Interview with Brock Jorgensen the filmmaker for “Stars Still Dying” - The Single Edit

I was lucky enough to meet Brock for the first time outside of my new apartment while in the stupor of school and new puppy life. I had brought Juno out for a pee, and Brock rolled up cool as a cucumber into the other tenant's parking spot. In an embarrassed daze I waved hi, probably with a bag of poop in my other hand… painfully self-aware that in my exhaustion nothing about me exuded “cool new friend” at that moment. But with true East Coast hospitality running through his veins, Brock was quick to be welcoming and kind, to hang for a patio beer, and to show me some of the most beautiful spots in New Brunswick. I am so lucky that he decided to take on shooting the music video for the single edit of “Stars Still Dying”. We squeezed it in a few days before I headed back to Alberta, surmounting each challenge bravely, and always focused on the end game; to tell the story at the crux of the song’s lyrics, which is both a reflection on life, and a letter of love to my father after he passed away. 

CLEA: You are a brilliant photographer, and videographer. What attracts you to working in the medium of video? 

BROCK: Honestly, I’ve always just loved telling stories visually. Creating a sense of emotion whether that be happiness or sadness, with light and music. I’m very big on natural light in my art. Using the environment around me to portray a sense of realism. It’s something I adapted a long time ago as a young filmmaker. There’s a sense of fulfillment for me, when I’m working on a project, seeing a story come to life that was once just a shot list on paper. It’s hard to explain sometimes, why you love what you do. I just love telling stories. 

I love the story of how we met, that we just happened to be neighbors for only four months, but in that short time we took a chance, and made a collaborative short film together. As an Albertan I was really excited to learn about various gorgeous shooting locations in New Brunswick first hand from an East Coaster. What was special for you about the locations where we shot? 

Being from the East Coast, there’s a wide variety of rural, hidden gems. When we discussed the look and feel of Stars, I felt New Brunswick had more than enough to offer. The majority of the locations were all from my hometown of Sussex, NB. It’s kind of funny actually, these places, the farmhouse at Brownsville, my parents house, were part of my childhood. It was very nostalgic to capture scenes that I actually took part in 20 years ago. 

We had a complete cast change right before we shot, and we were very lucky to have Mel and Bryson come on board as the last minute actors. Are there any particular moments or shots that made it into the music video that you love? 

Mel and Bryson, being a mother and son in real life, instantly gave a genuine feel to the onscreen chemistry, Bryson in particular who’d never done any sort of acting before. He understood when it was time to be happy, and he understood when it was time to calmly gaze on. It was easy to direct, in the sense that I would just ask them to hold each other.  You can feel their bond when you watch it. There were times we’d have Mel lying in bed, sick. I would look at Bryson through my monitor, and you could see the real concern in his face. I found that this connection brought that much more of an emotion to the climax of the music video when they’re walking through the field at sunset. 

I know you are a musician also, and you play with your band The Leftovers. What do you think music videos bring to a song? 

I learned a long time ago that music influences visuals in such a heavy way. It’s one thing to have a musician/band on screen, singing and playing. It’s another to have music guide a visual representation of someone's memories. I absolutely love coming up with shots that parallel the emotions of lyrics. It’s not something I get to do often. 

I felt I could tap into a different part of my creative side with this collaboration. I had to bring a story to life from scratch. It adds so much value to what the artist is trying to explain. It’s like reading a book, you make up the images of the characters and their surroundings in your head from the descriptions you are given. 

Your explanation of the “Stars Still Dying” lyrics, and its ties to your childhood, was like me reading your book, then getting to make up my own images to that story as I we went along. 

Brock Jorgensen can be reached on Instagram or by e-mail at brockjorgyatgmail.com

Interview with Latifa Pelletier-Ahmed ~ On our relationship with native plants

This week I spent some time chatting with Latifa Pelletier-Ahmed, a human I have always admired for having an intricately autonomous perspective of the world. She was gracious enough to send a short clip for the “Powerful Women” music video, and here we discuss our relationship with our immediate biological environment, as women, humans, and animals.

LATIFA: 

I hate having to describe myself to others, to be honest I always feel quite self conscious about it. I feel like I'm in this weird experience where I'm just trying to make the most of it. I'm trying to live as a decent human being in a world where a lot of weird stuff happens. 

