Note: This article is about a gig that is OVER, but there is footage of it online now -- my clip being here!
It's rare that there's a lineup of three bands that I am equally excited to see, but this Saturday at the WISE Hall is one of them. In the name of helping plug the show, I've interacted with all three bands: Cass King and the Cassettes, Stephen Hamm Theremin Man, and Roots Roundup (as well as guest vocalist Mellow Friesen), to fill you in.
Mellow at the Bowie Ball, 2022: Is that Greg Hathaway behind her? By Allan MacInnis
Turns out there's no real need for press -- it's another one of those gigs where advance tickets are sold out online and the few remaining physical tickets are going fast (apparently as of July 3rd there were a few tickets at Red Cat and a few at the WISE Hall Lounge, with unsold tickets to be available at the door on Saturday, but even Roots Roundup were acknowledging on their Facebook page that "it's starting to look kind of slim.") It's still the room to be in on Saturday, if you can find a way: and whatever you do, do not skip the opening acts!
1. Cass King and the Cassettes
Let's start (arbitrarily, because I am not sure who is on first) with Cass King. Have interviewed her here (when her band was called "the Next Right Thing") and here (including a bit about why she changed that band name -- I liked the name "the Next Right Thing" a lot but as soon as she pointed out her reasons, it made perfect sense!). I also shot video of her the first night I saw her, at the first ever Bowie Ball, and caught her at Bowie Ball 2022 (did that really happen? There was a Bowie Ball in 2022? Weren't we all still hiding in isolation?). She did a stunning take on "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide" that year that still stands out as the finest vocal performance I've caught at one of those events. I've also caught Cass a couple of times in-between those gigs, but those she's had a few shows since, I haven't been at them...
We begin our email interview with very casual, obvious questions, and then soon find ourselves in deeper water, after she drops a bomb in the answer to the second question...!
Cass: We have emerged from the COVID wastelands with a couple more members, having added Damion Gray on the keys and Jamie Macdonald on guitar, and we have Gabe Ng sitting in on bass with us too. That's a total of five singers. So we are doing a lot of work on arrangements. I'm happy to say that we are playing mostly originals this time! We have a couple of new tunes to roll out as well.
Some of our originals are "Naked on the Dance Floor," a true story about a debauched Vancouver party in the aughts, and the title of our album; and "Nice Guy," in which an unreliable narrator reflects on his object of affection, in the manner of Joe Jackson’s "Is She Really Going Out With Him." One of the new ones is "Waiting on a Miracle," highly topical to the current electoral situation in the US, a topic which unfortunately seems to be evergreen.
I want to also mention that the heavy lifter songwriter in our band is my partner John Woods. He does 90% the writing, and l contribute to arrangement, percussion, and vocal ideas, and a few lyrics here and there. The few songs I’ve written ("Do I Miss You," "Beautiful Today," "Window Shopping") have all kind of arrived fully formed in a bolt of lightning, which is awesome, but I would say that John is the real craftsperson.
It’s amazing to be able to write with digital software, to be able to lay down a simple bass line, or draw in a piano part; it gets the beginning of an idea across. That said, we really depend on our collaborators like Adrian Buckley on drums and our former bass player Brendan Mooney and our keyboard player Damion Grey and producer Scott Fletcher to bring their humanity and experience and musicality and wit to the songwriting. They contributed so much to what wound up on the album, and what we play today.
So this is our first full set of originals since alla that mess.
Music is joy, and I need it in my life.
Allan: Oh man, sorry to hear about the hearing issues -- how have they affected you as a performer?
Cass: The story about my hearing issues is this: When we came back from lockdown and started to attend shows in loud rooms again, I kept asking John if the band was out of tune. They weren’t.
Then we brought in Jamie Macdonald to the band (Jamie, Adrian and John are all former members of The Orchid Highway, btw). I knew Jamie to be a very strong, very technical singer, and I was having this issue where I would start a song, and then Jamie and John would come in on background vocals, and they sounded ‘out’ to me. But my brain knew that these guys a) weren’t out and b) were in tune with each other. So it must be me.
It was a real head fuck, because I’m largely self taught and one of the traits that made that possible was having a good ear for pitch. Now all of a sudden, that’s gone. It felt very groundless, very much like missing one of my senses. There were no guideposts particularly in a loud room where I couldn’t hear myself well. In those situations, I’d always been able to get by using the ‘feel’ of the vocal, and that wasn’t working.
To be honest, and I know this sounds dramatic, it was humiliating. Then one day I’m at my computer working on some vocal arrangements, and I’ve got a single keyboard note part panned hard to the left. Then I panned it hard to the right. Then I realized that the part sounded flat in one ear, and my jaw hit the floor. So what happens is my brain tries to make sense of the two notes I’m hearing and it resolves into this weird flammy tremolo warble. Thanks, brain!
