Music Conference
2012 Conference Schedule
Conference - $19.50/Students Free
Thursday, November 15, 2012
8AM doors/registration and 9PM start
Mohawk College, Fennell Campus (Hamilton, ON)
Check back often and follow us on Twitter! Many more speakers to be confirmed!
*** Schedule subject to change ***
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8:00AM DOORS/REGISTRATION |
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9:00AM-9:15AM McIntyre Theatre OPENING CEREMONIES Featuring Nathan Belgrave of Illusion Avenue performing O Canada |
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9:15AM-10:00AM McIntyre Theatre CELEBRITY INTERVIEW – The ARTIST/MANAGER RELATIONSHIP Don't miss The Spectator's Music Editor Graham Rockingham interviewing Finger Eleven's Rich Beddoe and manager Rob Lanni of Coalition Entertainment as they discuss one of the most career-changing relationships in a musician's career – the dynamic between the artist and the manager. |
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10:00AM-10:15AM Break |
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10:15AM-11:30AM McIntyre Theatre IN PERFECT HARMONY – VOCAL WORKSHOP Accomplished vocalists interact one-on-one with aspiring singers in this vocal workshop through emphasis on vocal harmonies, which are not only beautiful, but are an exceptional art. Featuring: Terra Lightfoot, Sarah Good and Annie Shaw Room C123 SOUND RECORDING: THE MAGIC IN-BETWEEN Between the creative talent of the musician and your ears lies another layer of music talent – the sound recording personnel. In this workshop, a panel of distinguished sound recording experts play their favourite piece of music while describing the challenges, technology and triumphs of the session. Moderator: Paul Morris, 97.7 HTZ-FM Panelists: Richard Chycki, Nick Blagona, Karen Kosowski, Michael Chambers (Catherine North Studios), Trevor Titian Room C125 THE FUTUREADY SESSIONS Mohawk College recruiters guide participants on music and media program-specific tours followed by Q&A with Faculty. |
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11:30PM-12:15PM Lunch |
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McIntyre Theatre LIVE PERFORMANCE |
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12:15PM-1:30PM McIntyre Theatre INDIE PUBLICITY & MARKETING 101 Okay, you've nailed your groove...but nothing happens next without a whole lot of ears knowing about you. Industry experts drill down with experience and insider tips on publicity, marketing, social media.Moderator: Richard Flohill (Flohill & Associates) Panelists: Adam Bentley (The Rest), Chris Farias (kitestring creative branding studio), Cristina Fernandes (Listen Harder), Sean Palmerston (Sonic Unyon Records), Jamie Tennant (CFMU) Room C123 A&R CRITIQUE Aspiring musicians bring their demo's for industry feedback from the people in the industry who help launch music careers every day. Bring your demo (one song on CD with five copies of lyrics).Moderator: Scott Penfold Panelists: John Fielding (True North Records/Linus Entertainment), Kim Cooke (Pheromone Recordings), Ron Lopata (Warner Music Canada), "Parkside" Mike Renaud (Hidden Pony Records) Room C125 THE FUTUREADY SESSIONS Mohawk College recruiters guide participants on music and media program-specific tours followed by Q&A with Faculty. |
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1:30PM- 1:45PM Break |
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1:45PM-3:00PM McIntyre Theatre SONGWRITING WORKSHOP The Songwriters Association of Canada presents a panel of seasoned and upcoming songwriters to talk about and perform the craft of songwriting. Demonstrations of select examples of their songs will either be performed acoustically or from a pre-record. A Q&A period will follow.Panelists: Ariana Gillis, Robbie Hancock, Stacey Kaniuk and Jacob Moon Room C123 3M MUSIC MAKING MONEY 3M Learn how to supplement your career with commercial streams of music revenue including television, film & video game placements, licensing, ads, industrial and web projects - and additionally - learn how to ensure that you are recouping your performance, session and publishing fees. Moderator: Peter Maurin (Mohawk College) Panelists: Paul Intson, Mike McCurlie (MJM Media), Rodney Murphy (SOCAN), Ron Porter (CMRRA), Chris Tait (Pirate Toronto/Chalk Circle), Lee-Anne Wielonda (ACTRA RACS)Room C125 BUILDING YOUR TEAM You can try to do it all...100% indie...but at what point does your music bear the brunt of you spending time with a dozen other learning curves? From management to IT, learn how to navigate the industry and build your own support team and network.Moderator: Mary-Jane Russell (Janus Production Mgmt. Services) Panelists: All About Maggie (Linus Entertainment), Dave Gardner (audio/touring), Pat Leyland (Taylor Klein Oballa LLP), Lou Molinaro (This Ain't Hollywood), Tim Potocic (Sonic Unyon Records) |
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SCHEDULE SUBJECT TO CHANGE |
Special thanks to Y108, Listen Harder, Auteur Research, Sonic Unyon,
Hidden Pony Records, Hamilton Magazine for their generous door prize donations!
