Indie Band Recap – Chad VanGaalen

by on January 27, 2012 in Indie Band Residency

Polaris-nominated Chad VanGaalen helped close The Banff Centre’s Indie Band Experience with a concert.

Calgary’s Chad VanGaalen headlined the October 1 Indie Band Showcase Concert at The Banff Centre. Photo courtesy Jeff Thorburn.

All this past week I’ve been recapping The Banff Centre’s Indie Band Experience, playing you interviews, concerts and some amazing videos. To help culiminate the amazing experience Mise En Scene, Doldrums, and The Abramson Singers had working with Producers Tony Berg, Howard Bilerman, and Shawn Everett, Chad VanGaalen stopped by to play some classics and new songs off his album Diaper Island.

Chad VanGaalen helped close The Indie Band Experience. Photo courtesy Jeff Thorburn.

Coming up in the next few days you’ll hear that recording of Chad playing at the Margaret Greenham Theatre and an interview he did with Jessa Runciman. Subscribe to our podcast to make sure you get that interview and the concert recording. While you’re there, you can hear all the other interviews and concerts done by the Banff Centre Audio team.

It’s been really amazing getting to recap The Indie Band Experience. I know everyone had a great time working, recording, and making some amazing music. Keep your eyes on the blog to stay apart of other incredible things happening here at The Banff Centre.

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Indie Band Recap – The Abramson Singers

by on January 22, 2012 in Indie Band Residency

Captivating, haunting, and completely mesmerizing, are just a few ways to describe The Abramson Singers.

Leah Abramson and the Abramson Singers play The Club. Photo: The Banff Centre.

We’ve been going back to the fall of 2011 on the blog this week to recap The Banff Centre’s Indie Band Experience. So far we’ve featured videos, interviews, and concert recordings all in the attempt to recount the amazing 3 weeks bands had recording, writing, and working with faculty like former Banff Centre resident and Weezer Producer Shawn Everett.

Yesterday I featured an interview and concert with Toronto’s Doldrums. Today you’ll hear an interview with Leah Abramson of The Abramson Singers followed by her sonically rich concert in the Margaret Greenham Theatre.

Leah Abramson belts it out. Photo: The Banff Centre.

“Singing makes me happier than anything…Even if I’m singing something sad, it still makes me happy.“

Listen to that interview and the concert recording.

Also, check out the great video below from Shot at the Dark of The Abramson Singers trekking their instruments through the Banff forests and making great music.

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Special thanks to CBC Radio 3‘s Chris Kelly for his ongoing support.

Our last blog post on the Banff Centre’s Indie Band Experience will feature Chad VanGaalen, keep your eyes on the blog or our iTunes U page for that interview, concert and more.

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Indie Band Recap – Doldrums

by on January 19, 2012 in Indie Band Residency

Dreamy, experimental, electro-pop has Doldrums Airick Woodhead feeling right at home.

Airick Woodhead of Doldrums performs live at The Club. Photo courtesy of The Banff Centre.

All this week on the blog we’re going back to the fall of 2011 for The Banff Centre’s Indie Band Experience. There are interviews, concert recordings, and videos recapping the amazing 3 weeks bands had recording, writing, and working with faculty like Producer Tony Berg – who’s worked with Bob Dylan, Eddie Vedder and others.

Yesterday I featured Winnipeg’s Mise En Scene. Today we’re changing gears to hear an interview with Airick Woodhead of Doldrums, recorded and produced by Jessa Runciman. After, you’ll hear a live concert recording from underneath the Eric Harvie Theatre in The Club. If you haven’t heard Doldrums (and even if you have) this concert is really something special.

Doldrums mixing on stage at The Club. Photo courtesy of The Banff Centre

“The stuff I’m doing now is actually more similar to what I started doing – when I started thinking of music as my own creation.“

Listen to that interview and the concert recording.

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Also, check out the great video below from Shot at the Dark of Doldrums performing on a gondola up Sulphur Mountain.

