Grimposium Biographies 3 March

Grimposium April 11-12, 2014

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Dan Seagrave Born in Worksop U.K in 1970, and growing up predominantly in the village of Ravenshead. The close proximity to the City of Nottingham provided an experience of both rural and urban life for Dan. Schooled in the neighbouring coal mining village of Rainworth during the decline of the industry. The time spent there made little positive impact. Nonetheless, he continued to work diligently at home on his art. At age 17 He produced an album cover for a local thrash metal band who landed an indie deal. As more commissions followed, these albums found their way onto the desks of other Record companies, most notably Roadrunner Records in New York. Dan was increasingly being commissioned to create works for the growing Death Metal music revolution at its core era. From 1990 he began to spend time in Canada, making friends in Toronto, eventually gaining residence status for the country. Aside from commissions for bands, Dan works on his own personal projects, which can be a time consuming process, spending up to a year on some paintings. He often works in a meticulous style to convey epic scenes such as with the Temple series. Evoking themes of greed, isolation, depersonalization, and evolution. In recent years Dan has been working with the moving image and visual effects. http://www.danseagrave.com/ Nelson Varas-Diaz Nelson Varas-Daz, Ph.D., is a Social Psychologist and Professor at the University of Puerto Rico. Varas-Dazs work on social stigma and communal identities has appeared in the Interamerican Journal of Psychology, Qualitative Health Research, American Journal of Community Psychology, AIDS Education & Prevention, Qualitative Report, and Global Public Health. His research has focused on the social stigmatization of disease (i.e. HIV/AIDS, addiction), marginalized groups (i.e. transgender individuals) and cultural practices (i.e. metal music, religion). Dr. Varas-Daz is currently the principal investigator for the first systematic study of the heavy metal scene in the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico. Publication stemming from the study will appear in press this year in the International Journal of Community Music and the edited book "Hardcore, Punk, and Other Junk: Aggressive Sounds in Contemporary Music". Email: [email protected]


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Ian Campbell Natif de Rouyn-Noranda, o j'ai t le promoteur des shows Mtal de 1997 2002. Cette scne est une des plus vivante et dynamique au Qubec. J'ai tenu pendant 2 ans un fanzine, Extreme Radiophobia Magazine, qui traitait de la scne Mtal Qubcoise du dbut 2000. J'ai joint, en tant que chanteur, le groupe Montralais Neuraxis en 1999. J'ai enregistr avec eux 3 albums (A passage into forlorn - 2001, Truth beyond - 2003, Trilateral progression - 2005) et fait des tournes au Canada, USA, Europe, Japon. J'ai quitt le groupe en 2007 pour joindre Descend into nothingness avec qui j'ai sortis un EP (Empowerment of the oppressed) en 2007. J'ai quitt le milieu pour des raisons personnelles et mdicales. En 2012, j'ai recommenc booker les shows Rouyn-Noranda sous le nom Les Productions a Bche. Je collabore avec Flix B. Desfosss l'ouvrage qui traite de l'volution de la scne Mtal Qubcoise. Je suis tudiant l'Universit du Qubec en Abitibi-Tmiscamingue afin de devenir enseignant au Secondaire. Eliut Rivera-Segarra Eliut R. Rivera-Segarra is a Clinical Psychologist in training at the Ponce School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Puerto Rico. His research work focuses on the stigmatization of serious mental illnesses, the social determinants of health and heavy metal studies (HMS). His work on HMS has focused on communities, politics, identities, religion and moshing; and has been published in several peer-reviewed journals and edited books. He has also presented this work at national and international conferences such as the Heavy Metal and Popular Culture International Conference, the EMP Pop Conference, the Annual Convention of the Puerto Rican Psychological Association, among others. You can contact Eliut at: [email protected] and follow his work at: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Eliut_Rivera-Segarra


