New docu series tells the stories of legendary reggae artists and their journey to success in Canada.
In the late 1950’s the West Indian Domestic Scheme allowed for women from the Caribbean to come and work in Canada as domestic workers. The women were bringing their families, their traditions and culture. And one such cultural export was reggae music. This planted seeds for the golden age of reggae in the 1970’s where some of Jamaica’s brightest stars left their homeland behind to shine their light in an unlikely hub of Caribbean creativity: Toronto
Sounds and Pressure: Reggae in a Foreign Land is a new five part online TV series co-directed by Graeme Mathieson and Chris Flanagan, it delves into the rich, intertwined history of these Caribbean pioneers. The series traces the journey of reggae from the sunny streets of Jamaica to the effervescent neighborhoods of Toronto’s Kensington Market, offering a keen look at how this music genre took root and flourished in Canada. The series chronicles the musical and geographical journeys of Nana McLean, Johnny Osbourne, Leroy Sibbles, Jerry Brown and duo Roy Panton and Yvonne Harrison.
Directors Graeme and Chris met with the CONTACT to discuss the creative process of birthing the series and their reason why they decide to create the series.
“We are both DJs and record collectors,” Chris explains “so we had worked together on a previous project. And we both shared the desire to tell the stories of some of these amazing artists that we love and who didn’t have much documentation of their time in Canada, and initially we couldn’t really find much evidence of that. “
To bring this story to life, Mathieson and Flanagan embarked on an exhaustive research process, unearthing rare archival footage and conducting interviews with the artists as it was crucial for the series to have a first-hand narrative. They both admit that the biggest challenge throughout the process was the lack of proper archives and records.
“I think there were a lot of community publications at the time that did like that, that were started by the Jamaican, West Indian diasporic community. But those weren’t very easy to come by and so we luckily found some personal archives from people who were there then that we were able to use. “ Mathieson says.
They tell the story from the point of view of the artists which makes this documentary authentic. The docuseries not only celebrates the music but also explores the cultural, social, and personal challenges that these artists faced. From the struggles of adapting to a new climate—both literally and figuratively—to the joy of finding a receptive audience in places across Toronto. Viewers will get a first-hand account of just what it was like.
They are excited to bring this part of history for public consumption because as Flanagan remarks it is not only entertaining but educative.
“We can see what we did right (musically) and also what we did wrong, because there are some artists who made it and others who couldn’t and had to go back. So in watching we can see what mistakes were made and how to learn from that.”
As part of the Caribana festivities they had a small screening of two of the five episodes on the 4th of August. However, the official screening will take place on Thursday August 22, at Paradise Theatre 1006 Bloor St W from 8:00PM – 10:00PM and the series will be available on the National Film board’s site from the 23rd of August.
