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My Favourite Korean Dramas Part 1

Katie Kim
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Other than Kpop, I am a huge fan of KDramas. I know, I know, I hear all the sighs and eye rolls through the screen. How much more Korean can I get, right?

Turns out, KDramas are not just popular in Korea.

Generally, everyone thinks KDramas are a pastiche of cliche elements of fiction. I can’t completely deny that this is false. There are some that really play up to the stereotypical a-poor-girl-who-believes-the-world-is-unfair-meets-a-super-rich–but-mean-guy-whose-parents-don’t-believe-she’s-the-right-match-for-their-son-and-the-nice-second-lead-doesn’t-get-the-girl. But there are many more that are much different.

So I wanted to list some of  my favourite Korean Dramas (in no particular order) that will break every negative pre-conception that you may have had about KDramas..

 

230px-Princess'_Man-poster1) The Princess’s Man

A fictional historical tragedy, a girl finds out she is to be married to a boy from another noble family. He is also to become the personal tutor of the princess, the girl’s best friend. The princess has no interest in her studies and gladly allows her friend to take her lessons in her stead. The girl, interested to find out who her husband-to-be is, pretends to be the princess and meets the boy. I don’t want to spoil anymore, but the political unrest among the nobels makes this drama action-packed and full of plot twists.

2) Gu Family Book

Another fictional historical tragedy, a family is brutally murdered on false charges of treason. The oldest girl in the family gets sold off as a prostitute. The man who framed her father of treason wants to spend a night with her. In her escape, she meets a man, who helps her and eventually they fall in love. Unbeknownst to her, he’s a nature god/sprit. But he loves her so much that he wants to become a human, and he can do so if he finds the “Gu Family Book.” While they are running away from the people who wants her back at the prostitute house,  they are captured and the god/spirit turns into his natural form, which horrifies the girl. She abandons him and follows her captors back to civilization, while the men kill the god/spirit. She gives birth to a half-human half-spirit and abandons him at a river. He gets adopted by a noble and their family, too, gets framed of treason by the same guy that framed his mother’s family… The real story unfolds from here.

 

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3) Good Doctor

An autistic man wants to become a surgeon. Whenever he was bullied as a little kid, his brother stood up for him. They had an abusive father and their mother had escaped the domestic abuse, but had not taken her children with her. His brother was his only friend. One day, the bullies tell the boy and his brother to go into the abandoned mine. The mine, worn with age, crumbles and their rescuer could only save one person. That was him. His brother wanted to be a doctor. He wants to follow his brother’s dream and he doesn’t want anyone to die like his brother. However, society is not so willing to accept an autistic man as a doctor. But he has to. For his brother.

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4) Descendants of the Sun

Descendants_of_the_Sun-p1The final episode of this internationally hit drama aired last week. Now exported to 32 different countries, this drama tells a fictional story of a doctor, who believes all the odds are stacked against her in her becoming a professor and a mysterious high-ranked military officer,. Through a series of coincidents and accidents, they keep meeting. Only after two dates, both of which get cut short due to military and hospital work, they decide to call it quits. After she refuses to sleep with the chairman of the hospital, she gets sent on a humanitarian volunteer trip to a fictional country, Uruk, where she meets the military officer again.

 

 

The-Moon-That-Embraces-the-Sun-Wallpaper-15) The Moon Embracing the Sun

Yet another fictional historical drama, the king is looking for a match for his son, the Crown Prince. One of the candidates is a girl, whose brother is the tutor of the prince, and whom the prince already met, through an accident. She is mature and wise for her age, but not like most other noble girls. She treats her servants like friends and talks with her brother about literature and other studies. The girl likes prince, but so does the other candidate girl. Their fathers are leaders of opposing parties. Though she gets chosen to be the Crown Princess, the father of the other candidate, orders the Royal Shawman to kill her.

(dramacool.to has very reliable English subtitles for all of these dramas. I hope you enjoy!)

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AP Exams: A Guide For The Procrastinating Student

Talia Santarossa
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The first step to solving a problem is admitting that you have it. Sigh, fine. I AM LAZY AND I PROCRASTINATE AND AP EXAMS ARE IN LIKE TWO WEEKS PLEASE HELP ME. Alright, alright, listen up. This isn’t going to be a walk in the park. Two weeks student w booksis plenty of time to prepare for your exam(s), no worries there, but it’s not going to be easy. If you’re anything like me, it will be a struggle to actually work up the motivation to sit down and study free from distraction, but I promise you that it will be well worth it in the end. I’ll be right here beside you, feeling your pain and cheering you on. Are you ready? Let’s get started then.

STEP 1: Make a plan and stick to it

Planning out your time is probably the most vital step to success. I’m not going to tell you how to plan, because that’s something that you need to figure out for yourself. You know what you need to do to be successful better than anyone else does. If you’re not sure where to start, take a practice exam to find where your weaknesses are and start with the material you have a hard time with. I would recommend planning in daily chunks, while taking into account your own schedule. I have a hard time staying focused at home for long periods of time, so I plan in 15-minute blocks with small breaks in between, that way I don’t get discouraged and give up because I get distracted too easily.

STEP 2: If you haven’t already, take a practice exam

I would take a practice exam before you take on the daunting task of going back through all of the course material. As I mentioned before, it will give you a good idea of what you need to work on and allow you to better use your time as to master the concepts that you are having a harder time grasping.

STEP 3: Hit the books, honey.

This is by far the longest, hardest and most challenging part of exam prep: actually studying without wanting to throw your books against the wall and rip out your hair. I am the absolute last person who AP-testingshould be telling you how to study because in all honesty, in my whole 17 years, I have failed quite miserably at even finding a way to study myself. If reading and highlighting and making cue cards works for you, do it. If watching videos helps, do it. If doing loads upon loads of practice questions helps you, by all means do it. Make a Mind Map, write all over a whiteboard, talk out loud like you’re teaching someone else. Do whatever it is that helps you feel like you’re learning what you need to learn. Break down your study time into digestible chunks and don’t try to do everything at once. It took me a long time to learn that, and I’m still having to remind myself to compartmentalize in terms of what I need to know. Instead of looking at the material as this gigantic sandwich that you need to eat, break it down into the bread, the cheese, the tomatoes, the lettuce and so on and so forth.