Special thanks to CBC Radio 3‘s Chris Kelly for his ongoing support.

Keep checking the blog all week for more on The Abramson Singers, and Chad VanGaalen.

 

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Indie Band Recap – Mise En Scene

by on January 18, 2012 in Indie Band Residency

Alt-Pop duo Mise En Scene laugh at “franglais” pronunciations of their name and love to perform.

Winnipeg’s Mise en Scene, one of the 3 bands in the 2011 Banff Indie Band. Photo courtesy of The Banff Centre.

All this week I’ll be bringing you interviews, concert recordings, and videos from The Banff Centre’s Indie Band Experience that happened in the fall of 2011. Bands got to work with faculty like Arcade Fire drummer/producer Howard Bilerman, recording new songs and honing their skills.

The first band of our feature is Mise En Scene from Winnipeg. Members Stefanie Johnson & Jodi Dunlop talk to Podcast Production work study Evie Ruddy about art, working in an Icelandic community, and intensely collaborating.

Stephanie Blondal and Jodi Dunlop, Mise en Scene, at The Club. Photo courtesy of The Banff Centre.

“it’s not about just being a rock-and-roll band…which is great…but it’s a craft.”

Listen to the interview and a live recording of their concert at the Margaret Greenham Theatre.

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Also, watch this great video from Shot at the Dark of Mise En Scene performing in front of Cascade Mountain.

While in Banff, Stephanie and Jodi were turned into fairies in a video for their song Hey Velvet. Keep an eye out for the next issue of Boulder Pavement to see how things turned out.

Keep checking the blog all week for more on Doldrums, The Abramson Singers, and Chad VanGaalen.

Special thanks to Chris Kelly from CBC Radio 3 for his ongoing help with The Indie Band Experience.

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Indie Band 2011 Recap

by on January 16, 2012 in Indie Band Residency

Last fall 3 incredible bands visited The Banff Centre to further develop their skills with industry professionals.

Producer Howard Bilerman (left) in the studio at The Banff Centre. Photo courtesy of the Banff Centre.

The Banff Centre Indie Experience invites bands from around the world to utilize the centre’s extensive facilities for 3 weeks to write, rehearse, and record new work. This past fall, Mise En Scene, Doldrums, and The Abramson Singers all came to work with the likes of Tony Berg, Howard Bilerman, Shawn Everett, and the Banff Centre Audio team…amidst the and inspirational Banff mountains.

At the end of the three weeks, a lot of work, and an ample amount of learning, the bands were joined on stage  by Polaris Prize shortlister Chad VanGaalen to perform a concert at the Margaret Greenham Theatre as a part of Alberta Arts Days.

Calgary’s Chad VanGaalen. Photo courtesy of Jeff Thorburn.

Luckily, the Banff Centre Audio team was on hand to record everything. Over the course of this week I’ll be bringing you those concert recordings, interviews with the three bands, and some great videos.

Today we get to know the bands and faculty in this short documentary, produced with the support of ARDN and with the help of our friends at Deluxe Design Group.

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Mtn Festival Postscript: Can, shall, will.

by on November 7, 2011 in Banff, Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival, Events, General

When I was a kid, there was a phrase that my dad would repeat to us as a warning of the worst kind of person he saw in the world: The “woulda, shoulda, coulda guy”. And for the past nine days of the 2011 Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival, it was this that was stuck inside my head; there is no room to be that kind of person at this event.

“I woulda been a pro climber if I hadn’t hurt my knee.” Meet The Freedom Chair’s Josh Dueck, an adaptive skier who tackles the steepest and wildest mountains in the world.

“I shoulda gone to film school but I didn’t have the money.” Meet Leanne Allison, award-winning filmmaker and digital storyteller whose first Festival film, Being Caribou, was the product of a week’s worth of camera training and a good story.

“We coulda saved the forests, but no one was listening.” Meet the Sierra Club’s Caitlyn Vernon, whose book for young readers, Nowhere Else on Earth: Standing Tall for the Great Bear Rainforest was a hit at the Festival.

