Spoken Word Performances by:
Brendan McLeod
Möe Clark
Jordan Dack
Mat Mailandt
with music by Smithjosh, Jaimie Carrick, and special guests from The Russian Artist Factory
Monday, October 17, 2005, starting at 8:00 pm
@ The Soda, 211 12 Ave SW
$5 at the door, 15% of profits going to the Kids Cancer Foundation
Vancouver spoken word superstar Brendan McLeod returns to Calgary with more of the stunning wordplay that wowed crowds at two appearances in July. Local performers Möe Clark, Jordan Dack and Mat Mailandt, along with musicians Smithjosh and Jamie Carrick, join Brendan to make the night sizzle with their energy and art!
BRENDAN MCLEOD is a spoken word artist and musician based out of Vancouver, and has been called “one of Canada’s top SLAM spielers” by CBC. He is the winner of the National Individual Final at the 2004 Canadian SpokenWordlympics, awarded to the top SLAM poet in Canada. In 2005, he was Vancouver’s Grand SLAM Champion. He finished second at Holland’s World Slampionship in June 2005. He has toured extensively in North America and Europe, both as a solo performer and member of The Fugitives. He received his MA in Philosophy in 2001.
As a musician, he led Ontario’s seven-piece jazz/folk/funk group Eden Express, the Vancouver-based acoustic trio Bernie, and is currently a member of the spoken word/music troupe, The Fugitives, with Barbara Adler, CR Avery and Mark Berube.
Prior to his visit to Calgary, Brendan and The Fugitives will perform at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word in Vancouver. Brendan will then travel to Ontario before heading to Munich for multiple performances alongside Barbara Adler and the Fugitives.
MÖE CLARK, an inspired artist, lyricist and poet, currently lives in Calgary, where she practices graphic design and illustration. In the year to come, she will receive her Bachelor of Design degree in the Visual Communications program at the Alberta College of Art & Design. Her first foray into the professional design community was the book cover design for Sheri-D Wilson’s book, Re:Zoom, released in April 2005. While visual art is her primary focus, Möe’s background in performance arts spans from musical theatre, dance and vocal performance to, more recently, spoken word. Through the constant exploration of language and its relation to rhythm, repetition and resistance, Möe defines her poetic aesthetic.
JORDAN DACK, formerly a member of Calgary-based hip-hop troupe Internal Affairs, is currently the frontman of the hip-hop/folk/spoken word group Lucidream. The band spent July in Toronto at Cherry Beach Sound recording their first album, Choose the Madness. Jordan and his brother Mikkel were the organisers of the summer’s Channel Freedom Festival, dedicated to providing an entertaining alternative to television-watching. At this event, Jordan will perform solo with material from his chapbook, not the truth but honest.
MAT MAILANDT is the new Artistic Director of the well-known children’s theatre organisation, Calgary Young People’s Theatre, administrates and acts for Kid’s Play Klassics, and just appeared in Reckless with Mob Hit Productions. He is part of the editorial collective for Originality of Orality Online, a literary e-zine, and recently performed his fiction in the flywheel reading series. Mat performs with the Curiously Canadian Improv Guild and in Drunk on Monday, a weekly improvised soap opera run through the University of Calgary.
JOSHUA SMITH is a writer and musician currently completing a degree in English at the University of Calgary. Last year, his poetry made appearances at both the Spoken Scribblings and flywheel reading series and his music was selected as a finalist in the Calgary Folk Music Festival’s Singer/Songwriter Contest. Currently, he is the associate editor for NōD magazine, a new write/art/design/crit magazine supported by the English Literature Students’ Society at the U of C, and has an EP for sale entitled 3+1.
