IT BEGAN with a movie fascination. But in 1987 I learned to play the guitar and other instruments, and became enchanted with the mechanics of recording. By 1993 I had my very own 4-track tape recorder and it was all I ever wanted to do. I recorded so many original songs. It was the recording that fascinated me - even more than the music. But I persisted in writing and recording, writing and recording...

IT LED to rock bands and album recordings and small local tours and CBC radio singles... and ultimately to reviewing audio gear for Professional Sound Magazine and Canadian Musician Magazine. I had my own modest recording studio by 2003. I loved doing that but my day job took precedence. By 2008 I started making videos and worked on a start-up TV show I created. I scored my first short film in that year (orchestral), and won an award for it. I filmed several corporate videos and interviews and scored and did sound design on them all. I did that for many years. I did foley work and began collecting sound libraries. But I wanted to make movies... somehow.

IT CULMINATED in a massive love for recording everything. By 2011 I was recording conversations and interviews and nature and everything I could find to preserve. In 2015 I was asked to create an orchestral piece to have fireworks timed to it. I filmed political videos that got national headlines that year. But I was struggling with my health. My projects became sporadic and I did what I could. The more I learned about myself and my illness, the further away from making movies I got.

AND NOW I am a disabled, middle-aged man with an obsession for microphones and audio recording gear... and movies. As I have come to understand and accept my own limitations that I spent a lifetime ignoring, I have grown ever more positive about the future. I decided to take some of the equipment I have collected over the years and put it all to good use.

I have never liked the limelight. I do not enjoy being the centre of attention. I have always found my place in the shadows, behind the curtain, backstage. I always wanted my work to do the talking instead of me. But it's only me and a camera and a room full of equipment. So I decided to do what I do in FRONT of the camera this time. Disabilities be damned.

I hope you have found the same love for microphones and sound and recording slices of time as much as I have.

Thanks for the coffee!

-The Recordist