There are a lot of obvious problems, but I think for me the environmental issues are really critical. I'm not perfect, I don't want to say everything I do is in alignment with that. I mean look at my plastic clothes, You know, many of us are in a transitional space, unable to live 100% sustainable in our lifestyles. I still drive a car, because it's a means to an end, and I need it to do the other things that I perceive as beneficial. So, you know, I am aware that what I do doesn’t always align with my values, and that I can be better, but I simply don’t have the financial capacity to purchase the most sustainable fuel efficient vehicle. Privilege can allow access to resources for sustainable ways of being so, you know, I do the best I can. 

So how would I describe myself? As someone who strives to be ethical, and strives to be better. I try to improve my understanding of myself, to be more patient with myself and more connected to others, and not just human beings. I think there's a real spiritual element to the depth of my being, and a sense of longing for a greater connection and purpose, and that is what drives me at the inner core.

CLEA:

One of my next questions was to ask you about the driving forces that motivate you within your work, so I am glad you just touched on that. Can we backtrack, so you can tell us about the kind of work you do?

LATIFA:   

Yeah! I have so many hats! It's hard to explain all the hats that I wear. 

I will start chronologically. 

I studied herbal medicine in London, I did a postgraduate degree, and I chose this field over becoming a naturopath, because I really wanted to actually work with plants. My previous degree was in botany, and I realized that I didn't just want to work in data collection; I wanted to understand plants as individual living beings, as sentient, and explore our relationship with them. 

Plants are massively important for our very existence as animals, for the functioning of the planet, period. I've always been really interested in wild edibles, and thinking beyond the colonized mindset of what we should be eating, and how we should subsist and interact with the land. Our general mindset around food is actually a very imposed perspective, and not really in line with the biological systems that actually exist around us, and their inherent value. 

I still practice herbal medicine a little bit privately. More recently, a hat I wear involves doing workshops and teaching people how to make medicines, or harvest medicines sustainably. I do plant walks where I talk about what things are, and what you can eat. I teach people how to use plants medicinally, how you identify the plant, how to harvest it, and how the plant works. 

CLEA: 

Once COVID has kind of cleared up, will you have more educational walks again? 

LATIFA:  

I'll probably do a couple this year, but only once a month. Times will be available on my website: www.latifasherbs.com

I also do public talks, I have one coming up, but it's centered around the Botanical Gardens in Vancouver, and very specific to people in Vancouver. 

So in previous years I would take people out to do foraging, but most of my energy goes into a newer business we have now, the plant nursery called ALCLA Native Plants, which we took over in 2019. So we have moved away from harvesting, and now provide options for people to grow in their gardens in sustainable ways. 

Unfortunately the educational walks, and owning a plant nursery, compete with each other, because prime growing season is an insane amount of work. We grow all the plants, planting all the seeds, caring for them, watering them, and do all the sales and marketing, as well as client relations. That's why I don't have capacity to do foraging anymore in June, even though that's the best time to forage in Alberta, at least for like, edible greens. 

CLEA: 

Who comes to see you at the nursery and for what kind of plants? 

LATIFA: 

Well we have almost 200 plants, most of them are native to Alberta, and we have a couple Saskatchewan natives also. 

We supply for home gardens, but also work with restoration and reclamation projects, and sometimes the scale is very very large. Gardens are a big one, school yards, community spaces, municipalities. 

This ties into the reasons we want to have native plants, we have reached pretty critical levels when it comes to environmental degradation. The Parkland ecoregion has only 5% of the original vegetation remaining. Temperate grasslands are considered the most endangered ecosystem on earth by many conservation agencies. Less than 20% of our grasslands are remaining in Alberta, and that equates to the third biggest piece in North America, of the Great Plains that are left. Less than 2% of this land is actually protected. It's still being plowed under all the time, and 75% of our endangered species are in the grassland. Right now there are massive declines in all wildlife. This decline is around 90% for many species, and we are talking about the pollinators, like butterflies, that people like, but also many more life forms. It's pretty significant environmental degradation…  So why should we plant native plants? Because we're on the edge of an ecological crisis, and this is something small that we can all do.

CLEA: 

Are you driven then, by fear, or by hope?

LATIFA:  

Hope, ya I think hope! For example the City of Calgary has a mandate now by 2025 to convert 30% of boulevard spaces and empty green spaces, and move away from turfgrass, which is not a native species, and has to be mowed and maintained and watered, which is expensive. 

