Political activist, author and five-time candidate for President of the United States Ralph Nader visited McMaster this week speaking at an event sponsored by OPIRG McMaster and Bryan Prince Bookseller. Among many other things, Ralph Nader was responsible for founding the PIRG movement. He sat down for a face-to-face with assistant news editor Tyler Welch.
The Silhouette: Why are you here? Other than selling books, what message are you trying to get across?
Ralph Nader: The message basically is Canadians have to learn why they have to remain independent of U.S. control. Which is swallowing Canada in so many ways—foreign military policy, corporate policy and so on. And this is why years ago we wrote this book Canada Firsts, it’s all the things Canada led the way with: the first daily newspaper is North America, first credit unions, on and on, science, technology. A lot of it would not have happened if, you know, Canada were just five states or something.
Also, it’s good for the U.S., because we look to Canada as rational to change things in the U.S., like Medicare.
After that, I want to talk about how citizens can become sovereign again, and redirect the country away from its downward slide. It’s almost following the U.S. except in the banking area.
The indicator is more poverty, exporting jobs, shredding public services, cutting back on necessities, giving more tax breaks and subsidies to corporations.
Power is being concentrated in fewer and fewer hands. That spells decay and decline, if not worse.
Are things like citizen sovereignty and maintenance of Canada’s independence really possible, or are they just wide-eyed ideas?
It’s easy. What if, suddenly, you were driving on the highway and all the cars stopped because there was a boulder blocking the way, and they all got out of their cars and nobody lifted a finger, and then someone said “Oh this boulder, it’s impossible to do anything about it.” Then everyone agreed except for one, who said, “Have you really given it a try?” Then he tries, and the big boulder doesn’t move. Then everyone says, “See, it doesn’t move!”
But then what if six or them try to move, or sixteen? And they all give it a shoulder, and the boulder rolls away.
See, it’s all about how many people get involved, how smart they are and what the agenda is.
How many people does it take for real change?
One per cent, for real change, that would be about 330,000 people in Canada, connected together, in all the ridings, with a full-time staff. They can raise for themselves a few bucks each and have a full-time staff coast-to-coast.
Then they’ve got to ask what institution can make the change the fastest, and seek to influence them. In our country [U.S.] it’s the Congress. In your country, it could be Parliament or Provincial Parliament. But one thing is certain, three hundred thousand people is a lot more than the number of MPs.
Let’s talk about the emotional change that is needed for that. Many students focus on earning something marketable and seeking a good career, but you got a law degree from Harvard—pretty marketable, if you ask anyone—yet you still chose the activism route.
There’s a certain immaturity that modern industrial nations ascribe into their citizens until they’re almost 30. In a more simple society, people become adults and take on adult responsibilities at a much younger age.
People have to unlearn a lot of things. Like the free market. Free? It’s rigged in all kinds of ways. Corporations are on welfare—tax breaks, bailouts.
You’ve got to ask: “Is it a strong democracy, a weak one, a middling democracy, or is it really just a democracy in name?”
They have to unlearn a lot of things that have been controlling them, controlling their expectations, teaching them powerlessness and encouraging them to wallow in cynicism. There is nothing that the ruling classes need the most to stay in power than widespread public cynicism. Because that involves a withdraw. The more you become cynical and powerless, the more power you give away to the few.
Many say that young people are the most withdrawn from public life. True?
People say “That’s for the student government to do” or “This other club will work on that.” They wallow in their own narrow routine, everyday. That tends to magnify personal problems, they don’t have a larger framework—they’re looking through a smaller lens—and that makes them more susceptible to addictions, distractions and to that lethal little thing in their hand called and iPhone.
You just have to talk to one another more, that’s how students rose in the 60s—they talked to each other. They didn’t send telegrams to each other. It’s personal, a conversation. It develops a maturity that develops self-respect. They have to believe that they can reshape their country, because they can.
Were you ever tempted by the other route? The good job, nice house, nice car, nice family?
No, it just trivialized your life, that route. So what, you get paid more, big deal. You want to make zillions? What’s the point? The price for that is to further the ruling class. Harvard Law School is like a finishing school for corporate supremacy.
There’s been a lot written about you living below your means, and giving away most of your income—living on a budget that many people think is impossible.
First of all, when you work as hard as I do, you don’t have time to squander all kinds of money. When you do buy all these extra things, is distracts from the focus. This is serious business, taking measure of these large corporations. A yacht, a fancy car, a fancy house, they’re not compatible with that.