STEP 4: Take more practice tests

Now that you’ve gone through the material in your own way and you feel comfortable with it, take another practice test and time yourself, then go through and see how you’ve done. 60 multiple choice questions should take roughly 90 minutes and 8 free response should also take around an hour and a half. When working on free response, don’t write in full sentences or show all of your work. Make a draft of what you’d actually do to see if you’re hitting all of the correct points instead of wasting time writing some sort of masterpiece. The grading system differs slightly from exam to exam, so tally up your points based on correct answers and in the case of free response, the number of points you would have covered based on what would have been expected. If you’re sitting between a high 3 and a 5, you’re in good territory.

If you feel like you still need to go back and review more, like I said before, do what you need to do to feel prepared and like you’re comfortable with the material. Remember, you don’t need to get a 90% to score a 5!

STEP 5: The day and night before, and the morning of

The day before the exam, feel free to study during the day if you can, but after supper, it’s getting to be time to unwind, relax and make sure that you’re mentally and physically prepared. Don’t stay up to all hours, don’t try to cram, just go to bed at a decent hour and get a good night sleep. I would prepare everything you need for the morning the night before as well, so you’re not freaking out and running around like a chicken with its head cut off in the morning wondering where all of your stuff is. Eat a good breakfast because you’re going to be in a test for three hours. I know it’s easier said than done, but just try to stay calm and not worry too much. Some nerves are good, but if you have test anxiety, which I had never experienced until my first diploma, suddenly one exam seems to be a much bigger obstacle. It’s okay, it’s not the end of the world and it’s sure not going to determine your future.

STEP 6: During the exam

In the multiple choice section, my go-to strategy is to go through all of the questions, immediately answer the ones I know first and skip over the ones that I don’t know the answer to immediately. Once you’ve gone through everything, go back over it. This is not like a diploma where you have over two hours to do 60 some odd question. This is 90 minutes. This is not only a test in what you know, but how fast you can write an exam. If at the end, you still have unanswered problems and you have no idea what to put, just pick a random answer; you aren’t penalized for wrong answers and leaving a space blank goes you no more good than putting the wrong answer. Free response is a bit trickier, depending on the subject. My only advice to you is to plan your time wisely, do the questions worth the most first and don’t worry about spelling, grammar and all that jazz. As long as your ideas hit the page, you should be just fine. calvinhobbes

Good luck! I believe in you!

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ReactWorld, The Fine Brothers, and the thing called YouTube – Part 2

Michael Xie
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The YouTube community has grown paranoid, overly protective of itself, fearful of even the smallest twitch from non-YouTube entities possibly moving into their domain. It was this mindset that caused this issue to blow up like this, the community immediately assumed that because of this franchise and the trademark they would all be hunted down by the headhunters of the Fine Brothers if they so much as said the word ‘react’ in one of their viddumpstereos. That is completely ludicrous. America’s Got Talent does not go around suing every show that mentions talent, getting, or America. The American legal system is not stupid, nor do they purely cater to larger corporations. The Fine Bothers popsicle_battle_dribbblewanted to protect their intellectual property and they have right to do so. The trademark system is not as terrifying as the community has made it out to be. Here’s some other words which are trademarked: Bubble wrap, chapstick, dumpster, memory stick, ping pong, popsicle, realtor, rollerblades, and even the word ‘yup’. Yup, that’s right, every single one of those words has a currently legally valid trademark in the United States.

I waited for about 5 minutes after I wrote that last little bit, and strangely enough, no one busted through my door and put me under federal arrest for a trademark infringement. In fact, I’m so confident that I bet if I made a YouTube video right now titled with every single one of those words and included just a video of me saying those words, still nothing would happen. And that’s because trademarks are for protection of a corporation’s intellectual property in very select situations. The truth is, if a show like America’s Got Talent doesn’t trademark its name and protect itself, someone else will. Season5And when they do, they will argue in court that they legally own the rights to the name of show, demanding that the actual show compensate them for using their legal trademark. The trademark was a necessity born of the fact that human beings are not all that respectful regarding property and the principle of ownership. The business world is a cutthroat environment and companies must take all precaution to protect themselves. The Fine Brothers are simply doing the same thing. What I failed to see in any of the videos calling the Fine Brothers out was any actual, non-dystopian threat to their own content. And in this fact lies the problem. That the YouTube community has grown into a sense of self-righteousness, acting as if they are the defenders of free internet. I’ll explain why frankly this is ridiculous, and how in most cases, the concerns of the community and their demands are just downright unreasonable next time.

The Savagery in Humanity: The Lord of the Flies Play Review

Elene Otte
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I was fortunate enough to be able to attend Storybook Theater’s rendition of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. I walked out of the theater with a single collective emotion: horror. The audience was able to journey with the characters through their spiral into insanity and with the close proximity of the actors to the audience, it was not a stretch to see ourselves in the places of the boys.

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For those of you who are unfamiliar with the premise of the story, The Lord of the Flies follows the story of a group of British private school boys after they were stranded on a deserted island when their plane crashed. The boys form two groups: the military/hunting group lead by Jack and the shelter-building leadership group lead by Ralph. Initially the plan and division of power works out well but savagery and the desire for power strains the relationships between the boys. Insanity and the obsession with the hunt causes them to mistake one of their friends as a monster and they all brutally kill the boy. Jack uses the idea that the monsters are within us all to justify the killing and to continue to pursue the murder Ralph in effort to achieve ultimate power.

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The creepy minimalist scenery is used to establish the effect of isolation and the exposure of the characters. A lot of foreshadowing is used throughout the play to begin to cue us into the final conclusion/moral the story leads us to. Some key quotations are:

Piggy: It’s the beast.
Ralph: It’s us.
Piggy: It’s them.

This was a chilling scene in the play where Piggy first draws the line between Jack’s group and Ralph’s. Piggy is Ralph’s second in command and is characterized by blame shifting. After the murder of Simon, he instructs Ralph to look away. While this seems horrifying in the context of the story, it happens every day in our lives. We don’t look in the eye of the problems our world faces and rather choose to turn off the TV or walk past the homeless person. We all do it.

Simon: The beast is a man.

