WL 358 — Sunday, April 8, 2007 — 11pm
Purveyors of: Psychedelic post-punk soundtracks to suburban video art

(Editors' note: this interview originally ran with Scarborough A/V's first performance at Wavelength's musical part of the Coach House Books launch for uTOpia vol. II, The State of the Arts: Living With Culture in Toronto, in Nov. 2006.)

Kick the black snow off your boots and hop in the Chevy, Scarborough A/V want to take you for a drive out to the 'burbs. Stare out the window at sprawling strip malls and apartment blocks, parklands and parking lots, as the tape deck fills your head with the familiar fuzz of mid-nineties guitar psychedelia. Members of Republic of Safety and Soft Copy have pulled a Marvel Team-Up to create this one-time musical and cinematic tribute to their land of origin. Evan Dickson spoke to Andrew McAllister, Jonny Dovercourt and token Newfie, Wes Hodgson about their home-town pride.

What do you miss most about the Scarborough you grew up in?

A: Its emptiness. It felt very very empty, even though in every corner new shoots of life sprung from the pavement. There were very leafy portions of it that I truly enjoyed as well, even though I was wired for the urban experience.

J: It's a clichéd answer, but the innocence. I don't know if it was a safer place then than it is now, but when we were kids we didn't have any idea about Scarborough's bad rep. I also miss the food court at Morningside Mall, which to this day is still a semi-regular location for my dreams. It's a really sad story that the de facto community centre function the mall served for the area -- once of the poorest in the whole Megacity -- will be lost, as it's now slated to be torn down and "redeveloped" as an array of big box stores. It's a touchy issue in the area, and it seems the mall owners are trying to avoid any negative publicity. Andrew and I visited as part of our filming for Scarborough A/V, and the security guards stopped us from filming the inside of the mall. It's now an eerie and desolate place, the food court is all boarded up and the Music World and Coles Books I used to patronize as a pre-teen are now long gone.

W: Well, I didn't grow up in Scarborough so I can't really say anything specific about that location. But I can tell you that I grew up on the outskirts of another sprawling metropolis — St. John's, NL. Probably not a good comparison, but I'm sure I could come up with some similarities: having to travel to get into the core of the city, adventures in the wilds of the 'burbs, living near high-voltage power lines, etc. I don't think I really miss these things as much as just have sort of romantic reminiscence about them.

Is your music inspired by nostalgia?

A: Some of the music is inspired by what we loved at the time, and by what I still love. If it was a film, it would inspire the kind of looking back that Michael Winterbottom accomplished in "24 Hour Party People".

J: It is, to some extent. In some ways, this is the kind of music I wanted to make when I was a teenager, the kind of noise-guitar soundtrack I heard in my head when I used to drive around the 'Borough after I got my license'”that sort of hopeful/melancholic aimlessness of growing up in the suburbs.

W: The music doesn't really directly bring any nostalgic feelings to mind, but when I first saw some of the video accompaniment it sort of framed the music in a new light that was pretty nostalgic. I'm really looking forward to combining the two on stage.

Do you think the average Scarberian (is that what you're called?) would like Scarborough A/V?

A: The average Scarberian these days is anything but average, and I think the changing demographic of Scarborough is refreshing.

J: Indeed. It can honestly be a little strange taking the bus out there and being the only white person aboard, but it's a healthy perspective feeling like the minority for a change. So I don't know how people who live there would feel about this crazy (white) noise, but I'd be curious to find out. I would like to think that most Scarberians would at least appreciate the tribute we are paying to their (part of) town.

W: Somehow I doubt that, but those pesky Scarberians can surprise you sometimes.

How does Scarborough fit into Toronto's new uTOpian ideal (formerly known as Torontopia)?

A: Hard to say, but the problem of urban sprawl just has seemed to be exacerbated rather than cured by time. The worst part of Scarborough was getting around it or out of it. The trip down Kingston Road to the Lakeshore was like the road to Mecca, an escape to the City where the sense of possibility was palpable.

J: That's a tough question, as for one thing, it's tough to agree on what uTOpia or Torontopia is. As for the latter, I've argued that it's a very personal thing, about your personal relationship to the city. But in terms of the communities that are identified with these terms, they are mostly white, educated, artsy downtowners. As it is, there's not much "happening" in Scarborough, at least not the kind of cultural vibrancy we downtowners are accustomed to. It doesn't mean there's not culture, it's just less arts-focused. John Lorinc wrote about the unique character of the strip malls of Wexford (around Warden and Lawrence) in Vol. I of uTOpia (the book), and in the new volume, Shawn Micallef argues that Scarborough could be home to the next arts and cultural neighbourhood. I do think this is a bit of stretch (and I think Shawn does too), as there are serious urban design and transit issues to be overcome before you get the sort of mixed-use density that creates arts-friendly neighbourhoods. And I kind of want don't want to see Scarborough become the "next hip area"; maybe there's nothing wrong with people just wanting to find a quiet place to raise a family, as uncool or square as it may seem to us. But then there's projects like this that celebrate Scarborough, and inadvertently lead to its gentrification. Eek.

W: That's a pretty subjective idea, isn't it? My uTOpia likely isn't another person's uTOpia. But, I think a lot of the perceived differences between Scarborough and the rest of the city's suburbs are fabricated in people's minds and aren't really based on reality. I mean, sure it's different than the downtown core of Toronto, but I don't think it's trying to be the same thing. It will always be THE suburb of Toronto, but I don't see that as being a bad thing or make it lesser in anyway. I do however think some things could be done to try and draw new people and culture into the area.

Is Scarborough A/V a one-shot for the uTOpia book launch, or do you have more shows planned for the future.

A: Like some celestial bodies, this comet/band is only visible once a lifetime.

J: We'll see. Wait, whenever you say "we'll see," that usually means "no." To pick up the thread of one of your earlier questions, if we end up doing another show, I would actually like it to be in Scarborough. There has to be a community centre or some place out there where people are interested in independent music and video art, right? Uh, right?

W: I don't think it's likely for it to become a very regular thing, but never say never. I think it would translate into a studio project better than a live project (Scarborough A/V DVD Club?). But it's definitely more of a low-key, intimate affair so I think some small shows that highlight that would be something nice to look out for.

by Evan Dickson