The band arrived in Los Angeles earlier in the day and prior to their Viper Room set, embarked on a secret mission to capture a photo next to the Hollywood sign. This resulted in a major deviation from the path and a not-so-happy police helicopter flying overhead as a signal for them to scurry on their way.

After I accidentally butchered the name of their latest album’s title track (they did admit to liking my version better), we dove into important topics such as the difference between Americans and Canadians and joked about how being called “The greatest rock band of their generation” by Performer Magazine is annoying because it “forces them to be good every night.”

You guys have been playing together since high school. Are you sick of each other yet?

John-Angus: Definitely!

Colin: Yes.

Is it still the original line up?

John-Angus: We had a couple of different drummers before Sean joined about 10 years ago. We’re the least sick of Sean. He joined the most recently.

You just recently got off the road with Kid Rock. How was that?

Colin: It was great. He was amazing. One of the best live performers I have ever seen and a really charismatic guy. He was really nice to us and we hung out with him every night after the gigs and listened to music and drank Jim Beam with him.

So he really drinks Jim Beam?

Colin: Oh yeah. That’s his drink of choice.

Was he pretty crazy to hang out with?

Colin: He’s a rock and roll star. He’s the real deal.

Performer Magazine called you guys the “Greatest rock band of your generation.” Once something like that gets put out into the Universe is it a lot of pressure to live up to that statement?

Colin: We’ve been saying this about ourselves for a long time. Especially the girls!

John-Angus: Our manager has that as the tag at the bottom of every email. I kind of want him to stop though because it’s a lot of pressure [Laugh].

Colin: It’s our tour manager’s opinion and he happens to be right!

As long as you live up to it!

Colin: We just have to be good every night. Which is annoying.

Your original band name was One I’d Trouser, which you took from a song in Monty Python’s “The Meaning of Life.” Then you changed it to Trouser, which ultimately became The Trews. That’s quite the journey!

Colin: It was just a joke. We always took it seriously playing music but in high school we didn’t have a name so we called ourselves “One I’d Trouser” and started booking shows. Then we became instantly popular in our hometown; we’d be getting 400-500 people out the local bars and we had to get permission slips from our parents to play because the only guy in the band that was old enough to be there was me. Jack was 14, John-Angus was 15 and we felt really successful right away. We were called One I’d Trouser and that was just a name that stuck and then we changed it to Trouser and there was another band called Trouser and we changed it to The Trews and then we’re still The Trews.

John-Angus: And the rest is obscurity. It did come from a Monty Python song though from “The Meaning of Life.”

In the video for “Hope and Run…”

Colin: “Hope and Ruin.”

John-Angus: I like “Hope and Run” better! It’s like hope and run. You just hope for the best and then you run!

The video was shot in both Nova Scotia and Toronto and you’re walking around without gloves on in the snow. Was it cold?

Colin: It was freezing. It was like the coldest day on record in Toronto. I had a huge arctic jacket that I put on in between takes but for the actual takes, I had a skimpy leather jacket on; I was freezing. It was the director’s vision and he’s a great director. His name is Drew Lightfoot and he wanted the video to let the viewer decide which was their idea of “Hope and Ruin;” contrasting rural Nova Scotia with big city vibes. That’s kind of what the vibe was and I looked pretty ruinous in that freezing cold.

If you had to make a video for “Hope & Run” would the concept be a little different?

Colin: I’d be running.

John-Angus: We’d be running the whole time but still changing between city and country.

Colin: That will be our next record!

Do you prefer touring in the US or Canada?

John-Angus: I like the bigger crowds in Canada. I do love touring in America. There are just so many cities that you feel like you see in movies or you read about them so it’s great to make it to those places and see it first hand. LA is one of those places. It took us a while to get here. We didn’t make it until our 2nd record. I remember being really impressed with the place – so many familiar sights.

Do you notice a big difference in culture between Canada and the US?

John-Angus: It’s very subtle but yes.

Colin: Everything’s bigger here! I ordered a burrito that was bigger than my head today.

John-Angus: And he has a big head!

Where was it from?

Colin: It was from Chipotle. It was good, but it was huge. This sounds very lame and not rock and roll but if you go to Subway in this country and you order a 6-inch, they are just blown away that you don’t want a foot long with extra cheese and sauce.

