Rosie McDonald Editor-in-Chief

Do kids even make rock music anymore? For the past four years of my undergraduate career, the question has loomed large in my mind. Must I pay $86.50 before the $13.00 Cutwater Margarita at History every time I need to get my fix? Must I only see bands that have, bless their hearts, lead singers over the age of 50? Little did I know, the answer is NO! thanks to Demo Music Magazine.

Demo Music Magazine runs out of the Hart House Student Music Committee and is the University of Toronto’s sole producer of music journalism. Demo covers shows across the city, even throwing some shows of their own like their back-to-school show at the Tranzac Club this past September which gave UofT students free admission. Besides shows, Demo produces both printed zines and a website fully stocked with music reviews, band interviews, op-eds, playlists, and photos all covering Toronto’s alive-and-well underground rock music scene.

Demo’s been in operation since 2006, so you can only imagine the material they had to work with at such an interesting time for rock music. As the years have passed and Demo has fallen from one set of hands to the next, they’ve continued to seek out and successfully find artists who live for the music, featuring bands from all over Ontario. Can you think of any iconic rock bands to come out of Ontario? If anyone’s going to discover the next Rush or Our Lady Peace or Tragically Hip, my bets are on Demo. Although, they’re more likely to discover the next big hardcore or shoegaze act, as Finch describes their artistic direction this year as “dark and noisy.”

To check out DEMO, visit their Instagram page @demoharthouse or their website at http://www.demomagazine.ca to check out their articles and photography and keep an eye out for the announcement of their next show. Extra special thanks to Finch (co-editor-in-chief), Shayla (co-editor-in-chief), and Emmett (events coordinator), I’m sure our show would have been wicked if not for the supposed risk of literally blowing the roof off this place.