I had been having a few issues hearing folks, particularly in places where there were multiple voices, or even background noise. So I finally went and had my hearing tested at this amazing organization called Wavefront. It turns out I have a congenital issue with my cochlear nerve that means that I have trouble hearing lower sounds, like low voices. No wonder I’m always turning up the bass! It’s very likely that I’ve had the issue for a while but the lockdown isolation affected my ability to calibrate, if that makes sense.
Wavefront walked me through the process of getting funding to purchase my hearing aids via WorkBC and I’m immensely grateful for that.
So I’ve had them for about seven months and the recovery process has been remarkably fast. I still rely on feedback from my band mates if there’s a section of a song that needs work, and I’m picky about sound check and being able to hear everyone’s vocals on stage. I have to think more about what I’m doing technically. Kind of like how when you’re learning to drive, you have to think about every little thing until it becomes habitual, I had to learn to drive my voice again.
I know it’s funny to tell you all this, considering I’m in the business of promoting what is going to be a killer show, and you’re really not supposed to show how the sausage is made. All I can say is that our last big show was the Bowie Ball and I feel confident, based on the audience response, that the Cassettes are back in business. We can’t wait to play this show with the legendary Roots Round Up, it’s going to be a party for dancing!
Okay, so: we end Cass King interview and return to Allan's writing, here.
True fact: Stephen Hamm actually played bass for Roots Roundup early on, I'm told! I never saw him with them, but have seen him with Slow, first opening for the Cramps back in the 1980s, and have caught him since in half a dozen bands, including Tankhog, the Evaporators, three Slow reunion shows (one Fox two Penthouse), Sunday Morning, and even the Enigmas, maybe in the gig that he mentions below (though I don't remember a motorcycle so possibly I'm thinking of some other show? Danny of the Spores did some Stranglers covers the night I went, but Hamm was on bass, for sure). Against the odds, I have managed to keep my "Canned Hamm virginity" intact, but I greatly enjoyed his debut as Theremin Man, did some press for it, and was at the LanaLou's launch for that album back in 2019, and though I missed the recent launch for his new album to have an important date night with my wife, I grabbed his new album the first time I saw it at Red Cat...
...and was blown away. I had enjoyed his debut, but I guess didn't entirely trust in the project's staying power, didn't take it entirely seriously: Big Hamm in ceremonial garb, guiding mediations and singing songs about UFO cults? Ha, why the heck not. I was amused, but given the various incarnations I have seen him in, I could have seen him re-inventing himself yet again and having a next album that was completely different. Songs for the Future, however -- credited just to Theremin Man -- lands with great conviction, from a kickoff track, "Planet Earth," that locates you, especially when things get going at the one minute mark, squarely in a cloud of dry ice on the Celebrities dance floor circa 1983, wearing pointy-toed Fluevogs and hairspray*, dancing to New Order or Depeche Mode or maybe even Joy Division**. It's a full-on New Wave song that made me do a double-take, an evolution that makes perfect sense and makes me a full-on believer in the ways of Theremin Man, but still came as a surprise. (The previous link is to the video, by Ani Kyd Wolf, which is fun, but I recommend checking the song out without visuals, the first time, if you can. Maybe imagine it's Ian Curtis singing it?).
Hamm doesn't seem to take offense when I comment that I like the second album even more than the first, commenting that "I wanted to just record some of my better songs and not worry to much about shtick on this one (though it is loosely thematic)." He also indulged a few email questions, despite being in Denmark at the time!
Did Judith Beeman take this picture? Clearly I did not. For people who mistake us, HAMM IS THE ONE WITH THE MOUSTACHE. (I have twice been identified in public as Stephen Hamm, maybe by the same person! I am not now, nor have I ever been, Stephen Hamm).
Allan: Why are you in Copenhagen, anyhow?Stephen: I came here to attend a five day theremin meet up called The International Theremin Camp. It was a group effort put together by a bunch of us who have met on Zoom every Sunday since COVID-19 times. There are people in the group from Canada, the U.S., Germany, Denmark, Czech Republic, France, Holland, Norway and the U.K. it was also attended by Lydia Kavina and Thorwald Jergenson who are two of the best theremin players in the world. They were giving workshops and private lessons. We also did our own workshops (Mine was all about touring in a band and as a solo performer) and on Thursday we did a concert of all the different Thereminists attending the camp (which was at Rodovre Music School) and on Friday there was a concert featuring Lydia and Thorwald. We ended the concert with a piece written by composer Kristoffer Rosing Schow who is a theremin player and works at the school. The piece was called "Teenage Dream Part 2" and was performed by piano, guitar, percussion and seventeen theremins!
Stephen: I was asked to write a song about Marfa Lights by a friend of a friend. I looked into it and thought it would be a good basis for a Theremin Man song! The narrative behind the song is driving into the town of Marfa Texas at dusk and hoping to see the fabled Marfa Lights that appear on the horizon. No one can say what they are. Some say they're UFOs, some say mirage, and some say interdimensional entity others just plane old ball lighting. I love stories of apparitions like that, of magical forces. I have no idea if the Marfa lights even exist but I love folkloric mystique to prime the imagination and get me thinking about things that may be out there lurking in the night!
