VOL. 2 - ISSUE 18 // SPRING 2019 - Freq Magazine · 2019. 3. 7. · 6 FREQ. MAGAZINE // VOL 2 - ISSUE 18 // SPRING 2019 FREQ. MAGAZINE // VOL 2 - ISSUE 18 // SPRING 2019 7 MUSIC LABELLED

VOL. 2 - ISSUE 18 // SPRING 2019

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FRESHLY SQUEEZED - WEDNESDAYS FROM 4PM TO 6PM

FEATURE - TECH DOM & BIO SUIT Kim

Noseworthy & Sandra McIntyre

12

CALGARY'S CULINARY CONDITIONNeil Malik

SMOLIK AND THE CO.LABMagdalena Gorski

WELCOME TO TIJUANAGabriel Hernandez Solano & Peter Kronish

TECH DOM & BIO SUITKim Noseworthy & Sandra McIntyre

UNBOTHEREDJared Bautista

WAAJEEDSheena Jardine-Olade

GRIME FACTSTariq Bakir

A SAMPLE STORY: THE AMEN BREAKKayla Graham & Alannah Pohran

LABELLED: RECORD STORE DAYKasia Gorski

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DIRECTOR OF CUSTODIAL SERVICESAvi Butalia – [email protected]

EDITOR-AT-LARGESheena Jardine-Olade – [email protected]

MUSIC EDITORKayla Graham – [email protected]

CULTURE EDITORMagdalena Gorski – [email protected]

FASHION EDITORKim Noseworthy – [email protected]

COPY EDITINGMaria Berlando – [email protected]

PUBLISHING CONSULTANTBrad Simm

PRODUCTION BYBlackwater Creative

DESIGN & LAYOUTAlannah Pohran – [email protected] Trudeau – [email protected] MacLean – [email protected] Valerio – [email protected] Ang – [email protected] DeVries – [email protected] McGurk – [email protected] Hillman – [email protected]

DIGITAL MEDIAChris Murphy – [email protected] Haberman – [email protected] Hill – [email protected]

DISTRIBUTIONBe Seen Street Team – [email protected]

SALES Kim Noseworthy – [email protected]

PHOTOGRAPHERSGrime Facts – Original photo by Ben WalshWaajeed – Original photo by DTR MediaTech Dom – Original photos by Jessica PechetUnbothered – Original photos by Jared BautistaSmolik and the CO.LAB – Just Jash / Jashua Peter GrafsteinCalgary's Culinary Condition – Portrait by OUTLIER ImageryWelcome to Tijuana – Gabriel Hernandez Solano

Freq Magazine is a quarterly magazine. No parts of Freq Magazine may be reproduced without prior written consent from the publisher. Freq Magazine welcomes submissions but accepts no responsibility for the return of unsolicited materials.

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FEATURE - WELCOM

E TO TIJUANA Gabriel Hernandez Solano & Peter Kronish

26

CONTENTSMUSIC

CULTURE

FASHION

Each Freq is thematic and every issue will be stamped with our brand of perceptiveness,

curiosity and honesty.

• the act or process of coming into being; becoming apparent, visible.

EMERGENCE (ih-mur-juh ns)

• A highest point or state; culmination.

ZENITH (Zee-nith)

• change in form, appearance, nature, or character.

• metamorphosis.

TRANSFORMATION (trans-fer-mey-shuh n)

• The act of changing location in an upward direction; rising.

ASCENSION (uh-sen-shuh n)

FREQ. MAGAZINE // VOL 2 - ISSUE 18 // SPRING 2019 54 FREQ. MAGAZINE // VOL 2 - ISSUE 18 // SPRING 2019

MUSIC

GRIME FACTST H E C H A N G I N G S T A T E S O F G R I M E

With its distinguishable sound, and its melting pot of influences, grime is a genre that is deeply rooted in the streets of London, where it emerged in the early 2000s. It sits comfortably in the 135-140 bpm realm and is characterized by its jagged garage-like basslines, hard-hitting snares and sawtooth synths. Much like hip-hop, there is a strong emphasis on the MC being at the front, as well as a “bars” culture, where clever punch-lines and raw depictions of urban life are respected. Grime’s influences stem from its ancestor U.K. genres of 2-step, ragga, dance-hall, and garage, and it is heavily linked with dubstep. The genre’s hybridization of U.K. subcultures with a cutting-edge modern twist has united a variety of music scenes and has allowed its spread. Moreover, with its depictions of urban life and integration of traditional African and Caribbean musical influences and lingo, it brings minority groups together and gains the support of the traditional sound system cultures that paved the way for modern bass music in the U.K. In North America, however, grime is still a growing scene despite efforts for recogni-tion in the mainstream. For example, Drake has featured grime heavyweights Skepta and Giggs in projects, has been vocal about his appreciation of the genre and U.K. under-ground music across his socials, and has even signed to Skepta and JME’s label Boy Better Know (or BBK for those in the know). Further than that, Skepta has collaborated with North American superstars like Pharrell and A$AP Mob in recent years. Despite this, grime as a genre continues to stay under the radar in North America while being excessively popular and integrated into pop culture in the U.K. To gain a deeper perspective on the current state of grime, both abroad and at home, we exchanged some words with grime up and comer, Yizzy.

