The video for “Stay Me” is indicative of their truism to their topical tangents in verse, as they walk the walk and talk the talk of everyday struggles and theoretical concepts of staying true to their beliefs and values.

Their name says it all with their clever portrayal of the imperfection of mortals, and the possibility to err in all humans (trust that it is not a typo.)

This video takes the viewer through a day in the life of the black and white lives of the tandem and shows what it takes to keep honest to themselves while going through the motions of mastering their musical destinies.

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The lead singer of the American punk rock band Against Me! has grown from a teenage anarchist to a middle-aged gender rebel.

As TMZ and Rolling Stones magazine report, Tom Gabel, 31, front-man and founder of the band (1997) has come out of a personal closet of gender confliction.

“Growing up, my experience with transsexualism was nothing but shame,” explained Gabel.

As a youth Gabel found himself confused and disconnected in mind and body, as one did not reflect the other. It is a condition called gender dysphoria, not to be confused with androgyny (he’s certainly no Boy George.) It definitely makes his band name seem that much more clever now, doesn’t it?

I know I saw them play on tour with Rise Against and Anti-Flag in 2004 at Le Medley in Montreal. It was the former drummer, Warren Oakes’ birthday and they all stripped to nothing but their instruments and performed, but to the crowd, nothing seemed out of place.

Gabel plans to undergo electrolysis and hormone therapy treatments to ease into the metamorphosis, after which he’ll consider whether or not to complete the process with gender realignment surgery (a sex change, nicely said.)

“I’m going to have embarrassing moments and that won’t be fun,” Gabel said. “But that’s part of what talking to you is about – is hoping people will understand, and hoping they’ll be fairly kind.”

He has released his new name once the procedures are completed, and will commence his rebirth as Laura Jane Grace. Gabel also confirmed that he plans to remain with his understanding wife, Heather Gabel, with whom he has a two-year-old daughter.

“For me, the most terrifying thing about this was how she [Heather] would accept the news,” Gabel said. “But she’s been super-amazing and understanding.”

This came as little shock after the song “The Ocean” from the 2007 release New Wave alluded to his now-exposed true self. “If I could have chosen/I would have been born a woman/My mother once told me she would have named me Laura.”

His newest song is a tell-all about his true identity, appropriately named “Transgender Dysphoria Blues”

Gabel (soon to be Grace) and Against Me! are touring the U.S. with The Cult throughout the summer starting this month.

Story by Devin Size

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A cluster of Toronto’s best and brightest photographers gather annually for the Photography in the Junction to showcase their wares and workings, mused by the variety of holistic to by-design photographs and illustrations developed through the man-made eye. Martyr’s Devin Size visited the Latitude 44 Gallery on Dundas West for the opening gala and to take in some of the brooding culture of Southern Ontario’s hobbyist photographers.

The four featured artists at the Latitude 44 gala provided a candid cluster of the composers’ variations in stylistics. From traditional to modern, all styles were reflective of the artist behind the lens, and their affinities in their art.

Starting with the most holistic of photographers was Brian Anderson displaying the silver prints of Lake Superior which he self-developed in his dark room. Both a photographer and a musician (whose jazzy renditions echoed through the gallery all the while,) with no formal training in either, composition in traditional methods comes naturally to him.

“I shoot Lake Superior twice a year while camping. I usually go with an idea, but this time I had a concept,” said Anderson. “I had some film left after the second shoot, so I shot some randoms, which I found more exciting and I used them when I got home and did the contact sheets. It’s my first time switching like that and it was liberating to not follow a blueprint.”

Anderson doesn’t use professional developers’ services, but processes all his film manually in his dark room, wherever he might have it set up at the time.

“The only person who touches my photos besides me is when they get mounted, and I only trust one person.”

Tammy Hoy conveyed an air of surrealism and captivated the imagination of many with her metallic prints of a time-travelling stranger. Using the natural contrast of shading and lights, combined with the modernization of metallic sheet printing and post-production, her photos take the audience on a trip from past to present with her monocled subject in various ordinances of zeitgeist.

“I started taking my photography seriously in 2005 with the Toronto Urban Exploration Group,” explained Hoy. “We’d meet up and explore abandoned buildings and capture the essences of its history. I used to paint and I’m inspired by René Magritte as I used to paint, so his surreal work is what drove me creatively.”

Mark Raynes Robert is a crystal-sculpting artist before a photographer, and has been working with quartz for years before taking his hand and eye to capture his art from a different lens. He now uses his crystal sculptures and places them in naturalistic compositions to shed light on various issues of sustainability and education on the human foot-print vis-à-vis juxtaposition of man-made crystal – dating back to the middle 1600s in London, England, developed by George Ravenscroft – and natural environments.

“I drove out to Caledon and I took all these shots in an afternoon,” said Raynes. “I used this spire in different places and the lighting was perfect. The idea behind it was crystal being a man-made material, and using it as an analogy for how we can create and progress forward using natural materials modified by man, but as much as we do this it regresses nature itself and affect the planet. I use it as a metaphor to educate people on sustainability, and have used these pieces in schools.

“I’m still planning on creating 10 six feet by eight feet sculptures about the stepping stones of life and will showcase them outdoors as educational props.”

On the journey of everyday fast-paced life, the small Romantic elements of nature and space are often forgotten, and this is exactly what Moira McElhinney aimed to illustrate with her anthropomorphic vivification of trees and botanicals in her psycho-geographical representations of the finite things in life often overlooked. McElhinney’s perception of conifers on the Niagara peninsula escarpment, called the Bruce Trail, bring to its viewers eye a sense of detail and appreciation most take for granted.