Panelists'/Moderators' Bios
Panelists'/Moderators' Bios
All About Maggie
All About Maggie Within a year, Dundas’ Maggie Szabo has gone from a virtually unknown singer/songwriter to YouTube sensation to Bell Media’s Emerging Artist of the Month with the hit song Lovesick heating up the pop charts across Canada, and rock anthem Paint My Name making noise. On August 28 she released her debut album, Now Hear Me Out, to legions of eagerly awaiting young fans. After graduating high school she moved to Nashville to explore her craft but ended up developing a sound all her own. While building her fan-base on YouTube covering current chart-topping hits while making them her own she has over 11 million views on YouTube and Vevo as one of the top 100 most subscribed Canadian musician on YouTube. With an online fan-base growing by the thousands monthly and social media stats that top some of Canada’s most established pop artists, All About Maggie is a star on the rise thanks to her soulful voice and infectious songwriting. The original songs on her album were all co-written by Maggie, with production by Justin Gray (Joss Stone) and Gavin Bradley (Nelly Furtado).
Missy Bauman
Addicted to her guitar after hearing 'Blackbird' by the Beatles, Missy Bauman found her place as a musician at a very young age. She is on her first songwriting spree thanks to the influences of Joni Mitchell, The Beatles, Said The Whale and Led Zeppelin to name a few. She fancies writing songs about people she meets and at the age of 17, Missy has over 50 original songs to her credit. She got her start as student at the Brantford Music Centre, learning guitar and life lessons from Dave Dafoe. Missy opened this year's Greenbelt Harvest Picnic at Christie Lake.
Rich Beddoe
Finger Eleven drummer and Hamiltonian Rich Beddoe started playing drums at the age of eight. Beddoe drummed in local bar band General Lee before joining Finger Eleven in 1996. On the band’s third album in 2003, Finger Eleven broke into the U.S. mainstream with the rock ballad “One Thing” and joined Billboard’s Top 10 in 2007 with “Paralyzer.” The band won the HMA Album of the Year and HMA Rock Album of the Year in 2007, and the 2008 Juno for Best Rock Album of the Year; 2011 saw Finger Eleven’s Life Turns Electric voted the HMA Canadian Recording of the Year by People’s Choice. Rich is a left- handed drummer; somewhat of a rock rarity. Rich was quoted in Modern Drummer to say “It’s crazy, ten years on and we’re still here. Nobody has to work a day job, and we’re doing what we love. So we’re feeling very grateful and blessed for that.”
Adam Bentley
Adam Bentley loves to tell people about great music. He does this in unusual and usual ways . He is also consistently writing songs that he will never finish. He is the singer and a player of instruments in The Rest, and other musical adventures.
As Canada’s foremost recording pioneer, Blagona’s illustrious career spans 40 years. He was instrumental in launching English and French Canadian Rock to the world stage (Kim Mitchell and April Wine, Robert Charlebois, Uzeb), and he designed/built North America’s first and most successful environmental Studio – Le Studio, Morin Heights. He has extensive international experience in mobile recordings (Deep Purple, The Police World Tour, Green Day, FooFighters and Sloan). His creative engineering and mixing talent has enhanced the most notable recordings by Tea Party, Alexisonfire, Protest The Hero, Callaghan, SheepDogs, etc. and he continues to evolve with leading edge technology. In his arsenal Nick Blagona has been mastering over a thousand projects for the past 17 years. He shares his genius with generations of successful artists from big band/jazz to metal/elect. Nick Blagona has spent the past two and a half years as the chief engineer at Jukasa Studios. www.nickblagona.com, for the complete discography and history of his work. www.nickblagona.com, for the complete discography and history of his work.
Michael Chambers
Michael Chambers (aka moon:and:6, Leon Furs) launched his professional music production career in the late 1990s, assisting on sessions for the Philosopher Kings and the Juno Award-winning Willie P. Bennett tribute album, Heartstrings. He has engineered and produced several successful indie pop/rock recordings, beginning with The Golden Dogs' debut album Everything In 3 Parts (True North/Universal, 2004). Michael moved to Hamilton in 2007 where he worked under the mentorship and guidance of the late Dan Achen (Junkhouse). During this time, Michael became a regular fixture at Achen's Catherine North Studios, working with artists such as Luke Doucet, Rose Cousins, Said the Whale, Ophelia Syndrome, and The Rest. Michael now co-owns Catherine North alongside audio engineer Duke Foster. Working under the moniker moon:and:6, Michael recorded and mixed Whitehorse's self-titled debut in 2011, followed by their 2012 full-length release The Fate of the World Depends on This Kiss (Six Shooter Records/Warner Music). Michael is the winner of the 2011 Hamilton Music Awards Studio Engineer of the Year award.
Richard Chycki
“I have never enjoyed the recording process so much, nor been so satisfied with the results.” - Neil Peart, on working with producer/engineer/songsmith Richard Chycki. Okay, bio complete. Then again, Juno-nominated Chycki has also worked with Aerosmith, Dream Theater, Our Lady Peace, Simple Plan, Cranberries and P.Diddy to name a few, and has also been instrumental in the remixing of original artist tracks for both the eminently popular Guitar Hero and Rock Band video games and IOS apps like Jammit. Past works also include contributions to movie soundtracks for features like I Love You Man, Charlie's Angels, Serendipity, Scream 3 and The Glimmerman. Live broadcast works include track mix for the 2010 Winter Olympics closing show, MTV's 20th Anniversary Special and international live broadcasts via YouTube, amongst others. ‘For me, it’s all about capturing the vibe and spirit of the music that the artist intended and having fun doing it,’ says Chycki of his musical mantra.