In an attempt to understand what makes grime less palatable to North American audiences, I asked Yizzy if he thought there were similarities between U.K. grime and American rap. “Culturally, there are a lot of similarities,” he says. “Both sounds stem from communities typically below the poverty line, with people finding music as their only outlet or way to escape the day-to-day harsh reality. The differences would obvi-ously be the tempos at which both genres are typically made at, the lifestyles associ-ated with each sound, and how each genre was formed.” At only 19 years old, Yizzy has had quite the impressive start to his career, already getting accolades from some of the best in the genre, such as grime heavyweight Sir Spyro. To him, it was natural that he got into grime, even though he feels it could be easier to make it in American hip-hop. “It's typically been harder to make it in U.K. grime compared to American rap,” Yizzy says. “A lot of it comes down to American rap being mainstream music for many years, whereas U.K. Grime music has never really had a consistent run as a mainstream sound, and therefore has never really got the full attention it deserves.”

Despite the lack of worldwide mainstream attention on grime, Yizzy was always drawn to the sound and art form—even if that meant never seeing crossover success in North America. “I just felt a connection with grime from day one. I liked the energy, the passion, the rawness, the life stories. It just had everything I could want from a genre of music,” Yizzy says. “When it came to MCing and making songs, it was very natural for me, and I enjoyed it, which showed me that grime was truly the genre of music that I wanted to move forward in.”

In one of his standout songs “S.O.S.” (Save Our Sound), Yizzy mentions that he feels grime was being appropriated by people who didn’t embody and respect the true culture, and that it’s been used as a buzzword to gain attention.

“At the time there were a lot of people, pages and brands talking about grime this and grime that when grime had nothing to do with what-ever they were talking about,” Yizzy says. “It was as if they were using the word to gain more attention or create controversy. I saw this, and that no one was really calling them out for it, so I decided I would.”

Another problem Yizzy saw in the genre was the lack of evolution and effort in the lyrics, despite the overall productions and sound increasing. “The quality of productions, in my opinion, have gone up,” Yizzy says. “The hunger and competitiveness has gone down slightly compared to when grime started, and I think this can be heard in the music. MCs have become a bit too relaxed and lazy with lyrics, or putting time into a song or project, etc. What this does is leave you with a sound that's almost a shadow of its former self.”

Yizzy’s words leave questions. Will true grime be dead before it even has a chance to make it in the mainstream? Or is it the nature of true grime that makes it undigestible to mainstream North American audiences? Regardless, the push on North American soil continues. What-ever happens, one thing is for certain: grime is a staple in the U.K. and deeply rooted in its culture. As it expands, it would be difficult to dissolve its true sound, and I am hopeful for its future. 2019 is set to be a busy year for Yizzy with tons of releases and collaborations. Stay up to date with Yizzy @officialyizzy. • TARIQ BAKIR


MUSIC

LABELLEDE X A M I N I N G R E C O R D S T O R E D A Y

There’s nothing quite as enticing as the smell of a record store, or the feeling of unwrapping fresh-pressed wax and slap-ping it on the decks for the first time. There’s a certain romance vinyl-lovers experience, especially when it comes to independent labels that give us their heart and soul from deep down in the groove. With Record Store Day approaching on April 13, 2019, it was only fitting for Freq to sit down for a chat with a couple of Calgary’s key players in the independent label scene. Jeff Kynoch, from Blackbyrd Myoozik Calgary—a record store that has participated in RSD since day one in 2008—and Bryan “Bron” Wells, of Heart to Heart Records—which has been oper-ating since 2013 and has 13 EP releases to date—gave me their two cents about what RSD means to them. First, let me say that although both Kynoch and Wells hold the original premise of RSD dear to their hearts, in recent years, there have been negative developments surrounding the iconic date, in that major labels have shoved themselves into the mix. Record Store Day has sadly become an opportunity for big stores and labels to tie up precious resources in pressing plants and record stores alike, putting out unnecessary re-release editions that don’t adhere to the original philosophies of Record Store Day. As Kynoch puts it: “When Record Store Day began, it set out to ‘celebrate the culture of the independently-owned record store’. I don’t view a national chain as an ‘independent’ record store, and you certainly won’t find any ‘culture’ in a mall record store.” In his view, non-inde-pendent retailers should not be allowed to participate.

