National Gallery of Canada video features Amanda Putz, Jennifer Hollett, Crush Luther, The Love Machine, Ukrainia, Antizario, Sufi Girl, DJ D-Mass, Celpto and The Lost Cypsies.
As part of the their annual festivities celebrating youth and diversity, Graham Thompson worked with the National Gallery of Canada to document their “Are You In?” event –hosted by Amanda Putz (of CBC Radio’s Fuse) and Jennifer Hollett (formerly of MuchMusic).
The 2008 show featured live music and performances by Crush Luther, The Love Machine, Ukrainia, Antizario, Sufi Girl, DJ D-Mass, Celpto, The Lost Cypsies, The Canadian Capoeira group, Capital Poetry Collective Collective and the Canadian Floormasters – known for the community building work with Inuit youth in the Arctic. The event was a call for the youth to take a stand on diversity and inclusion, presented by the National Gallery of Canada’s Teen Council on Thursday March 13, 2008 from 12 to 8 pm It featured live music, an Alternative fashion show, Art workshop with with Graham Robinson, Michèle Provost and Graham Thompson, and a Teen Art Exhibit.
More on the Participants
Jennifer Hollett (born September 16, 1975) is a Canadian television personality and political activist. She was the 2015 New Democratic Party’s candidate in the new riding of University Rosedale. Hollett has a Bachelor of Arts with Distinction in Journalism and Communications from Concordia University in Montreal, and a Masters in Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Her public speaking appearances include the Hart House Hancock Lecture and TEDx. Jennifer Hollett is the Atkinson Associate on Civic Technology and a Broadbent Leadership Fellow. Hollett was a contributor to CBC News Network’s prime time show Connect with Mark Kelley and was formerly a MuchMusic VJ and videographer, she hosted MuchOnDemand, Much In Your Space, Combat Zone, Power Shift, Count Down, Live@Much and some specials until leaving the network in 2005. Hollett started out as a radio jockey at Concordia University. In 2013, she sought to be the New Democratic Party’s candidate in Toronto Centre for that riding’s pending federal by-election but was defeated for the nomination by Linda McQuaig on September 15, 2013. Her working career started with Sony Music Canada in the New Media Division working on websites for artists such as Our Lady Peace, Prozzak and Céline Dion. She later moved up to CTV, then to MuchMusic. She hosted “The Chatroom” on TalkTV on the recommendation of a CTV producer she met at Sony. At the end of that year, she was hired by MuchMusic.
Crush Luther is a Canadian pop-rock band based in Toronto, best known for their 2007 single “City Girl” and 2010 single “A Light”. The band formed in London, Ontario in 2002, with members from both Uxbridge, Ontario and Arnprior, Ontario. The original four members (Luther Mallory, Giggi Bongard, Brent Mills and Bodan Mulholland) worked together to build a strong catalogue of songs and sets before setting out to play shows in the Southern Ontario region. Towards the end of the same year, guitar player Matt Leitch (aka. Matt Fury) joined the band after learning the entire set the day before his first appearance with the band. Since 2004, the band has released a 12-song demo in several formats and pressings. In late 2006, Crush Luther signed with Toronto-based High 4 Records (owned and operated by Darrin Pfeiffer of Goldfinger), the same label to which the band Cauterize was signed. Their self-titled album was released February 13, 2007. It was recorded at Iguana Studios, Pocket Studios, and Crush Luther Studios; it was produced by vocalist Luther Mallory, and engineered by Brent Mills. The first single from the album was “City Girl”, which included a music video that was popular on both MuchMusic and MuchMoreMusic. It also reached number one on the MuchMoreMusic Top 10 countdown. A second single, “The Cools”, was released to radio and the music video was in heavy rotation on MuchMusic. Crush Luther appeared on several stints of the Warped Tour (2005, 2006, and 2007) in both Canada and the United States.
After a brief hiatus in late 2007 the band reformed with a new line up: Luther Mallory singing in addition to handling rhythm guitar duties, Matt Leitch on lead guitar, Dustin Wood, former bass player of Grand:PM handling bass guitar, and PJ Herrick, former drummer of Forty Cent Fix on drums. Ryan Snyder later replaced Dustin Wood on bass, Shael Fox, AKA former rhythm guitarist Dee Tard of The 3tards, later replaced Ryan Snyder. Crush Luther’s second album, Some People Have No Good To Give, was released in 2009. The first single from the album was “A Light”. The video reached #2 on the MuchMore Top 10 Countdown. Videos for the second single “28” and third single “I Was Electric” also charted on the countdown and received favourable rotation on Much Music.
