Past Self - Playing Terminus Friday, July 24

For more than a decade, Calgary's Terminus Festival, taking place July 23-26, has become one of Canada's most reliable grounds for underground electronic, industrial, post-punk and dark wave music. Each summer, Dickens brings in acts that the city would otherwise rarely have the opportunity to see live, welcoming artists from across Europe and North America long before many of them move to major festival stages and sold-out headline tours.

This year's edition is no exception. Alongside pioneering names that helped define industrial and electronic music, Terminus welcomes artists from Ireland, the United Kingdom, Austria, California, Las Vegas and beyond—many making their Calgary debuts. It's an ambitious feat for an independent festival operating far from the traditional touring circuits, but one that founder Chris Hewitt has spent years refining. The payoff has become increasingly obvious.

"I think we're at a stage now where there's definitely groups of people that think, 'Let's just go because we don't know what we're going to see, but it's very possible we're going to see something that in a few years' time is going to be huge,'" Hewitt explains. "Everybody loves to say they saw somebody when they were playing a small club before they got big."

That philosophy has transformed Terminus into a discovery platform where audiences routinely stumble upon artists months or years before they break into wider popularity. "These are my best guesses every year in terms of what's going to be cool and fun, as well as what actually might be the direction of music coming up," Hewitt says. "I think they've been pretty good guesses so far."

The artists Terminus saw first

Photo credit: Nathaniel Jerome

Boy Harsher

No success story better illustrates Terminus' eye for emerging talent than Boy Harsher.

When the duo appeared at Terminus in 2018, they occupied an upper-middle slot on the lineup and had recently released their acclaimed Country Girl EP. Today, they're among the defining acts of modern darkwave, playing festivals and venues that have long outgrown the intimate confines of Dickens.

"I was pretty confident that's the way they were going to go," Hewitt recalls. "Skip to just after the pandemic and they're about the biggest band going in North America right now." Boy Harsher will be releasing a new album this fall and continue to expand their cinematic ambitions, as they are set to make their debut feature film, ‘The Lonely Woman’, starring Chloë Sevigny, FKA twigs, and Sturgill Simpson.

"There have been many, many, many Boy Harsher clones since then," Hewitt laughs. "That whole darkwave scene really took a pretty big turn after that point."

HEALTH

By the time HEALTH arrived at Terminus in 2019, they were already one of the festival's biggest bookings, but nowhere near the global force they would eventually become. Since then, the Los Angeles industrial-rock outfit has become one of the genre's biggest crossover success stories, selling out major venues while collaborating with everyone from Nine Inch Nails to Lamb of God and contributing to blockbuster video game soundtracks.

"There was a time before you knew acts like HEALTH or Sacred Skin was one of your favourite bands," he says. "You didn't know until you came to Terminus. And HEALTH are probably the biggest band now that we've ever had," Hewitt says.

TR/ST

Robert Alfons' TR/ST arrived at Terminus during a creative high point, but his reputation has only continued to grow through anniversary tours and the enduring influence of his early catalogue.

"TR/ST was peak for their output at that time," Hewitt says. "He's become almost like a legacy act, but faster than one should become a legacy act."

Looking back, the performance remains memorable not only for Alfons' commanding stage presence, but for the chemistry of the full band lineup.

"I love a real drummer with electronic music," Hewitt says. "You can't beat that."

Twin Tribes

Twin Tribes represent another example of Terminus' determination to secure artists before demand explodes.

Hewitt spent years attempting to bring the Texas duo to Calgary before immigration circumstances finally made the booking possible in 2025. Almost immediately after their Terminus appearance, the band's profile accelerated through major festivals like SXSW and increasingly prominent tour slots across North America, exactly the kind of trajectory Hewitt hopes to identify every year.

The next wave starts here

YARD

If there's one act Hewitt believes embodies the future of underground electronic music, it's Dublin trio YARD. "They were just about the top of my list this year," he says.

Booking the group wasn't simple. Flying multiple musicians across the Atlantic presented a significant financial hurdle, and the festival was prepared to announce its lineup before knowing whether YARD could make it. "I wanted this enough that I was willing to announce Terminus in its entirety and then literally change the poster if everything worked out," he says.

For Hewitt, YARD represents a creative shift already emerging across Ireland. "YARD, to me, is part of a new thing that is happening," he explains. "I'm really looking for something new... and it does feel like YARD is doing that."

OWLS

YARD won't be Ireland's only representatives this year. OWLS will perform immediately before YARD, creating what Hewitt affectionately calls "our Irish section."

"They're both quite excited about that little bond," he says. "They're going to be across the world playing in the same room, back-to-back, representing a country that most people wouldn't necessarily associate with this kind of music."

For Hewitt, it's another indication that Ireland has quietly become one of the most exciting creative hotspots in heavy electronic music.

Soft Vein

Among the North American artists on this year's lineup, Hewitt believes Soft Vein could be one of the festival's biggest future success stories. The California-based darkwave solo project of musician Justin Chamberlain is currently signed to Artoffact Records, home to favourites (and Terminus alumni) like ULTRA SUNN, ACTORS, and Madeline Goldstein.

"New tracks from Soft Vein feel to me like they could jump genres," he says. "Maybe end up getting pretty big in the synth-indie world as well."

TIFFADELIC

Detroit's Tiffadelic brings a distinctly hypnotic edge to this year's Terminus lineup. Operating at the intersection of post-punk, darkwave, and icy synth textures, Tiffadelic pairs haunting vocals with an enigmatic live presence, often taking the stage in a striking nun's habit. Her latest single, "There She Go," released earlier this month, is an ideal entry point—melding for festivalgoers looking to discover a compelling new voice in the modern darkwave landscape — Tiffadelic is one to arrive early for.

Past Self

Past Self, a k-goth band from Las Vegas, Nevada, has similarly caught Hewitt's attention as an artist with significant momentum. In fact, Hewitt describes the project as "red alert territory" when discussing artists he absolutely had to secure for this year's festival.

That willingness to trust instinct has become one of Terminus' defining characteristics. While many festival-goers initially arrive hoping to see one or two familiar names, Hewitt believes the festival's greatest value lies in the artists audiences haven't heard yet.

That philosophy perhaps best explains why Terminus has continued to thrive after thirteen years. Rather than chasing artists after they've become obvious choices, the festival has built its identity around curiosity, bringing together pioneering legends, contemporary innovators and tomorrow's headliners under one roof.

For fans willing to take that leap of faith, history suggests there's a good chance they'll leave Dickens having witnessed the next Boy Harsher, HEALTH or Twin Tribes before the rest of the world catches up.

For more information and tickets, visit https://terminus-festival.com.

Terminus Festival has built its reputation on Discovery and tomorrow's headliners