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Natalie Walschots Natalie Zina Walschots is a promiscuous wordsmith, cultural critic, poet and editor based in Toronto, Ontario. She regularly contributes to National Post, Quill & Quire, The Globe & Mail, Toronto Standard, Canada Arts Connect, Hellbound, About Heavy Metal, Angry Metal Guy, Game Dynamo, Torontoist and Exclaim!. Her work has also appeared recently in HuffPost Music Canada, NOW Magazine, broken pencil, This Magazine, Gameranx, Toronto Film Scene, The Coastal Spectator and The Walrus Blog. Natalie is the Reviews Editor of This Magazine, and the Section Editor of Aggressive Tendencies (Metal & Hardcore) in Exclaim! She is responsible for the weekly column about feminism and aggressive music, "Girls Don't Like Metal," hosted on Canada Arts Connect Magazine. She is known for her postcard-length, poetic album reviews, which have appeared in Hellbound and Toronto Standard. She is also a member of CWILA (an organization devoted to building equitable critical culture in Canada) and a member of the board for Meatlocker Editions. Natalie's second book of poetry, DOOM: Love Poems For Supervillains, was published by Insomniac Press in the Spring of 2012. Her first book, Thumbscrews, won the Robert Kroetsch Award for Innovative Poetry and was published by Snare Books in the Fall of 2007. Her poetry and fiction have recently been featured in Everything Is Fine, Little Brother Magazine, Joyland, Matrix, dead (g)end(er), Carousel, and broken pencil. Natalie earned her MA in English Literature and Creative writing from the University of Calgary. She writes about arts and culture, comic books, video games, combat sports, sadomasochism, feminism and difficult music. http://www.nataliezed.ca Twitter: @NatalieZed Sigrid Mendoza Sigrid Mendoza has an MA in Social Community Psychology from the University of Puerto Rico and is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in the same program. She works at the University of Puerto Rico in the Puerto Rico Heavy Metal Studies Project alongside Dr. Nelson Varas-Daz. She presented a paper in the Heavy Metal and Popular Culture Conference on traditional Latin American and Caribbean female norms and the heavy metal scene as a possible space to transgress these social norms. Her research work includes topics such as: gender dynamics and feminism, heavy metal studies, ethnography, social construction of sexuality and neo-tribal community theory. Contact: University of Puerto Rico, Center for Social Research, Ro Piedras Campus, P.O. Box 23345, San Juan, PR 00931-3345. Email: [email protected]


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Amelia Ishmael Amelia Ishmael is an independent writer, curator, and artist based in Chicago, IL. Her specialization is in visual arts transdisciplinary relations with Black Metal and experimental musics. Since 2003, Amelia has written for numerous international and regional arts and culture publications. She is currently an editor-in-chief at Helvete: a journal of black metal. To give experiential form to her research, Amelia curates video and film screenings and gallery exhibitions for venues across the US, Europe, and in print. They include the screenings "Prelude: The Breath of Charybdis" (2013), .blacK~SSStaTic_darK~fuZZZ_dOOm~glitCH. (2013), Black Thorns in the Black Box (2012), the journal portfolio "The night is no longer dead; it has a life of its own" (2013), and the internationally-recognized exhibition Black Thorns in the White Cube (2012). Her most recent exhibition is Charlemagne Palestines solo installation divinitusssanimalusssacrusssorganusss (2014). Amelia has been invited to speak on visual and aural arts at conferences and symposiums throughout the U.S. and Europe. Additionally, she has led college courses in Modern to Contemporary Art. Her accreditations include a Masters degree in Modern Art History, Theory, and Criticism after studies in Chicago, and a Bachelors degree in Fine Art after studies in Photography & New Media in Kansas City and New York. ameliaishmael.com [email protected] Image credit: Nadine Hilbert Osvaldo Gonzlez Originally from Bayamn, Puerto Rico, Osvaldo Gonzlez-Seplveda is a Clinical Psychology student as well as an awarded filmmaker. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the renowned Department of Drama of the University of Puerto Rico in 2003. In 2008 he received the award for Best National Short Film for his film The Dead Man by the San Juan Cinefiesta Film Festival at the Puerto Rico Museum of Art. In 2009, he completed his first fiction feature film entitled "Let Bygones" which premiered on the world famous Havana Film Festival and was praised by the critic. As a postgraduate Clinical Psychology Student in the Ponce School of Medicine an Health Sciences, he currently works as a research assistant for the Puerto Rico Heavy Metal Studies Project which, as a team effort, produced the documentary The Distorted Island.