Wells goes on to say that Heart to Heart has never had a chance to participate. “We don’t even try. It truly disrupts the entire industry for the independents. It kind of kills my soul a little bit knowing that my releases are held back by plants pressing the millionth edition of the Beatles’ Abbey Road album for a RSD release.” “Record pressing plants are scarce, and the demand is high,” Kynoch explains. “When a major label wants to press 5000 of a scratch-n-sniff, glow-in-the-dark Ghostbusters theme picture disc and an independent band or label’s smaller pressing run of something actually inter-esting gets bumped by weeks or months, that can wreak havoc on carefully planned promotion, marketing and even tour schedules ... that ain’t cool!” Wells adds: “Many of my friends who run independent labels have the same senti-ment around the issues created by RSD. At this point RSD has been nothing but a hassle for us because we are such a small fish in a relatively big pond.” On a positive note, Record Store Day has participated in several fundraising efforts over the years, including partnering with MusiCounts, which is particularly close to Kynoch’s heart. “They are a fantastic organization with a simple mission: to ensure all children in Canada have access to a music program through their school or their community. I strongly believe that participation in music is extremely important, especially for developing minds.” The celebrations do foster a sense of community in the independent label world. Kynoch has continually noticed “a

sense of kinship amongst a lot of the folks who come out to participate.” He adds, “I think people get excited to see other people excited about music. I know I do!”

Wells adds that “Vinyl has become quite popular again, but the amount of pressing plants with competent, skilled engineers are not growing at the same rate.” Hopefully, the market can respond to the underground scene, although with our digital age, it might be difficult for pressing shops to compete with Sound-cloud and Spotify. In preparation for the big day, Wells says “[I’ll] be hiding out in my studio trying to plan future releases around the black hole of RSD and dreaming of a day when I can press my own wax (not even joking) so I don’t have worry about any of that crap,” while Kynoch has a less-pressing timeline—pardon the pun. “[Since] titles generally aren’t solicited until several weeks before the big day, I will be arranging for in-store performances, give-aways and ensuring we get our orders in for lots of coffee and donuts!”

Record Store Day commences April 13th, 2019. Support your local shops and labels!

• KASIA GORSKI


MUSIC

A SAMPLE STORYT H E A M E N B R E A K

The Amen break is one of the most well-known samples, or breaks, in music. This sample is predominantly used in jungle music but has been sampled well over 2,000 times in many, many types of music such as hip-hop, hardcore, R’n’B to name a few.

• KAYLA GRAHAM & ALANNAH POHRAN

The Amen break is considered to be the most used sample in contemporary music.

Sadly, Gregory C. Coleman, the drummer and creator of the Amen Break died penniless and homeless in 2006. He never received royalties for the most popular sample in music. There is an ongoing gofundme campaign to compensate the rest of The Winstons for the Amen Break. gofundme.com/amenbrother2

The Amen break originates from the track “Amen Brother” by the Winstons and was recorded in 1969. The original track was a B-side to the Grammy winning track, “Colour Him Father.”

Salt ‘N’ Pepa was one of the first hip-hop groups to use the sample, but certainly not the last. The famous break was featured on N.W.A’s “Straight Outta Compton” as the backbone of the entire track

In the U.K., Carl Cox was one of the first ones to see the potential of the Amen break for dance music and used it in his early hardcore productions way back in 1990.

Lennie De Ice is arguably the first to have used the Amen break in an early jungle track, the genre of music the Amen break has become the most synonymous with. From that point, the sound began defining the jungle genre. As the genre evolved into drum and bass, the Amen break stayed prevalent in the sound.

The track was widely unknown until it emerged on a popular drum break compilat ion in 1986 called Ultimate Breaks and Beats – a compilation series that became an early tool for hip-hop DJs and producers.

Sometime in the ‘90s, IDM producers such as Squarepusher began to heavily manipulate the Amen break to make new sounds.

FREQ. MAGAZINE // VOL 2 - ISSUE 18 // SPRING 2019 11

MUSIC

WAAJEEDD I S C O V E R Y

My introduction to Waajeed was a recent and accidental discovery on YouTube. When “Power in Numbers” began playing, it captured my attention instantly. From the sharp drums of the intro to the introduction of the melodic bassline—I was hooked. I shared it with several friends who thought it incredulous that I had never heard Waajeed, a musical and production legend. Born and raised in Detroit, Waajeed, aka Jeedo, was part of hip-hop royalty. The self-taught producer, who grew up listening to funk, soul, and hip hop, formed the legendary Slum Village with T3, Baatin, and J Dilla, R&B/ hip-hop group Platinum Pied Pipers, and started two labels: Bling47 and DIRT TECH RECK.

When I asked my friend—a DJ/and Producer from Detroit—about Waajeed, he excitedly started talking about Waajeed’s work and the inexorable effects that he had on hip-hop music. “Not sure how much he wants to talk about his past though,” my friend pointed out. “Ask him about Detroit and that history for sure! He’s a massive part of it.”

I listened to his discography and found that even though I could identify the nods to funk, soul, R&B, and hip-hop, these elements had been changed into something new. The shattered boundaries forced me to think outside of genre constrictions.

I started to get nervous.

Concentrating on what I knew, I narrowed down the interview focus to a few questions. I focused on growing up in the melting pot of Detroit: a place unlike anywhere else in the world, where hip-hop, techno, soul, and house meet at a rave, a house party, or in a club. I focused on leaving Detroit and coming back to a city that had so much to give culturally, but that had fallen prey to the pitfalls of a mono-economy.

