July 21, 2014

Tough Mudder 2014

In February, a few of my pals talked me into signing up for Tough Mudder this year.  We did the "let's do this!" high five sort of camaraderie build up one night as a team of 10.  As I was a spectator 2 years before for year 1 in Whistler I thought based on my running training regime I probably could get through the event and it looked cool and fun and a challenge.

Here's the thing: it is difficult.  Loose stones, bad gear because you don't want to ruin your good gear in mud, and the obstacles that everyone hears about really do make it a challenge.

Here's the take away for me.  I hear a lot of people talking about things like "live in the moment" or "be present" or these types of concepts ring really true today. It's valuable advice in my opinion to live a life within the moment but something that I would add is "execute".   As an independent musician "going solo" I've been thinking that executing a plan is more important that coming up with an initial idea. 

We had the idea to do Tough Mudder and we completed it as a team.  It's an accomplishment almost more in the sense that we said we'd do it, and we followed through.   The experience is important but it begins with an idea and then execution and then follow through.

I like that.  I try to follow through on the ideas more.  Sometimes the idea isn't the most original or the newest or the sexiest or even the highest tech.  Whether it's "I want to start a small business", or "I want to lose 10 pounds", or "I want that new job" my advice just get out there and do it.  Get in there, get dirty and go.   Make a few mistakes on the way.  Today is the day to turn the entire thing around.  Massive drastic change will cause massive drastic results.

love,
-Marty
@martyzylstra





July 17, 2014

10 AMAZING songs to download right now! (#10: Blues) ***Guest Post feat. David Bosma (of the Sweet Endings Blues Band)***

When I started playing guitar I wanted to be Stevie Ray Vaughan. I wanted to play those high flying electric blues like lightning but unfortunately for me my fingers just didn’t move that fast and I ended up turning into kind of a folkie indie singer songwriter. But then I heard Robert Johnson and I thought I’d become an acoustic folk blues master and slide slinger, again though I didn’t end up being able to sound just like I wanted and I joined a punk band playing bass. I heard BB King and I tried to play just one note that could make you cry but this time I ended up singing in an indie rock band and it wasn’t too bad.
No matter what style of music I ended up playing my original intention always comes back to the blues. And now, finally, I do play blues. I don’t sound like any of those guys I wanted to be when I was younger but I get to lay it down at the local pub twice a month with a great band that’s just loose enough and just tight enough too. The blues is just that pure feeling for me, whether it’s hard rockin’, plaintive spiritual acoustic, New Orleans jazz influences, rhythm and blues-as they say.....it is a pure emotion with poetic form devoid of illusions. It is heartbreak, poverty, regret, anger, sex and drugs and guns and blades and you can dance to it. These are some cuts I would recommend to anyone, these folks had the blues.

1. Preachin’ Blues (Up Jumped The Devil)-Robert Johnson
2. Hobo Blues-John Lee Hooker
3. Poor Black Mattie- R.L. Burnside
4. Sweet Little Angel-B.B. King
5. Double Trouble- Otis Rush
6. Don’t Mess With My Baby-Howlin’ Wolf
7. Can’t Be Satisfied- Muddy Waters
8. Nine Below Zero- Sonny Boy Williamson
9. Careless Love- Bessie Smith
10. Hoodoo Lady- Memphis Minnie
11. Ball and Chain-Big Mama Thornton
--
Thanks David!
love,
Marty
@martyzylstra

July 13, 2014

iTunes

If you haven't already, make sure you go here and grab my 2 songs on iTunes:

Thanks for listening!

-Marty
@martyzylstra

June 26, 2014

"I Made you a Mixed Tape" (Featuring guest blogger Rochele Potter)

"I made you a mixed tape"

Do you remember the days of mixed tapes? Do lovers still carefully curate a disc of songs for their objets désires? I still have the very first mixed tape that a boy ever gave me. He had broken my heart at the beginning of summer, and apologized in September by handing me the cassette and a note. I remember the second tape I was ever given, too. That tape set off a decade of eclectic playlists. The songs on his tape didn’t belong to any specific genre; he compiled them because he liked them. I followed his suit, and almost none of my mixes make any sense. As an adult, I now find them jarring to listen to the contrasts in genres.

