Scholars, poets and musicians provide their take this weekend
THE ESSENTIALS
When: Friday to Sunday
Where: Online
Tickets and info: From $29 at thecultch.com
What is essential and needed in these times? This was the question posed to guests of The Essentials, three evenings of programming curated by Vancouver musician Khari Wendell McClelland.
Given free rein, more or less, by co-presenters The Cultch and local music-supporting organization Soft Cedar, McClelland is putting together three nights of programming that mixes live and pre-recorded streaming performances and messages from musicians, academics, and poets. We talked to McClelland about The Essentials.
Q What was the inspiration behind The Essentials?
A The Cultch and Soft Cedar approached me and said that they had this opportunity to fund a show and were curious if I wanted to be part of creating something. I've really enjoyed my experiences working with both, so it felt like a no-brainer situation to be able to unleash my imagination. Before I got the call, with the way COVID has altered the lives of musicians and artists so dramatically, I wasn't even listening to a lot of music.
Q Whose idea was it to bring together this eclectic cast?
A That was my idea. It was born
out of my own curiosity. Many artists are also seekers, people who want to learn, people who are interested in philosophy and the issues of our time. It felt very synergistic and natural to combine poets and musicians and thinkers.
Q So the scholars and poets recorded their responses to the questions, and these recordings are going to be interspersed
with a livestream from The Cultch of the musical guests?
A Some of the music is recorded as well, and there will be a livestreamed portion. But yeah, I asked the thinkers to record themselves just on a cellphone. It felt true to life, how we're living these days.
Q What are the commonalities of the submissions you've seen?
A One thing I wasn't expecting was the correlation between the importance of art as a catalyst for imagining what's possible, and how that is often connected to times of great challenge. And also how the arts can give us a sense of where we might go from here. I found that a really nice thread that moves throughout.
Q The Essentials is three nights long. Do you think you could've programmed another couple of nights?
A Yeah. I easily could have gone longer. We're going to try to boil it down to its juicy essence so that people feel that they were nourished in the time we have together.
Q You're premiering a new song at the event. What can you tell us about that?
A The title is Feels Real Good. We made the video pre-pandemic. But because of all of the shifts in the way music is being shared, I felt apprehensive about how to release the song and the video. When The Cultch came to me with this idea, it felt like a really great opportunity to share the video as a bonus for people who tune in to see this new work for the first time. I'm really proud of it. It connects to so many of the ideas that came forward.
Q Are you listening to music again?
A Yeah. I have felt a real resurgence in my listening but also in my thirst to express the music. I'm writing again, and singing. I also have a four-month-old baby now and that's also a cause for celebration. I find that she's really engaged and calm and happy when music is played around her. So that's also getting me to play more, too.