Detroit's Wolf Eyes and Toronto's Canadian Creative Music Collective (CCMC) played the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD) on May 21 to launch the 19th annual Media City Film Festival across the border in Windsor. The night also served as a launch party for the limited edition vinyl reissue of the 1978 CCMC Volume Three, a lost recording made available as a limited edition pressing of 500 copies after 35 years. In attendance performing as CCMC were Al Mattes, John Oswald and Michael Snow. From Media City's Film Festival Guide: CCMC (Canadian Creative Music Collective) formed in 1974 as "a composing ensemble united by a desire to play music that is fluid, spontaneous, and … [Read more...]
Photo Series: Winter’s End
Where the two motor cities almost meet. Windsor, Ontario, Canada on one side of the Detroit River and Detroit, Michigan, USA on the other. As a kid growing up in Windsor, I was told that aside from the strong current, the pollution in the Detroit River would kill me. This was further punctuated by stories of pollution in Windsor's west side. I would hear tales of locals having to rewash the laundry they hung to dry as pollution, filtering in from Detroit's Zug Island, would contaminate their lives. I was thankful I grew up in the south central part of the city despite living outside of an industrial park. Rolling around in discarded factory plastic wrap and thinking the aqua … [Read more...]
Working Class Kids: Early 90s Skinhead Portraits
The following is Part II of a two part series of portraits found in a box under the stairs in my parents’ basement. All shots were taken with a Canon AE-1. I originally developed a number of these by hand. Part I, Antisocial: Early 90s Hardcore Portraits may be found here. I had a radio show entitled Hold Your Ground, that I believe began in roughly 1993 and lasted for approximately 7 years. I played punk, hardcore, oi!, streetpunk, seminal punk and anything of the corresponding lineages. The show won a couple of awards, I was featured in George Marshall's Skinhead Nation, and I met a lot of great people because of it. Here are some of … [Read more...]
Photo Series: Belle Isle, Detroit, USA
As a kid growing up in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, the Canadian border city to Detroit, Michigan, USA I would hear of Belle Isle. Friends would sometimes travel with their parents on Sundays as I remember it; Belle Isle became a family day sort of place to me. Upon visiting it now, it seems like little had changed. Belle Isle (as of 2013 Belle Isle Park) is a Michigan State run island park resting in the Detroit River. It sits between both Windsor and Detroit. The island, covering 982 acres (1.534 square miles), is home to the Belle Isle Aquarium, the James Scott Memorial Fountain, the Belle Isle Conservatory, the Dossin Great Lakes Museum, the Detroit Boat Club, a … [Read more...]
Photo Series: Detroit 313
Detroit, Michigan, USA played a pivotal role in shaping my perception of the world. As a kid growing up in neighbouring Windsor, Ontario, Canada at a time when cable television and the internet didn't exist, I, like most, if not all children in Windsor, grew up on Detroit media. To this day, despite being Canadian, I still can't internalize measuring temperature in Celsius. I feel Fahrenheit and intellectually understand Celsius. Despite not living in the area for over 15 years, I find myself occasionally being asked if I'm American because of my perceived accent. Detroit, to me as a child, was another planet. There was the America I saw on TV - the national … [Read more...]
From Bangkok To LA To Detroit To Windsor
This was my original brain blast show up in my head and write it quick post that popped brilliant when I decided it was time to jet West: I know it's a country/city comparison, but who cares. I'm speaking in terms of where I am and where I'm going to be, population size is but a detail: Thailand - You can be close friends with someone for years before you find out they have two kids. Detroit - The guy standing behind you in line at White Castle will tell you about is ex-wife's nipple piercings. Windsor, Ontario, Canada, my final destination is a more subtle version of the latter. I'm looking forward to dipping in for awhile. Post … [Read more...]