Wavelengths of success

For independent music fans, 2010 marks the end of a very significant decade in Toronto's music scene. Ten years ago this February, our fair city saw the establishment of the Wavelength Music Arts Projects, a weekly PWYC live music series dedicated to providing solid community support for local independent musicians. With a mandate to promote accessible, unpretentious 'music for music's sake' in downtown Toronto, the forum's co-founders came together with the goal of organizing no less than 500 shows in the coming years. One decade later, Wavelength is about to reach that landmark total, and celebrations are in order. As they prepared to toast 10 years of success, the folks behind the forum spoke with The Strand about the role Wavelength has played in the development of Toronto's now-bustling indie scene.Over the years, Wavelength has made a name for itself with a uniquely artist-oriented focus. In spite of minor shifts in venue and programming, the collective's mission remained the same since day one. Looking back, co-founders Kevin Parnell and Jonny Dovercourt both express a strong sense of continuity. Says Dovercourt, "Wavelength's format is pretty much identical to when it started. I feel like we have stayed very true to our goals of increasing excitement around the local music community and creating a forum for local independent music and art."

Parnell agrees. "We've kept to the original mandate set out in 2000, but have also expanded on it over the years, growing our programming to reach even more diverse music communities and co-presentations with other non-music arts organizations."

Every February, Wavelength puts on a week-long anniversary festival showcasing some of the year's best acts. But this year's festival, set for February 10-14, is unique. 'Wavelength 500' will mark not only the end of a decade but also the end of Wavelength's weekly series scheduling. As the forum shifts to a new, monthly format, competition for performance slots will inevitably increase, potentially limiting Wavelength's role as a support for local artists. Dovercourt doesn't deny the possibility, but remains optimistic.

"Yes, that is a concern. But we're willing to take that risk. We've filled that role for 10 years. We do feel like maybe now it is time for someone else to be the ground-level incubator. But we're also thinking of other ways we can provide that support, without necessarily having to put on a show every week."

Despite their evident desire to remain true to Wavelength's initial vision, the founders are eager to keep the series dynamic and interesting - both for the audience and behind the scenes. Says Parnell: "I think with anything in life, whether it's a band or an organization, you have to push and challenge yourself every once in a while to see what else you can do and where you can go. We've had incredible success with the weekly series for ten years and now we want to take everything we've accomplished and see what else we can do. Ten years in, Wavelength is still volunteer-run- it's a labour of love for us, and to keep it a labour of love it's good to shake things up now and then."

Whether weekly or monthly, Wavelength has been shaking things up for years. Its programming has always been characterized by an unprecedented degree of 'genre-smashing,' blending sounds and acts in a bid to break down the categorical barriers that have long divided the musical community. As Dovercourt explains, "From night one, we've presented a diversity of genres - both from week to week and often within the same bill. The ironic thing about Wavelength that really makes the series work is that the format is so rigid but allows for a lot of creative programming within that structure."

The model has proven highly successful. Wavelength, which has helped launch the careers of Canadian music stalwarts like Broken Social Scene and The Constantines, has influenced the development of similar non-profit independent music collectives across the country. The series was born at a time when alternatives to the competitive mainstream music business were desperately needed, and its continued success speaks clearly to the independent movement's steadily-growing edge in the music industry. For Dovercourt, the series' unique artist- and concert-oriented foci have always been a key aspect of that success.

"Wavelength was conceived from the start as an alternative model to the mainstream music industry. It was an artist-run enterprise with a globally unique format; as far as I know, no one else anywhere had ever attempted a weekly concert series accompanied by a monthly zine-format program guide. The success of the live series perhaps is reflective of the triumph of the live concert business- which is still profitable- over the recording industry, which, as we all know, has suffered huge losses over the last decade."

The music industry continues to shift, and so has the culture that surrounds it. In recent years, 'indie' has arguably become an aesthetic as much as an ethic of artistic control and entrepreneurship. In a culture where 'indie' is increasingly co-opted by the mainstream and transformed into a marketable, genre-specific brand, Wavelength's emphasis on variety and openness helps to keep the term from devolving into cliché. As Dovercourt explains, 'indie' is much more than a genre or brand.

"I don't think it's helpful to define 'indie' as a sound. I think if people are going to do that they should be more specific and refer to 'indie rock.' I try my best to emphasise the difference between 'indie music'- which is independent, non-major-label-supported music of all genres- and indie rock as a genre."

Nonetheless, the series' organizers are quick to emphasize that there is no one single understanding of what it means to be 'indie.' As Wavelength booker Ryan McLaren puts it, "It's impossible to say anything about 'legitimacy' in relation to 'indie,' because the meaning of those terms changes from person to person. What is illegitimate when it comes to music or art? When I first became interested in local music, I developed an attachment to the word 'indie' and what I thought it meant. But once I started going to shows, talking to bands and meeting people, I lost grasp of it and found that the meaning I had attached to it wasn't sustainable. And I think arguments surrounding 'hipster' are much the same. Those terms, and the divisions that they imply, lose meaning when you're at a show having a good time."