blog post Web Radio with Vish Khanna: Halifax, NS According to... Charles Austin!

Hey all,

My weekly series of local music profiles continues today, with a look at what's going on in Halifax, Nova Scotia from one man's perspective.

That man is a wonderful musician/engineer/producer/proud papa by the name of Charles Austin. You might know Charles as a member of The Super Friendz (pictured above, l-r: Drew, Dave, Matt, and Chuck) and, more recently, The Beginners. He's also renowned for his work with Buck 65, Joel Plaskett, Al Tuck, and Laura Peek, among many others. Basically he's a Halifax stalwart and I'm very happy he's taken time to answer my questions.

So, enjoy a brief tour of Halifax! If you have any comments or concerns about this, please feel free to respond to this here blog.

Thanks,

vk

Your real name: Charles Austin

City/province/state/country of residence: Halifax, Nova Scotia

Who are you really and how are you involved in your local musical community?

I am a musician and I record local and regional musicians.

Name some people--artists, organizers/promoters, venues, recording studios, or organizations--in your town whom you feel are affecting positive change within your community via music. Why and how are they able to do this?

There are so many good bands and artists worth checking out from this region...aside from the obvious (Plaskett, Buck 65, Wintersleep, etc), there are many good bands from places like PEI (Smothered In Hugs - I worked with this band and I am biased but these guys have amazing songs-Danks, Robots, THT, Boxer The Horse) and from Nova Scotia recently there has been good stuff from Dog Day, Play Guitar, Sleepness Nights, Old Man Luduecke, Mardeen, Got To Get Got, Tomcat Combat, Tanya Davis, Brent Randall, Heavy Meadows , Tyler Messick, Special Noise, Superfantastics... And a ton more that I know little about. The sheer volume of stuff is pretty astonishing. There is also a huge singer-songwriter scene going on here [and I] know that may very well be what is going to get the most attention in the future. Some of them are Jenn Grant, Rose Cousins, David Myles, Thom Swift, Jill Barber, Al Tuck , Ruth Minninkin.

What do you think your town is most known for in terms of music? How does that relate to what's happening in the city now?

Sloan put the city on the map a long time ago in terms of the industry and all that. That kind of interest in the region may not happen again for a very long time. I have to say that the bands I work with now are a hell of a lot tighter than the nineties bands but good songs can survive sloppy presentation. Right now another medium-sized venue with a PA that works would be nice.

What's the most exciting and frustrating thing for you about engaging with music in your community?

A PA that works. Bar owners are being pretty cheap I reckon. I miss Greg Clark; he was a bar owner who was in it for the music.

Got any big music news brewing where you're at? If so, please share.

Just a ton of good musicians making interesting records.

Finally, what do you suppose makes your musical community unique and how does it relate to others you've interacted with?

There are more musicians per capita here I reckon that are very much into the music and not as industry savvy as their counterparts in other places...there is very little industry here to get savvy with. This is a good thing for the tuneage but I sure wish more people knew about some of theses bands.