Stephen: Ya I've been covering that song for a long time. There are lots of online services these days that you can pay a nominal fee and get the rights to cover a song.
Allan: Cool, okay. Tell me about the new videos? I believe Ani is directing a few of them; do you have a favourite?
Allan: With the WISE imperiled I wonder if you have any favourite memories or thoughts about that venue?
Stephen: Favourite memory of the WISE is probably the time I played bass for an Enigmas reunion. The show was sold out, we were firing on all cylinders and McKenzie brought a motorbike on stage and no one got killed although a few of us lost some brain cells from the carbon monoxide! I think this Roots Roundup Show at the WISE is going to be really special. They asked me to record the new album last year and we did it over a few months in their rehearsal space. It's the first full length album I've recorded other than my own and I'm really proud of the results. I'm glad it's coming out and I'm honoured to share the stage with a band that I have a long history with going back some 37 years.
Anyhow I hope the WISE is around for the next 37 years as well!
3. Roots Roundup
Roots Roundup full band shot, June 2022, at Rock Against Racism, by Bob Hanham, not to be reused without permission: bandmembers L-to-R: David Hathaway, Greg Hathaway, David "Dymitri" Hanna, Bradford Lambert, Keith Rose, Mark Campbell and Eric Napier.
(Again, so people don't get confused: end Hamm interview, begin in Allan's voice again.)
For me, this blogpiece actually began with a recent Joe Keithley feature I did, after which David Hathaway contacted me by Facebook to note that Roots Roundup had a cover of D.O.A.'s "War in the East" on their upcoming album, Up Rooted, featuring background vocals from Keithley himself (which figures; the album is on Sudden Death records, Joe's label, and note, it is no longer just coming out, but is OUT NOW). You can see Keithley join Roots Roundup onstage for a live performance of the song here. Unlike the original's relationship to the rest of War on 45 -- the only reggae song on a punk rock album -- "War in the East" here is entirely in keeping with its environs, with Up Rooted being 95% reggae, dub, and ska, with a smidgen of (reggae-inflected) funk thrown in for "Screamin'," which is one of the three songs you can preview on Roots Roundup's website (also including the D.O.A. cover).
Dymitri and Mark, by Bob Hanham, also from Rock Against Racism, also not to be reused without permission
There is another cover on the album, as well, of the Sarcastic Mannequins' "4 Arabs in a Red Fury." The original song title, says drummer/ video artist Bradford Lambert -- whom I'm assuming brought the song to the band, since David Hathaway pointed me at him for an answer -- "was just a funny title, a play on The Red Fury. Imagine four Arabs driving around in a red Dodge Fury. Sarcastic Mannequins made fun of everything, nothing more than that." All the same, David chimes in, "we felt the original title was not a great idea, hahahah!" ...and so the band retitled it "The Red Fury" for the purposes of the album.
Of course, Mr. Lambert and Mr. Napier are also with Tony Bardach's band (stay tuned for news of a very limited vinyl release of Tony's album) and were the non-Ford members of the Ford Pier Vengeance Trio. David Hathaway indulged me in a few quick questions via Facebook: thanks, man!
Allan: So do Roots Roundup do a lot of classic reggae covers amidst the originals? I don't know your go-tos.
David: They tend to vary in our sets, but I know we are doing "Bad Card" by Bob Marley tomorrow and PROBABLY "Book of Rules" by the Heptones. Greg and I have covered MANY reggae songs over the years in various bands!David: Greg and I have worked with Mellow a lot in the various Bowie Balls, she's a treat to work with! And a long time friend and fan of the band.
David: No, we tend to do out of town shows, like on the Gulf Islands, but this is our first show in Vancouver since Rock against Racism. Should be a roaring show! We love that venue given our East Van roots, and nothing beats a sold-out show of dancing humans.
Allan: Indeed! I think since COVID people are more generally appreciative of joyful, positive and playful music. Like you say, everybody's looking for relief...!
David: The funny thing with "Relief" was it was written in the early 90s and never really used, but we brought it back to life because we felt the message was bang on for the times.
David: I ADORE the video! Brad filmed it in the DTES and out in Surrey and yes, all that graffiti likely still exists.
Thanks to Cass, Stephen, Greg and David, Bradford, Mellow, Ani, and anyone else who answered my questions. Note that I would normally post a link at the end of an article like this so you could buy tickets, but it's too damn late! Probably the Red Cat ones are sold out by now, too. You might have luck at the WISE Hall Lounge or at the door, but I would get there very early (or plan better next time). More on Roots Roundup here, however.
Tip to console yourself if you can't get in: Gadfly has an album release show at the FOX! About as different as you can get, but that's where I'd be if I weren't going to be at the WISE. Gadfly interview here!
*No, I never have owned pointy boots or worn hairspray.
**Never danced to New Order, Depeche Mode, or Joy Division, either.
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