Khatsahlano 2017: ACTORS

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      Shannon Hemmett plays keyboards and sings backup with ACTORS, which features singer-guitarist Jason Corbett, drummer Adam Fink, and bassist Jahmeel Russell. The band’s synth-heavy postwave-check it out here-will make you wish you’d spent the early ’80s living in a postwar Berlin flat right above the prototype for David Lynch’s fabled Club Silencio.

      Favourite party memory: “Before the ceiling of the dance floor at the Marble Arch caved in on itself—outside of business hours, thankfully—we used to frequent a night called ‘The Affair’ on Saturdays in the early aughts. At the Arch you could hear Tones on Tail and the Pixies, party with visiting cult celebrities, catch an art show at Misanthropy Gallery, and sing a little karaoke if your dancing shoes needed a rest. After a few too many of this syrupy, blood-red, raspberry shooter called the Vampire, we’d prowl next door for karaoke and sing ‘Just Like Heaven’, ‘Creep’, or ‘Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)’. The ghosts of epic hangovers past still haunt me to this day. Pass me a water, please.”

      Seminal local influence: “I’ll never forget the Organ. Their record Grab That Gun is still essential listening, the perfect soundtrack for steel-grey Vancouver days. I saw them play just once, at the now-defunct live-venue-meets-salsa-club Mesa Luna, on West Broadway. I loved their androgynous look and solemn intensity. In the press, they portrayed themselves as anxious introverts but when they steeled themselves to perform, the onstage tension was totally compelling. On a related note, someone came up to me after an ACTORS show last year to say hello. We got chatting about playing music and she mentioned that a long time ago, she had been a member of a local postpunk band. We had not introduced ourselves fully at this point and I asked which band and she said ‘The Organ.’ It was Shelby [Stocks], the drummer. Imagine my surprise!”

      ACTORS play the car2go MacDonald Stage at 1 p.m. on Saturday (July 8) at the West 4th Avenue Khatsahlano Street Party.

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