976, and was the U.S. 10,000 meter champion in 71,74,75, and 77. His best time in the marathon was 2:10.30, and his best in the 10,000 was 27:45.91. In his prime, Frank was the undisputed king of the marathon.

Frank’s career-defining moment is his victory in the 1972 Olympic Marathon. When we think of those Olympics, most of us think of Black September and Mark Spitz. However, with his victory, Frank demystified the marathon for us in North America. He made running cool. In the years following his success, the numbers of casual runners grew exponentially, with hundreds of new street races introduced each year. The number of marathons began to grow, first to include New York and Chicago, but soon all across the country and beyond. No longer was this an event reserved for elite athletes; it was an approachable challenge open to anyone. We owe that to Frank, though many of us don’t realize it. Without Frank, there would be no Sun Run or BMO marathon here in Vancouver. After injuries caught up with him, he worked as a lawyer and running coach. He served as the United States Anti-Doping Agency head from 2000-2003.

Now, as for why Frank is my favorite athlete. I have great endurance yet a slight build and little raw athleticism. When I saw an athlete like Frank, who looked like me, I knew I had found a sport that I could succeed in. A guy like me could never amount to much in a sport like football. However, falling in love with the mental and physical challenges of running gave me quiet confidence in my physical abilities. The other reason is that Frank could have cashed in on his newfound fame after the Olympics in 1972, much like Mark Spitz and Caitlyn Jenner. However, he refused. The sport came first, and he didn’t need the attention or fanfare that came with success. That mentality is what it means to be a professional of any kind, not just an athlete.

While he wasn’t the flashiest or loudest, Frank Shorter is in select company. He was a dominant athlete and a pioneer of his sport whose love for what he does exceeds any recognition he would ever get through it. Franks’ legacy is all around us every day, carried on by anyone and everyone who laces up and goes for a run.

 

Pinecone-Burke Provincial Park: A Lesser-Explored Gem

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looking over Dennett lake

I was fortunate growing up to have an athletically inclined and outdoor-enthusiast father; who instilled an appreciation for getting out there and enjoying nature responsibly. Many of my hobbies: skiing, hiking, trail running, and bouldering go back to him. Instead of going to the movies, or playland, my dad was always more inclined to take my brother and me on day-long hikes! I didn’t appreciate it as much then, but one of the best parts about this was that we often hiked in areas that other people didn’t, hidden-gems if you will.

It comes with little surprise that people are now noticing what a fantastic place Pinecone-Burke Provincial park is! For those who don’t know, Pinecone-Burke  is just south of Garibaldi Provincial Park, west of Pitt-lake, and includes Burke mountain to the south. It is a newer park, established in July of 1995. For years, I have enjoyed hiking the Sterling loop, Munro Lake trail, Widgeon Lake trail, and the more challenging Seed Peak. This park has many hikes of varying difficulties, but the problem is how underdeveloped the area is. The majority of the trails are difficult to find, beginning in easy to miss entrances off various forestry roads. They are poorly marked and lack any sophisticated form of signage. Had my dad not helped me early on, including proper use of a compass and topographical map, I wouldn’t be able to enjoy these trails the way that I do. The lack of accessibility, development, and marking keeps the area from being a more popular and inclusive place for people to enjoy the outdoors. In my mind, Pinecone-Burke has the potential to be on par with some of the lower mainland’s better-known parks, such as Golden Ears and Belcarra. Still, it requires a considerable investment to get there. I think everyone, not just those fortunate enough to have hiking-guru fathers, should be able to enjoy what Pinecone-Burke has to offer.

How Little Mountain Sound Captured an Era

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Vancouver’s Little Mountain Studio was where many of the 80s and 90s’ biggest acts wrote and recorded.

The studio opened at its original location on West Seventh Avenue, in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1972 as a partnership between CKNW radio and Griffiths, Gibson Productions. After a slow start, including several ownership changes, the studio began to gain some steam in 1980 under the leadership of the legendary Canadian producer and audio engineer Bob Rock. The studio’s first big-name guest was Local act Loverboy. The band recorded their self-titled debut album, which landed at #13 on the billboard hot 100 with the hits “Turn Me Loose” and “The Kid Is Hot Tonite.” Following a few comparatively quiet years, Little Mountain Studio launched into the stratosphere with the recording of Bon Jovi’s 1986 effort “Slippery When Wet,”: which sold over 20 million copies and is considered one of the greatest debut albums of all time. Bon Jovi was determined to record at the studio after hearing the Loverboy album.

From that point on, Little Mountain Studio would serve as one of the world’s premier recording studios. From 1986-1993, acts such as AC/DC, Aerosmith, Metallica, Bryan Adams, and The Cult would cut their records at Little Mountain. The majority of these albums were engineered and produced by Bob Rock, whose most notable work at Little Mountain includes Metallica’s “The Black Album,” The Cults “Sonic Temple,” and Motley Crue’s “Dr. Feelgood.”  According to Rock, part of what made the studio such a popular place to record had to do with the building itself. Specifically, the ambient sounds achieved by recording the drum parts in the loading bay.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OL_0WoZXF58[/embedyt]

“Its a combination of the building and the people, its all about timing”

Bob Rock

The original studio closed in 1993 and moved to Burnaby, where it would continue to operate for another ten years as an equipment and services company. However, the legendary musicians and the records they recorded will forever be a part of Vancouver’s history

“There’s some sweat from every rock star in the ’80s right here at this spot”.

Mike Reno ( Loverboy Frontman)

Check out a compiled list of all the recordings done at Little Mountain Sound. 

https://www.discogs.com/label/301104-Little-Mountain-Sound-Studios