Performers 2005

Les Alumettes (Ottawa, ON)
Saturday, Sept 17 • Club SAW
Les Alumettes play melodic rock with a fiery spirit. Influences include punk rock, polka dots and French Immersion education. They are made up of drummer, Heather (ex-Holy Hell), guitarist, Nina and bassist & singer, Natasha (both ex-Sophomore Level Psychology), guitarist and singer, Christina (of No Fixed Musical Address), and the most recent addition, all around musical contributor, Dave (ex-Black Tomato). All of us are active in the Ottawa music and arts scene as show promoters, sound technicians, arts and crafters or designers. We are very fond of Ladyfest Ottawa, which is responsible for all of us meeting in the first place. The band formed in fall of 2004 and has played shows with Les Georges Leningrad, the Golden Famille and the New Spring Line.

Among Ashes (Ottawa)
Thursday, Sept 15,Mavericks
Biography: Among Ashes is an Ottawa based band, ranging in influences from Black Metal and Death metal to metalcore and prog. Bringing an extremely unique and experimental style of music to the underground scene. Former STILL BREATHING vocalist Slick (now known as Lanie Klipp) has recently joined Ottawa metalcore band as vocalist. AMONG ASHES, who are currently unsigned, recently released their new ep.

Badtrippe (Gatineau)
Thursday, Sept 15, Mavericks
BADTRIPPE is a 4 piece grindcore band from Hull, Qc (Canada)

Kat Burns (Toronto, ON)
Sunday, Sept 18 • Club SAW
http://www.playthetriangle.com/
Kat Burns grew up within the clutches if suburbia, in Whitby, ON. She transplanted herself to Toronto in late 2003 and has been making pretty noise ever since. She released her debut e.p. ‘for the birds’ in May 2003, in a limited hand packaged edition.

The Cliks (Toronto, ON)
Saturday, Sept 17 • Club SAW
http://www.thecliks.com/
This high-powered, finely tuned, garage pop trio came together in 2004 after Lilia Silveira decided that acoustic guitars were for boys with soft hearts. After 3 years of fronting a band under her now name, singer/songwriter Lilia, craved a stronger, louder, more unified sound. As a result Lilia’s search for a stripped down three-piece rock band, The Cliks were created. The Cliks are Lilia Silveira on vocals and guitar, Jordan B. on bass, and Morgan Doctor on drums. Exploding onto the Toronto live music scene, they have emerged as solid performers and have released their self-titled debut LP within one year of birth.

Pixie Cram (Ottawa, ON)
Saturday, Sept 17 • SAW Gallery Courtyard
Pixie Cram began playing the guitar and writing songs at the age of 23. She has performed her music at open mics in Montreal and at Ottawa Café Nostalgica. In 2004, she released two music videos for her songs. The videos have screened at the Red Festival in Toronto and at a Ladyfest Ottawa benefit this past spring.

The Cuntettes (Ottawa, ON)
Friday, Sept 16 • Club SAW
The Cuntette’s are a perfect example of good girls who do bad things! Originally an offshoot of the Femme Affinity Group of Ottawa (FAG-O), these sexy and diverse burlesque troop has performed at Vazaleen (Saw Gallery, Ottawa 2004) and Genderfuckt (Sneeky Dee’s, Toronto 2005) as well as organizing the wildly successful heart on Burlesque show (Saw Gallery, Ottawa 2005) which raised funds for the Sexual Assault Support Centre of Ottawa (SASK). They are glitter and filth, stilettos and stomping boots, butterfly kisses and break-up fucks, they are femme.

Daydream Square (Ottawa, ON)
Saturday, Sept 17 • SAW Gallery Courtyard
http://www.daydreamsquare.com/
By the time of Ladyfest Ottawa, Daydream Square will have completed their first East Coast tour.  They started as a four-piece instrumental band and have transformed into a four-piece instrumental band with a few lyrics thrown into the mix.  They are a noisy space pop band that loves fuzz.  They have released one CD called Daydream Square 1 and have performed around Ottawa, Toronto and the East Coast since forming in 1993.

