Cassia Hardy's record In Relation is out on May 23! Here's an essay from the accompanying zine written by Kyla Pascal about the Empress Ale House, titled "Reflections on Community + space".

As you stepped in from the cold December afternoon, the bar was hot and loud. Squeezing your way through the crowd, passing the barflies insistent on remaining perched on their stools. The band was playing Christmas carols and at the back of the bar was a bake sale, homemade cookies and Christmas treats spread across tables in tupperware – a fundraiser for a local homeless shelter.  

The Empress was a place of community. For the lonely man after his late shift at Safeway, the beers for queers (one of the few safe queer drinking spaces in the city), the comedians fumbling their way through a tight five on comedy night. A handful of shows a month, the upcoming list of performances scribbled across laminated sheets, hung behind the bar. In the summertime, the patio was packed. You’d disregard the taste of Empress Ale for the fact that you are all together under the sun.

Third spaces, a term coined by sociologist Ray Oldenburg, describe locations outside the home (the first place) and the workplace (the second place) where people can connect and gather. As we move away from traditional third spaces such as churches, community halls, and legions, we’ve shifted towards alternatives.

The Empress was just that: a welcoming space, regardless of your colour, sexuality, or class. It was a place to watch an album release show, compete in a trivia night, catch a playoff game, fundraise, or simply catch up with friends.

The number of third spaces is quickly dwindling. Suburban sprawl, changing work patterns that reduce recreational time, and the lasting impact of a pandemic have led to a significant decline in people's connections. 

Headlines over the past few years have painted a grim picture for small businesses, local art scenes, and the overall sense of community. Articles highlight the ever-changing arts and culture industry, business reports point to rising costs straining live music, and the Canadian government released a social survey report on increasing loneliness.

The Empress, like many spaces, was a casualty of the pandemic and a greedy landlord who placed profit over community. On August 1, 2020, The Empress Ale House closed its doors for good. Beyond The Empress, we’ve lost other businesses, venues and events to congregate. We saw festivals dissolve and organizations shrink. We’ve lost ways to hear about what people are creating and how we can support their latest projects and releases.

The work of gathering feels different now. It’s harder to find out about upcoming shows, people have moved away, and people have passed on. Our opportunities for connection seem to become less and less. 

When you drive by, you would barely recognize The Empress Ale House save for the red exterior. Following its closing, Cannabis Bay was the next tenant. The space was grossly illuminated with florescent lighting and the gaudy signage was a cruel reminder of where a watering hole, a music venue, and a safe space once existed. As of very recently, the space once again sits empty.

However, in the past year, Sue Kiernan, owner of The Empress Ale House has opened a new spot, Southbound Brewing. And we’ve seen other community members build new spaces and create new ways to connect.  In the face of increasing loneliness, closing businesses and a weary arts community, we must support our community spaces and local artists. In the grieving of our beloved Empress, we are reminded that gathering is an essential part of our lives and that through community support and collaboration, we can build places and spaces that uplift, invite, and connect.

-- 

Kyla Pascal (she/her) is an Afro-Indigenous (Dominican/Métis) woman born and raised in Amiskwaciwâskahikan / ᐊᒥᐢᑲᐧᒋᐋᐧᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ (Edmonton). Her experiences and interests are centred around Indigenous resurgence, cultural preservation through archival and memory work, storytelling, and food justice. She is a community planner, an artist, a core member of Ociciwan Contemporary Art Centre and co-editor of Hungry Zine. Pascal’s writing has been featured in a number of publications such as Briarpatch, Herizons, and SNAPline. The goal of her work is to build more resilient, connected, and healthier communities.

Today we're announcing that we've signed the Montreal post-punk outfit Ribbon Skirt to put out their debut record Bite Down on Mint. The album's out April 11! 

Formerly known as Love Language, Ribbon Skirt are a band from Montreal led by Anishinaabe musician Tashiina Buswa. They have captivated audiences across Canada and the US including SXSW, New Colossus, Sled Island, Sappyfest, Flourish and POP Montreal. 