John-Angus: I think people spend a lot of time trying to pinpoint exactly what the cultural differences are because it’s subtle.

Colin: Canadians are more self-deprecating and passive aggressive. Americans are more passionate like type A in your face personality. I think sometimes Americans don’t always get Canadians because we are more cerebral in a way.

How do you describe your sound?

John-Angus: The greatest rock band of our generation!

Colin: I think it’s good honest rock and roll. It’s very straight up. There is no pretence. It’s not scene driven and it’s just very honest music. I think that’s why we have such a big fan base in Canada. It’s kind of what appeals people to our band. We’re not like a hip or cool band, we’re just a band that anybody can like and we like it that way. We have an eclectic sound.

You have a real interesting mix of a bunch of different genres.

Colin: That’s very Canadian too because we’re kind of observing everything that is going on and kind of reinterpreting it and that’s what comes out. I remember we toured with a band from Nashville and the bass player told me, “I picture you guys sitting around with your pipes listening to all these records and just kind of deciding what you’re going to sound like.”

Where is the coolest place that you’ve heard one of your songs played before?

John-Angus: I got this story! We can each tell one. I didn’t hear it myself but I have a good buddy who is Canadian and he plays drums in Slash’s band and he texted me and was like, “Dude I just off stage in Seoul South Korea and one of your tunes is blaring over the house PA.” I was like first of all that’s so awesome for so many reasons. We’ve never been to Korea and the fact that our music’s made it on it’s own and was playing at a Slash concert made it really cool for me.

Colin: I just got a text message from a friend in Toronto that heard our latest single over our PA at the Blue Jays game at the Rogers Centre, which is a huge stadium.

Tell me about this prank battle that happened between you and Big Sugar.

Colin: Anybody that tries to prank our band, especially in Canada, will pay for it.

John-Angus: We will out prank!

Colin: We never pranked anybody and then Big Sugar started it. They took our prank virginity. On the last night of the tour we were playing this really prestigious awesome club in Vancouver called The Commodore and we were a baby band and we were nervous. This was in ‘03 and right before we went on stage the sound guy said, “Colin whatever you do don’t look up.” When I looked up there was a bucket just teetering and there was nothing in the bucket but I was made to think that at any moment some slime was going to fall on me. And everywhere on stage they put pictures of really hardcore gay pornography. Every time I went down to hit my guitar pedals or anything it was like hardcore gay porn.

John – Angus: On all the monitors. There was no angle that the audience could see it from. We were faced with it everywhere we turned. All the amps had it on it and they covered Sean’s snare with baby powder so the first thing he hit gave him a face full of power.

Colin: We used to raid their rider and they’d come off stage and have no alcohol let. That was our way of getting back at them.

John –Angus: Other bands, we’ll have adjacent dressing rooms in trailers and while the band is one we’ll empty out their trailer with absolutely everything 0- the lamps, all their bags, all their clothes, their couches, the entire rider. We did that just the other day to a band that slipped a note under the door to keep it down while we were warming up.

Are there photos of this nonsense circulating on the web?

John-Angus: They might be somewhere floating around but this was before Facebook and Twitter and all of that took off.

Colin: Facebook has made the road a very dangerous place. “Hey what is this picture of all these girls on the bus boyfriend?” “They were nobody.”

John-Angus: Thanks a lot Zuckerberg!

Words and Interview by Nicole Pajer. Photos by Catie Laffoon

Maskull Lasserre’s installation, “Anatomische Holzschinitzereien,” confronts the origin and essence of man through its pairing objects of every day human life with various animal corpses. The pieces do so through pairings that are almost disturbing and uncomfortable to even look at. They are almost macabre. There is suggestion of our origin; our distance from a more base form of human existence.

“Lasserre’s drawings and sculptures explore the unexpected potential of the everyday and its associated structures of authority, class, and value. Elements of nostalgia, allegory, humor, and the macabre are incorporated into works that induce strangeness in the familiar, and provoke uncertainty in the expected.”

Typically the human objects are aged, expressing the resilience of human existence through consistent use of such tools. However, it forces the viewer to question whether humanity, though it has endured for generations, has progressed, evolved? There are two instances in which the human objects are not aged, but rather quite contemporary. The first is a violin in pristine condition, which is bitten into by the teeth of a large mammal skull. The entire animal skull is displayed. Music is created; an elegance that has elevated man from his origins considerably. An animal lacks an appreciation of such elegance, such luxury. It thinks only of day to day survival, and does not really even think about it for that matter, but that unconsciously is driven toward it. Music is meaningless for it.

