Monthly Archives: October 2024

LEGENDARY MUSICIAN “NASH THE SLASH” IS SUBJECT OF NEW DOCUMENTARY….now nearing completion

When I first arrived in Toronto in the mid-70s (from Australia, via UK), I was obsessed with disco and all the popular dances – I quickly became one of Toronto’s “disco dollies” who danced at all the popular clubs, getting the crowd hot and thirsty, and becoming known as a draw for the crowds. The high point of my club career was dancing on stage with Barry White & The Love Unlimited Orchestra when they passed through Toronto. Loved the man, loved the voice, loved the kaftans! But disco was already on the outs and I was looking to embrace something new and by accident I discovered the underground world of alternative, punk, electronic and, well, let’s just say the bizarre world of Nash the Slash. I guess I was drawn to his theatrics as well as his musical skills. A one-man band who could rock out with his violin & mandolin and pull in jaded punters who were looking for something new, something independent, something extraordinary.You may have heard of Nash the Slash but if you haven’t, Nash was a unique musician who bound his face in bandages to perpetuate the mystery of anonymity. He straddled the worlds of punk rock, prog-rock, classical and industrial (before it had a name.) And he was considered a ground-breaker in contemporary music circlesHe was an extraordinary entertainer who attracted attention from others of his ilk: debuting in 1975, Nash the Slash used then unheard of tape-loops, a drum machine run through fx pedals, a glockenspiel and an electric violin and mandolin to create a live score for the legendary 1929 Salvador Dali/Luis Bunuel surrealist film, Un Chien Andalou.

And according to Lester Bangs of Rolling Stone magazine….“Nash the Slash is the kind of opening act that makes the headliner work that much harder.”

Along with other local indie bands like Songship (fronted by Mary Margaret O’Hara & Peter Mifsud), I would follow Nash wherever he played, marveling at his deft violin playing, as well as his distinctive compositions. I was working at a concert event at The Diamond Club (now The Phoenix), when I got to hang out with him backstage after a rousing performance – poor guy was drenched in sweat so with a promise from me not to tell anyone what he looked like, he started peeling off the layers while I held out a plastic shopping bag to collect the sodden bandages. I will keep my promise.When I learnt about the documentary being made about him and the need for funding, I offered my publicity services to Colin Brunton, Exec. Producer of Nash the Slash Rises Again!  I recently chatted with Colin (pictured below) and asked him to share his memories of Nash and tell us about the Go Fund Me program so I could reach out to his fans through my blog and social media networks….Colin, what first inspired you to make a film about Toronto’s mysterious musician, and entertainer? And when did Side Three Media take the lead?  Nash was a good friend of mine, and I’d always wanted to make a film about him, but the idea really took root when he passed away in 2014.  I had an idea of how to approach it, but schedules didn’t work out, and Side Three got the rights a couple of years later.  I teamed up with them a year or so after that.

You had a great relationship with Nash that started in the 70s – how did that come about?  I met Nash in 1973, when I was a teenager working at Gary Topp’s Original 99 Cent Roxy Theatre in the east-end of Toronto. The Roxy was a vital gathering place for the counterculture, turning people on to not just an eclectic programme of films, but also cutting-edge music between shows, and it had a reputation as a place where you could openly smoke weed. It was wild.  Nash was a regular there and lived in an apartment behind the projection booth, a living Phantom of the Opera.  We became friends. As our careers progressed, I’d hire him to do film soundtracks, and we kept in touch until the end. I wasn’t allowed to phone him before noon. Toronto had an amazing underground/alternative music scene back in the mid-70s and into the 80s – how did Nash (and you) navigate those waters? How did Nash become such a cult figure?  The mid-seventies in Toronto was a defining period of culture in this city:  pre-packaged hippie culture was on the outs, and the world was begging for something new. It was an exciting time.
Nash was a wildly creative musician with an artistic integrity not often seen anymore. He also had a flair for promotion and was able to keep his true identity a secret for decades.  His shows were mind-blowing: a one-person electronic orchestra on stage surrounded by banks of equipment and tape-machines, custom FX boards, an electric violin and electric mandolin; film images projected onto a screen; jigsawing violins to death and breathing fire.  Totally entertaining. What most fascinated a group of twenty-year-olds we had a test-screening for was his ability to do all of this without computers; he was one hundred per cent analog. He was a very clever guy. Genius. Did Nash produce music videos and if so, did MuchMusic support him by frequently showing them across the country back when MM was a real music tv network?  Nash was just too weird for the mainstream, so he did everything himself: promotion, management, marketing, everything. He was the first musician in Canada to create his own record label; the first to use tape-loops; the first to run drum machines though FX pedals. He never received grants to make videos, and record companies weren’t interested. Nash had a few videos that got played, but without a major label behind him, he never made it into heavy rotation on MuchMusic. But he gave great interviews and was a favourite amongst City TV’s “The New Music” which he was on a lot in the 80’s.

This film should fill in some gaps in Canadian music history – with the recent success of documentaries on MuchMusic itself, Doug & the Slugs and now The Tragically Hip, it seems the country is finally ready to celebrate unique Canadian recording artists. How do you think Nash would feel about being celebrated in this manner?  I’ll tap my foot to Doug & The Slugs, and I like Gord Downie, but Nash was more creative, original and daring. Canada is famous for ignoring their own and no one has been more grievously ignored than Nash the Slash.  Once this film gets out into the world, I’m sure he’d say, “It’s about fucking time!After several Gov’t & private funding rounds, the production still needs another $40K for completion, hopefully the bulk of which would come from both the Canada Council and the Toronto Arts Council. But most likely you’ll need $s from fans of Nash and the public, hence the crowd-funding campaign. Any message you’d like to send out to fans of Nash and the Canadian music industry as a whole?  We’re hoping the arts councils come through, but we’re not banking on it.  We need support at the grass-roots level:  people donating, no matter how small. They get their name in the credits, a shout-out on social media, and bit of a dopamine rush.  And they’ll be able to say that it couldn’t have happened without them; it’s a chance to have their name attached to something very cool and kind of underground.  Toronto’s going to be a lot more interesting with Nash the Slash back in it.

