Lawnya Vawnya 13 Weird and Wired
Day 2: Thursday, June 8, 2023
SOUND RECORDING W/ LIAM RYAN
On a hot afternoon at First Light’s Centre for Performance and Creativity, a small but enthusiastic crowd gathered for a crash course in the basics of recording from prolific local musician and recording engineer Liam Ryan. Everyone followed along attentively with Liam, who took us from recording with one mic at a time to recording with several. Liam got the crowd involved, as a few local musicians, from amateur to professional, played some music with him to demonstrate different recording techniques. Once again, one of the best parts about Lawnya Vawnya is the sense of community the festival fosters, often between total strangers.
Apart from all the technical knowledge Liam passed onto us in the space of only a few hours, his most resonant advice was to not worry about how high quality your recording is and, riffing off a famous slogan, to “just do it.” Liam’s positivity about teaching others how to record music on their own—in a stripped-down way that won’t cost your arm, leg, or firstborn child—is refreshing in an industry that’s frequently inaccessible to so many musically-inclined people without money for proper studio time.
- C.H. NEWELL
ZINES FOR EVERYONE W/ ELIJAH JANKA
- ELIJAH JANKA
Hello again! It’s me, Holly. Back at The Rock House for day two of the festival. The lineup: Local act So Violento, Montreal’s HRT, and headliner Cecile Believe. Tonight’s menu promised a feast of hardcore and industrial served up with a big dollop of electropop on top. Tasty!
Act One: So Violento
For fans of cold plunges, meditation, and other such soul-nourishing activities, may I humbly suggest having a musician scream in your face as a highly effective alternative. Minutes into NL hardcore/punk/metal band So Violento’s act, their frontwoman is off her mark and on top of the bar perpendicular to The Rock House stage, leaning down into the faces of the audience… right in front of where I’m stood watching, dropping writerly notes in my phone (I believe the note I was sending myself just said “feral”).
Keywords: Hardcore, raw, devastating, muscular, pleather, chaos, primal, gothy
Act Two: Cecile Believe
If So Violento was all about accessing the raw rage that lives in your gut, Cecile Believe lives firmly on the opposite ends of the emotional spectrum. Her set — a tightly constructed selection of post-genre electropop layered with soaring, pristine vocals was the sweetest thing. Delicate, but not flimsy. Loving, but not in love. Sugary, but never saccharine — staying emotionally present even in the hardest, clubbiest moments. Straight into my Spotify rotation for this one.
Keywords: Sweet, grief, big pink bow, liquid, captivating, synthpop, hyperpop, electropop, pop
Act Three: HRT
More travel delays (this time because of smoke!) meant that Montreal’s HRT ended up closing the show, heading straight from the plane to the state like absolute champions. Which, to be honest, felt kind of perfect. Billed as “live electronic transgendered EBM” they wouldn’t feel out of place in a warehouse at 3am with their dark, dark beats and wandering (literally, out into the audience) vocals.
Keywords: Warehouse, industrial, European, dirty, expansive, spooky, bass music
Special mentions:
The lovely team at The Rock House
Hostess with the mostess, drag queen Barbra Bardot
The gentle notes of folk music wafting through the warming air on George Street
Just kidding! It’s Bridie Malloys and they’re yelling Danny Boy at a million decibels through their tinny street-side speakers!
Kernels salt and vinegar popcorn seasoning
- HOLLY KNOWLMAN
Design and Illustration by ELIJAH JANKA