FROM THE ARCHIVES OF CASTRO'S LOUNGE
An ongoing webseries dedicated to profiling some of Toronto's best indie singer/songwriters.
2012 (ongoing)
Produced by Anthony Greene
Directed & Edited by Ken Simpson
Every now and again you hear of someone finding rare audio recordings in their attics or old film canisters containing obscure edits of cinematic classics. Hell, one guy even found a vintage Action Comics #1 in between the walls of a house he was renovating!
So the premise for this series (stylistically speaking) was something akin to that. We wanted these interviews to feel somewhat anachronistic, as though they had been pulled out of a mouldy cardboard box left to rot for decades in leaky basement.
This freed us up in terms of our aesthetic, since the majority of the episodes are shot with an iPhone using the 8mm app. As you'll see, the interviews themselves are very conversational in tone, nothing is scripted or pre-planned, and we show up to each session with only an iPhone and the H4N Zoom audio recorder.
For more info on how we make these videos check out this podcast with Toronto beer blogger, Chris Schryer.
EP. 01 - THE (UNTAMEABLE) RONNIE HAYWARD
Episode #1 features a conversation with the Rockabilly hall of famer Ronnie Hayward. Ronnie describes his adventures of touring around the world, gives us his opinion as to why Toronto is the best place to be if you're a musician and recalls a scary, violent encounter on East Hastings St. in Vancouver.
EP. 02 - JERRY LEGER'S SITUATION
At only 26 years of age, Jerry Leger has released four albums and received heavy praise for his bluesy/alt-country music. He talks with us about the need for a big ego when starting out as a musician, the benefits of having control over his recordings and the dangers of drinking too much oatmeal stout.
EP. 03 - BLUE VENUS A.K.A. ANDREA DE BOER
Andrea de Boer has gained quite a following playing weekly at Castro's Lounge. We sit down with Andrea on the 501 Queen streetcar and talk about what inspires her, the duplicitous tightrope of marketing oneself and the unhealthy nature of cynicism.
EP. 04 - ANDREW BARKER: AN OCCURRENCE AT LAKE VERNON
When he's not making waves with the genre-busting band Bruce Peninsula, Andrew records and performs with his band Lake Vernon Drowning. Andrew discusses his love for Twisted Sister, the lengthy process of finding his creative voice and recounts the harrowing incident that led to his band's name.
EP. 05 - LIVING THE BLUES WITH SUGAR BROWN
Sugar Brown delves deep into his Ohio roots and explains how his polarizing experiences in Chicago led him to teaching Marxist theory at the University of Toronto.
EP. 06 - MAKIN' IT WITH ALISTAIR CHRISTL
Alistair opens up about his parent's musical influence, the joy of being in a "bar band" and shares his insights on what "making it" really means.
THE POLITE REVIVAL OF BIG RUDE JAKE
Jake talks about how hitting rock bottom finally gave him the courage to start a band, how his on stage persona was ultimately holding him back and why his current musical incarnation is his most satisfactory yet. Also we're visited by some drunk teenagers!