From Far and Wide Season 1 : Ontario

From Far and Wide Season 1 : Ontario

www.fromfarandwide.com

 

Things to come… Summer 2011 we will be back at it.

So it’s been awhile… eh?

U P D A T E

Over the last 6 months I have spoken to the Director of Programming for (for the sake of respectful anonymity) “BCB” Radio, an Executive Producer for “BCB” Television, a number of media buyers, my soul and the rest of our team about how we can continue the fromfarandwide community and it’s vision.

Radio told me that they loved our concept. That what we have is an amazing, amazing thing here and that although they wanted nothing to do with it because it featured “independent, original and unrelatable” music, they supported what we were doing…. which I must say.. was appreciated but a little disappointing. Though I did learn alot! Apparently the “BCB” has done a travelling Independent Music Radio show in Canada several times and what they found out, much to my sadness, was that listeners loved the characters involved in the content of the show but as soon as the music started playing and it wasn’t an “Idolistic” Cover, they turned the dial. Which really just drives home the reason why Idol shows are successful. Hell, maybe Sugar Ray will even last more than a few seasons on that horrid “music-cover-fill-in-the-blank” show he hosts. I don’t know what’s worse. That show, EXTRA or Sugar Ray itself… but good for him… he’s keeping his hair in tip top shape.

on to TV.

Television was equally supportive of our creation with our trailer at fromfarandwide. They loved our ideas, energy and momentum so much that they told me when we were ready to pitch this to a mainstream audience formally that we could bring that to him at the “BCB” and he would pass it along to the right people. Funny, I thought we were ready? Over the last 3 years we’ve seen over 300 artists (while still working our day jobs, thanks Kelsey Strickland) , gained 1000 subscribers in 30 days from the trailer launch and over 3000 total unique views on our video in 30 days from minimal marketing ( 1 hour a day from the office) and a general optimism to work with a network on bringing Independent Music to Canada in a fun, energetic, sensitive and broadbased way. I guess we weren’t ready though. There was a suggestion to bring a big name star to the show, I can’t name names but if he keeps it up he may have a show called “The Minute” or “The Week” depending on his ratings and his evolution as a Television Host. I have to say, I wasn’t too excited about that either. Despite the fact that we would be nowhere without Renee Rodenkirchen, my partner and videographer and Sean Gugula, Sound Engineer and Co-Producer this was my baby and I didn’t really want the face of this show to change over to someone who was already identifiable to Canadians for different reasons (although his music knowledge may be second to few) like reading Cue Cards and having opinions about “Real Life Trivial Pursuit.” Anyway, this was left that if I came up with a way to make this more mainstream than I should let him know.

on to Media.

Very supportive! “We love what you’re doing!” “It’s a great idea” “The feel and visual momentum of this show was just amazing, Bravo.. Bravo!” “Will we sell it for you?”
“I’m sorry, will we sell it for you?”

pause

“No, sorry… we couldn’t possibly”

Apparently nowadays the way to sell shows is to copy a format of an existing show, write a pilot that fabricates, parallels, mimics an already existing content structure of a successful network show and mirror your content so that it appeals SAFELY to the masses. Yay! Sounds amazing… Although I did remind these companies that I wasn’t a Television Show developer. That I hadn’t gone to school for this or invested the mortgage on my scooter or toaster to put it all on the line for Canadian Artists even if it meant selling all of our souls for a “Survivor-Type” show on Independent Music or a “Celebrity Apprentice – like” show on unoriginality masked as something unique and with a voice. In fact I have been running businesses for seven years and doing pretty well at it and was more looking at the best possible way to make this breathe.. on it’s own… and to see another day, keeping the artists and the masses in mind with something uniquely Canadian and inspiringly original.

So it dawned on me.

This has to be independent.

And so it was, a month or so ago, that we have decided to run this thing as an Independent Television Show in all it’s glory. I will say that we have a Major Record Label working out a deal with us for promotion and a distribution deal for the winning artist (s). Not to mention a whirlwind of support from some very independent minded sponsors and corporations that will bring fromfarandwide out of hiding and back out to the masses.

So stay tuned…. and thanks for listening…

Listening and listening….

Panda

Rising Stars – Kennedy Clarke

One of our favorite groups that we’ve heard at From Far and Wide are Kennedy Clarke based out of Markham, Ontario. They make all of us feel kind of old but above all inspire us to hear the kind of music that’s possible to come out of the younger generation. The one thing that Kennedy Clarke has done above the over 200 bands that we’ve heard over the last 3 years is put a chorus, a verse or a riff in our heads for days after we actually hear them play.

