I (heart) MEAT
Uberslut.com
by: Busty

I came to know Meatdraw about one year ago through a Sointula connection with the brothers Bozenich and a strange co-incidence while hanging out the kitchen window. At the time I had been moderately familiar with the bands’ former incarnation McGnarly’s Rant/Rantmusic from my years living in Victoria and was intrigued enough at the point of said co-incidence to skip on over to Pat’s Pub to see the latest in folk-punk. What I saw that night pleases me to this day. After chatting with the brothers and Mz Sara Hart (if you ever saw her play, I’m sure you too fell in love with this pint-sized fiddle-player!) about the yard sale acquisition of musical instruments, I saw my first Hank Pine and Lily Fawn Show. Meatdraw was the opening act. Being introduced to two such amazing and talented groups of people – two groups that quickly made their way up to top my list of favourite local(ish) bands – in one evening can only be attributed to fate. Well fate or voodoo magic, of course.

The story behind Meatdraw’s conception is not such a cheerful anecdote. It begins where most sorrowful vengeance stories begin – with world domination. The army of the Avatars of the Second Sun (ASS) is a secret society of warriors, assassins and sorcerers that are vying for control of the Globe. Cecil the weasel, the band’s leader, was an initiate of ASS. Being the humble chap that he is, Cecil tried to leave this evil world behind him. But we all know what happens when you ditch out on your evil secret society obligations, right kids? His forfeit of allegiance to the ASS would lose him everything he held dear, including the lives of everyone in his home village and in the cast of the carnival he had traveled with for most of his life. “Using voodoo, he revived his old carnival companions, creating a zombie army of freaks and gypsies known to the world as Meatdraw. Cecil leads his army through the world, one town at a time, sharing their sad stories through song along the way. They do not rest and will not until the assassins are confronted - and know carny justice.” From http://www.myspace.com/meatdraw

While the story behind the band provides a clever and intriguing point of reference, it is really the musicians and the sounds that they produce that make this band great. Included in this cadaverous sextet are: the (in)famous brothers Bozenich; Marco and Stefan, Mz Sara Hart of Rantmusic fame, the lovely Lily Fawn, bridge player extraordinare, MArek the Miraculous, and professional tease William Barricuda Koltai. While a cast listing generally includes a description of the part or instrument one plays, I think you must see these undead carnies for yourself to really understand how and what they play. The instruments themselves are too varied to list in their entirety, but do include on occasion Lily’s famous musical saw, a bicycle wheel, and chain links dropped into a bucket. The sounds produced by this rag-tag group of corpses are some of the most creative and ingenious that I have heard to date. Called “pop-stompers” by Exclaim! magazine, Meatdraw manages to somehow embody the antithesis of pop music while still being catchy enough to use as a ringtune. If you have the chance to see one last show before your sack of bones is thrown into the ground..... make it Meatdraw.