The animal artifacts are in almost pristine condition. The alligator about to take a bite of a table, on which there lie five neatly folded, colorful, collared shirts is the only instance of movement. There is anticipation and expectation of the next act to come: a finishing off of the table and shirts. It addresses mistaking luxury for need.

Words by Ariel Maccarone, Images by Maskull Lasserre

Exhibit currently can be seen at:

Pierre-François Ouellette Art Contemporain

372 Ste-Catherine West #216

Montreal, Quebec, H3B 1A2

July 16 – August 6, 2011

Katie West is a photographer living in Toronto.

How did you get started as a photographer?

I started photography in high school when I weaseled my way into a film photography class without completing any of the prerequisites. After high school I started shooting with digital and found it very instantly gratifying. In university I weaseled my way into another photography class and rediscovered a love for film, or maybe just being in a darkroom.

You frequently turn the camera on yourself. What draws you to self-portraiture?

My reasons for shooting self-portraits has changed a lot over the years. I think this shift in motivation only makes sense since I started shooting self-portraits when I was 17 or 18 and I’m now ten years older. I think quite differently about a lot of things now. So whereas when I was younger I would shoot self-portraits because I didn’t have a model, or because I thought I looked beautiful, or because I didn’t know how else to express myself, I shoot self-portraits now because I know it’s the best way to express myself, because I’m keeping a running tab on my personal development, because it allows me to be honest to others and to myself. I think I shoot self-portraits for a myriad of reasons and they’ll always be fluctuating as I get older and feel differently about artistic expression, photography, my body, my self, etc.

You describe yourself “usually inappropriate, but in an admirable way” and your work with models has a very raw, intimate quality. What’s it like to shoot with you?

Shooting with me is a bit ridiculous. I am very unprofessional. And bossy. “That looked great, now take your pants off. Oh, don’t worry, I’m taking mine off too.” It’s basically like that the whole time. I think shooting other people is really fun, so I giggle a lot too. I’m honestly not too sure how I end up with such intimate images. Maybe because I ask a lot of questions. If I want to shoot someone it’s because I really want to know how they work and what they’re about. And I want to see them naked. But I also want to create a sense of intimacy even if we’ve just met. I think this can happen quickly for me because many people I shoot have followed me online for a while and already feel like they know me and can trust me. And I sort of want to take that trust, photograph it, and then share it with people.

You recently wrote an essay on objectification for NSFW magazine. Want to tell us a bit about your thoughts on objectification and being naked on the internet?

My essay for NSFW magazine was about why I post naked photos online, and I argued that objectification didn’t really factor into it much. I’m not so naive as to think people out there don’t see me as an object when looking at my naked body online, but I also don’t think this takes away from the people out there who see my naked body online and really relate to the honesty I attempt to share. If even a small fraction are getting a connection from what I post online, then being objectified isn’t too much of an issue for me. I work hard to be more than an object, more than a naked body online and I hope this comes through in my photography. I can’t get upset about people objectifying me on the internet because I post naked pictures. To do so is futile because I can’t force a person to change their mind on how they see me and my body. But what I can do is work to change their mind on how they see naked people in general–not as objects but as people who are fully developed individuals with personalities and issues and more going on then their great tits and hard cocks–but people who are ALSO their great tits and hard cocks. I don’t want the naked body to somehow need to be mutually exclusive from the idea of a person who isn’t going to be objectified.

What’s next for you?

Most likely more of the same. I’ve never wanted to have to make a living from my photography. I want to do it because I enjoy it. I like making books and magazines that people can enjoy too. Maybe more of that.

See more of Katie’s work here

Words by Molly Crabapple

I love underthings. Bras, panties, corsets, bustiers, you name it I pretty much can’t resist it. My love for such things started somewhere in college when laundry, and the ability to put it off, became my favorite past time. The more panties I owned, the longer I could postpone the inevitable drudgery. Plus… I’m a girl. Hi. In an overall broad sweeping statement I’m gonna go ahead and say that yep… most women like to wear beautiful, sexy lingerie. And in that same token…most men don’t exactly mind.

