CD proves underground is on the upswing
The Timeas Colonst - January 24, 2008

Call it a swell of well-deserved popularity, or ever-expanding fondness for the good ol' days. Either way, the quiet resurgence underway in the City of Gardens is kicking the Victoria indie music scene in the seat of its pants.

Jesse Ladret, 28, who operates with Myke Hall local record label Self Righteous, is among a handful of supporters playing a key role.

In early 2006, Ladret issued his third release on the Self Righteous imprint, Cavalcade of the Scars, a collection of songs by some of the city's finest roots and rock acts.

It was a leap of faith for Ladret, a Victoria native who started attending local punk shows as a teen. "Our hopes weren't that high because it hadn't been done that way before," he said of the compilation, which featured almost exclusively unreleased material.

"Victoria was pretty limited in its compilations, it was always more stuff like [commercial radio compilation] Rocktoria. But it is pretty cool that it kind of snowballed."

Cavalcade of the Scars garnered heavy airplay on University of Victoria radio station CFUV, and eventually turned a profit, to Ladret's surprise.

Leftover money was invested in its followup, Cavalcade of the Scars II, which arrives in stores later this week. "Any money we make goes to another one. It's for the fun of it, basically. It's a ridiculously overwhelming hobby."

The concept behind Cavalcade of the Scars II is a good one: Victoria acts covering other Victoria acts. It was an idea first suggested by beloved singer-songwriter David P. Smith, who appears twice on the recording: first as himself, covering Clay George's Stefan Ganis, and then again via his original song December Rain, which is covered here by Himalayan Bear.

Other acts whose music underwent a transformation range from Show Business Giants and NoMeansNo to Nelly Furtado and Carolyn Mark.

As the label's "administrator," Ladret was hands-off when it came to the song-selection process. Any choice was a good choice in his eyes. "The only rules we had was that you can't cover bands you used to be in. No cheating in that regard."

However, there was one moment of confusion in the planning stages, Ladret said. Most of the performers involved wanted to cover one of Smith's old bands, the revered Daddy's Hands. The honour eventually fell on Dante DeCaro of Wolf Parade, who tackled the song Skyscratchers under his solo moniker, Johnny and the Moon.

The time-consuming nature of what Ladret calls an "immense project" (which has been in progress for over a year, and required extensive legwork) has him reeling. In addition to the CD, the Self Righteous team has arranged a pair of CD release parties for tonight and tomorrow, featuring 11 of the 18 acts that appear on the disc.

There's a crossover between some of the acts involved on Self Righteous Records and its indie rock compatriot Aaargh! Records, another local label. The good work of both, coupled with the tremendous success of last summer's book and two-CD archival project All Your Ears Can Hear -- which chronicled the Victoria punk scene between 1978 and 1984 -- the underground is on the upswing in the B.C. capital.

"Part of my passion for doing this is that it will be in the archives of Victoria's consciousness, especially with people (on Cavalcade of the Scars II) doing covers of bands that aren't around anymore. It might motivate people to dig up music that they weren't familiar with.

"A lot of influence comes from here. When you're right in the middle of it, it's so evident. It's overlapping and incestuous, but everybody is doing something completely different. In a lot of other cities a certain sound comes and goes. But Victoria is a lot more varied."