Vancouver's Canned Hamm aren't performers, musicians or entertainers. They are entainers. Big Hamm and Lil Hamm's live show combines elements of karaoke, burlesque, disco and hot. Wavelength's own Marcel Gonsalves is a fan, proclaiming, 'œyou haven't lived until you've watched a rather tiny man in a white spandex one-piece and pink silk scarf being bounced on the knee of a rather large and hairy man in a white spandex one-piece and pink silk scarf while singing, "Giddy up, little horsey! Giddy up!"
Canned Hamm's first album, Karazma, was such a big hit that it spawned a tribute, Karazma: Reimagined, featuring the likes of Bobby Conn, Neil Hamburger, Carolyn Mark, Destroyer, New Pornographers and Nardwuar. Their new album, Erotic Thriller, was released by Boompa and is in stores now. Lil Hamm gave Shaunna Bednarek a quick email before dinner and answered most of her burning questions.

PLEASE PROVIDE THE READERS OF WAVELENGTH WITH A CONDENSED HISTORY OF CANNED HAMM.
When we started we were directly inspired by life experience and by the unreleased mid-seventies Beach Boys album Adult Child in musical sounds and themes, as we were also trying to find positive ways of dealing with our pain at the time. Emotional scars in the shape of happy faces, perky, catchy melodies. This, combined with a razzle dazzle floor show. We worked through that. I should state that many, many things inspire our personal vision quest as no one is a vacuum and existence is limitless. A lot of people have brought up the change come over Big and Lil Hamm from the last album, Karazma, and this new album, Erotic Thriller. We do certainly look and sound different. It could be the restructuring of priorities from song-and-dance act to becoming a dance-and-song act. We do want people to dance with this new album. Through astral projection on the couch, we were contacted by The Elder Gods of the Cosmos and they showed us so much. They say that we are only using ten percent of our brains! Only ten percent! With a flick of the switch we changed ten percents. That's right, we are now using a completely different ten percent! But it is still us, it is still the same brain. We previously only thought that the history of duos that we are drawing from only stemmed back to the legendary days of vaudeville. We were wrong-- it goes back to The Aztecs. As a result, our work is now more enriched and informed. All that without leaving the couch. If you have experienced one of our shows before please understand that we are touring a brand new show to coincide with our brand new album. And we have lovely new outfits!

WHAT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT OF CANNED HAMM'”THE MUSIC, THE PERFORMANCE OR GETTING THE LADIES?
They are all important parts of "entainment," a catchy buzz word that we hope will take off; each aspect is carefully considered, is different, overlapping, important, and complementing under that greater whole.

YOUR NEW ALBUM'S CALLED EROTIC THRILLER. MY PERSONAL FAVOURITE 'œEROTIC THRILLER'? IS AN AFRO-CENTRIC B-MOVIE RELEASED A FEW YEARS AGO BY THE NAME OF TROIS. WHAT'S YOURS?
The title track was inspired by the master of the erotic thriller, Brian De Palma, and is meant to evoke his works such as Femme Fatale, Carrie, Sisters, Body Double, Phantom of the Paradise, etc. All great movies! The new album is meant to be cinematic in lyrical and musical tone. There is definitely some implied line going on. Also, we directly cover the Cannonball Run theme and have a song called 'œThe Conversation'? that is based on the movie of the same name.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE BIG HAMM TOUCHES THE LIL HAMM?
We like to touch our audience literally and figuratively and that can be electric. When we touch each other it is done to give the audience the same electricity that they have been deprived of. We do not give each other pleasure through the touching of each other, but rather through the audience being touched.

By Shaunna Bednarek

Drawing inspiration from traditional blues and folk genres, Portland, ME's Micah Blue Smaldone pays homage to the art of guitar playing with his own wry and soulful brand of music. His album, Some Sweet Day is available on North East Indie. Matt Blair spoke with Micah via email about Portland, the indie aesthetic, and great Canadian comedians.

