The second installment of Nerdcore North takes a look at the Canadian nerdcore music and videos released in October – with the exception of Coins, which was released in September but was missed in last month’s column – and the artist spotlight is on The Garthim-Master, whose Ghosts of Nostalgia album of last year was probably the purest nerdcore album to come out of Canada yet.

Artist Spotlight: The Garthim-Master

Best known to the nerdcore scene as The Garthim-Master, Derek Hall has experienced a number of name changes and musical transformations along the way. Like many of his generation, Derek was introduced to hip hop through the element of breakdancing. He was four or five years old and living in a community housing area in London, Ontario. Imitating the neighborhood b-boys who would do headspins and windmills on their front lawn for spare change, Derek and his older brother created their own routines but their interest in breaking eventually faded. By age nine or 10, Derek was rapping for fun instead, using a double tape deck with a microphone in the handle, and by the time he received a four track and a synth at the age of 14 he was recording songs influenced by Oakland rappers like Too $hort and Ant Banks. Using the name Barcode, he hooked up with Timbuktu, Chokeules and Psybo in high school for lunchtime blunts and freestyles, eventually recording in Tim’s studio, nicknamed The Toolshed, but he lost touch with the rest of the group after moving around a bit.

Another contributor to these high school cyphers was Thesis Sahib, and the two had a natural affinity for harmonizing with each other’s vocals. When Derek moved back to London as Selfhelp (a moment of self-reflection in 2000 resulted in an epiphany that necessitated a name-change), the two re-connected and decided to start work on a collaboration project under the name Bending Mouth. Their self-titled debut album was self-released in 2002, followed by a vinyl EP of the best tracks on Vulgar Records out of France.

It took another seven years for Selfhelp’s solo debut to drop as Derek took time off to acquire stability in his life, moving to Banff, Toronto, and finally landing in what he cheekily calls Cloud City, Saskatchewan, to start a family. His debut, Old Friends, contained highly praised nerdy rap offerings “The Crystal Shard” and “Zentraedi,” inspiring Selfhelp to start work on an album full of these fun songs. Thus was born the alter ego of The Garthim-Master, his Ghosts of Nostalgia album serving to introduce this Canadian emcee to the world of nerdcore.

Never one to let facts get in the way of a good story, his interview with Nerdcore North is peppered with plenty of fiction, so be prepared take it all with a grain of salt…

You didn’t start out making nerdcore music. When did you first discover nerdcore?

I remember first hearing people like Del the Funky Homosapien and other underground rappers talking about video games, Star Wars and other “nerdy” subject matter which sort of opened up the door for me. I suppose the first official nerdcore album that I heard was A Brief History of Rhyme: MC Hawking’s Greatest Hits.

Do you consider yourself a nerdcore artist?

I am sort of like Half-Shark Alligator Half-Man but with a pocket protector.

Do you feel Canada has a nerdcore scene? Which artists do you think are integral to this scene?

Canada has a lot of nerds but I wouldn’t say that we currently have a nerdcore scene, or if we do it is very small. Obviously I think a few of the Backburner members are integral, if not entirely responsible for driving the scene forward in Canada. Wordburglar and Jesse Dangerously come to mind firsthand, but even Swamp Thing (a new project by Chokeules, Timbuktu & Savilion) can be be enjoyed by b-movie enthusiast nerds, which I am pretty sure is a type of nerd. Beyond that the pickings are slim, but my guess is that with the momentum going on right now we will continue seeing newer artists coming out of the “nerd closet” to embrace the culture; there are a lot more in Canada that don’t necessarily make “nerdcore” but I know for a fact they are nerds who make good music, which I guess to some could be considered “nerdcore”. A prime example is Ira Lee. His albums cater to the overly-emotional, socially awkward nerds out there, which I am pretty sure is a type of nerd…or quite possibly ALL nerds. Others to check out would be Mindbender from Supreme Being Unit, Governor Bolts and possibly even Social Deviantz! (Essential Mental Nutrients). Lastly we can’t forget Ol’ Man Checkered Eagle! He is the town-crier in this ghost town up in northern Saskatchewan. He has a phobia of cats and there are signs posted everywhere to never smile in his general direction because he has been known to bite tourists. His last CD, Can’t Forget the Hamster Shavings, is probably one of the best nerdcore albums to come out of Canada… ever.

