Capsule: Ancient Artifacts
Taking a distro across western Canada in the summer of 2009.
I had distro that started around 2006, predating Scream & Writhe by several years. The inventory was rooted in punk and explored the broader definition of that term. In the summer of 2009 I tagged along with a couple of bands on a two-week tour that started in British Columbia, routed through the interior, over the Rockies, across the prairies, and finally dipping briefly into northern Ontario before working back west.
I only remember bits and pieces of the shows: a ceiling tile knocked loose above the stage pouring a surprising amount of collected rainwater(?) onto a band member’s head in Thunder Bay; downtown Winnipeg feeling eerily deserted at 5PM; a cat on a string; costly wrong turns and improperly-shut van door highway misfortunes, etc. I hardly remember any of the other bands. The Calgary and Edmonton shows were probably the best, with the Winnipeg and Saskatoon shows being the worst—at least in terms of attendance. I distinctly remember being the only person at the Saskatoon show who wasn’t in one of the bands playing that night.
There was also the general state of touring Canada, namely overly long drives (8 hours on the shorter end) to get to the next show. Between two vans and eight people (nine including me, but I paid my way), I’m sure the bands I was with did not come out ahead by the end of the tour. Time, money, cultural landscape, and everything else is a bit different today and things can be done smarter now—especially in the noise world you can be strategic with a short tour and not have it be a pay-to-play experience. There were probably smarter ways to do it back then, too, though geography was just as much of a constant. That said, the distro did quite well during these two weeks.
Flipping through this old notebook I kept, it’s an interesting snapshot of an era: what was being stocked at the time (a surprising amount of hardcore and screamo, contrary to my personal tastes even back then), who was buying what in which city, etc. The amount of records sold is also a good indicator of how the turnouts were (Calgary alone accounted for nearly half of the entire tour's sales). The prices are another thing—remember the $5 7” and the $12 LP? Let alone the $2 tape. Canadian dollars. Unreal. Might as well be free by 2026 standards.
I remember the Abbotsford show being a somewhat last minute affair. It was at The Fun House, a house which, to my recollection, I had never been to before or since. There wasn’t any room for merch so we sold our wares out of the back of the vans. I only managed to sell one 7”, but it remains a good one.
The Vancouver show was at the APC, a much-missed anarchist space in East Van. I attended two shows there (the other, aside from this, being when Hatred Surge came through), and played there once—all in the span of a few months. I don’t think it was around much beyond 2009. I remember who bought some of these records, and wish I still had my own copy of the Asunder/Graves at Sea LP (that was selling for a measly $13). Lots of screamo stuff sold here and on many of the other dates. Not a style I ever had interest in (can’t stand nearly any of it), but it certainly had a strong moment around this time. Sometimes you just have to give the people what they want.
The show in Ymir had a last minute venue change from an old school house to a community hall. Ymir is near Nelson in the Kootenay region of BC, and as such there were many a peace-loving persons at the show, some brought their kids. There was a dog. There may even have been a clown. Real kum ba yah. I remember some humour surrounding another touring band on the bill by the name of Glue (straight edge hardcore from Texas). Most of these records were likely bought by the promoter, one Jordan Dunsmuir who ran Black Banana Records at the time, later was one half of the original incarnation of Scream & Writhe and did vocals in our band Subsist when we both lived in Vancouver, and has been a longstanding friend since the MySpace days.
Abbotsford: $5
Severe - Snitch Slaughter 7” $5
Vancouver: $102
Shikari / Louise Cyphre 9” $10
combatwoundedveteran - This is Not an Erect, All-Red Neon Body LP $13
combatwoundedveteran - I Know a Girl Who Develops Crime Scene Photos LP $13
Graf Orlock - Destination Time Today LP $14
Sinaloa - Oceans of Islands LP $12
What Price, Wonderland? - Thirty With a Wink LP $12
Asunder / Graves at Sea LP $13
Requiem - Storm Heaven LP $10
Trash Talk - Plagues 7” $5
Ymir: $61
Dead Stare / Hummingbird of Death 7” $5
Noise Reduction Zine $0
Black Kronstadt - The Free Spirit LP $10
Protestant - Antagonist 7” $5
Crom - Hot Sumerian Nights LP $12
The Doers - Watcha Doin’? LP $12
GM/SW LP $12
P/IDS 7” $5
The Calgary show was at some place I can’t rightly remember the name of at present, but I remember looking forward to seeing the venue and it was the best show of the tour on all levels—turnout, bands, amount of records moved. In hindsight, I am surprised to see more grind and power violence sold in Calgary than screamo stuff. One glaring omission from my notes is the sale of at least one copy of the mighty California 10LP box set released by Troniks / Ground Fault / RRR. Maybe it was a trade I didn’t log. The other noise item of note here being a couple copies of the Bastard Noise “Our Earth’s Blood IV” 5CD set from Cathartic Process released that year.
