The Gorgon – Stylus Magazine

blowholesPhoto Shoot 1 — Photo by Alicia Jobse

By Kent Davies

Attention buoys and gills! Once in a whale an act comes along that is destined to have bad oceanic puns follow them wherever they go. The all-female garage rock foursome known as The Blowholes have been making waves since forming in early 2009. Their ferocious wailing and catchy guitar work are a tidal wave of fun-filled exuberance that few bands can match. Their debut album features a series of wonderfully strange, rockin’, porpoise-ful numbers about all things under the sea. Recently Stylus managed to reel in guitarists/vocalists Melody Titus and Alana Mercer to explore the depths of their chart-topping debut album.

Stylus: How did The Blowholes come into being?
Alana Mercer: Julia Ryckman and I had originally had been in The Gorgon and The Blowholes formed in an emergency situation where The Gorgon was unable to play a show. It was basically Leanne Grieves, Julia and I playing covers. We played another show when we were asked to play The Ex-Girlfriends CD release party. We asked Erica Jacobson to fill in and the show was so much fun. After No Fun broke up Leanne brought up, why not make The Blowholes a real band? Erica was in because she wasn’t doing anything and Leanne asked Melody if she wanted to join because we knew her from Space Amazon and the Warrior Queens. When Melody showed up right away we all knew it was going to be awesome.
Melody Titus: I told them I think I have a song or five…
AM: Or 18! I think our album was written three years ago.
Stylus: Local label Transistor 66 put it out. How did you join the family? Continue reading “Narwhals are Gnarly! An interview with the Blowholes”

By Scott Wolfe

One of Winnipeg’s most thrilling live acts is releasing their first full-length in July on local family label Transistor 66. I sat down at the Legion in the Exchange District with band members Julia Ryckman, J.P. Perron, and, later on, Patrick Short for some cheap beverages and to exchange a few words with this local trio regarding their highly-anticipated debut.

Stylus: To begin, out of curiosity I have got to know, why This Hisses and not The Hisses?
J.P. Perron: It’s kind of a weird iteration I guess, but not really. There is actually a funny quote addressing that on the new album. [Reads] When attempting to enunciate the group’s moniker, most tend to slur over the words carelessly, gurgling some incoherent mumble. However, such a cavalier introduction to This Hisses is calamitous at best.
Stylus: Brilliant and accurate, as I clearly demonstrated when this interview began.
JPP: Yeah I do that as well just the other day I called us The Hisses. People tend to like it though, however I can imagine that radio announcer would not.
Julia Ryckman: Also, ‘this’ is a word that hisses, which adds to our name.
Stylus: Each of you have been submerged in the Winnipeg music scene before with other acts such as The Gorgon [Julia], Mahogany Frog [J.P.] and Under Pressure and Electric Candles [Patrick Short]. But how did This Hisses come to be?
JR: When The Gorgon broke up, I had some songs I wanted to try and I thought of Pat because we had talked and jammed before. I also wanted to work with J.P. because he had always been my favourite drummer in Winnipeg and I knew he was available because he had just moved back from Montreal. I asked him at a party if he wanted to jam, but he was very guarded. Continue reading “This Hisses – Super Sibilant”