Kim Cooke
Four decades on, 2011 HMA Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Kim Cooke can definitely be called a savant of the music industry. He started off humbly with Sam the Record Man on the mountain, and shipped tens of thousands of 8- tracks for Muntz in Burlington before finding his major label holy grail, WEA Canada (later Warner Music Canada) from 1978-2001. In 2002 he joined then start-up MapleMusic Recordings as GM, and in 2007 launched his own label, Pheromone Recordings. 2011 saw him opening another dream, TO's Revolution Recording. Cooke was nominated 1987 for a Grammy in the Best Historical Album category for his work on The Otis Redding Story, and is a past board member of CARAS and is still its Co-chair, Nominating and Voting. He also sits on the board of the Polaris Music Prize.
Chris Farias
As Imaginitarian at kitestring creative branding studio, Chris' high-level creative thinking, artistic wizardry and imaginative conceptual development lead kitestring's Creative Department. His talent extends from conceptual branding through to mediums like print, digital, online, and experiential. Chris is also kitestring's social media shaman who really walks the walk when it comes to strategic planning and implementation of online relationships and brand building. He's featured in the new textbook, Understanding Human Communication, second Canadian Edition, by Ronald B Adler, George Rodman and Alexandre Sévigny. The book is designed for introductory communications courses that will be used in university classrooms across the country. Chris' and kitestring's social media success can be read about in this book. Chris loves #HamOnt!
Cristina Fernandes
Cristina Fernandes is the owner of Listen Harder, an independent music publicity company based in Toronto, Canada. Cristina has been working in the music industry since 1991 and started her own indie publicity gig in 1999. Listen Harder has achieved noteworthy success in the alternative, indie, rock, metal, hardcore and punk scenes with a roster that includes Platinum and Juno award winning artists The Sheepdogs, Alexisonfire, Bedouin Soundclash, City and Colour; local sensation Walk off the Earth; as well as Hamilton's very own Monster Truck, Arkells, and The Reason.
John Fielding
John Fielding has been involved in the music industry for eight years. From playing in two touring bands, working as a composer/ producer /engineer for both independent and major label artist, to heading the A&R, Licensing and Artists Development departments for True North Records/ Linus Ent, John has quickly carved his name in the Music industry in both Canada and The U.S. From the age of 21, John began touring and taking part in the major festival circuits. In 2009, John forged a production deal partnership with famed producer Ryan Greene (NOFX, Alice Cooper, Megadeth) and the two co- founded an L.A/ Toronto based production company called Area 52 Entertainment. Since then, John has worked with all types of artists and bands as a composer, producer or engineer for both Major label and Independent artists. While completing further industry education with an honours certificate from Metalworks institute, John began working in the business administration side of the industry. He is currently head of A&R and Artist Development for the legendary True North Records and is also currently developing a booking agency within the True North entity which will handle booking for artists signed to the Label.
Richard Flohill
Richard Flohil is a Toronto-based publicist writer and concert promoter who has been involved with more than 100 artists' careers in a 45-year career. His current clients include Stony Plain Records, Loreena McKennitt, Ian Tyson, and an impressive roster of young up-and-coming performing songwriters, including Ariana Gillis, Alejandra Ribera, Jadea Kelly, and more. Former clients include The Good Lovelies, k.d. lang, Colin James, the Irish Descendants, the Downchild Blues Band and Ani diFranco. He is the recipient of numerous esteemed awards for his work. Flohil is a member of the Board of the Ontario Council of Folk Festivals, and is on the programming committee of the Toronto Blues Society. He is a former founding editor of The Record, edited The Canadian Composer for 20 years, is a former artistic director of the Mariposa Folk Festival, and works each year as an MC or workshop host at the Edmonton, Calgary and Winnipeg Folk Festivals. He also presents a dozen shows a year at Hugh's Room and on other stages in Toronto, Hamilton, London and other cities. After all these years he knows where many of the bodies are buried, but insists he never carried a shovel... He also has the best music industry stories...
Dave Gardner
Dave Gardner has been working as an audio engineer in the field of live sound for the past 12 years. Starting off his career, he worked for various Toronto production companies on a multitude of shows including corporate events (Fashion Cares), music festivals (EDGEFEST) and live television events (Much Music Video Awards, Much Music series 'Intimate and Interactive', Bravo's 'Live at the Rehearsal Hall'). Dave has spent the last 7 years touring; in that time he has worked as a monitor engineer for Matthew Good; toured as the front of house engineer and tour manager with Alexisonfire, City and Colour, Sarah Harmer, Ron Sexsmith and is currently touring with Kathleen Edwards.
Ariana Gillis
Not every young Canadian singer-songwriter gets to launch her CD with a live appearance on the US satellite station Sirius XM. But that’s how St. Catharines’ Ariana Gillis -- who turned 21 earlier this month — began to premiere her second album, Forget Me Not. Earlier, Marsh had played a track — “John and the Monster” — from an advance copy of the CD; one response was a phone call from an enthusiastic listener who wanted to know more about the unusual song, and the singer. The mystery caller was Elton John’s lyricist and songwriting partner Bernie Taupin. Forget Me Not, like her first CD, To Make It Make Sense, is a collection of Ariana’s original songs. “Original” not only indicates that she wrote or co-wrote all the songs, but that the subjects are unusual. Not many artists (regardless of their age) write songs about creatures in a lake with healing powers, people in adjacent graves chatting with each other, the annual slaughter of dolphins in a cove in Japan, or young sailors forced to walk the plank. Unusually, her chief collaborator is her father, David Gillis, himself an award-winning guitarist with his own solo career. He produced the new CD, co-wrote several of the songs, and plays banjo and/or guitar on every track.
