By BD Marie Hughes

It’s not the size of the bar (or club or venue), it’s the music that’s in it…..
It was another spectacular night at The Central in Toronto on Wednesday, May 27. Standing room only!

Performances:
Hallowed Be
Sinister Trailerpark Magic
The MacHams
Pyramid Theorem
The Johnnys.

Hallowed Be, a raw and heavy rock-alt-metal band, is a masterpiece of juxtaposition – off-the-charts skill vs the riot of metal sound. Vedran Burdzovic has to be one of the best, most technically skilled guitarists I’ve heard I’ve heard in a long time. He, Peter McMaster (bass), Daniel Plague (guitar) laid down all the tricks. It was not only a real show but a performance of utter technical precision. One that die-hard metal fans clamour to catch “live”. Christian Pietrasiak on drums, a pure technician himself, seals the deal.

Many of Hallowed Be’s lyrics are “in your face” and shamelessly push back “the establishment” (“And now you do what they told ya”). This is a metal band that I, personally, live for. Songs on their cd “Calculating Madness” tell a story. One is about a WWII soldier out on a one-night pass. He has one night. To do everything he’s always wanted to do because he might not survive the next day’s battle. Another juxtaposition. About living. All in one night. Facing a possible end. This cd, recorded at FatLabs, will be out this year.

“We try to put on the best live show we can. I think that encapsulates what a band should be. When you’re on stage, you should give it your all,” says Vedran. All the guys told me how much they appreciated The Central as the TIMAs showcases venue.

Heros cited –
Christian – Led Zeppelin, My Chemical Romance
Peter – John Bonham
Daniel – Kurt Cobain, Led Zep
Vedran – guitar player from Synyster Gates, Dimebag Darrell, and singer from Holly Springs Disaster.
Seizing on the opportunity of their WWII soldier lyrics, I ask them –
BD: If today was the last day you were a musician, past this moment, right here, right now, what would you do?
Christian: I’d try my best to give my all. Everything is tight – no mistakes.
Peter: I’d play. Somewhere. I don’t know where, but I’d play.
BD: In the Alps with Heidi? (deadpan, then everyone laughs)
Peter: No! (laughing) Probably on the roof of my house. I’m up there a lot – it’s my personal spot. That’s actually where I write sometimes.
Daniel: I would play until somebody said, “Alright, that’s it – you’re done!” (laughing)
Vedran: Considering how strong of a message, I would probably collaborate with a bunch of other artists, you know. Hold a concert. And spread the message: You shouldn’t stop music! Of course! What else?! (everyone laughs)

http://www.myspace.com/hallowedxbe
http://www.hallob.com

Sinister Trailerpark Magic –
Jeremy Cavan (lead vocals/guitar)
Toby Cavan (lead vocals/drums/cd artwork designer)
Dustin Braiden (back up vocals/bass)
and Tavis Baird (back up vocals/guitar) –

is a very intense, technically polished rock band with crazy mad skills. They have been together for 12 years but only formally became a band in October 2005. Each member brought an unparalleled depth of experience with him. Tavis sat down with me so that I could find out more about their “magic” which seemingly includes blowing circuit breakers (clever and surprisingly relaxed on-stage banter ensued while matters were rectified…).

Tavis tells me that finishing their first self-titled album was a monumental moment for the band. STPM recently had a chance to play a big music festival in New Orleans, LA, for 120,000 people. “We got to play with Raise Against the Machine and Smashing Pumpkins,” a still-elated Tavis told me. “The weekend before this TIMA showcase, one of my favourite punk rock bands growing up – we playing with them in Barrie. About 800 people showed up. It was a pretty good show!”
I asked Tavis about their overseas tour in November 2008. “Going to Europe was awesome! We did 29 shows in 31 days through 14 countries. They were very, very well-received shows. We had a blast!”

Highlights? “Some were the most unexpected shows. We played a high school in Lithuania. We went back a week and a half later and played a different high school for similar kids. All these kids – they saved up money and had fundraisers so that we could have an authentic Lithuanian meal. Stuff like that was pretty awesome.”

Lowlights? “We got a ticket in Germany on our vehicle for being overweight. We were slowing down traffic going up a hill. (laughing) Because of the delay (with the police), we ended up missing one show.”

European fans vs Canadian fans? “My gut feeling – Montreal is a lot like Europe. It’s got that crowd of people that’ll go out to a show and they don’t even know what it is. Definitely the European promoters were all so professional.. They had a meal waiting for you when you got there. They never screwed around on your pay. They treated you like…” I jumped in, “Like rock stars!” “Yes! (laughing) Canada is half and half. Some (promoters) try to ‘shave off’ like, your gas money!” (we both laugh)
STPM is busy at work right now with a distribution company to re-release their cd.. Check them out!

http://www.myspace.com/sinistertrailerparkmagic
http://www.sinistertrailerparkmagic.com

The MacHams
It is, at once, apparent that The MacHams have a legion of fans. They were screaming, “Encore!” at the end of the guys’ set. Midway through, loyalty was rewarded with a generous toss of tshirts. Three multi-instrumental brothers – Jean-Pierre Dabbagh (“JP diddy”), Noel Dabbagh (“N Dash”), and George Dabbagh (“G Dash”) and joined by bassist Chris Campbell for live performances – deliver pop-rock music loaded with lyrics about the joys, uncertainties, and pitfalls of relationships (“Vulnerable”, “Ways to Go”, “If You Only Knew”).

