By Andre Cornejo
“So what’s it gonna be? YACØPSÆ, Six Brew Bantha, Death Toll 80k, or Looking For An Answer?”
“Let’s start withYACØPSÆ”
Sam Doucet is sitting in my living room, and has brought over some choice cuts to take a listen to. I had recently interviewed him at the Handsome Daughter before karaoke started, but due to ‘unforeseen technical difficulties’, the recording was lost. He was kind enough to reschedule with me and take another stab at the whole thing.
Sam is the brains behind CKUW’s Blast or Bust, a wonderful foray into brutality, that airs Wednesdays from 9 – 10 p.m. It showcases the fastest and heaviest music you’ll hear on any radio station in the city, and is the perfect pick-me-up on the way to any midweek gig.
On the origins of Blast or Bust, Sam explains, “I started doing community radio when I was about 16 in Edmonton on the U of A’s station, CJSR. I did that for a couple of years, and when I moved to Winnipeg one of my goals was to get back into radio. I had a plan to do this grindcore show because there wasn’t anything like that on CKUW. I’ve been doing it for just over two years now and I love it. I’ve got a huge collection of records, and I’m always trying to find the newest and greatest stuff online. The show is a great outlet to share all of that with people.”
He goes on to express his gratitude towards the listeners. “One of the great things about CKUW, and the people that listen to it, is that there’s such a diversity of programming. That’s what people are looking for and people respond to it. That being said, the stuff that I play might not be for the casual listener, even for somebody that’s really into the diversity. I’m definitely grateful for when people try their best to listen and appreciate the show, even if it’s difficult. I try to offset the overly aggressive music with a little bit of humour. As a DJ, I like to try to make people feel welcome.”
During our first meeting the week before, we had talked a little bit about some show highlights. Blast or Bust recently celebrated its 100th episode. The show featured a live set from local grind outfit, Plague, just as they were gearing up for a U.S tour. It was an awesome show, and was one of the most socially anticipated radio appearances.
Another stand out episode was during CKUW’s 2014 Fundrive. Archagathus went into the studio for a live ‘acoustic’ performance. “I forget exactly everything they had brought,” Sam states. “I think there was a saxophone involved.” This makes sense if you’ve seen the cover of their Canadian Horse album. “There were some pots and pans involved, and some kind of box being shaken around that was filled with dried pinto beans or something. Kazoos as well.”
The halfway point of Einstweilige Vernichtung has been reached on the record player, and Sam explains his love of YACØPSÆ after he flips the record.
“This is the band that just did it for me. People tend to get into grind from one of two ways: either from punk, or from metal. You start listening to punk when you’re a teenager. In my case I was listening to NOFX, Rancid, etc. Then I started listening to faster stuff. I heard Drop Dead and I couldn’t believe it. From there it was a natural progression for me. What’s faster, what’s crazier, and a bit uglier?”
“I feel like I hit a pinnacle when I heard YACØPSÆ,” Sam explains. “It’s a band that I play quite a lot on the show. I have a particular affinity for this band, because their first demo came out the month that I was born. Actually,” he starts and starts to roll up his right pant leg just past the knee. “I got these tattoos when I was, let’s see, 21? They’re modelled after their band logo. I got ‘BLAST,’ here (right leg), and ‘BEATS,’ here (points to left leg).”
As for filling up on material for the show, Sam describes the sources he usually draws from.
“When I’m planning my shows, I try to play a good mix of new stuff. I rely heavily on Bandcamp. That’s generally what bands in North America and parts of Europe are using to get their releases out as soon as they’re ready. As someone who doesn’t have endless amounts of cash in my pockets to spend on tapes and records, Bandcamp is great for finding new stuff and bands can get the hype they’re looking for with new releases. I try to play a number of bands with new stuff off of Bandcamp. I play stuff from my collection and I sometimes do theme sets, like trying to play bands from specific countries or material with certain lyrical themes. I used to do a set, which I don’t do anymore for some reason, that was five songs from five different artists that, in total, were a minute or less. An average of 12 seconds or less per song . . . you know what,” he exclaims, “I’m bringin’ it back!”
Catch the return of this segment and more grindcore on Blast or Bust, airing Wednesdays from 9 p.m. – 10 p.m. on CKUW.