a re-print from “The Record”
My mind was swirling after being stopped by the police for speeding; one hundred and six km/hr in a fifty km/hr zone. How could this happen? The ticket is $718 and I’m being docked 10 demerit points! The worst thing is I can’t drive for a week! They impounded my car. Ouch!!
What does it all mean? I couldn’t help but think there is something deep in my life that I am supposed to understand. I sat next to the tow-truck driver while my car was being carried home to Waterloo, feeling depressed and in shock. What if I had hit someone? I felt like a criminal. “Slow down!”, I told myself. Better that I get nailed for a bit of money now than something tragic happen to me or someone else.
So what is the message? I didn’t even see the speed-limit sign. I was on a back road outside of Bromont on a Saturday morning around 9:30 trying desperately to make a piano tuning appointment. I was late because I thought my new client lived within the limits of Cowansville. In reality, after checking the map, I realized she lived on a back road between Bromont and Cowansville. I quickly changed direction and unconsciously sped toward my destination. The rest is history.
My life has been a blur over the last year and a half since the launch of CIDI. Doing way too much and literally putting my life and the project at risk. The first warning was a speeding ticket I got last summer on my way to a board meeting at our studio in Knowlton, a more modest infraction costing a mere one hundred dollars. I remember, as was the case this time, getting up and rushing out the door without eating because I was working late the night before.
The irony of the situation is that I was working on the “Stop!” show until 1:30 am before last Saturday morning’s speeding fiasco. The whole idea behind “Stop!” is to relax and be one’s self and not try to be someone you’re not. There is no room for impetuous behaviour jeopardizing originality and one’s perspective on life. In my case it’s as if I had been sucked into the vortex of the extreme. Sure, I can handle it, I’m superman! What a joke.
“Stop!” is meant to provide musicians with an outlet for their creativity. It’s better having young musicians expressing themselves than being frustrated with no venues to play in. Who are we to criticize their actions. I’d sooner have them go overboard in a studio environment punctuating their lives with angry expressions, stabbing at the air and growling into a microphone, like some of the “Stop!” contestants do, than hang out in the streets looking for action.
Others like Moé Pis Ma Pelle (Me and My Shovel), from South Stukely and the surrounding area, take a light-hearted approach to making music in the third “Stop!” show of this season, now playing on Channel 9, Videotron’s Vox cable network out of Granby. To them it’s more about having fun and making fun of things as they are. We mustn’t take life too seriously, which I guess is why I got the speeding ticket in the first place. Slow down! Take it easy!
The “Stop!” show is a battle of the bands TV show that requires all contestants to perform original material live in studio and be judged by local music teachers, professional musicians and the general public. The challenge lasts for up to eight episodes on TV and wraps up with a live show at The Maison de la Culture de Waterloo (MCW) where the final results are divulged; first, second, third and public choice winners. The 1st place winner gets to have a CD recorded and released by RCM, the rest are guaranteed airplay on CIDI.
I am very fortunate to have been given another chance to stop and slow down. Seven days at home with my wife and cat will be well spent as I continue to write and produce radio and TV content. The future for RCM is looking brighter too as we begin to put the finishing touches on the order for our tower on Patch Hill just outside of the Town of Brome Lake.
This year the “Stop!” show RCM fundraiser will be held at the Maison de la Culture at 7pm on April 10th. Tickets are $15. For more information you can call the station at 450-242-9873 or MCW at 450-539-4764. Hope to see you there. Also, you can go online to view the latest “Stop!” show performances at www.rcmmedia.org/blog/category/stop/ and once all the performances are posted please vote for your favourite bands.
Maurice Singfield is an RCM volunteer, director-general and vice president of the board. Tel: 450-242-9873 / 1-888-539-2098