I know somebody that had all these things and more and one day he sold them all. He said, “I bought a lot of things and they began controlling me.”
People are trapped in this pursuit. You know this Snapchat thing? It’s worth $3 billion and they turned it down—they think they can get more. In the meantime, the necessities of life and being ignored; people are going hungry, their housing is bad, their retirement security is shot. You’ve got to get serious, and when you do, you have an incredible increase in quality of life—gratification, joy, challenge, find a different definition of friendship, and by time you’re 65 you don’t have regrets when you look back.
You can’t do this forever. For the next generation of activists, what are the most important issues they will face?
There is too much economic wealth in too few hands, and the few decide against the interests of the many. And, of course, there are the global issues: war, peace, poverty, and climate change. There’s a lot of backlog here—centuries to catch up on.
But the biggest thing is to structure community and civic values so that corporate values are subordinate to them. Another way to put it is “Markets make good servants, but bad masters.” Markets need to be servants or a larger framework of human values and human livelihood.
Where do they start?
To do that, you have to start with young students. Give them civic values and civic skills. Teach them about town halls, how the courts work, elections and institutions. You’ve got to start at that level. Otherwise, education is just vocation—just trade school with different names.
What is something that you wish someone had told you in university?
I wish that people told me, or all the law students, that they were heading for highly rewarding, trivial and damaging work.
Instead, they were told that they were heading for highly prestigious law firms where they would be architects of a dynamic economy, and do all kinds of important and good things.
Many of them are now greasing the way for corporate criminals, allowing the exploitation of fossil fuels, blocking the courtroom door for negligently wounded workers, making us sign fine print contracts, stripping us of any semblance of freedom of speech.
Photo Credit: C/O Wikimedia Commons
Lene Trunjer-Petersen
The Silhouette
When I heard about the new gallery, Artiques (artiquesgallery.ca), down at King Street East and Wellington Street, I was curious. Artiques is unique in that the owner, Amanda McIntyre, displays a unique combination of antique furniture alongside its selection of fine art.
I went down to talk to her about this idea of furniture and art. When I arrived, I immediately decided that the selection is absolutely worth seeing. “It is definitely something unique, and something Hamilton does not have, and we like being different,” McIntyre said. She also explained that some of the interesting things about having furniture in a gallery. “The way that you are able to display it and almost stage it makes it almost more tangible for the viewer to see,” she said.
McIntyre herself is an artist, and she has a bachelor’s degree in visual arts from York University, as well as a diploma in interior decorating. So her areas of expertise are directly related to the nature of this exhibit. Her opening the gallery is effectively a career dream come true. “I have always loved art and that has always been what my passion has been about,” she says.
She also emphasizes another reason for opening the gallery, which was to cultivate the relationship between artists and their communities. “It is such an important connection that you need to have between the artist and the community,” she said, “and we were very lucky to be able to display art from various artists from across Ontario, and make it accessible for local people.”
Before Artiques’ grand opening on Nov. 16, McIntyre reviewed 500 portfolios from artists. “We wanted talented, unique artists, who also had an interesting CV and work in general,” she said. “All their artwork is of unique quality. We like it to be different, just as well as we want a degree of elegance and authenticity in our furniture.”
“We have antique furniture from the 18th- and 19th-century,” says McIntyre. “There will also be custom-made greeting cards, prints and images made by the artists in a wide price range. Lots of unique things you would not be able to find anywhere else.”
Jemma Wolfe
Executive Editor
Q: Why MSND?
A: I think it is one of the funniest plays ever written. I also felt it would be a good vehicle to explore issues of gender and sexuality in our times.
Q: Why do you think Shakespeare’s work continues to resonate with modern audiences?
A: Shakespeare wrote for his time, not for all time. His work has lasted because throughout history theatrical buy cialis producers have edited his plays to suit the tastes and morals of their day. In 18th century productions, Hermia and Lysander were accompanied into the woods by a chaperone because no respectable lady would go alone to the woods with her lover. We are simply following in that tradition. Shakespeare’s plays are also particularly complex representations of his society’s social attitudes and this complexity makes it easier to find resonances between his text and our own very different world. Their complexity leaves them open to various interpretations.
Q: Why mix up the genders of the characters?
A: Through our research on the project we came to the conclusion that the categories male and female were inventions of Western culture that limited our understanding of the complexity of gender identity and sexualities. We also wanted to disrupt the more conservative, patriarchal elements of Shakespeare’s text. In Shakespeare’s play, Titania submits to her husband’s will, in ours the significance of this moment is somewhat changed.
