OVER THE EDGE NEWSPAPER. OCTOBER 27 , 2006 ARTS 21 mee Gah Damned-Well Kn ‘ABand You Should ow The cover from Ox’s latest release; 2005’s American Lo Fi TYLER CLARKE PRODUCTION COORDINATOR If you haven't heard of the band Ox yet, youre part-of a growing minority. For those of you who dont already know, they are country-rock band, originating in BC, where founder Mark Browning, also the lead singer/guitar player, began tooling around with an early incarnation of Ox, who would later include an ex- tended family of 10 musicians. Ox débuted their fist album in 2005, with Dust Bowl Revival, sounding rem- iniscent of, Neil Young's earlier solo al- bums. Highlights of Dust Bowl Revival include the Neil Young-esque “Stolen Car,’ and the rockier song“She Shot Me Down.’ The album, with both it’s medi- ocre lows, and exceptional highs, had varying critical attention, overall rela- tively positive for a band’s debut album. - American Lo Fi, Ox's second album debuted in 2006, with Prince George as the opening show of the tour support- ing the album. American Lo Fi shows a more mature band than Dust Bowl Re- vival did, with an overall stronger album. A possible explanation for this solidar- ity is that “the main difference between American Lo Fi and Dust Bowl Revival is that the new one is much. ~ more of a live band effort,’ says Brown- ing. Browning had also planned the album to be a double, as a result of the abun- dance of songs recorded, but ultimately decided on a single album. This could * farther explain the solidarity, as only the best is presented here on American Lo Fi. The only filler-sounding song comes about on track 10, with “Martas Song,’ which more or less sounds like a couple ‘of people screwing around in a recording studio. Although it has some redeeming qualities, it goes against the grain of the rest of the album. American Lo Fi includes an amazing, subtle, and increasingly rocking rendi- tion of Cheap Trick’s hit song “Surren- _ der” It sounds original, and could have easily been their own song, had ‘they changed the lyrics. On Saturday, October 7th, Ox played the first show of their tour in support of American Lo Fi, in Prince George. This time around Mark Browning was joind by Ryan Bishops from Ontario, Shawn Dicey from Calgary, and Max Myth from Vancouver. It made geograph- ical sense for the band to join in Prince George, midway between Vancouver and Calgary. Another reason for the Prince George debut was the band’s affection for Prince George, namely its great fan base. “I’m not sure you can print this, but a PG highlight for us was getting to ‘sign’ a couple of girls on the street after a show! Not telling you where we signed but... Actually, they wanted to sign us too! which of course, we obliged,” says Browning, The show itself was impressive. In the mix of mainly originals, Ox played a slowed-down version of Neil Young's “Words, unfortunately not available on either of their two albums. Showcasing both their slower and more rocking songs, Ox impressed the audience, who has already been familiar- ized with the band, with CFUR playing them quite often for the past while, even gaining the top place in CFUR%s top 30. The audience seemed thoroughly im- pressed, cheering loudly when Brown- ing announced they would do a couple more songs. Common response. throughout the latter half of the show was drunken dan- cing in front, and even a little bit on, the stage, bumping into Browning's mike, which was taken in good humour, de- spite its hindrance upon him, Everyone was having fun, and thoroughly enjoying the music. It was rather impressive, and professionally done. Hopefully Ox returns to Prince George, so that those of you who previ- ously did not know about them can ap- preciate their amazing live show, which Browning describes as “spontaneous when we're at our best... very atmios- pheric- stoner surf with a spank once in awhile” For more information on Ox, visit their label's website at http://www.wee- werk.com/ox.html. A video of them playing REO Speedwagon's “Take:it on the Run’ is also on youtube.com. TABATHA LUNDHOLM ARTS EDITOR In a meeting earlier this week, I sat down with the Ghostchant folks and we spoke about music in Prince George, yand foreign hot sauce. Ghostchant is made up of four members: Matt Roach, Amy Haste, Tyler Haiste, and Mike Rockstar. Established in April 2006, they set out to promote all local music in Prince George and the surrounding area. Even working with people in Japan and the US, Ghostchant prefer to be DIY. T: What wouldbeyourbusiness motto? -Matt: Do It Yourself. A lot of people do shows, or at least used to do shows that really sucked because they didn’t put anything into it. They didn't actually advertise and that's where were big into this. In your face advertising. Wherever