The Love Machine – In a fast-paced world filled with chaos and uncertainty, stands The Love Machine – a band consisting of four hopefuls. Dreamers, some may call them, or optimists, as others may say. But in all reality, The Love Machine are a group of believers; genuine believers in love and a collective positivity. Nothing about The Love Machine is manufactured. The name simply stands to represent their approach to writing music – as a team of talented and hard-working artists who collaborate with the swift efficiency of a well-oiled machine. This machine’s main function, however, happens to be pumping out indie pop rock tunes that capture the heart and soul of listeners. With a musical catalogue bursting with pop sensibility laced with twists and hooks at every turn and bridge, how could you not fall head over heels with their hopeful ideals? The Love Machine – consisting of Allan Gauthier, Sean Prescott, Jordan David and Mike Laing – blossomed as a band back in the year of 2004, stemming from the amalgamation of two past bands that had befriended one another. Their chemistry as a group came naturally, as did their collective agreement upon collaborative creation, with each member contributing to the songwriting process. Similarly, each takes his turn on the microphone, thus proving that four songwriters plus four vocalists adds up to the collective sound that is The Love Machine. The Ottawa natives have shared their music throughout three releases, their most recent being Sweater Weather. The album boasts the band’s ever evolving sound, and sweet production at the hands of Jonathon Chandler (Amos The Transparent). Sweater Weather represents not the departure or straying from the path of The Love Machine’s original sound, but rather a paving of new avenues to where they want to be. It received recognition from the Ottawa Xpress newspaper where they found themselves on the cover and earned the Best Record of The Year praise by Canadian music website I HeartMusic.net! It should come as no surprise that these boys know how to kick it live with engaging and dynamic sets filled with crowd interaction and energetic antics. They have taken their live performance across the East Coast on three separate, extensive tours, along with tearing up stages throughout Ontario, playing over 200 shows in their career. The Love Machine has performed with the likes of Moneen, Metric, Passion Pit, and at festivals including Canadian Music Week, NXNE, Pop Montreal, Halifax Pop and Ottawa Bluesfest. MembersBand: Paul Granger, Damian Sawka, Dave Martindale, Tom Werbowetski.
UKRAINIA! was formed in 2002, by four guys who believed the Ukrainian music scene needed a little jump start. They play vintage Ukrainian music, hardened by the members’ rock roots.Biography Armed with an arsenal of songs and a high-energy stage show full of audience participation, Ukrainia is without a doubt one of the most exciting live acts around The band’s sound is transforming the foundation of Ukrainian music as we know it, and bringing it to an explosive new level. It’s loud, passionate, in your face, and not for the weak. No banduras here – just three guitars, drums, and a whole lotta vodka fuel this musical juggernaut. The younger generation has embraced Ukrainia for the way they have transformed traditional Ukrainian music into a rock’n’roll floor-shaking party for the senses. Over the past eight years ,they have played some of the biggest festivals in North America, leaving a trail of awed and inspired new followers in their wake.
Amanda C. Putz (born March 1975) is a Canadian radio personality. Formerly the host of Fuse and Bandwidth on CBC Radio One, she moved to Hong Kong in 2006, and guest-hosted various programs on Radio Television Hong Kong’s English network, including announcing news for the station. In April 2007 Putz launched a new program, also called Bandwidth, on RTHK. As of August 2007, Putz was back in Canada, hosting on CBC Radio 3 over the summer, including two episodes of The R3-30. She also filled-in on CBC Radio One’s “Sounds Like Canada.” She returned to hosting duties on CBC Radio’s Fuse until that show was no longer produced in the fall of 2008. She got a regular slot on Radio 3 as of September 2008. However, as of January 1, 2009, she was assigned to producing live recorded shows for CBC Radio 2 on a full-time basis; she had been producing such shows part-time while hosting on Radio 3. In fall 2009 she resumed hosting duties on Bandwidth and later Alan Neal became host of All in a Day. As of winter 2012 she is on a maternity leave, and the show is currently hosted by Meg Wilcox.
Stephen Leafloor BluePrintForLife founder, Stephen Leafloor has a Masters in Social Work (MSW degree) and over 25 years experience as a social worker in the areas of probation, wilderness programs, and street work with youth at risk, residential group homes, child protection and community outreach.Stephen has also been an active participant in the Hiphop culture as a dancer since 1982 and completed his masters thesis on this culture and its importance for educators and social workers in 1986.He was recently appointed as an “Ashoka Fellow’ for Canada (One of the world’s most prestigious organizations for international outreach) and also appointed as a “Making More Health Fellow” to an international working group on health.For 2012 he was selected as one of Canada’s Top “45 over 45” for Zoomers magazine. Stephen is also a published author in publications regarding healing and Hiphop.Stephen has performed for James Brown, Rapper IceT, Grandmaster Flash, BlackEyed Peas and George Clinton. His dancing has been featured on Much Music, in assorted music videos and in a number of documentaries. He has also performed privately for the Kirov Ballet of Russia and opened for La La La Human Steps at Canadas National Arts Center.