VanMusic: I’m here with Jimmy Cummins aka. I Braineater, well known musician and artist in Vancouver and Internationally around the world.

Jimmy Cummins: In various circle yes.

VM: So my first question for you is what came first your desire to make music or your need to create art?

JC: I started drawing when I was 3 or 4 years old, so I loved drawing from an early age. It’s been kind of a drive, I think you just get born with it or you don’t. And if you are born with it, the urge is always there. When the punk rock scene came around it was great because it was a time when the idea was, who cares?! Who cares if you don’t know how to do this or that. If you want to do it, then do it! So I was like I want to do it!

Last Thursday (Dec 15th) VanMusic attended 604 Records Christmas Party at the Media Club where Dave Ogilvie’s band Jakalope performed an exhilarating set of synth rock and roll. Jakalope’s includes for the evening was singer/songwriter Chrystal Leigh, Joyce Collingwood bass player Gillian Callander, guitarist Kurt Maas, Nik Pesut on drums and Rachel Ashmore on keyboards. Other acts that played were Fighting For Ithaca, Carly Rae Jepsen, One Bad Son, and AJ Woodworth. Check out these amazing photos of the show taken by CiTR Vampire´s Ball Pyra Draculea.

Joyce Collingwood was formed on April of 2009 in Vancouver, B.C by five girls with the goal of making raw, unpretentious punk. “What kind of music did we want to play together?”, we asked each other. Fast music. Short songs. Punk. Metal. Like the magic of music does, it happened almost instantaneously. The band member’s musical influences range from thrash metal to cumbia. This mix of styles has been an asset when it comes to songwriting and everybody participates in writing and arranging music.

C.R Avery is a man of many musical talents and is one performer that can definitely not be categorized into one musical genre. He is a bold artist with exceptional skills in spoken word, the blues, beat boxing, hip hop and rock n’ roll just to name a few.

“We’ve been on tour for 2 months doing a square of the continent. But favorite shows…NYC and LA are always great, Long Beach especially. Our show in Charlotte, North Carolina was my favorite because we played with a band called Brain F that I really love. Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Oakland, Gainsville, Ann Arbour, Chicago, SF. It all kind of bleeds together now. This was an interesting tour.”

The last time I was in the Tdot (Toronto) I visited the bar/live music venue The Garrison, not only to see my friend’s great new establishment (two big thumbs up Lee!) but to also see the band Proof Of Ghosts perform. I know Stephen Heyerdahl (P.O.G’s singer/songwriter) from back in the day (90’s/Oshawa) so after a few emails things fell into line perfectly and I was able to see Proof Of Ghosts perform and interview them as well.
So check out the interview of Stephen with his bandmate/fiancé Julia in a small washroom stall (that we squeezed 4 people into) at the Garrison.

We sat down with Vancouver singer songwriter Jess Hill at the Prophouse off Commercial Drive to talk about her new CD Orchard and her upcoming tour. So here is her bio and the video. Enjoy! It is an exclusive for all of you fans of the Vancouver independent scene.

Last Gang Records is ecstatic to announce the worldwide release of EUREKA – the third studio album of Canada’s most harmonic pop quintet MOTHER MOTHER on March 15, 2011. EUREKA offers up an evolved Mother Mother, complete with 12 new hook laden pop-meets-rock songs complete with their signature cleverly crafted lyrics and intricate harmonies. The album, produced by MM’s own Ryan Guldemond and mixed by Mike Fraser (AC/DC, Franz Ferdinand, Elvis Costello), was recorded in Vancouver this past year.

Since their 2008 sophomore release, O MY HEART, Mother Mother have been relentlessly touring all over the continent and abroad. They graced the stage with such artists as Weezer, Pearl Jam, Tokyo Police Club, Sam Roberts and Matthew Good and have performed on a diverse array of festival stages including SXSW, CMJ, The Great Escape, Liverpool Sound City, Pop Montreal, Rifflandia Music Festival, both the Vancouver and Montreal International Jazz Festival

Playing the event proved to be an experience like no other as it was an evening filled with art, make-up, costumes…

Sunday’s Best play live and Gillian Callander from Vanmusic.ca talks about women in rock.  You can check out Gillian’s blog here.
Make sure you check out Friday Sunrise live every Friday morning 07:30-09:00 on CiTR 101.9fm with Jason Pawlett and Mark Ferraby with their musical guest of the week.

Gillian from Vanmusic Interviewing Hunter’s Web from The Heard

Hunter’s Web from The Heard – Watch the top videos of the week here

In 1998 my sister Lindsay walked almost 1,400 kilometers
from the Northern East tip of Scotland (John O’Groats) to the south part of England (Land’s End) in 58 days to help raise awareness for Alzheimer disease. Having lived in Scotland for 4 years she saw our Grandfather suffer from the disease. Her goal was to raise money and awareness for a disease that currently has no real known cause or cure. Apparently in Scotland you are not allowed to ask for money so the only indication anyone had as to …