Some time long ago in high school, downloading music and burning CD’s became prevalent. I wasn’t allowed to download music because my parents had a legitimate concern that I was going to Y2K the computer with a virus, so I paid a guy $15 to download and burn a CD of mixed songs. Music cataloging was a little sketchy back then.

These days we won’t even have to download music to share it. We make a playlist in YouTube and share the link. Or, in this case, it gets embedded. I’m glad it’s a lot easier, I can play DJ for all of my parties, but there was something so very special about being handed a tape or a CD. It became yours.

Enjoy this mix, I named it ‘I made you a mixed tape’ for old times’ sake. (click the link for the playlist)

Tracks:
1. Wildcat! Wildcat! – Garden Grays
2. Kevin Drew – Good Sex
3.Wet – You’re The Best
4. Cherub – Doses and Mimosas
5. Tei Shi – Nevermind The End
6. Lianne La Havas – Elusive
7. Bibio – Lovers Carvings
8. Mikky Ekko – I Love You (I Always Have)
9. The Chain Gang Of 1974 – Sleepwalking
10. Panama – Destoyer
11. Franz Ferdinand – The Universe Expanded
12. Beck – I Won’t Be Long Beck
13. Lianne La Havas ft. Willy Mason – No Room For Doubt
14. The Concretes – Miss You

--
Thanks Rochele!
-Marty
@martyzylstra

June 24, 2014

Seven! Released today!

Seven!

Marty's new song "Seven" produced/mixed by Carl Davis (the Left/the Pompadoors) and mastered by Abbey Road Studios (the Beatles/John Lennon) is released today in all digital formats!  This song is his 2nd single of 5 (or more) tracks that will be continue to be released throughout 2014.   This new song simply titled "Seven" is a guitar driven countrified adult alternative rock and roll track about typical 20 something life lessons to domestic bliss in the 30's and beyond.  "Seven" takes the listener to a place they've been before but forgot about and glad they've returned.  When you hear the hooks in the chorus you will not be able to help singing along! 

Click here to be redirected to "Seven" on iTunes

June 19, 2014

10 AMAZING songs to download right now! (#7: Acid Jazz Edition) ***Guest Post feat. Bill Farrant (of Weird Party)***

In the spring of 1997 I went to Europe with my best friend Nigel. Leaving for the airport, I grabbed an assortment of cassette tapes for my walkman. The first time I used it I popped in what I thought was the entire catalogue of Smashing Pumpkins demos, but it turned out to be an audio book for people with anxiety disorders on side A- my father was a psychologist, I must have picked up one of his tapes by accident. On side B, however, was a style of music I had never heard before: acid jazz. Nigel and I were taking a night train from Bremen, Germany, to Basel, Switzerland and this new musical style was the perfect backdrop to the relentless rhythm of the train tracks and the low light of the passenger car. With my headphones on, and the car nearly empty, It was if I was in my own private club, the fact it was a smoking car enhancing that feeling immensely. I listened to that cassette a hundred times over the next five weeks and when I got home my obsession for alternative rock was gone, and born was a love for groove, dance, funk, and horns. The album, United Future Organization’s self-titled 1993 album, is still one of my favourites, and has influenced my musical path ever since. Below are my top ten songs inspired by that night:

June 16, 2014

10 AMAZING songs to download right now! (#6: 90's Edition) ***Guest Post feat. Jordan Irwin (of River of Kings)***

Check out this week's guest post featuring Jordan Irwin of River of Kings:
--Best 90s Gems--

Remember Much Music in the 90s? Back when they still played music videos and the music was awesome? Well this is basically a list of songs that you probably haven't heard in a really long time that kick ass.
And I mostly stuck to mid-late 90s Can-rock. This list could have been at least 40 long, but I was asked for a top 10...
In no particular order.