Sarah Good
Sarah Good is a Hamilton-based musician and music teacher. She studied classical voice at mohawk college and now teaches piano, guitar, and vocal lessons in Dundas. Sarah is involved in many musical projects that span across the music genre spectrum. From experimental group, Misner Space to Montreal based-jazz and classical nine-piece band Serial Numbers to math punk band Pucumber Sasquash. Her other most active projects include GlassEYElashes, a vocally based experimental songs duo with Annie Shaw; and Guillotine, a three part harmony act with Terra Lightfoot and Annie Shaw. She is also co-founder and director of Earth, Wind and Choir, not to mention her own solo project. Sarah's solo debut album is set to be released in 2013.
Robbie Hancock
With the June 2011 release of his first solo album "It's Never Too Late" Robbie Hancock has solidified his place in the Canadian music scene as a singer/songwriter to be reckoned with. From his power pop roots of his first band "The Mighty Fishermen" to the mod glam flash of his second "The Candidates" with the album "Meet the Candidates" (which reached top 50 Canadian campus radio), Robbie has paid his dues. With two national tours under his belt and performing over 500 shows in total to date, Robbie has now delivered an Americana sound, which flows across his new album with songs that each have their own life. Robbie has also just signed a co-publishing deal partnering with Attack Media Group to promote and market the album, which also includes distribution from KI/Interscope/Universal. Robbie is a very hard working musician and has the drive, determination and perseverance necessary to sustain in today's ever changing music industry. He hopes that he can share his passion for creating his music with the world, one stage at a time.
Paul Intson
Paul Intson began his musical exploration as a jazz bassist composing for Indonesian Gamelan. His first series as a composer landed him with Disney in the mid-90s. From there he bounced around globally as a music editor and additional music composer on major features that offered the privilege of an enviable education. Since 2004, he has composed under his owname. His style is more subtractive; he moves consciously away from each style he generates and attributes the process to his need to seek out a cultural home for himself. That process has earned him Genie, Gemini and Leo awards. In his own words: “Before I write a single note, I immerse myself in research about the physical places and emotional moods that the music will capture. Only then do I write the score, respecting the rules and limitations of the musical genre, merging that style with contemporary form. Finally, I cast for musicians - the way a director casts for actors. The right musicians provide the performances that bring notes on the page to life. I’m always seeking those eureka moments when the music lights up a scene; when images and sound combine to make something that neither alone could have achieved. That in itself is the ultimate reward.” He resides and composes in Ancaster, Ontario ..... where he still plays bass.... and hockey.
Stacey Kaniuk
This petite suburban damsel with a massive voice delivers unforgettable melodies fuelling pensive, emotive lyrics, with music inspired by the inherent heartiness and rugged nature of mid-1960s soul/Motown/R&B. Twenty-six year-old Stacey Kaniuk is an authentic virtuoso. Honing her artistic expertise since youth, this classically-trained pianist is no neophyte to the world of song. From earliest recollections of a melody-filled home - to her teens spent entertaining with gold-certified pop/R&B vocal trio Take Three - and into her current solo career, Kaniuk has spent her life embracing music. “It was always around; a part of my upbringing. I'd sit at the top of the stairs and listen to my mother play stuff like Cat Stevens and Joni Mitchell on the piano. My father was also in a touring soul and Motown band years ago yet still performs locally to this day.” As the songstress continues to grow, learn, share and write in order to understand herself, she aspires to have (her music) help others understand their own characteristics in the process. “Making a record is a really personal experience. You're distilling your entire self into a few songs and putting it out there for people to scrutinize. That can make you anxious, excited, proud and scared all at the same time. It's an emotional roller coaster in the best possible way.”
