Solidarity Rock

Solidarity Rock’s focus in on the support of Cuban Rock musicians in Cuba and the Cultural exchange of musicians and artists. A benefit show is being held at the Hotel Cafe on September 13. 100% of the proceeds from this event go to getting and delivering crucial music gear to Cuba, which allows these musicians to continue to grown the Cuban Punk scene on the island and supports the infrastructure needed independently produce their own music.

Solidarity Rock

Los Angeles, California August 26, 2009 — Solidarity Rock’s first Los Angeles benefit show is being held at the Hotel Cafe on September 13th. All proceeds from this event go to getting and delivering crucial music gear to the Cuban musicians, which allows them to continue to grown the Cuban Punk scene on the island and supports the infrastructure needed to independently produce their own music.

The Hotel Cafe
September 13, 2009
8:00 PM

$15, Doors at 8pm, 21+

Silent Auction
Raffle

Performances by:
The Westar
The Kris Special
Wreck of the Zephyr

Donation by:
Michael Markowsky
Dios One
Every Little Counts
Devotchka

Solidarity Rock is a non-profit organization focused on the support of Cuban Rock musicians trying to build their growing music scene on the island and the Cultural exchange of musicians and artists supporting each other. Due to a nearly complete lack of access to everything from strings to guitars to amps, they are having to build and re–build their own gear from old Russian and German parts or scavenge throughout their provinces for geat to keep playing.

In the 1960’s, the Cuban government banned Rock and Roll music as a corrupting foreign influence. Bands and musicians played their music underground. Beatles LP’s were traded illegally at high prices in portside black markets. Being in a rock band was actually a dangerous thing. Times changed, and so did Fidel Castro. The Cuban President had a change of heart regarding the Beatles and John Lennon in particular. In the 90’s, he erected a statue of Lennon in a Havana park, which he renamed after the murdered singer. Since then, a slow trickle of foreign rock bands has played concerts in Havana. Artists like the Manic Street Preachers and Audioslave, among others, have made the journey.

Big rock shows are one thing. But what no one had ever done was tour the country, especially not a working class, do–it–yourself rock band. That is, until December 2007, when 7and7is, an indie rock band from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada became the first foreign rock band to tour Cuba. They played 7 shows in 5 cities and made a footnote in Rock and Roll history. Filmmaker and founder of Solidarity Rock, Drew McIntosh, along with Bryan Kulba accompanied them to document this tour, thus Solidarity Rock was born.

In June 2009, Solidarity Rock made the trek back to Cuba, bringing gear and documenting the growing Cuban Punk scene. This Fall, Solidarity Rock will return to Cuba with another band, The Slates, to tour with Cuban bands, and for a festival bringing together musicians and artists from Cuba, Canada, the US and Europe.

Drew McIntosh on CBC Radio 3

CBC Radio 3

Drew McIntosh talking solidarity on CBC Radio 3.

Film: Una Vez Por La Vida

Beatroute

In the summer of 2007, Drew McIntosh went north on a journey that would become the basis of his first feature length documentary. The doc tells a traveling tale of discovery, relating the more human side of the global environmental crisis.

His next project, which began only a few months later, took him in another direction: to the feisty little island that could. McIntosh took to Cuban tarmac in December of 2007 with Edmonton band 7 And 7 Is, as they became the first western rock band to tour the socialist state.

Not to miss this footnote in rock and roll history, McIntosh packed into the old Russian cars, beat-up busses and horse-drawn carts that carried these kids around the island, putting together a visual tour of history being made and possibly creating a lasting bond between the City of Champions and a Cuba in rapid transition.

Touring at the DIY level allowed McIntosh and the band to see clearly the difficulty the Cuban youth culture endures when trying to create their art. That understanding inspired McIntosh's other endeavor: Solidarity Rock, a project through which cooperation on the behalf of several Edmonton bands and organizers puts instruments and tools into the hands of Cuban youth, artists and musicians who want work the creative field.

What McIntosh puts down in Una Vez Por La Vida (Once in a Lifetime) is the adventure that unfolds as 7 And 7 Is plays seven shows in five Cuban cities. The film made its Calgary debut at Sled Island.

