PREVIEW
CLOSET MONSTER
Thursday, April 24
The Auxiliary
One more venue in Calgary is closing its doors to the all-ages scene (and opening them up to a hip-hop crowd). Regardless, the last all-ages show at The Auxiliary will be a big celebration with headliners Closet Monster. The Ontario quartet features a former member of Sum 41 and Avril Lavigne’s band, but you can expect music with more authentic political consciousness from this show.
Closet Monster formed in 1997, when London Spicoluk (bass/vocals) and two of his pals were looking for a project that would reflect their punk rock ethics. Band members have since shuffled about (one guitarist departed after permanently damaging his ear – at a rave, of all places), but each current and ex-member maintains a friendly, informal punk rock fraternity of sorts. The passion behind this band seemingly runs deeper than your average band – it’s evident that Closet Monster is so much more than a four-piece.
"If we’re gonna dedicate ourselves and our lives to something, why not make it something that could have some sort of positive repercussions?" says Spicoluk. "Like, when I was a kid and I saw bands get up and just open their hearts and sing the most inspiring, intelligent things, it was just like, oh my God. Bands like that change me, change everyone in this band. Like Propagandhi… and d.b.s."
Endlessly inspired by his Canadian peers in the genre, Spicoluk says that people are drawn to become lifelong fans of punk because it questions the establishment. It thumbs its nose – to put it verrry politely – at any hint of authority.
"It’s very anti-authority from the roots of it all," says Spicoluk. "The first bands that were ever speaking this way – the first punk rock bands – were rebels. They were anti-authority, they were searching for something more than the shit they were handed and the shit that they see around them everyday.
"There’s no rebel cause – you can’t put your heart and your soul and dedicate your life to something – if you’re just trying to uphold the status quo. (Punk rock) is about making the world open their eyes and see. It came from the gutters, ghettos and poverty – it didn’t come from the rich kids in the suburbs like it seems to come from now."
For anyone involved in the music scene, it’s difficult to take part in a life outside of it. Still, the members of Closet Monster manage to walk the talk. The members are activists and are hooked up with a variety of grassroots organizations in Ontario. They often distribute information about different causes at their shows, promoting demonstrations and peace marches whenever they can.
"It’s very easy to go through life drifting through," says Spicoluk. "I think, especially when you’re young, it’s a time to expand yourself and explore yourself and ask questions you’d never thought you’d ask….
"That’s the one thing that punk rock really, really has to offer – and the local music scene. It’s a place where you can go and be yourself and find yourself. It’s almost like maybe if we do this, and if we live our lives as freely as we possibly can and do everything in our hearts that we want and we live for us and the day, maybe people will see that and be like, ‘Hey, I can do that too.’" |
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