March 18, 2025 • 42 mins
From punk rock venues in Edmonton to London art galleries, Alan D Boyd's creative journey spans decades and continents while remaining true to his Canadian roots. The musician, filmmaker, and sonic explorer shares the winding path that led him to form Movieland in early 90s Vancouver—a band whose unreleased recordings have found surprising new life through 604 Records' Decades imprint.
Boyd vividly recalls his formative years in Edmonton's vibrant music scene, where venues like Spartan's Men's Hall hosted legendary punk acts alongside local heroes. These experiences shaped his DIY ethos as he moved through various musical projects before landing in Vancouver's fragmented but fertile creative community. There, working at the 24-hour Benny's Bagels, he connected with kindred spirits influenced by everything from Stone Roses and De La Soul to the emerging sounds of Dinosaur Jr and Nirvana.
The analog era of music production comes alive as Boyd describes crafting Movieland songs on his trusty Tascam 488 eight-track recorder, challenging conventional studio wisdom by deliberately pushing guitars louder than vocals. These recordings, preserved on deteriorating cassettes and ADATs, have been meticulously restored using AI technology—resulting in music that sounds so contemporary that listeners question whether it's new or from decades past.
Beyond Movieland, Boyd explores his parallel project Little Sparta, which merges post-punk aesthetics with folk sensibilities and cinematic landscapes. His collaborative approach extends to filmmaking, with documentaries about UK session musicians and the late artist Bill Fay currently in development.
Don't miss Movieland's upcoming single release on March 28th, with Boyd returning to Canadian stages in Vancouver and Edmonton this spring—a homecoming that bridges his past and present creative worlds.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
colleyc (00:26):
Let's pretend we're free and I'll say so, crazy.
But to me that's yesterday.
Again, I can't believe me.
Back Yesterday I gave, I gaveme.
(00:47):
Alright, we are chuggingthrough season five.
I mean season five, bureauPodcast.
Welcome everyone.
Today I'm reaching well acrossthe pond, but to a fellow
Canadian across the pond, I haveAlan D Boyd with me today, who
(01:09):
is from well.
We're going to talk about hisband, movie Land, but we're also
going to talk about LittleSparta and a bunch of other
amazing things this guy does.
I mean, alan, you're a talentedguy.
I'll just say that right offthe bat.
I mean, not only are you amusician, but you're a director,
you're an editor, you're, likeyou just dabble in so many areas
, um, which we'll get into.
(01:30):
But I want to just first of allthank you for joining me today.
Alan D Boyd (01:34):
Yeah, thanks for having me, chris.
This is really cool and, uh,you know I've been looking
forward to it.
Uh, working up towards theevening, I've been sort of
really busy today, sort ofgetting ready and everything,
and always nice to join peoplefor new podcasts.
colleyc (01:47):
Absolutely Well.
Thanks so much.
I think that this will be agreat conversation.
And maybe to start off, alan, Iknow that you were born in
Edmonton.
Alan D Boyd (02:01):
In the dead center of the Canada, you know.
colleyc (02:05):
You can't be any more Canadian, right?
I mean you're central Canadian.
Alan D Boyd (02:09):
Which I think I've got this idea.
I think they should moveparliament there, Because then
maybe people will just have abetter idea of, like you know
what's going on.
But I was born in Winnipeg butmy parents were from Scotland
and five days after I was bornthey took me to Jamaica.
Wow, so that was my first thing.
I was born in January, so Ithink I went from minus 30 to
(02:31):
sort of Jamaican sunshine withina week.
Then they moved to Birminghamin England for a little while
and then we moved back and theysettled in Edmonton, alberta,
which is where I spent myformative years growing up.
colleyc (02:46):
Right, right, and to tap into those years a little
bit when did music start for you, Like, in those days, what was
the setup and like, where wasthe interest and how did you get
drawn into?
You know wanting to be involvedin music.
Alan D Boyd (03:04):
I think there's kind of two things.
One, my dad was a bass player.
Uh, he was a doctor, but healso.
Oh, here comes, here comes theinterruption.
colleyc (03:13):
Thank you very much, so glad to whine there.
Alan D Boyd (03:15):
There you go um, my dad was a doctor and but he
grew up playing bass and so hekind of bought me a bass guitar,
I think when I was like 13 or14, and said, oh, you should
have a hobby, you should getinto music, it's a great hobby.
And I was like, uh-oh, this iswhat I want to do now.
This is it.
And around that same time,which is like the early 80s, the
(03:39):
hardcore punk scene in Americawas kind of kicking off.
Punk scene in america was kindof kicking off and in edmonton
we had this really cool scenegoing on at a place, uh, kind of
you know, one of the mainplaces, a place called spartan's
men's hall where we had bandslike snfu.
Uh, we had a local band calledjunior gone wild.
Uh, when we had bands coming infrom calgary, we had like bands
(04:02):
coming in from the west coast,we had touring bands like Dead
Kennedys and Black Flag, bandsfrom all over, and it was like
this, 14 and 15 years old, and Ijust discovered this amazing
independent punk rock scene thatuh, in in Alberta too, it was
mixed with a bit of the countrything.
I mean, katie Lang comesthrough that scene as well.
(04:24):
So, edmonton, alberta, which islike, you know, it is a bit sort
of in the middle of nowhere,had this incredible a cold place
, cold winters, beautiful hotsummers, with like long nice
nights and barbecues, but hadthis amazing vibrant music scene
and I had friends who gotinvolved with it and we, you
(04:46):
know, we would just go to thegigs as much as we could and it
was also, you know, I wasinterested in music and I was
interested in film and I thinkthe 80s were a really good time
for films and stuff like that.
You know, this is like the VHSsand VCRs had just come out.
So you're like at homediscovering stuff like that, out
discovering music, there's acool record shop sharing tape,
so that was kind of it.
(05:07):
So 14, 15 years old, and then agroup of friends and I at
school we started a band andthat was it.
I was brought into the band andfrom there I just sort of never
stopped and I don't think I've.
I think I might have startedacting like I'm 16 now and I
don't think I've.
colleyc (05:25):
I think I might have started acting like I'm 16 now.
And what was it that drew youto punk Like?
What was that aesthetic, thatkind of pulled you in?
Alan D Boyd (05:36):
I don't think it was anything about there being
anything specific about beingdrawn to it, because I need to
go check this out.
It was just somebody going oh,we're going to this thing,
there's places where live musicis put on, come and check it out
.
I was just somebody going oh,we're going to this thing,
there's places where live musicis put on, come and check it out
.
I was just like, holy shit,this is amazing, this is so cool
.
And you know, it was a scenethat at Spartans you weren't.
They were all ages shows, right, and upstairs people would be
(05:59):
like the bands would be playingand then downstairs people would
be skating, skateboarding andand doing stuff.
So you got like and you got areal mix of just everybody went
who was a sort of certain age.
And also I have this theoryabout the 1978 commonwealth
games in edmonton.
They built this lrt system thatconnected.
(06:20):
You know, at that time it wasdowntown, up to the north side
of the town, which is wherespartans was.
So suddenly this you could getout to this place, which was I
had no idea how it got there,otherwise we weren't driving.
You know it's minus 20 andwe're taking buses and things
like that and we go to thisgreat shows.
And it was just this, it wasjust this vibe in this element.
