FIRE ESCAPE SESSIONS - SEASON THREE
A few years ago I moved into a artist-friendly, Manhattan-style loft right in the heart of the Entertainment District. The building was filled with creatives - graphic designers, directors, musicians, photographers, DPs, actors, etc - and we met most of them for the first time on the building’s iconic fire escape. The fire escape was special for not only serving as a meeting place, it was a space for art - photo shoots, numerous film and TV shoots…but no music. I felt this needed to change, so I started booking solo performers at first, and eventually bands, to play a short set (usually 20-35 minutes) in front of friends, building residents, and usually someone holding a camera. The shows were never advertised and our “crowd” was usually somewhere between 5-15 very lucky people. The intention was not to create another single camera live performance video series, but instead to simply bring music to the fire escape. It just so happens that the people attending the fire escape were talented and enthusiastic about helping capture these sessions. I recorded audio on my Zoom H4n and matched the audio with video shot by Josh MacDonald, Steven Brule, Andrew Williamson, and Mitch Schmalz. This “new season” is essentially a retrospective of unreleased performances from both seasons. Call them the fire escape’s “lost” sessions.
I'm happy to be able to share these videos, but want to recognize the artists who performed on the nights where there was no video shot. These musicians won’t get the benefit of “shareable video content” but all contributed greatly to what these sessions were all about - sharing music in an intimate and unusual space. So thanks to… Nadia Lucey Pacey, Sarah Lindsay, Graham MacDonald, Michael Burns, Ankur Tayal, Blaise Finnissey, Jullian Petti, Maccie Paquette, Matt Taylor, Jamie Mac, The Fires Of, Dave Borins, Peter Krpan, Seas, Itchy Bones, Shawna Capsi, Dallas Sutherland, Angela Saini, Eunice Keitan, Blair Harvey, and Secret Heights. Special thanks to Connie Tsang, Geoff Fogden, Thom Huhtala, Genna Bauder, and Super Nick for helping make this series happen every week. Who knows, maybe the Fire Escape Sessions will resurface as a live concert series again…for now enjoy these videos. bg