Jules Cameron
Hello again everyone!! This edition of First Show Friday is extra special for a couple reasons. It's the first Friday of December (literally where did that come from??), it's our 20th edition of First Show Friday, AND we got to talk with a former Caper Radio manager!! We're here with the amazing Jules Cameron!!
“My first show was when I was 17/18 where myself and Rbecca Penney last-minute formed a duo and played covers of Fleetwood Mac and MGMT. The crowd was all parents and teachers, which is funny to look back on. First official show (sans teachers) that i played was with my first band Turpentine at Holy Angels in 2015 back when we were a two-piece of just Tyree Krszwda and Myself. The best and worst memory of that show was I was so stressed out from stage fright I literally smoked a full pack of cigarettes in the five minutes before going on stage and near puked my guts out afterwards (sorry, mom). It was the first time I was part of a band and actually got to play original music. Just playing music and that artistic expression made me want to keep going. And to get better at guitar, too (I still play like a caveman). Turpentine later recruited Gregor McDougall on bass and Connor McDonald on drums and played local punk shows for a while.
One thing we should all be able to agree on, is that Turpentine was hands down one of the coolest bands ever. The music, the performance, everything about them was top tier and it was always so amazing to see them.
“I always was into music. My dad played drums, my aunt played piano, and one of my great-uncles played keys and toured with Anne Murray, so music I guess was always in the family. I got my first guitar at 13 after saving my allowance and taught myself to play using piano sheet music (still have no idea how i managed that). I was getting into alternative, metal, and punk stuff in my teens, and growing up in New Waterford I stood out like a sore thumb. I wasn't in any bands because they were all guys who didn't want a girl in their band, so i resigned to making demos on my crappy laptop until i was able to meet likeminded people.”
“The best thing about making music for me, aside from playing with other people, is screaming. No other female-fronted bands with harsh vocals were around Cape Breton when I started coming to shows, so I took it upon myself to do it. The catharsis of screaming is like a release almost, as someone whose music reflects inward. I feel so good after screaming - especially when people think it's a man on the recordings (take that, sexism). I get to scream a lot in my post-hardcore band Vulpine with Tyree and Becca Dalley, and in my doomgaze solo project Year Of Reckoning. My alternative rock project RatFish with my partner Mitch Hines and Riley Hill might not have screaming (but we'll see)
“I was a volunteer with Caper Radio since 2014, worked as a Program Director in 2016, and became manager from 2018-2020. I was able to help put on two Gobblefests (24 and 25) and got to meet so many cool people during my time there! I learned how to organize shows, do sound, and use recording software (to a capacity). I hope more girls start coming out to shows and forming bands, it's still such a testosterone-fest out there. I did, and I dare say it changed my life.”
“Thanks for the years, Caper Radio!”
Huge thank you to Jules for talking with us this week, she has been a huge supporter of the local scene for many years and were so grateful for her. Well see ya next week!