Enjoy!

Directed by Renee Rodenkirchen
Engineered and Mixed by Sean Gugula
Produced by Jeremy Panda.

Emmanuel Jal – CMW show

Where do I even begin?

Last night at the Supermarket in Kensington Market, Toronto, Ontario, Canada I witnessed the most beautiful music show I’ve ever seen.

If you haven’t heard of Emmanuel Jal… Devote your eyes, ears and heart to this ray of sunlight and inspiration for a minute, a song or your lifetime.

Emmanuel Jal was a child soldier in Southern Sudan for what is estimated as 7 years (he doesn’t know how old he is) before he escaped and then was rescued by a British Aid Worker named Emma. The song “Emma” is phenomenal and planted tears of joy in the eyes of the crowd at the Supermarket last night…

His career since then has been telling his story through song.

www.myspace.com/emmanueljal

What inspired me and all the people at the Supermarket last night, I’m guessing too, was the musicianship, ripe positivity, open mind, “the happiest, freest dance in the galaxy” and heart filled honesty that was the Jal set.

Thank you Emmanuel,

Panda

‘From Far and Wide’ presents an interview with Sari Delmar

One of our objectives in the next little while is to recognize some of the individuals and companies that help drive the independent Canadian music community.

Our first segment is on our friend Sari Delmar who directs Audio Blood Media.

Produced by Jeremy Panda
Directed by Renée Rodenkirchen

For more about Audio Blood Media visit www.audiobloodmedia.com

This Arcade is on Fire

Arcade Fire.

Wow.

I have to say I didn’t spend much time watching the Grammy’s last night. Particularly because the word “Grammy” generally makes me feel nauseous and oddly claustrophobic in this usual feeling of “pop – o – phobic” non-bliss of radio rock we float on.

But as I was falling asleep and dreaming big things for our From Far and Wide community I channel- surfed over to the broadcast and caught Kris Kristofferson leaning over Yentl’s shoulder to give off “album of the year.”

It seemed fitting because Kristofferson really is the grandfather of song and an inspiration to so many singer songwriters worldwide.

And the nominees are…

Blah blah, lady BlaBla, Blah, blah and Arcade Fire.

My ears perked. The Grammys had my attention.

And well you know the rest. Let me skip over the proverbial yatter and give you a little bit of “train of thought.”

I started thinking about Canada. And this Montreal indie band who I suppose is not indie anymore but arguably is in many of our eyes, ears and hearts. I thought about Owen Pallett. Who I grew up with and played trumpet next to in every halton jazz and wind ensemble. Yes. He played trombone and sang and played fiddle. We actually played together for five years at the Ontario Renaissance Festival and he gave me my start on guitar which led me to start writing songs and get entranced in writing, playing and encouraging Canadian music.

Then fast forward a few years and he’s the mega icon. Final fantasy – wins the Polaris Prize and appears casually on the stage with Arcade Fire’s debut on Letterman, SNL and the world stage.

Then I started thinking more about Canada. Especially when these guys and gals and gals and guys mention Quebec countless times paying homage as patriarchs to their fond homes.

And then to add to the beauty of this 8 minute event that was cut off by a lame commercial…

They played a tune for us.

And they looked happy doing it.

My girlfriend looked over at me and said “I’ve got goosebumps. Do you know what this means? It means that this pop shit got beaten out by a real band. A rock/alt/experimental/pop band.

From Canada.

Arcade Fire.

Well done.

By Jeremy Panda (Producer of From Far and Wide)

‘From Far and Wide’ presents ‘Hands & Teeth’ live at Chalet Studio

Check out this clip from the first episode of From Far and Wide. It features the band Hands & Teeth – a Toronto-based experimental pop collective – playing live at Chalet Studio in Claremont, Ontario.

It’s been just over a year since Hands & Teeth’s inception and their efforts have already garnered a flurry of interest and attention. In the last 14 months they have headlined shows from London to Montreal, were invited to play a private island music festival in Eastern Ontario, had an early single appear in a McDonald’s online ad campaign, received airplay on CBC Radio 2, CBC Radio 3 and BBC 6, and charted at several Canadian college radio stations.

During taping of episode 1 of From Far and Wide it was evident that Hands & Teeth was not only a good looking band, but that they had their shit together. They’re sound was original and tight – and they’re performance ability blew the judges away.

For more Hands & Teeth go see them live this Thursday, Feb. 10 at Parts & Labour (1566 Queen St West, Toronto). Doors open at 10pm, $5 cover.
www.handsandteeth.com

Produced by Jeremy Panda
Directed by Renée Rodenkirchen