[This is written more for students than anything else, for those who are faced with endless learning curves and the task of finding their way in this world as independent artists]
I'll start by saying that participating for 5 years in the Pat Turcotte music program at Lockerby Composite School immeasurably enriched my secondary school experience - and life since then - and has had much relevance and impact on my current career. However, due to the calibre of musicianship in the Lockerby band I had a pretty sober impression of my own musical talents and therefore ruled out making a career for myself in music! I dabbled in electronic engineering and then sciences at university but these subjects could not hold my attention nearly as well as the various bands I happened to join during this period. A couple of years after leaving Lockerby Composite School I developed a minor physical ailment that caused me to make an appointment with a doctor who, rather than prescribing pills or ointment, suggested I take music more seriously! Synchronistically, on the way home from the appointment I heard a radio ad for an Audio Engineering course. That was it! I registered immediately - and my skin condition healed. Hallelujah!
So I set off to Trebas Institute of Recording Arts for two fun and fulfilling years in Ottawa. My teachers turned out to excellent and professionally engaged - so I absorbed as much as I could. I got a chance to see what “the biz” was really like since my teachers started employing me for independent recording sessions when they were short-handed. I was consistently at the top of my class although there were at least a couple of gifted students who introduced me to different areas of music and artistry.
Upon graduation I gained employment at Brock Sound Productions in Toronto - owned by Sylvia Tyson's brother, Brock Fricker. Brock was a bit of gadget-hound and the equipment was really top-notch. We undertook album production as well as soundtracks for industrial video - and, frankly, almost anything else. Brock had his fingers in everything - a very driven and talented guy. Computers and MIDI were then just coming on the scene and Brock was all over it. He put me to work writing music for his publishing company while learning this latest technology and I became a sort of “MIDI engineer” for Brock Sound’s various projects. This invariably lead to arranging and music production and within a short time at the studio I had gained a number of skills and had even started composing in synchronization with video. I also developed a database for their accounts, billing and payments - learning something of the “other side” of the business as I did so.
It was an incredible time in many ways, but I was young and restless. It had been a wonderful learning experience and Brock was very generous with his knowledge, support and the opportunities he put before me and allowed me to pursue independently. But after two years I was feeling a bit stuck in a rut and was obviously frustrated. One evening Brock sat me down and suggested I branch out on my own - suggesting I freelance and take producing more seriously. He offered me a special rate for my independent projects - allowing me a decent shot at making a go of it. So my employment came to an end and I was faced with trying to make a go of it as a freelancer!
Instant reality check! Finding freelance gigs was hard work - although I did have some connections including Kevin Turcotte & Reg Schwager from Lockerby who had become established as professional musicians. I managed to keep making recordings with my own growing collection of gear - some paying gigs but quite a few free “demos”. I set up an evening project studio in the basement of a daytime business (very quiet at night!) where I was actually able to complete a few indie soundtrack projects. I also did anything remotely related to make money including setting up AV equipment for conferences - which also gave an interesting view into other professional worlds. It was all pretty industrial and I desperately wanted to connect with people who were creating more interesting work.
Just about then, a friend spotted a small ad in Mix Magazine and brought it to my attention. The ad was placed by the Banff Centre of the Arts seeking applicants for their "Audio Associate Program". A Masters degree in Recording Arts or "equivalent experience" was required. Well, I felt I had some gall applying for the position - but I had no shame and nothing to lose. I sent off the application hopefully but imagining the chances of success to be pretty slim, I put it out of my mind. I dropped in on a friend who was studying Tarot and for a lark she did a reading for me. The first card I turned up was The Fool. The Fool’s card depicts a sunny scene of a fellow with his belongings on a stick over his shoulder gazing up at the sky while sallying forth and seemingly stepping off the edge of a mountainous precipice into space. She said, “Wow, it looks like you’re going to the Rockies!”.
To my utter amazement, my application was successful! I later learned the BCFA had never accepted an applicant with less than a graduate degree, but at this time the Media Arts department was specifically looking for someone familiar with music, recording, computers and audio synchronization for film and video. Lucking thing. So off I went at the outbreak of Desert Storm (Jan 1991) for a 3 month term at the BCFA little knowing that I would remain there for two full years.