The show in Regina was at a high school gymnasium. The Brat Attack was on the bill, but they didn’t show up until 11:30PM—long after the weeknight all ages show had ended, and as we were moments away from leaving the parking lot. “Hey, is the show still on?” Davey asked from the van as they pulled up, feigning meekness. After show events included a big gathering around a fire at a farm somehow related to the promoters (Harvest King Records people), and spending the night in the barn only to realize in the light of morning that we’d slept next to dead animal carcasses. Not too many records to draw a trend on, though perhaps leaning a bit more in a hardcore direction.
Calgary: $576
Man Is the Bastard - D.I.Y.C.D. CD $10
GS/BC 7” $2
War Hero / Ummm 7” $5
The Communion / Compound Terror 7” $5
In Vacuo - You Pilot 7” $5
Mutiny 7” $5
War Hero / Hominid 7” $5
Hummingbird of Death / Dead Stare 7” $5
P / IDS 7” $5
War Hero / Ummm 7” $5
Das Oath LP $10
Walls LP $10
Severed Head of State CS $2
Protestant - The Hate. The Hollow. LP $10
Hummingbird of Death CS $2
Bastard Noise - Our Earth’s Blood IV 5CD $45
Hummingbird of Death - Goatmeal 5” $5
Mutiny 7” $5
Hominid / War Hero 7” $5
Dead Stare / Hummingbird of Death 7” $5
Hummingbird of Death CS $2
Limp Wrist 12” $10
Hummingbird of Death - Goatmeal 5” $0
Crom - Hot Sumerian Nights LP $13
Sidetracked / Dead Radical LP $9
Graf Orlock - Destination Time Today LP $14
Limp Wrist 12” $10
Bastard Noise - Our Earth’s Blood IV 5CD $45
combatwoundedveteran LP $13
Limp Wrist 12” $10
DS-13 LP $8
Darren Deicide - The Temptation and the Taboo CD $2
Man Is the Bastard - D.I.Y.C.D. CD $10
Hummingbird of Death / Dead Stare 7” $5
Bookburner 7” $5
Fever - SES 7” $5
Government Warning - No Moderation LP $8
Thou / Black September - Thrive and Decay 7” $5
Oi Polloi - It’s Not the Monkey That Needs Its Head Examined CS $2
Invasion / Amour Fou - We Can Never Be Saved 7” $5
Hummingbird of Death / Dead Stare 7” $5
War Hero / Ummm 7” $5
Insect Warfare LP $12
Various - A Product of Six Cents II CD $8
Anti-Cimex - ‘81-’86 Discography CS $2
War Hero / Ummm 7” $5
War Hero / Hominid 7” $5
xBrainiax - Hail Fastcore CD $8
Asunder - Works Will Come Undone LP $12
Das Oath LP $8
Deathcycle LP $8
Ghostlimb / Fischer 10” $10
Zann / Perth Express / Trainwreck / Ghostlimb LP $12
Graf Orlock - Destination Time Today LP $14
Brain Handle - Smiling / Smiling Again 7” $5
Sunset Riders 7” $5
xBrainiax - Hail Fastcore CD $8
Various - A Product of Six Cents II CD $8
Limp Wrist 12” $12
Graf Orlock - Destination Time Today LP $14
Ghostlimb LP $14
Sidetracked / Dead Radical LP $9
Limp Wrist 12” $14
Comadre - Burn Your Bones LP+DVD+CD $12
Mutiny 7” $5
Graf Orlock - Destination Time Today LP $14
Regina: $147
Graf Orlock - Destination Time Today LP $14
DFA - Defy False Authority LP $10
Limp Wrist 12” $12
Defeatist 7” $5
Totalitar - Vi Är Eliten 7” $5
Acts of Sedition / Sadville 7” $5
Criminal Damage - No Solution LP $8
Criminal Damage - No Solution LP $8
Severe - Snitch Slaughter 7” $5
Indian Summer - Hidden Arithmetic LP $14
combatwoundedveteran - I Know a Girl Who Develops Crime Scene Photos LP $13
Hominid / War Hero 7” $5
Insect Warfare LP $12
Strung Up / Direct Control LP $8
Bookburner 7” $5
Severe - Snitch Slaughter 7” $5
Kursk / Damage Digital 7” $5
??? 7” $5
The Winnipeg show was at the infamous War On Music record shop. We ate vegan sandwiches at the Mondragon infoshop upstairs. I remember the bands being paid something like $35 combined, which was surprisingly low even considering the quite small turnout. More Bastard Noise moving here, and more grind, naturally, with Winnipeg being home to Head Hits Concrete, Kursk, Swallowing Shit, Arsonfest, etc. I’m sure most of that stuff was picked up by Brad Skibinsky (of Kursk and HHC, later Mass Deadening distro, and now Eye and Ear Control Records). The house we stayed at had the hardest wooden floors I have ever slept on.
