Interview with Peter Sillen – July 28, 2011
Director Peter Sillen’s “I Am Secretly an Important Man” chronicles the life and art of Steven “Jesse” Bernstein, one of Seattle’s most intriguing spoken word performers. To the world outside the Pacific Northwest, Bernstein may bring associations of William Burroughs and the early ’90s grunge explosion to mind. But Bernstein was an avant-garde crusader, a complex man with a brain too big for his skull, who had many demons and suffered just as many setbacks in his drive to produce poetry. His work, characterized by his unique, stormy delivery and bluesy acoustic accompaniment, resonates as a guttural reaction to life in America for people on the margins…
Interview with Buck 65 – February 1, 2011
On November 23rd, 2005, Rich Terfry performed a spoken-word set in front of a packed house at Ottawa’s Avant-Garde Bar. A passing fire marshal would have shaken his head and hung up his suspenders at the sight. Buck 65 wasn’t necessarily there that night; instead, the man behind the moniker spent the better part of an hour digging deeply into his bag of anecdotes and scenarios, telling tales of lyrics written and abandoned, presenting his collection of odd gifts and mementos, and reading from a small travel-worn notebook…
Interview with Gary Burns – May 19, 2010
Ten years ago, Canada at large came to know the work of writer/director Gary Burns through “waydowntown,” a film that won the City Award for Best Canadian Feature Film at the Toronto International Film Festival and nabbed Burns a nomination in the Best Achievement in Direction category at the Genie Awards…
Interview with The Good Listeners – March 25, 2010
“Every day has its song and that song shall have its day.” If Clark Stiles and Nathan Khyber of The Good Listeners live by an oath, it’s the one that kicks off “Don’t Quit Your Daydream,” the recent documentary about the making of their third album…