Denise Dill (Bloomington, IN)
Sunday, Sept 18 • Club SAW
http://www.denisedill.com/
Denise Dill has been a making music in her bones since the age of eight. Whether it was on piano, voice, violin, alto and tenor sax, or marimba her body needed music to power her heart just as much as it needed blood. At fifteen, she took up the guitar to impress a crush, but soon left that behind as her song writing quickly evolved. In the midst of her college years and beyond she has performed both locally and nationally while also playing a key role in bringing queer and indie artists into the Bloomington area. Denise’s third solo album was released during her time attending Indiana University in August 2004. The eighteen songs encompassed on this self-titled CD are the culmination of two years of hard work and experience. Growing up in a trailer community in rural southern Indiana provided a deep connection with her community and the surrounding landscape. Both profoundly personal as well as political, Denise’s songs draw the listener in deep and hold on tight.

Flotilla (Montréal, PQ)
Sunday, Sept 18 • Club SAW
Flotilla is a Montreal band formed around singer/songwriter/guitarist Veronica Charnley, who has been entertaining audiences for the last five years. Joining her is drummer Mark Nicol plus some classically trained musicians with pop mentalities: composer Geof Holbrook in bass and electronics, and Eveline Gregoire-Rosseau on harp. The debut album is in the works, recorded with Dave Draves at Little Bullhorn Studios, and is set for an October 2005 release.

Galaxy (Toronto, ON)
Friday, Sept 16 • Club SAW
http://www.galaxy-girls.com/
Galaxy began with Katie and Emma in a small bedroom. They played together all the time and wrote a bunch of songs, but recognized the need for a drummer to make their sound complete. That realization led to a particularly important phone call to the genius drummer Maya, a girl who was still completing her high school diploma at a local arts school. It’s been just over a year since Galaxy became a real band, and since then has produced a number of demos, played a whole lot of shows everywhere in Toronto, and have really started to find their own original sound. They want to get really big. They probably will, too.

The Gossip (Olympia, WA)
Friday, Sept 23•Babylon Nightclub
Gossip is young + full of blood. We have existed for 4 years. We are a punk band consisting of 3. We are interested in art, change, the underground, dancing, fashion and movements. We will never die. This is life dedication to our action. We are from Arkansas (Beth & Brace) + Washington (Hannah). We have 2 full length albums, various 7"s & no pets among us. The new l.p. titled standing in the way of control comes is out on kill rock stars. The standing in the way of control dance 12" comes backed with a stellar remix by our homies LE TIGRE & art by KIM GORDON!!!

Sarah Hallman (Ottawa, ON)
Saturday, Sept 17•Club SAW
Sarah Hallman has been writing and recording songs for over 10 years.  Guitar and piano are her vehicles for construction intimately sung heart-felt songs that she refers to as "the hollowings".  In 2001, she completed a collection of songs which she herself performed, recorded and produced ("File next to: A tapestry woven in threads of sadness, clarity, insight, retrospect and beauty.")  Within the past few years, she has been focused on translating her musical expressions to live audiences, and collaborating with other musicians to experiment with dimension and depth within her songs.  She is currently in the process of recording a sophomore CD of songs which she has been performing in and around the Ottawa and Toronto area. "the hollowings is  a place both distance and home told through movement that blends seamlessly with the blurred view from car windows".

Hexes and Ohs (Montreal, PQ)
Sunday, Sept 18 • Club SAW
http://www.hexesandohs.ca/
Yes, Heidi Donnelly and Edmund Lam of Hexes & Ohs are a couple. But forget about enchanted love ballads or songs about domestic bliss. Hexes & Ohs are more about playing great pop songs than playing into old clichés. Over the last ten years, Ed and Heidi have experimented together in pop, grunge, experimental and shoe-gazer bands. Formerly of Jolly Bean and A Vertical Mosaic, and destined to not let their efforts and a fresh record label offer go to waste, Ed and Heidi christened themselves Hexes & Ohs , and channelled their decade of experience into explosive creative energy. They shut themselves in from the outside world, locked themselves in their apartment and wrote and recorded 60 minutes of the smartest, catchiest, most danceable electro pop they had ever created, packaged together to be the aptly titled "Goodbye Friend, Welcome Lover" album. The new album may very well be the couple's newborn baby, but it's definitely the most infectious pop album to spring from Montreal in recent memory.

Marie-Josée Houle (Ottawa, ON)
Saturday, Sept 17• SAW Gallery Courtyard
http://www.uglysocks.com/
Ever since her arrival in Ottawa two years ago, Marie-Josée Houle has certainly found her niche in the local music scene. Between co-hosting and co-producing a show about musicians for musicians on CKCU-FM, fronting a local, bilingual band Casadore, playing accordion and singing back-up for Casey Comeau & the Centretown Wilderness Club, and occasionally playing bass with The Hussies, this lady doesn’t know how to remain idle. She is presently recording a full-length CD with Casadore to be released this fall. Expect a full-length solo album in early 2006.