Simon is a disabled boy who suffers from seizures. He is ironically the most aware of what is going on between the interaction of the boys. His line foreshadows his own death to come as it’s not an animal that kills him but rather his own friends. It alludes to a similar theme throughout human history where we put to death the most enlightened and revolutionary of minds when we should be listening.

Jack: It was just a game.

When the boys are finally rescued after nearly killing themselves with an out of control fire, Jack laughs off the fact that they are all covered in blood and about to kill Ralph. It is here the boys realize the true horror of what has occurred.

At the end of the day the reality is, there is no beast but the beast inside of us. It poses the horrifying question of what does it mean to be human and whether humanity is always associated with it.

For it’s only when we look at ourselves in the mirror and see the monster within ourselves that we can conquer it.

Are The Sciences For Me? (Career Advice Part 1)

Elvin Limpin
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Science programs can be divided by their research methods.

Due to the nature of the respective majors, much of the research in Chemistry will be through lab work, while much of mathematics research would be through computational methods. This divide is significant due to the fact that the majority of “lab” sciences courses require you to attend 3 hours of lecture a week plus around 3 more hours for lab work. “math” sciences, on the other hand, do not require any lab work. This significantly frees up your university schedule for studying or other pursuits.

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So why would anyone in their right mind take a lab Science?

Ever since I was young, my family could see the budding scientist inside me. I expressed a strong leaning towards wondering why things are the way they are and was very interested in science encyclopedias. I decided that I wanted to do geology. It was the gateway to the altruistic applications of environmental Science, fascinating world of paleontology, exciting life style of field work, and the once lucrative Alberta oil business. Being on top of science classes and winning a biology competition also encouraged me to steer my career towards the sciences.

But however much I might enjoy scientific theory, I was no good at applying Science. I’m bad at labs. Both lab work and lab reports. I always forget steps, spill or break something, or manage to screw something up that makes me resort to borrowing data from other lab groups. My presentation skills in lab reports aren’t the best either.

Bio 30 was my turning point. When I got my mark on my Internal Assessment (basically a major independent lab for IB Biology) was when I knew a lab Science wouldn’t be a good idea for me. I got low 30 in spite of my immense efforts, bringing my mark down by 4 percent :'( This is despite my high 90s on the bio diploma and being a U of T Biology Scholar.

“Next year I’m going to be taking this bio course that’s all lab and no lecture,” I could recall my sister saying.

“That sounds horrible, I’m sorry to hear that,” I replied.

“Are you kidding me? I’m so excited to take that class,” she blurted.

“What is it that’s so fun about labs?” I asked.

“I really cannot imagine myself in a career working anywhere else but a lab,” she said.

My down to earth sister who values pragmatism and structure turned out to be the aspirin scientist, taking biochemistry in University. In real world science, her traits are of greater value than the curiosity and innovative thinking that I possessed.

Being a scientist is definitely not for every scientific mind out there. But don’t let this take the fascination away 🙂

Sciences [Laboratory Based] 

Biology

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Employment Prospects: D+ in 6 years, B in 10 years
Courseload: 7-8/10 undergrad, 10+/10 grad

Expect biology to be plagued by pre med students. And it’s for a fair reason. Medicine might be one of the most lucrative and prestigious applications of biology. I will be talking more about medicine and other health care careers on a separate article.

Aside from medicine, options for biology majors lie on academic research and R&D (research and development), so expect to be doing lots of lab work if you would like a career in biology. Fields in biology include:

Cellular molecular microbial biology (CMB)

Expect less lab work on this major to start with due to the immense amount of theory. Choose this specialization if you wouldn’t mind working with microscope and learning about cellular functions and would like an R&D career.

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Biochemistry
Biochemists get paid on average more than other biologists. It’s a tough, lab intensive field. Some premed students dread the technical nature of Biochem. Choose this specialization if lab methods really pique your interest.

Zoology/Botany

Zoology (animal Science) is excellent for premed/prevet students, although it does not provide a good back up career. Botany (plant Science) is a niche field for those who want to work with plants. Both specializations can find careers in academic research.

Ecology

While Ecology offers practical applications, I would not recommend this major. It’s obviously different from other biological majors in that the whole world becomes your laboratory—this perhaps makes Ecology sounds more interesting to some. However, an Ecology degree does not let you obtain a P. Ag. designation, as they are often reserved for environmental Science or agrology degree. This severely limits your job search and advancement opportunities in the industry. Secondly, a lot of ecological work does not go to graduates in a city environment. Employers would often train local farmers to conduct ecological work rather than. Then again, if you have a home in Fort McMurray or another environmentally concerning area, a degree might prove to be a valuable niche.

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Neuroscience

Same boat as Biochem in intensity, although the content might prove to be more interesting. On the other hand, there is less demand for neuroscientists than biochemists so it’s a trade off.

General Biology

The best pre med major of all the above biology specializations hands down. Just biology let’s you take valuable courses in psychology and physics that would be important for admission to med school. It also frees up some time for volunteering and health internships. Also the best if you would like to become a biology teacher. The broad spectrum knowledge and room for education courses gives you a good foundation for education.

Biology, unlike Engineering and Business majors, is not meant to be a terminal degree. That means that biologists in the workforce have a masters or a PhD (or MD), partly due to the oversaturation coming from how many bio majors there are. I would however, not recommend taking a PhD in biology. You would be expected to spend around 70 hours a week working on research in a biology PhD, and you would be expected to be up to date with your research after receiving the degree. Then again, if you are a complete idk potato freak, then by all means get a PhD studying potatoes. Who knows, you might need to survive alone in Mars eating just potatoes.

Chemistry

[Source]
Employment Prospects: D in 6 years, C+ in 10 years
Courseload: 8/10 undergrad, 10+/10 grad

Chemistry, like biology, is a pure Science. This means that the bulk of careers for chemists would be in research. Oil & Gas, pharmaceuticals, and renewable energy are some of the industries available to chemists. Much of my advice for biology, especially Biochem, applies to chemistry. Oversaturation (lots of graduates not enough jobs) is also a problem for chemists, and so setting yourself apart through internships and advanced degrees would be helpful to your career. The main cause of the oversaturation is the very existence of chemical engineers. Most companies would prefer a chemical engineer over a chemist (even in research positions, surprisingly) because engineers are trained to apply chemistry knowledge. If you are looking into majoring in chemistry, make sure to strong consider chemical engineering as an alternative.

