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Potential charges against local sports doctor thrown out

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Dr. Anthony Galea, a local sports injury doctor who has counted athletes such as Tiger Woods among his clients, no longer faces the possibility of charges being laid against him by Canadian officials in connection with improperly transporting an unapproved drug into the U.S.

“The prosecution discontinued all charges pending in Canada against Dr. Galea, and they have indicated they have no intention of reinstituting any of those charges,” said his lawyer, Brian Greenspan.

Dr. Galea, the founder and medical director of the I.S.M. Health & Wellness Center, was delighted to hear the news, said Greenspan. He added that the decision also helps counter groundless allegations that the doctor was giving performance enhancers to professional athletes.

Dr. Galea’s legal problems started in 2009 when his assistant was caught bringing Actovegin, a medication derived from calf’s blood, into the U.S. on Galea’s behalf. The drug is licensed in Canada but is not approved for use in the U.S. Last year, he received a suspended sentence and was banned from entering the U.S. for a period of a year.

Group petitions to spare orchard from subway station

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Locals have mobilized in opposition to one of the proposed locations for the new Allen Road–Eglinton Avenue West subway station, contending that it would result in the loss of six recently planted fruit trees and a number of mature trees.

Susan Poizner is a member of Growing for Green, which maintains the public orchard in Ben Nobleman Park.

“When I did finally see the design, I was horrified,” she said. “It would really destroy the whole atmosphere of the park.”

Poizner subsequently circulated a petition to rally support against the proposed location. Work on the orchard, the first of its kind in the city, began in 2009. Since then, 14 trees — growing apricots, cherries, plums and more — have been planted.

Metrolinx, the provincial agency overseeing the Eglinton-Scarborough light rail transit project, has presented the park location as one of four options to the public.

Coun. Joe Mihevc, however, said it really comes down to the two options on the south side.

“There has been a longstanding desire to have a south side station because it’s a very dangerous intersection for people trying to get to the north side entrance from the south side, so something is absolutely necessary,” he said.

That means the station would either have to encroach into Ben Nobleman Park or onto the parking lot of Toronto Police Service’s 13 Division.

Mihevc is on side with the locals who would like to see the Ben Nobleman Park protected. He would like to see the police station location chosen, ensuring lost parking spaces are replaced and direct access to Eglinton Avenue is maintained. Public consultation on the new station designs is expected to continue into the fall. Ultimately, the final decision will be made by Metrolinx.

83 storeys proposed at Holt Renfrew flagship

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Morguard Investments recently submitted an application to build an 83-storey, mixed-use building at 50 Bloor St. W., the site of the Holt Renfrew Centre. The move came in spite of a request from the local councillor that the developer hold off on filing the application.

An official plan amendment and zoning bylaw amendment have been requested to permit the development, which would include a tower with 600 residential units, an eight-storey podium dedicated to commercial and office uses, and 620 underground parking spaces.

The proposed height is 277 metres. According to the city planner handling the file, the site is currently zoned for up to 61 metres.

Coun. Kristyn Wong-Tam doesn’t intend to schedule a public meeting until the current proposal is revised to better reflect what the city can seriously contemplate. Although she liked the way retail was treated in the plans, she raised concerns about public realm — particularly in light of the recent multi-million-dollar Bloor Street transformation — and servicing.

“There was great discomfort around the massing and density and height,” she said.

Ian Carmichael, co-president of the ABC Residents’ Association, said he believes the area’s taller buildings belong on Yonge Street and Bloor Street, but he also believes the city needs to develop a secondary plan to identify what heights are appropriate and where.

“Because our planning process is based on site-specific planning, we have zoning, but zoning means nothing really,” he said. “The problem always is, now that you have an 80-storey building on Bloor, is a 40-storey building on Bay [in a residential neighbourhood] now appropriate?”

Once the application is finalized, city staff will provide Toronto and East York Community Council with a preliminary report, which will set in motion the public consultation process. Interview requests to Morguard Investments went unreturned at press time.

Dunlap Observatory & parklands preserved

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The four-year battle to preserve the historic David Dunlap Observatory Lands (DDO) has ended in a victory for residents and 60 per cent of the property protected from development. Last month, Richmond Hill councillors unanimously approved the terms of the Ontario Municipal Board’s (OMB) settlement between the David Dunlap Observatory Defenders and the landowners, Corsica Developments Incorporated.