WHAT'S A YOUNG ARTIST IN 2005 DOING PLAYING SUCH A TRADITIONAL BRAND OF MUSIC? Is it 2005 already? I suppose I really got immersed in this prewar music at a pretty dismal point' in life, where I was feeling desperate to recover and compose myself, but had all the wrong ideas of how to do so. I remember hearing a radio special about John Jackson, one of the last' true songsters, who had just passed, and thought 'œWow, I could spend' my lifetime' playing this music and probably die a happy fellow.'? Through him I learned of Blind Blake, Mississsippi John Hurt, Elizabeth Cotten... I really just found huge comfort not only in the pure sentiments and idioms and many layers of' humour and sarcasm, but in the sophistication and artistry of the guitar playing.
The thought of being able to accompany myself and travel with' just a' guitar seemed like a dream come true. Well, now I travel with two guitars, but it's the same self-sufficiency.

YOU'RE ON NORTH EAST INDIE, A LABEL WHICH IS HOME TO A NUMBER OF SUCH ARTISTS. IS IT FAIR TO SAY THAT THERE'S A THRIVING FOLK AND BLUES SCENE IN PORTLAND? Portland has a kind little community of music, pretty embracing' of any genre. It also has probably more art galleries per square mile than anywhere I've been.' It's just large enough to have a nice variety of artists without any urban haughtiness or competition.

THE WORD 'œINDIE'? TENDS TO MAKE A LOT OF PEOPLE THINK OF A MORE BASIC, THREE-CHORD BRAND OF MUSIC. AS AN INDIE ARTIST WHO DOESN'T FIT THAT MOLD, DO YOU EVER FIND THE NOTION OF INDIE MUSIC LIMITING? Aren't' all categories limiting? I don't think anyone would call what I do 'œindie,'?' I just happen to be on an independent record label.

SO YOU DON'T CONSIDER THAT AS BIG A PART OF WHAT YOU DO AS A NAME LIKE 'œNORTH EAST INDIE'? WOULD IMPLY? I don't think it implies anything but an abbreviation of 'œindependent,'? and certainly doesn't bear any 'œindie'? aesthetic. Its roster' is' pretty diverse' for a small label, from laptop noise to complex Eastern Europe and Middle East influenced music. Now that you mention it, maybe the thing we most have in common is' that none of us fall easily into any category, existing more just as a community than a 'œscene'? or genre.

WAVELENGTH'S FIFTH ANNIVERSARY FESTIVAL RECENTLY FEATURED THREE ACTS FROM PORTLAND, OR. YOU'RE FROM PORTLAND, ME. WHICH PORTLAND IS BETTER? Oh, I like them both very much, although I' think I prefer the four seasons of New England. Lots of great music from both towns though! I just love that M. Ward fellow, he's a raspy breath of fresh air. Climax Golden Twins, my labelmates there, are a barrel of monkeys. Cerberus Shoal, my labelmates here, are a barrel of something else... maybe wine... very wonderful in any case.

YOU'RE PLAYING A SHOW IN TORONTO, FEATURING ACTS FROM EACH OF CANADA'S THREE MAJOR CITIES, AT THE TAIL END OF CANADIAN MUSIC WEEK. AS AN AMERICAN, DON'T YOU THINK THAT'S A LITTLE TOO CANADIAN? Well, I've never been to Canada and I'm very much looking forward to stepping off American soil for a little while.

WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS OF CANADA AND THE TORONTO MUSIC SCENE? ARE YOU PLAYING ANY OTHER CANADIAN DATES WHILE YOU'RE UP HERE? I've no expectations but to have a nice time and stock up on duty-free liquor on' the way in. Hopefully I can visit with friends in Deep Dark United and Picastro, they're both swell. Harris and I are playing Montreal and Ottawa, the 3rd and 4th respectively, and an in-store at Soundscapes on the 5th. Do you folks have a John Candy memorial or anything?