 

Environmental Science, Agrology, Geology, Kinesiology, on the next article!

Featured Image here.

Blurryface Tour: Twenty One Pilots Live in Calgary

Dhriti Gupta
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Last Friday, April 8, the dynamic duo by the name of Twenty One Pilots put on an incredible show at the Big Four Building right here in Calgary as part of the Canadian installment of their Blurryface tour, Calgary being their second last stop in Canada. The band, consisting of drummer Josh Dun as well as frontman Tyler Joseph, began to make music together in 2009, in their home town of Columbus, Ohio. They began with small intimate shows of around 100-200 people at local venues. Fast forward to 2016, they have now gained a devoted international following and released 4 original albums, with their hit single “Stressed Out” reaching #2 on the US Billboard Hot 100.

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All of this aside, I’ve been listening to Twenty One Pilots for quite a while now and they are most definitely one of my favourite bands, so of course when I heard they were coming to town, as you can imagine, I was quite excited. So on Friday, I set out with my good friend Alisa as well as my mom, adrenaline rushing through my veins and heart racing, ready and excited to see the show.

music-coleman-hell1 We arrived at 8:00 pm, just in time to catch the opening act, Coleman Hell, an electronic indie folk musician (quite the combination, I know) based in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Before this concert, I hadn’t really heard of him but I can fairly say, as far as opening acts go, he was pretty good. Although I probably wouldn’t have chosen to listen to his music on my own (purely because electric banjo is not a genre I’m accustomed to), I think he gave quite a decent performance and did a great job of further hyping up the crowd for the amazing night to come.

The opening performance lasted about half an hour, the last twang of Coleman Hell’s hit song “2 Heads” fading out at around 8:30pm. After that, it was time to wait. This was definitely one of the lower points in my experience at the concert, mostly due to the style of concert. Other than music festivals, I hadn’t really attended a standing concert, and for the 30 minutes it took for the crew to prep for tøp, I quickly realized that standing concerts are not my favourite. Although of course I’m not a short person, and if positioned right, this style of concert allows for a closer and more intimate experience with the band, I was just not a fan of all the pushing, shoving, and beer sloshing that made that 30 minute interval feel like 4 hours. However, I endured it, and when the lights finally went out, red smoke slowly creeping onto the stage with the rhythmic first notes of “heavydirtysoul” beginning to reverberate through the building, it was all worth it. I think “heavydirtysoul” was the perfect choice for the first song. Not only was it the first track on the actual Blurryface album, but it also allowed for a high energy performance that was still able to maintain a sort of mysterious and foggy atmosphere onstage, hyping up the audience for all that was to come. However, with the uncontrollable yet understandable excitement of the crowd combined with the lovely, lovely, pillars that came as part of the venue (illustrated in the image below), I found this first song quite difficult to see, but of course, both of these things were not necessarily something that either I or tøp could control.

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Next, they continued to play one of their more popular songs, “Stressed Out“. Now, most would think this made for a poorly thought out setlist, as usually the bigger hits are reserved for the end in an effort to keep the audience waiting and to end the concert with a bang. However, with Twenty One Pilots, this precautionary measure was simply not needed. Each of their performances, whether it be a widely renown hit like “Stressed Out”, a somber ballad like “Goner“, a cover such as Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love“, or even one of their older songs like “Migraine“, it didn’t really matter in which order they were played. Every single song was performed with such passion, energy, and experience that the song they played first wasn’t of any lower quality or character than the next, and of course, the audience knew every single word regardless.

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As for their individual personas on stage, Josh and Tyler are a very unique and charismatic pair. Although their songs are mostly beat based, Josh was still able to engage the crowd through his wicked drumming skills, seemingly never ending energy, acrobatics, and natural ability to keep a solid rhythm in every song. Tyler, on the other hand, kind of made you forget that tøp is a two person band by not only flawlessly transitioning from singing to rapping to singing again, but also by rotating between ukulele, bass, synth and piano, all while maintaining his signature manic energy.

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Overall, the concert was an experience that I will never ever forget. Every song was so beautifully executed and performed, the live environment not affecting the quality of the music one bit, every moment still playing over and over in my head. I think being able to see a band that you have loved and obsessed over is just such an amazing and moving way to experience music, and is definitely something that you will cherish for the rest of your life. Even if there were inconveniences like a *cough* crappy *cough* venue, or sore feet, or 7 foot tall people, at the end of the concert, when the air was full of smoke and confetti, the thud of the huge drums from “Trees” still ringing in my ears, people screaming all around me, I just felt so overwhelmingly happy and lucky to be able to experience their music live and see them take one last bow before heading off to make even more people happy.

 

 

 

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Alternative Music Artists to Follow Now: Pt. II

Hui Wen Zheng
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For part I, see here. 

Beach House

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If there’s any band that makes me feel like I’m cruising on the West Coast, Beach House is it. The Baltimore-based band specializes in “Dream Pop”, a subgenre of alternative rock that has a distinct ethereal and light feel; just listen to any of their songs and you’ll know what I mean. The band features French-born Victoria Legrand on vocals and Baltimorean Alex Scally on guitar. The band has released 6 studio albums since their breakthrough in 2006, has their their music featured in television shows such as New Girl, and has performed at SXSW and toured with Vampire Weekend, essentially placing them at the pinnacle of indie-pop. Top hits include  “Somewhere Tonight”, “Take Care”, “Lazuli”, and “Heart of Chambers”.

 

Milky Chance

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If you listened to the radio in the past few months, there’s a good chance you’ve already heard the work of the German duo made up of Clemens Rehbein on vocals and instruments and Philipp Dausch with production and DJing. Their unique sound takes influence from electronic music and reggae, making their sound a refreshing break for many, which is probably a reason why their single “Stolen Dance” reached #1 on several European charts and got a break on many radio stations right here in Calgary as well. The music duo is still relatively young, with one studio album, Sadnecessary, being released in October of 2013. The band has since gained world-wide fame and even performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2014. Personal favourites from Milky Chance include “Stolen Dance” (obviously), “Down by the River”, and  “Sadnecessary”.

