DJ Tapes is a project by Aja Rose Bond (Diadem, HerJazz Noise Collective) that utilizes cassette tapes as a musical and conceptual basis for new sonic explosions. Performances vary greatly, covering territory as diverse as live DJ sets at dance parties, Harsh Noise experiments, and highly developed compositions.
DJ Tapes’ source materials range from original and dubbed cassettes including everything from pop music, noise, ambient field recordings and “books on tape” to her own original compositions.  She is inspired by an endless fascination with the tactile, analog nature of cassettes, the visceral, mechanical experience of handling them, and the intrinsic value of the mixtape as art object.
DJ Tapes has performed as a part of the Utopia Women’s Electronic Music Festival, Vancouver New Music’s Copyright/Copyleft Festival; Her Jazz Noise Collective’s Women’s Studies; Fuck Off and Dance; and This Summer’s Going to Be a Girl Riot at VIVO Media Arts Centre.

Jef Leppard

For over two years, JEF LEPPARD has found a home in the dimly lit rooms ofVancouver’s East Side ever-growing queer scene as resident deejay of parties likeSPIT, QUEER BASH, and APOCALYPSTICK (East Van’s Drag Show). He’s shared thedecks with the likes of DJ’s Lady Starlight and Colby B (NYC) and DJ Kasey Riot(Vancouver), specializing in songs that encourage arm-waving, sweat-producing andbooty-popping.
During his sets, disco-funk, electro-house, throwback tracks and hip-hop mergeharmoniously to leave you reaching for a throat lozenge while simultaneouslywondering why the night has to end.
He hopes that you like him.

Beth Allen

Performing in Electrosexual: SucK iT uP! July 30

Beth “Buzy B” Allen moved to Vancouver 9 years ago to pursue  music.

Since her move she has completed a Jazz/contemporary vocal diploma from Vancouver Community College. She has held weekly DJ night’s around Vancouver at Lick nightclub and currently at The Reef resturant. Also she has been involved with great festivals such as the Sista’ Hood festival and The International Queer Flim festival.

Though she started as a DJ, the MC was never far behind. Her newest project,a 5 piece band,Buzy B and the Honeycomb Kids has her where she has been working to be. Writing lyrics,singing,rhyming and scratching are some of the reason’s why she goes by the name Buzy B. They are headed into the studio soon and hope to have a CD ready by the end of the year.

HECTOR

Performing in Electrosexual, July 30

HECTOR is a fracas of vigorous bass and drum grooves, mixed with digital din.  Old-school rock and electro-pop meet with inexpungible lyrical hooks and melodies, the clamour is it’s own perpetual opiate.  With re-enactments of affliction and anguish, HECTOR’s minimalistic rogue continues to engage longtime fans and win new ones.

Writer Kevin Dale McKeown

Vancouver-born (1950) Kevin Dale McKeown has enjoyed a varied career in journalism, media relations and event management, a career launched in 1970 when, at 19, he became the Georgia Straight’s gay columnist and Canada’s first “out” gay journalist. Titling the column “Q.Q. Writes … Page 69”, his pseudonym quickly became a nickname as Q.Q. began appearing under his own name on radio talk shows and at public events. By the summer of 1971 any thoughts of anonymity were dispelled when his image and name appeared with his column in a photo taken with a well-known gay clown in the PNE Parade!

For most of the 70s, in the Straight and other publications, Q.Q. chronicled the early days of gay Vancouver’s political, social and business community, while to many readers his most important contribution was his colourful reporting on the clubs, pubs, tubs and thriving drag scene. Kevin worked through the 70s and 80s as an arts columnist for the Straight, The West Ender and Vancouver Courier and served stints as managing editor of the Williams Lake Tribune, The West Ender, and Montréal Magazine. A “second twenty-year career” saw Kevin turn his hand to marketing and media relations for such events as the Dragon Boat, Writers, Children’s and Folk Music festivals, DOXA, Theatre Under The Stars and Out On Screen.

Kevin, now 60, is presently the director of communications and special events for Metro Vancouver’s Alliance for Arts and Culture, a professional association of arts organizations and individual artists. In that role he handles media relations, coordinates advocacy initiatives, and is managing producer of the annual Mayor’s Arts Awards, BC Culture Days and the cultural sector leaders’ Arts Summit. He is also volunteer producer of two charitable fundraisers, the Granville Island Ferries Garbage Can Art Contest, for the art therapy programs at BC’s Children’s Hospital, and the Diane Forsythe Abbott Crabtree Corner Luncheon, for the YWCA’s Crabtree Corner DTES centre for mothers and children.Kevin is the recipient of a Canadian Newspaper Award (1978), a Western Magazine Award (1991), the Empress of Canada’s Humanitarian Award (2010) and a 2011 inductee to the Q Hall of Fame.

Al Cannon

Alexander Cannon, trumpet soloist, chamber musician, and educator, is a dedicated student of music and committed advocate of the Arts. Al has performed at the International Trumpet Guild Convention in Dallas, TX (2003), Las Vegas Music Festival (2003), Lake Placid Institute in New York (2003), Dublin International Festival in Ireland (2004), International Trumpet Guild Convention in Bangkok, Thailand (2005), Chaiyi International Band Festival in Taiwan (2006), Coleman Chamber Ensemble Competition in Pasadena, CA (2006), Pierre Monteux School in Hancock, ME (2007), Fischoff Chamber Music Competition in South Bend, IN (2008), and with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada (2008).  From 2007-2009, Al was the Acting Principal Trumpet with the Prince George Symphony Orchestra, and he has appeared as a soloist across North America and in various parts of Asia.

