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Writing on the wall : Trek, a graf artist from Massachusetts, works on a mural at the annual Under Pressure graffiti convention at Foufounes last Sunday. Featured were a long list of international writers, b-boys, DJs and emcees and a whole lot of paint fumes.

Photo by Jason Felker >>

Music wars

The Quebec Musicians’ Guild (QMG) has been at the centre of some pretty unflattering attention, and Sébastien Croteau isn’t about to make that change. Croteau, a Guild member and the man running all cultural events at Café Chaos, says the Guild is totally out of touch regarding the relationship between emerging artists and the venues in which they play. The biggest problem is the pay scale set by the Guild, which stipulates that every performer must be paid a minimum $130 per gig, with the lead musician making $260. That, he says, is far beyond the means of what a small bar can pay an unknown band playing before a handful of friends and fans.

Last April, Croteau and the owners of 16 other venues, including Casa del Popolo, Café Sarajevo, L’Escogriffe, L’X and the Quai des brumes, created L’Association pour la protection des lieux alternatifs de la culture émergente (L’APLACE), in order to oppose the Guild and its president, Émile Subirana. He’s the main reason, according to Croteau, the Guild is at loggerheads with alternative venues and musicians.

“[Subirana] has been calling us all kinds of names, from exploiters of musicians to beer-slingers to Louisiana slave-holders,” Croteau says. “That’s not a way to treat partners, which is what we really are.”

Croteau says L’APLACE is getting “bigger by the week,” and will be sending a petition to the Ministry of Culture to get their status recognized and to help reach a compromise with the Guild. :
—Patrick Lejtenyi

Rethinking green

The Green Party of Canada is out to prove that they’re not a bunch of flakes. That’s one of the priorities for their national convention this weekend, along with adopting some 27 resolutions and electing their national council. Expected speakers are heavyweight activists from Montreal, Toronto and Peru, and the convention will feature workshops on hemp clothing (which apparently protects us from magnetic fields), the Toastmasters Team of Melanie Ransom and Raphael Thierrin, who will teach you how to get those crowds to listen, and well-known activist party animals the Raging Grannies.

But just because an event is fun doesn’t mean it’s meant to be treated lightly. The Green Party’s chatty interim communications director Gretchen Schwartz notes that they have “created a government with an economic policy that will deal with problems on a global scale. And we’re the only party that can do that, because we are a global party.”

Schwartz says the convention will re-focus the party to make it more viable come election time (they are keeping a watchful eye on the possibility of a snap election this fall), and hopefully as a recruiting ground for new members.

The green-minded and the curious can attend the convention, which begins tonight, August 15, at 5 p.m. at 7400 St-Laurent and runs through the weekend. For more info on the Green Party National Convention, visit www.green.ca. :
—Patrick Lejtenyi

McGill newbies to get radded out

Some might call it a blatant attempt for lefties to subvert the beer-guzzling rite of passage of new McGill students, but officially it’s called the Radical Frosh Program. Its aim is to provide a “radically different politically progressive alternative for McGill students,” according to organizer Brianna Hersey. Rather than go on liver-challenging benders as a means of social acclimatization to their new academic environment, new McGill students are instead invited to three days with the rad crowd starting August 29.

“We offer a host of things ranging from workshops and activist tours to vegan lunches and alternative social events, those types of things,” says Hersey. “We’re trying to give a meaningful intro to life at McGill.”

The seven-year-old annual event has expanded considerably from last year and will feature such activities as an alternative bus tour hosted by L’autre Montréal. Also on the menu are workshops entitled Food Politics, Sex Toys 101, Demystifying Anarchism, Environmental Racism, Affordable Housing, Transsexuality, Radical Cheerleading, Crafty Activism and Third World Debt, hosted by such fiery-eyed luminaries as Jaggi Singh and Ellen Gabriel, among others.

Space might be limited for those seeking to take part as only 180 McGill freshmen can join the event, so call ASAP for more info at 398-7432 or peek at http://ssmu.mcgill.ca/qpirg/radicalfrosh. :
—Kristian Gravenor