RFAdvice: Dandi Wind

THE FOLLOWING IS COMPLETELY TRUE:

I was conceived in a tent.
My birthname is Dandilion Wind Opaine.
I was born and raised in a cabin without running water, right next to a taxidermy museum housed in a concrete igloo. I lived there for ten years before we drove the 14 hours down to Vancouver. I was impressed by the revolving billboards in the big city because I’d never seen them before.

I met my longtime collaborator Szam Findlay first when we were both 13 at winter camp. I had a crush on him but we didn’t speak or interact for a few years. Then we were cast together in a high school play. Szam introduced me to Alejandro Jodorowsky films and we started our own experimental theatre group in 2000 while I attended Emily Carr art college.

The next year and a half were spent bankrupting ourselves creating a massive solo album/artbook problem for Szam called “Die Hautfabrik” which was licensed in 2002 to Resonant Recordings UK (Acid Mothers Temple / Esmerine etc.) I did some vocals on the mostly instrumental album as well as sculptures for the booklet. The cd sold poorly but garnered favorable press from BBC / The Wire / AMG/ Stylus / and assorted Japanese + Eastern European oddballs… Nonetheless sculpture remains my lifelong passion.

We started the Dandi Wind project in late 2003 as a way to meld our love of theatre/performance with challenging but not inaccessible music. Our songs are about honest incidents that surround us. Since we live in the downtown eastside of Vancouver (the most depressed slum in Canada; the most junkies per capita in North America) our songs are sometimes grim… Currently I live next to the train tracks and the rendering plant where they turn dead pets into glue while pumping cancerous smoke and industrial noise into my mind all day. I’ve escaped to Brazil and Japan on occasion but somehow got stuck in the slums there too.

We make this music because we need to get away from this city and because we have something to offer you don’t find anymore: Charisma and passion. I love to perform and make people FEEL something. We write the lyrics together and Szam does all the music, production and design. We are absolutely independent. This album cost NOTHING to record and was made with a few unpopular decade old synths, a single mic and a monophonic Pentium 2 soundcard. If I can walk offstage unaided then I’ve not delivered a true Dandi Wind performance.

I'd hit it too. In person she's like this tiny fragile TOY PERSON that sometimes just explodes and tries to dance herself to DEATH while rapping and shit. The aftermath is so gully.

hi btw.

Phil I basically said yeah to the not-yet-released CD only but she really really wants the DVD, which I'm super iffy about, but somethings def. going to happen. At worst we'll have to 'share'. Mail me foo let's make some money.

whats your label? whens the full length supposed to come out? are you us-based? u got good budget? mail me foo let's make some money.

-- phil-two (philtw...), March 24th, 2005.

Think we're gonna be able to swing an enhanced CD (but with vid quality good as Bjork singles). Label is SLUM, site is just a placekeeper (designed by le fabolos Robin Cameron tho) till we get more product) - here. We're Vancouver-based, hence the friendship w Dandi. We're on pretty solid ground. I'll mail you as it happens. -Human Crack In The Flesh

Anyway, she's with us now, and she's so psyched on the Duchess idea she's going to hook it up/finalize the deal HERSELF the minute she hits Mtl.