Q: Was there anything that surprised you along the production process?
A: The openness of the cast and creative team to quite radical ideas has made this project a joy. I have learned so much from the students on this one and I am filled with hope about our future.
Sophia Topper
Staff Reporter
How did three high school band geeks end up opening for Theory of a Deadman? McMaster band Daydrunk’s origin story is one of auspicious coincidences and last minute frenzies. Jordan Hallin, a fourth-year philosophy student, who plays guitar and vocals, is also the resident story-spinner. Last winter he happened upon an MSU “Last Band Standing” poster and thought, “This is something I’ve always wanted to do, so why not throw this crazy thing together?”
With just days before the Feb. 1 deadline, Hallin recruited his acquaintance Marty Vandenberk, a third-year sociology student. The group needed a third member because the competition prioritized larger bands. Luckily Marty’s housemate, Rhett Amin, a bass player, was just next door. They called out, “Hey Rhett, you’re gonna be in a band with us,” and he obliged. The first time they practiced together was while recording their audition.
Amin’s bass is a defining part of Daydrunk’s sound. The bass often takes on elements of the melody and as Hallin said, “Rhett does things on the bass that consistently surprise me.” The early rush of success for the band has had a large influence, explained Amin. He said, “We have way more shows than we have practices, we have to listen to each other.” This unity exists offstage as well; said Hallin, “We’re the best of friends.”
Their opportunity to open for Theory of a Deadman came about in much the same way as the band got together. Hallin discovered the Whiskey Rocks contest three days before it closed, and sprang into action. Vandenberk said, “Jordan came to our house one day and said, we’re going to do this. Jordan always comes to us with these crazy ideas, and our first reaction is ‘you want to do what?’”
They filmed their music video in just one day, and Amin and Hallin spent six hours editing their footage. “I don’t think I’ve ever worked harder on anything,” Hallin said.
Ironically, the Whiskey Rocks contest, run by the LCBO, would not allow them to use the name Daydrunk, because they said that it promotes irresponsible drinking. Their fans on Facebook suggested switching the name to Dray drunk, which was viagra alternative accepted by the contest coordinators.
That wasn’t the only snag they ran into. Going from coffeehouse nights at Mac’s Bridges Cafe to the London Music Hall was a big change, but the band took their mistakes, such as hitting microphones, as learning opportunities. “We got to experience things going wrong and everything turning out all fine,” said Vandenberk. The band also shared their appreciation for the friends and family that came out to support them. “What they really don’t understand,” explained Hallin, “is how much it means and how much it helps us.”
Daydrunk was overjoyed by the success of their set. Hallin, who was still wearing his performer’s wristband during our interview, describes the experience as “unbelievable.” “We’ve had the experience of playing on a sound system that can deafen small children, how often can you do that?” said Vandenberk. Theory of a Deadman, who was once their childhood hero, came up to them afterwards and congratulated them on their performance.
They plan to build off this success by putting out more music in the next two months, and hope to release a full album by next summer. Daydrunk also has ideas for a benefit concert for the music program Vandenberk worked for in high school. Hallin said he hopes his shows “always have a cause…using your music to spread music to more people, what’s the downside?”
More from an interview with Dr. PK Rangachari - on his fantasy career, bridging the arts and sciences, and advice for students going into medicine.
A video series collaboration between four undergraduate students: After Office Hours.
Videography: Anqi online order viagra Shen
Editing: Karen Wang
Tomi Milos
Features Editor
When I stepped into Toronto’s Westin Harbour Castle Hotel on Oct.25, I was relieved to have found what Bob Dylan would have called “shelter from the storm” that was ominously brewing outside. I was meeting renowned writer Alexander Maksik for an interview while he was in town for the International Festival of Authors. I checked my watch and realized I had arrived early, so I took a seat at the bar, but I didn’t have to wait long for Maksik to join me. Clad in a white dress shirt, grey v-neck sweater and jeans, Maksik had a sharp aura about him that matched his lean prose. Upon closer inspection, I noticed his boots were made by reputable New England shoemakers Alden and we nerded out over #menswear for a little before getting down to business.
He was in town for his latest novel, A Marker To Measure Drift, which is a stunning glimpse into the world of a Liberian refugee, who upon escaping the terror that gripped Charles Taylor’s reign, is left to fend for herself on the Greek island of Santorini. Maksik’s Paris-set debut You Deserve Nothing was one of the most praised in recent years, but there was some backlash when the fact that the plot was based on controversial events from his past as a teacher was discovered.