The agreement — which until now was kept under a strict gag order during the six-month OMB mediation process — revealed that more than half of what the town deems part of its cultural heritage landscape would be protected from development. As well, the heritage buildings, including the observatory dome, will likely be transferred over to the town.

“The past six months have been very emotional and exhausting,” said Karen Cilevitz, chair of the DDO Defenders. “The [DDO] is an incomparable site of cultural, historical and scientific significance, despite the egregious breach of trust by the University of Toronto against the Dunlap heirs.”

In 2008, the University of Toronto sold the land to Corsica, whose original application for Official Plan and zoning bylaw amendments proposed more than 800 units on the site. Town of Richmond Hill Council members rejected the proposal, which Corsica appealed to the OMB. David Bronskill, counsel for Corsica, said the number of units will now be in the 500 range.

Despite the landmark victory, the DDO Defenders’ fight is not over. In their effort to further protect the lands, Defenders and Richmond Hill councillors approached the provincial and federal governments to solidify the deal. However, local MPP Reza Moridi said a provincial facilitator would not be appointed while the matter was at the OMB. Now that a settlement has been reached, Coun. Godwin Chan said he will put pressure on Moridi to follow through on his promise.

“To protect this iconic landmark … this is the best outcome we could have hoped for,” Cilevitz added.

Cyclists might get 10-kilometre lane on Eglinton Avenue

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The Ward 22 chapter of the Toronto Cyclists Union is pleased to see the city contemplating bike lanes along the 10-kilometre stretch between Brentcliffe Road and Black Creek Drive as part of a broader Eglinton Avenue study. Public consultation will begin this month to create a vision for the entire 20-kilometre stretch along which the Eglinton-Scarborough Crosstown light rail transit will be constructed, both above and below grade.

Rod McPhail, director of transportation planning for the city, said the study will involve discussion of a variety of issues, including bus lanes and sidewalk widths.

While tunnel boring will occur below grade, the road cuts required to create the new stations will present the opportunity to alter the roadway.

As far as bike lanes go, McPhail thinks on-street parking, which many Eglinton Avenue shop owners rely on for business, may present the biggest challenge.

John Taranu, a representative of the Ward 22 chapter of the Toronto Cyclists Union, welcomes the chance to have input into improving the current state of Eglinton Avenue, which he finds troublesome for everyone, drivers and pedestrians included.

“It’s an area that most cyclists avoid because it’s quite dangerous,” Taranu said. “We’d love to see it made safer.” City staff are expected to report back to the Toronto City Council Planning and Growth Management Committee in the spring of 2014.

Issuing T.O. an eco report card

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As we spring forward into warmer weather, many of us begin to spend more time outdoors — which inevitably gets us thinking about the natural environment and our place within it. How can we be better to our planet? To our own communities? In this exclusive report, the David Suzuki Foundation details what we, as Torontonians, are doing right, where we need to improve and the small steps every one of us can take to reduce our city’s collective carbon footprint.

 

 

Food wasted vs. food rescued

THE BAD: Single-family house-holds in Toronto discard more than 600 pounds of food per average household, each year, most of which ends up in landfills. One reason is because many high-rise buildings still do not have organic waste collection. Taxpayers spend nearly $10 million a year getting rid of food waste that could otherwise be composted — or used before it spoils.

THE GOOD: Every year Toronto trees produce 1.5 million pounds of fruit, much of which goes to waste simply because homeowners aren’t able to keep up with the harvest. But since 2008, a small group called Not Far From The Tree has mobilized hundreds of volunteers to collect more than 30,000 pounds of fruit from tree owners throughout the city. The bounty is split between the volunteers, the tree owner and neighbourhood food banks and shelters — a win-win-win solution!

THE BETTER: In your own kitchen, there are simple ways you can avoid wasting food: eat perishable items first; keep them cool and remove airtight wrappings, which speed up decay; and keep fruits and vegetables whole (don’t break off stems or leaves) — once living cells are broken, micro-organisms grow.

