Documenting and reliving the music of 1970-2000
On Friday Sept. 27 at Silence on Essex Street downtown Guelph, the public was given a very special treat – David J. Knight launched his newest book, Sound Guelph, and brought back together bands from Guelph’s past. It was an honour to be a part of the evening; the atmosphere was electric and the bonds between people were unbelievable. The environment was relaxed; filled with love, appreciation and thankfulness. Knight dedicated Sound Guelph to Chris Dowling, Adrian Dunham and Al Clark; three musicians who were “the spine of the music scene from the late ’70s through the 2000s” in Guelph.
Friday night was a celebration of the book and all of those who have been a part of Guelph’s music scene over the years. “The book is about the alternative to the main stream, and our reaction to what we found boring coming through Guelph,” stated Knight. The creation of Sound Guelph not only represents the time period, but it represents that “there has always been a long history in Guelph of musical talent – since the eighteen hundreds there have been theatres, opera houses, and all kinds of bands here. It’s always been a musical place,” explained Knight.
Knight went on to discuss how every generation finds something musically boring. “As with everything, one could say that third generation punk is boring because it’s formulated [or] manicured.” This was something that made Friday night so spectacular. “Getting together a band now, it is interesting, especially with a band like the Dead Souls – they have great musicians, [who have been practicing their craft for years], the trick was to keep the danger alive as a Joy Division cover band. Joy Division were not great musicians; what made their music great was their music … was not executed very well – it takes work to keep the rawness a factor,” said Knight. The performance by the Dead Souls was pleasantly surprising, because according to Knight, they had not played together in 11 months, and had come together to celebrate a friend’s birthday.
Along with the bands, there were fans that were recognizable from the photographs in the book. “It’s true that some of these fans…they just supported everything. They weren’t musicians, but they were always there…you always had someone to play for,” Knight said. The connection between the musicians and the fans was undeniable. People knew the words to every song and everyone was dancing and reliving their past memories.
At one point during the evening, Knight stopped the music and presented the late Chris Dowling’s father, Brian Dowling, with a copy of Sound Guelph. The raw emotion was apparent in this moment, and their shared love of Chris filled the room. Brian Dowling returned to his seat with a smile on his face, seeming to enjoy the performances late into the evening.
This book has a deep community meaning, and within it are stories of Guelph’s social and musical history with some personal touches. Sound Guelph emanates the close-knit ties the music scene has with the downtown core and the university, with mentions and archives from Ed Video, The Red Chevron, The Bookshelf, The Albion, The Woodshed [now, The Western], UC 103, Peter Clark Hall, CFRU, and the Ontarion. These were all places that housed and promoted the music scene in Guelph, allowing it to grow and prosper. Knight stated, “in those days, CFRU didn’t have a place to play live, so we’d do our interview in the CFRU office, then head down to UC 103 to play.”
Flipping through the book provides a new understanding and admiration for Guelph and campus living, and it gives an appreciation for what was once here, what is the same and what has changed. Knight said that “there was a big Ontarion presence at the time – some of the writers are pretty big names now, and some of these kids are now in important positions.” Knight himself was a student at the University of Guelph 30 years ago, from 1983-1987, and was a Fine Arts student at Zavits. Hearing Knight speak of campus in a reminiscent way adds value and a greater sense of history to our campus. He said, “The Bullring was a favourite place to go, and our favourite DJ was Eric – he played all the new music out of England.”
Knight said that Sound Guelph “it is all quite Guelph related music,” and that the deaths of his friends over the years has “all really hit us…there is so much music that we did that, if it doesn’t go anywhere, can be forgotten – just on people’s tapes,” so he decided to make a “coffee table book.” Once he was told that Scott McGovern was starting Publication Studio Guelph, Knight realized it was the right time to begin the process of this labour of love. Knight said that when he expressed his interest to make the book back in 2010, he had the backing and support of the entire group, and it was with their generosity that he was able to make this happen. Everyone pitched in and gave pieces of their personal archives including tapes, photographs, videos, and memories, and together they were able to piece together the years they did not want to be forgotten or lost. Each member of the group wanted something to hold on to, and wanted to know that what they had created was not going to be erased with time. Knight describes Sound Guelph as “a cathartic gift for all of Guelph and wherever else it will be sold.” The book “documents in sequence – if people are interested they can go to the links provided and get that individual music,” said Knight.
Without all the help from Adrian Stickland, Paul Evans, Dave Chevalier, Mike Walmsley, Dale Greenwood, Seth Matson, the CFRU, the Ontarion (whose 1985 archive is missing and has been for two years) and Ed Video, “all this time would have all been lost and undocumented,” said Knight.
One very important message from Knight is the importance of passing along the wealth of culture and music, from one generation to the next. This is what artistic culture lives on, and what made this book so worth it – the connection that lives between those who experienced and those who will continue to experience this with one another for years to come. Knight expressed that, in Sound Guelph, “each page is a discovery point.”