Karen Kosowski
Canadian producer and songwriter Karen Kosowski earned over a decade of experience as an independent touring solo artist, during which time she wrote, recorded and produced several of her own independent releases. It wasn't until 2008 that she realized her true passion of songwriting and production, when she was given the opportunity to write and produce a song for a young singing contestant on YTV's The Next Star (her track was subsequently released by Universal Music Canada). She has since worked with numerous artists around the world, including Allstar Weekend (Universal Music), DOTAN (EMI Netherlands), Sophie Delila (Universal Music France), Sabrina Carpenter (Hollywood Records) and Emma-Lee (eOne Music Canada). Her film/tv sync placements include networks such as HBO Canada, CBS, FX Network, Lifetime Network, TLC, YTV, MuchMusic, NickTeen, Space, the CW and APTN, and her songs/productions have received airplay on 23+ radio stations across Canada. Recent collaborations include Keith Follese, James Bryan, Brian West, Rob Allen, Gavin Brown, Eric Dill, Simon Wilcox and Andy Stochansky. Currently splitting her time between Toronto and Los Angeles, she is working with developing independent artists and artists signed to labels such as Hollywood Records, Universal Music Canada, Warner Music Canada. www.karenkosowski.com
Rob Lanni
Rob Lanni (with partner Eric Lawrence) is co-founder of Coalition Music - a full-service management company with true artist development as the lynchpin to all of their endeavors and one of the few firms with the expertise to build careers globally. The current client roster includes artists Our Lady Peace, Simple Plan, Finger Eleven, Justin Nozuka, USS, Incura, The Balconies, Ben Caplan, Faber Drive and These Kids Wear Crowns. Established in 1990, Coalition’s focus in the early days was primarily on touring and being accessible to their artists. Coalition has evolved into a full service company with a staff of 12. Coalition’s various departments include: touring, music licensing, online creative, marketing, social networking, press and publicity. Lanni is currently on the Board of Directors of the Music Managers Forum of Canada having served as the organization's first President. In addition, Lanni represents the MMF on the FACTOR Board of Directors. In 2004, Lanni co-founded Coalition Music (Records) and Coalition Music (Publishing) to further be able to discover and develop new artists in an ever-changing “360” world. For more information on Coalition Musict, please visit www.coalitionmusic.ca
Pat Leyland
Pat Leyland is a partner at the entertainment and media law firm Taylor Klein Oballa LLP. Actively involved in the Canadian music industry for over 15 years, Pat generally practices in the areas of intellectual property and corporate/commercial law, with a particular focus on drafting, reviewing, and negotiating contracts in relation to the music industry. Pat began his career in the music industry as a member of Ontario-based modern rock band left Pencey, which ultimately signed a recording deal with U.S. major label Arista Records. After the band dissolved, Pat went on to graduate summa cum laude from McMaster University and then entered the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, where he served as president of both the Sports & Entertainment Law Society and the Technology & Intellectual Property Group. Outside of Taylor Klein Oballa LLP, Pat is a contributing author to Canadian Musician magazine, has conducted seminars for SaskMusic, Manitoba Music, and the Harris Institute, and has been a guest speaker for various organizations, including the Western Canadian Music Awards, University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law, the Songwriters Association of Canada, and Nova Scotia Music Week.
Terra Lightfoot
Terra Lightfoot has been honing and cultivating her solo material since moving to Hamilton to attend university at the age of eighteen. As 1/7 of the HMA award-winning The Dinner Belles, Lightfoot has garnered a loyal following both as a group member and solo artist with her rich, melancholic voice. Lightfoot received a grant from the Ontario Arts Council to record her first eponymous solo album and recruited Dale Morningstar (godspeed you black emperor! and Thrush Hermit), as well as full band accompaniment from members of Huron and A Northern Chorus. Now armed with a backing band, Lightfoot has been busy this year performing with such artists as Basia Bulat, Julie Doiron, Daniel Romano (Attack in Black) and Wax Mannequin. Terra has launched her first North American tour for this past fall.
Ron Lopata
There's no labeling Warner's Ron Lopata. He was a member of jackSOUL for 12 years as keyboardist, player, writer, and producer and has toured several times across Canada with such greats as James Brown. He is a 3-time Juno winner, and received his classical music degree from the Royal Conservatory, a jazz degree, as well as a bachelor of science from U of T. Ron has produced and written several radio hits with numerous, as well as music for TV throughout N.A. He has been a developer of talent for the last eight years, signing artists on both sides of the border, and has produced/remixed/co-written for several artists (e.g. jackSOUL, Michael Kaeshammer, Ashley MacIsaac, Jully Black) resulting in several gold and platinum records. Closer to home, Ron produced, developed and signed Tomi Swick (best new artist Juno, 2007).
Peter Maurin
Peter J. Maurin received his Masters Degree in Sociology from McMaster University in 1992, his Honours BA from Brock University in 1989 and his Diploma in Radio and Television Arts from Niagara College. He has taught in the Communications Media Department at Mohawk College since 1990. He has also taught in the Communications Studies Program at Brock University and in the Journalism Program at Niagara College. His courses at Mohawk include Intro to Mass Communication, Media Law and Ethics, Social Journalism, Career Planning and Rock On: The History of Pop Music. He is a freelance writer and broadcaster, logging over 30 years on the air for several radio stations in Ontario. He’s currently the host of “Oldies without Borders,” Saturday afternoons from 3-6pm on INDI101 in Hamilton. Over the years, he’s interviewed almost one hundred singer/songwriters for his show, including Hamilton icons Kelly Jay, Skip Prokop, Daniel Lanois, Gord Lewis, Dave Rave, Lily Sazz, John Ellison and Sonny Del Rio. He’s an avid collector of Hamilton radio charts from CKOC, CJJD and CHAM from “back in the day.” He has been an author for Pearson Education in Toronto since 1996, co-authoring a dozen textbooks including six editions of “The Media of Mass Communication,” with John Vivian and “Keys to Success,” with Carol Carter, Joyce Bishops and Sarah Lyman Kravits.
Mike McCurlie
Mike McCurlie got the music bug early and began playing in bands in public school. This led to touring as a duo with Dan Lanois in the early 70’s. After beginning his recording career at Grant Avenue Studios in the late 70’s, he founded MJM Productions in the early 80’s where he has created radio/tv productions for PizzaPizza, Sleeman and African Lion Safari. Currently MJM produces music and post-audio for TV, radio and film. He is the leader of local group Banned from Heaven band (get it?). Mike has degrees in music and English. Oh, and he lived in a treehouse for a year and on a boat for six.
