Josh J. Holinaty

DETAILS

Calgary Covers Calgary
Broken City
Thursday, September 10 - Thursday, September 10

More in: Rock / Pop

From September 2006 to September 2008, experimental music project RAMP challenged local musicians to play the wildest cards in their decks on the first Thursday of every month, a night that saw countless one-off collaborations and unique performances by many of the city’s most vibrant creators. There were rock operas, shows built around reverent church organs, epic noise jams, live film soundtracks and a slew of unpredictable collaborations, all with the idea of supporting and challenging one another in a live setting.

Though the shows were always well received, organizer Arran Fisher (of The Summerlad and Acoustikitty Records) made the bold decision to discontinue the series last year, with the hopes that the free-thinking atmosphere that RAMP had fostered over its 24 shows could hold enough charge to keep the Calgary scene revved up for some time to come.

A year later, it’s easy to see the playful spectre of RAMP still at work around town. Events like the monthly harsh noise showcase Discord often feature live improvisation and one-off projects much like RAMP. The series also influenced the boundary-defying whimsy of the all-ages Choose Yer Own festival, which just celebrated its second year last month. With so much of RAMP’s love of the local permeating the scene, it only makes sense that Fisher decided to resurrect the biggest love letter of the series for a third instalment, the Calgary Covers Calgary event.

Past artists have included everyone from Woodpigeon and BRAIDS side-project Indiensoci to lint and Lucid 44, and this year’s lineup is no less eclectic The event will feature veteran metal band Forbidden Dimension rubbing shoulders with the rhythmic alt-folk of rising star Brock Geiger and (rumour has it) covers of the short-lived Calgary indie-rock legends The Minks.

“Calgary has a lot we can be proud of,” says Fisher. “Having been to pretty much every major Canadian city and played there and whatnot, I can honestly say that Calgary’s music scene is, if not the best in the country, then really close to the top.”

Fisher explains that, though the evening will certainly be filled with the warm, fuzzy feelings of rooting for the home team, he’s encouraging the artists involved to step outside their comfort zone as much as possible when they take the stage. In the same way that RAMP aimed to provide a blank canvas for raw experimentation with each month’s lineup, Fisher wants this event to push even the more conventional players to open their minds and take a risk with the songs they choose.

“There’s a sort of lack of competitiveness amongst the bands [in Calgary] that I find really encourages people to try new stuff and to be a little more open with ideas,” he says. “That’s what I like about Calgary Covers Calgary. You get all these bands playing to each other and showing off their stuff in a way. It may not be competitive, but there’s bits where people might sit back and go ‘That was really cool… that was cooler than what I’m doing.’”

If the decision to keep the RAMP legacy alive through the Calgary Covers Calgary event is any indication, we haven’t seen the last of Fisher’s ambition as a stimulator of creativity in and around town. He says that although personal obligations will take him away from Calgary for a time this year, The Summerlad is still hard at work pushing the boundaries of local art-rock with some newly recorded material and upcoming shows that, by his account, should blow some minds. Let the horizon expansion continue.