you go you'll see a Ghostchant poster. It’s how we want this to be. We wanted to do it because nobody else was doing it right anymore. And now everybody's doing it right again. And that's cool. Amy: it kind of kick-started the scene again. Matt: I wouldn't say that we're the rea- son it happened...If you actually pro- mote your show a lot of kids will come because music is really the“in” thing now. For me, I really like to do shows because it's not about what you look like, and it’s not about who you hang out with and what you do. It’s about the music. That's Standing Room Only at TABATHA LUNDHOLM ARTS EDITOR This past Thursday, October 19% was filled with a night of singing, friends, and excellent music. On stage with a new name, the Arbitrarys took the Kiz- met by storm. Opening the show with a mix of some powerful originals and cov- ers to get the crowd warmed up, there was standing room only. Leaving the stage to Jamie Bell, he then took a comfortable place with his guitar in front of the mic. Bell played some amazing covers, with such a great rendition of Bright Eyes’ “Landlocked . Blues” that I was, in fact, completely taken aback. I have to admit, I adore Ghostchant Promotions Tabatha Lundholm chats with the members of Ghostchant productions. what it’s always been for me. I feel that Mike really shares that vision with me. Mike: I don't really have anything to add to that one. That was good. T: So would you say that your goal within Ghostchant is the music, and not the money? Matt: (chuckles) There is no money. This is just to help people. There's a lot of bands that are out there that are huge assholes, and they're total jerks to us. ‘That's why I want to help people out, be- cause there are alot of nice people. Some people just needa hand to get up and get out there. If you want a good Canadian music scene you've got to share contacts. ‘There's not so much a vision for the company as there is... Amy: A goal to help. Everyone should join hands and hug. Matt: A need to help. T: Are your views global or local? Matt: Global for ‘sure. I- mean, if I can extend this as far as...to anywhere. If I could start booking in the states I would, and overseas I would. I'm just so in love with music. T: How do you go about booking in other places? Mike: Well, we have our favorites list. We have a top two that we always want to get, and then end up going down the list. We usually get our second favorite down the list. Matt: In other places that Prince George, I've booked bands across ‘Can- ada, and that stems from the network most, if not all local musicians, and the shows that they put on, but this Kizmet night was so fantastic, and I eagerly en- courage and anticipate another of the same soon. As I am always a great fan of new tal- ent, I was supremely pleased to see that one young woman decided to brave the stage, and pick up a guitar. Even though stage-fright is frightening, she tried, and T’ve got to give her props for that. The half-song I heard was quite good, too. So, you young talented girl, wherever and whomever you are, bravo! After a brief break, the Arbitrarys took the stage again to play a short end set. Again I was quite impressed when since I was 18. I write down everybody's phone number, and I have contacts from ten years ago that are still good. T'm actually right now working with some bands from Japan, which is really hard because they don't speak English (laughs). Amy: It’s really hard to book a tour in Canada, or even BC. But contacts snowball and then you'll just get more and more. Matt: And I dont believe that some- one should have to pay for a phone num- ber. T: What would you say your biggest success to date would be? Matt: Social Code. Mike: When we were hired on to do Social Code, I'm hesitant to say, but I think we may have gone just a little bit overboard. We put up like 250 posters around town with wheat paste. Matt: We put them up everywhere. There were 4000 or 5000 handouts. Mike: There were a lot of people there, too; 403 people, not including guests. Matt: I feel that this can be done every time, given that we have the proper budget. Little known fact: Ghostchant Pro- motions got their name from a Poison the Well song. You can get a hold of Ghostchant Pro- motions at www.myspace.com/ghost- chantpromotions the Kizmet Naomi busted out her cello. A quick word to the front row told them that it's an instrument of the violin family, and not, in fact, a standing guitar. When was the last time you saw a cello played in a coffee house? For me the answer is a long, long time; much too long before this. I-was quite impressed on the whole with this show, and look forward to the 28", where we can all see the Arbitrarys in concert at Artspace with Big Old Eyes, Anime, and Raghu Lokanathan for their Halloween show.