Originally published on The Night Shift’s Tumblr. Night Shift radio is set to launch on CJRU in October 2015
Sitting at the Holy Oak bar, accompanied by the drink of all drinks, Campari and soda, I was quite pleased to finally have the chance to chat with D. Alex Meeks AKA The Holiday Rambler! Alongside the incredible music he was released as the sepia-toned, rhapsodical Rambler, he is also an outstanding drummer, having collaborated with an endless amount of jaw-droppingly great musicians/ensembles around Toronto, including the likes of No Angels Dancing, King Weather, DUST, Les Heures, Clarinet Panic, and of course, the band that most folks know him from, The Hooded Fang (Spoiler Alert: We barely talk about The Fang at all; Sorry Fang fans!). Mr. Meeks is leaving Toronto for a couple of years to go on another odyssey-like voyage, so I figured I had to hear some of the astonishing tales from one of the city’s most exciting musical characters before it was too late. Our conversation touched on many notes, including how he literally grew up in the shadow of Pink Anderson, illegally eating watermelon in haunted cemeteries, chasing the dream of a jam band named after a certain type of sea creature, the genius of Casey Sokol, The unmajesty of shredding, the elegance of black metal, connecting with Vic Chestnutt and the spirit of the South, the nip ticklin’ drumming battle for D. Alex’s soul between Dave King and Milford Graves, achieving transcendence with Alison Cameron, and stranger nights at The Tranzac.
A couple of reminders:
1. D. Alex’s last performance in Toronto for quite a time is going on Saturday, August 28th, 2015 at the Tranzac. He’ll be performing with No Angels Dancing. For more info, check out the Tranzac’s twitter handle: @Tranzac. If I am not mistaken, the performance starts at 7:30pm!
2. At the 4:41, you’ll notice a change in the sound quality of the interview. My Zoom Recorder’s sound card filled up, and stopped recording! Sadly, it scrapped an interesting bit regarding his time at Spartanburg Day School, and the influence that his music director, James Barnes, had on developing his musicianship. Oh no! Luckily, the rest of the interview was recorded on my phone. Oh ya! Probably for the better, because the Zoom has a problem with environments that have even just the tiniest bit of noise (Like a bar) I’m gonna go full on phone recording hear on end.
3. The band whose name I forgot that Dan Stadnicki plays in is called Jason Freeman-Fox and The Opposite of Everything
Interview with D. Alex Meeks AKA THE HOLIDAY RAMBLER!!! by Thenightshiftto on Mixcloud