In a year that the IFOA boasted an all-star lineup of literary stars such as Alice Munro, Margaret Atwood and Stephen King, Maksik said he was simply excited to connect with old friend Anthony Marra and to hear Rachel Kushner talk about her work. Though “lucky to have the opportunity” to attend such events through the support of others, Maksik spoke excitedly of his impending Nov. 4 departure to Hawaii where he will be able to focus on writing alone.
When I asked why he chose such an exotic setting for his second major work of fiction, Maksik said, “I started writing You Deserve Nothing while living there and it’s a place I’ve always loved.” He said that its beauty had been created through physical destruction and was always on the precipice of being destroyed [Editor’s note: there is an active volcano on Santorini] made it an interesting place to send an equally volatile character: “I like the undercurrent of rage, the potential to explode that the setting holds”.
Maksik admitted he had difficulty writing a novel that he had no personal experience to draw upon, but he said, “writing is always difficult”. After approaching writing Jacqueline from a variety of directions, Maksik discovered a voice that felt natural.
“I fell in love with this character and that was something that I had never really felt, a true affection for a fictional character. I didn’t really treat her as a woman or as an African, but as a particular character who happened to be those things.”
Having gone through twelve drafts of his first novel, Maksik said it had been a similar number with A Marker To Measure Drift but he has come to enjoy the viagra sale prices editing process. He spoke about how he initially scrapped 40,000 words of another novel when a friend who he’d been reading it aloud to suddenly told him that she didn’t care about the protagonists. While at the prestigious Iowa Writers Workshop, he came to notice that it sometimes “takes making that kind of mistake to write a book. It’s starting to occur to me that with the book I’m working on now that all of these first pages may end up being just for my own benefit, to get me to the place where the story begins.” Though reluctant to reveal any more details on his third novel, Maksik said that it’d be a love-story set in the Pacific Northwest.
In a bid to cut out distractions, Maksik says he now adopts an almost religious routine that he abides by when writing. “When I’m writing, I wake up at a certain time and usually go for a run or exercise in some way before having breakfast and then I will work. I try to write a 1000 words a day and I keep a journal of the novel I am working on.” With a laugh, Maksik said his regimen is not very interesting but “if I do those things everyday, I feel like a healthy human being.”
When I pressed him for any advice he’d give to young writers who are entering a rapidly shifting commercial landscape, Maksik said, “You should want to do it more than anything else. You have to be ready to be rejected over and over again. Like anything, the most important thing is love. If you really love it, then that’s what you should do.”
This was not so clear to Maksik himself, who admitted that he made a mistake in buying into the romantic notion that writers lived a certain lifestyle that most people associate with Hemingway’s debauchery — smoking cigarettes, drinking a lot, living in Paris. “I did all these stupid things, but in the end I was never writing and it took me a long time to figure out that I had to sit down at a table and just do it. All of the rest is just affectation.”
Looking to end on a less serious note, Maksik wisecracked, “If you wanna be a football player, you can't just throw on some shoulder pads; you have to learn to play football really well. It's simple advice, but you just have to write."
How well do you know your professors outside of class? After Office Hours is a student-produced video series aimed at demystifying academia. Over the summer, a group of four undergraduate McMaster students interviewed professors from different faculties about who they are and why they do what they do.
In addition to the project's website, videos from the series will be posted on www.thesil.ca/videos every Tuesday beginning Oct. 22, 2013.
Nimra Khan
The Silhouette
For all the history buffs on campus, if you don’t already love learning about Ancient Rome, then Empress of the Seven Hills will pull you in. Personally, I’ve been bitten by the Rome-bug ever since reading it.
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Just tell me that you aren’t hooked after reading this intro excerpt: “When I was thirteen, an astrologer told me I’d lead a legion someday, a legion that would call me Vercingetorix the Red. Astrologers are usually horseshit, but that funny little man was right about everything... But why didn’t that astrologer tell me any of the important things? Why didn’t he tell me that Emperors can be loved, but Empresses are only to be feared? Why didn’t he tell me I’d have to kill the best friend I ever had—on the orders of the worst man I ever knew? And why the hell didn’t he tell me about the girl in the blue veil I met the same day I got all these predictions?”
I expect that you’re now turning to your friend and telling them to read this, wondering how you’ve lived your life without picking this up yet. I hardly blame you.
I recently caught up with the writer of the series, Kate Quinn, who said of university, “I was a freshman in college when I wrote what was to become my first published book. I was 3000 miles away from home; I knew no one; so I escaped into ancient Rome instead.”