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Karen O

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Know for being the lead vocalist in the American rock band, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, which was nominated for 3 Grammys, Karen Lee Orzolek (stage name: Karen O) uses her mixed-race background and romances as inspiration for her musical solo career. She released her own album in 2014 titled Crush Songs. The album contains 15 songs that range from barely a minute long to three minutes, and all focus around crushing. Written during a time of personal strife for Karen O, she has stated that most of the songs on there were written during her twenties, when she crushed a lot but didn’t love, leading to the emotional uncertainty that pervades the simple-yet-meaningful lyrics. Top tracks from Karen O’s first and only album so far include “Ooo”, “Rapt”, and “Indian Summer”. Another bonus? All the doodles from the album were drawn by the singer herself.

 

That’s all from me in this alternative music series. Got any other song or artist suggestions? Comment below or tweet me at @hui_wen_zheng

Film Giveaway – The Huntsman: Winter’s War

Talia Santarossa
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Youth Are Awesome is proud to announce that we are giving away a prize pack for the upcoming film The Huntsman: Winter’s War. The package includes a t-shirt, notebook, mirror compact, flash tattoos, and nail file. The film hits theatres on The Huntsman - Prize PackFriday, April 22nd. If you’re interested in the giveaway, please enter below by Friday, April 15th at 12pm.

The winner will be then be selected and will be notified via email shortly thereafter.

Check out #TheHuntsman on social media and join the conversation!

Like on Facebook

Follow on Instagram and Twitter

Visit the official website

Read the synopsis of The Huntsman: Winter’s War below:

Discover the story that came before Snow White in The Huntsman: Winter’s War.  Chris Hemsworth and Oscar® winner Charlize Theron return to their roles from Snow White and the Huntsman, joined by Screen Shot 2016-04-07 at 6.59.45 PMEmily Blunt and Jessica Chastain.

Theron stars as evil Queen Ravenna, who betrays her good sister Freya (Blunt) with an unforgivable act, freezing Freya’s heart to love and unleashing in her an icy power she never knew she possessed.  Retreating to a kingdom far to the north, Freya raises an army of Huntsmen as her protectors, with the only rule that no two of them should ever fall in love.

As a war for domination escalates between the two queens, the hero standing between them is Freya’s most elite Huntsman, Eric (Hemsworth).  Alongside fellow warrior Sara (Chastain)—the only woman who has ever captured his heart—Eric must help Freya vanquish her sister…or Ravenna’s wickedness will rule for eternity.

Producer Joe Roth (Maleficent, Alice in Wonderland) once again leads the team in this breathtaking prequel in the legendary saga that is directed by Cedric Nicolas-Troyan.  This spring, find out who will win the war between good and evil in the epic action-adventure The Huntsman: Winter’s War.

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ReactWorld, The Fine Brothers, and the thing called YouTube – Part 1

Michael Xie
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In late January and early February, something happened within the Youtube community that truly challenged the nature of Youtube as a platform for entertainmentmaxresdefault. The Fine Brothers made an announcement video announcing the creation of ReactWorld, a company that offers the license to creators for them to begin creating their own ‘React’ videos. For those who have somehow not heard of the Fine Brothers, they are one of the most successful channels in the history of Youtube and are the minds behind the React franchise. Essentially, they film videos in which people, from kids to other Youtube stars, react to things happening in the world or interesting videos found online. Apparently, the world really enjoys watching other people watching videos, because they have quickly exploded and established a complete lineup of React videos, all of which are extremely popular. As with all things popular, the imitations and copycats soon began appearing across Youtube, people trying to take advantage of the Fine Brothers success. In response to this the Fine Brothers began to set up legal protection for themselves, this culminated in the creation of ReactWorld.

The outrage from the YouTube community was immediate and fierce; hundreds if not thousands of people bombasted the Fine Brothers and ReactWorld, their anger stemming from the idea that the React Brothers would offer licensing to the fact that they filled a trademark on ‘React’. fine-brothers-benny-and-rafi-fineFrom the largest channels, such as the DeFranco show, to channels with not even 10 subscribers, everyone wanted a piece of the two brothers. They lamented over the fact that YouTube was losing its creative liberties, that it was becoming a corporation-controlled entity akin to television, that the spirit of the internet was dying. I am a supporter of the free web; I believe that the internet is a place which allows any and all people to come together and share their ideas. I agree that the internet ought to stay free from the control of a massive capitalistic corporation. But this fiasco with the Fine Brothers was absolutely ridiculous, plain and simple. The people of the community argue against corporate control, but they do not see the hypocrisy in themselves enforcing their ideals upon the Fine Brothers. And frankly, ReactWorld was blown out of proportion way further than it should have. Yes, the Fine Brothers wanted to make a franchise out of their ‘React’ series, yes, they wanted to trademark the ‘React’ name, but how does that actually impact the YouTube community as a whole?

Video of the day (Happy Army Day) !

Danielle Leong
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Happy Army Day everybody!  Did YOU know that today is Army day? I posed this question to a lot of my friends, and their answers mainly consisted of… “no”‘.  I was also unaware of this day of appreciation until recently, and it’s safe to say that the significance of those who form the army is sometimes overlooked. These individuals are truly amazing and strong- in a way, they are our modern day heroes.  They are men and women who are raised among us – men and women who sacrifice themselves for the greater good of the people-(and commonly not even people who they know) and that bravery is, well, something else in itself. Marching headfirst into the face of danger with the knowledge that your life is on the line takes serious strength and character, something that those in the army are definitely not lacking in. Now for those of you who tune into some form of the news, you are probably aware when a soldier is killed in battle in a foreign place.  And yes, when soldiers lose their lives so that others can gain, well, their lives, it is on the news and we are able to take a moment to appreciate them.  However, unless we hear about a certain death, I think that many times the true significance of the army and all that they do is not given enough daily appreciation.  Amongst the little blessings which I count every day, including my house, family, my friends, my school, and a safe country, I intend to start thanking the world for shaping individuals who volunteer their lives and livelihoods for humanity.  Because without them, the world and the way society operates would be incredibly different . Contemplating how blessed we are to exist in a society where individuals are selfless enough to join a cause such as the army, I also experienced another little revelation.  Thinking about the problems which appear in my daily life, such as deadlines and acne , they suddenly seem less significant in the larger scope of things, if you know what I mean.  In other countries, citizens are struggling to stay alive while I “struggle” to find clothes to wear that I like… #firstworldproblems anyone? Yeah… next time someone’s complaining about how much schoolwork they have to do, give that person a gentle reminder that at the same time another teenager is probably struggling to stay alive.