“There are certain paths you take in your everyday life, that become psycho-geographical,” elaborated McElhinney. “On the Bruce Trail, sometimes you charge through the ‘walk around the block’ and don’t really stop to see the trees and details with heightened heed. I chose vertoramas composed of 5-6 photographs that give the impression of the levity of these trees.”

The illustrious concept of photography has been along for the arts and culture ride from seemingly the very beginning. Although various camera-like apparatuses had been seen for centuries, mainly used as drawing aids, photography was developed in theory in the late 1830s – as far back as possibly documented – by Sir John Herschel, an English mathematician, chemist, astronomer and botanist, and if you can believe, inventor and the first proclaimed photographer.

Photography in the Junction takes place for the month of May in the west end of Toronto on Dundas West, exhibiting 21 artists across 18 different venues, all within walking distance of each other. The exhibit is open most days from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., or until 5 p.m. on weekends. For more information and contacts visit www.junctionbia.com.

Story and photos by Devin Size

Monster Truck crushes the musical paradigm with their new psychedelic video for their first single “Seven Seas Blues” off the Brown EP.

Monster Truck is in L.A. right now recording their debut full length studio album, which is promising to crush some compact sedans.

Hailing from Hamilton, Ontario, this hard hitting punch in the face steel-clad metal band leaves nothing but a solid dent in the fabric of alternative Canadian rock.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

“Yo!” is the debut single from Knamelis found on the URBNET Certified Volume 2 compilation. Knamelis and SUP?83 make up MART!N McFLY.

Knamelis has been a staple of the Canadian battle rap scene for over a decade. He has grown tired of saying mean things to other rappers and is now focused on making music.

SUP?83 is an audio alchemist – tweaking knobs and twiddling timbers to ensure optimal audio adhesion.

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]]> http://www.martyrmagazine.ca/2012/04/empire-isis-refs-a-roller-derby-in-%e2%80%9cnana-power%e2%80%9d-video/feed/ 0 http://www.martyrmagazine.ca/2012/04/killabits-throw-down-remix-of-martn-mcfly%e2%80%99s-%e2%80%9cyo%e2%80%9d/ http://www.martyrmagazine.ca/2012/04/killabits-throw-down-remix-of-martn-mcfly%e2%80%99s-%e2%80%9cyo%e2%80%9d/#comments Wed, 25 Apr 2012 02:15:45 +0000 martyrmagazine http://www.martyrmagazine.ca/?p=7231

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The Killabits may not ring home as a household name, yet. Said to be at the forefront of a rapidly developing underground electronic music scene, with dub step as its main ingredient, the duo spent most of last year on the road around the globe. Following a recent Top 10 breakthrough on Beatport, the pair dropped two hit singles, including “Bassmentality,” which featured fellow T.O. ECM players Zeds Dead. The track was named after a notorious Killabits event hosted by the likes Nero and Skrillex. The latest from the Toronto duo is a remix of Mart!n McFly’s “Yo.”

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]]> http://www.martyrmagazine.ca/2012/04/killabits-throw-down-remix-of-martn-mcfly%e2%80%99s-%e2%80%9cyo%e2%80%9d/feed/ 0 http://www.martyrmagazine.ca/2012/04/campaign-to-save-katimavik-charity-gets-underway/ http://www.martyrmagazine.ca/2012/04/campaign-to-save-katimavik-charity-gets-underway/#comments Tue, 24 Apr 2012 20:46:40 +0000 martyrmagazine http://www.martyrmagazine.ca/?p=7203 As part of the government’s belt-tightening measures – that is to say massive cuts to social programs that came via the 2012 federal budget – Katimavik has been forced to close up shop.  But not without a fight. In a new YouTube video being circulated through Opposition party portals and the left side of the Canadian social-network scene, opponents of the cuts to Katimavik are calling for a reinstatement of the charity’s funds. While the government reneged on its funding agreement with Katimavik, which was valid until March 2013, believers feel “there’s still time” to rally enough support to keep the charity afloat. Created in 1977 under the government of former prime minister Pierre Trudeau, Katimavik has for over three decades  educated and empowered Canadian youth by providing volunteer services in vulnerable communities across the country. During the 2011-12 year, it’s reported 1,150 young Canadians volunteered in the Katimavik program.

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In the view of The Kid Famous, he’s been an entertainer from the gate. Questions of credibility on stage as a rapper or in studio as an actor are moot, namely on a count of the Toronto actor-rapper’s resume. Famous – as he is simply soon to be known – started his career oddly enough as a web designer at Def Jam, before moving on to work at Sony/BMG and, later, Canada Flow 93.5. With both a blossoming acting and rapping career taking shape, evidenced in his latest single and video, “LEGGO,” Famous may prove a fresh Drake or Maestro Fresh Wes – a Canadian dual talent that will sell here at home, and prove a lucrative export.

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]]> http://www.martyrmagazine.ca/2012/04/kid-famous-plans-on-being-a-self-fulfilling-prophecy/feed/ 0 http://www.martyrmagazine.ca/2012/04/snoop-and-belly-in-amsterdam-for-a-puff-and-a-pint/ http://www.martyrmagazine.ca/2012/04/snoop-and-belly-in-amsterdam-for-a-puff-and-a-pint/#comments Sat, 21 Apr 2012 15:09:59 +0000 martyrmagazine http://www.martyrmagazine.ca/?p=7097 One of Canada’s most celebrated hip-hop exports, Belly has been among some of the busiest artists at home and abroad for the better part of the last half a decade. In 2011 alone, he released three mixtapes, dropped four videos and appeared on arguably the biggest hit of the year in this country beside CP labelmate Danny Fernandes and Marianas Trench’s Josh Ramsay. On the latest from Belly’s new Sleepless Nights 1.5 mixtape, the Ottawa-based rapper joins legendary West Coast MC Snoop Dogg for a drink and a smoke in Amsterdam.

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