"This thing all started when Sean (from 7 And 7 Is) went down to Cuba with a Cuban friend who had been living in Edmonton," says McIntosh. "They were passing around the guitar, and when Sean took it and started playing, a bunch of the guys there were like 'are you in a band?' He said yes, and they wanted him to come and play."

A few months and emails later, things were coming together. The band would set up a tour, and McIntosh would document whatever beast this was to become. As would be expected, there would be many delays, problems and inconveniences in touring a country often deemed oppressive, and whose leader actually banned rock and roll full stop in the 1960s - not to mention the logistical challenges associated with the embargo stricken country. But it is perhaps the overcoming of this adversity that makes the viewing experience a worthy and fascinating one.

McIntosh recalls a conversation with a local film academic in Habana: "The guy was like, 'Everyone is curious about what we have going on here, everyone wants to know what Cuba is actually like, but they only ever show you through the same three fucking lenses. And you're showing it through rock music. I love it.'"

Stylistically, McIntosh is just slightly minimalist. He intends to convey the ideas leanly without excessive blather or falling back on the modern documentary formula evident in many similar films.

"I really want my voice to be heard as the imagery in the film," says McIntosh. "Voiceover just doesn't work for me. There are these shots of the band, and it's like, 'look at them actually loading touring gear onto a horse cart.' I really don't need to point that out. People can see it and think about it themselves." The accompanying score emphasizes a feeling of special significance in what is happening, coming off as rather blatant but giving the film its fitting and slightly grainy edge.

If you missed Una Vez Por La Vida at Sled Island, there are a few copies available at select record stores around Edmonton, and they'll soon be available on Amazon.ca. Other info is available at www.7and7isincuba.com and www.thesundial.ca.

7 and 7 Is ... Una Vez Por La Vida

VUE Weekly

7 and 7 Is ... Una Vez Por La Vida

The rock ‘n’ roll revolution: Doc catches 7 and 7 Is alive in the Cuban trenches

Eden Munro / eden@vueweekly.com

It seems that Edmonton’s 7 and 7 Is might just be forever plagued by rumours of an untimely demise. The last time the band talked to Vue, back at the end of 2006, talk that the group had broken up was dispelled.

Since then, though, scattered shows and no new recordings have led to the same rumour rising up once again. As singer Sean Foster and drummer Kelly Chia settle down at the Vue Weekly office, though, it’s clear that the band is still together. The two musicians are joined by filmmaker Drew McIntosh, who travelled to Cuba with the band in December of 2007 to make a documentary, 7 and 7 Is ... Una Vez Por La Vida, capturing the group’s tour across the country on film. Now, with the film and a new album, Spoils of the Empire, both set for release, 7 and 7 Is seems to be firing on all cylinders once again.

Of course, with 7 and 7 Is’s last release coming back in 2004, it’s not surprising to hear that the lead up to the film and the new album hasn’t been without some struggle.

“Lineup changes,” Chia offers as the primary reason that Spoils of the Empire was so long in the making.

Foster agrees with the assertion, explaining that one of the group’s original guitarists, Lance Kozak, split from 7 and 7 Is after recording had already started, leaving the remaining four members—Foster, Chia, bassist Dave Foster and guitarist Damian Fraczek to carry on. Rather than continue with the original recordings, though, the band started over, restructuring the songs with Fraczek playing both guitar and keyboards on the sessions. (new member Rich Dimitriou joined the band after recording had been completed.)

At the same time as the album was being put through its paces, Foster had developed an interest in seeing Cuba, and with the help of a musician friend who had spent time working in Edmonton before landing in Montréal, he was able to visit the country, sparking the idea of 7 and 7 Is embarking on a tour of Cuba.

“I went to Montréal in June and then in November he called and said, ‘OK, I’m going [to Cuba] next week and you should come,’” Foster recalls. “And so I just went with him and I met his friends and they’re all artists and musicians. He had come to see a 7 and 7 Is show and he was telling his friends about it and his friends were saying, ‘Oh, you should come down with the band and play here.’”