“Greedbelt” vs. greenbelt

THE BAD: Many of the natural spaces in our communities have been paved over to make way for buildings, roads and parking lots. The GTA has lost an estimated 97 per cent of its wetlands and a majority of its original forest cover since early settlement. Believe it or not, the land now covered with six lanes of toll roads stretching across the top of the GTA was once heralded as Toronto’s “greenbelt.” The only green reaped from that space now is money collected by the private firm that runs the 407 toll highway.

THE GOOD: Thankfully, our government leaders had the foresight to protect remaining undeveloped green space north of the city, and in 2005, the province established the Ontario Greenbelt, protecting 1.8 million acres of farmland, forests, watersheds and wetlands. The David Suzuki Foundation conservatively estimates that the Greenbelt provides $2.6 billion in ecological services each year: filtering our air and water, keeping the region cool, storing carbon dioxide and producing local agricultural goods.

THE BETTER: The next big green space that is slated for permanent protection is the Rouge River watershed, straddling the borders of Toronto, Markham and Pickering from the Oak Ridges Moraine to Lake Ontario. The federal government has committed to making the Rouge Canada’s first urban national park, and the David Suzuki Foundation has teamed up with 11 local groups to help launch community projects that will connect GTA residents to the natural wonders of the Rouge. To check out the community events from Camp Suzuki, go to www.davidsuzuki.org/rouge.


From left: One of Rouge Park’s scenic walking trails, and a “borrow-a-bike” Bixi stand

Gas guzzlers vs. pedal power

THE BAD: Canadians make an average of 2,000 car trips each year that are less than three kilometres. These are trips that could often be made by bike, even in the suburbs. But to get folks onto pedal-powered wheels will require more extensive bike infrastructure and better education for cyclists, drivers and pedestrians about how to safely share the road. The city’s decision last year to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to remove existing bike lanes is clearly a move in the wrong direction.

THE GOOD: Bells on Bloor is an annual parade that brings together thousands of cyclists of all ages in a musical ride across the city, inspiring city residents to consider the many perks of cycling. Culturelink Settlement Services and Toronto Cyclist Union have also created a program that connects newcomers to Canada with “bike hosts” that take them on a two-wheeled tour of their neighbourhood and give practical tips on how to safely navigate the city by bike.

THE BETTER: Since launching last spring, Bixi has provided Torontonians with access to 1,000 rental bikes at 80 stations across the city. Try one the next time you’re in a rush, as a greener alternative to jumping in a cab.

And to keep up to speed on our city’s cycling issues, join the Toronto Cyclists Union (bikeunion.to), which advocates for cyclists’ rights and safer streets.

Bee bans vs. native plants

THE BAD: While many of us are interested in raising food in our backyards, the GTA remains a relatively lonely place for backyard bees and chickens. Ontario laws state that a beekeeper’s colony must be at least 30 metres from neighbouring properties, restricting keen groups, such as the Toronto Beekeeping Co-operative, to rooftops.

Chickens are faring worse, with City of Toronto: Licensing and Standards Committee’s decision to indefinitely postpone a motion to investigate legalizing egg-laying hens in the city.

THE GOOD: Incorporating nature into our urban environment is essential in creating a resilient and healthy community. And fortunately, there are far fewer restrictions on growing fruits, veggies and other plants in our backyards. With respect to trees and shrubs, organizations like LEAF (yourleaf.org) can guide you through selecting the right plants for our ecosystem — and even deliver native species to your door. For those without backyards, check out local farmers’ markets and consider joining a community garden.

THE BETTER: While you may not be able to operate a bee colony, you can still bring bees to your backyard, which will double the yield of fruit and veggies in your garden. Create a bee-friendly garden by cultivating a variety of plants that flower at different times of the season, ensuring a constant supply of nectar and pollen to attract our buzzing buddies.

Post City Magazines’ environmental columnist, David Suzuki, is the host of the CBC’s The Nature of Things. David is also the author of more than 30 books on ecology.

19 storeys proposed near Bathurst & 401

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Residents at 3636 Bathurst St., within the Lawrence Heights revitalization area, were dismayed to learn that they may soon have 427 new neighbours, should a proposal to redevelop the site be approved.

The preliminary proposal, submitted by Pinedale Properties Limited, seeks zoning bylaw amendments to permit a new 19-storey apartment building, as well as nine- and seven-storey buildings at the existing 19-storey apartment building. As well, the applicant proposes retail space on the ground floor of the nine-storey addition and a two-storey amenity centre to connect the two 19-storey towers. The development would increase the number of units from 225 to 652.