Empress of the Seven Hills, the first book I’ve read by Quinn, follows the life of an ex-gladiator, Vix, and Sabina, the enchanting daughter of a senator who knows that she wants adventure out of life (and how she can get it). The characters in this book are followed as they change, grow, and occasionally make some stupid decisions. Vix and Sabina inevitably form a romantic relationship, but in a very unconventional way. Vix is very crude, and he knows it. It makes it a joy to read his conversations, especially with Sabina, in which they can go back-and-forth. Despite their disagreements, one thing they can agree on is that they are both strongly devoted to an adored Emperor of the time, Trajan.
I assure you, the reader is pulled in to love Trajan and feel just as devoted to him, too. When asked if she’s heard of any common misconceptions about certain historical figures or events, Kate Quinn said, “Writing about the Borgia family has been an education in historical misconceptions. So many rumours swirl around them - the poison! the incest! the murders! - and yet, how much of it was true, and how much of it was bad press? It’s a novelist’s job to decide where you think the truth actually lies in all that storm of rumour.”
A character that actually surprised me was Titus, a man who knows that he isn’t handsome, but is very smart. He is a bit of an underdog, comparable to Neville Longbottom in Harry Potter. However, just as Neville surprises the audience, so does Titus. Be warned for the incredible cliff-hanger at the end that made me scream “THIS CAN’T BE IT,”making me realize that I had become invested in these characters’ lives without even knowing it.
This is a fast-paced book that continuously has new challenges and lots of action. I was able to learn so much about Rome itself, including both the political and social sides of things. Quinn is able to lavishly describe the politics of war and battle, from the grit of the soldiers in camp, to the work the captain’s had to do.
For someone who’s spun such witty stories, I asked, is writing novels something you always knew you were going to do? “I was writing novels since I was 10 years old,” Quinn said. “It wasn’t something I ever thought about; it was just something I did. I didn’t know that I’d end up writing novels for a living, but I knew I’d always write them whether I was paid for them or not. It’s a compulsion!”
The enemies that the heroes face are always reoccurring and very believable. This includes the schemes set up by the Empress (oh, I hated that woman), along with Hadrian, Vix’s mortal enemy (I felt like I was part of Vix’ posse whenever he managed to take a go at Hadrian). There is an angle for every side of the story, something that everyone can enjoy and become attached to.
So this raises the question, which historical Roman figure should the public know more about? “The middle three of the Five Good Emperors are all fascinating men, and yet they aren’t written about very much in historical fiction. We know about Marcus Aurelius, but the three men who came before him were titans: Trajan, who was such a war machine that he expanded Rome out to its widest-ever parameters, yet was so personally beloved he could walk around Rome without a bodyguard; Hadrian, an enigma wrapped in a mystery who fell in love with a commoner; and Antoninus Pius who appears to be the boy next door who somehow became the most powerful man in the world. I love all three of these men!”
I’ve probably got you flipping tables out of your way trying to find this book at a bookstore, but even if I don’t, I recommend that everyone pick up this book, either to continue your love for historical fiction, or to start it.
There are also so many shows based on Rome - I loved the Starz Spartacus series. Kate Quinn had some of her own suggestions: “HBO’s Rome is marvellous; the end of the Republic and the rise of the Empire as seen (sumptuously, violently, gorgeously) by two best-friend legionaries. And the mini-series I, Claudius, which introduced me to ancient Rome and which has held up magnificently to the test of time!”
Recently, Kate Quinn stepped away from Rome for a bit to explore the life of the Borgias in The Serpent and the Pearl, while the sequel to Empress of the Seven Hills is in the works.
The final question to ask would be, of course, what are some common misconceptions about authors? “I think the most common misconception about writers is the workload - that it just involves drinking coffee at Starbucks while doodling in a notebook and waiting for inspiration to strike! I work harder, longer hours at this job than I have in many offices: usually about five hours of writing, plus another three to four for research, business, and publicity. Being a writer is hard work, even if it’s also fun work!”
Liz Delaney / The Silhouette
Tucked away in the basement of the newly risen Phoenix, Bridges, the vegetarian/vegan restaurant caters to alternative tastes. “It’s a growing need. More and more people are making these choices,” said Leigh Laidlaw, its award-winning chef.
“I (also) get a lot of people who have dietary restrictions (because of) allergies, gluten intolerance, celiac disease, lactose intolerance...”