People often have a mindless mindset, they don’t ask themselves, “do we actually need to have turfgrass over everything?”, they just think that's what they are supposed to do. Thankfully, this mindset is changing, we are seeing more people naturalize spaces with the hope of improving biodiversity, and helping to increase insect populations and bird populations. Also, native grasses and wildflowers can be considerably more attractive. 

Non native grasses like Kentucky Blue Grass or Smooth Brown, are not currently regulated as weeds in the province, even though they are very weedy and aggressive and threaten our grasslands. They aren’t regulated because they are economically significant. That’s the reality of our invasive species legislation. 

CLEA:

I guess that is part of why the education piece is so valuable, I'm sure people are constantly surprised by this information, for most people a front lawn would be something you grew up with and wouldn’t necessarily question. 

LATIFA: 

Yeah, absolutely.

CLEA: 

A lot of people’s work really centres on humans, but your work extends far beyond that into a relationship with the environment. Do you feel like you connect with that relationship through the lens of being a woman? 

LATIFA: 

What I have noticed over time is that I am way more connected to cycles, to seasons, than I was before. There are inherent bodily realities of having a uterus, that lend to feeling connected to nature. Even my own hormone regulation helps me to be aware of these external cycles, and in the business of plants I have to be quite connected. I have to know what temperature it is at night because that will dictate how things go with the plants. I don't get to rest until the winter. My life is very much intuitive, I need to sleep at night, and I have to be awake in the day for the plants. 

These are cycles that modern society tries to pretend are not important, but just like the plants, many of our hormones and internal cycles are regulated by this. We are still really connected to the earth, but we are pulled away by a conceptual idea of what it is to be human in the modern world. Being in a woman's body reminds you of that deeply embodied connection to our environment, and that this connection is alive and real. 

CLEA: 

You were kind enough to send a clip for the “Powerful Women” music video, thank you for that! What was your initial reaction to the track? 

LATIFA:

I really liked it. It was quite moving, I listened to it like 20 times over and over again. There was something very moving, moments when I felt quite touched by it. 

CLEA: 

Are there any women who you tap into for energy or who fuel the work you do? 

LATIFA:

Two women immediately come to my mind. Robin Wall Kimmerer who wrote “Braiding Sweetgrass”, and also Lee Maracle who is a Sto:lo author. Their work really inspires me, because decolonization is an important piece of the work that I do, we work to build good relationships with folks in Treaty Seven, in Alberta. This is happening slowly, and we can support restoration processes through plants and seeds. Although these authors write about different things, their words ring in my mind because there is a sense of ethics that is not always inherent in Western thinking. There is a genuine accountability, not just to yourself and your bank account, but to other living beings, and other ways of knowing, and other people. In my work I really want to honor those principles, I really want to honor the plant itself, and that traditional knowledge creates a framework which invites you into a reciprocal relationship with landscape. All of this adds a layer of depth to what I'm already trying to do, it feeds my desire to honor the landscape, as well as the plants that sustain and provide my livelihood.

www.latifasherbs.com

www.alclanativeplants.com

Interview with Selina & Cianna Renfrow

Selina and her 15 year old daughter Cianna submitted a short video clip to contribute to the music video for “Powerful Women”, set to be released March 30th, 2021. It was extremely refreshing to connect with them for an interview that was a fascinating dive into discussions of womanhood, and the shared and differing experiences between generations. I enjoyed every second of the interview and I hope you do too! 

CLEA: 

First question, really these were kind of designed for singular humans, but you can answer however works for you...  How would you describe yourself to others?

SELINA: 

I thought it would be fun if I described Cianna and she described me so... 

Cianna is an amazingly generous person. She's a great jiu jitsu athlete, very strong, while being quite teeny. She's a great student, and she wants to work in medicine, which is freakin awesome. I could have a doctor daughter!

CIANNA:

My mom (Selina) works really hard, and achieves whatever she decides to do. Even when things aren't working for her, she finds a way. She will make big decisions to change her life that might be hard in the moment, but will be good for us in the future, and that she can be proud of having worked towards. 

CLEA: 

I love that, and that you described each other! Very cool. 

Next question, are there any projects, or things that you've been a part of lately that you are passionate about? 

SELINA:  

So, back in the summer Cianna did the Girl Force Summer Program at the Women’s Centre, and previously I did the Women Lead program there. This was a really valuable experience because the Women's Center is amazing in Calgary, it's a really great place to learn about yourself, how to work in your community, and they teach young women and girls how to lead as well. 