When the answers came back, I could tell from his responses that he had grown frustrated with my line of questioning:

HOW HAS DETROIT REMAINED A CONSTANT IN YOUR PRODUCTION?

How could it not really? I embody its spirit. Our long winters play a large part in Detroit being so versatile.

We have an advantage that larger cities don't have. Time. Time to reach deep and give our audience something from the soul.

CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR EARLY MEMORIES OF TECHNO AND HOUSE AND HOW ARTISTS LIKE MAD MIKE BANKS, UR, AND THEO PARRISH PLAY INTO YOUR MUSICAL INFLUENCES OVER THE SPAN OF YOUR CAREER?

I honour my comrades, however, my musical statements are my own. I get this question in a lot of interviews. I think it's a reflection of most of the music that's out. I find it frustrating as an artist whose career has been based on work that is non-derivative. When I make music "influence" is never part of the flow. The focus is to add to the chain, not to be influenced by what has been done. That's been my life work and will continue to be.

WAS THERE ANY TREPIDATION AROUND RELEASING A NEW LP SO DIFFERENT THAN YOUR LAST FULL LENGTH?

I've been focused on dance music for the past seven years with my label DIRT TECH RECK—nothing new there in regards to dance driven tracks. The goal is for every EP or LP to have its individual significance.

DESCRIBE THE CHANGES IN YOURSELF AND AS A PRODUCER FROM THE WAR LP TO FROM THE DIRT. IS THERE A CONNECTION BETWEEN THE TWO LPS?

No difference. It's the same approach: discovery.

After taking a pause from his answers and then looking at them again, I was struck by his comment about music being influenced. His answer pointed out the lack of ingenuity recently in music. It was why “Power in Numbers” instantly swung my head and grabbed my attention. So what does an inno-vator do in the face of mimicry—where every song sounds the same and no one is asking for anything different? Based on Waajeed’s last album—create extraordinary non-derivative work.

Check out Waajeed’s latest release, From the Dirt@ dirttechreck.com

• SHEENA JARDINE-OLADE

FASHION

J A C K E THolt Renfrew

B R A & P A N T YLa Senza

B O N D A G E H E A D P I E C ELittle Shop of Pleasures

R I D I N G C R O P & B O O T SDeva Dave's

R I N GKate Hewko

C H O K E RStylist's own

BIO SUIT

I stow my book and water capsules in the seat pocket in front of me. Lower the shade. Like anyone making a getaway, I’m uneasy, expecting… I don’t know what—a sky marshal to appear, out of nowhere like a transit cop when you don’t have a ticket, ushered down the aisle by a cascading hush and the knowledge that somebody’s about to get busted. He’d grab me by the collar, this Tommy Lee Jones, and say something like, Well, looky here. If it isn’t my good friend Sasha. You don’t want to go to Tokyo this time of year, Sasha. It’s rainy season, dontcha know…

But no one comes for me. The doors close and the plane starts to taxi. By take-off I am calm. I raise the shade. Pop some water. I sneak a look at the woman on my right. Her legs dangle from the chair, feet pointed down, toes skimming the floor. She is the tiniest normal-sized person I have ever seen. She wears a sand-coloured pantsuit, bespoke by the looks of it, and types into a sleek computer.

Perhaps because I am staring, she stops typing, turns, and begins spinning her wrists in opposite directions above the bulky metal and pleather divider between our seats. She’s a sorceress casting a spell.

I do wonder what she is doing.

“The armrest,” she says. “How shall we handle it? First come, first served? Or we could alternate every few hours?”

FASHION

M O D E LSarah Abt (Mode Models)

H A I RSandy Roberts

M A K E U PAmber Chomeczko

M A N I C U R EManuelita Remy

BY JESSICA PECHET & KIM NOSEWORTHY

FASHION

Her question catches me off guard. “Alternating would be cumbersome,” I say finally, warming to the topic, but she has resumed typing, fingers dancing blurry-fast across the keyboard—letters, numbers, Ctrl-Alt short-cuts. Would standard-issue handcuffs fit her stick-wrists, I wonder. Do they make child-sized ones?

“How about I take the first five hours and you have the rest?” I start to do the math, but she interrupts.

“Changeover at…” The typing stops and she stares vacantly for a second. “Two o’clock pm Japan Standard Time.”

Her voice is radio smooth and authoritative. Corporate? Government? Military. Must be. The typing resumes.

“Good then,” I say, all business, even though she ignores me now. She’s slipped her hand under her coat sleeve and pushes buttons on a quar-terback-style armband until it goes beep beeeeep. She returns to her computer as though to a conversation interrupted. We are done.

The Hermit is so dull my mind wanders right off the edge of the page. Shit. A long flight with nothing to read is something I don’t need right now. I want to be done with the getaway and just be away.

A flight attendant pushes up with the hot drinks trolley. I order coffee. He passes the steaming cup across with a shaky hand, sloshing onto the tiny woman.