Limblifter - Tinfoil
Age of Electric - Untitled
Matthew Good Band - Indestructible
Hayden - Bad as They Seem
Rusty - Misogyny
Treble Charger - Friend of Mine
Killjoys - Today I Hate Everyone
Pluto - When She Was Happy
Pure - Anna is a Speed Freak
Wide Mouth Mason - Companion

Honourable Mentions:
Jet Set Satellite - Baby Cool Your Jets
Zuckerbaby - Andromeda
Glueleg - Dragonfly
Sandbox - Curious
Toadies - Possum Kingdom

--
Thanks Jordan!
Love,
Marty
@martyzylstra

June 5, 2014

My new song "Seven" to be released digitally VERY soon!




















While you wait, feel free to read my biography!
Marty Zylstra has a unique Canadian perspective. Growing up as a preacher’s son across rural Canada from northern British Columbia to the prairies and Northern Ontario and back set a scene for a future music path that is as wide and all-encompassing as this country is vast. Marty learned to sing from old time gospel hymns and with influences strongly entrenched in early 60’s Beatles and the myth and legend of John Lennon to 1970’s Tom Petty & the eclectic nature of David Bowie to modern Canadian heroes Sam Roberts and Sloan to the pop rock British invasion of the 90’s and back again.

After grinding it out regionally in local Vancouver power pop band “Sweetheart” for the last number of years, Marty decided that it was time to stretch his legs and create something that spoke more directly to his youth and heart. A monumental and life altering short vacation to Memphis in 2012 on Elvis Presley’s birthday baptized Marty’s soul in rock and roll in the way only the birthplace of rock and roll could. Rejuvenated and invigorated upon his return to Vancouver, he started work on the seeds of new songs and ideas that have now come to fruition in this new recording. Carl Davis (the Left, the Pompadoors) produced this new three song EP in an old school and almost Nashville style studio session where the songs were finished on the studio floor with only the best Vancouver based studio musicians. 
Mixed by Mr. Davis and mastered by Sean McGee (the Beatles, John Lennon) at Abbey Road Studios this initial offering shows three sides of Marty’s personality which includes an affinity for British culture, lyrical themes of a vision of past life lessons and future domestic bliss, and a sheer twisted humour. Throughout 2014 each song will be released individually through digital channels and will include a new piece of visual media: one of video, print, or clothing. Local and regional shows will follow in 2014 and hinging on a loose plan to grow a grassroots following by starting small but thinking big, will likely continue to write new material and record with as many of his friends as possible over the next year and release numerous eclectic recordings.

May 28, 2014

Artist Interview: Vancouver's Dominique Fricot

I had a chance to sit down and discuss (via cyberspace) my pal Dominique Fricot's new recording experience, and a few of his favourite things.  Take a minute and read up on what he's all about here.  I suggest you get in on what's left of his ground level because he's soon to be in high demand all over the region and likely North America/the World very very soon.

MZ: In your new song "I miss the 80's" you reference a number of pop-icons and artists but what I noticed was a hint or reference about your sister(s).  Tell me what it is about your siblings and those relationships that inspired this song
DF: While the song talks about a lot of the pop icons of the 80's, I think what I was feeling when I wrote this song was my experience of being 4 or 5 years old and digesting culture through the filters of my two big sisters. All of the tapes I listened to, and opinions on pop culture at the time was very much molded by what they liked and what they were bringing home. As I say in the song "I'm too young to really know" the 80's. Which isn't really true because I was alive, but you made a good observation, my sisters had a big part in my perspective at the time.
MZ: Warne Livesey is a master producer.  What did he bring to the table that was different then other producers from your previous work?
DF: Warne or papa dubs, dubya or Dubstep has an incredible ear for arrangement. His father was a jazz musician so I think that lends a bit to his ear for more elaborate chords and harmonies than other producers I've worked with. What I love about working with Warne is he follows the old adage to "serve the song" as most producers do but he has the sensibility to not make each an every song a radio single. Songs off my record like "hermit in the park" and "you can't leave me" are from he and I's favourite songs and I think it's because we let them be what they were: one a dark creepy ballad that turns into almost a trip hop groover, and the other a short little acoustic lament with a tasteful string accompaniment.
I think Warne has great honest sensibilities while having the pedigree to make a pop hit and get world class sounds on tape (digital tape)