By Matt Blair

Bats are the new Val Kilmer. If you've seen cut-out bats pasted around town, that's just Cancer Bats' way of spreading the disease. Liam Cormier, Scott Middleton, Andrew McCracken and Joel Bath haven't been ragin', rippin', trashin' and slayin' together for a very long time, but they've toured a good portion of the country and self-released a four-song self-titled EP. Shaunna Bednarek chatted with Cormier and Middleton over tea, pad Thai and French toast.

HOW DID CANCER BATS COME TOGETHER?
LC: For a while, there were a lot of bands that we weren't getting really excited about'¦ We just started this band to be the band we really wanted to see and the band we really wanted to hear.

WHAT'S A TYPICAL CANCER BATS SHOW LIKE?
LC: Us trying to get as crazy as possible. With this band, we love getting wild because we get really stoked on our songs'¦ Kids are starting to get into it more and more. When we first started playing, we were like, 'œThis band's gonna make people go crazy!'? and then we'd play and people would be like, 'œUhhh?'? Basically, what we hope for is people head-banging, fist-fighting and making out.
SM: We played a show in Fredericton, N.B. on our east coast tour and all these crazy Maritimes kids got super trashed and they just destroyed the place and got wild. We get really pumped when kids get into it like that.

I DIDN'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT YOU GUYS WHEN I WAS ASSIGNED THIS INTERVIEW, BUT A FRIEND TOLD ME YOU GUYS ARE 'œALL ABOUT RAGIN''? WHAT EXACTLY DOES RAGIN' ENTAIL?
LC: Ragin' is the idea that you are going to live every day to the fullest, and doing whatever you want and just killin' it. If that means partying and getting drunk, then that's awesome. And if that's how you roll, then that's how you roll, and that's wicked. It could means going out and crushing the city, doing graffiti and going skateboarding or riding BMX bikes. Or if you love to write short stories on your typewriter, in a way, that is ragin', as long as you bang it out.
SM: Writing in your blog?
LC: Maybe having an online journal. That is a little wild sometimes! Sometimes you're doing two or three entries a day. That gets pretty heavy!

WOULD YOU SAY THAT YOU GUYS ARE A HARDCORE BAND?
SM: We grew up going to hardcore shows and stuff like that. I wouldn't entirely classify our music as hardcore. We're not going to be able to escape that influence, but if anything, there's huge elements of rock and metal and punk.
LC: We take so much stuff from everything'¦ We listen to Minus the Bear and Interpol all the time. We're really super into those bands and that gets us excited to make music, but those aren't hardcore bands. Those are all people that came from hardcore in that same way. We tend to play hardcore shows. That's '˜cause those kids know how to get sweet!
SM: We wouldn't ever limit ourselves to one specific subgenre. Hardcore is just an extension of punk rock and metal.

ON THE SUBJECT OF HARDCORE, WHAT'S WITH THE WHOLE XHARDCOREX THING?
SM: We're straight-edge, but we don't X-up at shows or anything. It's a personal thing. We're not here to flaunt it. We encourage our friends to get wasted and we can party with them.
LC: I'm straight-edge because that's a really positive way to live my life and that's how I get things done. Some kids like to get wasted and that's how they have a lot of fun. I'd rather everyone have the best time ever of their lives. And if that means bros doing PCP, then whatever!
SM: We're really good friends with this hardcore band called Keep It Up, and they've got this wicked song called 'œUnited Party.'? It's basically about the drunk kids and the straight-edge kids just partying as hard as they can together.
LC: In the end, you're all just people having fun. If you can't get down with that, then that's weak.

