As we get closer and closer to launch, my friends and associates are repeatedly asking me “what is this site you keep talking about?”

So, here it is.

We’ll be formally launching our first video interviews soon. But here’s a few pictures and anecdotes so you know what we’re up to.

Slo Tom

Our first Revue recording session was with Slo Tom (aka Tom Stewart). Younger fans will know him as Slo’ Tom the country singer, or perhaps “that guy from Spaceman music who fixes guitars and amps.” Older fans will remember him from his 90s-era alt-rock band furnaceface, which was one of the most popular (and yes, successful) indie bands in Canadian pop history. Generally regarded as the nicest guy in the world, Tom came out to Zaphod’s to record an interview with us.

Slo’ Tom rockin the stage at Zaphod’s

The interview was great, so it’s really too bad you’ll never hear most of it! (waaaahhh!) We had some serious audio problems which weren’t noticeable until Steve got into editing mode. The performances were great (Tom did three songs), and they sounded good in the final mix, so you’ll get to hear those songs. Since the interview audio was bad, we’ll invite Tom back for another kick at it in the next few months.

Shannon Rose and the Thorns

Shannon is one of my favourite singers and songwriters, so I was really happy that she agreed to record a session with us, even though she really had no idea what we were doing. She and her partner Steve came out to Zaphod’s and we had a great chat (which was recorded well, as we learned our lesson from the Tom session).

Shannon and Steve and one of our cameras

She performed three songs from her Seasons double-CD. And, if you watch the whole interview, you’ll hear a hilarious CSIS joke as an outtake at the very end.

Gerry Griffin

I admit that I had not heard of Gerry Griffin until last year when he emailed me about my Capital Revue audio blog for the Ottawa Citizen. It took about 1 minute to become a lifetime fan of Gerry’s work. His voice is remarkable, his guitar playing is intense, and his songs will knock you off your feet.

Steve filming Gerry and Heather. Things got intense!

A 40+ year veteran of the Ottawa music scene (including a stint in Cain, the after-hours house band at the famed and mythical Le Hibou), Gerry now writes and produces some kick-ass folk/Americana music in his elaborate home studio. This episode went a little longer than the others, but we couldn’t cut anything out! Gerry’s stories were just too good. And the 3 live tracks he offered up were a real lesson for us about how to perform. He needed very little warm-up…he just picks up that guitar and blows your mind.

Prevail (Swollen Members)

“Swollen Members are coming to town…that would be a great interview. I’ll ask their PR contact if they’d like to spend some time recording a live interview with a start-up music site with no finished episodes and no real credibility.”

I can’t tell you how shocked I was that their PR person liked our idea, and got them to do this with us. Originally, we were going to tape it at our home-base at Zaphod’s with Prevail and Madchild. Then I got a morning-of email asking if we could do it in their tour bus instead, as they’d be pressed for time. Then, we ended up meeting at their hotel pub because they were REALLY pressed for time, and frankly super tired.

Prevail and Kevin, drinking pints

Ended up chatting with Prevail (Madchild was sleeping in preparation for their Ottawa gig) for about 30 minutes. Prevail is one of the friendliest people I’ve ever met. He was tired, but really was interested in what we were doing, almost as much as I was interested in what he/they are doing. This episode will have a different ambience (different space, different lighting), but it stands up as one of my better interviews (except for when I asked them about the title of their new record, anyway, I kinda bombed that one).

Kalle Mattson

Kalle is a rare kind of person. He is talented to the nth degree. His music is critically acclaimed and raising eyebrows in fan circles (hipster and otherwise) all over North America and Europe. And I swear, not one trace of ego. He is soft-spoken, engaging, and very open to talking about all aspects of his life and music.

A recent graduate from Carleton University (classical guitar, which you know, he started doing about 18 months before starting university), Kalle is a musician’s musician. Some of my favourite parts of our session were actually between song takes, when he and Steve were discussing odd guitar tunings and we all shared our favourite Nick Drake songs. This will be a good interview segment when it’s all done, and he’ll play 3 songs from his upcoming album (hopefully out summer of 2013).

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