Over the summer, MuchMusic contacted Soul Plane and informed us that they would be invading our lives for a good couple months to film our band's debauchery and give us some national television exposure and to put us through rockstar training to see if we have what it takes to make it somewhere in the music industry. If you haven't seen the episode or heard the verdict yet, catch it online now at www.muchmusic.com/disband (just click SOUL PLANE and full-screen the window for the optimal in-yo'-face experience). These are my memoirs from our time on set with Much...
Day 1 – July 9th, 2008
Location: Mellet residence
Time: 7:30pm
I really didn’t know what to expect for today’s practice. Yesterday, MuchMusic confirmed that they would be making a guest appearance at Aaron’s house. I was told by [Hector] that it was going to be a low-key, very casual shoot. They just wanted to capture the band in its element, nothing fancy or extraordinary. Essentially we were supposed to ignore the cameras and pretend they didn’t exist, and carry on with business as usual. Okay, that’d have been real easy except for the fact that this is Much-fucking-Music – when MuchMusic has eyes on you, you can’t really ignore that shit. It’s like getting a chance to play at the Superbowl halftime show and being told to act as if the fans weren’t there. Not happening.
Consequently, it wasn’t all that casual. We ripped through a live re-cap of our entire demo (Black Box) in order. It felt different doing it in front of a couple television producers. It definitely makes you more self-aware in the sense that anything you do now could be on national programming by the end of August. Bearing this in mind (I’m sure all of us did), it became inevitable that we’d turn the practice into more a performance. Hector kept his camera running throughout the whole set... it was great. I couldn’t help but look into the camera as I was rapping my parts – I think I even waved into it at one point during our performance of “Life is Beautiful.” I really didn’t know what else to do when dude shoved a camera in my face like that. Luke was especially on point, and the music sounded really tight – everyone was on their best behaviour for the camera. Julie was on the sidelines the entire run-through, talking to Conor and taking notes as we played. Both producers seemed to be enjoying their experience.
After we finished playing “No Worries,” the last song on our demo, Hector and Julie interviewed me in Aaron’s backyard on camera. They asked me a flurry of questions about myself, my position in the band, and my thoughts regarding the politics and administration of Soul Plane. They had me discuss my solo career and whether or not I would ever pursue one alongside my Soul Plane career. They wanted me to open up about what the best and most difficult aspects of being in the band were. They were interested in finding out whether or not there was a clear leader in the group.
You would think that after having been with Soul Plane since its foundation night, these questions would be easy to address. Wrong. But I did my best. Julie had the responsibility of asking the questions, and Hector did the camerawork. Some quotes from our dialogue:
“There are definitely people who do more work in the band than others... but that’s got more to do with who’s got accesses to the band’s resources. It really depends on your definition of ‘leader’, but here at camp Soul Plane, everyone’s a boss. Everyone’s contribution is taken into equal consideration before any major decisions are made.”
“The most demanding part of being in Soul Plane has to be the amount of work involved. Luckily I got a great team with me, and the fact that we share a vision really helps us accomplish the little goals along the way.”
“The best part of being in the band is definitely each and every performance we put on. Just being on stage, being part of the whole music-making experience... you can’t parallel that with too much else. I’m just fortunate to be working with such an incredibly talented group of musicians.”
“Four of us remain from day one... but Luke and Mel are family to me, too. I’d kill or die for any single one of these guys.”
“A lot of the stress comes from having to resort to plan ‘b’ all the time... in the entertainment business, things don’t always go as planned, even when you think you have it locked down. Coordinating schedules between six or seven people at a time when everyone is busy leading their own lives is no small feat either.”
“Solo career? Of course... as a rapper, the possibilities are endless. I don’t get why today’s hip hop industry is so stagnant when there’s so many different ways to make music. As fresh and as creative as the music is, there are aspects of myself I can’t really bring out on a Soul Plane track as well as I’d like, and that’s when I save it for the beats different producers throw at me, or beats I make myself.”
These interview questions were heavy. I really had to be quick on my feet to make sure my answers didn’t make me look good at someone else’s expense. I also had to make sure that I represented the band properly, accurately... that I represented myself properly, accurately. Hopefully I did justice to everyone and everything that matters. I guess we’ll see. Or maybe we won’t. Maybe Hector and Julie are going to go back to the studio, watch some of these clips, go into self-preservation mode and cancel the whole show while they’re only a little bit behind. This is likely much more likely than you would think.
After they interviewed me, they spoke to both Mel and Gideon on film. Before they could do the rest of the band (Kevin, Aaron, Luke), the skies got real dark and Hector decided he didn’t want to film any interviews indoors. Individual interviews with the rhythmic section of Soul Plane would have to wait for another day. No one had any complaints whatsoever – we were just glad that we could relax and put an end to the upkeep of appearances. And what an unwinding it was – right after Hector and Julie left, we all congratulated each other for putting a good show (as opposed to putting on a good practice). Soul Plane, minus Mel, then proceeded to invade Tian Xin Place and stuff our faces with an unethical amount of dumplings. We deserved it. We’re superstars.
