warsawpack
With pre-millenia in all its glory - the western world scrambles for bottled water and provisions, holding their breath for computer execs. Hamilton Harbour continues to pump 100% liberalized trade through the faucet. Corporate radio relentlessly spoon-feeds a generation polished mediocrity. warsawpack is born.
warsawpack is a hybrid of sorts. A musical mutant cross-species. It brings skooled jazz artists and accomplished hip hop practitioners to a smokey basement- to talk U.S. foreign policy and jam on a groove-driven rhythm section. It is funk. It has rock. It rolls and it hops. Critics and fans haven’t given it a name yet, but that doesn’t stop them from talking about it. While many have abandoned the opportunity to pummel the listener with a message, warsawpack are out to educate the masses, always hitting hard with the mallet of truth. Lee Raback (the band's prolific centerpiece of destruction) explained in a recent Exclaim magazine interview. "It is music with a message, in the tradition of Chuck D. or KRS, or more recently with bands like Rage & Dead Prez, subversive and anti-authoritarian, but really we try to be more cynical than angry. We'll talk the oil trade, big banks and U.S. foreign policy, but we'll still have a good laugh at Olympic athletes in McDonalds' track-suits."
warsawpack is the most recent member of the G7 Welcoming Committee, and their album "Gross Domestic Product" will be released on September 11th, 2002 (coincidence? I think not!)
The band has travelled all the way from Hamilton, Ontario to engage & rage the mainstage and we are glad they braved the 4,300 km!!!!!
Flying Folk Army
The members of Flying Folk Army are what we like to refer to as "Friends Of The Festival" - East Vancouver's own revolutionary folk crew, providing a soundtrack to many activist's lives and work.
Their appearances at demos and benefits are a given, as the band has dedicated itself to creating energetic music while encouraging and supporting vibrant communities. Mixing politics, humour, traditional folk tunes, and driving dance beats, this band has earned a reputation for generating frenzy wherever they go. Their range of instruments allows for a diverse and frenetic trip through a range of musical styles, and whether they are playing a large festival or at the pub down the street, it's always a party with the Flying Folk Army.
Nechiwagan
Meaning "good friends" in plains Cree, nechiwagan is a trio of women who perform mostly original traditional Algonquin and Cree songs, with hand drum and percussion accompaniment. Métis singer and songwriter Sandy Scofield has had her work featured at innumerable festivals and events, and her voice and songs can be heard on many recordings, including nine compilations. She attended the premiere Women's Aboriginal Voices residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts in 1995 led by mentor and Six Nations diva Sadie Buck and was instrumental in leading the former Tiyoweh singers. She released the award-winning sophomore CD Riel’s Road in the fall of 2000, which was nominated for a Juno Award this spring.
Algonquin singer and songwriter Lisa Sazama has performed extensively throughout North America and internationally (Russia, Copenhagen and London, England) as an actor and singer. She has been a member of both the Ghost Band and the former Tiyoweh ensemble. With a degree in Theatre and Literature, Lisa is currently completing her second novel.
Plains Cree from Saskatchewan, Shakti Hayes begin her career in music in 1993 playing bass guitar and singing in various Vancouver bands, including Gerald Charlie and the Black Owl Blues Band, Beaver Thomas, Wayne Lavallee, Russell Wallace and Kat Wahaama among others. She has been broadcast on APTN's "Beyond Words" and has toured extensively throughout Canada, USA and Europe.
Sailani Sharma
Sailani performs contemporary dance using the traditional Kathak style of North India. She is an artist who uses performance to speak of the social issues facing women in India. Because the dance style that she and other women are using is not religionbased and also decries government supported violence against women, many of these artists have had to go into exile, including Sailani’s own guru, Kumdini Lakhia.