The album announcement of Bite Down comes with the release of the song and music video for "Wrong Planet," filmed in the window of a kitschy prom dress store on Montreal’s iconic St. Hubert Plaza. 

Taashina Buswa’s frustrated vocals—"I think I don’t love you / I really love you"—play out amidst a backdrop of shimmering gowns and flickering lights, embodying the internal conflict that drives the song. It’s the feeling of being stuck in a world that you fundamentally don’t fit into, and weighing the decision of whether to perform a different version of yourself to fit in. 

The video’s visual narrative blurs the lines between fantasy and reality, and as the song reaches its explosive outro, Buswa's scream reverberates through space from behind a cracked glass, echoing the disorienting feeling of being trapped in a whirlwind of choices. "Wrong Planet" is a journey through emotional chaos, filmed in a space that feels like both an escape and a prison—trapped in a glass box looking out as the world walks by, disinterested while Buswa wrestles with the endless cycle of uncertainty, never knowing which path will lead to acceptance.

The video was directed by Ana-Maria Espino Trudel, with assistant director Colin Ratchford. Laura Jeffrey and Heather Lynn star as dancers. Watch it now!

Pre-order the record on Bandcamp or the web store 

Follow Ribbon Skirt 

Watch the new music video for “It’s About Time!”, the title track from Future Star’s sophomore LP, out now on Mint Records. 

The Steve Roste-directed music video captures future star’s live performance and features a cast of friends and family trust falling onto each other. Watch it now

See Future Star live on tour this fall:
Sept 17 - Edmonton @ The Aviary w/ Cassia Hardy & Butterdome (Tickets)
Sept 19 - Calgary @ Loophole w/ Hermitess & Silvering (Tickets)
Sept 26 - Vancouver @ Green Auto w/Bill Cann & Lilex and the Apocalips 
Oct. 3 - Toronto @ Tranzac w/Louie Sanchez & Tommy Tone
Oct. 5 - Hamilton @ BSide w/Lenny McGowan & Small Orbit

 

Heaven For Real are having fun with us. On Hell’s Logo’s Pink, their latest mini-album; twin Canadian songwriters Mark and J. Scott Grundy traverse a withering limboscape while sporting wide-eyed grins. Lyrical themes of spiritual ambivalence (“All That Remains”), doomer delusions and devotions, acute grief (“Biting Down With The Fangs''), solipsism, and ephemeral love (''Wichita's”) float with the band’s signature sonic buoyancy atop a refreshingly dark sea of material.

After 2023 tours of North America and the UK and a breathless 2022 run of releases (the EP Sweet Rose Green Winter Desk Top Tell This Side Autumn Of The Fighter Hot In A Cool Way and sophomore LP, Energy Bar), they began self-recording and producing songs in a solar battery and wood stove-powered Toronto studio (Coach House Sound) amid winter 2023-24.

Facing limitations both in personnel and resources, the duo worked to develop a newly agile approach to their idiosyncratic rock arrangements–embracing a necessary kind of spontaneity, “the battery would drain really quick when running all of our recording gear, so we had to do pretty much everything in one take,” J. Scott remarks. Other familiar players make appearances too, with live H4R collaborators Jonathan Pappo (Ducks Ltd., No Frills) drumming on the spritely kickoff of “Oh No” and Laura Jeffery (Laughing, Fountain) lending her voice through the sunken pop crackles of “Blankets of White”. Mixed by fellow songwriter/producers Louie Short and Andrew McLeod (Sunnsetter, Zoon), the songs bridge a fiery confluence of styles with ease.

“There isn’t a note on the record without something burning in the background,” offers Mark; and with the titular correlation in mind, there is a Cerberus-headed energy serving as guardian and guide here. Taking the listener through devil-may-care melodies (“Platforms”) and rhythms full of promise and still ragged optimism (“Love That Moves Faster {Than Death}”); this release ignites yet another era for the project — one perfectly emblematized by the flaming bubblegum chaos collection of its album cover, illustrated by the artist Maddy Matthews.