Imagine my complete delight when I discovered Purrfect Pineapples. Hand made, high end, cruelty free lingerie that is simply yum. It was love love love at first click. The fact that they use alternative, tattooed models only helped me see the potential for their gorgeous creations. Cool, pretty, gorgeously made…I’m all in.

The selection is tantalizing but I settled on the Blue Bunnies print, being a total sucker for all things bunny oriented. It was a difficult decision as I wanted so many of the super cute fabrics and colors. I took my measurements and sent them along with my order to be sure that the size I think I am and the size I probably am aren’t two separate things. Designer, Erika Shuhendler personally responded in an email and assured me she wouldn’t steer me wrong. The sizes she sent me were amazingly accurate. You honestly don’t get this level of service many places.

And that’s what I enjoy about the interweb. Here is this thing, that at first blush, is a sterile, disassociated, machine. Allowing me to purchase anything from anywhere at any time, making the marketplace smaller than ever. And yet, through the magic of marketing I could connect with a girl in Canada who is hand making gorgeous lingerie like they did 50 years ago. I not only feel like I got incredible service, but the feeling was actually more intimate and pleasant than many a trip I’ve made through Victoria’s Secret. Not to mention that these are a few of my new favorite things.

Purrfect Pineapples is a cruelty-free high end lingerie label, designed and produced in Toronto, Canada. Purrfect Pineapples is owned and operated by fashion designer Erika Shuhendler since 2004. Cruelty-free means that everything they produce is sweat-shop and animal free. All of their garments are professionally sewn and serged for a high-quality product. Their products are hand-made and original, come in a variety of cutesy prints, fabrics and colors. When you purchase their items, you are paying for fair wages, quality and an original product. They offer a variety of sizes ranging from small to extra large, as well as custom orders for plus sizes and custom corsets.

I may not avoid laundry like I used to, but I still retained my love for way more underthings than i actually need. Do yourself a big favor, save up and contact Erika when you really want that special item that will make you feel sexier than you think you are.

Purrfect Pinapples lingerie is sold at select retail outlets Worldwide, as well as online at: http://www.purrfectpineapples.com and purrfectpineapples.etsy.com

Words by Barbie Brady. Photos provided by Purrfect Pineapples.

Iron Fist Clothing hosted the Punk Rock Pool Party and Bikini Contest at the Goldspike Hotel in Vegas, just off historic Freemont Street in Old Las Vegas. The pool area itself is classic mid-century motor inn, far from the shadow of the McHotels on the strip. Perfect for sunbathing! And an afternoon invasion from punks around the globe (including Canada and Australia!) which didn’t seem to bother the hotel staff one bit.

Having one of the hottest bands around playing poolside also makes for a perfect day! Old Man Markley are an Americana bluegrass band of ragtag hooligans (think Old Crow Medicine Show meets The Pogues) fronted by Johnny Carey. Carey along with upright bassist Joey Garibaldi are also members of the legendary punk band Youth Brigade. Add a washboard, fiddle, and the standard drum, guitar and bass, and out comes a party! The band’s debut album Guts n’ Teeth is available on Fat Wreck Chords.

The band is currently on tour in Canada with NOFX and Teenage Bottlerocket, and begin a North American tour with NOFX and Anti-Flag in the Fall.

While far less glamourous than a Vegas Pool Party, Old Man Markley will be playing Oakland on July 8 at The Uptown with Blag Dahlia. You can check out the rest of the tour dates here and get Pre sale Tickets here.

And as a token of their awesomeness, party host Iron Fist Clothing is offering a summer special to ChinaShopMag readers. Save 15% on their web store with the special promo code FLFG. Now there’s no excuse but to look adorable for the upcoming Old Man Markley Tour!

Words and photos by Lisa Johnson

I myself was headed to my hotel for a quick recharge of camera batteries and hopefully a little rest for my soul, but decided to see if I could hang and shoot considering the unique venue and impressed at how I wasn’t being dogged when found out to be press… ‘This definitely sounds like my kind of show,” I say as I could see no large speaker towers perched on the porch and no security looking to handle my “valuables”.

I ask, they agree.

I hung out and shot some images as Jordan explained they had just finished a grueling, 48 hour straight, 1,833 mi car ride from hometown Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. This was his first trip to SXSW, but he had just finished a short residency at the Viper room in LA the month prior to support his new album.

