A brief history of Music Waste

It started as a one-night stand, but nature took its course. Now, 13 lucky years after its lusty beginnings, Music Waste is still going strong. Like all healthy romances, the festival started as a passionate “fuck you.”

Organized by members of Vancouver bands Zolty Cracker and SMAK, the first-ever Music Waste was a 1994 concert protesting the high entry fees of New Music West.

The staff of Only Magazine took the reins as festival organizers in 2004. Since that time, Sean Maxey of the Doers has produced the distinctive posters that have become the festival’s trademark.

“It’s about seeing awesome bands, keeping the whole thing cheap and making sure the money goes to the musicians. It’s just about doing it ourselves and having fun-not taking shit too seriously,” says Sarah Cordingley, editor of Only Magazine and Music Waste festival coordinator.

Despite its beginnings as a site of musical protest, the contemporary face of Music Waste holds few hard feelings. “[New Music West] is completely irrelevant as far as interesting new music happening here,” says Sarah “It’s a totally different kind of music with a totally different purpose: making money. That shit is for bands looking to make it big and function within a stupid industry.”

“We’re just chilling as far away from that as we can get. [Our festival] is a stand-alone festival with a completely different audience: a younger, cooler, better-dressed audience with more discriminating tastes. Music Waste is a festival for musicians and music lovers, not music industry dicks.”

“We want people to push each other, we want see bands for cheap and get drunk (for) under $10,” says Cameron Reed, music editor of Only Magazine and Music Waste festival coordinator.

“We want to make it easier for people to be exposed to all the great music coming out of Vancouver. I don’t think that NMW is trying to do anything but have a sponsored circle jerk under the guise of 200 pap-filled shows. Their only affect on us is to make sure our festival never becomes like theirs.”

It doesn’t look like Music Waste bands will aspire to make it on Fox Seeds compilation mix tapes anytime soon. Instead, you’ll see them kicking around the east side of the city, sharing their sound in sushi joints, abandoned buildings, and art spaces untapped by the bros and ladiez of the Granville sprawl.

“The best venues are warehouses and parking garages,” says Cameron. He notes, however, that the last six years have seen the most difficulty in securing venue space for the festival. At the same time, interest in the festival continues to grow, and more bands register to play in it every year.

The best part about Music Waste 2007? “The fact that there are a million new bands that people haven’t heard. It’s a seriously fresh batch this year,” says Sarah.

“Cheap cover, cheap passes, venues within walking distance, great established and emerging bands, a good excuse to get drunk and support Vancouver music,” says Cameron. “The only important bands were the ones that played the first year who felt the need to call bullshit on the existing system.”

After its first single magical night of protest, Music Waste now runs over four splendid evenings, June 7-10. $15 festival passes are available at Scratch, Zulu, Red Cat Records, Audiophile, and Limelight Video. Details at http://www.musicwaste.ca. See tentative Music Waste listings highlighted on the back page of this issue.