So you know, I think I sawblack flag on boxing day Day
(06:43):
1984 at Spartans, you know, andthere was this incredible energy
and within two years I wasplaying gigs and putting on
shows with other bands, localbands, like a band called Idle T
which has a great Edmonton guynamed Evleroy was part of, with
(07:06):
Craig and Henry, and thenobviously Junior Gone Wild, who
were like one of the greatestbands I've ever seen in my life
play, and then of course, snfu,who years later I ended up
coming over here on tour withthem.
colleyc (07:17):
Right, right.
And when you first startedgetting your band together, was
that to become eventuallyMovieLand.
Like I read that it was 1991that MovieLand formed.
Alan D Boyd (07:32):
Yeah, so the Edmonton bands were like I was
in a band called Edgeware Roadbecause we thought that you know
it's the name of a tube stationin London and we thought that
sounded really romantic and it'snot london.
We thought that sounded reallyromantic and it's not.
And then that led to being in abus, uh, a band called kentucky
church bus.
That was with, uh, some otherfriends that I met and you know,
(07:53):
got to know.
So edgar rowe was kind of thehigh school band.
Kentucky church bus was thepost high school band.
And then I got um asked by themontreal band, the gruesomes, to
come out there to montreal andjoin them when, when Jerry had
left the band.
So I went to Montreal and Iplayed with the Gruesomes for
about six months, which wasreally fun.
We toured Canada, it was a goodtime.
(08:14):
But they basically had decidedthey'd done, they wanted to quit
.
I don't think I kind of came inand fit exactly what they
wanted to be, so they decided tojust quit.
So at that time it was, uh, Ithink it was 89, the Berlin.
I remember the Berlin Wallcoming down, you know it was a
time in you know, in the world,and being in Montreal was really
(08:35):
interesting.
I remember hanging out withIvan from Men Without Hats at
Fofoon.
You know, and you know it wasit was fun it's a great scene
like such a good scene.
Oh, it was fun it was so cool umthe dough boys uh you know, I
have, uh, I lived in this houseat, uh, I think it was 2112,
(08:56):
prudhomme was our address, anduh, there was some crazy drug
house that was across from us.
It was really famous, but yeah,it was across from us.
It was really famous.
But yeah, it was a reallyamazing experience being in
Montreal.
But then that ended and so Ijust went.
Okay, well, went to Californiafor six months, had a girlfriend
there, stayed in California andbecause I couldn't stay, I just
(09:19):
thought right, I'm going to goto Vancouver and see what
happens there.
And that's how Movie Landstarts.
Wow.
colleyc (09:24):
Interesting, interesting.
And what was your impression ofVancouver music scene once you
finally arrived there?
What did you think about it?
Alan D Boyd (09:33):
I think the Vancouver thing was like one of
the things about Vancouver whichdraws many people there is the
weather.
You know you don't get thewinters like you get in Alberta.
You know Alberta is cold anddry, montreal cold and wet.
You know you have these crazyCanadian winters everywhere
except you get to Vancouver.
I was just like, oh man, it'slike minus two, we better stay
(09:54):
in for a week.
You're like this isn't winter.
So you get this like influx ofpeople from all over you, most a
lot of western canada.
You know.
A lot of people I knew and gotto meet were from calgary,
edmonton, you know saskatchewan,from manitoba as well, some
people from the east.
But a lot of people from theeast would go to toronto because
(10:15):
there's things going on there,and it was.
It was an interesting placebecause there was a lot of great
people doing really good things.
But I always felt the problemwith vancouver at that time.
It was it's like an la city,it's very spread out and these
great universities but they'renot in the center so there
didn't seem to be these kind ofconcentrations of people that
(10:36):
were going to gigs.
So you didn't feel like, uh, itdidn't have a scene like like
montreal had, you know, like theway that you'd go to fafun and
just everybody would be there.
Yeah, totally, there was just avibe going on.
You know you're talking, you'refrom what band, you're from
what band?
Right, vancouver, um, there's alot of really cool bands, but
it just seemed a little bit more, um, disparate to be able to
(10:59):
like to get to gigs, to getpeople out to gigs, and you know
it's, it's a city where people,like in the evening, they leave
the town center and they headto their suburbs and they, you
know that's it, and everythingjust quiets down in the evening.
And I think I go back now.
It's a different place.
It's so so much more vibrant.
There's so many more people,there's so much more going on.
But yeah, at that time itdefinitely felt like you really
(11:23):
had to work hard to sort of makeor have a scene be happening.
Not that people weren't tryingand not that there weren't
amazing bands, it's just gettinga scene going was really hard.
colleyc (11:33):
Yeah, totally.
And coming to Vancouver, didyou have a feeling that you
wanted to start something onyour own?
Like, was it time for you tokind of step out from being just
a musician or one of themembers of the band to becoming
the front front person?
Alan D Boyd (11:53):
I think the thing about movie land it was when I
got there I'd play.
I played with a couple ofdifferent people, people that
I'd known from other you know,some people from Edmonton that
were there and I was trying bitsand pieces out.
But eventually I ended upworking at this place.
It was called Benny's Bagels,which was this like institution
there, and it was up on I thinkit was on Broadway, up towards
(12:15):
like Broadway, and I don't knowMcDonald or something like that,
but it was this place.
It was a 24 hour bagel shopthat students would hang out at.
24 hour bagel shop thatstudents would hang out at.
Everybody that was, you know,sort of living over in West
Vancouver not West Vancouver,but the West side of Kitsilano,
and stuff like that.
That's where everybody hung out.
You could go there at two inthe morning, after the places
(12:36):
have closed, and just sit downand have coffee all night and
eat bagels.
And I went to work there and Imet some other people that
became started becoming myfriends.
It was kind of like a sort ofuniversity scene almost.
You know You're meeting thepeople.
And that's where I met thedrummer, Justin, who was in the
original Movie Land lineup, andhe said, yeah, I got a friend,
John, and yeah, we should dosomething, let's get together.
(12:56):
We all seemed to like thingslike the Stone Roses and De La
Soul and you know there's musicof that time, this kind of sort
of british influence, but thenalso some of the hip-hop stuff
that was happening, a lot of thecool indie radio that was
happening dinosaur junior, youknow this, you know what would
later take over the charts, butthen was still like college
radio.
(13:16):
Sonic youth and nirvana, ofcourse, was just sort of coming
up at that point and we all likethat time, like Super exciting
time.
colleyc (13:23):
eh, it was an exciting time For music.
Alan D Boyd (13:25):
yeah, and that band came together and that became
Movie Land, and so you know itwas.
I was going to be the front manof this.
It was a three piece, so thatwas a big thing for me, because
I was going to be playing guitarand singing and being the main
guy and I hadn't really beenthat thing before you know.
colleyc (13:44):
And where did the songs come from, Alan Like, are these
songs that you had kind of beenpenning throughout you know
time, or was it something thatyou guys all sat down together
and decided to write together?
Alan D Boyd (13:56):
A combination of two things.
It was like sort of gettingtogether and jamming and playing
stuff out and playing ideas,and you sort of jam around on um
, um, playing around and youknow playing Stone Rosa songs or
whatever the kind of things weliked.
But then also, uh, you know,this was the days of like four
tracks and eight track recorders.
You know the cassette ones.
(14:17):
So I had a cassette tascam 488.
Little beauty, so cool, greatone right you know you could do
eight tracks on it, not foureight and it was so exciting.
