Welcome
Welcome to the fifth issue of Destroyed, a weekly newsletter dedicated to local punk, metal, and experimental music in the Victoria area. Below is a list of this week’s shows (June 16 - 22), followed by an interview.
This week’s interview is with local rockers, Bad Hoo.
If you’d like to be featured in Destroyed - whether you are a band, photographer, artist, or promoter - contact Destroyedvictoria@gmail.com.
Shows for the Week
Can you believe the 25th anniversary of The Victoria Ska and Reggae Festival is this week?! It feels like it was yesterday that teenage me was jumping up and down to Third Wave Ska band Reel Big Fish after discovered them through a short cameo in the movie BASEketball. While I don’t spin Ska and Reggae records as often as I should anymore, I am thrilled to see the festival is still going strong. Here’s to another 25 years of one of Victoria’s best music festivals!
Outside of the Ska and Reggae Festival, we have the 10th volume of the Victoria Event Centre’s Bands! Bands! Bands! If you want to see some of Victoria’s best upcoming music, be sure to check it out.
Wednesday night brings the unique performance of THE EИD… DUO at Vinyl Envy. Their distinctive mix of noise, electronic, and saxophones promises an unforgettable experience.
On Friday, stop by Philips Brewing Co. for the “That Was Then” photography exhibit before heading to Little Fernwood to see i.o + Pet Retina.
Finally, Saturday night features two exciting events: Throat Rip and several other bands are taking over Oaklands, while High Voltage, an AC/DC cover band, are rocking out at the Phoenix Bar and Grill.
Sunday, June 16
N/A
Monday, June 17
N/A
Tuesday, June 18
Bands! Bands! Bands! Vol. X: Baba Chaka / Jesse Heinz / High Dive / Five Foot Nine
Show 7:30 PM | Victoria Event Center | ADV: $7, Door: $10
Wednesday, June 19
THE EИD… DUO
Show 8:00 PM | Vinyl Envy | $25
Antidoping / Ammoye / The Capital Collective / Gisto & The Grateful Living / Judah Roots
Show 4:00 - 10:00 PM | Ship Point (Inner Harbour) | Free
Lowdown Brass Band / Phonosonics
Show 9:00 -12:00 PM | Lucky Bar | ADV: $19.95 - $25
Thursday, June 20
Skampida / La Pobreska / The Kiltlifters / Baby Boy & The Earthly Delights
Show 4:00 - 10:00 PM | Ship Point (Inner Harbour) | Free
Fort Knox Five / Apex Breaks / Mirage
Show 8:30 pm - 1:30 am | The Wicket Hall | ADV: $22.50 - $29.95
Friday, June 21
i.o + Pet Retina / Warpage / Dastard / Coup D’état
Show 7:00 PM | Little Fernwood | $15, PWYC | All Ages
Photography Exhibit: That Was Then: Photographs of Emma Lee / Tremblers of Sevens
Event 4:00 PM - 8:00 PM | Phillips Brewing Co
Victoria's 25th Anniversary Ska & Reggae Fest - Free Ska Sessions- In Defense Of Ska Live Podcast!
Show 2:00 PM | Victoria Curling Club | Free
Gondwana / Big Mountain / Batuque Axé / DJ Su Comandante Espinoza
Show 4:20 | Ship Point (Inner Harbour) | ADV: $39.95 - 49.95
The Suicide Machines / The Slackers / The Creepshow / Space Chimp / DJ I-Lot
Show 7:30 PM - 1:30 AM | Victoria Curling Club | ADV: $45 - 59.50
Saturday, June 22
Throat Rip / Terminator / Death Proof / Borborygmic Leakage / Bathtub Autopsy
Show 6:30 PM | Oaklands | $20, PWYC | All Ages
High Voltage (AC/DC Cover Band)
Show 8:00 PM | Phoenix Bar and Grill | $10 |
Victoria's 25th Anniversary Ska & Reggae Fest - Free Ska Sessions w/ Less Than Jake!
Show 2:00 PM | Victoria Curling Club | Free
Dead Prez / Macka B & The Roots Ragga Band / Mungo's Hi Fi with Marina P, / Blasé Blasé / Paint The Town Red ft. W̱SÁNEĆ ŚW̱ELO₭E / Tank Gyal / DJ Arems
Show 2:00 PM - 10:00 PM | Ship Point (Inner Harbour) | ADV: $45 - $55
Less Than Jake / The Planet Smashers / Mephiskapheles / SweetLeaf / Young Royal
Show 7:30 PM - 1:30 AM | Victoria Curling Club | ADV: $47.50 - $59.50
Local Scene
Bad Hoo have a lot to celebrate. They just put out their 5th release, “A Run-In With Worms,” climbed the college-radio charts, played a killer show at Wheelies, and have re-emerged after a long hiatus. I talked to the band about their latest album, the shift from the rushed, anxiety-driven creation process to a more relaxed, experimental one, why they worked with Evan Matthiesen again, and how their song writing has evolved.