Lou Molinaro
Lou Molinaro was born in Oshawa and grew up listening to rock ‘n’ roll. As a kid, he spent his paper route money at record stores. While attending Carleton University he got involved at the campus radio station. Then, with the campus radio bug still active, Molinaro landed his own show at Mohawk College radio station C101.5 (INDI 101) as the result of a company transfer to Hamilton. Since becoming a Hamiltonian, Lou has been a talent buyer, has spearheaded a record label, managed bands, and most recently is now co-owner of the out-of-the-box success This Ain’t Hollywood. One of Lou's projects involves working with Albert Bouchard from Blue Oyster Cult fame on a musical project with a cast of stellar Hamilton Musicians called Bouchard's Outrageous Canadians. (BOC – clever!). Since 2009, Lou has been on the Program Committee of The Burlington Sound of Music Festival, and has brought acts like the New York Dolls and Devo to the festival. Currently, Lou has been working on a Hawkwind Homage with Gord Lewis (Teenage Head), Edgar Breau & Kevin Christoff (Simply Saucer) called Space Rituals. January 2013 will see Lou debuting his rock ‘n’ roll band, “Lou Molinaro’s Tongue Fu” featuring a bunch of originals by…Lou.
Jacob Moon
Singer/Songwriter. Guitar Player. One Man Band. YouTube guy. Now add 'Father of two young boys' to that, and you start to get a more complete picture of the man who has found a way to realize his musical dreams on his own terms, without compromise, and still have a life to go home to after the gig.. "My music is born from all the listening I've done over the years, and I listen to a lot of different music. In a way it makes sense that what comes out would be a mash-up of all those different influences, and tough to pin a style on", Moon says."My musical influences at that time were bands like Yes, Rush and Marillion, so I was trying to figure out how to make the guitar sound as big as I knew it could sound from hearing those guys". A graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University’s music program, Moon is also one of the industry’s “ live looping technology” leaders. His popular live-looping music videos on YouTube recently gained attention on a national level, when rock legends Rush asked Moon to perform at the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame Gala. Social justice is something very close to Jacob's heart, and for many years he has been active in doing fundraiser concerts for many worthy organizations, including: Compassion Canada, International Justice Mission, Mennonite Central Committee, Canadian Foodgrains Bank, and many Christian schools across Canada.
Paul Morris
HTZ-FM’s Paul Morris is music director/assistant brand manager/air personality at Astral Media in St. Catharines. An industry favourite, Morris could fill a room with CMW “Music Director of the Year” awards.
Rodney Murphy
Rodney Murphy is the Education and Outreach Manager for SOCAN - the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada. He spends most of his time attending shows, seminars, and industry events providing member education and public speaking on behalf of SOCAN. Prior to his current role at SOCAN, Rodney spent 5 years managing the catalogues and performance royalties of SOCAN’s highest earning Country, Rock and Pop members. Before joining SOCAN, Rodney worked for CKCU FM, Sony Music Canada and BBC Radio One in the UK. Rodney’s Master’s Thesis on “Britpop” music continues to collect dust on his record shelf.
Sean Palmerston
Born and raised in Simcoe ON, Sean Palmerston is the publicist at Sonic Unyon. After starting out at US metal label Relapse Records, he joined Sonic Unyon in 1997. Sean oversees all publicity for Sonic Unyon, Hamilton's Supercrawl festival and is the Canadian publicist for German metal label Nuclear Blast. Current notable acts he works with include Frank Black, Kreator, Meshuggah, Testament and Young Rival. Sean successfully petitioned the Juno Awards to create a metal category in 2011 and is co-chair of the Juno committee for the Metal Album of the Year Award. In his spare time he manages the Canadian metal bands Anciients and Sacrifice, is publisher of the metal webzine Hellbound.ca and co-hosts Hellbound Radio on INDI 101 . Sean lives in downtown Hamilton with his wife and two sons.
Scott Penfold
Scott Penfold has been in the rock radio broadcast field for over 10 years, predominantly in the Toronto market. He also spent some time on the road, working directly with numerous bands while travelling throughout the United States for an International Record Label. "I really dig the medium of radio. I've also been overly obsessive about all forms of Rock and Music history for as long as I can remember. His voice can also be heard in numerous radio and television ads throughout North America.
Ron Porter
Ron Porter is the Director of Copyright of the Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency LTD. (CMRRA). Ron has been with CMRRA since 1991 and currently oversees the Copyright department and Membership Services areas. He obtained a B.A. from the University of Western Ontario and a diploma from Fanshawe College's Music Industry Arts program. Previous to CMRRA, he worked at PROCAN (now SOCAN) for their West Coast Division, in the Writer/Publisher relations position. He has also worked for Polygram Records in the licensing department. Currently, he is involved in overseeing the song registration and membership affiliation processes at CMRRA. He is also a member of an International working group which deals with the standardization of electronic song registrations, disputes and agreements. CMRRA is Canada's largest music licensing agency and licenses music publishing rights on behalf of thousands of music publishers and copyright owners to record companies, internet music distributors and film and television producers.