So I I, you know, I had a littleelise's drum machine, um hr 16,
(14:37):
a tascam 488, some crazy guitarpedals and I just sort of and
actually one of the very firstsans amp, you know, the first
replicator and so I'd writesongs at home that I'd bring to
the band, but then we'd also jamstuff out.
So it's a mixture of both and Ireally enjoyed that process of
writing.
On the eight track, yeah, andI'd often like sort of start
(15:02):
with like you put down a drumbeat and listen to a tone and
listen to the these ideas oflike kind of what's the beat?
And then build on that and jamalong to them.
But you had to sort of thinkvery linearly, okay, and then
programming drums, okay, it'sgoing to change after four.
So I have to be ready to change.
What am I going to change?
It's almost like sort ofplanned improv, if you see what
(15:22):
I mean.
colleyc (15:23):
Yeah, it really gave, though, the access to having
those layers, you could start tosee a song come to life right
with those first four track,eight tracks that were out there
.
Like many musicians that I'veI've spoken with, those are some
of their fondest memories ofwriting is with their four track
or their eight track in theirbedroom.
(15:44):
And I was starting to see theirsongs Like wow, like okay, I
got, I got a.
I got a line here.
Now I got a main chorus.
I got a few lyrics I can put in.
Alan D Boyd (15:57):
And you really think about when it was like
that, when it was on tape andyou really had to think about
what you were doing and you putit down.
It's like I mean, I lovedigital and I love what you can
do with Logic or Pro Tools orwhatever now, but that sense of
like, and even like a cassettecommitting to it.
And then, when you had to, youknow you thought, oh, I need a
(16:19):
few more tracks.
I'm gonna bounce down the drumsand the bass are gonna go down
to one track and then seven more.
This is gonna be a.
colleyc (16:27):
It's gonna sound amazing bouncing the tracks and
just like crossing it.
Alan D Boyd (16:34):
Am I going to come back?
colleyc (16:35):
to that.
Alan D Boyd (16:37):
I can get rid of that now.
So you know there's, there'ssense of commitment, but yeah, I
know it's fun, but then we'dtake those in those demos and
we'd interpret them Right and soand so that would.
Then that just took it toanother place.
You know, which was great.
colleyc (16:52):
So what, what?
What's the story then with thereissue?
Because I know then and now itcame out december 2024 and those
were demos and unreleasedsingles, right that that you
guys had compiled over time.
Can you tell us a little bit?
Alan D Boyd (17:07):
yep yeah, yeah, no, I just saw that I found this
today, which is like I had thisbecause I've been digging up
this stuff for the label.
But this is like one of theoriginal tape covers and so
which is interesting because nowit's kind of coming back.
So it was right on the cusp ofbetween vinyl and CDs had come
in that period of time right,it's the early 90s.
(17:28):
Cds are coming in, you can getCDs pressed, but they're really
expensive, vinyls, just out ofeverybody's league, because you
know how do you even gettogether to make to make a vinyl
record, unless you've got aload of cash.
Um, but cassettes, there werethese, all these cassette
duplicating plants that existed.
So the bands, people would makecassettes.
(17:48):
So when we would record, we'dput them together, make a
cassette and sell them in thelocal record shops like zulu
records, odyssey, you knowwhatever else there was, and and
and I spent you spent a lot oftime in kinko's.
I think it was making coverslike this.
They're cutting things out.
And I think I had corel draw onmy mate's computer where I
(18:12):
would like design everything upand then I'd print things, then
go photocopy and and and youknow it was, it was.
It was a real kind of um uhfactory that you sort of putting
stuff out, real diy.
And again, this goes back tothat inspiration from meeting
and seeing all these touringbands, you know, when I'm like
sort of 14 and what they'redoing and going around the
(18:32):
country printing t-shirts in theback and selling them, but the
the tapes and stuff.
You know we made threedifferent tapes which we'd both
send to record companies andsell in shops.
Um, and that's when we got tomeet Jonathan Simpkin, who is
one of the owners of 604 withChad, and Jonathan was the sort
(18:54):
of local lawyer who I think hewas doing criminal law at that
time but he was really intomusic and wanted to eventually
do something to do with music.
And he heard us and he startedchampioning us and he became our
lawyer as such, ourrepresentative, as he did with
many bands in Vancouver.
He went around and found thebands that he really liked and
he said, yeah, I'll help youguys along Now with us.
(19:18):
I know he took us out tosomebody in Toronto I think it
might have been A&M Records ashe did with many other bands,
and unfortunately we weren't oneof the success stories.
They were like, yeah, ok, well,they're OK, but we won't go
with that band.
We might like this one, we mightnot like that, but it was a
weird time too, because youreally felt that Vancouver was
(19:40):
seen as this kind of thing onthe West Coast.
It was really far away, youknow, it's not there in the sort
of Ontario, quebec, sort ofmega power where everything goes
on.
And if somebody was going toget signed from Vancouver, yeah,
maybe we'll sign a band fromVancouver this year.
You know, we'll see if we'vegot the budget to compete with
everything else that we're doing.
So there was that sense ofbeing really on the outside and
(20:04):
I'm sure people in sort of NovaScotia, new Brunswick, you know,
alberta, yukon, all thoseplaces must feel that same sort
of sense of not being part of it, so different how the world is
now.
But you really felt you're inthe frontier and, um, so yeah,
so we put these all together.
And then jonathan got in touchwith me a few years ago and said
(20:25):
look, man got this great recordcompany now done pretty well.
Might have heard of carly rayjefferson, you know heard of her
.
I've heard of, uh, have youheard of nickelback working with
them?
You know, working with peoplelike nardwar.
We're doing all these amazingthings, um, so what I want to do
now is I want to go back toreissue some of these bands.
I used to want to get signed orto do stuff with people who've
(20:48):
had a small amount of success ordidn't have any success, and
I'm going to start a labelcalled decades and we're going
to put your stuff out and hesays and I want to start with
movie land because you're thebig one that I really think
should have happened but youdidn't.
colleyc (20:59):
So cool, so cool.
And when did this?
When did this idea first startto bubble up, like was it
recently or has this been kindof in the talks for a while of
putting out?
Yeah, it's it's movie landrelease I I'm trying to remember
it perfectly.
Alan D Boyd (21:16):
I think it was pre-covid talk started about
like ideas of like what might behappening, being interested in
stuff.
But then a few years ago maybe,maybe just sort of after the
covert thing, maybe jonathan, Ithink you know, really kind of
thought okay, this big thing hashappened.
It cemented his idea and hereally came back and said, yeah,
we're doing this.
(21:37):
Now, this is going to happen.
I'm putting budgets together,I'm talking with the people at
the label and we're going tofigure out how we're going to do
this.
And the name Decades hadn'tbeen decided upon yet at that
time.
But he said I'm going to startthis little label that's part of
604, part of that group, andlet's get the ball rolling.
(21:58):
So he said to me what do yougot?
So I started digging throughsort of boxes, old boxes, so I'd
go back to my family's house inEdmonton.
You can go out to the garageand go oh, what's this box
that's been sitting out here for30 years in the minus 30 and
the plus 30?
You know what's in there?
And I found this treasure troveof tape and ADATs and 8-track
(22:23):
tapes and posters andphotographs.
I thought, oh, it's a goodthing, I'm a hoarder.
colleyc (22:28):
There's some good stuff there, amazing, and this is
like pre kind of digital anyway,right, like this stuff was not
digitalized at all, it was juston those, those cassettes and
ADATs, and I love it.
