Photo courtesy of Arif AnsariFor artists in Albertaās music scene, it can be easy to feel isolated, insular and alone. Once youāve run out of places to play in your own province, the nearest major cities are hundreds of kilometres away. While itās certainly getting better, itās still not an A-route priority for touring acts. As such, itās easy to fall into complacency, whining online and licking your wounds over just how bad you have it. Or, if youāre Kevin Stebner, you could simply work your hands to the bone and make cool shit happen. The Red Deer-raised, Calgary-based musician, label boss and show promoter is a true punk entrepreneur. Following stints in bands like totheteeth/tothehilt, Draft Dodgers (alongside Viet Congās Daniel Christiansen and NEEDSā Glenn Alderson) and Stalwart Sons, heās currently got four projects on the go. Thereās the frantic chiptune project GreyScreen (with which he uses a hacked Game Boy to perform), the experimental hip-hop duo Heavy Mountain (a project that builds beats from folk samples and will debut later this year), the frantic post-hardcore of Prepared (a ripping punk band at once aggressive and emotive) and the doom-laden alt-country act Cold Water (whose music recalls the vast, dreary desert-scapes of a Wim Wenders or Jim Jarmusch film). Outside of all that, he helps book the annual hardcore/post-hardcore/emo festival Ghost Throats and simultaneously runs the BART Records cassette label and vinyl oriented Revolution Winter.Stebnerās hustle is so fabled that heās often joked about writing his own self-help book called The Stebnerian Way: A Guide to Being a Real Dude and Getting Shit Done. Though heās yet to write the book ā and we strongly think he should ā itās representative of his quit-bitching-and-grind attitude. āThe Stebnerian Way was sort of a joke that turned into something real,ā he says of the semi-fake self-help book. āBasically, itās essentially a get āer done work ethic and staunch DIY mentality that has turned into a mantraā¦. [Itās] aimed at keeping artists and musicians motivated in spite of the inevitable and all too prevalent indifference that faces those called to artistic output.ā āPerhaps one day Iāll spit it out,ā he adds, ābut Iāve been staying motivated as of late and have filled my time with output, so it seems The Way has been working.āThat much is most definitely true ā this spring, Stebner will release two major projects through his Revolution Winter label. First up is Preparedās debut release, a pair of songs on a split 7-inch with the Toronto-via-St. Johnās, Newfoundland hardcore band Veneers. Not unlike Stalwart Sons, the songs combine Stebnerās poetic lyrics and gruff shouting with off-kilter rhythms and busy guitar work. Itās classic emo, though he says the band is still a marked evolution from previous projects. āIn Stalwart Sons, being a three piece, I had to cover a lot of space in my playing, the guitar parts had to cover rhythms and leads simultaneously,ā he explains. āBut with two guitars, and with Will [Bjorndahl] whose playing skills far outmatch my own, itās been exciting to see what the songs can become, how melodies can fight with each other, how I donāt have to fill every moment with myselfā¦. All the guys in Prepared ā Will, Ryan [Kennedy, drummer] and Joey [Cliff, bassist] ā have all played in hardcore bands previously, and thus understand how to make things rip.āThat record will land on April 1. Then, in May, Stebner will issue the self-titled debut from Cold Water. From its sparse, drawn-out arrangements through its bleak (and distinctly prairies) album art and his own singular, gruff vocal delivery, the albumās a truly unique country record. āAll of these so called country heroes that people cite end up sounding pretty hokey, and the whole notion of āoutlaw countryā comes off pretty hackneyed to me,ā Stebner says, saying he prefers to categorize Cold Waterās guitar-heavy anthems as āfull-stack folk.ā āIāve always kind of preferred the way folk artists can draw out personality and emotion ā these sad folk ladies that actually make a guitar weep and you, as listener, are able to steal away and distill their emotion,ā he says. āBut I could never understand, with all that emotional weight behind the songs, why these artists would treat their songs so slight. If you feel so deep, how then do you treat it so lightly? So with Cold Water, I sought to play out the feeling of a folk sound, but fully, and loudly as I would approach a hardcore band.ā Lyrically, too, the Cold Water LP features some of his heaviest work yet. āFor someone who has played so-called āemoā music, the irony is, here is where I get far more personal,ā he admits. āI get pretty naked in some of these songs. I reveal more of myself here than I have anywhere else.āNoisey: Youāre always on your grind with one project or another. How do you avoid burning out or running out of ideas?
Kevin Stebner: Against all advice of most writers, I find it really difficult to write at all times, regardless of inspiration. I canāt force it if itās not there. Iām very much a slave to the muses. When inspiration hits, I have to take advantage. So for me, itās having the multiple projects that allows me to produce like crazy. When Iām uninspired from one project, Iām able to pick up the next one. Make a thing. Ideas are infinite. Youāll only run out of ideas if you becoming boring yourself. Listen to every record, read a thousand books. Ideas are yours to find, they can drop from the sky, sure, but theyāll mostly come from digging.How did you learn about DIY music and culture? Do we really need an all ages scene, or is that a dream from a previous generation that doesnāt matter anymore?