So good luck to the filmmakers: Colin Brunton, Kevan Byrne, Leanne Davies and Tim Kowalski.  This is a film that needs to be made and shown – they are currently only $40K short of their goals. If you’re a music fan, esp. lovers of indie artists and Canadian music history, visit the GoFundMe page and even if it’s $20, please donate tohttps://www.gofundme.com/f/nashtheslashrisesagain

Follow the producers on these social media platforms:
www.facebook.com/NashTheSlashDoc 
www.instagram.com/nashtheslashdoc
www.x.com/nashtheslashdoc
www.tiktok.com/@nashtheslash24

INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED FLUTIST/COMPOSER RON KORB LAUNCHES LATEST ALBUM WITH STANDING ROOM ONLY CONCERT

Last Friday night, fans, family and friends gathered at Toronto’s 3030 Dundas West music venue and cheered, stomped, danced and even conga’d as RON KORB introduced his latest album, World Canvas, to a capacity crowd. The album’s 18 tracks incorporate Latin, Asian, Middle Eastern and European themes recorded by Ron and his band of award-winning musicians contributing their skills on a diverse range of instruments from multiple cultural heritages. It truly was a canvas of world music that took listeners on a journey of sound discovery.After the show, I asked Ron to share his impressions of the night and he graciously offered the following…

Ron, congratulations on a wonderful night of music and entertainment. We all loved the show out in the audience…how was it for you up on stage?  Because there was a lot of new material in the show it’s always that mixture of excitement and concern about how it will come off and how the audience will react. But from the moment I walked out and played the first note it just felt great.

The players from the Samba Squad added some serious Brazilian vibes – you incorporated so many diverse music elements, how difficult is it to find players who are expert on the various cultural instruments?  We are very lucky in Toronto because it is a place where so many cultures live and thrive. Although I had some difficulty finding Korean musicians in Canada this time, I have known master percussionist Rick Shadrach Lazar and his group Samba Squad for decades so it was fairly easy and fun to incorporate the Brazilian vibe and to get them to play the show live. (below – Xiaoqiu Lin on the erhu)You had so many other musicians in the audience with whom you’ve played and recorded – that was very respectful (and exciting for us in the audience) to see so many award-winning and world-renowned players coming out to support your new album. So who were they?  That was a wonderful night with so many people in the business in attendance. Off the top of my head, there was veteran guitarist Bill Bridges who toured with Lena Horne, Peggy Lee, Eartha Kitt, Vic Damone, John McDermott & Bowfire, and a kinder gentleman you will not find. Sharlene Wallace a fabulous Classical & Celtic harpist, Johannes Linstead an incredibly popular award-winning guitarist, bass player George Koller from the original The Shuffle Demons who has worked with Holly Cole, Herb Ellis, Art Farmer. Saxophonist John Panchyshyn, flutist Jamie Thompson and jazz singer Tanya Wills. I’d also like to shout out to radio vet Brian Master from Chum FM and photographer Yosh Inouye who shot several iconic album covers for Max Webster, Ian Thomas and the covers of 2112, Hemispheres and A Farewell to Kings from the Canadian power trio Rush, and Siobhan Grennan former producer at MuchMusic currently working at Zoomer Media and 96.3 The New Classical.

The show ended with 2 encores and a massive conga line dancing around the club – did you think you’d see that?  My original idea of having the CD release in a club was that I wanted it to be really fun. I was motioning to the audience to get up and clap along but when it exploded into to this huge conga line and it really made me laugh. From the corner of my eye I saw the chef and wait staff dancing, too. It so beautiful to see people having such a great time.

And further congratulations for your just-announced inclusion of Global Canvas on the Grammy World Music nomination ballot. When will you hear whether the album made it on the full voting ballot?  Global Canvas is on the ballot and voting closes October 15th. We will see who gets nominated for the World Music Grammy on Friday, Nov 10. I would really like to thank my core band of Ray Hickey Jr, Bill Evans, Steve Lucas and Larry Crowe for all their support and dedication in the studio and onstage throughout the decades.

Thanks, Ron, and good luck with this year’s Grammy selection.

I’d like to give my own shout-out to Ron’s wife, Jade (below), who not only manned the ticket and merch. table on the night, but also designs Ron’s album covers and a multitude of other support duties. She always looks so glamorous and is a welcoming presence at his concerts.As the night wound down and after 2 encores, Ron happily joined in with a meet-n-greet, posing for selfies and signing copies of the CD… I managed to snap a couple of celebrity pics of two of my favourite music people congratulating Ron: international guitar guru Johannes Linstead and popular singer Tanya Wills… Based on audience response, Global Canvas is destined to become another hit album for Ron – there was no doubt as each new track played was met with glorious applause and foot stomping! You can stream the album via Spotify, iTunes or your favourite platform, and several videos have been uploaded to YouTube. CDs are available from Ron’s website:  www.ronkorb.com and I encourage you to follow Ron on social media (linked from his website).

So thumbs up to Ron and his amazing group of musicians who rocked the stage at 3030 Dundas…and I’ll leave the final word to Ron’s #1 fan, Susan,  who apparently approves of Global Canvas!!