This is part one of a three part series. Throwback Thursday looks to explore the past, present and future of Hamilton’s music scene through the eyes of those within.
The Hamilton music scene is ever-changing. The rise of Supercrawl over the past decade has given local bands a public platform that they might not have had access to otherwise. Through this Throwback Thursday series, I seek to uncover the recent history of Hamilton’s music scene, and how the city has developed the unique musical identity that it’s known for today. This will take the form of three profile-based articles focusing on interactions with the past, present and future of Hamilton’s music scene.
We will begin with a snapshot of Hamilton’s music scene in the 1990s. Our guide is a former Silhouette Arts & Culture Editor, and co-author of Canadian alt-rock music book "Have Not Been The Same".
Ian A.D. Jack began studying Kinesiology at McMaster in 1992. Although his studies were heavily focused on physiology and physical movement, Jack had a passion for music that stemmed from his childhood.
Jack recalled living in Thunder Bay as a child in the 80s, going to the local library and borrowing vinyl records which exposed him to a wide range of music. When Jack’s parents divorced, he turned to music as a comforting mechanism.
Photo C/O Ian A.D. Jack
“Music has been my saviour all along,” said Jack.
With the late 80s came the surge of bands such as U2, The Smiths and New Order, creating a new wave of music. Music was getting louder, heavier, but strangely more melodic as well. Jack was captivated by this style. He tried to emulate their sounds, find out as much as he could about the bands and build his music collection.
While Jack was at McMaster, he would spend all of his extra money at Cheapies Records and Tapes (67 King St. East), a staple record store in Hamilton’s music scene that is still around today. Cheapies does not confine itself to one type of music, allowing anybody to find their own interests in their vinyl record bins. After his first year of university he began writing for the Sil, after realizing that he would be sent new music for free so long as he wrote something about it.
“It was a great way of funding my habits and became a gateway for me to meet a lot of artists and my heroes,” said Jack.
In the past, the Sil used to have a dedicated pull-out section called Hamilton Entertainment Arts Directory, or HEAD. This section featured movie and album reviews, but also had a heavy focus on reviewing and interviewing local Hamilton-based bands. Jack wrote his first article for HEAD about alternative rock band, Rhymes with Orange. He continued writing for HEAD in his third year and became co-Arts Editor in his final year of school. HEAD was an important way for students to understand the music scene in Hamilton.
In addition to profiling Hamilton music, Jack’s section also featured interviews with bands such as Oasis and Blur. HEAD also ran interviews with notable people in the movie industry such as actor/director Kevin Smith, actor Don McKellar and director Noah Bombock.
In the 90s, there were two pubs on campus that hosted live music. The Rathskeller, now Bridges Café, typically housed Hamilton-based bands, and the Downstairs John, which has since been demolished to make room for L.R. Wilson Hall, typically hosted more well known Canadian bands. Jack described the city’s music scene as being rougher than it is today due to the minimal amount of exposure artists received as well as the undeveloped, underground scene they were playing in.
“Now, you have some more prominent artists like The Arkelles and White Horse, and you have Supercrawl. That festival didn’t exist [before],” said Jack.
Jack also recalls off-campus venues that would host live music. The largest of these clubs was called X-Club, housed on the second floor of a building at King William Street and John Street North downtown. Up and coming indie bands such as Jale, Doughboys and Pure would perform. Jack remembers tall posts extending from the floors to the ceiling, obstructing audience sightlines. Nevertheless, it was a great place to catch an indie show.
La Luna (306 King St. West), was another spot that would host smaller bands or acoustic sets. While primarily functioning as a Lebanese restaurant, it had a small space for live performances, hosting the likes of Dave Rave, Jale and Jacob Moon. This venue is still open today.
Jack noted that The Corktown (175 Young St.) sometimes felt dilapidated, but it hosted a number of punk and alt-rock bands. For that reason, it remained one of his favourite places to watch live music in Hamilton. One notable band who performed at Corktown was Junkhouse, a rock band helmed by Tom Wilson. This venue is still open today and frequently hosts live music.
While not primarily a place for live music, Fever, now Absinthe (38 King William St.), was a dance club playing alt-rock music. This style of music started to gain traction with more and more people throughout the city.
