{"id":201,"date":"2022-05-11T22:01:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-11T22:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/agoria.ca\/thebsideblog\/?p=201"},"modified":"2023-08-23T22:09:36","modified_gmt":"2023-08-23T22:09:36","slug":"worship-at-the-alter-of-emo-chastitys-lovesong-to-lonesome-youths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agoria.ca\/thebsideblog\/index.php\/2022\/05\/11\/worship-at-the-alter-of-emo-chastitys-lovesong-to-lonesome-youths\/","title":{"rendered":"WORSHIP AT THE ALTER OF EMO: CHASTITY’s LOVESONG TO LONESOME YOUTHS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Grab your eyeliner and an all-black getup, because Chastity\u2019s Brandon Williams is about to take you to church.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Smashing Pumpkins. My Chemical Romance. The Smiths. Chastity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you mention the name of Brandon Williams\u2019 musical endeavor next to those of his idols, the influence that these new-romantic giants have over Williams\u2019 emotionally-charged sound is readily available to even the untrained ear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tonight, I chat with Williams before his set at Bridgeworks; a new venue in Hamilton, Ont., that has been converted from a warehouse, giving an exclusively underground feel to the highly anticipated performance that has been promised to a sold out crowd of 500.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chastity is opening for Canadian rock heavyweights, The Dirty Nil<\/a>, who are playing tonight\u2019s show in their hometown. This concert was originally scheduled for Dec. 18, but got postponed to April due to back-to-back waves of COVID-19 that turned the local music scene into no man\u2019s land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chastity was scheduled to play Massey Hall with City and Colour in December, but this too was unfortunately cancelled for pandemic-related reasons. Their newest album, Suffer Summer<\/a>, was released on Jan. 13.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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(Leo Montero\/@Truffleimages)<\/sub><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMusic projects happen in the blink of an eye. It\u2019s quick, and they\u2019re short lived,\u201d says Williams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s pretty precious to keep people informed about your music, and you gotta ask for people\u2019s attention so they don\u2019t forget about you nowadays.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emerging from a suburban sprawl in Whitby, Ont., and getting an unconventional start on the now-deserted platform of Myspace, Chastity\u2019s music is deeply rooted in the suburban frustration that followed Williams throughout his youth.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

His music is a hallmark of the internet\u2019s unique ability to create a community where loners can feel less alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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(Leo Montero\/@Truffleimages)<\/sub><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was never encouraged to do this. In fact, at times I felt discouraged from pursuing music. But I think the endurum of swimming upstream and being from the outskirts kind of helps to embolden you to do something, and do it well,\u201d says Williams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deep within the expanse of any given small town, there is, without a doubt, at least one kid who feels out of place in their surroundings, and deeply isolated. Chastity\u2019s music speaks to this universal feeling of alienation with lyrics that reach out to all the kids feeling particularly lost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWalking around Whitby, I feel like there\u2019s something untapped there. There\u2019s just something in the air that people haven\u2019t written down, and there\u2019s so much there in that immense sprawl of houses.\u201d Says Williams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cA lot of people are lonely and they haven\u2019t really found their people. That was my experience growing up and it’s somewhat my experience even now.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Chastity\u2019s newest album, Suffer Summer, pays homage to the emo poeticism of a bygone era.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The majority of its content was written just prior to the pandemic in the spring of 2020, when, as Williams explains, he had far more alone time to dedicate to the self-reflective introspection that has translated into this record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The result is a bittersweet collection of musical work that Williams feels is authentically his; capturing specific, burning emotions that are individually felt and collectively experienced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an album about happiness and how impossible it is to find, and keep, for longer than five seconds, which I think is something I struggle with,\u201d Says Williams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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(Leo Montero\/@Truffleimages)<\/sub><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I listen to music and there\u2019s something there that resonates with me, I’m like, oh shit, they just described that better than I could even think it. If my music can have that effect on even one person, that\u2019s really fulfilling for me,\u201d adds Williams. \u201cWhen my songs click with a kid who shares the experience, I see myself in that connection to the music.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Synesthesia is thought to be the unique ability to see music in the context of colour, like a visual artist interpreting a song with paint. With this frame of reference, Williams describes Suffer Summer as a distinctly \u2018blue\u2019 album.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The conception of Suffer Summer was inspired by a blue smiley face painted on the sidewalk, in Whitby, that Williams spotted years ago on a lonely trip home from a skateboarding headrush.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere’s this big hill in my hometown, Manning hill, where we would all skate down. One day, as I was skating home, I started feeling really down. When I’m up, I’m up, but when I’m down I can get pretty down there, you know?\u201d says Williams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cI see this blue happy face on the sidewalk, and at that moment the colour blue resonated with how I was feeling in such a weirdly profound way, it gave me shivers. Something about the colour blue, the sadness of it, it just kind of inspired me to start writing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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(Leo Montero\/@Truffleimages)<\/sub><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

As Chastity continues to garner a global audience with consecutive tours of North America and Europe, Williams has gotten the opportunity to connect and work alongside some of the biggest names in Canadian music, like Dallas Green of Alexisonfire and City and Colour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This connection has been so constructive that when Green decided to hold a music festival this summer in his hometown of St. Catherines, Ont., Chastity was asked if they would be on the bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Born and Raised festival, running from June 30 to July 3, presents itself as a massive opportunity for Chastity to play in a lineup of legendary Canadian bands, like Billy Talent, Broken Social Scene, PUP, and of course, both Alexisonfire and City and Colour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a small-town boy at heart, Williams admires the dedicated effort to bring live music to a place like St. Catherines, despite the numerous hurdles that present themselves given the nature of such a location.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe thing about Born and Raised Fest is they\u2019re taking it back to St. Catherine\u2019s, where they\u2019re all from. I love it, and I think I might want to model something similar in Whitby afterwards,\u201d says Williams. \u201cIt\u2019s quite an amazing bill, and I’m so honoured to be included.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Due to a lack of funding for permanent performance spaces, growing up in Whitby has given Williams a unique perspective of what a venue can be. His upbringing gives him an edge over the bands who panicked when venues closed over the pandemic, as he\u2019s always had to get creative with where he plays live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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(Leo Montero\/@Truffleimages)<\/sub><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI used to work in this hockey arena in Whitby. Arena one is a 1, 500-seater arena, and there\u2019s six arenas in this one building. Rush played there in 1975, I think it was June 14, 1975,\u201d says Williams, beaming with pride.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cI\u2019m just putting this out there, manifesting maybe, but June 14, 2025, is a Saturday. I\u2019d love to try and organize something.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

When asked what advice Williams would give to his younger self, before he was given all of these astounding musical opportunities with celebrated Canadian artists and back when he was just a lonely boy in his bedroom in Whitby, he pauses to reflect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJust, don\u2019t be afraid of the well running dry. I think I get nervous to spend my lyrics on the wrong melody, but I need to remind myself that I can always keep going to the well of ideas,\u201d says Williams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cDon\u2019t be afraid to be prolific, and shoot all your shots, because it\u2019ll get you places you never could\u2019ve imagined. Just keep writing.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Jess Bertan for The B-Side.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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