MZ: Was there specific sound themes that you wanted to achieve with Warne?  Were there unexpected or surprise moments on your new LP where you achieved something far better than your expectation?
DF: I wanted the string accompaniments to play a strong part in this record which I think we were fairly successful. For both of us the biggest surprise was where the song Saddest Thing went. We didn't really have anything more than a nice piano part and vocal and then we just started experimenting with electronic beats and putting delays on Rhodes.  Once Warne sequenced that trippy beat every time we'd track or listen back I couldn't help but bounce all around the studio doing my silly weirdo dance.
MZ: I enjoyed your Vancouver locale name dropping on your previous record.  Is the city of Vancouver in this new LP?
DF: Yes, Marty. There is. There's a track called Granville Bridge that was almost this name of the whole record, but I changed if last minute.
MZ: Do you have a favourite craft beer?  What is it and where do you like to drink it?
DF: Nah. Drinking beer for me is something I do with friends. Really the most important thing for me is the company. Therefore I'll say my favourite beer to drink is whatever my man Cory Curtis (bass player on Sweet little fantasy, and Hannah Georgas) is pouring out of his beer fridge, and the best place to be is either on his couch or his deck.
MZ: Here we go.  Who's your favourite Beatle?  Why?  and what's the song/era that connects with you the most?
DF: Knowing you, Marty,  I feel like this whole interview was to get to this question. John Lennon hands down. I like his humour and how he spoke out the most with controversial/hilarious things. What era? I'd go with mid to late. His productivity may have slowed down but I think that's when the production and writing became more interesting and he had long left behind boy girl love songs. It's weird though not my favourite songs, loser and nowhere man are probably the songs I most connect with. Is that bad?

That isn't bad Dom.  In fact, that's probably about right with me too!
--
Dominique's single "I miss the 80's" is available now on iTunes.  I suggest you go grab it.  And then check out all of his other music right away if you haven't already and curl up with a glass of red wine and fall in love with everything this homegrown Vancouver/British Columbian talent has to offer.

Love,
Marty
@martyzylstra


May 26, 2014

Show Review: the Ghost of a Sabre Tooth Tiger (May 23rd, 2014 at the Imperial, Vancouver, BC, Canada)

Sorry to state the obvious but Sean Ono Lennon has a legendary father.  His hallowed catalogue and mythology that stands as giant as an elephant in a broom closet would make expectations on Sean's music career immensely difficult to imagine.  That being said Sean's musical path has been eclectic possibly because he has been trying to find his niche.  Having followed and appreciated his collected work from afar (Cibo Matto, solo, Chimera Records), and having dipped my toes into his discography numerous times I was upon finally listening to "Animals" from his new outfit The Ghost of a Sabre Tooth Tiger's new LP I determined that he has finally found a sound and lifestyle that truly suits him.   This is his niche moment.  With obvious comparisons to JL/YO - Charlotte Kemp Muhl is his Yoko as she is pushing his artistic legacy and is clearly his muse.  And this record is glorious.  It's hitting all the psychedelic glory of 1967 Summer of Love with modern inspiration from the always eclectic Beck's "Guero" or "the Information". 

