(Click above icon to return to blog page).

Things are picking up again for us at TORRiD PRODUCTiONS – so let me catch you up on the latest and greatest!

First – I had a meeting with fellow members DANNiEL OiCKLE and OLEXANDRA PRUCHNiCKY – as the three of us will be performing at SAW GALLERY on Friday, May 25th as a part of H’ART’ 10th Anniversary Gala: 10 Plus 10.   They are celebrating their past 10 years as well as well as their next 10 years – and as such H’ART has collaborated with 10 Ottawa artists – so I encourage you all to come out and see the results, which will include paintings, a fundraiser auction and raffle, a slide-show, live music (that would be us!) and of course, food and a bar!

H’ART is a non-profit organization that does a lot of amazing work by connecting artists/teachers with children who have disabilities and I’m very excited to be a part of this at all.  That night we will perform an acoustic set as a trio, taking turns at playing an assortment of tunes from DANNiEL’S CORRUPTiON of FLESH and my album THEY SAY i’M DiFFERENT.  It might sound strange as we too wondered how we could combine folk/country with DAN’S electro-pop sound, but worry not, as we’ve stripped things down and have found a way to combine both worlds !  Last night was fun to work on these tunes in preparation.  It’s going to be a low key show – so don’t be expecting us to wear our fur shorts and horns!  We do promise however, to entertain.

For more information on H’ART: www.hartofottawa.ca

Also – as part of another fun side project, the three of us are collaborating with DR. SKETCHY’S ANTi-ART SCHOOL (www.drsketchy.com), and for those unfamiliar with DR. SKETCHY, it is the brainchild of artist MOLLY CRABAPPLE, and is essentially an alternative to the old-fashioned way of sketch-drawing models.  Since 2005 they have brought artists  a “rule-breaking cocktail dames, drinking and drawing”  – and subsequently they have branches all over the place, including Ottawa’s very own CLUB SAW GALLERY.  At MERCURY LOUNGE next Monday night, (April 30th) DAN, OLEX and I for this we will don our CORRUPTiON of FLESH attire (horns, fur shorts and fuck-me boots included) all in the name of art – where a group of sketch artists will spend the night doing just that, sketching us.   Call it an alternative to the average nude sketch session – which I think is fun and interesting to be involved with.  Special thanks to DR. SKETCHY and all involved in inviting us to partake in any way.  I also encourage people to check out their website to see the other various exciting and titillating things going on with them all over the place.

To keep you updated on both DAN and OLEX respectively – here are some additional things they are currently up to these days:

OLEX, of Ottawa’s very own THE PEPTiDES (www.thepeptides.com) have had one helluva great year so far.  With THE PEPTiDES OLEX gets to shine in her own very special way – & if you have never been to one of their shows I  encourage you – they are a fierce act and put on a funky show.  Check out their website for updates on their summer tour but I can also tell you that they are set to release their new album in the fall, and in the meantime will be performing this summer on the main stage at BLUESFEST!  Also, THE PEPTiDES will be partaking in LiVE 88.5fm’s THE BiG MONEY SHOT competition.  For more on it please check out this link: http://www.live885.com/index.asp?mn=10.  OLEX I’m wishing you guys the best of luck!!!! Go get em‘!!!!!

 This goes to show how the three of us (as well as fellow TORRiD PRODUCTiON members AiLEEN MARTELLA and BONNiE FiNDLEY) are symbiotic yet we have individual outside projects at the same time.

Speaking of which, the multifaceted  DANNiEL OiCKLE is working on releasing a book of poetry called MY HEART HAS TEETH and on August 18th he will officially be launching the book at La Petite Mort (www.lapetitemoregallery.com) with an exhibit as well as a performance so be sure to come out and enjoy the night.   Als0 – wearing his producer hat, on May 20th he will be releasing the official music video to my song LONELY BLUE WAVES (i WANT YOU) which is a project we’ve been working on over the past several months to say the least.  Like I said – DANNiEL is a whiz at many things – so just as I hope he is, I’m very eager and excited about getting to release this video to the public.

For now I’ll wrap this up but I thank you for taking the time to stay abreast of such things!