What's been up?
2019 - Spent much of the year working on a theatre performance called Double Happiness: Detour This Way, a multimedia collaboration between Only A Visitor and sound designer/composer/director/musician Nancy Tam. We were able to do about 10 shows of the run in March 2020 before deciding to cancel the last week when the covid situation started to get real.
2020 - Everything got cancelled. Spent a lot of time in the shed. Received some commission work, and a couple grants from Canada Council For The Arts (thanks buds / eternally grateful), one to study composition with the great Itamar Erez (played a bit too, see below) and one to further develop my solo drumset practice (more on that to come in the months ahead). Played some shows to empty rooms (empty on purpose, a novelty). Had a lot of time to think about life. Came to some conclusions.
Early 2021 - Participated in the Banff Musicians In Residence "at home/online residency" - originally slated to be actually at the Banff Centre but Alberta shut everything down at the last min. This was a surprisingly great experience and despite the distance and the zoom calls it felt wonderful to remember that musicians everywhere are still doing their work in whatever way they can, and are still excited about it. While a lot of my colleagues have been investigating other avenues, I've never been more certain that when I'm engaged in exploration of musical sound, musical traditions, and musical futures, I'm on the right path. Looking forward!