B O D Y S U I TWinners

C O R S E T & S H O E SDeva Dave's

C H O K E RKat Marks

B R A C E L E T & G L O V E SKate Hewko

E A R R I N G STop Shop

G A R T E RAltur

I P A DApple

FASHION

“Madam! I am so sorry,” he says, looking am-I-going-to-get-fired-for-this terrified.

The arm of the woman’s coat sizzles where the coffee has splashed. The attendant tries to dab at her arm with a napkin but she pushes him off.

“You’re supposed to use the little tray,” I say.

She fans the napkin above her arm, which I notice stretches along the armrest. The hint of a burning smell wafts up, then is gone.

The woman falls asleep. Her breathing is heavy and steady. To examine her more closely without turning my head, I stretch my eyeballs as far right in my sockets as they will go. This hurts but I can’t stop looking. It’s the suit. The fabric is pulsing in and out, not just atop the woman’s rising and falling chest but all over. Something in the coffee? I crouch-stand and examine the tops of heads in front of me. Nothing out of the ordinary so I sit back down.

I consider touching the jacket, a fold of which lies on the edge of the woman’s seat very close to mine, but the more I look the more it seems to be breathing inde-pendently, like an organism.

It’s alive, I’m sure of it. It’s some sort of high-tech, protec-tive bio-suit and it’s alive.

My hand shoots up to the call button. The sky outside my window is a slab of concrete. I don’t know how to tell time anymore. All I know for sure is that it’s time for a drink.

***

I wake to a buzzing and a burning. It’s dark. Voices, muffled and loud, surround me. I jump up and hit my head on the cabin roof. Suitcases block the aisle. I climb over them and follow the emergency lights to the bath-room, where I lock myself in.

Smear of blood at my temple. Shuffling sounds beyond the door. I am standing on something. Toilet paper? No. Clothing. The woman’s suit. Alarms are sounding now and the airplane rocks as exterior doors open and cold air rushes in. I smell the ocean.

Black smoke starts to fill the bathroom. I take off my clothes. I don’t know how, but I know the suit will fit me. I am safer already.

• SANDRA MCINTYRE @sdmwriter

Sandra McIntyre is a writer and a book editor living in Calgary. Her piece "Bio Suit" was chosen as the winner of our speculative short fiction call. "Bio Suit" is an excerpt from Changeover, a longer work in progress.

B O D Y A R M O U R & C H O K E R SKat Marks

S H O R T SLittle Shop of Pleasures

G L O V E SKate Hewko

E A R R I N G STop Shop

B O O T SDeva Dave's

H E A D P H O N E SMarshall's

FASHION

PHOTOGRAPHER

JARED BAUTISTA

ASSISTANT

VANESSA LADOUCEUR

MODELS

ERIN AND ZACH

(MODE models)

STYLIST

IVAN J IMENEZ

ASSISTANT

MARISA MAKIN

HAIR

MICHELLE LAZO

MAKEUP

IRENE MCDOWELL

EDITOR

KIM NOSEWORTHY

VEST THE ROW, HOLT RENFREW SILK BLOUSE THE ROW, HOLT RENFREW

JACKET BURBERRY, HOLT RENFREW PULL BURBERRY, HOLT RENFREW BUTTONDOWN BURBERRY, HOLT RENFREW PANTS BURBERRY, HOLT RENFREW BELT LE 31, SIMONS SHOES GUCCI, HOLT RENFREW

HAT BURBERRY, HOLT RENFREW JACKET BURBERRY, HOLT RENFREW SWEATER BURBERRY, HOLT RENFREW PANTS BURBERRY, HOLT RENFREW BELT LE 31, SIMONS SHOES EMPORIO ARMANI, SIMONS

FASHION

DRESS JACQUESMUS, SIMONS TOP DENIS GAGNON, SIMONS PANT DENIS GAGNON, SIMONS DRESS THE ROW, HOLT RENFREW

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BLAZER LEMAIRE, SIMONS

JACKET PACO RABANNE, SIMONS

PANT DSQUARED, SIMONS

SHOE GUCCI, HOLT RENFREW

CULTURE

A week p r io r to mar i juana lega l i za t ion , Commonwealth Bar & Stage hosted SESSIONS XL —an event by RIFF, a cannabis and community brand featuring artists through their art collective affiliate, the CO.LAB. The evening featured music by Killy, CMDWN and Wasiu, was hosted by Teddy Celebration and Beni J, and included fashion, and live art installations by some of Canada’s up-and-coming creatives.

CO.LAB is a community of artists brought together across Canada for the purpose of creation and collaboration, and one of the ways RIFF has ascended the regulations of the industry—sharing ideas across many creative disciplines in order that the brand stand for more than cannabis.

Freq spoke with Toronto’s Smolik, one of the artists we met through the event:

CAN YOU DESCRIBE YOUR WORK FOR OUR READERS?

