C/O Yoohyun Park
Stringent restrictions on clubs and gathering spaces have changed student nightlife
Nights on the town replaced by Netflix parties, social gatherings constrained to a Zoom screen — those have been the realities of the university social scene for the last year. The spaces once meant for dancing and screaming at the top of your lungs just to find your voice gone the next day have disappeared over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. The hole left by where these social spaces once stood is felt not only by students, but also by business owners and the greater Hamilton community.
Restrictions and guidelines for nightclubs, music venues and entertainment establishments have been especially stringent over the course of the pandemic, largely due to concerns over the ability to enforce mask-wearing and social distancing. As a result, a number of local nightlife hotspots have had to creatively rethink the way they operate and do business within the Hamilton community.
“Nightclubs weren't even able to open up — we're lucky because we had seating and an in-house food menu. If you didn't have seats, you weren't able to open until July 2021, so we removed all our couches from the VIP area and moved bottle service onto the dance floor. It turned into a seated party,” said Dash Majithia, manager of Zen Lounge.
Brodie Schwendiman, owner and operator of The Casbah, a live music venue on King Street West, echoed similar sentiments in regards to the ways they’ve adapted their business to meet demands of ever-changing restrictions.
“From an operational standpoint, the main way we have changed how we interact with the community would be that we have a patio now . . . People know Casbah as a place to go to see music bands or listen to a DJ. Most people wouldn’t go to The Casbah for dinner so it required a lot of extra promotional energy,” explained Schwendiman.
Though the transformation of these spaces into mainly food establishments has allowed them to continue operating given the less stringent restrictions on restaurants, there’s been a disappearance of the floors once meant for dance, crowding and heat islands of energy.
The limited operations of these gathering spaces has negative ramifications on the student social scene and larger Hamilton nightlife.
“Why do people want to go to the nightclub? To talk to other people, to dance — all of the things that were not allowed. [At Zen Lounge] you had to sit in your group that you came with. There was a max of six or eight people per table. You weren't allowed to dance. You weren't allowed to walk around and mingle,” said Majithia.
There finally seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel in terms of McMaster students’ return to campus. However, having been away from campus for so long, there is now an entire generation of undergrads who have never had a ‘normal’ undergraduate social experience. And, those social experiences aren’t always easy to find — especially right now.
Schwendiman went on to describe that, even before the pandemic, there were difficulties for small music venues like his in reaching a student audience. Non-campus-affiliated groups had a more difficult time advertising events geared towards students in the areas around campus and the variable commute to off-campus venues added a barrier to access for many.
However, nightlife establishments have now almost completely lost their student client base. In a niche market where business owners often came to know their regular student visitors on a first-name basis, the undergrad and student crowds have been especially sparse as of late.
“I feel like we've lost touch with all these groups in the last few years because the people that were coming to us to do their parties and stuff moved on. The kids never came back,” said Majithia.
On the brink of a full return to campus for the Winter 2022 semester, students back in the Hamilton area can slowly find their way into the hustle and bustle of student life and with it, the nightlife of the surrounding areas.
“Finding the time is sometimes challenging, but what I would say to students is that I encourage them to carve out time to do their own research about Hamilton's cultural scene. Online, there's all kinds of places to learn about what's going on. Social media is such an important thing now, so it's very easy to access what's going on just by surfing around,” said Schwendiman.
Despite the difficulties posed by restrictions that nightlife establishments have dealt with in the face of the pandemic, business owners and the Hamilton community are excited to welcome students back to the area. Take a night off and see what it means to experience the vibrant social spheres of the Hamilton community.
By: Anisha Rajkunar
The lights cut out abruptly, and the sound of melancholic chords progressed. What followed was a warm welcome from the anxiously awaiting Hamilton crowd.
On Nov. 7 the Casbah played host to synth-pop indie darlings, the Zolas.
Hailing from Vancouver, Zachary Gray, Cody Hiles and Dwight Abell, accompanied by Tom Heuckendorff on piano, knew just how to keep the crowd going on a chilly fall night.
The group has just embarked on a tour, which was kickstarted with a free performance at Sonic Boom in Toronto.
The final track on their 2016 record Swooner, “Why Do I Wait,” started their set. Gray stated that this was one of his favourite songs on the album. They had never played it live before the Sonic Boom performance that took place the night before.
The Casbah crowd was lucky enough to be serenaded by it as well. Gray’s inspirations for this song were sparked from his life, his friend’s life and from Canadian musician Sean Nicholas Savage’s live performances.
“That’s the kind of show that I want to have. Like when you leave, you feel a bit of a kinship to the other people who were there that night.”
Zachary Gray
Vocalist/guitarist
The Zolas
“I remember watching this video of him [Sean Nicholas Savage] playing at Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona just looking way too high. The song is [about] being into somebody and being crazy about someone, always holding a candle to them when you know… the timing will never be right.”
