By Kier Junos Alea Clark from the art-rock band Douse shows us how to do well at making soap. Once a mere novel hobby, Alea’s soap-making has led to the wide enjoyment of the New Westminister-based band’s most popular wares. But how did Alea even start to get there? In this new installment in a…
The Outer Harbour: whirling, vibrant stories from Wayde Compton
Local Harvest Exploring space, form, function, home, and The Outer Harbour The Outer Harbour is the first collection of short stories from Vancouver author Wayde Compton, and it reads like a first collection — rough around the edges, yes, but also gutsy, loud, subversive, insistent. This collection is a like a puppy: it’s got a…
Chilliwack: Welcome to where you live
Welcome to where you live No matter what led you to Chilliwack on the eastern edge of British Columbia’s Fraser Valley — work, family, school, the cheaper than Vancouver real estate — I have a question. How much do you really know about where you’ve chosen to live? Sure, you’ve experienced the manure stink. You’ve…
Exploring Downtown Mission through a camera lens
Photography Mission A visual exploration of Mission’s historic downtown by Joe Johnson with files from Katie Stobbart and Shea Wind Starting this June, Mission will celebrate its 125th anniversary. Mission is, of course, more than just a few landmarks north of the river: a university campus, a terminus for the West Coast Express, an abbey. It’s…
Editorial: A year of Raspberry
Hi reader, Birthdays are kind of arbitrary. And unless there’s a plan I don’t know about, we’re not even celebrating ours with cake. But I do feel it’s important to recognize our milestones: to lay out where we’ve been and where we’re going. Raspberry was created a year ago after a lot of…
Left holding the bag: Age should not dictate our responsibility for change
Youth is glorified as a time of great mobility, energy, and blissful ignorance. This has long been the case; our views of youth extend from the mythological (the fountain of youth, the philosopher’s stone) to the technological (alleged age-repelling products and Photoshop flattery). When we imagine the quintessential young person, some of us see her…
People on the river are happy to give: Abbotsford bands join forces in fundraiser to replace stolen gear
Call your dads! The songs of Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and Creedence Clearwater Revival will come back to life at the Abbotsford Rugby Club on March 24, starring Harma White, Blessed, and Loans. Blessed frontman Drew Riekman jokes that the bands seem ripped straight from “a kid in grade eight’s jean vest,” but that’s all…
Open Mosque opens the door to cultural sharing
Nearly 500 local residents attended the Fraser Valley’s first Open Mosque Day on February 11. The community was invited to visit the Abbotsford Islamic Centre, meet our Muslim neighbours, and learn. From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., shoes of all sizes were piled around and crammed into the shelves at the front door. On the…
Raspberry Jam: A year in local music
Year-end lists tend to be soulless exercises, lacking in personality. And yet we so easily award these arbitrary rankings incredible significance when debating their “correctness” in comments sections. This approach to music appreciation generally sucks the life out of it. So, rather than trying to provide a comprehensive list of the year’s best, we’ve asked…
New Western Jaguar record coming on Mighty Speck Records in 2017
Since the early 2015 release of Wayfarer, Western Jaguar has undergone a metamorphosis, from ambient solo project to live rock band. The Mission-based project led by vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter Jeffrey Trainor has its roots in Jeff’s parents’ basement, gradually growing into a dynamic live act featuring AJ Buckley on drums, (Casinos front man)…