Cianna was asked to participate in the equivalent of a Jane's Walk in Bridgeland, and then asked to speak about associated issues. She chose to talk about Calgary Transit, an issue I have also talked about before, for Vibrant Communities Calgary, regarding the barriers to accessing transit. For us, taking transit has been super expensive, and as a single parent I had to take transit all the time with her as a kid. We would commute all over Calgary, which is a huge city.

Now as a teenager, Cianna can talk about her own experience on transit, and one of the things that she highlighted was how to keep yourself safe, which I think is also really relevant right now with what's going on in the UK. You just have to acknowledge how, as a woman, you need to be aware of your surroundings and make sure you're safe. Even before Cianna had to take transit alone, it was something I taught, to be aware of your surroundings. Don't sit next to people who make you feel uncomfortable, sit next to somebody who is traditionally more safe, or the front so that you're near the bus driver, so you can access help. 

CLEA: 

It's interesting that on one hand Cianna has these self-defence skills from jujitsu, but then also, there's such a huge mental component required to understanding how to interact with people in certain spaces. What were your feelings Cianna, about doing that talk about transit?

CIANNA: 

I have grown up considering this kind of safety, like with transit, just little things like don't take the inside seat in case you get stuck, sit on the outside. I guess it is about having to constantly stay aware of your surroundings and think twice before doing certain things. 

It’s sad maybe, that this is something we have to learn, but ignoring it and not learning about safety is not actually going to help. For example if I’m wearing certain clothing and not thinking about where I'm walking in the evening, I am also not helping the issue of my safety. 

The summer program I did was really fun. We learned about famous figures in history like women who did a lot of work and many women who have been underrepresented for their contributions. I learned a lot of interesting things, and about advocacy in my community.

CLEA:

It sounds like there's an element of being prepared to protect yourself, but then also there's an aspect of learning how to empower yourself through knowledge and enacting change, which is really nice, to not only move from a place of insecurity, but to own a problem, and speak about it. 

SELINA: 

Yeah, one of the things we learned when it comes to advocacy is that it doesn't have to be a huge commitment. It is not necessary to achieve a certain number of volunteer hours, you don’t have to be someone, or something, before you can speak from your own experience or effect change. I think what's great about the Women's Center, you learn skills that weave this into your every day. Being able to speak up, and learning to be comfortable with speaking up, even without a “platform”, or expertise, is something that I hope for Cianna to continue, where it becomes a part of who we are. 

Truthfully, I'm passionate about a lot of issues, but I don’t always feel like I can't talk about them because I don't actively work with an organization and dedicate all my time to it, but I still believe we should be able, as women, to speak from our experience, and be listened to, even without credentials.  I'm a woman and I have lived in this world, and I care, so, you know, listen to what I have to say. I'm a human being. 

CLEA:

Transitioning from actually writing the music for “Powerful Women”, which I wrote over two years ago, to creating the music video, really made me consider exactly what you are talking about. Aurally certain things didn’t show up, but then in creating the music video they did. For example, how much advocacy can I do as a full time student, and is what I am participating in enough. Then also, what can I represent in this video, what is mine to talk about, and that's hard because really you only have your own singular perspective, but then you also belong to various groups and communities. Progressively, the idea and meaning of what “woman” means is so complex and diverse, I am so aware that I can't speak for all these voices, but I am hopeful for some shared common ground. So thank you, cause I really identify with the feelings you just brought up. 

SELINA: 

Yeah, we are both students, and I work right now too, it's a lot! Still, I think even just reflecting and thinking about these things is a super important piece of this all. Like when you sent the interview questions, the question about what it means to be a woman, it was really interesting, because part of what that is for me is subconscious. So to reflect on that, and situate myself, and ask how do I fit in this world as a woman? Even that question itself makes me ask why we have to even think about it. 

But women do have to learn to live with things like inequality, or challenges other people don't have to face, different treatment if we look a certain way, or also if you don't look like how people expect, these are hard conversations to have. It’s complex to work at being strong and believing in yourself, not apologizing for who you are, but at the same time seeing that even if you do whatever you want to do, people are going to treat you differently, and you have to be prepared to respond to others and deal with the external. 

CLEA: 

Cianna do you feel like there are differences in the way that your peers talk and perceive these issues?

CIANNA:  18:42  

You know I think we're all conscious and aware, but it's not necessarily something that we talk about all the time. I think making these values a part of yourself is really important, because you can do advocacy work, or say what needs to change, but actually just shifting the small things in your daily life will also create impact.