Writer Jan Redford connects with Tim Cope in the boat studio

In the wooden fishing boat that is the ‘Henriquez studio’ in The Banff Centre’s Leighton Artists’ Colony, Banff Centre Fleck Fellow Tim Cope is writing the book to accompany the film which follows his three-and-a-half year journey in the footsteps of Ghengis Khan. I finally catch a quiet moment with him and ask him how it was that a pretty average Aussie kid grew up to live this extraordinary dream. “When I was about 14 or 15 I read Tim Macartney-Snape’s book Everest From Sea to Summit,” he said. “Later I saw his video, and then, incredibly, I met the man himself. I got a signed copy of his book, and it was hugely inspirational. It made a huge impact on me.”

As I walk away from Tim’s studio, the 2011 Festival, and the extraordinary characters that I have met, I question: “Can I learn to ride a horse, kite-ski it across the Arctic, do the world’s first mounted BASE jump, and get a film about it into next year’s Festival?” Can, shall, will.

See you in 355 sleeps.

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People’s Choice Award: “I’d like to thank my dog.”

by on November 7, 2011 in Banff, Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival, Events

It’s official: It’s not just me who is completely smitten with Australian adventurer Tim Cope. Recipient of the 2011 Banff Mountain Film Competition People’s Choice award for his film On the Trail of Ghengis Khan, tonight he took the stage:

Tim Cope presents his three-hour film about his three-and-a-half years of travel from Mongolia to Hungary. Photo courtesy of The Banff Centre.

“There are so many people I’d like to thank for this film – it’s been a six or seven year project. And there are lots of people who stood by the film. But apart from my family, and the 90 or 100 families I stayed with during the journey who made it possible, I guess I’d like to take the chance to say thanks to my horses, the three that took me through: Ogonyok (who was so paranoid that he would bolt at the sound of his own fart), Taskonir, and one other horse … oh, I won’t repeat the name … oh, OK I will, it’s kok – k.o.k. And not to forget, a really big thanks to my dog, Tigon.”

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Brrrrrr! It’s Cold!

by on November 7, 2011 in Banff, Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival, Events, FIlm & Media, General, Videos

Cory Richards' response to winning the 2011 Grand Prize was the same as when he was on the mountain: "What the F am I doing here?"

I cannot believe that a dark, short, sort of experimental, R-rated adventure film would win this prize. – Anson Fogel

Last February, at a high camp on Gasherbrum II in Pakistan’s Karakorum Range, Simone Moro, Denis Urubko, and Cory Richards completed the first winter summit of one of the country’s 8,000-metre peaks. Until then, the mountain was an achievement that 16 expeditions over the past 26 winters had failed to bag. With shivering hands on his camera, Richards captured an immediate, personal view of an expedition that scraped the limits of endurance for all three, with days in a sheer deepfreeze, and a sudden, near-fatal avalanche on the descent. Director Anson Fogel, impressed with Richards’ handheld footage, edited the story together to create Cold, announced tonight as the 2011 Banff Mountain Film Competition Grand Prize winner and recipient of the award for Best Climbing Film. Fogel also produced this year’s Best Short Mountain Film award-winner, Chasing Water.  

“This is surreal,” Fogel said as he took the stage for the third time tonight, “I love Canada. I’m completely overwhelmed; mostly by an incredible sense of appreciation and thankfulness that I can do this for a living. Thank you to all the people who come and support not just our film, but all these small mountaineering and adventure films. None of us would have jobs if it wasn’t for you. Please keep coming.”

We were awed by this film,” said the jury, “it’s sensitivity, its humility, and its great technical prowess.”

Fogel, who attended the 2010 Banff Adventure Filmmakers workshop, says he is honoured to watch his films on the Banff screen. “Being in Banff around 300 other talented filmmakers is inspiring. You can’t help but learn from hearing and seeing how the others tell a story.” And how does Cory Richards feel about sitting through the film himself? “Uncomfortable! I know it is a beautiful piece of art, but it sucks me back to that moment. I tend to want to leave the theatre and look for someone to have a beer with!” No problem there Cory; see you in about an hour at the wrap party.

