If you regularly pick up copies of The Phoenix, it may mean you have some interest in small publications. Publications like The Phoenix are an excellent way to find out events and projects going on in the community, projects which often need others to help them along the way. In this sense, small publications serve as the grounds on which communities sprout.
This growth is incredibly apparent in Kelowna’s DIY/underground music magazine Braze. Braze is a volunteer-run magazine which focuses on small-venue music events and the history of different DIY music subcultures in Kelowna. I discovered their latest issue while at an event in the Rotary Centre downtown and have noticed copies popping up all over the place ever since.
The fifth issue is their latest and contains articles alongside a host of skilled photography of local gigs. As a person relatively new to Kelowna, Braze contains a lot of history and current events which I would never have known of otherwise. It is incredibly important to learn the history of the place where you live, no matter how long you stay there. A good knowledge in this sense allows for a greater connection to whatever town you find yourself in.
My connection to Kelowna runs mainly through the university, and the same can be said for many of my friends and colleagues who come from all over the world. While I will always feel a deeper connection to my hometown, I find it important to be at the very least aware of the community around me wherever I am. Community is not always as simple as the place where you were born or raised: often the communities you find on your own can bring great new people, ideas, and understanding of the world around you.
DIY music scenes have always provided important community spaces for alternative people. With the advent of the internet, there has been an explosion of subcultures that many people have direct access to. This has led people in alternative subcultures to lose their connection to their local scenes in favour of online ones. While online circles can provide access to more niche corners of DIY music, part of the allure of such subcultures comes from their spot in local communities and attachment to the politics of the places they create in.
On March 29th, Jackknife Brewery hosted Alien Boys alongside openers Sundiver and Mean Bikini, three DIY bands from different parts of BC. The show was incredible and the audience was explosive, each song deepening the rhythm of an already thrashing crowd. Though the moshing seemed violent, everyone who stumbled was met with steady hands that put you back on your feet.
There was a point in Mean Bikini’s set where the lead vocalist paused to talk about his struggles through the winter, specifically mentioning that he wanted to reduce stigma about having discussions around mental health. While all this may not seem out of place in an artist’s circle, it never came across as some kind of disingenuous procedure, as it can occasionally feel in more institutional settings. The nature of the music and the people making it is to be unabashedly honest about the world around them, often speaking from the heart specifically to the community they find themselves in.
Though this was just one show, it carries with it a sentiment I have seen in many shows in Ontario as well. This feeling only adds to the excitement I had when I picked up that new issue of Braze.
Braze is not a single-subculture magazine, it casts a much wider net over DIY and underground music subcultures. The coverage in their latest issues spans from articles on how skating culture connects deeply to many DIY music subcultures to articles on how to record music with cassette tapes much in the fashion of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska.
As many campus clubs and initiatives wind down for the summer months, Kelowna continues to host brilliant events organized by and for members of unique local communities. For these summer months and the rest of your time in Kelowna, I highly recommend keeping an eye on Braze. Their recent issue promotes potential events of interest while also delving into the history of the scene in Kelowna. You can read their latest issue as well as all previous issues on their website.
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