I think a lot of people think “If I don't give 100% then why try at all”, but small little things like conversations can make a difference. I recently heard 97% of women have been sexually assaulted which is really high. It's an unfortunate reality of the world. But having conversations about it is something that we can do, and should.  

CLEA:  

One-Hundred percent. 

SELINA:

Even for her to have these groups at her school, like Black Lives Matter, which she has been a part of. Even if kids are not actively part of a group, it's still there for them, so they know that somebody is having this conversation and will care about it, and they can access that if they need to. This is huge because I think even these conversations are what's going to help bring around that change. It starts with people talking about issues.

CLEA:

Yeah, like sexual assault. When we were Cianna’s age, honestly not that long ago, it was much more taboo to talk about. 

SELINA: 

Yes, it was more of a fear based thing. We were taught not to talk to older guys at the mall, or to watch out for strangers who might be pimps. But nobody talked about the fact that like you could go on a date with a friend in high school and be assaulted, or there might be date rape drugs at a party. Those things happen in high school though, so they should be part of the conversation. 

CIANNA: 

I heard something that compared the idea of a bad date for a guy vs a bad date for a girl. The guy said, “I like going on all dates, even the bad ones cause it’s a learning experience.” but the girl was really conscious of the fact that statistically a “bad date” for a woman has a way higher chance of ending in assault, rape, or being killed. 

SELINA: 

Yeah, our version of a bad date, it's not the same version of a bad date.

CLEA: 

So, thinking about these modern issues, and considering the women who have preceded us and the experiences they have had tied to being a woman, kind of ties into the context of the lyrics of “Powerful Women”. Which, by the way, thank you for sending in your beautiful video clip to include in the music video! 

I am curious, are there women in your life who you draw on for strength. Clearly in a beautiful way as mother and daughter you both draw on each other for inspiration. Does this stem from anywhere else?

SELINA

My mom the most, Cianna’s grandmother. Truly my mom is incredible. I don't know anybody who is so strong. She doesn't seem to be afraid of anything, and she speaks her mind. Even to her own detriment. She turned 19 and decided I’m moving from Guyana to Canada, I’ll go to school, get an education, I’m going to live a better life; and then it didn't happen that way at all, but that never slowed her down. There were a lot of barriers to accessing education, and she got stuck being a nanny until she ended up meeting dad, and then they got married really quickly.  They started running a business together, and then ended up having like four kids. For me as a kid growing up, the fact that she immigrated and didn't achieve what she set out to do, she never let that affect her. She didn’t get depressed or upset that she never got what she wanted. She was a problem solver and decided, now this is my life, I will be a great mom. 

I admire that she's never afraid of speaking her mind. I'm constantly afraid of speaking my mind and I just wish sometimes that I could be as loud as her and say, you know like, “this isn't right”, or, “this is what I want”. For most of my childhood I made my mom speak for me. It took me a long time to find my voice. That is one thing I find super inspiring about my daughter Cianna.  She's resilient in her own way, and isn't afraid to do things like to speak up in class. She will get beat up in jujitsu, and then get back up and do it all over again. I would probably not keep going, but she does. 

When my mum came to Canada, she realized she would have to speak up for herself because no one else would. So when I listen to the song “Powerful Women”, I think of my mom and then also think of, you know, my grandparents, my grandmother's on my dad's side of the family. Hearing stories about my great grandmother, a teeny woman, not even five feet tall, who raised eight kids and was at the center of a wonderfully huge family. I look up to the women in my family and also I really recognize the women that are around me now.  You, and my friends, who are super inspiring. I get a lot of strength from the women I have in my life, and I get so excited, seeing their successes and seeing all they do.

CIANNA: 

For me, since my mom has so many connections with strong women, and, you know, I have so many strong women in my life like my grandma. When I did a school project about her coming to Canada, I realized how hard that must have been, and how much perseverance she has. I'm really lucky that at a young age, I have had so many different women who have shown me what is possible. They remind me that when things get tough you can push through them. I am really lucky to have this cohort of women who teach me, and tell me, that I can be strong.

CLEA: 

We are really lucky. We have been friends since Cianna was little and the whole time as a single mom you showed up Selina, mentally and emotionally. You brought Cianna to experience and learn about everything. You guys were an amazing team! Honestly you never seemed quiet to me. 