I would describe my current work as a steady flow of inspiration and influence with a no-bullshit aesthetic. There's no hiding behind loud colours or trends. Just giving it to you raw. Does this answer convey how much of an influence hip-hop is to me?

YOU CALL ART AND SKATEBOARDING THE TWO PILLARS IN YOUR LIFE — WHAT PARALLELS EXIST BETWEEN THE TWO FOR YOU?

When I say that skateboarding and art are the two main pillars of my life, I'm really saying that they have always been the two consistent things from which everything else in my life have come from. They hold everything up, really. Honestly, I'm unsure if I would be making art as an adult if it weren't for skateboarding showing me that art is this accessible thing that's for everybody. Art has always been such a crucial part of skateboarding culture and I think it's the thing that makes skateboarding not a sport.

HOW DO YOU FEEL YOU’RE RISING IN YOUR OWN PRACTICE?

I'm hyper competitive with myself so I'm constantly focused on outdoing myself with every new piece. So I'm not paying attention to where I stand in the outside world as much as I am paying attention to stacking up against everything I've ever made. There's always this internal feeling that I can do better.

YOU PAINT EVERY DAY — IS THAT SOMETHING YOU ARE COMPELLED TO DO OR IS IT THAT YOU HAVE COMMITTED TO DO SO IN YOUR PRACTICE?

I like to keep a routine, so I make some sort of art everyday. I find that waiting for lightning to strike is the lazy way to work. You get way more done by showing up and getting started. Make your own lightning! I also need to feel like I accomplished something everyday. Not working is doing a disservice to my talent. I got to keep pushing forward and hopefully I can contribute something of value to the world.

YOUR ARTIST STATEMENT SAYS: “THE COMMON MESSAGE IN MY WORK DEALS WITH DEATH AND WHAT IS LEFT BEHIND AFTERWARDS, LIKE THE SCARS OF SKATEBOARDING LEFT ON ARCHITECTURE.” IS THIS A WAY TO DEAL WITH DEATH, TO LEAVE PIECES OF YOURSELF BEHIND?

I'm not sure it's really a healthy way to cope with death as much as it is a way to try to establish some sort of legacy. It may also just be a way of reflecting your life through a visual time capsule. I know personally that my work is my strongest voice because I'm not eloquent enough to verbally articulate my thoughts fully. I do consciously leave notes throughout my sketchbooks that I hope someone, someday discovers, and finds valuable to my overall story. Maybe my story won't be worth telling but, maybe it will so I'll leave these bits behind, just in case.

IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE WITH US?

I’d like to encourage people to support local emerging artists. You can find really great work in your city, not break the bank, and your purchase can really make an impact for an artist trying to come up. Initiatives like the CO.LAB help give local artists that public platform. Dead artists with these giant estates don't need the same support as these young artists in your community. Also, please stop buying IKEA "art", it looks gross and is a major turn off.

Find Smolik smolikdesign.tumblr.com $@thatlosersmolik and check out whatisriff.ca/en to learn more about the CO.LAB, visit [email protected] interview has been edited for length and clarity.

• MAGDALENA GORSKI

A J O I N T E F F O R T

SMOLIK AND THE CO.LAB

CULTURE


WELCOME TOTIJUANA

T H E E X O D U S F R O M T H E N O R T H E R N T R I A N G L E

EL SOL BRILLA PARA TODOS (Spanish for “the sun shines for everybody") can be seen painted in sprawling white letters on the northern concrete banks of the Tijuana River. Directly behind lies the world’s busiest land border crossing—and one of the most militarized—with American outlet stores, and San Diego visible in the distance.

The message rings hollow as you walk west along the banks of the mostly-dried up river. To the immediate south, clusters of colorful tents occupied by would-be asylum-seekers fill a small plaza at the foot of El Chaparral bridge, which leads to the crossing of the same name. To the north, abandoned shoes and articles of clothing are sporadically entangled in the barb wire that lines the steel fence. As you pass by, the unmistakable H&M logo flickers through the moiré pattern of the layered barriers. Follow the border six miles through undulating terrain and you reach Playas, a sleepy beach crudely inter-

rupted by the western extremity of the fence that slices into the Pacific Ocean.

This is Tijuana—the last stop separating thou-sands of migrants from their ultimate goal.

For dozens of years, the majority of people crossing were Mexican. Today the over-whelming majority of them make the journey from the Northern Triangle, the cluster of countries consisting of Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala. Although unauthorized Mexi-cans crossing the border fell to its lowest level in more than a decade, the Northern Triangle was the only region experiencing a surge during the same time period.

The anti-immigrant fear-mongering espoused by the Trump administration paints the people fleeing the Northern Triangle as a grave threat to American society: “It’s an invasion of our country, of not only people, not only gangs and criminals and human traffickers; it’s an invasion of drugs

into our country. It’s an invasion like you’ve never seen before!”

Countless studies have found that undoc-umented migrants are no more likely than U.S. citizens to commit crime. In fact, a larger body of academic research suggests that immigrants, regardless of legal status, commit crime at a lower level that U.S.-born Americans. Charis Kubrin, a University of California-Irvine criminologist, continues to find that “areas with higher concentrations of immigrants have lower violent crime rates.”