So when you, when they decidedto do a reissue, what, what's
(22:48):
the process of that like?
Do they pull all that stuff offof your, your off of you know
the analog stuff, and then remixit, they redo it, did they add
parts to it Like what's, whatwould the reissue like if you
had to define it, like whathappened with that with with
your music?
Alan D Boyd (23:09):
Well, this is cool because I think this is what's
wonderful about the digitalworld we live in.
Is that I basically um, aboutthe digital world we live in?
Is that I?
Basically, it was so perfectlytimed because all this AI
software for pulling songs apartand editing was just starting
to come out.
So this first cassette which Iwas showing you, which is what
(23:30):
was sort of the black cassettewhich recorded live to dat, so
it was just two tracks stereorecordings.
So there were no mixes of it assuch, it was just straight up.
You know the masters, that'sall that existed.
And I managed to pull apart thedrums, the bass, the guitars and
the voice and do a slight remixon it now, because it's very
(23:54):
reverb, heavy and noisy and allsorts of stuff.
You couldn't quite get in thereand separate everything
perfectly, but it was enough tojust be able to boost a few
frequencies and I put it intoLogic and started mixing it a
little bit, which just gave it abit more beef than it had had
before.
(24:14):
So that's the first tape.
The second tape was done as aneight-track reel-to-reel
recording with this guy, adamSloan, who lived in Vancouver
and was with a band calledPerfume Tree and also did his
own dub stuff.
And that one I had the eighttracks which I sent to a company
here in Oxford who digitizedthose.
(24:34):
So I got the actual trackstracks and so I remixed those.
And then the third recording wedid was done on a dat which was
16 track, so it was two a dats,uh, which was sort of our first
digital format that we startedworking with proper, and those
again were digitized.
But it was really cool becausethere were some bits of tape, um
disintegration that happened inthem, so I was playing around
(24:59):
with those a little bit.
But in the end we kind ofcleaned it up and I did the
mixes uh, didn't add anything toit, wanted to keep it as what
it was.
And then we uh sent those to uhjoseph, who's the a, and our
guy uh for decades who's workingon the project, and he sent it
off to get mastered and thatcame back and went yeah, that
(25:20):
sounds pretty cool and wecouldn't believe, in a way, how
well it stood up.
Yeah, after that much time, youknow yeah absolutely Well.
colleyc (25:29):
even listening to it and I've listened to it a bunch
of times I mean it soundstimeless.
I mean it's just like it couldhave been recorded 10 years ago
or like last week, like it feelsrelevant.
Alan D Boyd (25:41):
um, thank you very much.
I mean, I think that was, Ithink one of the things.
That which struck me is thatthat comments come back from a
few people going is this now oris this then?
Is it real?
Is it memorex?
You know, and and and I thinkthat that's um.
You know, I do think there wasa little bit of a zeitgeist that
we were trying to encapsulateand be part of, which was this
(26:04):
new kind of music that wascoming in, sort of mixing
between the american grungestuff and the british sort of
more ethereal shoegazy stuff,which wasn't even we didn't even
call it shoegaze then, you know, that term existed but it was
more derogatory, you know.
We kind of really called it um,we kind of thought of ourselves
as a psychedelic rock band, youknow.
(26:24):
You know a sort of indie altpsych band that was, you know,
with big, loud guitars and allthese noises and things like
that sound and exactly and andyou know, and there were
challenges because I'd gosometimes be working with
engineers and getting thingsmixed and going, no, no, the
guitar needs to be louder thanthe vocal.
They go, you can't do that, youcan't make the guitar louder
(26:45):
than the vocal.
I say, yes, you can.
You just push the faders and itis look they do it, they do it.
No, it's not allowed.
The kick must be there, thisdrum.
colleyc (26:59):
And I thought, no, it doesn't have to be like this
well, that's cool pushing thebarriers, you know like seeing
how far the sound can bring youtrying to, trying to absolutely
so it's.
It's such a really good releasetoo and and I was trying to
pinpoint too like where there'scertain levels that were
changing, or like cause thesongs were recording different,
(27:21):
and it just flows so nicely on.
Alan D Boyd (27:24):
It's just well, that's a.
I got to give a big shout out toChristian who did the show.
I think Montato is his lastname and he's, I think he's
based in Toronto and please,please, forgive me, christian,
if I said your name wrong, buthe, when I got the uh, the
masters back, there was a fewlike oh, can you just tweak this
one and make that one fit morelike this?
(27:44):
And he nailed it and it wasjust.
It was really cool to have that, that final process, which is,
I guess, the modern masteringtechniques and what you can
actually do and what you canactually do and what you can
pull out and how you can makesomething feel and flow, and I
guess that's what great albumsare.
They've got that feel and flowand he, he really brought that
to it.
colleyc (28:05):
Amazing, Amazing.
So, as we kind of bring thingsto a close here on again, thanks
so much.
I've really loved listening toyour your journey here over this
.
Alan D Boyd (28:15):
you know half an hour.
colleyc (28:17):
I wanted to mention Little Sparta as well because I
mean, I just once we set this upI listened to it a bit and it
does have a different feel to it, but something you know,
definitely that's you there.
What would you say the umcomparisons are, or the
differences, I guess I would say, between movie land and little
(28:40):
sparta, in your opinion?
Alan D Boyd (28:42):
I think the one thing that that exists between
the two of them is a love of thesort of sonic, the sonic
landscape, the sonic, the sonicquality and the feeling in it.
Um, and though Little Spartacould arguably be called a sort
of folk, post-punk folk kind ofband, there's a sense of space
and a cinematic element to it,which I think Movie Land has too
(29:07):
.
There's this sort of sense ofwanting to be opulent and
cinematic in some way.
And as a guitarist, I know I'mvery much a, I'm a real strummer
, you know like I'm.
It's about chords and texturesand noises and, um, you know, I,
I, I think I'm pretty good atwhat I do, but you know, if it
gets to sort of noodling andcoming up and playing a blues
(29:29):
jam, I might not sit in quite,quite right to that which is,
which is fine, I'm happy withthat, you know.
And I, it's not that I don'twant to play blues jams, it's
just it's not the thing I do thebest.
But with little sparta, um,that sort of started when, when
I came here and I was puttingthis band together, meeting
people trying to do something,and eventually, um, I don't even
(29:50):
know, I don't even know how thesort of sound developed.
But eventually I met suzyhoneyman, who was and is the
violinist in the Mekons, andSusie came on for this track.
We were asked to record forFire Records for a James Joyce
compilation, and from that pointit was kind of, oh, this is
what we need to have.
(30:11):
And we were working with thispoet, this guy, namederry
mitchell, who he was reallytalented but you know he really
burned me.
In the end it was.
You know, that was veryunfortunate because we did some
really good work together.
But that took us to this sort offire record stage and we had
this seven or eight piece bandand, um, we'd go around and that
was the sort of 2005, 2006 andthere were some really cool
(30:36):
clubs.
There was a place called theSpitz in Spittlefields Market
that we used to play at BetsyTrotswood and a lot of these
places have kind of gone now andyou know I had a young family
so my time was less to be ableto do things.
But Susie, scott Skinner, who'sthe drummer, and myself carried
on and we did some.
We would play art galleries andSusie's husband's quite a
(31:00):
well-known painter named JockMcFadyen and we'd do openings
with him and we'd play thesereally cool spaces and we kind
of had this thing where we wereplaying music in and reacting to
art, and then a lot of that wasinstrumental.