SELINA

It’s funny, that time is not a time I think about often now. Cianna is a teenager, and she's her own person. But it was super important to me, that Cianna was a part of all these fun things. I didn't like the fact that as a parent, you had to have a separate mom life. I was a young mom, maybe if I was just becoming a mom now, it would be different. But I also believe that experiencing events like a music video shoot, the folk festival, it’s culture.

CLEA

This has been such a great conversation! Thank you guys so much. Is there anything you wanted me to link to for people to check out? 

SELINA:

Please link to the Women’s Center in Calgary, it’s a place that has been part of my life for a while now and, and I'm really grateful that we have that resource, when we need it.

You can find the Women’s Center here, and both participate and donate!

https://www.womenscentrecalgary.org/

Interview with Pam Tzeng - "Hazy Days"

I was very fortunate to work alongside Pam Tzeng, and a group of other creators, to bring a few music video’s to light for new musical tracks. “Hazy Days” is the first in this series. Below Pam elaborates on her process, her past, and conceptual direction in this insightful interview.

How do you self-identify as a human/creator? 

I'm a Canadian Taiwanese artist, choreographer, performer and movement educator. My practice is interdisciplinary. It crosses different forms of live art, and also on the back end involves producing and community organizing within the art sector. Values of anti-oppression and anti-racism permeate everything I make and do. I was born and raised on Treaty 7 Territory, I am a settler to this land, a person of the Chinese diaspora, with familial roots and traditions passed onto me from generations of ancestors who called the sweet potato shape island of Taiwan, home. My lens and lived experience as a woman of colour deeply inform the art I make.

What do you love about your artistic medium of choice?

My practice is grounded in the body. I think the body holds this unconscious wisdom that we are not often encouraged or taught to listen to, to acknowledge, and to express. What has been essential to my growth as a person, and artist, has been the ongoing journey of learning how to tune into what is true for me, honour my impulses, and negotiate the way the external world and my inner life meet. What I love about dance, and really just embodiment, is the value it offers beyond the aesthetic form and visual experience of it. Through being present in the body, you gain access to the complexity of being a person, of being in relationship with land, people, plants, animals, to the energy of life in general, and through the medium of dance and movement, you can express liberation. For me, to have the agency to transmit that energy is really vital, and to share that through art, I think, is important for visioning and transformation. 

 What has been interesting about working on this series of music videos with artists who work primarily within different mediums? 

What has been interesting is that I've never approached music and choreography in this particular way. I think it is worth acknowledging that you and I have had a relationship since we were in junior high school, so there's something about building from a foundation of experience together. It's amazing to hear your music from then until now, actually, it is a really heartening experience, and one of the things that compelled me to participate in the project. To feel trust, and to be able to experiment in something that's a little outside of my wheelhouse. Often as a creator within dance, I listen to the music that is in my body first. I work in silence, then begin to invite music to that relationship, whereas with these music videos, the music was upfront and present, and asked for a different approach of letting the songs flood my body. For some of the pieces, I absorbed what the spirit of the work was, and then for others it was more conceptual/abstracted. Other starting points began with costume, or a gestural idea that was born from the lyrics of the piece. It was stimulating and challenging to work within a short time frame, and to see what my body was able to metabolise and ready to encapsulate. It was a challenge, but really lovely because we did it! 

Also, there is the added relationship to film. We worked with the intersection of music and dance, ultimately translating and framing something kinetic into a small screen, and it takes an awesome team to be able to capture the energy of the movement. It's amazing what you can do with really invested folks, and the craft of a video magician like Landon. We started with raw uncontextualized dance video material, and it transformed into something that you could never really imagine. During the pandemic, the shift from live performance to film for dance artists has been interesting to witness and experience. It's not easy to capture the energy and kinesthetic exchange that happens between a person and a dancer during live performance. To manifest that energy on film, closer shots and moving the camera in a way that enhances or amplifies the spatial and emotional dynamic of the dancing helps. In some of the work, like in the close up special shots we captured for each of the pieces, we were able to play with moving shots, and to see that transformed into the videos was magic. 

During the editing process I discovered different ways to communicate my perspective on composition and aesthetics. Every discipline has a very different language, and the fun of collaborating is learning about what each artist is tuning into. Seeing what you, Clea, tune into in the music, and seeing how that matches or is in contrast to my intended movement, has enriched how I understand the relationship between music and dance. 

What steps did you take going into this project to move from music or lyrics to choreography and movement? 

