Film | Art
 Music makes my soul sing. Ever since I can remember, music was my means
of dealing with life. I don't know if any of you have experienced this but whenever I feel
down I can put some tunes on that will either bring me out of it or make me feel like I'm not
alone. Or when I feel like I'm full of energy, I put on some tunes and dance my heart out.
I started writing songs, now I realize, to help me deal with life and the injustices it
sometimes brings. I was lucky enough, about 10 years ago, to write full time for about a year. My dream
at the time was to have a successful rock band.
 My first real band started when I happened to be in a music store looking at some guitar amps.
There was a guy there that was playing around with an electric guitar. I liked what Oscar was doing. We struck up a
conversation and he told me that his brother, Brian, was a bass player. We started by jamming at his mothers apartment and
actively looked for a drummer. We found Brennan.
 Since we now had a drummer we had to find a jam space, which we did at Yonge and Wellesley. We had
lots of fun. Unfortunately, the dynamics of the band caused it's demise and we broke up before we even had our first gig.
The drummer and I went out searching for guitar players and I ended up hooking up with another talented
singer/songwriter, Jason. Jason and I played a couple of times at a coffee house and at a jam night at Lee's Palace (the one and only
time I played there. But, alas, this too did not last very long.
I then ended up hooking up with various guitar players but nothing came from any of them. I recorded a song
in a professional studio, in order to submit it to a song contest that CFNY was having. It was such a great
experience. I hired a whole bunch of musicians and a producer. Unfortunately, the producer and I didn't see eye to eye and in the
end he stiffed me for the copy of my recording.
My lucky break, of sorts, came when I met up with Peter. He was responding to an ad I had placed in the Now magazine.
We met at a coffee shop and he heard some of the songs I had written and he told me about a guitar player that was really good. I then met
Shel and he and I just really clicked in terms of music. We decided to find a drummer and we found him in the form of Phil. And
we finally topped it off with a great bass player, Jenn. Together we formed Machu Picchu. It was a great band. We really clicked together
musically.
We played out first gig opening up for a band that Phil was friends with at the Stratengers. It was a little bar in the east
end of Toronto. The first gig was the most awesome experience I had ever had. It was absolutely fantastic. After that, we played many venues, one of
which was the Generator, right across the nut house on Queen Street West, in Toronto. The sound guy and the bartender were really impressed
with us and told the owner. He kind of took us underneath his wing and set us up with a couple of bands. It was a great time but alas it
did not last forever. Unfortunately, we had problems. Like any other band, there is always a question of dynamics and although, we could all
handle some of the frustrations we felt, the question of money broke the band up in the end. Shel and I had a huge falling out with regards to
who would get what kind of portion of the money we would get for songwriting. It was so bad that I ended up kicking him out of the band. We even
managed to get various producers interested in our band, but once Shel was out of the picture, it was really no use. We couldn't find a guitar
player that would be able to match his creativity let alone what he played on the songs. So, in 1999, after a little over a year, the band fell
apart.
I was completely devastated by the outcome. We all truly believed that our band had potential to go all the way to the top.
It's hard to find people that were all on the same page with regards to long-term goals. I took about 2 1/2 years to get over it.
Luckily, Shel and I have resolved out differences and we are actually playing again, with Phil. We are actively trying to get a
bass player. Our plans are basically the same, except for mine. I hope to be able to play again and record but my ultimate plan is to use some
of our songs for the films that I am and will be making in the future.
In the meantime, I would like to post some of the songs I've written on this site. It's going to take a while but keep an eye out for it. :-)
2005 Update
Sadly, we all parted ways in 2004, but I'm happy to say that I've
pursued music through my films. I've written music for all of my shorts in 2004. I also
began co-hosting an internet radio show with by best friend Val, called Frequency. You
can hear me every Saturday night at 7pm Eastern Standard Time at natratio.com.
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