RIYL: The Pixies, Cate LeBon, Surface To Air Missive, Violent Femmes, Autolux

Tracklist:

  1. Theme From a Logo
  2. Oh No  
  3. Blankets of White  
  4. Platforms
  5. Wichita’s
  6. Love That Moves Faster (Than Death)  
  7. Biting Down With The Fangs  
  8. All That Remains
  9. !

Hell's Logo's Pink Tour 2024

JUNE 14 - MONTREAL, QC - THE BOG
JUNE 17 - OTTAWA, ON - RAINBOW BISTRO
JUNE 20 - CALGARY, AB - SHIP & ANCHOR (SLED ISLAND)
JUNE 21 - CALGARY, AB - SHIP & ANCHOR (MINT RECORDS SHOWCASE, SLED ISLAND)
JUNE 28 - VICTORIA, BC - THE MINT
JUNE 29 - VANCOUVER, BC - GREEN AUTO
JULY 25 - TORONTO, ON - BABY G (ALBUM RELEASE SHOW)

Today Montreal's knitting announce their debut LP Some Kind of Heaven, out on Mint September 6!

What started out as a pandemic hibernation project is now the fully fledged Montreal indie-rock-unit knitting. With “sinuous, bouncy guitars…and choruses that have the potential to metamorphose into earworms” (FME), knitting makes guitar driven and lyrically introspective indie rock evoking the nostalgia of 90s alternative rock bands like Pavement, Pixies and Sonic Youth.

Formed two years ago, knitting has already shared the stage with the likes of Nap Eyes, Loving and Cherry Glazerr, and toured and performed at festivals across North America. Having recently wrapped production with Scott “Monty” Munro (Preoccupations, Chad Vangaalen), knitting’s highly anticipated debut album comes out September 6 2024. 

Recorded with Scott Munro of Preoccupations, the album was written over a period of several years when Dempsey was navigating experiences of transition and coming into their non-binary identity, and addresses those experiences while touching on many of the complications and growing pains of early adulthood.

The lead single "Spirit Gum" is a song about the end of a domestic relationship that dissects that emotional space with a brooding intensity. Layers of guitar recalling 90s alt-rock greats like Hole and contemporaries like Dilly Dally and Momma, give mesmeric weight to a song that traces the way a physical space can be transformed by the emotional state in which it's experienced.

Listen to Spirit Gum | Watch the Music video

Pre-order Some Kind of Heaven 

Today Vivek Shraya is back with a new remix of her song "Quitter" off her 2023 record Baby, You're Projectingwhich turns 1 in just a few weeks! 

"Quitter Remix" features Vancouver-based musician Kimmortal lending some vocals and a verse to the song that even ID's the album. 

With this remix, Vivek gives the album and song a bit more love.

"Quitter" was one of the last songs she wrote for Baby, You're Projecting. She says, "I knew by then that I was writing a break ups album, but it wasn't until I watched the Alanis Morissette documentary that it hit me that I hadn't really allowed myself to be angry in my songwriting. I was so consumed with being fair to the other people I was writing about that I didn't realize I was muting my own emotions." 

Having been a fan Kimmortal since they played a show together (with Vivek's band Too Attached) years ago, and having Kimmortal sing back ups on Baby, You're Projecting, she wanted to put out an "official collab." 

Vivek said, "I genuinely believe that collaboration is the fuel of life. There is nothing one artist can do that two artists can't do better, and this collab is a testament to this fact. Kimmortal really takes this track to a new level and I've totally forgotten about the original version!"

Kimmortal says: "When I was writing for 'Quitter' I was thinking about past dating experiences I’ve had where my energy was not reciprocated and where I felt like I was treated as if I was disposable. 'Quitter' feels like an outlet for that rage and also a way to claim that power back. It was also such a fun experience to get the chance to sing in duet styles with Vivek!"

Listen to the single on streaming or Bandcamp.

“This Is The Part that’s too Hard to Explain” is the invigorating first single off Future Star's next album, It’s About Time! Out on Mint Records on July 5, 2024.