Once Foster returned to Edmonton, a night at the bar with Chia and McIntosh sparked the idea to apply for a grant and make the film. As difficult as one might think a camera-laden trip into Cuba might be, Foster laughs that it wasn’t all that difficult once the ball was rolling.

“That part was a lot easier than I expected,” he admits. “I just thought it would be impossible to go down with a camera and be able to go into small communities and stuff, but really there were no restrictions. We even had it rolling right in the airport as soon as we landed, and nobody said anything or did anything. As soon as you have permission from the government, as soon as you have a letter that’s stamped and signed, it gets you a lot of access.”

“Yeah, a letter’s golden,” McIntosh nods.

Once the band and the crew—all-around artist Bryan Kulba joined them to document the trip in photos—landed on the island, the real fun began as the rock ‘n’ roll group set out on a DIY tour through the country. And right from the opening steps it was a journey fraught with bumps—like a claim ticket to pick up the band’s drums when they arrived at 5:30 pm, at a department that closed its doors an hour earlier.

Foster says that initially the band’s shoulders were slumping as they spent the first night in an illegal hostel and then endured several hours waiting around the airport the next day, vexed by a bureaucratic nightmare in a system where computers were absent and everything was recorded in stacks and stacks of papers.

“We’re all like, ‘Wow, this fucking sucks,’” Foster laughs. “But Drew was like, ‘No, no, no, this is perfect. If it ran smoothly it would be boring.’”

And so the film became a document of an indie rock band finding its way through the Cuban landscape. There have been high profile rock shows in the country before—Audioslave’s 2005 concert perhaps the most well known—but 7 and 7 Is didn’t play any massive shows and the group’s stay was most definitely not detached from the lifestyle led by the general population. Instead, the musicians were on the ground level, and that was what McIntosh set out to capture on film. Foster says that the strangeness of it all negated any distractions that a camera might normally have caused the band.

“All these venues are courtyards where you’re inside, but it’s outside, and I remember it’s nighttime, I’m singing and looking up and I can see the stars and this big butterfly flies in front of me and I just remember forgetting the lyrics for a second because it’s so surreal,” he reflects, adding, “and then five minutes later, a religious lady from the Santería walks in front while I’m singing. So the camera was [nothing], there was so much going on. I remember seeing bats when we were playing.”

“It’s such a neat lens because it’s not Audioslave, it’s not Sepultura—it’s dudes that make music for the sake of making music,” McIntosh adds. “Their primary motivation is to make music and not necessarily for contracts and fame and whatever, and when they went to do it they went without label support or even label recognition, so it’s really interesting because there’s no business side. It’s just this rock ‘n’ roll odyssey, it’s this expedition into the great unknown.”

“And the people living there who do what we do, we played in the venues that they play at and we took our equipment the way they did, so it’s different—we didn’t have a bunch of money and a bunch of people taking care of all this,” Foster adds. “We preferred to do it the way they would do it there because then you get to see the way it really is.”

If the Canadian travellers took away an appreciation for Cuban culture after getting down in the trenches with the kids over there, those same kids received an impressive gift from the visitors in return. Upon arriving back home, McIntosh and the band set up a group called Solidarity Rocks.

“Since we came back, we’ve been working with our friends down there and starting up this non-profit record label to be able to produce and publish Cuban bands’ records and distribute them in North America, and that money goes into more opportunity for them to make stuff,” McIntosh explains. “And we’ve had fundraising shows and we’ve raised money for gear, we’ve brought guitars and a recording studio down there—we’ve done all this and it’s all come from this tour. The show that [the band is] playing upstairs at New City [after the film’s premiere], we’re just asking for a $5 donation to Solidarity Rocks. It’s basically like throwing one beer in the hat for Cuban music. It’s a nice thing, and this tour, this film, it doesn’t stop with that.”

“It’s pretty easy,” Foster notes. “You go to a show, pay five bucks, but it can mean quite a bit to somebody else, to the artists there.

