Cross-Pollination in St. Catharines

By Taylor Elliott

July 28, 2023

On July 8th 2023, local artist collective, music label, and art organizers, Routine Exploits, celebrated their first music festival in St Catharines. Known as Cross-Pollination, it consisted of 13 acts across 2 different venues and 4 different stages. Featuring a wide range of musical styles, such as indie pop, sludge metal, ambient, drum and bass and more, Cross -Pollination appealed to casual concertgoers as much as it appealed to those with experimental interests. Hosted at both the Niagara Artist Center and Archives Wine and Spirits, with appearances from Isaac Allison, Twelvespot, The Ferns, Pulvil, Zero Tolerance, Chub, The Dwindles, August Yours Truly, Sunshine Express, Mushroom Valley, Gorox, Myra Maines, and Sulk Hogan, Cross Pollination was one of St Catherine's largest alternative music events ever seen.

It even came with sponsorship from Beechwood Donuts, a monumental victory for the event. A sponsorship paid for many of the expenses of putting everything together, allowing more money to go towards the artists that contributed and further facilitating more events like this to come.

With the stage bathed in multicoloured light and adorned with paper flowers, I watched from the side of the room as Sunshine Express played to a room at max capacity. Beechwood donut in hand, I wondered about how this came to be. Last year I didn’t go to anything, I was hardly involved at all in community events, and this year I had been to at least five of these. It felt good to be a part of something. I looked out at the many fans in the audience and saw that they were not only present but actively engaged with the material. People were dancing, moshing, and some even dressed up for the occasion.

While tickets were planned to be sold at the door, all available tickets were sold for the event beforehand. As MattUU explains in an Instagram caption, "We had no idea how it would turn out", but "It was a success. A real, honest-to-god, at-capacity SOLD OUT success. We survived. We thrived. The new St Catharine's alternative scene is alive and real. And there's more to come."

Preceding the event, members MattUU and Half Decent Heart were interviewed on YourNiagaraTV, which can be found here:

https://youtu.be/bNLh3xA-4kM

There is much to be said about the interest that Routine Exploits has sparked in the local music scene in Niagara. Often in partnership with the NAC, live events have been hosted almost every month, varying in scale, performers, and theme, providing a constantly shifting and never-boring atmosphere for anyone interested to participate in. Much of what Routine Exploits sets out to do has to do with the idea of participation; aside from music events, there have also been interactive games that act as excellent ways to meet and connect with others.

The mission statement is to involve the artists who already work in the area and showcase their work. They’ve shown that if you have a vision, it’s possible to make it a reality.

Previous Routine Exploits events from 2023 alone include:

Survive/Ascend - An immersive, large-scale social game

Battleship - A custom-built battleship game expansion suitable for playing en masse

Buddy System - A night of music making where musicians and nonmusicians alike were encouraged to team up to allow for teaching and learning together

Battleship 2 - A sequel event where the game was refined and expanded even further

And more music performance events, such as

Age of Renascence

Judgement Day

Olympius Maxiumus Nouveau

Routine Entropy

The title for the event, Cross Pollination, alludes to the idea of artists exchanging ideas with one another, that through sharing their art something more significant in the community can be created. Events like this foster a more powerful creative interest, and that's what's so special about going out and making these things happen. As we support each other and the arts, something new grows.

See you at the next show.