Here at the A-K we’ve got a tiny little list of bands and performers that we decided right from the get-go must be interviewed if we were to consider this project a job well done. Of all he names we brainstormed and came up with in the beginning, right up near the top of the list was local vocalist and photographer Sarah Cordingley.

We first heard Sarah singing her head off with a band called Gang Violence on the MySpace tracks “Serious Face” and “Interspecific” and were totally blown away. Then while searching for images to borrow for the site posts, we started noticing that many of the best photographs we came across were taken by her. Anyway, long story short, after a long back-and-forth we’re of the opinion that, no matter what band she’s performing with or who she’s taking photos of, Sarah Cordingley can do no wrong. Here’s a great little interview to prove it…

The Aural Kinetic: First off, tell us a little bit about your history within the local band scene. Is Gang Violence your first band? How long have you been writing and recording original songs?

Sarah Cordingley: Before Gang Violence I was in a disco band called Ice Cream. It was really silly and fun and pretty cutesy. But pretty goth at the same time. I played drums. Bianca played bass, she plays in White Owl, and Nicholas and Aja were in it too, they’re called Cosmetics now. I was also in a band called Bakelite for about a year. I played drums and we went on tour for 3 weeks in England too.

Before that I sang in Channels 3×4 for a long time. We still play shows every once in a while. It’s fun to play a Channels 3×4 show. I feel totally uninhibited in that band.

AK: Listening to some of the songs you’ve laid vocals to, like “Serious Face” for instance, it makes me wonder if there’s a concerted effort within the local indie community to kick the living shit out of Vancouver’s “No Fun City” reputation. You could start a dance-riot with a song like that!

SC: I’ve always had lots of fun in Vancouver. But my idea of fun is complaining about and subverting everything that goes on around me. So I guess it’s a bit of a paradox.

AK: The first song I ever heard your vocals on was “Interspecific” and my immediate reaction was “Holy jumpin! Does she ever sound like Debbie Harry.” I’m sure this isn’t the first time you’ve heard the comparison, but I was wondering exactly how big an influence Blondie and similar 80’s post-punk bands have been on your sound and on the way you approach the microphone?

SC: No one’s ever said that before, that’s rad, thanks! I do tend to sing a lot of Blondie when I go to karaoke. I think 80′s new wave and post-punk and disco have had a huge influence on me. You can’t listen to something nonstop and not be influenced by it.

AK: We just heard that you played the famed Commodore Ballroom back in May! Despite reported technical glitches, how was it to play a room that size? Other bands we’ve talked to have mentioned a bit of a disconnect with the audience once they get on the elevated stage and play to a room that big…

SC: Maybe it was just the kind of people that were at that show, but I felt very connected to the audience. They were super positive and enthusiastic and supportive. They all crammed right up to the front and paid full attention for an opening band that they’d never heard of. It was weird.

And it was a huge bummer to fuck up such a big opportunity. We made it through one and a half and a half songs.

AK: As a silly aside, was the band name “Gang Violence” in any way a reaction to the massive increase in actual gang related violence in Vancouver and the lower mainland? Or are you actually GANG BANGERS? If it’s the latter, we would like to point out that we’ve been perfecting your GV gang sign all morning and think we’re ready to join your crew.

SC: I can’t even do that gang sign. I have crooked fingers. Yes, it was a direct reaction to the big gang media blitz and the non-stop inflammatory gang-war related headlines in the province.

AK: Where does the compulsion to play music come from for you? Like the DC punks of the 80’s do you feel you have some things to say and live music is the best avenue to get it all out? A pulpit of sorts? Or is it simply just a lot of fun to get up on stage and rock a room?

SC: Well mostly it’s just fun. I love doing it. I wouldn’t say any of the bands I’ve been in have been immediately political. But I do feel like playing the kind of music that we do is a sort of proclamation of culture. Like it’s necessary to establish ourselves and our demographic and our resistance to an outdated and unsustainable way of life.

AK: Aside from fronting Gang Violence it should also be noted that you’re an accomplished photographer with a specific focus on local bands. This site has mooched several of your photographs (and will probably continue to do so) because we feel that as a photographer, perhaps more than any other in the scene right now, you come closest to capturing the spirit of the current scene. Tell us a little bit about when you first decided to document the movement and what it means to you to photograph a band that might be here and gone in a short period of time.

SC: I started taking pictures of bands way back when I was a teenager in Vernon. I’ve been pretty obsessed with documenting things ever since then. I’m not sure my motivation is about documenting a movement so much as documenting events in my life. It just happens that my life involves a lot of local bands.

I used to write about music in Only Magazine, so I would photograph a lot of things for my column and interviews. I guess I happened to be taking all these pictures when the “Vancouver weird punk” scene was emerging. I’m not sure if anything was actually emerging, but there were definitely a lot of unique and charismatic people playing music.

AK: There have been several calls on the message boards for Gang Violence to release a 7” with the quickness. Are there any plans to do so in the near future?

SC: We came in and out of many plans to release a 7″, but it just hasn’t quite happened yet. Sadly I am no longer in the band, but the boys are recording an amazing sounding album, so it will be worth the wait.

AK: Tell us a little bit about your touring history. Are you a band who likes to hit the road and play different venues in different cities? Or are you most comfortable at home?

SC: Gang Violence went on one 4-day tour to Vancouver Island. It was ultra fun. I think the plan was to get a record to sell before we go on tour, and we never really got there.

Plus they piss on my duvet when I leave them for too long.

Channels 3×4 play Glory Days this Saturday, January 16th at The Biltmore Cabaret – 11pm – 2am. Special thanks to Steve Louie for the excellent photograph.