Then eventually suzy said, oh,we can get sally from the mecons
(31:21):
, maybe she'll sing a song ortwo with us.
So we started getting sally tosing a few songs and that
brought the next thing and so,yeah, so it's just been this
thing where we kind of mixbetween our instrumental things
that we're doing and I've got afew new songs I'm working on
right now that are with Sally,and then actually I started
singing again in the band.
So it's this place where we kindof Little Sparta is much more
(31:43):
you know, a kind of it's.
I don't even know what todescribe it as, but before I had
a studio in London which I hadto give up last year.
It just became too expensive.
Before I left we just set upand put down 10 tracks and we
just turned on the mics and juststarted playing and just
jamming them out.
So it's very, you know, it'skind of like you know, that sort
(32:04):
of the ideas behind can andstuff like that.
Uh, you know, with a folky vibeto it, maybe a little bit, but
suzy's got this really amazingway of playing, so there's this
openness to it, and then I'llpull them together, do a few
edits, add some instruments andthen write some lyrics.
Then if sally's passing throughtown, I'll make dinner and say
I've made dinner, and then whenshe gets here you have to think
(32:28):
and, and these things just sortof come together and they come
up together every so often oneor two come out here and there.
But yeah, that's what's whatLittle Sparta is, and it's
something I don't think.
I think it's one of thosethings I'm never going to give
up, but it's not something thatwe put massive amounts of effort
into.
It just happens when it happens.
It's quite an organic thing.
colleyc (32:45):
That's cool.
That's cool.
So, to end things up here, alan, what can we look forward to?
I know Movie Land had someother things, possibly for 2025.
And if there's anything elseyou'd like to share, please what
does 2025 hold for you?
Alan D Boyd (33:04):
Well, 2025, I mean the Movie Land thing is that on
the back of putting out the oldmaterial, because I'm terrible
like this.
I just said to Jonathan.
I said, look, if you're goingto put that out, can I?
I record some new songs as well?
Yeah, okay, go for it, man.
And you know so, here's abudget to do about four songs or
whatever.
And so I I went oh sorry, man,I just did an album of 10.
(33:25):
Oh, okay, I guess we'll putthat out.
So there's an album coming.
I think it's eight tracks inthe end.
Um, we picked for it, but um,it's called now and then before
the beatles.
We came up with that before thebeatles said it, so it's then
and now and now and then, but Iguess it's a bit kind of like
(33:46):
let it be by the replacements.
Right, you know, right, we'llshare it with them.
We'll let them share it andthat's, um, you know that's,
that's a sort of couple of songsfrom you know were written
specifically around the albumcoming out and then the summer
from years over the last sort offive or 10 years, where I've
had these songs sitting there.
That sort of fit into that vein.
(34:06):
So that's the Movie Land thing.
And the first single is the28th of March and I'll be in
Vancouver on the 27th to play ashow at the Red Gate of March
and I'll be in Vancouver on the27th to play a show at the Red
Gate.
Then the 29th they're having adecades, some sort of thing
about decades happening at thesix or four space.
So I think I'm playing there aswell, and I think the Junos are
(34:31):
on the 30th and then I'm off toEdmonton where I'm playing at a
place called the Cask andBarrel on the 5th with a full
band.
So that's going to be reallyfun.
But then I'm playing at a placecalled the Cask and Barrel on
the 5th with a full band.
So that's going to be reallyfun.
But then I'm also making films.
So I've got a film I'm tryingto make about UK session players
which I've been working on for15 years, kind of like the
Wrecking Crew, but for London.
I've got a film I'm trying tomake about the artist Bill Fay,
(34:53):
who just died a few weeks ago.
It's really sad.
We've been working together, uh, doing some interviews with him
, and he's a very private man,but he asked me and his friend
ray russell to work with him tomake a film of his life, so
we're seeing if we can get thatfinished.
Um, yeah, and you know, that'shopefully what 2025 is going to
(35:14):
bring.
And then there's a very smallpossibility, but I might be
working on a film about NeilInnes, who is the music guy from
Monty Python.
So, we'll see.
You've got a full bucket I do Ihave a full bucket A?
colleyc (35:29):
very full bucket.
I love it.
Alan D Boyd (35:31):
Now all I need is the money.
That's right.
colleyc (35:34):
That's right.
Well, usually once all thesethings are set, that starts to
flow, hopefully.
I hope so.
I hope so.
Alan D Boyd (35:42):
It's an interesting little world right now, you
know, and I think creativepeople are finding it hard
because of, you know, digitalworld, social medias, you know
streaming services all thatthat's affecting creative people
of all sorts.
But you know, I I tried toalways sit back and think how
lucky I am to have carved a paththrough this.
(36:04):
You know, you know I'm not amillionaire but like I'm sitting
in a room with like sevenguitars and you know I was
working on a Pro Tools sessionall day today and you know I'm
out meeting amazing peoplemaking music and doing things.
And you know I was working on aPro Tools session all day today
and you know I'm out meetingamazing people making music and
doing things and you know I'mpretty lucky.
colleyc (36:21):
Yeah, you're living your life.
You're living the life you wantto live, which is amazing, like
it's great to carve out yourjourney the way you want it to
be, and it sounds that you'vedone that or you're doing it.
I mean it's.
Alan D Boyd (36:36):
I'm working on it and I'm really looking forward
to.
You know it's nice to spend alot more time in Canada,
actually, and you know comingback and spending that time in
Vancouver with the amazingsupport of the label, which has
been so fun and so cool.
colleyc (36:50):
And then you sort of, because I've been doing that
it's been rediscovering placeslike my hometown, Edmonton,
which is really fun and reallycool.
Well, you're always welcomeback in Canada whenever you want
.
Alan D Boyd (37:05):
I want to come to Montreal again.
I've never been to Quebec City.
That's where I want to go toQuebec City, explore Montreal.
That's it.
colleyc (37:14):
Well, anytime you want to come play anywhere around
here, come on down and it willbe nice to meet you in person.
And again, thanks so much forthis, alan.
It's been really insightful andI love your stories and the
journey that you've had so farand the excitement of what's to
come.
So I wish you all the best withall of that and I'm looking
(37:37):
forward to this uh, um, newstuff coming out in 2025 for
movie thanks, man, and thanksfor being you know, thanks for
doing shows like this.
Alan D Boyd (37:44):
It's people like you that get the music out there
, so it's really important, sothank you so much for this.
I appreciate that I appreciatethat.
colleyc (37:50):
Well, you have yourself a good one, and we'll talk soon
bye, thank you.
Alan D Boyd (38:05):
Guitar solo.
Stood down on the ground.
No pride, no pride.
I knew that you were my God.
(39:21):
Guitar solo.
I am the sun, the moon, thelight, the kiss, the dawn.
No-transcript yeah.
Let's pretend we're free and I'll say so, crazy.
But to me that's yesterday.
Again, I can't believe me.
Back Yesterday I gave, I gaveme.
(00:47):
Alright, we are chuggingthrough season five.
I mean season five, bureauPodcast.
Welcome everyone.
Today I'm reaching well acrossthe pond, but to a fellow
Canadian across the pond, I haveAlan D Boyd with me today, who
(01:09):
is from well.
We're going to talk about hisband, movie Land, but we're also
going to talk about LittleSparta and a bunch of other
amazing things this guy does.