The most popular items are the chili, soy chicken nuggets and sweet potato fries. “But I like the Aloo Gobi,” said Leigh, “a potato and cauliflower curry. And I love the lentil curries - over rice, pretty simple, very good for you and tasty.” Leigh will be doing a demo in April on how to cook easy healthy vegan meals (see MacFit for details).
Fresh out of school, chef papers in hand, Leigh moved to San Francisco to hone his skills in the cradle of the California cuisine movement. As a result he is passionate about fresh, local, organic and seasonal.
“Seasonal is huge. Unfortunately the academic year revolves pretty much backwards around the growing season. I’ll use a lot of Ontario root vegetables in the fall and winter because they’re local and they’re good. In fact, I just made roasted butternut and cinnamon soup earlier today.”
Leigh features a different entree every day. “I [research] other universities and vegetarian restaurants around the world just to see what trends are big.” Then he experiments.
“And if I don’t like the way it looks chances are I’m not going to serve it. It’s got to be aesthetically appealing. More often than not you eat with your eyes so I try to make sure things are colourful as well as nutritionally balanced. You can’t just have a salad and expect to have enough sustenance for the day.”
Leigh won gold for his expertise in the 16th Annual Chef Culinary Conference. Campus chefs from across North America competed in teams of four and had 40 minutes after opening a ‘black box’ to design a menu that included every item. They were marked on everything, even their garbage. “They wanted to look at all your bones when you were finished to make sure you had butchery skill.”
“I enjoy putting together the menu compositions - I enjoy seeing the finished products.” And Leigh likes to interact with the students. “It’s good to get feedback, negative or positive. And that’s one thing – students are honest.”
Check out the specials and kosher options on Facebook, and to see, said Leigh, “if I’m making chocolate mousse or banana bread.”
For those of us who weren’t there, music scenes have a romantic, almost mythic quality. Anyone who loves Nirvana has almost certainly worn a plaid shirt and wondered if we’ll ever have another Seattle.
But the infinite power of the Internet has changed local music scenes, at least enough to inspire a 2010 article in the Guardian to ask, “Has the internet killed local music scenes?”
Well, no. Local scenes may not be based on a specific sound in the way they used to be (like the grunge explosion), but they will always be vital and important. At least according to New Hands, a young, upcoming Hamilton band.
“There may be different scenes, but no one is working against each other,” said Pat O’Brien, the guitarist. “It feels like a community, basically.”
Hamilton’s diverse music scenes are about supporting bands, whatever they sound like.
“Young Rival have been really good to us,” said O’Brien. “They’ve given good advice about what not to do.”
“I’ve heard from them to never play in Regina,” said Spence Newell, the singer. “They played with Hollerado in Regina, and there were thirty people.”
“And that was apparently a better Regina show,” said O’Brien. “Like thirty people was a more significant crowd in Regina. Keep in mind that’s for Hollerado, a big Canadian act. And Young Rival does well too.”
Before New Hands were learning from big Hamilton bands, they were a high school Christian rock band called The Social Workers. Except not really.
“We went to a Catholic high school, the three of us,” said Ben Munoz, who plays guitar and synthesizer and occasionally sings. “We invited Gordy Bond, our drummer, to jam, and he was kind of reluctant about it, but he came anyways. Someone said we were a Christian rock band as a joke, and he thought it was real. Obviously he realized really quick that we’re not a super religious band.”
The New Hands of today sound like the soundtrack to a late night in a city far in the future. They combine elements of the moody post-punk bass and drumming of New Order with the effortless cool of the Strokes (back when the Strokes were effortlessly cool). The addition of Bond as the drummer was an important part of New Hands developing their sound, and on September 16 they had another defining moment as a band. They sold their first song.
“This is hilarious,” said Newell. “On Bandcamp, we’ve always made our music free, and finally when we released ‘Whichever Way You’ll Have It,’ which is still free, the two songs we released beforehand, ‘This I’ve Heard’ and ‘Tulips,’ we made cost 99 cents. And then someone bought our music, for the first time.”
“We didn’t know the person,” said O’Brien. “He didn’t buy both of our songs, though. He just liked one.”
“So we got 15 cents out of it,” said Newell. “We each made 3 cents.”
“We got fifteen cents from it?” exclaimed Munoz. “Holy cow, they’re scamming us.”
“It was nice, at least,” said Newell. “It’s a good feeling.”
New Hands will soon have more songs to add to their Bandcamp page. Over the next few months they will slowly be recording their first album, which they hope will be finished by early 2013.
