SET TO MUSIC FOR MOM
Doc deals with ALS fallout
It has been years since work began on a documentary centred around the 2009 death of her mother, but emotion still hovers close to the surface for Kathryn Calder.
The musical life of the North Saanich musician also plays a vital role in A Matter of Time, a documentary screening Sunday at the Rio Theatre in Vancouver.
For Calder, screenings of the film are tough tasks.
“It always sends me into reliving that time, and all that brings with it,” she said. “It’s kind of a rollercoaster when I watch it.”
A Matter of Time tells the story of Calder and her mother Lynn, who died from ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, and the emotional fallout in the years that followed. Calder was the primary caregiver during her mother’s illness, which forced her to take leave from her band the New Pornographers.
Calder did not stop making music, however. During her mother’s illness, the singer-pianist (whose mother taught her how to play) set up a living-room studio and began recording her solo debut, Are You My Mother, with her ailing mother nearby. The album was completed in 2008, but its release was put on hold until 2010, following her mother’s death.
Much of the footage in the film, including a private 2012 concert in the Old Town section of Victoria’s Royal B.C. Museum, was shot after the fact. But plenty of what producers Casey Cohen and Matthew Stotland present in the film took place earlier, during a time of upheaval for Calder.
As a result, she was only equipped to participate in parts of the process. When Calder finally saw the finished product last year with the musical score she had written finally in place, she was amazed at the results.
“It was really neat to see how they told the story and the elements they brought into it,” she said. “There are a lot of storylines going through this film.”
Every day gets a little easier, Calder said, though the pain
never entirely goes away. She and her mother were especially close, which hits home every time she does interviews to promote the film.
“I’ve noticed that every time there’s a screening or I’m doing something related to the film,” she said, “there’s a few days or a week where I find myself feeling down. And then I have to remember to give myself a bit of a break, to just roll with it. Eventually, it subsides. That’s the cycle that happens. It’s fine, but it’s something that happens when I do ALS-specific things.”
Despite the up-and-down activity, Calder has taken up the cause of raising ALS awareness.
“I am in it for the long haul,” she said. “When I signed up, I signed up. And even though I didn’t exactly make the film, because it’s my music and my story and my family, I feel a certain amount of ownership of it.”
Calder will return to making music this month when work begins on the upcoming New Pornographers album.
The band grew closer as she dealt with her mother’s illness and death, but she wasn’t the only member affected by it.
The film ties together a hard-to-believe subplot that involves New Pornographers leader Carl Newman, who — it was discovered later in life — was the adopted Lynn Calder’s biological brother.
Newman appears in the film, as do many of Calder’s other current and former bandmates. It becomes clear Calder is immensely wellliked and respected, and her mother’s battle became a shared source of inspiration for her friends and bandmates.
“Many of them are in the film saying such really sweet things,” Calder said. “It’s sort of like one big hug.”
Since the release of A Matter of Time, Calder has communicated with others who have had family members die from the disease. They often contact Calder at various stages of grief.
“That is why I’m doing this,” she said. “I remember when I was going through it, I was not capable of doing anything relating to it as it was happening. It was too overwhelming.
“Now that I’m on the other side of it, I feel a sense of responsibility to bring awareness to the illness when other people can’t.”
Partial proceeds from the evening will help fight the incurable neurological disease, which attacks the nerve cells responsible for controlling voluntary muscles. Calder will also participate in a question-and-answer session following the showing.
Every time there’s a screening or I’m doing something related to the film, there’s a few days or a week where I find myself feeling down.