I mean, alan, you're a talentedguy.
I'll just say that right offthe bat.
I mean, not only are you amusician, but you're a director,
you're an editor, you're, likeyou just dabble in so many areas
, um, which we'll get into.
(01:30):
But I want to just first of allthank you for joining me today.
Alan D Boyd (01:34):
Yeah, thanks for having me, chris.
This is really cool and, uh,you know I've been looking
forward to it.
Uh, working up towards theevening, I've been sort of
really busy today, sort ofgetting ready and everything,
and always nice to join peoplefor new podcasts.
colleyc (01:47):
Absolutely Well.
Thanks so much.
I think that this will be agreat conversation.
And maybe to start off, alan, Iknow that you were born in
Edmonton.
Alan D Boyd (02:01):
In the dead center of the Canada, you know.
colleyc (02:05):
You can't be any more Canadian, right?
I mean you're central Canadian.
Alan D Boyd (02:09):
Which I think I've got this idea.
I think they should moveparliament there, Because then
maybe people will just have abetter idea of, like you know
what's going on.
But I was born in Winnipeg butmy parents were from Scotland
and five days after I was bornthey took me to Jamaica.
Wow, so that was my first thing.
I was born in January, so Ithink I went from minus 30 to
(02:31):
sort of Jamaican sunshine withina week.
Then they moved to Birminghamin England for a little while
and then we moved back and theysettled in Edmonton, alberta,
which is where I spent myformative years growing up.
colleyc (02:46):
Right, right, and to tap into those years a little
bit when did music start for you, Like, in those days, what was
the setup and like, where wasthe interest and how did you get
drawn into?
You know wanting to be involvedin music.
Alan D Boyd (03:04):
I think there's kind of two things.
One, my dad was a bass player.
Uh, he was a doctor, but healso.
Oh, here comes, here comes theinterruption.
colleyc (03:13):
Thank you very much, so glad to whine there.
Alan D Boyd (03:15):
There you go um, my dad was a doctor and but he
grew up playing bass and so hekind of bought me a bass guitar,
I think when I was like 13 or14, and said, oh, you should
have a hobby, you should getinto music, it's a great hobby.
And I was like, uh-oh, this iswhat I want to do now.
This is it.
And around that same time,which is like the early 80s, the
(03:39):
hardcore punk scene in Americawas kind of kicking off.
Punk scene in america was kindof kicking off and in edmonton
we had this really cool scenegoing on at a place, uh, kind of
you know, one of the mainplaces, a place called spartan's
men's hall where we had bandslike snfu.
Uh, we had a local band calledjunior gone wild.
Uh, when we had bands coming infrom calgary, we had like bands
(04:02):
coming in from the west coast,we had touring bands like Dead
Kennedys and Black Flag, bandsfrom all over, and it was like
this, 14 and 15 years old, and Ijust discovered this amazing
independent punk rock scene thatuh, in in Alberta too, it was
mixed with a bit of the countrything.
I mean, katie Lang comesthrough that scene as well.
(04:24):
So, edmonton, alberta, which islike, you know, it is a bit sort
of in the middle of nowhere,had this incredible a cold place
, cold winters, beautiful hotsummers, with like long nice
nights and barbecues, but hadthis amazing vibrant music scene
and I had friends who gotinvolved with it and we, you
(04:46):
know, we would just go to thegigs as much as we could and it
was also, you know, I wasinterested in music and I was
interested in film and I thinkthe 80s were a really good time
for films and stuff like that.
You know, this is like the VHSsand VCRs had just come out.
So you're like at homediscovering stuff like that, out
discovering music, there's acool record shop sharing tape,
so that was kind of it.
(05:07):
So 14, 15 years old, and then agroup of friends and I at
school we started a band andthat was it.
I was brought into the band andfrom there I just sort of never
stopped and I don't think I've.
I think I might have startedacting like I'm 16 now and I
don't think I've.
colleyc (05:25):
I think I might have started acting like I'm 16 now.
And what was it that drew youto punk Like?
What was that aesthetic, thatkind of pulled you in?
Alan D Boyd (05:36):
I don't think it was anything about there being
anything specific about beingdrawn to it, because I need to
go check this out.
It was just somebody going oh,we're going to this thing,
there's places where live musicis put on, come and check it out
.
I was just somebody going oh,we're going to this thing,
there's places where live musicis put on, come and check it out
.
I was just like, holy shit,this is amazing, this is so cool
.
And you know, it was a scenethat at Spartans you weren't.
They were all ages shows, right, and upstairs people would be
(05:59):
like the bands would be playingand then downstairs people would
be skating, skateboarding andand doing stuff.
So you got like and you got areal mix of just everybody went
who was a sort of certain age.
And also I have this theoryabout the 1978 commonwealth
games in edmonton.
They built this lrt system thatconnected.
(06:20):
You know, at that time it wasdowntown, up to the north side
of the town, which is wherespartans was.
So suddenly this you could getout to this place, which was I
had no idea how it got there,otherwise we weren't driving.
You know it's minus 20 andwe're taking buses and things
like that and we go to thisgreat shows.
And it was just this, it wasjust this vibe in this element.
So you know, I think I sawblack flag on boxing day Day
(06:43):
1984 at Spartans, you know, andthere was this incredible energy
and within two years I wasplaying gigs and putting on
shows with other bands, localbands, like a band called Idle T
which has a great Edmonton guynamed Evleroy was part of, with
(07:06):
Craig and Henry, and thenobviously Junior Gone Wild, who
were like one of the greatestbands I've ever seen in my life
play, and then of course, snfu,who years later I ended up
coming over here on tour withthem.
colleyc (07:17):
Right, right.
And when you first startedgetting your band together, was
that to become eventuallyMovieLand.
Like I read that it was 1991that MovieLand formed.
Alan D Boyd (07:32):
Yeah, so the Edmonton bands were like I was
in a band called Edgeware Roadbecause we thought that you know
it's the name of a tube stationin London and we thought that
sounded really romantic and it'snot london.
We thought that sounded reallyromantic and it's not.
And then that led to being in abus, uh, a band called kentucky
church bus.
That was with, uh, some otherfriends that I met and you know,
(07:53):
got to know.
So edgar rowe was kind of thehigh school band.
Kentucky church bus was thepost high school band.
And then I got um asked by themontreal band, the gruesomes, to
come out there to montreal andjoin them when, when Jerry had
left the band.
So I went to Montreal and Iplayed with the Gruesomes for
about six months, which wasreally fun.
We toured Canada, it was a goodtime.
(08:14):
But they basically had decidedthey'd done, they wanted to quit
.
I don't think I kind of came inand fit exactly what they
wanted to be, so they decided tojust quit.
So at that time it was, uh, Ithink it was 89, the Berlin.
I remember the Berlin Wallcoming down, you know it was a
time in you know, in the world,and being in Montreal was really
(08:35):
interesting.
I remember hanging out withIvan from Men Without Hats at
Fofoon.
You know, and you know it wasit was fun it's a great scene
like such a good scene.
Oh, it was fun it was so cool umthe dough boys uh you know, I
have, uh, I lived in this houseat, uh, I think it was 2112,
(08:56):
prudhomme was our address, anduh, there was some crazy drug
house that was across from us.
It was really famous, but yeah,it was across from us.
It was really famous.
But yeah, it was a reallyamazing experience being in
Montreal.
But then that ended and so Ijust went.
