Dear Discorder:
We’ve been changing. We might be publishing every other month starting in October at least for a little while. That’s important, but what I feel is more important has been a gradual shift in Discorder’s mandate.
With the start of a new school year, new website, new format and a new print schedule, it seems like a good time to talk about the change. Over the past year Discorder has moved to cover more and more local, Vancouver-based music and art. In the future you will find less about bands and artists from out of town and more about our local heroes.
This isn’t because we have any particular dislike for music from the rest of the world. We love music from all over the place, but it’s silly for us to try and compete with establishments like Pitchfork and Exclaim in trying to tell you who the hottest new band from Sweden or Montreal is.
What we can do, and do well, is report on what’s going on in our city. Vancouver is a vibrant and talented community, which deserves to be discussed and reported on. We’ll be doing our best to fill our pages with stories relevant to the local scene. We might not be musicians or artists here (well not me anyways), but by putting out a magazine about Vancouver’s music and culture we can give something back to all the talented artists out there in the city—recognition.
In this issue check out the doings of local metal heroes 3 Inches of Blood (page 18) and an interview with ace live performers Basketball, fresh back from a year abroad (page 26). In Textually Active this month Melissa Smith provides us with a look at Burlesque West, a history of burlesque in our city (page 10). New Pornographer Todd Fancey’s professional life as a social worker is explored by Dan Fumano and Dan Holloway (page 30). We look at Bev Davies, whose photography has long documented our music scene and was shown to the public last month (page 12). We check in on the struggles of the Cobalt and the Rickshaw Theatre with running their venues in Venews (page 10), and our feature on A Room-A Loom looks at how Goonies new art project is working to build community in the Downtown Eastside (page 17).
On a final note, it is our art director Nicole Ondre’s last issue. She’s been making this magazine look amazing since she started last year and we’ll miss her. We wish her all the best, and hope our new art director is up to the task of filling her shoes.
Until next month,
Jordie Yow