A Musician's Opinion on the State of Live Music in Antigonish

Lior Wainshtein is a fourth-year music student, from Dartmouth, NS at St. Francis Xavier University. Lior plays bass and has in played in bands such as Just Friends, Penny College, and Epiphany, as well as being a member of the Townhouse Jazz Trio. I wanted to talk to Lior about his history as a musician in Antigonish as well as his thoughts and opinions on the state of live music in Antigonish.  

Harrison Stewart (HS): How did you get into playing live music in Antigonish? 

Lior Wainshtein (LW): I got pretty lucky, when I started there wasn’t a lot of bass players in the music program, and so I had a buddy that wanted to start a band, and I happened to be jamming in the space we were in. He asked me if I wanted to join and that’s how I started! We were playing at Candid [Brewing] all the way up until 2 years ago now. 

HS: How many different venues are there to play around here, and which one is your favourite? 

LW: There’s really only 2 accessible venues, I suppose 3. There’s the Townhouse, Candid Brewing, and Oak Manor. My favourite is Townhouse, I play there every Thursday, do the jazz thing. I love it there, the atmosphere is awesome there. 

HS: Do you enjoy playing live through the school, or off campus? 

LW: Off campus. Every school gig I had, I mean the last one I was just playing jazz for a mock casino for the Department of Commerce, and that was alright, but there wasn’t really a lot of direction there, I’ve had much more luck wit off campus gigs. 

HS: Has the temporary shutdown of Piper’s Pub affected the state of live bands in Antigonish?  

LW: Not at all. Maybe to groups like Gasper, but for someone like me who’s playing in student-run bands, with smaller crowds, it hasn’t really affected much. 

HS: Would you rather be a player-for-hire or a member of a defined group? 
LW: Player-for-hire I’d say. I like the idea of being in a defined group, but I much prefer playing everything. That’s what I love to do, I mean I play the jazz thing, but I love to play rock and roll, I love to play metal. 

HS: As a music student, how often do skills you have learned for an outside gig that translated to a live gig, or vice versa? 

LW: It’s normally the other way around, where the stuff I learn in school applies to gigs. I played last night in Saint John, New Brunswick, and so there I was trying out things I would have just learned it class. That’s how it mainly goes, you learn stuff in the classroom, you apply it outside. I’ve never had too many instances where I’m on a gig and I tried something new, and then, oh, were talking about what I just did?  

HS: Outside of Antigonish, how often do you play in other cities as a part of festivals, concerts, etc. 

LW: Festivals not too much. But I do play pretty often, I’ve become a pretty frequent member of the Saint John jazz scene, in New Brunswick. I’ve been able to be lucky enough to play with Juno Award winning artist Joel Miller. In Halifax, I’ve managed to get myself in with some STFX alumni from the Jazz Program. I played Makin’ Waves in Cape Breton. 

HS: Does being a musician in Antigonish pay well? 

LW: It’s more for the love of playing; it really doesn’t pay. Unless you’re a solo artist, you can make $100, $200 a gig, but I find with bands, especially at Candid, we’ve had some trouble making money. Townhouse as well, but you do it for the love. I don’t know very many people that are musicians and just do it for the money, because you’re never going to be successful if it’s just for the money. 

HS: A question adding onto that, would you play a gig for free, for the love of playing music, or do you believe that your skills demand reward? 

LW: I would never play a gig for free. It’s not even a thing about my skills demanding reward. It’s more so my own morals. This is my job; this is my life. I can’t do that if I’m not getting even like, if I make $10. I’d still play a $10 gig, but for free? I can’t do that. I used to, and then it messed with my mind a little bit. And you set a bad precedent, because if this guy’s going to do a gig for free, who else will do a gig for free? 

HS: Have you ever made any recordings with any of the groups you’ve been with? 

 LW: I have; none have been released. I have a group, Slander, with 2 STFX alumni, Ty MacEachern and Magnus Labillois, and so we recorded over the summer a couple things and hope to release it at some point. 

HS: What was the most exciting set you’ve played in Antigonish? 

LW: Over the summer, I had a chance to play with my professor, Kevin Brunkhorst, at the Townhouse. I wasn’t expecting much, I wasn’t even expecting him to want to play the gig, and I was surprised when he said he wanted too. He gave us a set of pop tunes, we did Layla [by Derek and the Dominos], like the acoustic version, and that was by far, the most fun I’ve ever had. It was great, just 3 guys playing music, and we were having a blast. 

HS: Do you play any instruments other than bass in a live setting? 

LW: No, I’m not good enough. I like to tell people I play “composer’s piano,” I’m only good enough to write a song on the piano, I’m not really into playing it live. 

HS: Are there any upcoming gigs you’d like to promote now? 

LW: Halloween, my band Epiphany is playing at Candid Brewing.