Okay, well, went to Californiafor six months, had a girlfriend
there, stayed in California andbecause I couldn't stay, I just
(09:19):
thought right, I'm going to goto Vancouver and see what
happens there.
And that's how Movie Landstarts.
Wow.
colleyc (09:24):
Interesting, interesting.
And what was your impression ofVancouver music scene once you
finally arrived there?
What did you think about it?
Alan D Boyd (09:33):
I think the Vancouver thing was like one of
the things about Vancouver whichdraws many people there is the
weather.
You know you don't get thewinters like you get in Alberta.
You know Alberta is cold anddry, montreal cold and wet.
You know you have these crazyCanadian winters everywhere
except you get to Vancouver.
I was just like, oh man, it'slike minus two, we better stay
(09:54):
in for a week.
You're like this isn't winter.
So you get this like influx ofpeople from all over you, most a
lot of western canada.
You know.
A lot of people I knew and gotto meet were from calgary,
edmonton, you know saskatchewan,from manitoba as well, some
people from the east.
But a lot of people from theeast would go to toronto because
(10:15):
there's things going on there,and it was.
It was an interesting placebecause there was a lot of great
people doing really good things.
But I always felt the problemwith vancouver at that time.
It was it's like an la city,it's very spread out and these
great universities but they'renot in the center so there
didn't seem to be these kind ofconcentrations of people that
(10:36):
were going to gigs.
So you didn't feel like, uh, itdidn't have a scene like like
montreal had, you know, like theway that you'd go to fafun and
just everybody would be there.
Yeah, totally, there was just avibe going on.
You know you're talking, you'refrom what band, you're from
what band?
Right, vancouver, um, there's alot of really cool bands, but
it just seemed a little bit more, um, disparate to be able to
(10:59):
like to get to gigs, to getpeople out to gigs, and you know
it's, it's a city where people,like in the evening, they leave
the town center and they headto their suburbs and they, you
know that's it, and everythingjust quiets down in the evening.
And I think I go back now.
It's a different place.
It's so so much more vibrant.
There's so many more people,there's so much more going on.
But yeah, at that time itdefinitely felt like you really
(11:23):
had to work hard to sort of makeor have a scene be happening.
Not that people weren't tryingand not that there weren't
amazing bands, it's just gettinga scene going was really hard.
colleyc (11:33):
Yeah, totally.
And coming to Vancouver, didyou have a feeling that you
wanted to start something onyour own?
Like, was it time for you tokind of step out from being just
a musician or one of themembers of the band to becoming
the front front person?
Alan D Boyd (11:53):
I think the thing about movie land it was when I
got there I'd play.
I played with a couple ofdifferent people, people that
I'd known from other you know,some people from Edmonton that
were there and I was trying bitsand pieces out.
But eventually I ended upworking at this place.
It was called Benny's Bagels,which was this like institution
there, and it was up on I thinkit was on Broadway, up towards
(12:15):
like Broadway, and I don't knowMcDonald or something like that,
but it was this place.
It was a 24 hour bagel shopthat students would hang out at.
24 hour bagel shop thatstudents would hang out at.
Everybody that was, you know,sort of living over in West
Vancouver not West Vancouver,but the West side of Kitsilano,
and stuff like that.
That's where everybody hung out.
You could go there at two inthe morning, after the places
(12:36):
have closed, and just sit downand have coffee all night and
eat bagels.
And I went to work there and Imet some other people that
became started becoming myfriends.
It was kind of like a sort ofuniversity scene almost.
You know You're meeting thepeople.
And that's where I met thedrummer, Justin, who was in the
original Movie Land lineup, andhe said, yeah, I got a friend,
John, and yeah, we should dosomething, let's get together.
(12:56):
We all seemed to like thingslike the Stone Roses and De La
Soul and you know there's musicof that time, this kind of sort
of british influence, but thenalso some of the hip-hop stuff
that was happening, a lot of thecool indie radio that was
happening dinosaur junior, youknow this, you know what would
later take over the charts, butthen was still like college
radio.
(13:16):
Sonic youth and nirvana, ofcourse, was just sort of coming
up at that point and we all likethat time, like Super exciting
time.
colleyc (13:23):
eh, it was an exciting time For music.
Alan D Boyd (13:25):
yeah, and that band came together and that became
Movie Land, and so you know itwas.
I was going to be the front manof this.
It was a three piece, so thatwas a big thing for me, because
I was going to be playing guitarand singing and being the main
guy and I hadn't really beenthat thing before you know.
colleyc (13:44):
And where did the songs come from, Alan Like, are these
songs that you had kind of beenpenning throughout you know
time, or was it something thatyou guys all sat down together
and decided to write together?
Alan D Boyd (13:56):
A combination of two things.
It was like sort of gettingtogether and jamming and playing
stuff out and playing ideas,and you sort of jam around on um
, um, playing around and youknow playing Stone Rosa songs or
whatever the kind of things weliked.
But then also, uh, you know,this was the days of like four
tracks and eight track recorders.
You know the cassette ones.
(14:17):
So I had a cassette tascam 488.
Little beauty, so cool, greatone right you know you could do
eight tracks on it, not foureight and it was so exciting.
So I I, you know, I had a littleelise's drum machine, um hr 16,
(14:37):
a tascam 488, some crazy guitarpedals and I just sort of and
actually one of the very firstsans amp, you know, the first
replicator and so I'd writesongs at home that I'd bring to
the band, but then we'd also jamstuff out.
So it's a mixture of both and Ireally enjoyed that process of
writing.
On the eight track, yeah, andI'd often like sort of start
(15:02):
with like you put down a drumbeat and listen to a tone and
listen to the these ideas oflike kind of what's the beat?
And then build on that and jamalong to them.
But you had to sort of thinkvery linearly, okay, and then
programming drums, okay, it'sgoing to change after four.
So I have to be ready to change.
What am I going to change?
It's almost like sort ofplanned improv, if you see what
(15:22):
I mean.
colleyc (15:23):
Yeah, it really gave, though, the access to having
those layers, you could start tosee a song come to life right
with those first four track,eight tracks that were out there
.
Like many musicians that I'veI've spoken with, those are some
of their fondest memories ofwriting is with their four track
or their eight track in theirbedroom.
(15:44):
And I was starting to see theirsongs Like wow, like okay, I
got, I got a.
I got a line here.
Now I got a main chorus.
I got a few lyrics I can put in.
Alan D Boyd (15:57):
And you really think about when it was like
that, when it was on tape andyou really had to think about
what you were doing and you putit down.
It's like I mean, I lovedigital and I love what you can
do with Logic or Pro Tools orwhatever now, but that sense of
like, and even like a cassettecommitting to it.
And then, when you had to, youknow you thought, oh, I need a
(16:19):
few more tracks.
I'm gonna bounce down the drumsand the bass are gonna go down
to one track and then seven more.
This is gonna be a.
colleyc (16:27):
It's gonna sound amazing bouncing the tracks and
just like crossing it.
Alan D Boyd (16:34):
Am I going to come back?
colleyc (16:35):
to that.
Alan D Boyd (16:37):
I can get rid of that now.
So you know there's, there'ssense of commitment, but yeah, I
know it's fun, but then we'dtake those in those demos and
we'd interpret them Right and soand so that would.
Then that just took it toanother place.
You know, which was great.
colleyc (16:52):
So what, what?
What's the story then with thereissue?