What in insane posit to think there doesnāt need to be an all ages scene. Without fresh blood, the music scene would be nothing but blues-dads. Living in Red Deer, I put on my first punk show in a skate shack when I was 14. Who knows where it began exactly. I suppose at this young age even then I had a desire to actually live, and be active and have some slight ambition. I grew up in an all ages scene. I learned how to play instruments, and organize events and people, to build something out of nothing. All ages is not for the fogeys who came before it, that previous generationās dreams have long died. All ages is not to serve the āmusic scene,ā itās for fresh blood, new players to play and grow, try things out and maybe one day become actual musicians. Do we need it? Being a teenager is frustrating as it is without having to fight for something as pure and simple as artistic endeavour.Tell me about the writing process behind Cold Waterā¦ do you start off saying āIām going to write a country songā or do you play riffs and write lyrics and decide what project it fits into later?
Cold Water began as a basement recording project to write some country/folk songs on my TASCAM. It was intended to be nothing more than that ā but when the band got together and we started gaining momentum, and mining out the sound, it changed somewhat. I certainly do write with the band in mind, knowing where the steel will slide in and when the drums will roll in. So yes, I do tend to write towards a certain band or project, generally starting with riffs and chordings, and working out from there. Iāll generally start with a rhythm or mood Iāll want to fulfill and build toward it. And from that tone and mood, lyrics will follow from that.Is it tough to find shows as a punk dude in a country band?
As one trying to book a Cold Water tour right now, I can assure you ā yes. I try to marry the two in Cold Water, but rarely do fans of punk or hardcore mesh with fans of folk or country ā and noā¦ folk-punk is a misnomer and an atrocity. This is no anomaly though ā every band Iāve been in, itās always felt like a struggle to find assistance or specific interest. I mean ā it is what it is. Iām used to fighting, and Iāll still just do it however I can.Have you considered playing into the Calgary cowboy stereotype and lining up some high-paying Stampede gigs?
Is this a real question? Iām an actual Albertan. I go to actual rodeos and go to senior menās hockey games in small towns. Said stereotype is a falsehood, the stampede is an excuse for adults to act like college bros and spend a week puking in the street and ruining my neighbourhood. Itās barely a rodeo and itās an embarrassment to āWestern cultureā and this city. Iām embarrassed by it.Josiah Hughes is a writer living in Calgary - @josiahhughes
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Kevin Stebner: Against all advice of most writers, I find it really difficult to write at all times, regardless of inspiration. I canāt force it if itās not there. Iām very much a slave to the muses. When inspiration hits, I have to take advantage. So for me, itās having the multiple projects that allows me to produce like crazy. When Iām uninspired from one project, Iām able to pick up the next one. Make a thing. Ideas are infinite. Youāll only run out of ideas if you becoming boring yourself. Listen to every record, read a thousand books. Ideas are yours to find, they can drop from the sky, sure, but theyāll mostly come from digging.
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What in insane posit to think there doesnāt need to be an all ages scene. Without fresh blood, the music scene would be nothing but blues-dads. Living in Red Deer, I put on my first punk show in a skate shack when I was 14. Who knows where it began exactly. I suppose at this young age even then I had a desire to actually live, and be active and have some slight ambition. I grew up in an all ages scene. I learned how to play instruments, and organize events and people, to build something out of nothing. All ages is not for the fogeys who came before it, that previous generationās dreams have long died. All ages is not to serve the āmusic scene,ā itās for fresh blood, new players to play and grow, try things out and maybe one day become actual musicians. Do we need it? Being a teenager is frustrating as it is without having to fight for something as pure and simple as artistic endeavour.Tell me about the writing process behind Cold Waterā¦ do you start off saying āIām going to write a country songā or do you play riffs and write lyrics and decide what project it fits into later?
Cold Water began as a basement recording project to write some country/folk songs on my TASCAM. It was intended to be nothing more than that ā but when the band got together and we started gaining momentum, and mining out the sound, it changed somewhat. I certainly do write with the band in mind, knowing where the steel will slide in and when the drums will roll in. So yes, I do tend to write towards a certain band or project, generally starting with riffs and chordings, and working out from there. Iāll generally start with a rhythm or mood Iāll want to fulfill and build toward it. And from that tone and mood, lyrics will follow from that.Is it tough to find shows as a punk dude in a country band?
As one trying to book a Cold Water tour right now, I can assure you ā yes. I try to marry the two in Cold Water, but rarely do fans of punk or hardcore mesh with fans of folk or country ā and noā¦ folk-punk is a misnomer and an atrocity. This is no anomaly though ā every band Iāve been in, itās always felt like a struggle to find assistance or specific interest. I mean ā it is what it is. Iām used to fighting, and Iāll still just do it however I can.Have you considered playing into the Calgary cowboy stereotype and lining up some high-paying Stampede gigs?
Is this a real question? Iām an actual Albertan. I go to actual rodeos and go to senior menās hockey games in small towns. Said stereotype is a falsehood, the stampede is an excuse for adults to act like college bros and spend a week puking in the street and ruining my neighbourhood. Itās barely a rodeo and itās an embarrassment to āWestern cultureā and this city. Iām embarrassed by it.Josiah Hughes is a writer living in Calgary - @josiahhughes