Whatever I thought I had learned about music, audio and engineering up to this point was about to be trounced by all that I was exposed to at the Banff Centre. I was essentially handed the keys to the main studio, shown the bookshelf of technical manuals, and given the responsibility of learning how to operate all the equipment and the studio itself as well as help resident artists and filmmakers with technical, strategic and artistic aspects of their specific projects. I did have lots of help and encouragement from staff and my fellow Audio Associates. It was a steep, fertile and productive learning curve. My very first recording session involved a composer, librettist, dramaturge, 2 directors, 3 producers, 12 opera singers - and an interactive tower of MIDI electronics. It was harrowing to say the least... at least I had an assistant (who was more learned than I - essentially showing me the ropes, and she now heads the department) but it was very... challenging. I have a feeling it might have been some kind of hazing ritual. In any case, surviving that session opened the doors to a world of artistic collaboration which I had been longing for.
The Banff Centre provided lodging, meals, and a small stipend. Between recording sessions and production meetings I went skiing and hiking in the mountains. The 3 months flew by - and, though I had learned much and met so many interesting artists, it was disappointing to be leaving so soon. However, to my great surprise and joy I was asked if I would return for the next 3 month session. YES! My contract was renewed but I had a month off (without lodgings, meals or pay) before the next round of residencies commenced. In fact my contract was continually renewed and so it went like this... 3 months on, 1 month off. Between terms I often returned to Toronto to work on various projects - sometimes continuing work started in Banff. It was a very fruitful time although I wasn’t making quite enough to balance the books. In a lot of ways the Audio Associate program was very much like graduate school for me. Although I was financially poor, it was an incredibly rich experience.
After several “terms” as an Audio Associate at the Banff Centre I was still enjoying myself immensely. But reality was calling and I had to prove to myself that I could make a career as a freelance artist - so I turned down the next invitation to stay on - and returned to Toronto
As it happens, another Torontonian, Jan Levis, was selected to fill my vacated position. Jan was happy to connect me with all his soon-to-be abandoned music clients in Toronto - and so we did a switcheroo. I moved back to the big city and started freelancing and have been working independently ever since. One of Jan’s ex-clients was Laurel MacDonald who had written some very fine music for a CD she had planned to record with him. She took me for a “test drive” on another gig before accepting me as her producer - then in the process of recording her critically acclaimed album, Kiss Closed My Eyes, we fell in love and have been together ever since. Laurel was later signed to BMG and we toured (I played drums and Toob) with Ashley McIsaac - who was an incredible performer and, perhaps defying common perception, a perfect gentleman and genial host throughout the tour. We also recorded several albums for Gaelic singer Mary Jane Lamond who had co-written Ashley’s big hit “Sleepy Maggie”.
Paula Fairfield whom I had met at the Banff Centre and whom I consider a mentor (she taught me everything I know about trouble-shooting, synchronization and film sound design), introduced me to Toronto’s Charles Street Video artist-run video production centre which had an audio editing and mixing suite I could rent cheaply as a member co-op. This allowed me to operate as an engineer and composer for film & video - and of course I met and worked with many interesting artists who were CSV members for the same reasons I was - access to equipment! This was in the days before computers and software largely obviated the expensive machinery and infrastructure required for video and audio post production. There was a lot of exciting stuff happening at CSV and due to my involvement I was elected to the board of directors (which was quite a dramatic learning experience itself). I was also beginning to receive modern dance sound & music commissions largely through my fellowship with the artist John Oswald who is an icon of the modern dance scene and with whom I first collaborated at the Banff Centre. John also employed me to work on his exciting and experimental Plunderphonics recording projects as audio engineer, composer, researcher and sonographist. Later on he would bring me in as a collaborator and sound technology specialist in some rather monumental art installations for the Austrian Museum of Applied Arts and the Royal Museum of Ontario. He also introduced me to Christopher House with whom I have had a long and creative partnership, producing scores for 10 major modern dance works.
And so it goes. I’ve spent the last 17 years producing CDs, composing music for docs, dramas, art installations, modern dance & theatre, teaching and collaborating as a technical designer in various projects. It has been an ongoing education and although I left school over 20 years ago, it was upon leaving that the really serious course of study commenced. I hope I never graduate.
my website:
Awards:
CARAS Scholarship - 1991-1992 - Banff Centre for the Arts - audio associate
Juno Award - 1996 - best Jazz recording (NoJo) - engineer
Gemini Award - 2003 - best original music (Year of the Lion) - composer (with Laurel MacDonald)
Golden Sheaf Award - 2004 - best original music (Continuous Journey) - composer/sound designer
Echoes Radio - 2005 - album of the year (Laurel MacDonald) - producer, co-composer
East Coast Music Awards - 2006 - best solo album (Mary Jane Lamond) - producer, arranger
Dora Mavor Moore Award - 2007 - outstanding music (Timecode Break) - composer