A few years ago, the band was in Venice and had a day off on their tour.
Gray and his bandmates had a “hilariously cliché romantic encounter” where they spent the night on a boat in order to see as much of the city as they possibly could in that one night.
“That’s what the end of the song is about. It’s about making a connection to someone in a setting like that where it’s almost too cliché to believe it’s happening.”
Through the song Gray reflects on being the center of attention as a performer, a sentiment that was also inspired by the Sean Nicholas Savage concert footage.
“You can be an absolute star for an hour and a half in one evening and you can finish that set and as soon as you’re off stage, you’re a pretty normal person, especially once you’ve left the venue and you go home. You might play a show for 10,000 people and within two hours once you’ve finished that show, you’re at home eating macaroni and cheese with nothing to do.”
Gray described their live performance as feeling the warmth of the crowd.
For “Escape Artist,” Gray took his microphone and a small keyboard into the middle of the crowd and played amongst them with the phone flashlights of fans illuminating the experience.
“It’s nice to make a moment that that feels less sort of pedagogical, where it’s not just us on stage and [the audience] watching us on stage with all the lights on us [and them] in the dark.”
“For a secular society, you need these evenings where people come together and are in the same room, listening to the same words and participating in broader ideas. That’s the kind of show that I want to have. Like when you leave, you feel a bit of a kinship to the other people who were there that night… you’re all going to go out and you’re going to make a little bit of a change.”
The Zolas are all about embracing the moment on stage. From Abell’s electrifying dance moves, to catching cheeky smirks between Hiles and Gray, they truly soak it in.
In the future, the Zolas plan to release singles as soon as they finish mixing them.
If you want to hear a new song sooner you may catch it at one of their live shows first, as they performed an unreleased track called “Ultramarine” at The Casbah, and we can expect to hear more from the Zolas in the coming year.
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When Detour played their set at the Casbah for McMaster’s Battle of the Bands finals this year, they did not expect to win.
Although they had supporters in the crowd, they realized that the venue had hit maximum capacity due to the amount of people their competitors drew to the audience.
Despite their pessimism, Detour earned a surprise win.
Comprised of Emman Alavata, Victor Zhang, Marco Goldblatt and Jaden Raso, the fresh-faced power pop outfit is the quintessential edgy, gritty, practice-in-mom’s-garage boy band from the high school days of yesteryear.
Detour started in the hallways of Westdale Secondary School, where Alavata walked into the wrong classroom in Grade 9 and ended up discussing the Foo Fighters with Zhang for the duration of that class.
Detour has credited their success as a band to the supportive atmosphere of Hamilton’s music scene, where venues like the Casbah and This Ain’t Hollywood book artists of a wide variety of styles and at varying stages of their careers.
“Arkells, [Counterparts, Teenage Head, The Dirty Nil]… all of these bands have set the bar so high… but [the supportive community in Hamilton really helps]… I remember [Brodie Schwendiman] from the Casbah booking us to open for Dear Rouge when we just started out… we went up to them a year ago and they still remembered us,” said Alavata.
Since the band’s inception in 2014, Detour has released 19 songs in total through several EPs and their debut full-length album.
The group describes their music as happy/sad power pop, referencing their heavy power pop influences and how their music seems happy at first but is actually quite sad in nature.
Detour’s music derives from a mix of personal narratives and occasionally unconventional topics that reflect the stage of life they are at.
This combination and their relatable ethos has garnered them a supportive following.
"Arkells, [Counterparts, Teenage Head, The Dirty Nill]... all of these bands have set the bar so high... but [the supportive community in Hamilton really helps.]"
Emman Alvata
Detour
“I think the most memorable moment [in our career as a band] was sometime in April of last year when we were playing our song ‘By the Fire’… everybody in the audience started to sing along and none of us [on stage] expected that at all,” said Alavata.“It felt so good.”
“That was the first time I felt like everyone in the room — us on the stage and [the audience] in the crowd — was connected through song,” said Zhang.
Before Detour, their band name was Mexican Fajitas Squad.
All of their social media handles still contain the abbreviation, “MFS,” as an ode to their humble beginnings.
The band members are all fans of artists like Bon Iver and Gorillaz.
They practice and record in Zhang’s basement. Some of their members are still attending high school, but their love for making music together resonates.
This air of relatable humility that gives Detour such a refreshing quality: they take their craft seriously, but they don’t take themselves too seriously.
One day, they hope to sign with Dine Alone Records. But for now, they’re just kicking back and preparing to represent McMaster at the Battle of the Bands Provincials in a few short weeks.