Both residents and the local councillor believe that the proposal is not suited to the neighbourhood.

“I think it’s too much,” said Coun. Josh Colle. “It’s very much a low-rise [area], and it’s a mix of schools and synagogues and seniors’ homes. We need to make sure that whatever is proposed fits in with the fabric of the neighbourhood.”

David Nitkin, of the Four Quadrants Neighbourhood Alliance, said four of their members live in the existing building and are concerned a new one will block their view of a park and increase traffic on already-congested Bathurst Street.

“Residents in that complex have been done very poorly [by management]” Nitkin said. “The management is atrocious, there is no upkeep, there are cockroaches and a lack of maintenance. What you have is piecemeal development at the whim of developers. You have a huge reintensification taking place, and the community is not consulted.”

However, the applicant’s lawyer, Adam Brown, said his client went through a preliminary meeting with the community and city staff. “We listened to comments and came in with the [current] application,” Brown said. “My client has an excellent reputation with their tenants.… It’s an application we think is a great infill for the area,” he added.

Coun. Colle said the next step is a public meeting with the community.

Thornhiller wins battle to legalize brothels

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Thornhill’s dominatrix Terri-Jean Bedford has won her case at the Court of Appeal for Ontario. Last month, the court upheld a decision to end the ban on brothels, a landmark ruling in her efforts to protect sex workers from unsafe conditions.

But her victory may be short-lived, as both the provincial and federal governments recently announced their plans to appeal the decision. In 2010, Supreme Court judge Susan Himel ruled that the laws against prostitution, including keeping a bawdy house and living off of the avails of prostitution, were unconstitutional.

“Basically, prostitutes can now have security, chauffeurs, accountants, landlords and so forth,” Bedford said. “It shows that we were right about the laws being unfair … we have now ensured that the debate will not be suppressed and changes will come.”

Brendan Crawley, media relations coordinator with the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General, said that while the Ontario Court of Appeal found Himel’s decision valid and a means of reducing social harm, he added that the provincial government has decided to join the federal government and will appeal the decision.

Bird deaths prompt legal action at local building

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Dead and injured birds found at the Yonge Corporate Centre has ruffled the feathers of environmental groups and sparked legal action against its owner.

Albert Koehl, a lawyer with the charity Ecojustice, is arguing that about 800 birds were either killed or injured due to the reflective glass at the Yonge Corporate Centre, located on Yonge Street, just north of York Mills Road.

As a result, the building’s owner, Cadillac Fairview, has been charged with causing animals to be in distress and discharging a contaminant, in this case reflected light, which caused harm to animals.

“The building we’ve gone after is particularly troublesome because they’re essentially mirrors,” Koehl explained. “What the birds see reflected in these windows are skies and trees — in other words, safe places. They fly toward these things, and they collide into these buildings and are either killed outright or fall to the ground.”

Koehl said the Ecojustice team was first made aware of the problem by Fatal Light Awareness Program (FLAP), a group that claims to have collected from the site about 800 injured or killed birds, including the Canadian warbler and olive-sided flycatcher, which are considered threatened species under the Species at Risk Act.

Tom Poldre, a spokesperson for Cadillac Fairview, said they take bird protection very seriously.

“We have been working with FLAP since 1998 at the Yonge Corporate Centre and have implemented numerous measures to attempt to minimize the number of bird strikes at the building,” Poldre said.

He added that they will be applying an innovative bird film on the north side of the building, which is supposed to reduce bird strikes by up to 80 per cent.

However, Koehl said that, should the courts find Cadillac Fairview guilty, they could be facing a hefty fine.

The City of Toronto took action to protect birds from dangerous developments in the city in 2010 when the Toronto Green Standard came into effect.

“As of 2010, all buildings are essentially going to be bird friendly,” said Kelly Snow, an environmental planner with the city. “Green elements need to be incorporated into all new buildings in the city.”

But buildings built before 2010 continue to cause concern for groups such as FLAP and Ecojustice.

Snow added that although Yonge Corporate has not been on his radar as an environmental planner, he includes a tour of the site in the environmental planning class he teaches at York University.