Throughout Jack’s university years in Hamilton, a few major genres dominated the Steel City’s music scene. Punk rock was made prominent in part to Teenage Head; rock n’ roll was from Junkhouse; folk rock came from groups like Crash Vegas; and power pop from bands like The Killjoys.
“Hamilton is like the Brooklyn to Toronto’s New York,” said Jack when describing the 90s music scene.
In Jack’s earlier years, many Toronto-based artists moved to Hamilton as rent was more affordable west of the city. The same is true of New York-based artists who move to Brooklyn.
“It’s financially logical and you also have a collective of creative people that can afford to be creative,” added Jack.
Jack graduated from McMaster in 1996 and went on to teach music in the elementary sector; however, his writing endeavours didn’t stop with the Sil. He co-wrote a book in 2001 called "Have Not Been The Same" that focused on the development of alternative rock in Canada from 1985 to 1995. Through this project, Jack had the chance to interview local Hamilton-based bands from his university days, such as Doughboys and Jale, in a process that came full circle for him.
On a more personal note, I had the pleasure of being taught by ‘Mr. Jack’ from grade four to six. Since my graduation from elementary school, we’ve kept in contact over the years. By coincidence, I also found my way to McMaster for my post-secondary education. When I told him I had accepted my offer, he told me to look into writing for the Sil. My first year was really about finding my own footing at the school, as is the case for many other students, which is why I wasn’t able to pursue his advice. At the start of my second year, he told me to reconsider writing for the Sil. I took him up on his advice and the rest, as they say, is history.
An inspiration not only to my music, but also to my personal morals and values and seemingly to my journalism career, thank you, Ian.
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By: Sal Sbrega
“We are just trying to get our music to as many people as possible” said Bono, lead singer of the hit rock band U2, in a Time Magazine interview. He was speaking of the deal the band made to release their new album “Songs of Innocence” for a free download on iTunes.
What Bono fails to mention is the $100 million payout they received as compensation from Apple, and the backlash that iTunes is receiving. Was this a bad idea on Apple’s part?
If you care about this music lover’s opinion: absolutely. For starters, not everyone likes U2 and maybe they do not want their music on their phone. If there is anything, iTunes should be aware of is how seriously people take their music libraries. Furthermore, there is also the fact that your album is downloaded without your consent and without a warning.
Could that not be viewed as an invasion of privacy? A Selena Gomez mega-fan living in Toronto seemed to think it was such an invasion of privacy that she contacted the Toronto Police. Of course, it did not escalate any further once they explained that it was not a police matter.
Aside from that, many people who were given the unwanted U2 album did not know how to remove it from their music libraries. Apple responded by creating a support website and an app that will help the user remove it. It would seem that Apple got the short end of the stick, what with having to respond to the immense backlash from the public, and having paid around $100 million in exchange.
After learning all of the details around Apple’s misfortune, I’m wondering why they chose to do it in the first place. Why did U2’s album deserve more support from Apple than any other album in its music store?
I don’t think it was an act of ignorance, as I am sure Apple took polls to figure out if U2 still held some popularity. I think it was an act of arrogance. I imagine that Apple executives were thinking something along these lines: “who doesn’t like free music?” or maybe even “yes! U2 is a great band and are definitely still as popular as they once were,” and of course, “anyone who uses iTunes will be so grateful!”
Clearly, they were wrong. On the other end, it is clear to me why U2 wanted the deal. It was a wise financial decision and they’ve made way more in this deal than they would had they released it conventionally.
Sharon Osbourne seemed particularly angry with the band and wasn’t afraid to say so on Twitter.
“U2, you are business moguls not musicians anymore,” she said. “No wonder you have to give your mediocre music away for free ‘cause no one wants to buy it.” A little harsh? Maybe.
I think she’s right. Thanks to this deal, they’ve gone from musicians to businessmen who profited from their established reputation.
But this isn’t about U2’s arrogance, which was obvious to anyone who heard of the deal. It was Apple’s lack of foresight and evidently bad decision that is the most baffling. Now, they have to pay the price for their mistake. Although, I doubt Apple has anything to worry about with their new iPhone 6 coming out.