“For me, [the hope is] just for more people to hear our songs… I’m really happy when we get even the smallest positive comment about our music because [music is such a big part of all of our lives]… our goal is to just have more people hear our stuff, for more people to truly enjoy it,” said Zhang.
Nightbox is a Toronto band fresh off the release of their excellent second EP, The Pain Sequence. They are playing a show at The Casbah on Monday, June 9. They took a few moments to speak with ANDY while on tour.
How old are each of you now?
We’re all a little older than last year.
You were slated to release new music last year, but that fell through. What happened?
We considered releasing a full-length last year but decided to hold off. We simply weren’t fully satisfied with the tracks. We only ever want to release something we’re completely happy with. So, we started fresh, and that’s when The Panic Sequence happened.
The Panic Sequence is your second EP and also your second time around working with Sebastien from DFA 1979 and Al-P from MSTRKRFT. How has that experience been?
Apart from ‘Burning’, we produced The Panic Sequence ourselves in our Toronto home. It was a great experience working with Al-P and Sebon our debut EP. We learned a lot from those guys and they brought out a new energy and creativity in us. We felt it would be cool to take what we learned and have a go producing an EP ourselves this time around.
Did you learn anything about the way you guys work with regards to songwriting or just your own inter-band chemistry that helped make the recording process with TPS a little easier?
Producing The Panic Sequence ourselves, we had more flexibility to experiment with various sound textures and ideas. We tried a lot of different ideas until something stuck. Once it did, we tried to not over-produce it, giving the tracks a more energetic, raw vibe.
You guys have built up quite a fan base for yourselves through touring and your first EP making the rounds on music blogs, are there any plans of satisfying them with a full-length LP in the near future?
There are no set plans to release a full length just yet but we’ve been constantly writing new songs. We’re going to start recording those tracks as soon as we’re finished this tour. There will definitely be more music coming from us real soon.
You played a few dates with Albert Hammond Jr. in the UK earlier this month. He’s coming off his own successful EP but he’s more famous for the work he’s done with The Strokes. Did he have any wisdom to impart to you guys about attaining longevity with a band or anything else for that matter?
He’s now a health buff. Eats right, works out, and all that jazz. We’ve all realized that you’ve got to find a balanced lifestyle on the road; otherwise you’ll wear yourself out. We try and make time for exercise when we can. It helps balance out the late nights.
Josh Ruf
The Silhouette
Headlining one’s own show is no small accomplishment, but a couple of weeks ago Dana Swarbrick did just that.
“It was quite the challenge,” Swarbrick said of her Jan. 14 performance at the Casbah, marking another step forward in Swarbrick’s small-but-growing musical career.
Swarbrick’s story begins with her aspiring to sing with the high school vocal jazz group Bluesettes & Co. Despite being the only grade nine accepted into the group, it was not as though her vocal abilities did not sprout overnight.
“I did not have a very good voice [then],” Swarbrick said. “I owe everything to that group in terms of where I get my voice, because of all the practice.” She would perform with that group throughout high school.
Despite all this experience, people are still often surprised by Swarbrick’s age. “People often find out that I’m nineteen, they are appalled, probably because of my confidence,” said Swarbrick.
If you’ve seen Swarbrick live, you’ll know she makes the stage her own with her countless puns and silly jokes. “Being part of a group of people that love music and that perform together does a huge thing for your confidence,” she said. “I encourage everyone to find something they are passionate about and get involved.”
Swarbirck found many such opportunities for involvement at McMaster, where she is also a psychology and social cognition major. “Last year I just did a lot of coffee houses on campus” Swarbrick said. “I joined MacBEAT and I fell in love with that club.” She’s not exaggerating, she’s married to it on Facebook.
The group meets Thursday’s in MUSC and just jams. “It was cool because it was everything I was learning about, playing music with a group fosters social cohesion,” she said.
Swarbrick’s first paid gig, in early September, was also an exercise in social cohesion. “I got $20 for opening for my friends, Boy With an Atlas,” said Swarbrick. “I think it was a pretty good show, so good in fact that the guy who manages the Casbah, Brodie, tracked me down a couple months later on Facebook, and sent me a message saying: ‘Hey I saw you open for Boy With an Atlas, do you want to open for Hannah Georgas?’” Swarbrick was ecstatic.
When asked how she was approached to headline a show, Swarbrick credited her “huge support system at McMaster.”
A venue only allows someone to headline a show if enough people will attend; the impressive numbers that Swarbrick brought to Hannah Georges showed she had not only the talent, but the support as well.
“I was so filled with love, and all the support was amazing that night,” she said, looking back on her first headlining gig.
Swarbrick recently released her first EP, called Fireflies and Starlight, and is continuing to play small venues around Hamilton. She will open for The Treble at the Casbah on Feb. 11.
Photo by Ted Buck/My Shot in the Dark