The reality is that most of the migrants leave everything behind not only for hopes of a better future but often just to survive. The rates of violence, poverty, and corruption in the Northern Triangle are alarming and endemic, even by bleak Latin American stan-dards. Murder rates are among the highest in the world while gang recruitment of chil-dren, extortion, and sexual violence are also on the rise.

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For Paulina*, (pictured with lipstick) it was her son being killed and a demand she enter a relationship with one of the gang leaders who was her deceased son’s age. For Eduardo*, (pictured holding the empty tear gas canister shot into Mexico by Border Patrol) it was his younger brother being murdered, and fear for his own life. He offered me the canister to return to U.S. custom agents when I crossed the border back to the US. For Marcelo*, it was the crackdown and increased violence against the LGBTQ community after a coup in 2009 installed Juan Orlando

WE'RE HERE BECAUSE YOU WERE THERETo understand the current crisis in the Northern Triangle, it is important to understand the legacy of U.S. intervention in the region that has directly contributed to political instability and gross economic inequality. Guided by the Monroe Doctrine, the United States has meddled across Latin America to protect economic and political interests for nearly two centuries. After decades of unjust land tenure, labour coercion, unequal political representation, and disproportionate influence of large corporations that forced lower-class

workers into harsh living conditions, communist insurgencies flourished throughout Central America. The region was transformed into one of the frontlines of American foreign policy and proxy wars during the height of the Cold War.

In Honduras, U.S. presence began around 1900 with American-based banana companies, with the U.S. intervening militarily in 1907 and 1911 to protect interests and ensure the Honduran elite’s reliance on Washington. Later on, despite not experiencing a civil war like its neighbours,

Honduras was used as a base for the Contras, the far-right rebel group supported by the Reagan administration in Nicaragua’s own civil war after the U.S. backed dictatorship was overthrown by the Sandinistas. In 2009 Honduras underwent another coup against democratically-elected Manuel Zelaya which unleashed a wave of violence and repression against popular movements across the country. Similarly, the 2017 election, widely perceived as fraudulent, plunged the country into another political crisis resulting in 30 deaths, most of them opponents of U.S.-endorsed Juan Orlando Hernandez.

Hernandez. Speak to enough migrants and it becomes clear that most are leaving for valid reasons.

The plight of the migrant caravan domi-nated headlines at the end of last year, especially (and too conveniently) in the weeks leading up to the midterm elec-tions. With the endless stream of stories ranging from the widely condemned policy of family separation, to deployment of troops at the border**, the murder of 20-year-old Claudia Gomes Gonzales by a Border Patrol agent, and the recent deaths

of children in US detention centers, it’s easy to overlook the root causes that are driving this mass exodus from the region in the first place.

*Names have been changed to protect privacy.

**At the time of writing, February 3rd, 2019, the Pentagon announced it would send an additional 3,750 troops to the border, bringing the total up to 4,350 and estimated cost to American taxpayers to $600 million, with the number likely to climb higher.

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30 FREQ. MAGAZINE // VOL 2 - ISSUE 18 // SPRING 2019

In Guatemala, the U.S. orchestrated the overthrow of the democratically elected government of Jacobo Arbenz in 1954 in favour of a military junta, after policies seeking to end exploitative labour practices, redistribute land, and expand access to education angered the likes of the American-owned United Fruit Company. The U.S. then spent decades supporting a series of military dicta-tors despite well-known systematic repression against all opposition, which included dropping napalm on Indigenous villages.

In El Salvador, the U.S. spent billions of dollars backing the government, training their military, and the provision of arms over the course of the dozen-year war against a left-wing insurgency, which left about 75,000 dead, many killed by U.S.-trained paramilitary groups and death squads.

The legacy of these wars and resulting volatility subjected generations to a cycle of extreme poverty and violence, and resulted in massive displacement. This displacement eventually led to the propagation of the gangs that control vast swathes of the region today. The likes of MS-13, frequently referred to by the current administration to demonize all Central American refugees, were born and bred in Los Angeles jails, with U.S. immigration policy playing a fundamental role in their formation. Originally created to protect largely undocumented Salvadoran immigrants from other L.A. gangs, MS-13 morphed into its current form under the tutelage of Ernesto Deras, who happened to be trained in Panama by U.S. Green Berets. When the U.S. deported 4,000 gang-members back to the Northern Triangle in the '90s, the conditions were ripe for the recently exported gang culture to multiply and expand, and eventually return to the U.S. more powerful than ever.

The exodus fleeing the Northern triangle is the culmina-tion of several crises that have been manifesting them-selves over time with the implementation of an unjust economic model—the world which they flee is one Amer-ican policy helped create. It is imperative to reckon with the fact that Central America’s instability does not reside outside the orbit of U.S. influence, but rather firmly in its shadow—and has for centuries.