The case has been adjourned and will resume in August.

Baythorn’s arts program saved, others nixed

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Parents and students are celebrating after learning that the threatened Baythorn arts program will remain open.

Baythorn Public School, at Yonge Street and Royal Orchard Boulevard, came under scrutiny when York Region District School Board trustees condemned the arts program’s audition process as elitist.

Trustees introduced Policy 316, to promote equal accessibility across all schools, leading to the closure of all specialty programs, with the exception of French immersion.

Last month, trustees approved Policy 316, effectively creating all elementary school programs equal across York Region, with the exception of the exclusive music, drama, dance and visual arts program at Baythorn.

When trustees put the program in jeopardy, it sparked an immediate backlash from parents and students.

Elana Korman, whose son will be graduating from the program this year, said the victory is bittersweet.

“I have very mixed feelings,” Korman explained. “I’m happy it’s still there, but I’m upset there won’t be room for growth.”

Spokesperson for the York Region District School Board, Christina Choo-Hum, said Baythorn was spared for “historical” reasons.

She added that the board is putting together a committee to further study the 25-year-old program’s audition process.

“Ratifying Policy 316 is a significant step forward to … focus on continuing to improve the consistency and quality of programs in all of our elementary schools,” said trustee chair Anna DeBartolo.

Students vying for a spot in the program must audition, which will determine whether or not they will be accepted.

As for whether or not the program is elitist or discriminatory, Korman said all children have different learning methods.

“I didn’t fight it because my son was in the program,” she said. “I fought it because I believe that there is a need for the program. I believe that there are children who learn and develop with this type of learning. It’s not just this school. I believe there is a need for more of this type of school, and I’m afraid our board is falling behind. ”

Is new townhouse plan part of troubling trend?

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An application for five, three-storey townhouses and one single-detached home has been submitted for Baytree Crescent, a street off of Bayview Avenue, just north of York Mills Road. A partner in the project said he made every effort to come up with a high-end proposal that would fit in with the neighbourhood, but locals said townhouses are simply not appropriate for the area.

David Laren, a partner in Baytree Estates, said he consulted with city staff, the local councillor and ratepayers before submitting the application. Taking the context of the area into account, he applied for five larger, luxury units (fronting on Bayview Avenue) with the detached home serving as a transition onto Baytree Crescent.

“A lot of thought has gone into the design, trying to be very respectful of the community — in terms of trying to make it look like one, big, large mansion,” Laren said.

But for Mitchell Shnier of the St. Andrew’s Ratepayers, the Baytree Crescent application is yet another example of a troubling trend in the Bayview Avenue and York Mills Road area. “The developers all have the same cookie-cutter idea: a three-storey townhouse, crowded up against the sidewalk, with an industrial-looking back alleyway,” he said. “It’s all the same to us: it ruins the entire neighbourhood.” In light of the growing concern, and one that she shares, Coun. Jaye Robinson arranged meetings between city staff and representatives from various residents groups to determine a way forward. City staff put forward the idea of developing design guidelines for the area, but for now, residents will continue to fight such applications site by site.

“Everyone’s concerned that what’s happening on Bayview is going to creep into the neighbourhoods,” Robinson said. “But the official plan protects neighbourhoods from that.”

A preliminary report to North York Community Council is expected soon, which will set in motion the community consultation process.

Band of the Week: Dusted

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Dusted is the latest project from Holy F*ck’s Brian Borcherdt and producer Leon Taheny (of Final Fantasy and Bruce Peninsula), who recorded their debut album in a garage-turned-studio. The result? A lo-fi and dreamy new album called Total Dust. It may be mellower than what we’re used to from Holy F*ck, but Borcherdt’s astral lulling and melancholic influences remain the driving force behind the duo.

Always reinventing himself (including a stint as an alt-country singer), Borcherdt has reached the perfect harmony between electro and pop-rock, making Total Dust the soundtrack to the summer, fittingly released on July 10. But for those who just can’t wait until then, Dusted will play more than just album tracks at their upcoming apperance at NXNE and other shows. We caught up with Borcherdt to talk about the new album.

So how did Dusted get started?
I’ve been writing and recording for quite a while. I’ve wanted to get a new band started for a while, but it’s been tricky because I’ve been non-stop touring with Holy F*ck. It’s going on six, maybe seven years — time is just flying. We started working together before we really knew what it was going to be.