Speaking of one of the best nerdcore albums to come out of Canada, how did you decide which tv shows, movies, comics, and toys from your youth would be made into songs for Ghosts of Nostalgia? I know you like ALF, but nada about Melmac on that album… Were there any that were missed that you’d still like to do?

Actually it was all quite spontaneous. I had a rough list of things that I wanted to use as inspiration for my songs (ALF was one of them), but mostly the songs came together through random hooks that would pop in my head. As I progressed with the album certain concepts just didn’t come together soon enough and eventually I realized I had enough songs for an album. There are a lot that I would like to do though. The ALFsong for sure. I’d also like to do a Red Dwarf song about Queeg 500, a song about the Modal Nodes, the Snorks etc. The list grows each day. There is an endless supply of subject matter to tackle in the genre.

What happened to the Ghosts of Nostalgia remixes? You stopped after only one remix…

I had sent out a few to friends but people get busy and ideas fall apart. Time is always an issue also considering I returned to university to pursue my Bachelor of Science and I am also the father of a four year old son. Whenever I have free time I like to work on new songs or various other artistic endeavours that I enjoy (like painting mermaids having sex with sharks, etc.). The “Krang” remix with Sulfur was just such a smooth process that it seemed like no effort at all. We were introduced by Z.from Hipster, please! and the song idea sort of came together spur of the moment. The beat was fun to remix for me and going back and forth with Sulfur was a real pleasure, I got to know him quite well in the process. So really that song just came together through a series of events and I am really glad that it did. In fact, I wish it happened sooner because I would have put the version with Sulfur on the vinyl release over the original song.

Will there be another Garthim-Master album? If so, how will it compare to Ghosts of Nostalgia in theme and content?

Perhaps one day. I definitely have a lot of ideas for it, should it ever happen. I think Ghosts of Nostalgia captures the concept of what I was going for with Garthim-Master so the theme and content would be similar. I would like the next album to have more polish on the edges with tighter overall production and craftier rhymes though, likely sacrificing the song count in the process down to around 8 or so instead of the 14 that appear on Ghosts of Nostalgia. I also would like to include a short close-up video of me asleep when I was four years old. It is just such a great film and I think it will really strike a chord with all of the people out there who have been babies in their lives at one point or another. Don’t worry, there ARE people JUST LIKE YOU! It is hard to admit but I am comfortable now in saying that I was a baby once also.

Since Garthim-Master you have used a number of different aliases for your projects, even re-releasing some older albums under new names to accommodate. Why? What are the benefits?
Every night when I go to sleep I end up dreaming that I am in this massive archival library with one of those library ladders. I am always standing on the ladder, naked with a bag of potato chips in my hands. I shouldn’t say entirely naked because I always have an empty bag of chips on each foot, sort of like shoes. There is also always an elderly woman librarian standing at the bottom of the ladder. This always makes me feel embarrassed about what I am wearing but it also makes me uncomfortably aroused. Anyways, those components of the dream are always the same but the section of the library where I appear in the dream is always different. There are always books around me with weird titles like “Reptile Prison” or “Rustwalker”. For years I have written the names down but I was unsure what I was meant to do with them. Considering I don’t write novels I decided to do the next best thing and just name myself and my albums after all of these wonderful books! There aren’t really any benefits whatsoever, it just gives me joy to share these book titles with the people of Earth.

For the uninitiated, which of your songs would you recommend as best for someone to get familiar?

My song “Half-Price” featuring Ceschi is probably the song that I received the most feedback from (because Ceschi is ultra radical). For something newer I would recommend “Action Figures” from the 2011 album.

What’s in the future for Selfhelp/Garthim-Master?

I have been working hard over the last few years on creating armour that will survive a grizzly bear attack but can also serve as a child’s play cave. It hasn’t been an easy journey though, my son Atticus has been stuck in the left thigh of the armour for about three weeks now after his first test run. We have been feeding him gummy worms through a small rivet hole until we can figure out a way to get him out. Basically, in the near future we really have to focus our efforts on getting my son out of the armour as he is really lodged in there tightly and it isn’t funny anymore. In the long-term, I hope to test it out on a real bear and then to have a more successful play cave test as well. Eventually I’d like to get on Dragon’s Den to sell my idea to the Dragons for a 45% stake in my company. You can follow the progress of my bear armour at:

www.secretcloud.com

www.facebook.com/secretcloud

www.twitter.com/secretcloud

What To Hear:

Coins [album]

Sure, Peter Chapman likes to dress up as a (really cool) robot, but he also happens to be a founding member of Toronto’s 60s garage punks The Midways, played keyboards in a bunch of other bands, can sometimes be found backing up Wordburglar, More Or Les and other Backburner rappers with his slick turntable skills, and beat Fresh Kils in 2010 to win the Beat Battle Royale in Toronto. As Peter Project, he has self-released two hip hop albums and another with indie label Fuzzy Logic, but as Coins he goes in yet another direction with his self-titled EP, five instrumentals built for the dance floor using mostly antiquated drum machines and synthesizers. One part 80s nostalgia and one part futuristic funk. (independent)

Listen here: http://coinsmakeyoudance.bandcamp.com/

Conspiracy the Cartoon Character – Tuesday Night Movies [mixtape]

Conspiracy is a talented emcee with an impressive work ethic that turns out an enviable number of albums per year with topics ranging from comic book characters to alien esoterica and from Black empowerment to hardcore pornography. Unfortunately, the quality can fluctuate dramatically from one album to the next, and the six-song, movie-influenced Tuesday Night Movies isn’t among his best. His freestyle-like lyrics and signature growl are put to better use elsewhere, and the mix here is rough. Those who want to hear Conspiracy at his finest would do well to check out solo albums Screw the Underground, I’m Going Commercial and Sex Is The Key to Immortality, or anything from Supreme Being Unit, his group with twin brother Mindbender. (independent)

Listen here: http://www.sendspace.com/file/f7tact

The Herbaliser – There Were Seven [album]

The U.K. production duo famous for their blending of funk, jazz, electronica and hip hop release their seventh album with four songs featuring Canuck rapper Ghettosocks in collaboration with fellow Canadians Muneshine as Twin Peaks (on jazzy, laidback “Zero Hill,” gumshoe strutting “Crimes and Misdemeanours” and middle-age rap song “Danny Glover”) and Timbuktu as Teenburger (on groovy horrorcore track “March of the Dead Things [Night of the Necromantics]”). Also features the sultry vocals of Hannah Clive on “The Lost Boy” and the raps of George the Poet on “A Sad State of Affairs,” both Brits, and a bunch of typically high quality Herbaliser instrumentals. (Department H)

Listen here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/there-were-seven/id556238387

Swamp Thing – Creature Feature [album]

Inspired by b-movies, frequent collaborators Timbuktu (Backburner, Toolshed, Teenburger) and Chokeules (Backburner, Toolshed) team with Savilion (Creature Box) for an album of songs about movie monsters, mad scientists, travel (in both space and time), blaxploitation and even one tongue-in-cheek anti-weed song. Savilon’s cinematic soundscapes suit the subjects and allow for a variety of sounds that include a club track and a ballad. A release well-suited to the month of October. Also features guest vocals from Backburner’s Wordburglar, More Or Les, Jesse Dangerously and Ambition, as well as Modulok and Mikal kHill. (Hand’Solo Records)

Listen here: http://handsolorecords.bandcamp.com/album/creature-feature

What To Watch:

The Herbaliser ft Teenburger – March of the Dead Things (Night of the Necromantics)

Tachichi and Moves ft. Ghettosocks – Break Lobster

Wordburglar – Drawings With Words

Where To Hear:

If you’re in Europe, you may be lucky enough to catch Ghettosocks playing with The Herbaliser over the next couple of months:

Dec 4 – VIP in Saint-Nazaire, France w/ The Herbaliser
Dec 5 – La Gaite Lyrique in Paris, France w/ The Herbaliser
Dec 6 – La Sirene in La Rochelle, France w/ The Herbaliser
Dec 7 – Le Bikini in Toulouse, France w/ The Herbaliser and DJ Vadim
Dec 8 – Nikaia Live in Nice, France w/ The Herbaliser and Aphrodite
Dec 9 – Circolo Arci Biko in Milan, Italy w/ The Herbaliser
Dec 12 – Lucerna Music Bar in Prague, Czech Republic w/ The Herbaliser
Dec 13 – Festsaal Kreuzberg in Berlin, German w/ The Herbaliser
Dec 14 – Mekweg in Amsterdam, Netherlands w/ The Herbaliser
Dec 15 – VK Club in Brussels, Belgium w/ The Herbaliser

See you next month…