Once I'd digested the full LP "Midnight Sun" I decided to go to the can't miss concert of GOASTT at the Imperial on May 23rd here in Vancouver.  Upon inspection of the venue, your mind is dazzled immediately at the quality of the room.  For a meager $20 at the door (I recommend bringing cash as the Ticketfly system was glitching on this particular day as was the cash machine in the venue) it attracted me and my beautiful date (my wife and live music aficionado) to see the spectacle and grab a glimpse of the former Beatle's spawn.  The crowd was sparse for the opener "Syd Arther" (RIYL Radiohead/ELO/70's prog with reverb) hailing from Canterbury, in England, but they blew me away with wide reverb drenched soundscapes and usage of a number of delays and unique instrumentation.  "Dorothy" & "Edge of the Earth" were standout numbers in their short but concise set as was the new single "Garden of Time" from their newly release recording.  I spoke to the multi-instrumentalist from Syd Arthur after the set and he was very approachable and was happy to discuss his gear and rig and initial impression of Vancouver with me.  After a short break, the GOASTT hit the stage with the LP's opener "Too Deep" and subsequently tore through the track listing of the LP in track order.  With a brief pause and some extremely casual and light sarcasm from Sean, the band lit up the stage and the room with "Animals" which is the clear standout on the record and possibly Sean's first "indie" hit.   A few notes from my impression of the stage:
- I loved Charlotte's bass playing.  She has a tasteful style and solid dynamics and plays a certain 60's finger style not that far off from a young John Entwisle. 
- Sean's guitar tones were massive and intense.  It should also be noted that Sean is a monster on guitar.  He "shreds" nimbly over the fretboard and even broke a high E string during the last tune before the de facto encore
- The percussionist and/or roadie held down excellent rhythm with strong tambourine playing which complemented the drums perfectly.
- At times there was 3-4 part harmonies drowned in reverb.  I personally think the live performance of each song captured the essence of the album's spirit perfectly

The interplay between Sean & Charlotte made me instantly think of his mom and dad's beautiful partnership in 1970 and I'm sure many people compare the two frequently in public but also in private.  Charlotte would playfully banter with Sean and the running jokes of the night was that him and the guitar player were kicking her out of the band.  She would sarcastically defend herself by mocking Sean and wispily striking evil poses with her bass pointed like a gun. Considering the story on how S & C met (Coachella, 2004), I feel like their story may play out similarly to J & Y - a perfect love story.  I hope for them that it's less scrutinized and less public than many other pop stars of today's modern age and that they are able to create a true path for their public career and private life.

All in all, the sheer energy and enthusiasm of the GOASTT, with the charisma and charm of Sean, brought me to my knees in laughter, and nearly to tears with the soundscapes and song selection.

I hope that this first foray into a new psych-pop realm will satisfy the public's need for more from the GOASTT and that they will continue to make ever better music for many years to come.

Love,
Marty
@martyzylstra





May 22, 2014

My Top 6 reasons to Cycle Commute in Vancouver

I hate commuting.

I recently purchased a used bicycle and have noticed that my quality of life has improved.  I'm not an expert in cycling however as I slowly get into the sport I've noticed a few things.  One of which is that the city of Vancouver is beautiful to cycle in.  Cycling lanes are everywhere and if you get used to them and use them you'll notice how great they are. 

From a recent post in the Vancouver Sun:
In the past generations, the car has been seen as a symbol of coming of age and of freedom and of whatever. Now people are actually seeing that maybe it’s the opposite, maybe it’s tying them down to car payments, parking fees, gasoline, insurance, and general bad health spending 90 minutes in traffic on average per person per day.

I read recently a statistic that teens aged 16 to those in their early 20's are not getting their drivers licenses as much and instead as they have decided to utilize transportation which is at a freemium right now: cycling and/or public transportation.

A recent local study in today's paper suggested to me that people in this city are unhappy with commuting and dislike the congestion, the travel times, and the limited parking.  I would suggest that for a couple months of your accrued gas, insurance & parking fees, you could own a very good high end commuter bike and would support my thesis to switch to biking.

here are my 6 reasons to cycle to work in Vancouver:
1) health.  cycling is as good or better for your health that walking.  A 60 minute commute per day in your car is probably going to run you the same amount of time on a bike in the city of Vancouver.  60 minutes of cardio a day will make your life better. 
2) save money.  let's add it up.  $30/week on gas + $125/month on insurance + $100 on parking + $50 on maintenance + car payment/lease payment/depreciation (for sake of argument $150/month) = $6,660/year (extremely conservative) for car expenses.
3) it's faster.  you can get from Coal Harbour to Gastown faster than you can drive/walk/transit.
4) environmental concerns.  Cars burn fossil fuels.  Simple
5) you will have a more productive day.  There are too many studies to list regarding exercise and improving your overall wellbeing
6) it's really easy to get around.   

I don't have the answers but maybe this will help you make your decision and push you over the edge

Love,
@MartyZylstra

May 5, 2014

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