Project Nowhere Round Three: The Best of Toronto's Underground Music Scene
Photo by Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter
Toronto’s Project Nowhere music festival returned to the city’s west end for its third edition, and we were more than happy to hop on a train to attend—it's now a yearly tradition.
The festival's multi-venue format spanned six spaces along Dundas West from October 2nd to 4th, including Nineteen Seventy Eight (Expo Vintage Outlet), St. Anne's Parish, The Garrison, The Baby G, BSMT254, and Hank's Liquor, with 3-day passes and an excellent festival app/guide available to anyone who wanted to make the most out of the experience. In addition to providing the festival schedule, the app also included food and shopping recommendations of all kinds along the Dundas West strip, even throwing in a few discounts at select stores. Developed by a fan of the festival who attended from out west, the app helped to support the area's independent business owners alongside the Project Nowhere’s buzzing lineup.
Night One
This year, we had the honour of co-presenting one the opening night shows, featuring Montreal’s own 2025 Polaris Prize short-listers Ribbon Skirt, Hawaii-bound rocker Gus Englehorn, and Toronto twee electronica outfit cootie catcher. The venue itself, Nineteen Seventy Eight, was unique in that it's usually a by-the-pound thrift store, but all of the racks and tables were pushed to the back up against a chain link fence, making space for an on-the-floor stage. Enhanced with colourful lighting and live visuals of the bands performing in real time, the room was packed to the brim from start to finish with eager music lovers.
The night kicked off with hometown heroes cootie catcher, whose kooky musings on the growing pains of daily life could be plucked straight from the Juno soundtrack. The four-piece tightly delivered earworms from their recently released album Shy at first, with each member exchanging encouraging glances as they ventured into performing new material. Leading up to the festival, we interviewed cootie catcher members Nolan and Anita about their affinity for Project Nowhere and what’s on the horizon from the band after their last tour.
Building on this musical trust fall, Gus Englehorn took the stage, accompanied by his wife and bandmate Estée Prada. Having caught the duo earlier on this tour in Gaspésie, their Project Nowhere performance felt more intimate, with the audience hanging on attentively to Englehorn’s folkloric lyrics. Leading us through the tales of Englehorn’s latest offering The Hornbook, the pair’s tender take on their garage rock repertoire was a welcomed easing-in to the festival weekend ahead.
Ribbon Skirt, by Malaika Astorga
Ribbon Skirt tied the bow on the Also Cool Project Nowhere showcase with their laser focused, newfound grit. Falling on the eve of their Pensacola EP release, the band was fully charged and maneuvered poetically about the former autobody garage floor as if they were back on stage at Massey Hall for the Polaris Prize. Zigzagging amongst her bandmates and into the crowd, singer-guitarist Tashiina Buswa jumped up and down with fans, excitedly singing the lyrics of “Off Rez” and “Look What You Did” face to face. Having followed the band since day one, our hearts were full when Ribbon Skirt were summoned back for an encore, performing a lively cover of “New Town” by Scottish post-punk band Life Without Buildings to a thrilled audience of listeners old and new.
Miserable Weekend by Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter
Night Two
Saturday’s events began at St. Anne's Parish, where the setting sun offered respite from the season's final heatwave. Now the home base of music presenting non-profit Wavelength, the decommissioned church's reimagined hall is a breathtaking venue. The Dali-esque psychedelic projections of Oscillitarium were a signature backdrop throughout the weekend, bubbling like the wax of a lava lamp in between the stage's rounded mouldings and high ceilings.
Opening the night, Toronto's own Miserable Weekend filled the room with their new-wave flavour. Wearing matching black and red ensembles with handkerchiefs around their necks, the band's take on Suicide's "Rocket USA" was a standout, with singer Cecil Stehelin gyrating as if powered by an electric pogo stick.
New Chance by Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter
From St. Anne's, we made our way to BSMT254. Below soft, blue-hued lights, Toronto multidisciplinary artist New Chance and her collaborator, Johnny Spence, led the attentive crowd into a hypnagogic state. Between New Chance's glossy voice and the rich sustain of Spence's synths, the live renditions of New Chance's latest album, A Rock Unsteady, are akin to a performance one could imagine in the Road House from David Lynch's Twin Peaks.
Freak Heat Waves by Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter
The final acts of night two performed down the block at The Garrison. It was like no time had passed since we last saw Victoria, British Columbia duo Freak Heat Waves when they took the stage. Effortlessly cool, the pair's bubbly dub jams kept the crowd satiated (and moving!) in anticipation of New York’s james K. In a flash, The Garrison felt like a tin of sardines as james K took the stage. Accompanying her arresting falsetto, K’s delicate, liquid soundscapes submerged the crowd into a spellbound state. Thanks to the stunning rendition of james K’s newest album Friend, it was as if we all felt we could take a much needed, collective breath that night.
james K by Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter
Night Three
Night three started off outside the tour van of Atlanta dark disco outfit CDSM (video interview coming soon). Along with the band, we piled into Nineteen Seventy Eight upon their recommendation to catch Columbus Ohio punk band DANA. The venue had transformed since we had last been there, clearing the retail floor all the way to the back. The stage was now on top of a half pipe skate ramp, which made room for a much larger audience. DANA were fiercely energetic to the point of blowing the power briefly—effectively warming up the stage for CDSM.
DANA by Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter
After their set, we hopped on the streetcar to head down to St. Anne's to catch the next show. We made it just in time to hear the end of Toronto’s Luge. The band of doom angels nearly blew the roof off the church with their angular, snakes and ladders sound.
Her New Knife by Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter
Up next were Philadelphia's Her New Knife, who were one of our favourite discoveries at the festival. The band certainly lived up to our sonic hopes and dreams with a perfect shoegaze whirlwind of sound. Just as their name evokes, the band conjures the feeling of a sheath being drawn—metallic and alluring—yet somehow warm and familiar. The band’s performance was a welcomed experience for those of us too young to have come up with Duster and Sonic Youth in their heyday. We caught up with Her New Knife after their set for a video interview in the church parking lot—coming soon to our YouTube channel. Afterwards, we caught the tail-end of Water From Your Eyes’ set, who played tracks from both their new album It’s A Beautiful Place, and classics like “Out There,” from their 2023 album Everyone’s Crush. Shimmering, vulnerable, and unafraid to speak out on the atrocities happening back home, the band had us hooked on their every word, despite their signature nonchalant delivery.
Water From Your Eyes by Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter
We closed out our Project Nowhere weekend with a performance from one of the festival's underground heavy hitters (literally). Making haste from St. Anne's, we descended into percussive fervour thanks to the jaw-dropping talents of Expensive $hit (AKA Paul Quattrone of beloved California garage band Osees). A balancing act between acoustic drums, vintage electronic drum pads, samplers and a spread of distortion and delay guitar pedals, Quattrone had BSMT254 locked into his rhythmic trance.
Paul Quattrone by Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter
Heading back to our respective cities (Ottawa and Montreal), we couldn’t help but mutually gush over how much fun the festival had been. Project Nowhere truly encapsulates the punk spirit of Toronto, proving for a third year in a row that D.I.Y. culture is alive and well.
We’ll definitely be at next year’s edition, and we hope to catch you there, but in the meantime keep an eye out for our upcoming video interviews, which will be available on our YouTube.
