By: Vanessa Polojac
Peterbrough punk rock trio, and rock camp alumni Lonely Parade brought their hard-hitting vocals and grunge guitar to Barton Street’s HAVN as part of their 2017 Canadian tour.
Lonely Parade is a composed of childhood friends Augusta Veno (guitar/vocals), Charlotte Dempsey (bass/vocals) and Anwyn Climenhage (drums).
The trio were initially inspired to pursue music after joining Rock Camp for Girls! a children’s camp based in Peterborough, ON that gives a performance platform to female, non-binary and trans children and allows them to experiment within the genre of rock music.
“I played a guitar for the first time at rock camp. The ideology [at] the camp is to give opportunity to those who don’t normally get microphones put in front of them,” explained Veno.
Veno, Demspsey and Climenhage all attended the summer camp during separate moments in their lives and were highly influenced by the guidance they were given during their time there.
The band members discovered many successful women in music such as traditional rock n roll acts like Joni Mitchell and American pop-punk bands like the Care Bears on Fire. Growing up together music had a large influence on the friendship between the three of them.
During their time spent at the camp they individualized their style and eventually pursued musical projects of their own. They would often jam together at their parents’ parties before deciding to come together as Lonely Parade in 2011.
“We came to the realization that we wanted to start Lonely Parade when both of our little brothers had formed bands of their own,” said Veno.
“All three of us had an mutual understanding that we were going to pursue a musical journey together.”
Since then, Lonely Parade has released two studio albums: Sheer Luxury (2014) and No Shade (2016), numerous EPs including Splenda Thief (2015) and She Can Wait (2014) and had songs like “Girl” performed on Exclaim! TV.
“I think the listener can hear an evolution within our band. When we started out we were just a bunch of punk teens now we’ve grown into being young adults,” said Dempsey.
Although the band identify themselves as feminists, they would like to distance themselves from the notion of just being a female rock band. As a non-binary person Climenhage is conflicted with the ideologies that come along with being in a perceived all-girl rock band.
“All three of us had a mutual understanding that we were going to pursue a musical journey together.”
Agusta Veno
Guitarist/vocalist
Lonely Parade
“We think our music speaks separately to our political views. Many people assume or project a certain image or label on us that we personally do not agree with,” said Climenhage.
The past five years Lonely Parade has been touring throughout southern Ontario, unfortunately receiving unwelcomed remarks about their gender identities along the way.
“I don’t think about my gender when I go out in public so when people constantly comment about me being a woman in rock music I find it unnecessary,” explained Dempsey.
Style is an aspect of the band that Lonely Parade take seriously and gives them a platform to express their individuality in spite of attempts to collectivize the group with inappropriate labels.
“I think the way we portray ourselves shows our individuality. Like for instance I take inspiration and go for an androgynous style like Jayden and Willow Smith,” said Climenhage.
Lonely Parade is currently working on a third studio album and will be touring across Canada for the rest of 2017, with plans to return to Hamilton as soon as possible.
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