MacMinimA

Local indie-folk rockers MacMinimA and Halifax funk-reggae group RaSquatch are bringing some new sounds to Antigonish. Since releasing their self-titled debut album, MacMinimA, a name loosely based on the Gaelic word for imagination, has performed in Canada and the US, including a live radio performance in New Jersey over the summer. With their harmonica and Spanish guitar, coupled with driving rhythms and interspersed electrified sounds, MacMinimA is equally at home in urban rock clubs and on Americana radio shows. “We try to get the mellow contemplation of folk with the energy of rock, for a feel both new and powerful yet still familiar and organic.”
For their upcoming Antigonish show (Nov. 1st at Club Viva), they’re teaming up with RaSquatch, an emerging Halifax-based funk/rock/reggae band full of songwriters, composers and multi-instrumentalists. This November 1st, hitting the stretch into Halloween weekend, both bands hope to raise some dormant spirits of the golden days of the Antigonish indie rock scene.
The show starts at 9pm, with open mic, followed by sets by MacMinimA and RaSquatch. ($3 cover)
For more information about MacMinimA visit www.macmimina.com or their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/MacMinimA).
Link up with RaSquatch at www.facebook.com/RaSquatch. - The Highland Heart Weekly (Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada)

Finishing touches are being put on Antigonight: Art After Dark preparations with the event only a week-and-a-half away.
Antigonight, now in its third year, takes place Sept. 21, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., and 22, 6:30 to 11 p.m., in and a round the People’s Place Library and Chisholm Park.
“Preparations are going well,” Tila Kellman, one of the event’s organizers, said.
“It has been very busy but we seem to be on-track, which is surprising and really wonderful,” she said with a small laugh regarding the “surprising” admission.
Kellman said this year will certainly be different with some artists, from years one and two, not returning but others stepping up in their place.
As for whether Antigonight becomes easier to put together, because it does have somewhat of a track record after two years, Kellman said the answer is really yes and no.
“There is still a lot of work to be done but, yes, we do have a better idea of what is going to come at us, which is really nice. It makes things easier,” she said, noting an example is when she takes Antigonight posters to local businesses to display and they’re already familiar with the event.
“So the procedure is more established but Antigonight has always been a moving target and I think it will remain full of surprises,” she added.
Activities for this year’s event include the proclamation announcement by Antigonish Mayor Carl Chisholm Sept. 21, declaring the start of Culture Days in Nova Scotia.
The evening also includes an open mic session led by the musicians Patrick Yancey and Bryan Melanson who form the band MacMinimA.
A dramatic sketch, written and performed by Pauline Liengme and Pam MacLean, and the showing of the film Inocente are also part of Antigonight’s first evening.
Saturday’s activities include musical artists Kiju’s Boyz from Paqntkek First Nation,Alan Syliboy’s band LoneCloud, local duo Wild Hearts featuring Rebecca Wild and Elizabeth Glinz and the Wandering Menstruels who have been part of the two previous Antigonight events.
Maritime Centre for African Dance, led by Mufaro C, will also be performing and inviting attendees to join in.
Antigonish dancer Liliona Quarmayne will also be inviting people to participate in a new piece she is designing called Tide Together.
Heather Polson and Claudine Brossard are part of a group who will be doing a Celtic music festival of their own and inviting people to dance to Celtic music with paint brushes in hand.
The interaction between artists and those in attendance is a hallmark of Antigonight and makes it unique amongst outdoor art festivals.
Along with the musicians and dancers, there will be a number of visual artists participating in Saturday’s activities including well-known local artists Fenn Martin and T.J. Ediger.
The dates of Sept. 21 and 22 means Antigonight has been moved up a week. Kellman said the reason was to avoid conflicts with the busyness around St. F.X.’s Homecoming Weekend.
“So we’re very early which, in one way, is better because there is a chance it will be warmer,” she said. “The bad thing is we’re more subject to tropical storms but, if it rains, we’re going to be there anywa… everyone just put on your rain gear, come on down and get happy and wet.”
For additional information on Antigonight, visit antigonightfest.tumblr.com. - The Casket (Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada)

MacMinimA is set to officially release their full-length self-titled debut album on Friday, Dec 23 at the Antigonish Legion.
The group, a local psy-folk/rock collaboration between Atlanta-born singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Patrick Yancey and Antigonish-native producer, sound engineer and drummer Bryan Melanson, will be having a solstice party, also featuring the stylings of local space-funk outfit Unidentified Funk Object and mysterioso folk performer Yiddish Mary.
Recorded off-and-on over the past three years at Melanson’s Highball Sound Studios, the MacMinimA album attempts to blend the authenticity and poetry of acoustic/folk with the exhilaration and mind-bending sonics of psychedelic rock. The group layers organic elements like Spanish guitar, harmonica and shakers alongside distorted guitars, electronica and drums at times bordering on punk or metal. The array of influences in Yancey’s songwriting, from Hendrix, Dylan and Pink Floyd to Beck, Nirvana and Manu Chao, also stems from his 7 years overseas in Europe and East Asia.
After returning to North America and settling in Canada, Yancey began a project to coalesce and distill his travels, experiences and struggles with the human condition into a loose concept album. It started out on an old 1970s analog 4-track recorder and later turned into a full-blown production when taken up by Melanson.
The MacMinimA sound features driving melodic baselines inspired by Hendrix’s Noel Redding, spaced-out soundscapes and electronica à la Pink Floyd, and a raw energy that portends to approach Nirvana – that, plus some blistering harmonica solos. Yancey and Melanson were later joined by Christian Dufault, a multi-instrumentalist hailing from Sorel, Quebec, on bass.
Though the official release is on Friday, advance copies of the album are available at Brendan’s Fairway and the Tall-and-Small Café. Fans are encouraged to visit www.macimina.com for a sneak peak at a few tracks off the album, the band’s blog, photos, lyrics and much more. Be sure to check them out on facebook, twitter and youtube as well. - 'The Casket' Newspaper, Antigonish, NS