Then the guys take to the steps to play a song off his recent debut album Seven Deadly Sins with only unplugged electric guitars accompanied by the inventive percussion of a plastic watering jug from the porch. I kinda roll my eyes, then wow! This acoustic a capella set was so impressive that it rivaled some of the bigger shows I’d shot all week. They dash off and so do I to find out more about this kid.

Bullets:

-Jordan Cook stunned the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland during a jam session with BB King and Van Morrison when he was only 15.

-At the age of 17, he stepped in for an missing Aretha Franklin at a House of Blues show in Florida and performed an entire impromptu set with her band.

-The debut album has been five years in the making and includes producers as diverse as the Matrix in L.A. and Howard Bilerlman (Arcade Fire) on the new album.

Remember kids, you can’t judge a band by it’s album cover.

Words and images by Dustin Downing

So if you’re not from Canada, you probably haven’t heard of this band. However, if you are from Canada, The Dears are probably your favorite indie rock outfit on the face of this earth. They’ve put out a solid five albums since 2000 and their newest, Degeneration Street, dropped early 2011.

Their Wednesday night show was held in my least favorite Austin nightclub, normally reserved for the just-turned-twenty-one/kamikaze-shot-taking/street-brawl-starting crowd, but as soon as The Dears took the stage I forgot all about the petrified puke smell and was transported to a place where funk, rock, pop and electronic sounds live happily in a big music commune in the sky. We’ll call it funrock-electro-op heaven, for short.

The band has had a few members in and out over the years, but founding members Murray Lightburn and Natalia Yanchack have been solid staples since 1996. Lightburn would be enough of an enigmatic character to carry the band by himself but add Yanchack and you’ve got an adorable front man and woman with talent, charisma and spunk to boot.

Even though there venue wasn’t close to capacity, I had to throw some serious bows to get to the front of the stage. What I mean to say is that The Dears fans are serious and they don’t care if you’re there to work or play; that’s their spot and they are keeping it. I mean, they have to be close enough so that the band can hear them yell, ‘Da Dears!’ imitating the way Chris Farley yelled, ‘Da Bears!,’ on Saturday Night Live. So, if you ever get a chance to see this band live, don’t pass it up. It’ll be the best $10 (or $9.90, USD) you ever spend

Words and photos by Courtney Dudley

This is not a post about Canada, though if you removed Canada from this story there wouldn’t be much of a story to tell. First off, Young Galaxy are a Canadian band. They are currently based on Montreal, but relocated there from Vancouver, which is one of the coolest places on the planet, by the way. Their latest album, Shapeshifting, is being released on a Toronto’s Paper Bag Records. (It’s really good. You can download the first single, “We Have Everything,” right here.) They’ve also had the distinct pleasure of opening for Arcade Fire, who are also a Canadian band. The press release for Shapeshifting name-drops New Order and Eurythmics (not Canadian) as bands to compare the album’s sound to, which is actually pretty spot on, and as you’ll see from this interview, vocalist/guitarist Stephen Ramsay is a pretty lucid fellow with a lot of spot on things to say about music-making.

[UPDATE]: Download the just-released Cover Your Tracks EP here.

So what’s this on your Twitter account about you being “expert fencers?” Are you guys duelists or especially good at stealing wallets?

Stephen Ramsay: Fencers as in good at making fences. You should the one I put up at my parents’ house . Their dog can’t get out no matter how hard he tries!

The cover for Shapeshifting is amazing. Can you tell me what inspired it and how the shot came about? I can’t imagine it was comfortable for the woman involved.

Stephen Ramsay: Why, thank you. It’s an image done by a wonderful Italian conceptual artist named Maura Biava – she’s actually the woman in the photograph. I saw it on an art blog online while we were hanging out in the studio making the record and become obsessed with the image. I eventually tracked her down and asked her if she’d be willing to lend it for the album. We were very happy she agreed. It’s such a beautiful and grotesque image at the same time, don’t you think? Kind of like our band!

The covers for all three of your albums have bodies of water in them. Do either of you have an affinity to water?

Stephen Ramsay: I never really realized that before, but yes. Both Catherine and I are from the west coast, and both pine for the Pacific Ocean now that we live in Montreal. We are both kind of obsessed with the ocean. The first cover featured a photograph taken by my mother at a place called Sproat Lake on Vancouver Island, where my family has had a cabin for many years. It is our place of sanctuary, our hiding spot, our place of restoration and relaxation. So much of what we aspired to in our lives and what we have done as a band was dreamt of there. It’s a holy place in our books.

