Surrey's Fusion Festival

On July 16 & 17, Surrey BC was buzzing with culture - from traditional Asian martial arts to First Nations ceremonies, and flavours from around the world to creative demonstrations. Thousands of people were gathered at Holland Park, right beside Surrey Central skytrain station, despite the not-so-nice weather. Last year's festival had taken place under sunny skies and hot hot heat, but this year, the rain took its place. Nonetheless, people still brought out their raincoats and umbrellas and stopped by to check out this year's festivities.

Check out some of my photos from the event!

Overall, it was a great event!

- Christinaaa

All photos taken by me - please do not use without credit back to my site. Thank you :)

Vancity Summer

Hey everyone!

Once again, I'm sorry I haven't been able to update you guys with exciting events...I've been super busy with event coverage/social media stuff for Hush Magazine. So if you want to see any of the events I've been going to, feel free to check out some of my photos at www.facebook.com/HushVancouver

But don't worry, I'll hopefully have some celebrity encounters soon (fingers crossed!) and some cool events stuff to come. But I guess I'll have to wait until I get back to Toronto for that to happen more frequently.

So in the meantime, here's a glimpse into life in a beautiful city on the west coast.

Back to Toronto in 3 weeks!

- Christinaaa

Wicked!

Hey everyone!

Despite the fact that I didn't get to see this musical in the magical New York City, I was quite pleased with its production in my hometown of Vancouver, BC.

And being a fan of the original Wizard of Oz, I have been eager to see Wicked for quite some time now.

The show took place at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre and I was happy that my mom had gotten fantastic seats! 5th Row, centre - not too shabby.

Overall, the show was amazing and I left the theatre singing "Defying Gravity"...and my favourite aspects though were the sets and costumes. Such elaborate detailing and it really invited the audience to feel as if they were a part of that world.

And I loved the flying monkeys...although creepy at times, I thought they were perfect.

Anyways, I hope you get a chance to check it out!

- Christinaaa

Support Jayson Araja!

Hey everyone!

As some of you may know from my previous posts, my very talented friend Jayson is a finalist in the Triumph Inspiration Award competition and will be competing in Berlin this July! But he needs your help! Please vote HERE for his 'Elizabethan Goddess' design and help him represent Canada!!

And as a plus, this is also a chance for you to win a trip to Berlin to be in the audience!

So vote for Jayson Araja! You can learn more about his entry HERE
Thanks!

Christinaaa

Allstar Weekend!

Hey everyone!

Here are some of my photos from the Allstar Weekend concert at the Bell Centre on May 29th in Surrey, BC!

- Christinaaa

Done With Dolls

Hey everyone!

Have you ever heard of Done With Dolls? Well, these girls sure know how to rock it. And what better way to spend a summer than touring across Canada with Allstar Weekend? Toronto's tween girlband Done With Dolls made their first BC appearance as an opening act for Allstar Weekend at The Bell Centre in Surrey, BC on May 29th. I caught up with the girls and talked about musical inspirations, song writing, pre-show rituals, and how it feels to be running alongside big names in the industry.

Quick Overview of the band:
Jordan Miller (15) - Bass and lead singer - Musical influences: Powerful women figures such as Blondie, Pink, Hole, Avril Lavigne, and Heart.
Kylie Miller (13) - Guitar and back up vocals - Musical influences: Tegan and Sara
Megan Fitchett (14) - Guitar - Musical influences: Angus Young of AC/DC and Great Big Sea
Eliza Enman (15) - Drums - Musical influences: John Bonham of Led Zeppelin and Paramore

Let's get to the questions!

1. So how did you girls get together to form the band?

Jordan: I was inspired to be a musician from Sheryl Crowe and so when I was in grade 1 or 2, I asked my parents for a guitar and they said well you can have a guitar but you have to practice. You have to have lessons and keep up with it. And I did. And I actually fell in love with it. And Megan started around the same time as me.

Megan: I started playing guitar because I went to a dollar store one time and bought a little toy guitar and wanted to learn the real thing after.

Jordan: So a few years later, Kylie joined in. We started going to lessons together and jamming and writing songs. And eventually I switched over to bass because I didn’t want to do the same thing as Kylie. Then eventually we started to record the songs that we wrote with our guitar teacher, James, you met him earlier. So he’s the one who really started to put that in motion. And then he’s like let’s take this a step further. Then Kylie and I started a band with two boys and Megan, called SOB (Sisters Others & Brothers), not the swear word. And then the boys went their separate ways and Eliza joined in. Eliza and I have been childhood friends.

Eliza: So she asked me one day at school if I knew how to play drums and I wasn’t really that experienced but I knew the basics. So I went and played what I knew for them, and I guess they liked me and then I learned more and more and I’ve been taking lessons ever since. And now we’re Done With Dolls.