 I took some deep listens to the album. It's funny, I'm actually someone who grew up without a profound relationship to music. My appreciation and intimate love for listening to music with stereo earphones, came later in my life, and has been a growing practice. Working on these music videos, I listened to the album and really just tried to let it permeate my body. That process was really important. You gave me creative freedom with it, but I also wanted to interview you, and we had a beautiful conversation about where the works came from. I think that helped color the sensations and emotionality, especially with specificity in certain works. This helped give context within my body and I could express more of where the root of the song came from. Also, the colour palette you envisioned, and costumes for each track, really influenced where the movement came from. 

 I'd love to know if there’s anything creative you’re excited to be working on or simply enjoying right now that you want people to know about? 

I am an alumni performance ensemble member of the organization Making Treaty 7 - an Indigenous led, settler supported arts and cultural organization based in Mohkínstsis (Calgary). Making Treaty 7 has started a new initiative called Istotsi Workshop Series, bringing together young and emerging artists of all backgrounds to learn various indigenous and artistic processes from MT7 Elders, Alumni and special guests. I’m really humbled and excited to participate as a guest of Istotsi, streaming live on MT7’s Facebook on Thursday March 4th. I’ll be sharing a little about my experience working on the original production and offering some insights on performance creation.

I highly encourage people to check out Making Treaty 7. It's a beautiful organization doing the meaningful work of uplifting indigenous artists and stories that deserve and need to be seen and heard. If you feel so inclined, donate, and engage in their programming which is currently accessible via their Facebook and other social media. Also learn more at http://makingtreaty7.com/.

How do you feel about “Hazy Days” as the first video being released from this collection of works? 

It's nice to have Hazy Days as the first sharing of a collection of works. It brings energy into a season that feels really still, because the track feels like sparks from embers. There's something about Hazy Days, this heartfelt acknowledgement in the song, a forward movement within it. I don't mean speed racing, but like a longing to acknowledge and traverse something which feels pleasurable. When I think of moving into 2021 the year of the Ox...into, just like a whole new world, that is essentially new every second... we are really moving into a new space as a society, and as people. Listening to Hazy Days, gives me a sensation of hope in going onward with a gracious momentum. 

You can connect with Pam Tzeng @pamtzeng on Instagram.

Interview with Benjamin Longman

In a sentence how do you self-identify as a human/creator?

My bio says 'Musician/photographer/musician photographer', and I think that sums it up pretty well. I'm a musician first, photographer close second, but really I try not to separate the two. It's all storytelling. 

What is coming up for you artistically and where and when can we see it? 

For music, you can catch me as part of Music Mile’s ‘Friday Night Broadcasts’ on Feb 12th as part of Chinook Blast. It’ll be streaming on the Music Mile YYC Facebook page at 8pm, and I’m having a lot of fun prepping something a bit different. Tune in!”

“For photography, I’ve been working with Wyatt C Louis capturing the recording process for his upcoming record, I’m really happy with the results so far, it’s great to be back in the studio. Don’t know when you’ll see it yet though! 

What do you love about photographing during record creation?

I actually do have an answer for what I love about working on records! Photographing shows and sessions, particularly in the grainy black & white that I generally lean towards anyway, is really my favourite kind of photography. Musicians, and artists as a whole, are sentimental and nostalgic people by nature, I think. We grow up admiring players from a bygone era, where so few photographs are available that show their 'process' compared to today, which gives this mythical and 'larger than life' quality to these artists which can often feel unattainable now. I try to emulate this style of photography, capture the people I work with in the depths of their process, and show them how much closer they are to their heroes than they might think.

I'd love to know if there’s anything else creative you’re excited to be working on or simply enjoying right now?

I'm trying to use some of this time to curate a collection of my favourite 'behind the scenes' photographs of the various tours, shows, and records I've been a part of. It might become a zine eventually, it might just be for me!

You can find more about Ben Longman HERE! and @ben.alogue

Interview with Chris Dadge

In a sentence how do you self-identify as a human/creator? 

• mmmm let's go with: "Calgary-based musician, composer, producer, engineer, and concert organizer."

more info can be found here: http://www.bugincision.com/chrisdadge

Is there anything under the sun you would like to say about recording, life, or topics of your choice? 