What inspired such a different approach, musically, from Invisible Republic to Shapeshifting? These days, I’m always curious whether or not artistic changes come from within or are more reactive to, or inspired by, how quickly the landscape is shifting these days. It’s like the music industry is the polar ice cap of consumerism.

Stephen Ramsay: I think that is quite observant of you. I believe a lot of bands make stylistic changes based on what the market trends are before they even realize what they’re doing. Most bands don’t understand themselves in the first three years of being a band. It’s too raw, complex and overwhelming. These days people are obsessed with discovering new bands, to the extent that there’s a lot of pressure for bands to step up commercially or profile-wise by their first or second record. They have to stay relevant, or have some kind of “hook.” Back in the ’70s, bands weren’t expected to sell anything for the first three records at least. They were on tour constantly, building a fan base and developing their talent. Then you go big with album four and try to hit a home run. Those days are long gone. Now everyone is looking for the new Arcade Fire. That kind of phenomenon comes once in a million years, yet the whole mentality around making it in the music industry is geared around it. It’s bizarre.

All this is to say, that if there’s one thing I couldn’t ever imagine doing it’s making music to get rich. Only an idiot would try to do that nowadays. You want to get rich? Go into banking or medicine or something – not music. But despite being poor I feel genuinely happy and satisifed, because – as Leonard Cohen once said – you have to feel employed. I feel very employed in music, totally engaged, and I think most people, even people with jobs, feel unemployed. So really, the long answer to your question is that I am intoxicated by our creativity, by delving deep into this re-invention. I feel alert and challenged. This isn’t a hustle or con – I am not making music to seduce anyone and steal a few of their hard-earned bucks. I am in the mines, man!

I think what you just said should be required reading for every new band, then printed on the back of the Grammy programs this year. Did any of that inspire your collaboration with Dan Lissvik on this record, especially given the electronic part of the collaboration? I can imagine it was challenging to go for a new sound to begin with, let alone handing off the recordings to someone so far away and not getting them back for a while. Like sending a new kid off to boarding school. What shape were the songs in when you sent them, and how different were they when they came back?

Stephen Ramsay: Lissvik is a great cat. He’s truly working on a deeper frequency than a lot of us. I had a sense of this before we gave our record to him and feel totally vindicated by the risk with this record. Truth is, there are very few people we would have ever done this with. I think we had a real instinctual sense this would be good from the get go, based on his own band, Studio’s work, and the initial conversations I had with him. He’s a very thoughtful person, a dedicated artist.

As far the songs, some were radically transformed and a lot were very true to what we sent to him originally. It was not a calculated process, it all kind of unfolded organically. I like the spectrum on the record – there’s lots of the band and lots of Lissvik… generally, the songs were fully formed when we sent them over, they were more than sketches – but much more sparse than we’d experienced previously. That was purposeful. We wanted the space in the songs to be as important as the sounds being made.

Each time I get through listening to “Phantoms” and “Cover Your Tracks” back-to-back, I feel like I’ve been transported to some calypso party on the moon. Who in the band is inspired by those rhythms?

Stephen Ramsay: Well it certainly wasn’t Vampire Weekend. Way-oh!

Who have been your favorite touring mates and why?

Stephen Ramsay: We loved touring with Stars. They are so generous and hilarious, and they have the best fans – very open-minded and supportive. We adore them. Same goes with The Besnard Lakes – it’s like touring with AC/DC. Awesome. And how could I not mention Arcade Fire? They’re great people. It was like being at a family picnic!

Quick, how many bands with the color “black” in the title can you name in 10 seconds?

Stephen Ramsay: Black Angels, Black Feelings, Black Crowes, Small Black, Black Eyed Peas.

Not bad, not bad.

Word by Rich Thomas.