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Vivek Venkatesh Dr. Vivek Venkatesh is Associate Dean of Academic Programs at the School of Graduate Studies and Associate Professor in the Department of Education at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec. Vivek's current collaborative research looks at the development of individual and social identities in the global extreme metal scene. Grimposium is Vivek's ode to the extreme metal scene - a ritual offering that Vivek is making to the men and women who define, redefine and stretch the artistic boundaries of what this niche scene has become. Grimposium features key members of the global extreme metal scene including filmmakers, musicians, journalists, visual artists, authors, creative writers, musicologists and academics. The event will feature film screenings, book launches, panel sessions, art exhibitions and much, much more. Stay grim, posers.

David Hall David Hall is a filmmaker, record label owner, publisher and professional troublemaker. After graduating from Concordia Universitys Film Production BFA program in 1999, he worked with producer Kevin Tierney for two years, wrote spec scripts and episodic television - via The Characters talent agency - and taught editing and post production at community college. Through his company, Handshake, Inc., (founded in 2008) he has produced videos and/or films for: Brutal Truth, Venom, Hail of Bullets, Jucifer, Woods of Ypres, Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Decibel magazine, Total F*cking Destruction, Thou, F*ck the Facts, Today is the Day, Righteous Pigs, Phil Anselmo, Rwake, Castle, Dragged into Sunlight, Wolves in the Throne Room, Pentagram, Church of Misery, Sigh and Bastard Noise. He has also produced, directed and edited three concert films shot at Maryland Deathfest, and published/released DTV, a novel by Andrew Bonazelli, and Extremity Retained: Notes from the Death Metal Underground, by Jason Netherton. He is currently in pre-production on a feature, narrative film, which will be scored by Luc Lemay of Gorguts, and has an exclusive distribution deal with Sony RED. David Hall lives in London, Ontario Canada with his wife, two children and vinyl collection.


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Dan Greening Joined speed-core band OCD in May 1988 OCD changed monikers to Necrosis in 1989, because OCD sounds

more punk, whereas Necrosis sounds more metal Changed name of band to Gomorrah in 1992, because there were

too many bands named Necrosis, then changed name to Cryptopsy when another band named Gomorrah came to light

Recorded demo and three albums with Cryptopsy, and contributed lyrics on two other albums

Left Crytopsy in April 2007, and became a private ESL instructor Graduated (with honours) from Concordia in August 2010, in

translation Joined Rage Nuclaire in July 2011, and recorded two albums on

the Season of Mist label

Jeff Podoshen Jeff Podoshen is Associate Professor and Chair of the department of Business, Organizations and Society at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, PA, USA. Jeffs area of research relates to dark consumption and dark tourism practice, and he often blends and bridges theory from a variety of disciplines (such as marketing, social psychology and sociology) in order to explain phenomena and build theory. One of the early pioneers of the use of netnography in social sciences research, Jeff utilizes a myriad of mixed method and cutting edge qualitative techniques to distill complex data into more easily defined categories that allows for greater introspection on specific subcultures. Jeff has been listening to extreme music since 1982. http://www.fandm.edu/jeffrey-podoshen https://www.facebook.com/jeff.podoshen


