For many bands, recording an album requires the discipline to tune out distractions and focus on the music.  Local group The Goodluck Assembly, however, had to deal with this challenge in the extreme this past October, when they faced Hurricane Sandy, one of the most destructive  storms to ever hit the United States, head-on. “It looked like the zombie apocalypse had come,” recalls Mike Libbos, as he describes the band’s experience recording the EP Demonstrations in New York City. The band had completed about 75 per cent of the five-song album  and were starting their third... | Continue reading article

A nice tune and cute video by Ottawa’s Little Stella, a Folk/Rock/Pop/Electronic group with hints of country. What started as a high school act in Manotick (what’s in the water over there, some kind of nuclear waste that turns all their kids into musicians?) The song is from their 2012 self-titled EP.

It’s not very often that a church is packed on a Tuesday morning, but that was the case this past week at St. Andrew’s Church in the Glebe. It was a full house as audience members came to see four notable cellists (Julian Armour, Denise Djokic, Paul Marleyn, and Stéphane Tétreault) perform both classical and modern pieces. Before the show, as the audience waited in line to find their seats, I couldn’t help but notice I was one of the few to represent my own age demographic. While the time slot for... | Continue reading article

Steve Adamyk is the front-man for the Steve Adamyk Band, one of the best bands going in Ottawa right now.  Their latest album Third was released this past February on Dirtnap Records.  Steve was nice enough to talk with me on Facebook about the group’s upcoming tour, the first punk bands he ever listened to, and more.  Below is a transcript of our discussion edited for length. Apartment613: What’s coming up in 2013 that you’re excited about? Steve Adamyk:  We’ve got a west-coast tour coming up in May, for starters, that we’re... | Continue reading article

Looking for something to do tonight? As a part of the launch of Northern Scene, a handful of galleries in Ottawa and Gatineau will be hosting events, exhibition openings and performances by some of the best talent coming from the North. Billed as “the largest gathering of artists from Yukon, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, Nunavik and Nunatsiavut”, the festival will showcase more than 250 artists over ten days. SWARM starts with a gallery crawl at 6pm — to get around the city you can walk, bike or take a ride... | Continue reading article

The perfect pre-weekend state of relaxation does not come by itself: you have to work at it. A sunny day, glass of wine and of course a great song. One Sweet Day by local electronic act Common Citizens hits just the right note to get you ready for whatever you have planned on Friday night. The duo – comprised of Cam Sloan and Chad Skinner – remix Mariah Carey’s “One Sweet Day” featuring Boyz II Men beyond recognition, creating a smooth track that will wind you down without putting you... | Continue reading article

Get yourself in the weekend groove with this exclusive Apartment613/Ceremony mix, curated by Gary Franks, one of our fave Ceremony DJs. It’s the perfect soundtrack to deciding how you want to kick up your weekend! There’s a stellar line up of Northern artists, musicians and more stopping by our city for the next week for Northern Scene – it’s well worth your time to seek some out! There’s a fashion show, an art party featuring 15 artists in one night, and a welcome ceremony to kick it all off tonight.... | Continue reading article

Mike Dubue, former front-man of the Hilotrons, is trying his hand at another silent film.  You might remember these events happening at the Mayfair a while back.  This time Mike and a group of local musicians have rented out the ByTowne Cinema to present The Adventures of Prince Achmed with an original score.  They are looking for help in putting this event on and have created an indiegogo campaign where you can donate money in return for tickets and other pretty cool rewards.  Among the goodies offered to donors, Mike will... | Continue reading article

Ottawa punk rockers Big Dick released their first video off of their self-titled debut today. The video, directed by Lesley Demo, Media Art Coordinator for Arboretum Festival features some sweet visuals from snowy Ottawa, some wrastlin’ and good ole’ rock’n'roll. Big Dick plays at Mavericks on April 27th with Single Mothers. Big thanks to Rolf Klausener for the tip.

Ottawa is blessed with several excellent blogs that cover the local music scene.  In the near future, I hope to publish a story on the numerous musical bloggers in town, who cover everything from metal to classical to blues to Irish folk songs.  For this week’s column, however, I want to focus on two local photographers who are doing a fantastic job in documenting the music scene in the National Capital Region. Let’s begin with Andrew Carver, who has been photographing Ottawa musicians for years.  Since starting his blog National... | Continue reading article