The Hot Springs (Montreal, PQ)
Saturday, Sept 17 • Babylon Nightclub
http://www.the-hot-springs.com/
The Hot Springs are Montreal's franglais boy-girl post-punk sensation!  Singer/Guitarist Giselle Webnber, whose voice has been compared to diva hotties like Bjork and Joan Jett, has been playing in punk bands since she was very small.  Same goes for hardcore drummer Karine Lauzon.  The indie-rock background of the 2 boys in the band adds a pretty little balance to the raw-edge of the girl team.  The band happily avoids the rock poze cheese, and delights the crowds with shoe-gazing avoiding on-stage merriment.

La formation franglaise The Hot Springs mixe sans pudeur rockn'roll et pop aux accents dancy-sexy. Sortez vos souliers de danse du placard et soyez prets a vous dehancer car la chaleur des Hot Springs va faire eclore les premieres fleure du printemps!

Hunter Valentine (Toronto, ON)
Friday, Sept 16 • Club SAW
http://www.huntervalentine.com/
Hunter Valentine is a three-piece rock band out of the Queen West area in Toronto. They officially formed in the summer of 2004 and together their influences cover a wide array of musical terrain. These international heartbreakers and music makers are : Kiyomi McCloskey (guitar, lead vocals), Laura Pertracca (drums, backing vocals), and Adrienne Lloyd (bass, keyboards).

The Hussies (Ottawa, ON)
Friday, Sept 23 • Babylon Nightclub
A two-piece thus far, the Hussies raw sound blends sweet and scratchy vocals with rhythmic, aggressive guitar and beats. The Hussies are always Stefani Guzman (voice, guitar), Joff Ward (drums), with frequent special guest, M. J. Houle (bass, accordion). The Hussies first studio effort will warm nights in the bitter cold of 2005.

I Hate Sally (Kingston, ON)
Thursday, Sept. 15 • Maverick’s
Born from the abysmal late 90's punk/metal scene in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, I Hate Sally has developed into one of Canada's most notable acts in the extreme music genre.  You will witness: tortuous sounds of '80's thrash-punk and modern death-metal; growling vocals waking the dead, echoing tales from the corrupt world that has forsaken them...and ultimately, a union of harmonious melody and brutal, venomous pandemonium.

My Shadow (Ottawa, ON)
Thursday, Sept. 15 • Maverick’s
My Shadow was born from the roots of metal back in of 2001. Walking toward the path of infinity, they changed their plan by going slightly astray. Keeping their hearts and roots well grounded wanting to experiment with newer, heavier stuff, and mostly put their creative minds together, and give a new face to word "Metal" by creating their own original material. With the musicianship coming out of the world's basement they are now able to produce creation out of this reality to a new dimension of sound.

ohbijou (Toronto, ON)
Sunday, Sept 18•Club SAW
Soft and loud.  Sweet and sour.  Boys and girls. Together and broken....Sometimes violins, sometimes organs, ohbijou plays music to swell your heart. Hailing from Brantford, ON but currently residing in Toronto, ohbijou started off as Casey Mecija writing and singing songs in her bedroom.  Inspired by artists such as Julie Doiron, Lou Barlow and Hayden, Casey began to play live shows as a solo act.  Jennifer Mecija then made it a duo offering back-up vocals, violin and organ.   Now they have a much larger family including Ryan Carly on keys and percussion, Jamie Bunton on drums and horns, Heather Kirby on bass and banjo and Anissa Hart on cello.  In the last year they have been lucky enough to share the stage with the likes of Julie Doiron, Jim Guthrie, the Fembots, Snailhouse and Final Fantasy.  They are currently finishing their first full-length CD with Mike Olsen of the Hidden Cameras at the helm of the project. With the new line-up ohbijou hopes you will be pleasantly surprised.

Pony Up! (Montréal, PQ)
Friday, Sept 23•Babylon Nightclub
There once were four girls,
Who started a band,
To play pretty music
Was all they had planned.

But from that moment on,
Life was never the same,
And for those who don't know,
Pony Up! was there name.

These girls know their stuff,
There is no dispute,
Love 'em or hate 'em,
Just don't call them cute.

To conquer the world
Is the Pony Up! plan,
To play their rock music,
And bring down "the man."

