Graham Rockingham with Dr. Disc owner Mark Furukawa
My passion hasn’t waned. To me music is like food, it sustains me.
He has been owner of Dr. Disc, the leading purveyor of recorded music in downtown Hamilton, since moving here from London, Ont., in 1991.
In November, Mark Furukawa took over as chair of the Hamilton Music Industry Working Committee, a volunteer group that advises the city on ways to promote and enhance the local music scene.
Furukawa is also a popular DJ, hosting regular gigs at The Mule and The Casbah.
What is your favourite thing about what you do?
“My passion for music over the past 30 years is unabated. I love being around it. Even when I’m not working at the store, I DJ. I love the culture, the creative aspect to it. I love the people — not only who I work with but those who come into the store. It doesn’t matter what music you’re into, if you come into Dr. Disc and you’re looking for music or just browsing, I know there’s a commonality there because you respect the art of music. So we always have something to talk about. It doesn’t matter whether you’re listening to heavy metal or classical or hip hop. The common denominator is that you respect and love music.
“I have never woken up once in the last 27 years and regretted my career choice. I’m eager to get to work every day. My passion hasn’t waned. To me music is like food, it sustains me.”
What is the current state of the Hamilton music scene?
“Hamilton has always had a very strong scene ... I think musicians are the backbone of the creative industry here, always have been and always will be. The difference today is that they’re being recognized more. Music has become more recognized as a marketable commodity to generate not only revenue, but tourism and all the spinoffs to that. It’s been given more legitimacy. So it’s now plausible for musicians to not only survive, but prosper off their art. Before, there were very few bands that could have done that.
“And the great thing about Hamilton musicians is that they don’t get up and leave. When they can afford to buy a house, they buy in Hamilton.”
What is the city’s greatest asset?
“Resiliency. This is a working class city, which means it’s the first to feel the effects of a recession and last to recover. It’s been in the shadow of Toronto, it’s been beaten down, it has had the nickname ‘armpit of Canada.’ I think the level of resiliency on all levels and the community-based spirit is the real success story here. We’re able to bounce back from adversity, turn around a negative thing into a positive thing.”
What is the city’s greatest challenge?
“There’s unprecedented growth in this city right now in terms of the amount of people moving here, investment in downtown, the different businesses that are opening. The growth is happening so quickly that one of the greatest challenges is to harness it and make sure it happens in a positive way. The big word that nobody wants to talk about is ‘gentrification.’ The most vulnerable people get affected by it first — rents go up, prices go up, everything. But as a businessman, for the first 15 years that I was open, there was no growth. People didn’t come downtown and it was stagnant. So now we have growth, and, yes, some of it is going in a direction some people won’t like. But growth overall is a positive thing. You just have to be careful.” If you or the city could accomplish one thing in 2018, what would it be?
“Being the chair of the music committee, I’m going to express a bias here … We set an agenda as an advisory body to the city, yet so much of it was unattainable because there was no funding from the city. I’m of the opinion that the greatest thing that could happen in 2018, is that the council and the city put its money where its mouth is. If Hamilton wants to be a music city, there has to be some sort of funding behind initiatives that need to be undertaken.”