In two months, The MacHams will be releasing their first full length album. “All the writing in the band is done by me and JP,” explains George. “You can tell which songs I write and what songs he writes,” he continues. “Sometimes we get inspiration from the weirdest places. If we’re watching a tv show like, ‘Boy Meets World’, we’re like, ‘You know what? This would be a good idea for a song’. One time, one of JP’s friends said, ‘Write a song based on one word.’ I said, ‘Give me a word.’ He goes, ‘Vaudeville’. So based on that one word, I wrote a whole song.” (laughing) George sums up the band’s writing process, “Really, we come up with something we’re both happy with”.
JP tells me, “The deepest thing is that we’re all brothers. Music is our entire life.” George adds, “It’s the relationship that we have with each other.” Both agree that the idea of forming a band ignited in 2002 with YouTube. The brothers were involved in the Catholic church and they first played for their church choir.

BD: What can you tell me about all your fans that were here tonight and making their presence known? (laughing)
George: They’re good people (also laughing)
BD: Are they friends of yours?
George: It started like 5 years ago when we started playing shows. We brought our friends. And, the next show, our friends brought their friends. It just kept getting bigger and bigger! Now, there’s a big group following us wherever we play. We really appreciate that. We take time to go out and say, “Hi” to them!

http://www.myspace.com/themachams
www.themachams.com

Pyramid Theorem, a progressive/metal/rock band from Richmond Hill, ON, opened with an epic song that featured an intricately stunning guitar solo that commanded all attention. From the back of The Central, I witnessed a crowd of many slowly and steadily, one by one, pulled to the edge of their seats, ultimately becoming a collective “one” while the band’s futuristic sound incrementally expanded outwards as though on a never-ending journey. The experience was astounding. “The Agency” was followed by “Forever in Chains”. It, too, was a big ass song that had the ability to take you on, what felt like, a blind rollercoaster ride. The entire place was hooked.
The band continued to build on that phenomenal opening platform. Near the end of the last song, the drummer delivered a massive piece (at one point he literally stood up playing from his kit) that nearly brought me to my knees – it was that fucking awesome. Pass me the nitro…..

Christian Di Mambro – bass
Stephan Di Mambro – guitar, keys, vocals
Sam Ermilini – guitar, vocals
and Vito De Francesco – drums
are the Canadian talent to watch. These guys came to their TIMA showcase with their band manager, Anthony Positano, a slick epk professionally printed in colour on glossy finish, packaged cd’s to spare, and their logo and branding firmly in place. They are as serious in the business aspect as they are in their music.

BD: Pyramid Theorem received a high rating on review of your cd “Voyage to the Star” (released in the summer of 2008) by Brutalism.com. How important was that rating to you?
Vito: It makes a big difference on our confidence level. And, it just goes to show we can do something with our music. It does reach out to people. It means a lot to us.
BD: What fuels your passion for your music?
Vito: Definitely, for me, on the musical side, would be my influences. It definitely plays into how I play and how we write music. But playing live, I love seeing the crowd getting into our music. Like I’m the furthest back (on stage). When I look out from behind the kit, if I see people looking at each other and talking and like rocking out, I feel great!
Stephan: To do something with my life.. People listening to our music. They can interpret it how it affects their life. And to just get out in the working world.
Sam: Listening to all other kinds of music, stuff that I like. It makes me happy and I’m sure it makes other people happy when they hear somebody they really like. It really gets me going. I like to have that reaction like what Vito said. Like seeing everyone, they’ve got smiles on their faces, and they’re rockin’ out. It’s a great feeling.
Christian: When I hear new music and I don’t know the songs. I listen to them more and more. I like to get to know them. I just want people to do that with our music.
BD: How do you want the audience to remember you? When they leave your show?
Sam: When you close your eyes, you can picture something. I really don’t want to say, “Oh, we sound like Rush or Dream Theater or Yes.” I want to get the crowd’s reaction saying we sound like Pyramid Theorem. I want them to come out of the show, “Oh, did you see that drummer? Keyboards? Bass? The guitar?”
Vito: I don’t want to be remembered, “Oh, these guys sound like them”. I want, “You know what? These guys are Pyramid Theorem and they’re…”
Sam: “… a distinct sound.”
Vito: You can listen to our cd and it will take you somewhere. And, to see us live, it just brings you somewhere else. Like, we’re a live band. The cd does us justice but seeing us live is the real thing.
Sam: Our music is supposed to be up on stage, live. Making the music and presenting it to someone.
Christian: And even if people don’t appreciate it and they’re not into the whole, long, complicated parts or different arrangements, at least they’ll be like, “Oh, that guitar player really shreds out.”
Sam: We just want to get that image, “We’re Pyramid Theorem. We’re not like anyone else.” That’s who we are. That’s what we sound like. We have our own sound.

http://www.myspace.com/thejohnnysrock

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