Whiz Kid

This is very close to being the Halifax indie band fanzine you always wanted. Long interviews with Jay Ferguson, Plum Tree and Julie Doiron (Eric’s Trip, Broken Girl) focus on the vivacious and glorious world of Canadian indie rock. The reviews, mostly of 7″ and EP releases, are also primarily Canadian bands from out East. Now I thought that since I’d pretty much covered the zine — oh, there’s also an obsession with synchronized swimming, lotsa swimming and music in zines these days — I’d take this opportunity to ruminate on the burgeoning and exciting indie rock scene that’s currently happening in Canada. For those of you who have not been following the developments of the last few years, Canada has taken quite a few steps toward pop-culture maturity by developing an independent music culture. There is a self-sustaining excitement that the bands and the labels — mostly run by other bands — foment in their listeners. That is to say, the main point for these musicians is not that they are a Canadian band, but that they are a band, and, hopefully, a damn good one. Sure not every label is great, and not every band worth listening to, and the level of personnel shifting can get tiresome, but on the whole a healthy viable Canadian indie music industry is something we’ve all been waiting for. Zine’s like Whiz Kid are at the forefront of what will hopefully be far more than a nineties grunge fad.

zine / #1 / no known publisher / main creator: D’Arcy R. Flueck / $2 / 8 Benson Ave., Toronto, ON, M6G 2H6

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