04/26/01

photo of the day

Shotmaker, Ottawa, ON - 1993

this is a shot of Shotmaker, taken at my studio (aka the front steps of my house) sometime in 1993. another photo from this shoot appeared on their 2nd 7", this photo appeared in Now magazine in Toronto. i like this one better...

what can be said about Shotmaker... they put Belleville/Ottawa/Canada on the map in the Ebullition scheme of things.

every Shotmaker show i saw was amazing, but i think the best had to be one in Belleville, which was either the release show for their 2nd 7" or their "back from tour" show. this show was at a community centre in the middle of nowhere and packed with 150 kids from all the areas around Belleville - Tweed, Coburg, Lindasy, Colborne, as well as a carload or two from Toronto and Ottawa. there was an amazing scene in "middle Ontario" in the mid 90s as all the kids from the surrounding communities would come out to shows. this a result of one kid, or an older sibling, turning their friends on to one cool band and then the boredom of the sticks, combined with the discovery of zines and mailorder, taking over and eventually a few dozen kids are all in tune with the hippest happening sounds. however, a scene like that can disappear as quickly as it sprung up, and that's what happened with kids moving away for school or just growing out of punk, which unfortunately is way too common.

the worst show was when they opened for Fugazi in Quebec City, through no fault of Shotmaker's. Fugazi soundguy Joey P. convinced me to do sound for Shotmaker -- "you know thier sound, do it" were his famous last words. i didn't know what the fuck i was doing and was totally stressed out trying to do a soundcheck while the PA company guys just sat their and picked their collective noses. in the end i don't think it sounded too bad, but i certainly didn't enjoy the show. today i'd be able to fair a lot better at the helm.

as serious as they were musically, they were a bunchof jokers in person and a lot of fun to hangout with. if i only had photos of them when we passed the outskirts of Ottawa on our way down to the states and they proclaimed - "okay we're out of town, time to get naked" and proceed to strip down to their underwear and keep on driving like there was nothing up. thankfully that didn't last too long and we didn't get pulled over.

Matt (L) and Tim (R) went on to 30 Second Motion Picture. Nick (centre) moved to Toronto and was in a couple bands including School Girls and Frogs & Flies. He's still in Toronto and going to school there. Matt is currently in Slow Parker.


link of the day

weakest link


word of the day

catafalque  n. a strcture supporting a coffin during a funeral.

right: "Dozens of floral arrangements surrounded the catafalque."
wrong: "The medival warriors lobbed flaming rocks over the castle walls with a catafalque."
 

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all images (c) shawn scallen 2001. please contact before using or reproducing.