 

I have an immeasurable amount of respect and admiration for every individual involved in the army, and if you know happen to know someone don’t forget to give thanks!

Below is an extremely emotional video that does it’s part in restoring a lil’ bit of faith in humanity: (If you do not cry, that’s some serious self control you’ve got there)

Happy Army day everyone! Don’t forget to take a moment to appreciate, not only one this day but every day. 🙂

Restaurant of the Week: Gracias Madre

Dhriti Gupta
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Over the spring break, I was fortunate enough to visit my favourite city: San Francisco. I actually used to live there for about three years but my family never quite explored the city and saw all that it had to offer. So on this trip, we did it all and enjoyed the various wonderful things that make up San Francisco. One of these key components that differentiate it from other cities is the amazing variety of quality food available for all: regardless of location, price range, dietary restrictions, and previous food knowledge or experience. I decided to take advantage of this opportunity and researched a restaurant in San Francisco that I believed my family and I would enjoy in order to review it for Youth Are Awesome! While researching, really my only criteria was a place that served vegetarian dishes as my family and I are all vegetarian and have been for quite some time. Other than that, I was open to any cuisine and style of food. Along with the always trustworthy help of trip adviser, as well as several other articles and food blogs, I came across a lively restaurant by the name of Gracias Madre, located in the Mission district. I knew that Mission was well known amongst many foodies as quite the food and cultural hub so I had high hopes for this restaurant.

According to their website, Gracias Madre serves authentic and flavourful Mexican cuisine with a little twist: everything is vegan. I know, I know, for many people when they hear the word “vegan” it’s an immediate deal breaker as frightful images of tofurkey, kale, and chia seeds flash before their eyes. However for my family and I, when the word vegan is used in describing a restaurant, it’s so exciting because it means you can have anything! No mentions of “please hold the chicken” or “does that have meat in it?” because everything is fair game for vegetarians in vegan restaurants and that is exactly what Gracias Madre is trying to do. The founder of the restaurant, Terces Engelheart, just wanted to create a place where everyone can enjoy delicious, organic, Mexican cuisine without any restrictions. After all, their “mission is to spread love”. I was completely sold. So on the big day I headed to the restaurant with my family, stomach empty and ready to be stuffed, and camera in tow to enjoy my first authentic vegan Mexican meal. To best illustrate my experience at Gracias Madre, I have decided to split my impression of the restaurant into 3 essential components:

AMBIANCE

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Gracias Madre has a very distinct and original ambiance and I fell in love with it as soon as I walked through the door. Even from the outside, you can tell that something is different about this restaurant. To enter, you pass through the well lit patio seating area, complete with rustic picnic style tables and a tile mural of the original “madre”, Mary. As we walk in the restaurant, a lovely gentleman in an eccentric blue suit serenades us with live, rhythmic, and melodious Spanish ballads. While I eat, I just marvel at the numerous and diverse works of Mexican art displayed all around the restaurant. At the back, an open kitchen with elegant glass panes allows the exquisite aromas to waft all around the building. Together, all of these elements combine to form the perfect environment to enjoy amazing food. My only issue was the lighting inside the restaurant, because at times it seemed a little to dim for my liking. Other than that, the ambiance of the restaurant only added to the overall experience at Gracias Madre. 9/10

SERVICE

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The service at Gracias Madre was absolutely wonderful. Our server, Hannah, was friendly and sweet, and kindly offered her personal recommendations from the menu. She continually came to check on to see how we liked the food, if we needed more water, how we were doing, etc. It was always easy to catch the attention of a waiter, and they were all approachable and easy to talk to. My only criticism would be that the food didn’t reach us as fast as maybe I’d hoped, but that could have just been my perception of things as I was quite hungry! Additionally, everything we ordered was made from scratch and freshly prepared so I understand that to achieve that sort of quality and authenticity in food takes a little time, but is completely worth the wait. 9.5/10

FOOD

gobi fobi

We started off with the Coliflor Fritos as an appetizer. The dish is essentially flash fried cauliflower lightly coated in a nacho “cheese” sauce. Of course, as milk is an animal product, this sauce was not based on cheese but instead, cashews to give it that same creamy and salty taste. Although the sauce didn’t taste exactly like cheese, the dish was still absolutely incredible. The cauliflower was crisp and crunchy, yet not oily, and fried just the perfect amount. The sauce was creamy and flavourful, hints of tangy lime perfectly complimenting the spices in the cauliflower.

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As a main dish, my little sister and dad ordered the Quesadilla de Chorizo. Traditionally, chorizo is a spicy pork sausage utilized in many Latin American cuisines. However, instead of pork, this quesadilla consisted of a rich blend of sauteed potato and tempeh (a soy based meat substitute), seasoned with aromatic spices and encased in a fresh tortilla drenched in sour cream and guacamole. Although I only managed to steal a bite or two out of this one, it was absolutely delightful. In the past, I’ve never really had very good experiences with tempeh as it was always a little too chewy for my liking. However, somehow the cooks at Gracias Madre had worked their magic again and were able to make the tempeh tender and soft. Paired with the soft tortilla and the delicious sauces, this dish was absolutely delightful.

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For my entree, I ordered the Pesto and Black Bean Torta. A torta is a traditional Mexican sandwich typically filled with jalapeños, various meats, avocados, onions, and tomatoes. This torta however consisted of creamy black beans, zesty almond and cilantro pesto, lettuce, avocado, fresh pico de gallo, roasted red peppers, and savoury cashew cheese, all served on toasted ciabatta with delectable escabeche. I absolutely loved this dish as it essentially combined all of my favourite things into one incredible sandwich. Although it looked like a large serving, the sandwich was refreshing and light, leaving me wanting more. If there was one thing that it could improve on however, it would maybe be adjusting the black bean to avocado ratio as the avocado was a little overpowering, but other than that, the torta was a real treat!

bwol uno

Lastly, my mom was a lucky woman because she ordered possibly the best dish on the menu, and that is the Bowl Uno. The bowl wasn’t anything super fancy, but I think the simplicity is what really made the dish special. Black beans, brown rice, romaine lettuce, tangy pico de gallo, copious amounts of cilantro, fresh guacamole, and tempeh chorizo, all mixed up into one heavenly bowl, topped with spicy chipotle sauce and a sprinkling of toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds). Again, although I only got a few mouthfuls of the dish, it was absolutely bursting with varied and distinct flavours. I think the organic and local sourcing of the ingredients was really apparent in this dish in particular as everything was just so fresh and unlike anything I’ve ever tasted.