As long as this history is overlooked and the root causes are not addressed—including the major role the U.S. has and continues to play in the violence, terror, and systemic poverty—Central Americans will continue to flee and make the perilous trek north.

Americans must come to terms about their own coun-try's contribution to this ongoing exodus and demand that their elected officials end the U.S. proliferation of inequitable trade practices, border policies, and oppres-sive regimes. Only when these issues are acknowledged and tackled in a meaningful way that provides justice, safety, and dignity at home, will the inhabitants of the Northern Triangle no longer need to seek an alternate future outside their borders.

For the extended story with more photos and in-depth interviews, check the online version @ freqmagazine.com

• GABRIEL HERNANDEZ SOLANO & PETER KRONISH

CULTURE


CALGARY'SCULINARYCONDITIONC H A T T I N G W I T H D A R R E N M A C L E A N

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What is Calgary’s food culture legacy? Philly has the cheesesteak, New York claims signature styles of bagels and pizza, and San Francisco has the sourdough. Calgary is famous for ginger beef and the Caesar. Yes, the spicy, salty vodka-based beverage mixed with tomatoes and clams was originally the concoction of a bartender at The Westin Hotel. Ginger beef was created by Chef George Wong at the Silver Inn, who titled it “deep-fried shredded beef in chili sauce.” Alberta is also known for having the best beef in the world. Is this our legacy? Is beef all we will ever be known for?

When I first moved here, I assumed I’d see steak houses all over the place. I had a pretty good handle of downtown from visits and I knew about the big guys—but I thought there would be some “divey” places my friends would take me to so I could try their fave ‘Berta beef spots. Sadly, I was disappointed when I realized that wasn’t a thing—but what resulted instead was an eye-opening look into the true nature of dining culture in Calgary.

An ever-growing city, Calgary is faring incredibly well on the national food scene. On OpenTable’s Top 100 2018 Canada list, Calgary had 16 restaurants representing. The only city that had higher numbers was Toronto, which has over double the population of Calgary. On Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants, Calgary had 11 restaurants in the top 100 on the 2018 list.

Multiple chefs from Calgary are getting accolades, (not only within Canada—some are becoming well known names across the world). Calgary also boasts one of the best culinary schools in the country, where you can learn from some of the best chefs in the country. SAIT Chef Michael Allemeier became the third Canadian to earn the title of Master Chef (a very prestigious title that has nothing to do with the TV show). SAIT also became the first technical school in Canada to offer a Culinary Entrepreneurship program, providing upcoming chefs the skill set they need to open their own restaurants.

Darren MacLean—chef and owner of Japanese izakaya-style restaurant Shokunin—talks about the challenges of owning a restaurant in Calgary. Shokunin was voted one of Canada’s Top 50 Restaurants, and Chef Darren has recently competed on Netflix’s Final Table, one of the most prestigious cooking competitions on television, beating out multiple Michelin Star chefs.

Owning a restaurant is a challenge. High rents, low overhead, a new minimum wage, a highly perishable set of assets, and a typically transient staff make success in this industry difficult. Everything has

to be executed almost perfectly, or else someone will capitalize on your shortcomings.

Chef Darren was quick to point out some of the advantages Calgary chefs have: access to amazing produce, incredible farmers at their back doors, and a local chef community that is beyond supportive. He also spoke to the challenges a chef/entrepreneur faces in Calgary, one being the nature of Calgary diners. Independent restaurateurs work tirelessly day and night with limited capital and resources, and their hard work is often overlooked, and should be taken into consideration when compared to the fare of chain restaurants.

“We don’t have a community that is actively seeking out places to dine and so we’re competing with Earls and Joey’s—and don’t get me wrong, these are great restaurants, but they are the restaurants that cater to everyone […] Calgary has all of the potential to be one of the great dining cities in North America. We just have to find a way to show enough Calgarians that they should take pride in their local chefs,” Darren explains.

He adds that if a greater focus was put on local chefs that are community-minded, are taking the time to source out local ingredients, and are creating food in very interesting ways, Calgary’s dining community would be enriched.

It’s great to see the trend growing towards chef-driven menus in comfortable, but not stuffy settings. It is these restaurants that show Calgary’s true diversity. Could the era of fine dining be dying? Are we ringing in a new era of elevated dining, where you’ll find good service without pretension?

Good restaurants will continue to succeed based upon vigour, work ethic, customer service, and quality, regardless of the state of the economy. The slight downturn in the economy might have actually helped strengthen the quality of restaurants in Calgary: no one could be lazy or complacent. It is the expectation of quality that drives success. Gone are the days where a signature dish could keep seats filled four nights a week. Calgary no longer needs ginger beef or the Caesar—Calgary’s new legacy is the community of passionate and innovative individuals that are building this culture, making this city a world-class destination for generations to come.

Visit Darren at Shokunin (2016 4 Street SW).

• NEIL MALIK• ILLUSTRATIONS BY ASHLEY ANG

[email protected] blackwatercreative blkwtrcreative blackwatercreative.com

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