You can buy Bad Hoo’s latest record, “A Run-In With Worms,” now
Nick: For your upcoming record release, A Run-in with Worms, you have in parenthesis "finally releases a record." Could you explain the meaning behind this, especially since this isn't your first record?
David: You’re referring to the poster for our June 8th show at Wheelies. And there it is – that “finally” doing double duty.
On the one hand, it’s referring to us finally doing a proper full-length album on vinyl..Lots of reasons for not doing it before now – but mainly, it’s expensive as fuck to get things pressed when, like us, you’re releasing albums independently. So, first and foremost, the June 8 show is a celebration of this physical thing worming its way into the world and then taking up space in it.
And, on the other hand, “finally” is referring to our finally feeling – a smidge of exasperation, a touch of relief, a reckoning with the sieve of time, a dash of trolling ourselves, and other unnameable things… because honestly, it feels like it has been forever since we’ve been active as a band. At least active in public, since we have been hanging out in the basement on a weekly basis. But now, we’ve got something to share. And we’re all messed up about how to feel about it. So let’s party. Because, in the end (finally), we’re excited about these worms. It’s cliche as anything but it’s our best album yet.
(And yeah, if I were you, I wouldn’t get me started on discussing the possible effects of parenthetical statements…)
Nick: What was your approach to this record compared to your last record?
David: Pretty different approaches, but there’s a throughline – we always record our instruments live off the floor with minimal overdubbing. The one time we mucked around in a fancy studio in Vancouver taught us that it wasn’t a good fit for the likes of us and we needed the comforts of our own decrepitude.
The last album, Right as Rain, which was our third, was recorded in a rented cabin on a rented recording setup. Todd likens it to trying to make an album with an easy-bake oven. We’d been pretty active with playing What is When, our second album, and we probably felt pressure to make a next move. Plus, we were likely getting bored of the old songs. So, the third album was more of a direct extension of what came before (a secret: if you put your fingers in your mouth and pull at the sides and say “Right as Rain,” you’ll probably get a mouthful of “What is When.” Try it?)
That approach was basically just “let’s keep the momentum going and make the most of it, but also make something for playing live… that you can’t dance to.”
Anyway, we decamped to Jordan River with songs, and then we spent a weekend throwing stuff at the wall to see what would stick. And when that weekend wrapped, I’m not sure whether we even knew we had an album in the can. Maybe an EP? Maybe a couple of singles? Then, there was COVID and a forced prolonged pause. By the time we were able to get back together, we had a lot of pent up energy and didn’t want to fuck around. We recorded vocals and a Silver Jews cover – mostly just me on acoustic guitar. Then, through the magic of Todd’s mixing, we found ourselves with an album – one made up of new songs, a re-recorded old song, and the two cover songs. We felt Rain fit the shitty mood of the times, so we ushered it out the door to live or die. We booked an East Coast tour too. The subsequent waves of the pandemic squashed that, though, and the album never really got to air out on stage like we’d imagined.
To be honest, a couple friends of ours have since told us it’s not their favourite because of its frantic, anxiety-inducing nature, but we like it – and hey, that album ended up on the national college radio charts. So, what do they know? Nothing. And what do we know? Nothing.
In contrast, by the time we got around to recording A Run-in with Worms we’d just taken way more time – the longest time we’ve ever taken between releases. Nearly three and half years. This allowed us to stretch out and incorporate influences, intentionally or unintentionally, and get weirder. There was no more momentum or expectations to spur us forward; there weren’t really any shows to practice for because the venues were all dead or dying.
Our band practices also shifted so that whereas the germ of many earlier songs would’ve been based on a guitar line, we now found ourselves starting with Mat and Ben — the rhythm section — and adding on from there. Lots of digressions and making it up. And we mostly focused on instruments and song arrangements, too. Not that we fussed. I guess we just had more ideas and no strict deadline.
So, now, the new approach was more… “what can we do to keep it entertaining and challenging for us?”
But scheduling a recording session also gave the necessary parameters to get something done. The songs for Worms weren’t all “complete” by any stretch when it came to recording. A few songs were still being solidified. Most of the lyrics were written the week beforehand. That said, the timing worked out for us because we were in that sweet spot where this slightly different approach and all the strands were just starting to come together and congeal. The album captures that moment of things coalescing creatively – a little evolution of our band – more clearly than previous outings.
Nick: You last worked with Evan Matthiesen on 2019's What is When. Why did you go back to working with him as opposed to recording and mixing the record yourselves like you did on 2020's Right as Rain?
David: We asked Evan to record, mix and master this one because he’s incredible at what he does, and we missed having him around. On top of that, it allowed each of us – but especially Todd who had a lot on his plate with the last one – to focus. It helps so much to have outside ears too. As I said before, we still had lots to sort out.