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Flix B. Desfosss Flix B. Desfosss is a journalist specialised in Qubecs music history. He just finished writing a book about Metal music history in Quebec (1964-1989), in collaboration with Ian Campbell, which will be out during the fall of 2014. He is known for his work with Radio-Canada/CBCs Bande part radio show/website, where he worked for 8 years. He also is a regular contributor to the PM radio show on ICI Radio-Canada Premire where he has been prensenting rare vinyl records from his collection since 2011. Among other things, he published a web project about Hardcore music history in Qubec, writes a blog named Vente de garage dedicated to 60s music history since 2008, he is co-founder and first researcher of Le Muse du rocknroll, and participated in a few television episodes of MusiMaxs music history show Les Annes. Jason Netherton Jason Netherton is a PhD student in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies at the University of Western Ontario. His research focuses on the production and consumption of media and information in contexts of social acceleration, speed, and immediacy. Additionally, he researches subcultural print history, primarily the DIY underground culture of punk rock and metal 'fanzines' of the 1980s and early 1990s. He is also the author of the forthcoming text Extremity Retained: Notes from the Death Metal Underground (2014). Additionally, he is the bassist, lyricist, and vocalist in the band Misery Index, which since 2001 has produced 5 full length albums. Twitter: @JasonIndex


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Albert Mudrian Albert Mudrian is the founder and editor in chief of Decibel Magazine, North Americas only monthly metal publication. This year marks the 10-year anniversary of the magazine, as well as his first book Choosing Death: The Improbable History of Death Metal and Grindcore, a work possessing a mercifully self-explanatory title. He thoroughly detests writing about himself in the third person. Duncan Schouten Duncan Schouten (b. 1983) is a Canadian composer and musician. His work draws upon a wide variety of styles, including electroacoustic, heavy metal, and jazz. He is currently pursuing a Doctorate in composition with Professor Philippe Leroux at McGill University, where his research is supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Canada Council for the Arts. His previous studies include a Master of Music at McGill University, where he studied with Professor Sean Ferguson, and both a Bachelor of Music and Diploma in Sonic Design from Carleton University, where he studied with Professors Deirdre Piper, James Wright and Michael Bussire. He is the recipient of several awards, including the SCI Student Commissioning Competition, the Robert Fleming Prize from the Canada Council for the Arts, a SOCAN Young Composers award, and the Graduating Medal in Music from Carleton University. His works have been performed by, among others, le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, Architek Percussion Quartet, lOrchestre de la francophonie, the McGill Wind Symphony, the McGill Percussion Ensemble, and the University at Buffalo Percussion Ensemble. His upcoming engagements include new works for the Sixtrum Percussion Ensemble and Ensemble DensitS. Website: https://soundcloud.com/duncan-schouten Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/duncan.schouten


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Zeynep Arsel Zeynep Arsel received her PhD from University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2007. Currently, she is Associate Professor of Marketing at John Molson School of Business, Concordia University and Distinguished Visiting Professor at Aalto University. Zeynep was the 2011 recipient of Petro Canada Young Innovator Award in the Strategic Research Cluster The Person and Society, and 2012 Sidney J. Levy Award. Zeyneps research investigates consumption, taste and the culture(s) of marketplace. Her work has been published in academic outlets such as the Journal of Consumer Research and Journal of Marketing but also was featured in popular press including the Harpers Magazine, Wall Street Journal, Globe and Mail, WIRED, Psychology Today, Montreal Gazette, Vancouver Sun, The Fader, Flavorwire, Yahoo News, numerous blogs and a music video by the Finnish electronica band The Cup. http://zeyneparsel.com/ Twitter @zeyneparsel Eric Smialek Eric Smialek is a doctoral candidate in musicology at McGill University where he is writing a dissertation that combines the study of fan discourses with close music analysis of extreme metal. He recently served as the graduate student representative of the Canadian branch of the International Society for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM-Canada) and has won their Peter Narvaez Memorial Student Paper Prize for the last three consecutive years. Eric is currently completing articles on musical expression in extreme metal vocals (for which this presentation is derived), self-exoticism in the music of Icelandic band Sigur Rs, and the role of music at hockey games to promote regional forms of nationalism. Prior to graduate school, Eric enjoyed a brief stint playing electric guitar, keyboards, and bass for death and black metal bands in Vancouver, BC. https://mcgill.academia.edu/EricSmialek