And the moral, my friends,
To this tale I've told,
You don't need a penis,
To play rock and roll.

Ratsicule (Toronto, ON)
Saturday, Sept 17 • Club SAW
http://www.ratsicule.com/
Kristi and Lisa Bardot were born on a fresh, newly-mown spring morning to totally different mothers, but in adjacent rooms, within minutes of one another, in a Paris hospital.  Although neither one understood the significance of their proximity at the time, it was immediately clear to the nurses that both infants bore an uncanny resemblance to a certain French pop star of the day.  At present, les soeurs Bardot live in the paradise of French culture that is Toronto, Ontario, where they have released a hit-making, ass-shaking album entitled Un Chaud Combo, played shows avec plus d'artistes chouette—Lederhosen Lucil, Alexis O'Hara, Kids On TV, Les Six, Fox the Boombox, Republic of Safety, the Phomenes and many more-and will soon release album deux upon unsuspecting fans.

Republic of Safety (Toronto, ON)
Saturday, Sept 17 • Club SAW
http://www.republicofsafety.ca/
Plans for the formation of the Republic of Safety were hatched at an International Congress in Toronto in December of 2003. The Republic was formed in early 2004. Its borders are in a constant state of flux, encompassing all regions and peoples willing to rock out. It is not separated into provinces or states, because citizens of the Republic believe in community and extremely close physical proximity while dancing. The abundance of such natural resources makes it a perfect place to immigrate to, if you are looking for a new home that will nurture your need to rock and/or dance. The founders of the Republic boast a long list of political credentials and revolutionary tools, including (but not limited to) membership in several musical ensembles, documentary filmmaking, election planning, opera, playwriting, community galvanizing, and command of the free press.

The Stolen Minks (Halifax, NS)
Friday, Sept 16•Club SAW
Facing another long Halifax winter with nowhere to dance, Stephanie, Tiina and Rachelle decided it was time for action. The girls recruited Erica to provide the driving beat behind their John Water-inspired rock-a-silly sound. Treating each show as fantasy rock-a-roll play time, The Stolen Minks have captured the hearts of Halifax. Their set pulls together obscure covers, well-known gems, and thrilling originals that show who’s boss.

Tempest (Montréal)
Thursday, Sept 15th, Mavericks
First forming in mid 2004, Tempest has been working hard performing, recording and writing ever since, and is soon to release their first album. This four-piece metal-core band combines each member's unique musical background to create an angry but sweet style of music. The unconventional rhythms of drummer Derek Nadon are the perfect compliment to the aggressive and dynamic sound of guitarist Danny Marino. The prominent bass lines of Chris Kells complete the high-energy songs and the extreme vocals of Alissa White-Gluz, ranging from heart-stopping growls to melancholy melodies, give the band an unexpected twist. Altogether, Tempest exudes an appeal that can be appreciated by a broad spectrum of listeners and viewers.

Torch Of War (Kingston)
Thursday, Sept 15, Mavericks
Torch of War started in early 2004 as a punk/metal band. After months and months of practicing, the band has developed their unique alternative/metal sound. With lyrics spanning from political outcries to fantasy and hate, duel guitars, trashing solos along with powerfull bass and drums Torch of Wars continues to rise.

Tribu Mazikeen (Ottawa, ON)
Saturday, Sept 17• SAW Gallery Courtyard
http://www.baladi.ca/instructors/oceanfire
Tribu Mazikeen is composed of dance artists Mylene Desjardins, Maya Jean, Mylene Laplante, Leslie McLaughlin (Ocean fire) and Isabelle Parker.  The group met at a Hawanem night at Dance Oasis in May 2004.  The group finally evolved into Tribu Mazikeen when we were asked by For the Love of Dance Coordinator, Hala Jamal, to create a piece for this event.  Tribu Mazikeen was received enthusiastically by the audience and by the Middle Eastern Dance community if Ottawa, and have since performed at several events, including fundraisers, professional shows, restaurants, and the MacLaren Healing Center's semi-annual art shows.  Tribu Mazikeen is a dedicated group of dance artists that are working to present the Tribal Style format as well as evolve it, as each member contributes to our development.

We are Wolves (Montreal, PQ)
Friday, Sept 23•Babylon Nightclub
A gang of three, four including rock. We are Wolves imposes a music that's both free and honest, like the celestial lightning on the mystic mountain. It's a post-punk landscape filled with analogue trees. It's like rock after the post-modern explosion.