Young Galaxy: March Tour Dates
March 10 – Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace
March 17 – Boston, MA @ TT The Bears *
March 18 – New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge*
March 19 – Brooklyn, NY @ Knitting Factory *
March 21 – Philadelphia, PA @ Ku Fung Necktie *
March 22 – Washington DC @ Red Palace *
March 23 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Brillobox *
March 24 – Akron, OH @ Musica *
March 25 – Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle *

* w/ Winter Gloves

While he was raised just across the Detroit River in Windsor, Canada, Hawtin remains a major figure attributed with sparking the fire that was the Detroit techno scene of the early ‘90s. His most established moniker, Plastikman, arrived in the scene at the same time, releasing a trio of acclaimed records — the controversial Sheet One (was it a real sheet of blotter acid featured on the cover?), fan favorite Musik and the Recycled Plastik EP. Hawtin had built the Plastikman name in renegade venues throughout the city then (the infamous party at the abandoned Packard Plant is still brought up each year at Movement), but the preparation for Plastikman’s return was quite a different affair. Hawtin was set to perform behind a 12-foot-tall, 38-feet-wide LED video wall (designed by visual whiz Ali Demirel). Instead of fliers and word of mouth, Hawtin promoted the event by releasing an iPhone app that not only shares Plastikman tour dates but also serves as an interactive device throughout the entire performance. “When we started out, the early Plastikman experience was huge speakers and a strobe light,” explains Hawtin. “But that was physical. It was a dark room and you were just pummeled by sounds and frequencies. This is 2010. Sure, we’ve got some more flashing lights and synchronization, but it’s supposed to be something that comes together and hits you on every level. You’ve got this barrage of color. You’ve got this attack on your ears … the feeling of the bass and the people around you…”

The new Plastikman experience has definitely taken on a new, grander life. An hour before midnight, Hawtin took the stage, the massive shield of LEDs making it nearly impossible to see if an actual person was buried deep inside the shifting colors and designs. Hawtin methodically worked his way through the set, covering his first two releases along with his later work, to present a by-the-book definition of Detroit techno. While the audible chrome of Hawtin’s set was over stimulating at times, the packed main stage howled for more. To close the set and reaffirm Hawtin’s fascination with “man and machine,” the wall of lights and color finally gave way to an actual human being — the deejay himself finally appeared. “Plastikman was always very connected to me being in the studio by myself,” says Hawtin. “We built the stage like me being in the studio, locked away from everybody. [I] thought it was important to finally come out [at the end of the set] and take a step back to the beginning — me and one drum machine, playing around and tweaking something magical out of that. [The show] ended where it all began.”

Words by Ryan Patrick Hooper with photos by Dustin Downing

You can bet Jack White doesn’t like music blogs. It wouldn’t be surprising if the proudly retro guitarist-vocalist of The White Stripes doesn’t dig on YouTube either. So it would probably please him to no end that when he and partner Meg White played a series of off-the-cuff public shows in Canada (a bowling alley is Saskatoon, a YMCA in Toronto, a city bus in Winnipeg) during the band’s 2007 tour, this sort of obvious blog fodder flew under the radar of all but the most obsessive web citizens.

It’s that sort mystery in the age of full digital disclosure that first draws one in to The White Stripes tour documentary, Under Great White Northern Lights, which made it’s Los Angeles premier at Hollywood’s 1920s film palace, The Egyptian Theater, on Tuesday night. A visual diary of the White Stripes on the road in the most far-flung reaches of the Canadian north, film-maker Emmett Malloy brilliantly captures these rural outposts and the people who call them home, all while managing to stay focused on the visiting duo who one suspects are more comfortable in these environs than the modern world down below.

Of course, the simple stereotype of Northern Canadians as backwoods troglodytes is both unfair and unwarranted. But it’s hard to watch Jack and Meg interact with a group of Inuit tribal elders without considering the thousands of years of human history that came before the web’s instant gratification became the status quo. Such contemplation turns out to be the perfect context for The White Stripes tribal blues music as well as their sharp ‘50s inspired garb. Imagine if Mad Men followed a couple of kids from Detroit playing old juke joints instead of urbane ad men and you’ll get the ambience I’m talking about.

The timing of Under Great White Northern Lights couldn’t be better, coming at a point when cancelled tours and growing side projects leaves the status of the White Stripes in questions. But consequential events aside, the film morphs from tour diary into a celebration of the Stripes 10 year anniversary show which is captured at the end of the film. And in a closing scene too emotional to discuss here, one is left to wonder if this multi-layered celluloid document is a concert flick, an on-the-road tale, or a last testament from one of the most important rock bands of the Millennium. Here’s hoping it’s only the first two.