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David Perri David Perri, born and raised in Montreal, is a lawyer who has been a music journalist since the late 90s. David has contributed as a staff member and freelance writer to a wide variety of music magazines, newspapers and websites (including BW&BK, Canada's biggest metal magazine, and its online presence, BraveWords.com) and was the Editor-In-Chief of his university newspaper as well as the host of two specialty shows at campus radio. David majored in political science at the University of Western Ontario where he graduated as the top student in his program and subsequently attended McGill Universitys Faculty of Law where he attained degrees in both Common and Civil law. He then completed a Master's degree in Public Policy at Concordia University. David has worked at a multinational corporation as well as a record company/entertainment group, and practiced corporate law in Toronto. Along with noted metal journalist Martin Popoff, David is the co-author of The Collector's Guide To Heavy Metal Volume 4: The '00s, which was released by CG Publishing in 2011. He has attended over 500 concerts since 2000 and has conducted over 400 interviews in that same time span, including conversations with members and ex-members of thrash's Big Four (Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax) and just about every signed underground band to come out of Sweden, Norway and Finland during the '00s.

Kathryn Urbaniak Kathryn Urbaniak is a Research Associate and has an MA in Educational Technology from Concordia University. She graduated with a B.A. (Hons) in Business Studies from Robert Gordon University and P.G. Dip. in Information Technology from Stirling University. Her research interests include online behaviours and identity in relation to informal learning, and professional development and knowledge management within corporations. Her teaching experience includes teaching in 4 different countries and facilitating online learning with participants from more than 40 countries. In addition to research, she works as an instructional designer in Montreal and specializes in soft skills and systems training.


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Nathan Snaza Nathan Snaza is a literary theorist and educational philosopher at the University of Richmond where he teaches courses on modern literature in English, feminist and queer theory, vampires, and the politics of education. His current research focuses on posthumanist thought, education, and aesthetics and his writings have appeared in journals such as Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy, Angelaki, Symplok, Educational Researcher, and Journal for Critical Animal Studies. He is the co-editor of Posthumanism and Educational Research, which will be published later this year by Routledge. Since moving from icy Minnesota to sunny Virginia, he finds himself listening to less black metal and more sludge and doom. Jason Wallin Jason is Associate Professor of Media and Youth Culture Studies in Curriculum at the Faculty of Education at the University of Alberta, Canada, where he teaches courses in visual art, popular culture, and cultural curriculum theory. Jason is author of A Deleuzian Approach to Curriculum: Essays on a Pedagogical Life (Palgrave Macmillan), co-author of Arts-Based Research: A Critique and Proposal (with jan jagodzinski, Sense Publishers), co-editor of Educational, Psychological, and Behavioral Considerations in Niche Online Communities (with Vivek Venkatesh, Juan Carlos Castro, and Jason Lewis, IGI Press) and co-editor of Deleuze, Guattari, Politics and Education (with Matt Carlin, Bloomsbury). Jason is assistant editor for the Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy (Routledge) and reviews editor for Deleuze Studies (Edinburgh University Press).


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Filip Ivanovi Filip is an artist/musician who works in a variety of media that range from computer graphics to traditional art. He plays guitar and has done vocals in various bands, has recorded several albums, and has made guest appearances on some other music projects. He also lends his voice to video games, mostly monsters and mobs. With little encouragement in the development in his early artistic career, he fell into a discouraged depression; a pattern that he would fight against continually throughout his life. It was after almost abandoning art to become a history professor that he discovered the growing discipline of computer graphics which led him back into the art world. Over the next couple of years he both worked and studied in graphic design, 3D animation and Visual FX in movies. Filip mainly paints in oil, and paints subject matters often dealing with a dark personal angst, but with strong social awareness. Filip currently lives and works in Montreal as a Technical Lead artist in a video game company. Outside of work, he dedicates his time to his musical projects, paintings, illustrations and album artwork. www.flatbathtub.com

Grimposium Biographies 3 March

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