2011 Banff Mountain Film Competition Winners

Grand Prize – Cold
The Banff Centre Award for Creative Excellence – The Wolf and the Medallion
Best Film – Exploration and Adventure – Kadoma
Best Film – Mountain Culture – The Sun Behind the Clouds
Best Film – Mountain Environment – SPOIL
Best Film – Climbing – Cold
Best Film – Mountain Sports – The Freedom Chair
Best Film – Wildlife and Natural History – Broken Tail
Best Short Mountain Film – Chasing Water
Best Feature-length Mountain Film – All.I.Can
Special Jury Mention – Journey on the Wild Coast
People’s Choice Award for Radical Reels – Reel Rock: Race for the Nose

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Bridging Banff and the world

by on November 6, 2011 in Banff, Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival, Events, FIlm & Media, General

SImon, Tina, Jemima, and Nell. Just four of the many international organisers who take the Festival to more than 30 countries of the world.

Simon Piper, Tina Qian, Jemima Robinson, and Nell Teasdale are all Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour organisers. Between them, they are responsible for taking the best of the Festival films on tour in the UK, Australia, and China.

“A friend asked me, ‘Why don’t you bring Banff Mountain Film Festival into China?’” Tina writes on the banffchina.com website; “It is this question so stunning that I nearly fall from sofa to ground.” Only two years old, the Chinese Banff Mountain Film Festival Tour is going gangbusters. It is the first foreign film festival to be approved for import by the Chinese government, and the first to show all of its films in HD. Attendance has doubled in the last year, and Tina has made the Chinese Tour her full-time job. “It is a dream come true,” she says, “bridging Chinese outdoor fans with the world.”

 

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Faces of the Festival

by on November 6, 2011 in Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival, FIlm & Media, General

Even if you don’t have tickets to today’s final film screenings here at The Banff Centre, if you’re in the Valley, trundle on up to the Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival Tradeshow (all day until 4.30 p.m.). Not only are there books to buy, crafts to covet, and toys to tinker with (MSR, The North Face, Thermarest, OR, and Rab, among others, are in attendance), but the off-screen stars of the Festival are kicking around in the corridors: incredible people, up for a good chat:

From the tiny town of Varley in remote Western Australia, Ryan Hyde is a Festival volunteer who cycled from St George, Utah, to Wyoming with his partner Nell on their way to Banff. Too cold to continue riding from Wyoming, they bought a car and spent a month climbing at various crags before rolling into town. Their whole trip was planned around coming to volunteer at the Banff Mountain Film & Book Fest. I asked Ryan what the highlight of his festival has been. “Shaking hands with Tim Cope,” he said. “What a good guy.” Volunteer at the 2012 Festival: www.banffcentre.ca/mountainfestival/volunteer

Nancy Ouimet is a Canmore local who works for The Banff Centre, but who also spent six years working for Y2Y, the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative. “Y2Y is looking at conservation on a really large scale,” Nancy explains, “to try to ensure that wildlife movement continues to do what it naturally should.” Y2Y campaigns for the creation and protection of one interconnected system of wildlife corridors that run all the way from Yellowstone National Park in the US to the Yukon. “It’s an idea that’s gaining a lot of traction,” Nancy says. “Even the animal overpasses on the Trans-Canada Highway were an initiative of Y2Y.”

At his tenth Banff Mountain Film Festival, Jason Schooner is the Communications Director for the Canadian chapter of the Explorers’ Club. The Club has 32 chapters across the world, and 3,000 explorers have been members since it began in 1904. The Club is looking for new fellows, students, friends, and “patrons of adventure” Jason tells me. Members of the Club include Wade Davis, Warren MacDonald, and Pat Morrow. Check it out at www.explorersclub.ca

 

 

 

 

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