The Thrill of Collaboration

The first time a visual artist interpreted my written work occurred way back in high school, when Russell Wiesener illustrated the "Sever Heroes," superheroes I created based on our garage band personas. A few years later, Mike Gushue drew the "Earl's Amazing Mad Science Adventures" comic strip, which I scripted.

In each case I was delighted and fascinated by how other creative minds interpreted my words.  Each artist seemed to have a near-telepathic ability to capture the visions I'd imagined while adding their own distinctive stamp to the work, little details that turned my poor prose into something greater.

That's never been more true than of my friend Jeff Shyluk, who over the years has illustrated, using a variety of techniques, several of my comic strips, short stories and random ideas. His latest is called Woods Hole, based on the short story I submitted to CBC's Canada Writes competition. Jeff's vision doesn't exactly match my own, but that's not the point - I think he's improved on it with shadings and textures and, again, significant details that inform and reinterpret my original intent. I think it's marvellous, and I'm very moved that Jeff chose to do this. Frankly, I'm more excited by this than I would be if I had won the contest! I hope my readers will check it out at Jeff Shyluk's Visual Blog.

Todd on Vocals

I didn't know Todd Chrunik very well at all; in fact, even now I know him chiefly as "the guy who replaced me as lead singer." But I do remember being a little intimidated by Todd's charisma and talent. The guys made the right choice; Todd had the look, the range and the power to belt out heavy metal lyrics. I only met Todd a few times, and I don't remember hanging out with him, but I do remember that he never failed to be kind and friendly to me on the few occasions we interacted. Todd was a cool guy. I have no idea what happened to him after high school, but I hope he found success and happiness.

By this point the band had changed their name to Kashmir, and it was under that name that they won the Edmonton-area Battle of the Bands in...oh, 1986 or 1987. Like many high school bands, Kashmir dissolved after high school, but for five or six years I was lucky enough to dip my toe into the waters of music.

Yesterday an anonymous commenter asked me to explain the point of posting these memories. If there's any point at all, it's this: many of my memories are pleasant, many are not, especially those formed from experiences in my teens and twenties. But the memories are mine, and I treasure them, and writing about them makes the memories clearer. And should any of my old high school friends stumble upon this blog, I want them to know they were valued, I admired them, and I feel privileged to have known them. There are no insignificant people; there are no insignificant stories. The music of my memories may be ephemeral, but I plan to keep the songs alive as long as I can.

Mark on Lead Guitar

Mark Lede played lead guitar for Sever, Leduc Composite High School's premier heavy metal garage band. While Keith Gylander and I lived in Leduc proper, Bev, Russell and Mark all lived on farms just outside town; they were the bus kids in our little group, though later on they all started driving their own vehicles to school. Mark and I - and Bev, for that matter - were all in the so-called "gifted" program in junior high. During a roleplaying exercise in which each of us had control of a nation, Mark noted that his country and Bev's neighbouring nation shared a river.

"Aha," Mark said, "Give in to my demands or I'll poison your water supply."

Our teacher pointed at the map and noted that Mark's country was downstream from Bev's; Mark's plan would have poisoned his own people. "Rivers don't run that way, Mark," was our teacher's wry comment.

If I remember correctly, Mark was also the group's chief songwriter, penning "Altered Logic." I still remember most of the words:

Ministries of truth
Ministries of love
Ministries of peace
Without a dove!


There is no turning back
Nowhere to hide the fact
Truth reveals to me 
Altered logic! 


There is no privacy no freedom no love...

Well, some of the words, anyway. I haven't seen Mark since the early 90s; sometime in the mid-90s, I spotted a newspaper clipping noting that he'd married and was pursuing a post-graduate degree in philosophy at, I think, McMaster University.

Keith on Rhythm Guitar

Keith Gylander was my next door neighbour in Leduc; he was an outgoing, athletic kid, not really that much like me but we did spend a lot of time together bike riding, tossing around footballs or frisbees or playing with action figures. In fact, one day Keith and I were whipping a frisbee at each other with all our strength when Sean ran between us. Keith's powerful toss slung the frisbee right into Sean's head at exactly the wrong moment, knocking Sean over and splitting the frisbee in half. Poor Sean was okay in the end, but he developed a pretty colourful bruise.

I've told this story before, but shortly before the release of The Empire Strikes Back he and I were playing with our Star Wars action figures. At a dramatic moment on confrontation between Luke, Leia and Darth Vader, I had Darth Vader intone solemnly..."Luke...I AM YOUR FATHER." It blew our minds when, just a few months later, that line was repeated nearly verbatim in the film. (I failed to predict the relationship between Luke and Leia, though.)

Keith played rhythm guitar in Sever, and as an adult he went on to serve at least two terms as one of Beaumont's town councillors. I last saw Keith at his father's funeral a couple of years back, and it's remarkable how little he's changed; I mean that in the most complimentary way.

Russell on Drums

Since I featured Sever's bass player Bev yesterday, I thought I may as well profile all of the band members. Here's Russell Wiesener, our drummer, who replaced original drummer Jason Hewitt when Jason moved away from Leduc. Come to think of it, during the Hewitt era the band was known as Sabotage. So I guess it's kind of a Pete Best/Ringo Starr/Quarrymen/Beatles thing.

Russell was a soft-spoken guy; his mom was one of the secretaries at Leduc Junior High School. I probably met Russell in grade 7 or 8; he wound up dating the vice-principal's daughter, Michelle, for a while. Grade school romance! How fraught with angst and import we were.

Russell was a gifted cartoonist, and he even drew the band members as superheroes at one point. I used to have a small collection of Russell's drawings, but I made the mistake of posting them on my dorm room door in university; they were defaced, and I threw them away. It's too bad - had I saved them and scanned them, I could have repaired the damage with Photoshop. I was particularly fond of the drawing of a giant fist squeezing me to death, with a word bubble screaming "I'LL CRUSH YOU EARL you rotten guy"

I last heard of Russell in the early 90s; I spotted a newspaper clipping indicating that he'd earned a degree, I believe, from the University of Alberta. Belated congratulations, Russell!

Bev on Bass

A couple of years I found out that my old friend from high school, Bev McAmmond, reads this blog from time to time. It seems sort of unfair that I've never written anything about Bev, so here he is, thrashing on bass guitar back in January 1985. Bev was the bassist for Sever, Leduc Composite High School's heavy metal band. For a brief time I sang, but only because no one else was willing; I was replaced in...oh, late grade 11, perhaps. I took it a little hard at the time, but the choice was justified, and the boys went on to win the big Battle of the Bands in Edmonton not long after. I still have about a dozen cassette recordings of our practise sessions; someday I'll digitize them.

One day, walking home from school, Bev called my name and I turned to look at him. He spat a wad of bubble gum right at my face, which mercifully bounced off my front teeth instead of landing in my mouth. I was pretty annoyed at the time, but I have to admit that I find it funny now. Boys have an odd sense of humour.

Last I heard, Bev was a successful lawyer. I hope he's still doing well, and Bev, if you're reading this, I hope you get to wail on the bass from time to time too. The way I remember it, you were pretty good.