Cannon has performed and recorded on trumpet and has served as administrator for a number of brass chamber ensembles.  In Vancouver, current projects include Cascades Brass, winners of the Coleman-Saunderson Prize for Woodwinds and Brass at the Coleman Chamber Ensemble Competition in 2006; the Three Body Problem, a brass trio dedicated to new music commissions and performance; and the Vancouver Brass Project, a brass ensemble of top Vancouver performers from the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the Vancouver Opera Orchestra, iTromboni, the Turning Point Ensemble, and area freelancers.

Cannon is currently a student of the Doctorate of Musical Arts degree in trumpet performance at the University of British Columbia, where he was a recipient of UBC’s highly competitive University Graduate Fellowship in 2006-2007, and again in 2008-2009.  Under the mentorship of Larry Knopp of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Al maintains an active schedule as freelance performer, clinician, private instructor, and arts administrator.

Dianna David

Born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, this first generation Filipino-Canadian started her performing career at the early age of 6 years old. Dianna has been actively involved for twenty years as a performer, choreographer and artistic director for the dance group The Philippine Barangay Performing Arts Society.

Dianna graduated at the University of Alberta with a BSc. Mechanical Engineering, Class of 2000. It was through her engineering that landed her a job in San Francisco, CA, which opened new doors in her performing arts career. In the little time she had after long hours in the office, Dianna managed to perform for the Bay Area’s finest Hip Hop dance groups Culture Shock Oakland with director Kim Battiste and choreographer Lee Lee Brewster and Mind Over Matter with choreographer Allan Frias.

She took her performing skills towards another direction. She choreographed and acted in Contra Costa College’s 2001 Production “Achievers”; acted in Bindlestiff Studios’ Midnight Mass 2001 and 2002, their Eight Stories High Production, and their full length movie “Curtains Up: Opening Night”; and in 2002 she was cast in her lead role as Polly Planetarium in the sold out shows for “Rocket Girl”, put up by the Thunderbird Theatre Company.

In the March of 2003 she made the decision to resign from her secure career to focus all her energy on herself. First she went back to Edmonton, Alberta to start up a group she named Expressive Devotion. It was her mission to help outreach to the youth community by empowering them through dynamic workshops in order to help them find their own artistic vision and to materialize it. By the end of the workshops, they are encouraged to perform what they learned. Since then she has produced two more successful Expressive Devotion Productions in Vancouver, BC.
Dianna went off to London, England to study physical theatre at The School of Physical Theatre with Ron East. She came back to San Francisco where she attended the Clown Conservatory at San Francisco Circus Center under the direction of world renowned Jeff Raz.

Currently Dianna is residing in Vancouver, BC, Canada. She will be living there indefinitely to create a new community in which to network her skills and talents.

Kallisto

This incredible trio sings a brand of a cappella that by far outstrips any other performers in recent memory. A wide and eclectic repertoire makes this an amazingly engaging group that keeps audiences spellbound.

Described by audiences as “remarkable”and “angelic,” KALLISTO draws inspiration from every era of music history. The trio brings music from the Renaissance, Baroque and Romantic periods to life and then shifts effortlessly to jazz standards, pop hits, world music and gospel.  Meshing the quirky vocalism of Bobby McFerrin and Manhattan Transfer style jazz harmonies into a classical approach to Canadiana, folk and even rock ‘n roll, gives KALLISTO a warm and inviting sound … with an edge.

Fabiana Katz, Karen Mang and Catherine Laub, all highly regarded professional musicians in their own right, are making waves with their artistry. They combine their knowledge, talent and skills to give their performances a depth and breadth witnessed in few ensembles. On stage their personalities–captivating and entertaining–play off one another perfectly, while their flawlessly-tuned voices effortlessly blend into one.

The trio spices up performances with a variety of instruments which they play with equal flair:  guitar, electric bass, clarinet, recorder, penny whistle, bombo, bodhrán, tam- bourine, claves, shakers and a host of other percussion instruments.   The threesome also shares a common passion for creativity and showmanship. KALLISTO’s shows raise the bar:  every nuance of language, vocal colour and style seamlessly crafted, every change in character brilliantly conveyed.  KALLISTO–most beautiful!

Zack Singer

Zack Singer is a multi-instrumentalist and singer who loves to compose and perform many different styles of music. As a graduate of the UBC Bachelor of Music program, Zack has had years of experience studying the art of music performance and composition, giving his music a very unique edge. His instrument arsenal is extensive, including saxophone, piano, guitar, harmonica, various wind instruments and recently added weapon of choice, accordion. Some of Zack’s recent performance endeavors have been Galiano Island singer-songwriter Tamara Nile in her T Nile Band and with Karen-Lee Morlang and Katy Hedalen in various Koncert Kontinuum series concerts. In the folk music world, Singer has been writing and performing his own songs for over a year throughout the city with his good friend Sarah McGrath, as an indie-folk duo called The Grath Singers.  This year, The Grath Singers plan to release their first album.  Zack Singer loves to experience and learn new genres of music and is excited to continue discovering, creating, and performing wherever his life may take him.