2. What’s the story behind the name of the group?

K: Our dad actually thought of it. He just kind of came home one day and we were thinking of all these names that were just horrible or already taken. The worst names ever. Tiger Bomb and Sky Scrapers...Lipstick. So he just came home and he screamed “Done With Dolls!” And then we all knew it would work.

E: I guess the story behind it is that we’re at that age right now where we are wanting more freedom and independence. So we’re growing up and we’re done with dolls. We’re more independent, like I said.

3.So you write your own songs, could you describe the song writing process?

J: Kylie and I co-write with these two people, Raine Maida and Chantal Kreviazuk. They’re both musicians and they’re a power couple from Canada, both from Canada, but they moved out to California and they’ve been working with up and coming artists. We got switched up with them and we’ve been writing songs with them, all of our songs we wrote with them. And our writing process is one of us writes the music, usually they do, or a little rift ["RIFF!" they all shouted and corrected her, “she can’t pronounce it properly”]. I mean a riff. And then we come up with cute little phrases or they send us a theme they want us to write about it. For example we had to write a song about lies, so they sent us a White Stripes song, and they said we want to do something like this but using the theme of lies. So we’d write lines of poetry and stuff and send it back and forth to each other and then meet over a weekend and develop a song from that cutting and pasting. Then we’d record it and we get a lot done over those weekends.

4. What was it like to see your music videos for the first time on TV?

E: The first time for “Story of my Life,” we all got together at [Jordan and Kylie’s] house and we had a big plan to all go and watch it at the same time since it was the premiere. The three of us were watching it in the basement; I guess Megan wasn’t feeling well so she went home, and so Jordan, Kylie and I were just sitting in the basement in front of this huge TV. We were counting down the seconds and then it came on and we all screamed. “omg that’s us guys!”

K: And we called my brother and he came down and he started screaming.

E: And we got all these text messages and facebook wall posts like wow we just saw you on the Family Channel! That’s so cool! And for “I Don’t Like” it was kind of the same story because we had already felt that. So it wasn’t as thrilling, but it was still pretty cool. We get a lot of reaction from it. It’s so cool though because you get people who recognize you and it’s just really cool and amazing because you don’t think that so many people know who you are.

K: Or when you see on somebody’s Ipod that they have our song on their Ipod. It’s unbelievable.

5. Any crazy fan encounters?

J: We’ve had a lot of dedicated fans. There’s a magician guy who comes to all out London shows and we’ve been there a few times and he’s there every single time. I think he does this with every band; he goes to every show in London and shows off his magic tricks.

E: He wins over all the bands with his magic.

J: Last time, he gave us his number on a card and a flower made of tissue paper. So that was the weirdest thing. We call him Magic Man.

E: That’s just his way of winning the people over.

6. How has the tour with Allstar Weekend been so far?

Everyone: Amazing. So fun!

K: It’s our first tour across Canada and so it’s awesome going to all these new places and experiencing all these different fans. And meeting with them and telling us how much they love our music because normally we only play in Toronto.

J: Yeah it’s cool because we’ve never been out west before so it’s really fun to see the differences.

7. Do you have a favourite city to perform in so far?

K: Crowd-wise, Winnipeg was really cool and they were really supportive. Calgary was fun too but we haven’t played here yet.

E: And I think the feel for this one will be different because it’s the last one.

J: And Vancouver is a beautiful city. It’s gorgeous. We went downtown yesterday and ate seafood and shopped. We used the public transportation; we went on the sea bus and skytrain.

8. Do you have any pre-show rituals?

E: We do this thing where we shake out and loosen up. We start with our left hand and we do 8 shakes and then do it all throughout our body and by the end, we’re really buzzed and tingly. It helps.

J: We learned it in drama class.

K: We make card towers before too. And we have acoustic jams.

E: And we each do our different warm-ups and stretches.

9. How does it feel to be so young in the industry?

J: It’s a little intimidating but it’s been cool too.

E: I think our age is a big influence on people. Positively, it’s been really beneficial for us because they really appreciate that we’re so young and we’re doing something like this and we’re putting so much work into it. And I think that’s the inspirational part; how people can see someone as young as us putting so much time and effort and it’s like well if they can do that, why can’t I do that too.

J: I think every kid in high school does something like this, whether it’s sports or it’s sort of like an extra-curricular activity.

K: But like an advanced one because we have to do stuff almost every day, which can be a bit tedious at times, but in the end it all works out.

10. If you could collaborate with any artist, who would it be and why?

K: Weezer or Tegan & Sara

J: Depends on my mood. I have music from Broadway to classical. I think it’d be fun to do something with a rapper. Drake. I’d like to work with Drake because Drake’s really cool and he’s Canadian.