We drove the extra lengthy miles to Thunder Bay so we could spend some time at one of the band member’s family cottage on some lake. The show was put on by Micro Von Frakenstein at Black Pirates Pub, and I think he bought most of the records too. Interesting to see a New World On Fire CD sold here, a hardcore band from Chilliwack who were sort of home town heroes in many ways.
We had a lot of free time in Saskatoon and ended up killing it by going to see Brüno at some major cinema (possibly in a mall). I have no real recollection of it. Being the only person at the show who wasn’t performing I still managed to sell a handful of 7”s. A bit on the power-pop side of things.
Winnipeg: $134
Crom - Hot Sumerian Nights LP $13
Insect Warfare LP $10
Kali 7” $5
Parlamentarisk Sodomi - De Anarkistiske An(n)aler LP $13
Bastard Noise / Antennacle 7” $5
Bastard Noise / Moz / Hermit 7” $5
Bastard Noise / Spastic Colon CD $10
Parlamentarisk Sodomi - De Anarkistiske An(n)aler LP $13
Morne / Warprayer LP $12
Clorox Girls - Boys / Girls 7” $5
Defect Defect - Words 7” $5
Clorox Girls LP $8
Insect Warfare LP $10
Limp Wrist LP $12
Direct Control - You’re Controlled LP $8
Thunder Bay: $89
Asunder / Graves at Sea LP $12
combatwoundedveteran - This is Not an Erect, All-Red Neon Body LP $13
Kakistocracy LP $8
From Ashes Rise - Nightmares LP $8
The Holy Mountain - Entrails LP $8
Taste the Floor CD $5
New World On Fire - Guided Missiles and Misguided Men CD $5
F.P.O. - 2003-2007 Recordings CD $7
Ummm / Hasrat 7” $5
P / IDS 7”
Mutiny 7” $5
Against Empire / Auktion 7” $6
Leper / Eleutheros 7” $3
Saskatoon: $35
White Lung - Local Garbage 7” $5
Clorox Girls 7” $5
Pedestrians - Killing Season 7” $5
Mutiny 7” $5
Sunset Riders 7” $5
Failed States - Ride Bikes 7” $5
Amour Fou / Invasion 7” $5
The Edmonton show at Avonmore Hall (or was it Allendale Hall?) was probably fun. A homecoming show for one of the bands, and the last stop before the BC contingent had to make the long haul home (a 12-13 hour drive). The screamo material was in abundance here. I don’t remember much other than chatting with internet friends/acquaintances (via Nexopia) outside the hall.
Edmonton: $127
Ghostlimb / Fischer 10” $10
Zann / Burial Year - Fig 1. / Fig 2. LP $12
Shikari / Louise Cyphre 9” $10
Sinaloa - Oceans of Islands LP $12
The Saddest Landscape 10” $8
Zann / Perth Express / Trainwreck / Ghostlimb LP $12
Indian Summer - Hidden Arithmetic LP $14
Ghostlimb / Fischer 10” $10
Hummingbird of Death CS $0
Zann / Perth Express / Trainwreck / Ghostlimb LP $12
Propagandhi - How to Clean a Couple of Things 7” $5
Ghostlimb / Fischer 10” $10
Comadre - A Wolf Ticket LP $13
The Saddest Landscape 10” $10
TOTAL: $1274
The mid-late 2000s felt like a great time for underground punk-oriented distros and shops in western Canada. Alberta seemed to be especially fruitful territory. Thinking of the Mangled Ankle distro and Sloth Records in Calgary (the latter still extant), and xTRUEx and Unrest Records in Edmonton. Further west Scratch Records was still around, and Audiopile was garnering its reputation as Vancouver’s best shop for any kind of music (basically still is), but British Columbia’s real gem of this era was Black Raven Records in Victoria. Then there was the humble little distro that I operated out of my bedroom closet at my parents’ place in Chilliwack, about an hour and a half east of Vancouver. A year or so after this tour I stopped the distro in order to change focus and launch Absurd Exposition sometime in 2010, before eventually re-engaging as Scream & Writhe in early 2012 after I’d moved to Vancouver.
As far as records I personally bought on the tour I can only recall a few, though there were certainly more.
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue LP (2008 Classic Records pressing - a steal at $35, considering what it goes for now)
Holzkopf - Pure Bliss No Earth 12”
Neil Young - Time Fades Away LP (70s pressing with poster)