Tim Potocic
Tim Potocic is co-owner and president of 20-year old Sonic Unyon Records in Hamilton, including in-house labels Sonic Unyon records, Sonic Unyon Metal and Goodfellow Records. Potocic has sat on the boards of CIRPA and CARAS and has enjoyed a Canadian Music Industry Award for label of the year, a Hamilton Entrepreneur of the Year award, and having several of his artists acquire Juno nominations. Potocic currently sits on the boards of the CIMA “ Canadian Independent Music Assoc”, Downtown Hamilton BIA, Hamilton Arts Council and the Cobalt Arts Service organization. Sonic Unyon has grown into one of Canada’s leading independent record companies. In 2009 Sonic Unyon has also expanded into the live music sector with Tim Potocic as the Supercrawl festival’s lead organizer. Supercrawl 2012’s attendance grew to over 80,000. Supercrawl has won Tourism Hamilton’s “Festival of the Year” award three years straight with multiple awards in 2012 including Entertainment Ambassador of the Year 2011 - Tim Potocic. In 2013 Sonic Unyon will be focusing on the events side of the business with Supercrawl expansions, and launching a Hamilton Blues Festival in the Westdale Village June 1st. Since 1997, Tim has also been involved in property redevelopment and management in downtown Hamilton. The partners in Sonic Unyon have acquired and currently operate and manage three additional properties in the James Street North area with over 40,000 sq ft under their care.
“Parkside” Mike Renaud
"Parkside" Mike Renaud is a 15 year veteran of the Canadian music industry. He began his career at Aquarius Records in Montreal where he was the domestic A&R for Sum 41 and Serial Joe. After a stint with V2 records Canada, Parkside started Hidden Pony Records along with his partner Donald Tarlton (Donald K Donald) which now represents Said The Whale, Jeremy Fisher, Rah Rah, Imaginary Cities, Elephant Stone, The Danks and We Are The City.
Graham Rockingham
Graham Rockingham has been covering the Hamilton music scene for the past decade for the Hamilton Spectator. During that time, he’s been named HMA Media Person of the Year four times as well as won an Ontario Newspaper Award for entertainment writing. During his 30+ year career in newspapers, Rockingham has held a variety of top reporting and editing positions for The Vancouver Sun, The Vancouver Province, the Metro group of daily newspapers and United Press International. Rockingham contributes a column to fyimusic.ca and teaches music journalism at Mohawk College. In 2001 Rockingham was a member of the grand jury for the Polaris Prize for Canadian album of the year.
Mary-Jane Russell
Mary-Jane Russell has enjoyed a well-rounded career in business and performance over many decades in the Canadian entertainment industry. For twenty years she's been the co-owner of a thriving Indie Record Production House/Recording Studio with partner and client, Nick Blagona, one of Canada’s music industry treasures, a world-class Record Producer/Engineer/Mixer/Mastering Engineer. Her operational roles include talent scout, submissions screener, production coordinator, contract negotiator and writer, scheduler, production supervisor nationally and internationally, etc. Prior to that MJ toured Canada as merchandising manager for Paul Simon, she produced her own concert series in small soft-seat venues in the Toronto and Hamilton music scenes, she managed artists in the Ottawa region where she was also a talent booking agent. MJ taught artist management at The Institute of Design and Technology and Jukasa SORA, managed the careers of a small stable of record producer/engineers and volunteered as president of the Board of Directors at the Cabbagetown Community Arts Centre. Mary-Jane continues to consult, write, teach voice and piano privately and has fun running Psyhotropic Studios.
Annie Shaw
Annie Shaw is a pianist/vocalist/educator from Hamilton, Ontario. She completed her B. Mus with a specialty in jazz piano and a minor in music technology at McGill Univerisity. Back in her hometown, Annie is involved in a range of diverse musical performance projects such as the vocal based experimental Misner Space, gross punk band Pucumber Sasssquash as well as GlassEYElashes, a songwriting duo with Sarah Good. Her solo tape release Shanty Awe was recently released to great reviewes. She is also remote member of Montreal’s avant-chamber group Xifu Sagas and co-founder and co-director of Hamilton’s own Earth Wind and Choir. Currently engaged as a private piano teacher, she was also thrilled to be an instuctor for In The Loop, a series of electronic music workshops for girls.
Chris Tait
Chris Tait was the singer/guitarist with Canadian gold-record recording artists Chalk Circle, sharing the stage on tours with Crowded House, Tears for Fears and Rush. Big Faith (with Ken Greer) followed, before Tait started commercial production company ‘Tantrum’ in 1994, producing several award winning commercials for clients like BMO, Coors Light, and MT&T mobility. In 1999 Tait joined Pirate Toronto (a full service audio solutions company including original music composition, music licensing, sound design, casting, voice direction and recording facilities) as a composer/director and became a partner in January 2002. 2003 saw Tait recording his first solo album “Hello… my name is Chris Tait.” Over the years Chris has helped mentor aspiring singers and recording artists (e.g. Welland’s Oliver Black). In 2004 Tait was asked to write the song “A Little Music” for the Coalition for Music Education in Canada’s annual ‘Music Monday’ event. As a celebration of the galvanizing power of music, school children all across Canada simultaneously perform ‘A Little Music’ on the first Monday in May. Tait continues to write and perform original music and in his spare time (life is busy co-parenting three kids!) plans on recording a second solo album.