E: Cage the Elephant because they incorporate really fast talking and have really great opinions.

J: Can I change my answer to The Lonely Island? I’m obsessed with them right now.

M: Great Big Sea. I’ve always wanted to work with them. They do a bunch of new Newfie music but they also do a lot of the new stuff.

11. What’s up next for Done with Dolls? Any upcoming projects?

K: We’re working on our new EP and we’re writing songs and touring. We’re doing a couple shows in July. We’re doing a show at Dundas Square on July 16 and a charity event that same day. We’re also doing an MMVA streaming party.

----------------------

So be sure to check out their upcoming shows and find them on Myspace!
Thanks again to the girls for the interview!

- Christinaaa

Timothy Delaghetto hosts J.Reyez Concert in Vancouver

Hey everyone!

On May 28th, Youtube sensation J.Reyez made his first Vancouver appearance for a concert hosted by fellow Youtuber Timothy Delaghetto. Other performances included Scopez, MsHambz, Gentleman's Vibe, and Raw Dance Crew. Here are some pictures!

- Christinaaa

Flashback!

Hey everyone!

Once again, I hate how I don't have as much time to blog, but don't worry, I'm sure there will be lots to on the way. But just to fill the time, I thought I'd bring back a few of my past encounters with people who are doing big things right now!

1. Selena Gomez

I was able to interview this Disney star way back before she hit superstardom (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mShrP2vmejc&feature=channel_video_title) during her filming of Another Cinderella Story. Since then, she's been successful with Wizards of Waverly Place as well as her music career, with a Canadian tour date in Toronto in August. And not to mention, she's also dating the biggest tween hearthrob and Canada's own Justin Bieber. She'll also be hosting the MuchMusic Video Awards on June 19th!

2. Hayley Kiyoko

I was able to meet Hayley during her time filming Scooby Doo: The Mystery Begins, where she plays Velma from the classic Scooby Doo series. Since then, she's made guest appearances on Wizards of Waverly Place alongside Selena Gomez while also being a member of the talented pop group The Stunners. But most recently, she can be seen in Disney Channel's movie Lemonade Mouth. She got to combine music and acting and I think she did a great job!

3. Nicole Scherzinger

Back in her Pussycat Dolls days, I interviewed her during her Vancouver stop of the Circus tour with Britney Spears for Youthink Magazine (you can listen to it here: http://christinadun.blogspot.com/2009/08/wanna-hear.html). Now in 2011, she's been chosen as a judge on X-Factor, replacing Cheryl Cole.

Anyways, hope you all are having a great week!

- Christinaaa

all.dun.up!

Hey everyone!

Just a heads up, I won't be able to post on here as frequently, just because I've been so busy...BUT I wanted to share a new project I've been working on. I've recently launched my own shopping site "all.dun.up" - with clothing I've made myself as well as brand new/vintage/gently used items.

Please check it out! http://www.alldunup.tumblr.com

Thanks :)
- Christinaaa

The Latest Scoop

Hey everyone!

I have recently discovered "pop up shops" and I fell in love with this one in particular. The Latest Scoop is a store that doesn't stay in the same spot for long. Instead of a permanent location, this shop sets up in different areas for a certain period of time. The Latest Scoop used to only turnover twice per year (for a few weeks in spring and in winter), but they are changing it up now so that they switch spots every few weeks. It is currently located in Gastown (until the end of May!). Another thing I love is the fact that they bring the latest trends from all over the world under one roof.

Take a look!

If you get a chance, I definitely recommend checking it out! :)

- Christinaaa

Nicole Bridger Flagship Store Opening

Hey everyone!

I also checked out the flagship store opening of eco fashion designer Nicole Bridger this past weekend. Her store, which is also environmentally friendly, is located at 2151 West 4th Ave. in Kitsilano. Bridger was at the store and she is enthusiastic and friendly!

Also - for the month of May, if you bring in an old dress to donate, you will receive a gift!

- Christinaaa

Made in Print x Pen & Paper Apparel

Hey everyone!
I've been so busy lately, I haven't had a lot of time to post, but I will make time! I'm back in Vancouver for the summer and will be heading back to Toronto in July, but in the meantime, I'm interning at Hush Magazine!
This past weekend, I checked out the grand opening of Made in Print, a local printing company. They collaborated with Pen & Paper Apparel to celebrate the launch of the Yaletown store. Here are some pictures from the event!

Dammy Og (Reach Magazine) & Ross Papa (Pen & Paper Apparel)

From now until May 15, Made in Print has a half-price sale going on - so check it out!

- Christinaaa