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Music Preview BY TOM MURRAY Parkade at the New City Likwid Lounge Mark Colborne of Parkade seems a little bemused as he relates the story of going to see Steve Albini’s iconic post-punk band Shellac during the summer. "You would talk to people after the show and they were saying, ‘yeah, it was incredible.’ But the reality at the show was people were mostly standing around. To me, a band like Shellac should be motivating people to move around a little." Considering Colborne’s articulate views on post-punk and music in general, his comments come as no surprise. As one fourth of the now defunct Music for Plants and now guitarist/vocalist for Parkade, Colborne (and his band) have been confounding expectations for years. Music for Plants were an improvisatory group that took time to amass any sort of interest. Only after shows opening for the Vertrek Ensemble at the Yardbird Suite (where they played around with a bank of synthesizers and sequencers, twisting knobs and pushing buttons while seemingly affecting cool disinterest) and the final show at the Rev did they start to attract notice. Colborne is proud of his old band’s legacy and philosophical about the late-blooming interest "Music For Plants was a lot of fun, but not very accessible. At times we were sort of categorized as ‘sleepy.’ Now that the band is dead, people will say ‘oh yeah, I remember you guys.’ There were a few people interested – the guys at Blackbyrd (Myoozic) for instance." With the demise of MFP, Colborne and his rhythm section were free to reinterpret themselves in any way they wanted. And after exploring the outer limits for a while, they decided to take what they learned in improv and apply it to more traditional song-writing forms. "I had been a fairly prolific songwriter for many years, but when I got involved in Music For Plants, I stopped writing. When we got Parkade together, I started to remember what I loved about songwriting." The band is rounded out by bassist Tim Erickson and drummer Derek Stewart (Rory Hanchard, now off to Calgary, is the missing guitarist from Music For Plants). Colborne obviously considers these two to be crucial elements in Parkade’s sound. And while he concentrates on the songwriting, the band members have equal opportunity to hammer out the arrangements, "for good or bad," as Colborne laughingly puts it. "Luckily it’s been really good," he affirms. "The thing about playing with these two guys is that they both are incredible musicians. And not on a technical level, but then neither am I. I don’t think any of us would claim to be technically proficient on our instruments. But I think there’s a lot of sensitivity and I think a lot of that came out of us playing improvisation. To do that and then to go on to compose pieces really opens up a perspective." Colborne is passionate about music and interested in where it can go – the extremes that can be reached. But he’s pragmatic about the reality of playing music and the general public’s capacity for different sounds. And for a club’s ability to support these endeavors. "I think there are a lot of people doing interesting stuff but, unfortunately, playing at Manifestos, y’know? Just bad bills. They’re not getting any support from venues. On the other hand, fact is, the nightclub’s job isn’t to give out cultural support. But I think New City Liquid Lounge is doing a great job of bringing in different styles of music. And we’ve been treated quite well there." Colborne doesn’t play the musician’s game of being offended at being pigeonholed. He’s asked around himself as to what his band sounds like to others. "Early on after shows, I would ask people what they thought we sounded like and a few names came up – Shellac, Wire, early Sonic Youth. We’re a little more punk, a lot more dynamic. This band is about being direct, in your face – I don’t think anyone could call us sleepy anymore."

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