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Overall, I think I would give the food a full 10/10 rating as I don’t think there was a single dish I didn’t thoroughly enjoy. Each and every item that we ordered was unique, authentic, freshly prepared, and abundant with flavour. Another thing I really enjoyed was how beautifully every thing was plated, really adding to the aesthetic of the restaurant and the originality of the food. Lastly, I think my favourite thing in the food aspect of Gracias Madre was how light and refreshing all of the dishes were. I ate a lot of food that day, and yet at the end of it, I didn’t feel stuffed or as if I were to drift into a food induced coma, but rather quite refreshed and ready for what the rest of the day had to offer.

OVERALL IMPRESSION

chalky talky

All in all, I think Gracias Madre was an experience like no other. The uniqueness and originality of the ambiance was unimaginable, the hospitality and kindness of the service unbelievable, and the authenticity and flavour of the food unbeatable. I think I speak for my whole family when I say I thoroughly enjoyed my time there and without a doubt would go again if I have a chance. So if you’re ever in the San Francisco area, spread the love and  give Gracias Madre a try, I promise you won’t regret it.

*All photos taken by me*

Looking for a resource? The NSN’s got your back

Hui Wen Zheng
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We’ve all been there before; in fact, I’m there right now. With the summer approaching with no concrete plans for vacations, I’m on the scourge for meaningful ways to spend my time. While it’s easy enough to want to find opportunities to fulfill that, it is suddenly 10x more difficult when you think about just HOW you can go about finding those opportunities. I was puzzling over how I could most efficiently find such listings when my friend Carrie Rong, a youth ambassador for National Student Network, approached me about her cause and everything made perfect sense. Launched in 2013 by youth for youth, their users have expanded to more than 600 across Canada. I recently got to sit down with Carrie over coffee while she told me a bit more about the site; here’s what she had to say:

What is the National Student Network and how do you use it?

The National Student Network (NSN) is a student-run online platform that tries to connect students across the country, forming a network and bringing about social engagement. It contains an Opportunities Database and National Youth Leaders program. It also hosts a student written publication, in which students can contribute their own original writing. These can all be accessed if you create a free account on the site. 

What is the Opportunities Database?

It is the place on the NSN website that lists many meaningful opportunities such as scholarships, internships, programs, and conferences to youth. All opportunities are sorted by date to make sure you can plan accordingly.

What is the National Youth Leaders program?

This is a program unique to NSN and features many willing university students who will provide insightful peer mentorship in their areas of expertise. You can hand-select your own mentor from the database who best suits your needs and fill in a simple application form and you will be in contact with your mentor in no time. If you’re interested in being a National Young Leader (NYL), you can also fill in an application on the NSN website with references in addition to that. 

You’re part of the NSN’s Ambassador’s Program, what is that?

It is basically how it sounds: your role as an ambassador to NSN is to promote the use of the resources on the site to those in your community. Ambassadors communicate through online meetings and their responsibilities include:

  • Recruiting people to use the NSN (either to take part in listed programs or become an NYL)
  • Presenting about the use of NSN to the community (whether that be to a school club or other)
  • Submit opportunities to the Opportunities Database
  • Ask companies and organizations to promote their opportunities on the NSN website
  • Spreading the word of NSN through social media and word-of-mouth
  • Organizing one community event on behalf of the NSN (eg. info nights, class presentations, etc)

Since NSN is a nation-wide program, they are also looking for more ambassadors. Ambassadors must be attending high school or university in Canada to apply. If you are interested in getting involved in a great cause, gain valuable professional connections with people across the country, earn documented volunteer hours, strengthen your leadership abilities and more, apply at http://www.nsncanada.org/ambassadors-program/. 

 

How to practice an instrument while on vacation

~ Chu ☆ ~
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So I’ve just gotten back from Las Vegas(a popular destination apparently), which also means that I have not had access to any of instruments for about a week. So that kind of puts a hinder on practicing. But never fear, there are ways that you can practice your instruments, even when you’re on vacation.

The first thing you can do is to improve, and maintain your technique. Essentially, practice the basics of how to play your instrument. This can mean super simple, sometimes monotonous exercises that may seem boring, but are crucial to practicing. For wind players, if you can’t bring your instrument with you, try to at least bring your mouthpiece, so that you can practice your embouchure, and (for brass players), buzzing. For piano players, your part is easy. There are various hand and finger exercises that you don’t need anything to do which help improve your playing. For string players, what I did is I brought this tall pencil with me and I used it to improve my bow conduct. With the pencil, you can practice exaggerated bow turns, dramatic wrist motions, etc. Percussion is a little trickier, as I don’t play any percussion instruments, but I would suggest any arm or wrist exercises, or even just miming your part, but exaggerated.

Also, you can always practice your fingerings. This applies to all instruments, because it doesn’t require anything special, and it’s super easy. You can practice fingering to scales, studies, pieces, it really doesn’t matter.

 

Something else that’s super helpful is to familiarize yourself with your pieces. First, you can download, and listen to recordings of your pieces. Of course, if you have super obscure pieces, this is hard to do (for example, for my orchestra audition, I’m playing a piece by some guy named Drdla), but if you can already play the piece, record yourself. If you have a more popular piece, download a bunch of different versions, (fast, slow, solo, orchestral, etc), and learn the piece and all the different styles its been performed in. Disclaimer: This probably isn’t the greatest idea if you haven’t learned your piece to a certain degree beforehand. While on vacation, I listened to some recordings of my Bach a min concerto, including this great performance by Hilary Hahn. Unfortunately, I hadn’t actually played the piece, so when I got home and tried to practice this piece that I had only heard Hilary Hahn play before, it sounded like a dying cow. So yes. Be warned.