• In general I've really enjoyed the trajectory I've found myself on over the last couple years. The earlier part of my musical life involved a lot playing in a lot of bands and one-off projects, both live and in the studio, and about four or five years ago, my work recording and writing with Lab Coast led to a lot of requests from people and bands to help them make their albums too. I didn't necessarily plan this, or even consider myself very skilled at recording music, but both me and the people I've worked with seem to be pleased with the results, and I've since become pretty obsessed with the whole thing. From learning about gear and technical processes to the history and all the players involved, it's become a bit all-encompassing. It does mean I'm ultimately playing less drums (my main instrument) and spending more time turning digital knobs, but it's made me more aware and appreciative of the "nose to tail" aspect of making a recording. It's a continual challenge, very humbling, and an always-needed kick in the ass. Some highlights of these last years of work include albums I've made with Jom Comyn, Marlaena Moore, Sunglaciers, Hex Ray, Strip Mall, and the upcoming Samantha Savage Smith and Lab Coast albums.
  
  

• More specifically, I must say it was a treat to be invited to work on your album as well. Not only because I hold you in high regard, and am aware of the high calibre of people you consistently choose to work with, but also because I've always admired your music and am happy to count you as a longtime friend, collaborator, and colleague. Plus, the rest of the crew you assembled for this album was nothing short of stellar, and I got to work with folks who I'm always eager to do more with (Graham, Brock) and also become acquainted with some new badasses (Jarrett, Kevin) along the way. Sometimes in a recording session or collaborative situation one feels themselves pulling the others along, or feeling the need to actively take the lead, but there were no slouches involved here. The high levels musicianship and studio savvy of those involved instead lifted me up and made for an extremely rich working environment. All I had to do was keep up! I'm very excited for people to hear the finished album. 

What do you love about working on records?

• Well, first and foremost I am a fan of records, I find it endlessly exciting to be involved with making these things that I happen to love so much. As someone obsessed with all the small details in the creation and (hopefully) subsequent enjoyment of a record, it's awesome to be the one making these details happen, and seeing what people find in them once it's out in the world. Having a tangible result at the end of a long process of work is rewarding, knowing the potential for what these things can mean to people is a tasty carrot to be dangling in front of oneself. Making records for bands and other people is also a cool chance to witness a multitude of band and interpersonal dynamics, and it's fun and challenging to navigate all the different ways folks approach their music. I usually come out at the end of a project with some new skill or perspective, and I'd love to think I could impart the same things to others.

I'd love to know if there’s anything creative you’re excited to be working on or just enjoying right now

• Here's a couple in-progress and finished things I'm excited about moving to the next realm:

  • new Lab Coast album: it's called "Here You're Nowhere", and has been in the can for a little while now. When Covid hit we'd just started our search for release outlets, and kinda put it on hold since then, so hopefully it'll see the light of day sometime this new year... fingers crossed. I'm excited for people to hear it - we've played some of the songs live, but most of it will be brand new, and it's by far the most elaborate of our productions, a deeper studio dive, while still hopefully retaining the things people seem to like about us. We also have a little EP of cover recordings we've made over the last 10 years, and we'll be rolling those out over the first little bit of this year.

  • In February I recorded a follow-up to my album "Close Enough For Comfort". It's a continuation of the loose compositional process I used for that album, which is based on the natural sustain/decay of different string and percussion instruments. This one expands the harmonic aspect of the pieces, and sounds way better. Monty Munro helped me out with the recording, and his prowess of various instruments went a long way. It also kinda got temporarily shelved during Covid times, but I'm in the process of planning its release now. 

  • One of the few things I was able to work on with others last year was a new project with Jeff MacLeod (Florida BC, Cape May) and Nina Nastasia, one of my all-time favourite songwriters and musicians. I helped Jeff record tracks here in Calgary and then we flew them back and forth to Nina in Chicago. Clinton St. John is also on some of it. The album is finished now, but I'll leave it to them to say any more about it. 

  • Last month I started working on another solo album, this time a collection of songs I've written and half-written over the last decade or so, which I'll be doing mostly all by myself over the next couple months. Before the era of Lab Coast (my other (co-)writing outlet), I had a band where I sang my songs (and we made a record with Jay Crocker and Monty Munro), but I haven't really done anything of my own since the last show of that band in 2012. I'm in the process of figuring out what kind shape it's taking at the moment. Should be done by spring. 

  • Last year I started some work on the new Alvvays album (again halted due to Covid), and it's sounding great, and I'm excited to dive back into that whenever we can. 

  • And I'm stoked to see the unreleased productions I've worked on make it out into the world too - Samantha Savage Smith, The Dead Fibres, Uncanny Valley, Beta Boys, and Kid Cali.