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There be music off the port bow!

We interview Brett
Wildeman about the
Mainland Ho! tour

By Angela Espinoza, Arts Editor

ext Monday, March 11, the

Mainland Ho! tour will be
docking in New Westminster
for an afternoon of music and
fun. The tour is a team up of
BC musicians, West My Friend
and Brett Wildeman, who have
stops across the province from
March 9 to 13. In preparation for
the tour, Wildeman contacted
The Other Press and was kind
enough to give a one-on-one
before the New West show at
Renaissance Books (on Sixth
Street).

“I’ve been playing music
for a long time... ] played ina
Celtic youth group called the
Coast Ring Settlers growing
up, and that introduced me to
the whole group dynamic of
music,” said Wildeman. “Then
I put my guitar down for about
four years when I was attending
UVIC.” Despite Wildeman’s
shift towards focusing on his
studies, he would eventually
realize his true calling was
music. “For about a decade, I’ve
been writing songs; I had all
these lyrics but no melodies to
accompany them. That's kind of
why I got back into it, and that
led me to singing.”

Last March, Wildeman
released his first EP via
Bandcamp, called Portraits. The
EP has a total of five songs on it,
all made with the help of friends
and fellow musicians. Wildeman
also revealed that later this year,
he will be releasing his first full-
length album.

“Tn December, I recorded
an album I’m going to release
in August called Mother Earth.

I wrote half that album while I
was on a bike trip... last spring,
and then I wrote the other half
while living on the Sunshine
Coast.

“It’s going to be a nine
song disc, and was recorded...
with a friend, James Law—he
engineered and played on
Portraits. A lot of the same
crew on Portraits worked on
Mother Earth, and we did it in
four days at Straight Sound
Studio, which is a beautiful little
studio in Roberts Creek. All the
songs are written about either
family, which is the “mother”
aspect of the title, or the planet
and different environmental
aspects, which is the “earth”
part. It’s a lot more melodic than
Portraits. Mother Earth's a very
diverse sounding album too.
There are blues elements, some
reggae elements... but I would
definitely say the foundation of
itis a roots/ folk sound.”

When it came time to talk
about the Mainland Ho! tour,
Wildeman was very adamant
in stating much of the tour
planning came from West My

Friend’s side of things.

“I've met Jeff [Poynter,
accordion and vocals for West
My Friend] a couple times over
the years—[we] both went to
the same university—through
the music community.... One of
his band members is a teacher
and had a week off from school,
and I was able to take some time
off work at the same time...
so we went for it. Jeff is also
the mastermind behind the
Mainland Ho! title.”

As things were wrapping
up between Wildeman and I, he
decided to go into more detail
about the upcoming concert:
“The New West show is going
to be the most intimate of all the
shows,” said Wildeman. “Jeff
[Poynter] contacted Renaissance
Books, and they’ve been having
open mics there on a regular
basis, but this is the first music
show they've ever had... so
we're really excited about it.

It’s going to be really stripped;
there’s no sound system. It’s just
going to be an acoustic show.
[Renaissance Books] is a really
interesting venue, since it’s a
bookstore and café.

“TYou] can expect some
heartfelt singing, and I’ve got
a couple sing-a-long songs I’ve
been working on. It’s exciting
to play smaller venues like
that because... it’s a really nice
intimate setting where you can
really connect with the people
there.”

 

Gh

Brett Wildeman, Portraits

Photo courtesy by www.mynameisbrettwildeman.bandcamp.com

REM: Really Entertaining Movies/Music

Great movies and albums
I cant stay awake for

By Elliot Chan, Staff Writer

Gi films and albums aren't
always the ones that keep
us on the edge of our seats or
send us dancing until the sun
comes up. Some fantastic works
of art have a drowsing effect;
they challenge the senses and
cause the brain to concentrate
extra hard on picking up the
subtleties. These exhausting
marathon films and albums are
not meant for large groups of
friends, nor are they the type

of entertainment for a casual
night in. They are a commitment

8

you make, and patience,
perseverance, and maybe a cup
of coffee will help you reach the
credit without snoozing.
Apocalypse Now (1979):
Touted as one of the greatest
war movies ever, the 153-minute
running time felt like an endless
anticipation for a battle scene
that never comes. The film
opens with those famous lyrics
from The Doors, “This is the
end...” Ironic. I have never
watched it in one conscious
sitting. During multiple
screenings I recall Martin
Sheen’s character Benjamin
Willard getting on the boat and
riding down the river, then fade
to black and suddenly there is
Dennis Hopper and an ox is
getting sliced in half. I always
wake up for Marlon Brando’s
“The horror... the horror!”

and then doze back to an
uncomfortable sleep and waking
up to the smell of napalm in the
morning.

Bon Iver (Bon Iver) (2011):
If you have along study session
or a workout and would like
the accompaniment of music,
avoid this album. Like a sunny
day at the beach, Bon Iver has
the ability to suck energy from
mortal men. How can anyone
be productive with his soothing
ambient vocals? If you want to
enjoy this album in its entirety,
cancel all your plans. But trust
me, it will be worth it.

jy n° 2 Gj) (2009): Based
from Sweden, the members
of jj have transformed R&B
and hip-hop classics by such
names as Akon, Lil Wayne, and
Kanye West into soft-melodic
tunes. Incorporating their

own lyrical twist and adding a
psychedelic aspect to familiar
beats, jj has joined a large group
of independent musicians in a
subgenre called dream pop. Jj’s
n° 2isa terrific album for an
afternoon on the porch with a
friendly companion and a cup
of Earl Grey, but what the artists
recommend is another element
they suggest right on the album
cover (Spoilers: it’s weed).

Lord of the Rings - The Two
Towers (2002): I sometimes do
nerdy things, but Iam not the
most persistent nerd, proven
by my many failed attempts at
watching the Lord of the Rings
trilogy in a marathon. I can
watch the first one, Fellowship
of the Ring (2001), with little or
no problems. Frodo takes the
ring, Gandalf falls in Moria,
and Boromir dies—bing, bang,

boom. But the second one is
an absolute struggle, and it

is because of the scenes with
the Ents (talking trees). While
Merry and Pippin were trying
to convince the passive tree race
to join in the battle for Middle
Earth, the dreadfully slow
dialogue had already defeated
me. Maybe one day I'll watch
The Hobbit and The Lord of the
Rings together... then again,
maybe I'll sleep on it.