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Everybody Dance Now 7
With students returning to McMaster University in September and
Supercrawl upon us, McMaster University radio station 93.3 CFMU FM is offering a special disc and two nights of music to celebrate Hamilton music from their perspective.
“To be totally honest, it was more than self-serving,” explains James Tenant, Program Director for 93.3 CFMU on the development of a compilation CD to spotlight local musicians dubbed Everybody Dance Now. “Gunner [Jamie Smith, radio host], Sandeep [Bhandari, CFMU Administrative Director] and I have always wanted to put out a compilation like that. It seemed like a good idea and not too many people were doing it at the time. We also had the resources to send it to other campus stations and spread the gospel of Hamilton a little further beyond its own borders.”
Now with the seventh edition, Everybody Dance Now gives you a chance to take home songs from Monstertruck, Motem, Cowlick and 17 more local artists of note. Hamiltonians can take pride in their neighbours but Tennant and company get the disc to radio stations to help keep them abreast of Hamilton’s current musical situation.
“Last year, the disc cracked the top 10 or Earshot, which is kind of a nice thing to have happen,” notes Tennant on the radio reporting section of Exclaim Magazine that tabulates airplay on campus stations across Canada. Radio stations and the industry then do take note, but word is people don’t listen to CDs much anymore.
“At last year’s Supercrawl we had CDs to give away and download cards and on a three to one basis, people wanted to take the CD. So that’s kind of cool and I guess people do still listen to CDs,” notes Tennant. “We’re doing a single disc this year and had to be a lot pickier this year so it was definitely first come, first serve basis. There are a lot of bigger artists that didn’t have anything new so they might be missing but there are a lot of newer artists as well. Overall, it’s a great listen.”
“We want to celebrate Hamilton music on a whole with these shows,” adds Tennant on the local showcase happening in tandem with Supercrawl celebrations this weekend. “With Supercrawl people are always just dropping in throughout the evening to check out a particular band or just to grab a beer so the shows do well and it fills up pretty fast. Come out and enjoy Supercrawl and make sure to come by This Ain’t Hollywood and say ‘Hi’, pick up a CD and check out some great local
music.”
CFMU’s Everybody Dance Now 7 celebrations happen at This Ain’t Hollywood this Friday September 14 with SG Sinnicks, the Rest, Rackula, Canadian Winter, Cessna and Sarah Beatty and on Saturday September 15 with Lee Reed, BA Johnson, Toledo, the Dirty Nil and special guests. Click on cfmu.mcmaster.ca
Roots 2Leaf Urban Arts Fundraiser
Samantha Sivasubramaniam has developed a name for herself as Our Sis Sam, the woman behind organizing a successful monthly hip hop showcase at the Casbah dubbed Steel Gold. Born in New Zealand, the world traveler set up shop in Hamilton recently and has been helping spotlight hip hop from around the country but this weekend sets her promotional sights a little higher with a two day mini hip hop festival happening in tandem with Supercrawl to raise some money to help youth at risk.
“I do event planning and marketing for a new restaurant on King William called It’s A Food Thing, I also do the Steel Gold monthly series and I started the Roots 2Leaf Project, a free youth mentorship program that empowers the youth via the elements of hip hop,” offers Sivasubramaniam. “This event is coordinated by myself and Roots 2Leaf
Project co-director Adam Trapp and ties all of these projects together.
“We needed some fundraising initiatives to run the Roots 2Leaf Project, at the McNab terminal community centre now called Engine,” adds Sivasubramaniam. “We want to provide youth with the knowledge and skills to respect themselves creatively in a positive manner rather than to take to negative things like crime and drugs but we needed to fundraise and what began as a one night event is now two nights.
With a wide array of established and up and coming musicians, Sivasubramaniam has set up a couple dozen performances, graffiti artists and youth performers to be part of the Supercrawl Stage at the Tivoli Theatre Friday night from 630pm to 10:30pm and at Club Absinthe Saturday from 3pm to 9pm. With her relatively short time as a Hamiltonian, Sivasubramaniam has been able to connect with a wealth of players in the arts, business and altruistic worlds and this weekend she hopes to increase those connections by involving you.
“Everybody involved in the Roots 2Leaf project grew up in hip hop,” says Sivasubramaniam. “Every single artist and company has donated their time and efforts because everybody believes in what we’re doing. People have experienced what this kind of youth project can accomplish in this community and clearly, there’s a high level of need for this kind of service.
“Anybody with children that are interested in hip hop should come,” adds Sivasubramaniam on who should attend this hip hop showcase. “We will have food being sold by Its A Food Thing and lots of hip hop CDs available for sale and we will have lots of giveaways from our sponsors. We’re interested in approaching new sponsors and also
artists who want to donate their time and get involved. We hope tons of music fans come out and see what kind of talent our local hip hop community has. If you’re a fan, please come out but if this resonates with you at all, we hope you get involved with us.”
The Roots 2Leaf Urban Arts Fundraiser happens Friday September 14 with Crayzdom, Slur, Lady ASG, the Phorce, Every Day People, Detoxx, Indi Fienz and more during Supercrawl and on Saturday Sept 15 with Lee Reed, Nilla, Hachey the Mouthpeace, SUPA83, Citizen Kane and more at Club Absinthe. Find Roots 2Leaf on facebook.com for more details.
The Third Annual Fix Our World Festival
Linda Lannigan founded the charitable organization Fix Our World back in 2006 to try and help do what the name of the organization clearly states. This weekend, she revives the two-day Fix Our World festival with a more clearly defined vision.
“I was doing an international aids candlelit memorial in 2007 and I realized people don’t flock to aids events and I wanted to make sure people get educated on the issues that we face in our own backyard, recalls Lannigan on the beginning of the FOW festival. “I thought if we bring it all together peace, poverty, environment, global health, we can educate people, give them tools and let them learn how they can be part of the solution and a festival could bring everyone together.
“But in 2010 I was in a car accident and it really did a big number on me,” she adds on the details regarding last year’s cancellation of the festival. “This year we are back but through that two year timeframe, I’ve met a variety of energy healers that have helped me tremendously so that’s why healing is a big element of this year’s event. This year we have an energy healing fair and people can experience all of these different modalities first hand.”
Raising money for the Kiwanis Boys and Girls Club, Empowerment Squared and other Fix Our World charities, Lannigan brings her own perspective to bettering the world around us. Bringing together a wealth of different people and musicians, Lannigan hopes to attract more people to the more novel McQueston Park on Hamilton Mountain and offer locals something different to call their own.
“We still have a focus on the environment – bring your own dishes and we’ll wash them for you,” laughs Lannigan. “We have a lot of fantastic local talent as we do every year that I’m really proud to have be a part of this festival. It’s for all ages, there are workshops and all day yoga - there are tools that you can walk away with. We even have a beer garden this year, which is kind of different. We even have the Supercrawl people with a booth to educate some of the mountain folk about what’s going on downtown with their festival.
“It takes a lot of efforts from a lot of people for all of the projects that we come up with,” adds Lannigan. “I see a big future in this park and there aren’t a lot of things for people to do like this on the mountain – there are lots to see and do and especially with the local musicians – everyone who comes out will have a great time and they might even learn something.”
The third annual Fix Our World Festival happens this Saturday September 15 and Sunday September 16 from Noon to 10pm at TB McQueston Park (1199 Upper Wentworth Street) with Brian Melo, Melissa Bel, Jamila B, Weekend Riot Club, John Bauld, David Hickey, Dan Medakovic,
Motion Grove, Dawn Before Descent, Kojo Dampety, Back Beat Nation and more. Click on fixourworld.ning.com. V
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