By Shaunna Bednarek

Probably in an unconscious attempt to make the experience of my initial Discunt listen as extremely punk rock as possible, I played the cassette tape T&A Renee (also known as the 'œWavelength Period Stain Girl'? who won last year's Halloween costume contest) gave me -- with all it's heart-wrenchingly adorable and awesome cassette-tape-ness and photocopied artwork and liner notes -- in my shitty decade-old walkman that basically doesn't work. That it doesn't work is astounding considering how reliable analog is supposed to be, regardless of what your digital-loving 'œI have no patience for obsolete technology'? friends will tell you. Old walkmanster has faithfully played the Minor Threat discography in the only form I've ever owned it for years, and only upon the Discunt initial listen is it failing. Or maybe that's how it's supposed to sound. These three tuffs answered some questions via that internet mail system thing.

HOW DID DISCUNT GET TO BE WHAT IT IS AND WHY IS IT? Matthew: Bennett and I started jamming on some simple D-beat tunes for fun, and then Renee joined and we dreamed up the whole concept of Discunt whilst shopping. T&A Renee: Discunt started in the Eaton shopping centre as a hilarious idea to name a Discharge band "Vaginal Discharge" -- I said I would sing about my vag -- and here we are -- everything vag related. We are probably the best band in Toronto right now. That's a fact. Bennett: We're just friends fucking around, having fun together.

EXPLAIN TO GREG COLLINS (WHO SAID "I HAVE NO PATIENCE FOR OBSOLETE TECHNOLOGY") WHY CASSETTE TAPES ARE EXCELLENT AND/OR SUPERIOR. M: Patience is obsolete. Cassettes are nice. B: Old school always wins. T&AR: I'll send him a Discunt demo.

I HEARD THAT YOU HAVE A VESTED INTEREST IN LADIES AND LADYKIND. PLEASE EXPLAIN.
T&AR: Ladies are so bomb, and are so under represented in every aspect and/or field in our society, so this is why I am a feminist (duh) and I have been trying to figure out the best way to go about destroying people's notions of women as second class citizens. Punk rock, as a sub/counter culture, worked for me as means of "countering" and challenging mainstream values and ideas, such as classism, racism, whatever-ism, and sexism. A challenge to this is the fact that punk rock, as a subculture, glorifies everything masculine. It's a total boy's club. That, and it's white as fuck. For years I was one of the only girls who stuck around, and I constantly felt (and still do) that I had to prove myself as a women, being constantly aware of my gender. I have personally felt the ramifications of being a woman in a punk rock "scene", being sexually assaulted by a fellow punk kid. What followed was a classic 'œblame the victim'? scenario. Everyone in the St. John's (Newfoundland) scene turned their backs on me and I was left with no support and basically kicked out of the scene. The guy who sexually assaulted me, is obviously still a huge and supported part of the scene. Violence against women/sexual assault is a gender issue, it exists within our homes, at work, is generally tolerated, and it exists in punk rock. I moved to Toronto to find a new punk rock community -- where I have been working and fighting, with a group of other awesome local ladies -- to make punk rock and hardcore a safe, encouraging, and empowering community for the ladies, fags, and whoever the shit else wants to fuck shit up with us. Start bands. Write zines. Host radio shows. Dance up front. Organize shows. Join our punk rawk baseball team. GO!

HOW OFTEN IS RENEE DAY AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING ABOUT MAKING IT A NATIONAL HOLIDAY? B: Every day is Renee Day as far as I can tell. T&AR: Ladies, in particular, tend to put everyone else's needs before their own, and as a result, not enough time is spent indulging in life's pleasantries without feelings of guilt. So, my personal strike against such foolishness is to set aside at least one day out of each month and dedicate it to me. This involves spending the full day completely alone. If roommates are not home, unplug the phone. Blast Missy Elliot, bedroom dance naked -- all while eating MANY baked goods, masturbating and napping periodically. Maybe throw in a Bollywood movie or two. Read luscious lady books. Journal. Reflect. Take myself out on a date to a wicked awesome vegan restaurant. Hang out at Chapters reading their books drinking caramel soy steamers. All things pleasurable. I'm working on making it a national holiday through LiveJournal. M: Tuesdays, 9pm, hot tub.

By Star DT