How does it compare to your work with Holy F*ck?
It’s very different. Holy F*ck is a super fun band for me… but it doesn’t really require the same type of songwriting. When you’re on the road, it’s not like sitting in your apartment and picking up your acoustic guitar. I’m glad — I had no pressure or interest whatsoever to bring that stuff to Holy F*ck. It would have been an awkward transition, and it wouldn’t have been welcome there.

What was it like collaborating with Leon Taheny?
Leon recently opened a new studio, and he was expressing interest. He had been swallowed up by the studio. I was the opposite — I was swallowed up by the touring life. I spent all my time in the van or at an airport. We were coming at it from two different angles but we really wanted to do something together. Everything was coming together, it was just taking that extra step to say, ‘‘Okay, we’re definitely going to do this, and we’re going to make it happen.’‘ The album has been done for a year, and we’ve started booking live shows so it can become a real thing.

I hear you guys recorded the album in Leon’s garage-turned-studio. Can you tell me a bit about that?
It’s an ideal spot for two people working on something. It was very much a studio friendship. He was pressing record, and I was doing the performing, and then we’d listen to it and we didn’t want to do a lot to it. We’re never trying to go for that over-the-top rock ‘n’ roll thing — we’re never gonna be the Foo Fighters [laughs].

There seems to be a lot of instruments backing this album — strings, drum machines, tambourines how does that translate for just the two of you on stage?
Sometimes it sounds like there’s a lot of instrumentation, overwhelming the senses, but songs like ‘‘(Into the) Atmosphere’‘ and ‘‘Cut Them Free’‘ both have minimal percussion and a drum machine. It sounds thoroughly planned, like a big rhythmic thing, but when you really distill it down, it’s a kick pattern on the drum machine and maybe little clackity-clacks on the snare drum. It ended up being a lot easier to pull off on stage than we initially thought it would be, provided that Leon is taking on the somewhat difficult challenge of playing bass lines and the drums at the same time.

Total Dust sounds a lot more lo-fi and mellow than Holy F*ck. I’m curious to know who some of your musical influences were when you were recording?
I have eclectic taste in music, but when it comes down to it I can very rarely sit down and listen to a solo singer/songwriter, not modern stuff anyway. Maybe Neil Young. But where my interest lies is probably closer to Holy F*ck’s stuff. I’d be more likely to listen to a noisy, weird record or a folk record from the late ‘60s.

I know you’ve had quite a few solo projects in the past. Is it challenging to always be experimenting and reinventing yourself as an artist?
Yeah, that must be it, otherwise I wouldn’t keep doing it. I’m doing it because I’m searching for something. I don’t want to dazzle people, I’m trying to find something. The challenge for me is trying to do it right, and do it the way I like it. It’s one thing to have people acknowledge what you’re doing and say, ‘‘That’s cool,” but, do I think it’s cool? That’s one of the problems I have. I’ve been playing guitar for almost as long as I can remember, but I never really have become that great at it! I’ve never approached it technically. It’s like a puzzle: I just pick up a guitar and start strumming. It’s always something new. I don’t really go back to something I was working on a few days before. Finding melodies I like and hopefully finding emotional connections – and the funny thing is, it’s still not enough to be a song! It doesn’t have words yet, it doesn’t have anything, it’s just this thing. But to me, that’s where the fun is. That’s where it began and ended, all in one afternoon.

Can you give us any hints about the upcoming full-length?
This doesn’t really describe it very well in its aesthetic values, but I feel like finally I am totally finding that spot, like okay, these are the songs I started playing, and it ended up being something that I like. Maybe it’s singer/songwriter music for people who don’t like singer/songwriter music. It’s drone-y and moody, but there’s a joy and fun to it. I think it’s something people can share with their friends as opposed to maybe things you’d only listen to alone because they’re so personal.

Are you looking forward to playing with Bruce Peninsula and NXNE in the coming weeks?
Definitely. So far the shows have been super fun but super short, because most of our songs are short. We’re trying to recreate our favourite moments on the record. These shows coming up, we’re definitely playing new songs that aren’t on the record, it’ll be the first time we’re playing them.