April 8 will be the first day of #DIYSPRING hosted by Babely Shades and Debaser. The event is a two-day series featuring artists that make music by the D.I.Y. ethos, both local and from across North America.
The first day is being held at Zaphod’s, featuring Ottawa locals Everett and shoegaze legends The Veldt. Day two is at Pressed, featuring Melody McKiver, Ah Mer Ah Su, Scary Bear Soundtrack, and Aki.
Ottawa’s Everett is a synth-punk band that plays an arrangement of garage rock and punk sounds. Having played several venues in Ottawa, Everett is well-versed in the music scene. Everett’s Elsa Mirzaei answers some questions about the band, explaining how the Ottawa music scene has inspired their work.
The Charlatan (TC): What inspired you to come up with the name for the band?
Elsa Mirzaei (EM): It’s actually named after my best friend’s cat. It’s just a cool cat that I’m a really big fan of, so why not name our band after a pet?
TC: Who writes the songs, and is there anything specific you write about?
EM: Usually it’s a process. Generally I come up with an idea, some snarky political lyric, and then I’ll bring it to practice with Fraser and they will write in their own part . . . the guitar rhythm and also the beat. So it really is a team effort.
TC: Who are your musical and non-musical influences?
EM: Good question, I think musically it is a huge range of garage noise but also different political hardcore bands in terms of lyrics. I am really to the point with my lyrics because of this. In terms of sound it really comes from hanging around a lot of Ottawa artists in the garage scene and a lot of different noise music.
TC: What is one of your most memorable moments on stage?
EM: It was one of our recent shows when we played with Megaphono and the bartender kind of chirped us at the end of our set . . . I kind of shot back at him too, but it was pretty rude. It was a packed show so everyone kind of looked at him and give him a bad look. After that a lot of people stopped going to him for service for the rest of the night. We ended up being pretty well supported.
Everett plans on recording a new EP, and will be playing Ottawa Explosion this June. They are also planning a summer tour around Ontario to share their sound with audiences across the province.
