It’s a movie that might require a sequel.
Hell, when Jonathan Stoddart (a.k.a. Ricca Razor Sharp) sat down to chat about his upcoming film/album release for Bowness Kardashian — taking place Wednesday, May 23 at the Globe Cinema — it was on the patio of taproom one of the city’s premiere craft beer makers, Wild Rose Brewery.
The reason that’s significant and why it might require a Part II is that one of the standout cuts from the record is Brewed Right Here, a celebration of and tribute to Calgary’s growing beer community, the video featuring Stoddart, his wife and friends on a pub crawl that takes them to a handful of breweries in the southeast.
Now, several months later, there are many more to choose from all over the grid, and, of course, the grandaddy Wild Rose a little further afield from those Inglewood and area haunts, in the old Currie Barracks.
“We kept it to a certain location that day, just for the purposes of expediency,” the longtime local hip-hop artist says.“But this is a good one, too. I’m sure my wife would enjoy coming up here, she’s a big fan of the local beer scene.”
That tune and video help make Bowness Kardashian, the film and the album, another fine, fun and funny entry into the canon of Ricca Razor Sharp’s almost two-decade career of making music in this city — both as a solo artist and as part of the funk-rock act Blades of Steel.
He’ll release the two on Wednesday, March 23 with a screening of the hour-long film at the Globe Cinema.
Stoddart recorded most of the footage himself at various locations around the city, sometimes using a “tripod made out of paint sticks and tape, literally,” other times his wife or friends holding it.
As to why a film treatment for BK, Stoddart admits he’d been “messing around with video for awhile” in his musical life and in his day job, and this seemed a natural extension.
“The short answer is a.) because I wanted to get better at video; and b.) because I just thought it would be a nice creative endeavour,” he says.
“I guess at this point in my career I’m just trying to do those things that fulfill me creatively without so much micro-focus on what the advantage of it will be in terms of longterm career planning.
“Since I’m at that point in my career, I just want to do things that I want to do.”
He continues. “And, if I can add to that, you know, when you do music you get the payoff by getting onstage and then you feel that energy in the room. But the other half is the writing, recording and releasing, and I don’t go to your house and watch you listen to my album. So it’s out there in the world and you never get to touch it and feel it in that communal way, so I just had this big vision of making this video and releasing it and having a night where everybody watched it and I was there with them.”
He’s hoping that family, friends and fans will help fill the room for the screening, in part, because it’s also his birthday. (It will also be online for viewing soon after.)
And he knows that those who appear in it, including collaborators on the music such as the members of Calgary hip-hop collective Audible Intelligence — who provide the beats for many of the songs, or, as Stoddart calls it, the “meat and potatoes” — will definitely show up because he hasn’t yet shared with them the final product.
What they and anyone else who watches it will see is a a pretty great and often goofy DIY effort, with the songs and videos put into different chapters according to lyrical themes, including partying and drinking, thinking music, redemption songs, friends and family and then closure, which is the final tune Bowness Kardashian — a cheeky take on “hip-hop and bragging and representing” set in Stoddart’s new neighbourhood.
He knows that the fact he and his wife moved into the community last fall means he certainly can’t lay claim to any true Bownesian street cred, but he still wanted to represent the town inside of the city that has been his hometown of two decades.
That’s also another common theme running throughout the album and film, Calgary, itself — be it a tribute to Kensington or the many Flames references and appearances of the flaming “C.”
“It’s something good to write about. I like it, yes, I like living here and I like making songs about it,” says the native Nova Scotian.
“I can’t very well write songs about being from Los Angeles or anything, and Calgary’s been good to me and it’s ripe for songwriting, in my opinion.”
As to whether or not that may limit the appeal of his work, Stoddart is uncertain.
“I don’t know,” he says, laughing. “I don’t know what my appeal my be.
“I try obviously not to make everything all the time about Calgary, so there can be some appeal. But I’d rather be popular in Calgary than popular nowhere, so, yeah, if it narrows my appeal, so be it.”
And while he’s hoping fans will check the film out either at the Globe for that one-night showing or online, and then perhaps buy the album on download, Stoddart is also just happy to have it out there, ready to celebrate its birth and his, not sure what else will come of it.
“It’s going to be a fun night for me,” he says and pauses. “And then I’ll decide what to do next, i guess.”
Ricca Razor Sharp screens Bowness Kardashian Wednesday, May 23 at the Globe Cinema at 7 p.m.