Ben: Yeah, we also loved what he did with The Dog Indiana’s demo for their last album – yes, just their demo. You’ve never heard it. It was something that we were lucky enough to hear because we’re on the inside haha. That kind of got the ball rolling. Evan has also evolved as an engineer and as a producer.
But yeah, such a rad guy to have around while recording. He’s someone we knew would contribute in a positive way with zero risk of being intrusive or stressy. And that’s exactly what he did. We can’t recommend Evan enough. Get him to record you.
Nick: The guitar playing on this album reminds me of a breadcrumb trail. I follow it around all these corners with no idea where it is leading me, but I trust it. How do you craft these surprising guitar licks?
Todd: The guitars are an ever-evolving, intertwining array of expression — not unlike the method of conversation when the four of us get together.
Way back, I showed up to the very first jam with Mat and Oswald, who had had some songs previous, and said I’d just do some “dirty bends” on top. It was fun, so I just kept doing it.
David: I try to keep up – and it’s fun. Todd’s brain works in mysterious ways. And his fingers go all squirrelly and fast. I tend to just go plunk plunk plunk. We feel that it works out, though, somehow. So yeah, trust in us. We get there – wherever we’re going. Usually.
Nick: The bass work on this album is awesome. It plays a great support role but also, like the guitar work, is full of surprises, especially on the track "Knifing on Ice Cream Mountain." Could you talk a bit about how you approach the bass as both a support role and allowing room to add colour to a song?
Ben: I grew up playing violin and then guitar, so I’m drawn to playing melodic parts in our tunes, and I sometimes need to remind myself … or be reminded … to settle into the pocket.
It’s nice to hear that those two elements were evident on the record; I love the dynamic that Mat and I have when we’re really synced up and driving the rhythm, and I also love being playful with David and Todd’s guitars and melodies.
Playing the bass is the best.
Nick: The drums on this album have a great feel, almost blues like, and often seem to propel the song forward. What was your approach to drumming on this record, and how did it differ from your previous work?
Mat: Blues drums?! Blooze powered drums. Haha.
Oswald and I have been playing music together since we were in Grade 9, and it’s always felt easy and natural to follow what licks he lays down – as was the case on most of the first two records especially. On this one, however, I like to think Ben and I found an unconventional pocket to sit in together on most of the tracks.
Nick: Previously, you covered the Silver Jews (RIP David Berman), a band renowned for their lyrics. I see similarities in your use of allusions and metaphor to the Silver Jews. Could you talk a bit about your approach to lyrics and where else you look for inspiration?
David: Thank you. For sure I’m under the influence of DCB and his ilk. Phil Elverum, Bill Callahan, Malkmus, etc. I’d like to deny it on some level though. Because I’m not trying to emulate them - at least not anymore. Haha.
I also wanna point out that while I write the lyrics to the majority of BH songs, Mat knocked it out of the park with “Knifing on Ice Cream Mountain” and “Tickling Salt” for the new LP.
More to your question, though, I think that allusions and metaphors are important devices because they often prompt those who care about lyrics to interpret them. And I find that the songs that I’m most impressed with, lyrics-wise, are begging for some kind of interpretation while resisting total decipherment.
Like, it’s literally so compelling when a song gives you a foothold or two because you recognize a name or a date or a figure of speech or idiom or something/anything, but then you can’t quite tease out the logic or narrative link between those little bits and the next part of the song, even though you can tell that there’s a logic or narrative there. Half-buried, maybe. And you want to dig in and figure it out, don’t you? What’s in there??! You know?
Suddenly, you find yourself going back to the song and reading the lyric sheet… and puzzling that fucker out. You get invested. Stuff that prompts questions is good. Like, is this satire? Is there a dialogue going on here with other songs or artists ? Is this total nonsense? As Berman once wrote in a poem, and I’ll have to paraphrase, the kids are growing ever more stupid because it’s not cool to ask questions. So aim for uncool.
In the end, if a lyric is any good, listeners will ask themselves a slew of questions and project their own meaning onto the song – and, hopefully, if all goes well, they’ll find answers in there and identify with it on their own terms and love it for a good long time.
I’m not as into confessional lyrics because I find that they rarely age as well. So, on that note, I am rarely the speaker in my songs. But I also recognize that there’s a risk there, which is writing lyrics that come off as devoid of emotion. That’s probably why I find myself gravitating to old country albums now. I’m after that unbridled feeeeeeling, man. I think that Mat’s very good at conveying raw emotion in lyrics without getting schmaltzy about it. He grew up on olde country music. Lucky him.
Final question: What are some bands and albums people should be checking out?
David:
Ben:
Todd:
Mat:
You can buy Bad Hoo’s latest record, “A Run-In With Worms,” now
That’s it for this week, folks!