Another way to familiarize yourself with a piece is to study, and analyse your sheet music. This can include figuring out fingerings, observing dynamics, and taking a more in-depth look at your music, looking at things like key-changes, accidentals, chord progressions, and do more harmonic analysis, etc. Understanding your piece will help you learn it so much more comprehensively, play it so much better, and memorization will also become so much easier. In fact, famous concert pianist Arthur Rubinstein learned Falla’s Nights in the Gardens of Spain by reading the score on trains and he was able to play the first rehearsal from memory. Of course, you still have to practice, but knowing your sheet music is incredibly useful.

Make sure to bring your sheet music with you! (source
Make sure to bring your sheet music with you! (source)

Something else you can try is mental practice. I’m still trying to learn this one, but what it is, is essentially imagining, and visualizing yourself practicing, but extremely vividly. Famous musicians such as Vladimir Horowitz and Walter Gieseking have said that they frequently used mental practice. (source). Here is a video regarding mental practice if you want to learn more.

 

Finally, the last way that you can practice while on vacation is to simply take a break. Although practice is important, resting is also important, and can actually be beneficial. For example, last year, when I was starting out on violin, my fingers were super tense and my bow hold was super awkward and rigid, but then I took a week off from practicing to go to Hawaii, and when I came back, everything became so much more relaxed, and my sound got so much better. So if all else fails, just relax, and take a break.

 

(Source)
(Source)

 

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5 Superpowers Every Chess Player Has

Elvin Limpin
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My father taught me chess when I was around 7 years old. It was just the basics, but I was instantly hooked. It became my goal to one day beat him in a game, albeit the cheap chess tricks I learned from playing my friends in school weren’t enough. I soon bought a few chess books and practiced nearly everyday until I could put a bit of a fight against my dad. I played games against myself, against friends, and against strangers for a small bet in the public market of the small town where I grew up in, 3 hours south of Manila. My involvements in chess developed further when I discovered the Calgary Junior Chess Club as my family moved to Canada. The city chess club opened up doors to volunteering opportunities as a chess mentor, winning coaching awards, and participating in youth championships (I’m 3rd in the province this year for U18!). It also encouraged me to help found the Western Canada High School Chess Club, which is now the biggest and most active high school chess club in Alberta.

I really believe that playing chess makes you super; the game fosters valuable skills such as discipline, problem solving, and big picture thinking. This (half-improved) video takes a somewhat light approach to the serious, nerdy, and analytical art of chess by revealing the five superpowers every chess player has:

About the video: I took some footage of the 2016 Alberta Youth Chess Championship but unfortunately my phone stopped working and I lost all footage 🙁 Nevertheless, congratulations to all you superheroes who participated in the tournament (plus to everyone who placed first and were granted the power of flight)!

Calgary’s Music Scene: Suburban Moms

Caitlin Yardley
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Calgary’s Music Scene: Suburban Moms

Calgary’s Music Scene is a series which will be exploring a variety of local bands’ perspectives on Calgary’s music industry. It will also look at areas of improvement, and how we as appreciators of music can help support emerging local artists.

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Suburban Moms band members Maya and Sophia Roddick. The band is self-described as a female punk band, who does not shy away from their feminist undertones.

Girls Rock Camp Calgary 2015 cover art

Maya (right center) and Sophia (center), along with other members of the Girl’s Rock Camp Calgary 2015 source

Suburban Moms first came into existence during the summer of 2015 after the two sisters, Maya and Sophia joined the Calgary Girl’s Rock Camp. The two band members got to record alongside Josh Gwilliam who helped develop their hit Suburban Mom. At the ages of only 15 (Maya) and 13 (Sophia), the two have already had many amazing accomplishments such as having their song played on Calgary’s local radio station CJSW and performing in 2015’s Femme Wave, a feminist art festival.

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What inspired you to first create a band?

Maya: Well we were in a camp thing. Nicola and Micha from Micha and the Spanks were really helpful to us and kind of showed us how to become a band.

Sophia: Basically we felt the music in our soul and it just kind of rapidly through the rhythm. (Laughs)

Have you always had a passion for music?

Sophie: The music is the passion. (Laughs)

Maya: Sophie really likes music. She liked singing since she was little and I play guitar and was always interested in the drums.

How have you found the Calgary music scene so far?

Maya: The Calgary music scene is good because everyone supports each other, and even though there aren’t that many all-ages venues, all the venues that are all-ages are super hyped to be a part of helping us become a better band.

Which specific places have helped emerging bands like yours?

Maya: Emmedia and Tubby Dog (of course).

Sophia: CJSW.

Maya: Yeah CJSW too, even though it’s not a venue. The Ship and Anchor, the Palomino.

Why do you think its is important to help out local bands?

Maya: Because you have to start out somewhere you know? It’s really important because people who want to be a part of music can realize that music isn’t this massive thing that you can’t get a hold of or ever touch. If you just see music as massive pop stars, then you are never gonna be a part of it. It kind of brings people into liking music more.

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Band member Maya at Tubby Dog source

What can people do to help out the Calgary music scene/ local bands?

Maya: They should go out and see some shows. Maybe start your own band and talk to your friends about their bands. Go to Tubby Dog! Buy some hot dogs. (Laughs)

What do you have planned next for the Suburban Moms?

Maya: The Suburban Moms has kind of taken a backseat right now because Lauren Yardley and I have started a band which Sophie might also be a part of and also Landon Stephens. We’re setting up some stuff right now that’s feminist, punk stuff. Purity Ring said we could record an album with them.

Sophia: Yeah, Purity Ring said we could record an album with them.

That’s awesome! How have bigger bands like Purity Ring helped your band so far?

Maya: Big bands like little bands because they know that they were there too. Purity Ring has helped us and so has The High Kicks. The drummer helped teach me how to drum and we were going to open for them but the gig didn’t end up working out because Sophie is too angsty. (laughs) Grade 8 is tough, you know?

My interview with Suburban Moms left me hopeful in knowing that many larger bands were open to helping out emerging artists. It is easy to forget that all great musicians start somewhere, and by going to concerts and actively listening to emerging local artists, we as citizens can help smaller bands reach their full potential.

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