“We were there a couple of months ago in December, and Drew had made up these guitar picks for the Solidarity Rock thing,” he continues. “We were in the square in Sancti Spiritus and I was talking to this rock kid and said, ‘Here, take one of these picks,’ and he’s like, ‘Hold on.’ He pulls out his wallet and opens up the change thing, and pulls out this pick and he’s like, ‘You gave this to me a year ago and I use it everyday.’”

“And those guitar picks, I made 1000 of them and I brought 500 of them down there with me and I gave them to [a friend named] William,” McIntosh picks up. “And William sent me a list of the cities where musicians are playing with these picks now, and it’s literally clear across the country. Clear across the country musicians in Cuba are playing with these picks that came from a show at New City. And it means something because it’s not just a guitar pick. First of all, they need a guitar pick, it’s a basic need. But second of all it’s this promise of more rock ‘n’ roll coming their way.” V

Havana Knights

SEE Magazine

Solidarity Rock Fundraiser
w/ 7and7is, The Mark Birtles Project, Bayonets!!!, 40 Theives. July 5, The ARTery (9505 Jasper Ave). Tickets: $10 at the door

In the early ’60s, Fidel Castro outlawed rock music in Cuba, calling it a corrupting American influence that had no place in his righteous vision for the country. But rock never died out entirely in the island nation; instead, musicians began playing in a style called Nueva Trova, which combined traditional Cuban folk music with rock ’n’ roll beats and highly politicized lyrics that often took a critical attitude toward the American government.
Since then, few bands from the outside world have played in Cuba, and in December, local indie rockers 7and7is became the first independent foreign rock band to tour the country. Director Drew McIntosh documented the trip in his upcoming film 7and7is… Una Ves Por La Vida.
“It’s monumental,” he says. “A rock band from this town going out and doing something that’s a global first! You think Bon Jovi playing at the Berlin Wall was something? Imagine a DIY, working-class band touring small towns in Cuba. It’s not easy over there; you can’t just roll up to the Shell and ask for directions.”
Travel problems weren’t the group’s only worry, and when Drummer Kelly Chia’s kit failed to show up with the rest of the band’s gear, the group was forced to call in a few hasty favours to find a replacement. “We went to [neighbouring town] Sancti Spiritus to find a set and work it out,” McIntosh says. “We got there, and guess what? It’s not so fucking easy to find a set of drums. It’s not like you can just borrow them from the opening band, y’know? They just don’t have anything.”
Some locals had heard about a kit across town, which McIntosh and his cohorts set out to pilfer. “There was one set of drums in town that were decent,” he says, “and they belonged to an elementary school. So our friends and I got on a horse-drawn cart, headed over to the school, and waited for the principal to leave. We walked inside and explained our situation to the music teacher, he let us borrow it, and we wheeled the kit back to the youth centre where we were hanging out.”
Upon returning to Edmonton, McIntosh began an effort to help get instruments and recording technology into the hands of Cubans who would otherwise not have access to them. “What we’ve decided to do is to support through solidarity the musicians and artists of Cuba,” he explains. “These guys kept us out of trouble every single day, they took care of us like family. We’re trying to raise enough money to buy a digital recording interface, a laptop, and a combo amp to send down.” The fundraiser takes place on Saturday night at The ARTery, and will include sets from 40 Theives, Bayonets!!!, 7and7is, and, in one of their final performances, The Mark Birtles Project.
“All people over here know about Cuba,” McIntosh says, “is fucking Varadero and a trolley car in Old Havana, y’know? Soon it will open to the outside world, and putting this technology in their hands will make it so much easier for Canadian bands to tour over there. These people want it so badly, they’re just like us—they want to hang out with their friends and make this music. The reason it doesn’t happen is that they just can’t get the gear. The spirit in participating in this thing is what being in a punk band is all about: solidarity and community. We want to make rock ’n’ roll dangerous again!”

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Solidarity Rock's First Los Angeles Benefit Show

Drew McIntosh on CBC Radio 3

Film: Una Vez Por La Vida

7 and 7 Is ... Una Vez Por La Vida

7 and 7 Is ... Una Vez Por La Vida

The rock ‘n’ roll revolution: Doc catches 7 and 7 Is alive in the Cuban trenches

Havana Knights