Future Star is a Vancouver-based bedroom pop star who has been releasing catchy keyboard music with “sweet and comically candid lyrics” (Discorder) since 2016. With influences that include musical artists like Arthur Russell, Magnetic Fields, and Kero Kero Bonito, and visual artists such as Lynda Barry, Future Star has built a reputation for creating intimate live performances "loaded with understated significance and beauty" (Exclaim!).

Their most recent two albums, When Will The DJ Of Luv Grant Me My 1 Request (Kingfisher Bluez, 2021) and All Of These Songs Are About You (None Of These Songs Are About Me) (self-released, 2021), tell a satisfying story of queer longing and loneliness transformed into love and joy.

Turning a song about the vulnerability experienced in childhood into a cathartic bop is no easy feat, but Future Star manages to pull it off in “This is the Part That’s Too Hard To Explain”. This is a song about hiding from understanding things, not asking for help when we need it, and the forgiveness we can offer ourselves and those around us when the smoke has cleared. A reminder to handle the "little guy" inside of you with care and compassion.

Listen on: Streaming and Bandcamp

About the record

While dreaming about houses that have been torn down and shows that happened in venues that don't exist anymore, Future Star explores the space between now and then with their upcoming album It's About Time!. A retrospective on seven years of songwriting, It's About Time! reminds us that a moment can go on infinitely, a memory can be shared, and something might have changed when you weren't looking.

Recorded and produced by long time friend Andromeda Monk, the album is at times minimalistic in texture with upright piano and voice, and at times lushly arranged with additions of synthetic strings, flutes and drum machine. Breathing naturally and comfortably, like a body at rest, it invites the listener to breathe naturally and comfortably, because everything is going to happen no matter what.

Maybe a song can be like a body, and their cells can replace themselves after a certain period of time. Maybe a story can be like a person that takes time to realise who they are. Maybe a city can be livable and you don't need to move to Montreal, or the suburbs.

Our cells turn over, the wick burns shorter, and maybe when the light hits just right and everything comes into focus, you will make the next best decision you've ever made.

RIYL: Magnetic Fields, Kimya Dawson, Arthur Russell, Frankie Cosmos, Chris-A-Riffic

Follow Future Star

WebsiteInstagramTwitterFacebookBandcamp SpotifyApple Music

Today Non La releases "Hurtful," the lead single off their sophomore album Like Before. 

"With this song I wanted to capture the nuances of non-monogamy," says On. 

"However, I think I ended up expressing this feeling that is familiar in every relationship, romantic or not: that there could be some new, exciting distraction that threatens what you have. The song starts relaxed, but as the anxieties grow bigger, the song swells until the music implodes. It ends in chaos." 

Listen to the song now.  

Coming out of "an 8 year music video retirement" to direct the music video for "Hurtful," Owen Ellis creates the uneasy feeling of ominous tension at a live show, where a concert goer walks the line between stalker and super fan. Check out the video on YouTube!

About the album 

Like Before is a 12-track alt-pop meditation on long term relationships, the difficulty of recognizing care in routine, and the struggle to do better than whatever maladapted form of love your parents were modelling. Despite the universality of these themes, Non La brings a specifically queer focus to the genre including tracks discussing meeting your partner in a bathhouse and how/if to ever tell your family (“Dark Room”), and the conflicting insecurities (“Hurtful”) and reassurances (“Like Before”) that arise from non-monogamy.

Pre-orders of the LP, cassette, and digital album are available on Bandcamp and the Mint web store.

Please join us in welcoming Non La to Mint! 

Non La is the solo project of queer, Taiwanese-Vietnamese musician DJ On (Thee AHs, TV Ugly), dedicated to queer storytelling. On released his debut album Not in Love with local label Kingfisher Bluez, and the album was named one of the most anticipated Canadian album’s of 2020 by Exclaim! Magazine.

We're very happy to be releasing music from Non La starting with a cathartic new single called "Homes" - out today! Stream the single wherever you listen to music.

On said, "The song is about the complex feelings at the end of a relationship. Though I have hurt and resentment I feel for the other person, I still hope that things could turn around and that the relationship could be somewhat repaired." 

The technicolour music video depicts moments of queer joy, love, and tenderness. Watch it now