Jamie Tennant
Jamie Tennant began writing professionally at the Hamilton Spectator in 1992. He has since written for various publications including the TV Times, View, the Toronto Sun, Chart Magazine, and Hamilton Magazine, and the Hamilton Spectator where he was a regular music correspondent. Currently, Jamie is the Program Director at 93.3 CFMU FM, where he also hosts two programs. He continues to write for various magazines, record companies, and artists; his Hamilton Magazine article on Simply Saucer was nominated for a National Magazine Award in 2009. Jamie also hosts the music program Ensemble! on Cable 14.
Trevor Titian
Raised in the Hamilton music industry, Trevor Titian has 25 years of experience from live sound in his earlier career to the recording arts in more recent years. With engineering credits on Sarah Mclachlan, and producer of multi-HMA winning records (The Dinner Belles, Harrison kennedy, and Michelle Titian) Trevor has made his mark in the Canadian music business. Titian's production style has been strongly influenced through the process of recording with local professional musicians such as Tone Valcic, John Ellison, and Bill Dillon and his younger years on the live music scene with the city's finest blues and country artists such as King Biscuit Boy. Trevor's latest project, a roots spiritual ukulele record by Peter Tigchelaar, has just been released and nominated for this year's HMAs.
Lee-Anne Wielonda
Lee-Anne Wielonda helped create what is known today as the Recording Artists’ Collecting Society (RACS). With over 15 years’ experience in the entertainment industry, Lee-Anne has and continues to play a critical role in the development of distribution systems and models for the disbursement of neighbouring rights and private copying monies to sound recording artists.
Special thanks to Y108, Listen Harder, Auteur Research, Sonic Unyon,
Hidden Pony Records, Hamilton Magazine for their generous door prize donations!
General Information
General Conference Information
Now in its eleventh year, the HMA "Careers in Music" Conference:
- introduces attendees throughout the Golden Horseshoe to the wide spectrum of career possibilities in the music industry, e.g. opportunities in finance, entertainment law, artist management, marketing, radio, distribution, fine arts (both music and visual), photography and technology (sound engineering, video editing, concert production)
- through industry leaders, provides insights, skills, and career direction to local musicians and music industry personnel
- provides hands-on, experiential volunteer opportunities to those interested in investigating and/or pursuing a career in the music industry (which counts towards community involvement hours!)
- feeds both the current and future music sectors with new talent and opportunities
- admission is free for students (secondary school seniors and post-secondary) and accompanying teachers
Past participating schools and institutions include: University of Toronto, Halton District School Board, Hamilton Wentworth District School Board, Hamilton Wentworth Separate School Board, Grand Erie District School Board, Mohawk College, McMaster University, Sheridan College and the Harris Institute.
The Conference - which offers a full day of industry panels, keynote addresses and/or celebrity interviews, and creative and technical workshops - feeds both the current and future music sectors with new talent and opportunities, and is fully endorsed by the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board.
Past speakers include: Alan Cross (Corus/102.1 The Edge/The Ongoing History of New Music), Bob Mersereau (Author, Top 100 Canadian Albums/CBC), Rich Beddoe (Finger Eleven), George Pettit (Alexisonfire), Ian Thomas, Jake Gold (Canadian Idol, Management Trust), Derrick Ross (S.L. Feldman and Assoc), Ross Reynolds (Universal Music), Daniel Lanois, Graham Rockingham (Journalist), Emmanuel Patterson (Live Nation), Barb Sedun (EMI Publishing), legendary producer Nick Blagona, Christopher Ward, Tim Potocic and hundreds more!
Special thanks to Y108, Listen Harder, Auteur Research, Sonic Unyon,
Hidden Pony Records, Hamilton Magazine for their generous door prize donations!
Testimonials
Conference Testimonials
The HMA 'Careers in Music Conference' is a great and much-needed career opportunity for our students, particularly at a time when the creative industries sector is growing and strengthening. Not only do they have the excitement of being present during the Conference, they get meaningful learning and mentorship from a variety of high caliber professionals in the music industry. Perhaps most valuable is the understanding and knowledge gained about all facets of the available careers that the music industry offers, which supports our students in their chosen pathways. We have many teachers that bring students every year!"
Karen Wilkins, Arts Consultant K -12, Leadership and Learning Department, Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board
The Producers Panel with Rich Beddoe, Amy King, Michael Chambers, Duke Foster, and D'Arcy McGilligan:
"I really enjoyed this workshop because we got to hear all about sound recording, which is pretty cool. And hearing it from the drummer from Finger 11 was AWESOME!!!! Also hearing it from people who work in that business and also having one of the people who actually came from Mohawk was pretty cool because she was in my position when she was my age and now she's doing this awesome job!...at the end we were able to ask them questions, anything we wanted to know about sound recording."
Jacklyn, Mohawk College Student, November 2010
"I must say being a radio student and a lover of music I really appreciated the panels and music that I witnessed on Thursday. The information and tidbits of advice from the panels, have just only made me want to pursue my dream even more. Thank you."
SV, 2011 Attendee and Mohawk College Radio Broadcasting Student
"I thought the seminars were very well-organized and the answers the panelists gave were both fun (which made listening SO much easier) and they were full of great information. The panelists gave a part of themselves in every answer and didn't try to make it just another boring interview… I learned so much I previously had not known."
JO, 2011 Attendee
Special thanks to Y108, Listen Harder, Auteur Research, Sonic Unyon,
Hidden Pony Records, Hamilton Magazine for their generous door prize donations!