Because I know then and now itcame out december 2024 and those
were demos and unreleasedsingles, right that that you
guys had compiled over time.
Can you tell us a little bit?
Alan D Boyd (17:07):
yep yeah, yeah, no, I just saw that I found this
today, which is like I had thisbecause I've been digging up
this stuff for the label.
But this is like one of theoriginal tape covers and so
which is interesting because nowit's kind of coming back.
So it was right on the cusp ofbetween vinyl and CDs had come
in that period of time right,it's the early 90s.
(17:28):
Cds are coming in, you can getCDs pressed, but they're really
expensive, vinyls, just out ofeverybody's league, because you
know how do you even gettogether to make to make a vinyl
record, unless you've got aload of cash.
Um, but cassettes, there werethese, all these cassette
duplicating plants that existed.
So the bands, people would makecassettes.
(17:48):
So when we would record, we'dput them together, make a
cassette and sell them in thelocal record shops like zulu
records, odyssey, you knowwhatever else there was, and and
and I spent you spent a lot oftime in kinko's.
I think it was making coverslike this.
They're cutting things out.
And I think I had corel draw onmy mate's computer where I
(18:12):
would like design everything upand then I'd print things, then
go photocopy and and and youknow it was, it was.
It was a real kind of um uhfactory that you sort of putting
stuff out, real diy.
And again, this goes back tothat inspiration from meeting
and seeing all these touringbands, you know, when I'm like
sort of 14 and what they'redoing and going around the
(18:32):
country printing t-shirts in theback and selling them, but the
the tapes and stuff.
You know we made threedifferent tapes which we'd both
send to record companies andsell in shops.
Um, and that's when we got tomeet Jonathan Simpkin, who is
one of the owners of 604 withChad, and Jonathan was the sort
(18:54):
of local lawyer who I think hewas doing criminal law at that
time but he was really intomusic and wanted to eventually
do something to do with music.
And he heard us and he startedchampioning us and he became our
lawyer as such, ourrepresentative, as he did with
many bands in Vancouver.
He went around and found thebands that he really liked and
he said, yeah, I'll help youguys along Now with us.
(19:18):
I know he took us out tosomebody in Toronto I think it
might have been A&M Records ashe did with many other bands,
and unfortunately we weren't oneof the success stories.
They were like, yeah, ok, well,they're OK, but we won't go
with that band.
We might like this one, we mightnot like that, but it was a
weird time too, because youreally felt that Vancouver was
(19:40):
seen as this kind of thing onthe West Coast.
It was really far away, youknow, it's not there in the sort
of Ontario, quebec, sort ofmega power where everything goes
on.
And if somebody was going toget signed from Vancouver, yeah,
maybe we'll sign a band fromVancouver this year.
You know, we'll see if we'vegot the budget to compete with
everything else that we're doing.
So there was that sense ofbeing really on the outside and
(20:04):
I'm sure people in sort of NovaScotia, new Brunswick, you know,
alberta, yukon, all thoseplaces must feel that same sort
of sense of not being part of it, so different how the world is
now.
But you really felt you're inthe frontier and, um, so yeah,
so we put these all together.
And then jonathan got in touchwith me a few years ago and said
(20:25):
look, man got this great recordcompany now done pretty well.
Might have heard of carly rayjefferson, you know heard of her
.
I've heard of, uh, have youheard of nickelback working with
them?
You know, working with peoplelike nardwar.
We're doing all these amazingthings, um, so what I want to do
now is I want to go back toreissue some of these bands.
I used to want to get signed orto do stuff with people who've
(20:48):
had a small amount of success ordidn't have any success, and
I'm going to start a labelcalled decades and we're going
to put your stuff out and hesays and I want to start with
movie land because you're thebig one that I really think
should have happened but youdidn't.
colleyc (20:59):
So cool, so cool.
And when did this?
When did this idea first startto bubble up, like was it
recently or has this been kindof in the talks for a while of
putting out?
Yeah, it's it's movie landrelease I I'm trying to remember
it perfectly.
Alan D Boyd (21:16):
I think it was pre-covid talk started about
like ideas of like what might behappening, being interested in
stuff.
But then a few years ago maybe,maybe just sort of after the
covert thing, maybe jonathan, Ithink you know, really kind of
thought okay, this big thing hashappened.
It cemented his idea and hereally came back and said, yeah,
we're doing this.
(21:37):
Now, this is going to happen.
I'm putting budgets together,I'm talking with the people at
the label and we're going tofigure out how we're going to do
this.
And the name Decades hadn'tbeen decided upon yet at that
time.
But he said I'm going to startthis little label that's part of
604, part of that group, andlet's get the ball rolling.
(21:58):
So he said to me what do yougot?
So I started digging throughsort of boxes, old boxes, so I'd
go back to my family's house inEdmonton.
You can go out to the garageand go oh, what's this box
that's been sitting out here for30 years in the minus 30 and
the plus 30?
You know what's in there?
And I found this treasure troveof tape and ADATs and 8-track
(22:23):
tapes and posters andphotographs.
I thought, oh, it's a goodthing, I'm a hoarder.
colleyc (22:28):
There's some good stuff there, amazing, and this is
like pre kind of digital anyway,right, like this stuff was not
digitalized at all, it was juston those, those cassettes and
ADATs, and I love it.
So when you, when they decidedto do a reissue, what, what's
(22:48):
the process of that like?
Do they pull all that stuff offof your, your off of you know
the analog stuff, and then remixit, they redo it, did they add
parts to it Like what's, whatwould the reissue like if you
had to define it, like whathappened with that with with
your music?
Alan D Boyd (23:09):
Well, this is cool because I think this is what's
wonderful about the digitalworld we live in.
Is that I basically um, aboutthe digital world we live in?
Is that I?
Basically, it was so perfectlytimed because all this AI
software for pulling songs apartand editing was just starting
to come out.
So this first cassette which Iwas showing you, which is what
(23:30):
was sort of the black cassettewhich recorded live to dat, so
it was just two tracks stereorecordings.
So there were no mixes of it assuch, it was just straight up.
You know the masters, that'sall that existed.
And I managed to pull apart thedrums, the bass, the guitars and
the voice and do a slight remixon it now, because it's very
(23:54):
reverb, heavy and noisy and allsorts of stuff.
You couldn't quite get in thereand separate everything
perfectly, but it was enough tojust be able to boost a few
frequencies and I put it intoLogic and started mixing it a
little bit, which just gave it abit more beef than it had had
before.
(24:14):
So that's the first tape.
The second tape was done as aneight-track reel-to-reel
recording with this guy, adamSloan, who lived in Vancouver
and was with a band calledPerfume Tree and also did his
own dub stuff.
And that one I had the eighttracks which I sent to a company
here in Oxford who digitizedthose.
(24:34):
So I got the actual trackstracks and so I remixed those.
And then the third recording wedid was done on a dat which was
16 track, so it was two a dats,uh, which was sort of our first
digital format that we startedworking with proper, and those
again were digitized.
But it was really cool becausethere were some bits of tape, um
disintegration that happened inthem, so I was playing around
(24:59):
with those a little bit.
But in the end we kind ofcleaned it up and I did the
mixes uh, didn't add anything toit, wanted to keep it as what
it was.
And then we uh sent those to uhjoseph, who's the a, and our
guy uh for decades who's workingon the project, and he sent it
off to get mastered and thatcame back and went yeah, that
(25:20):
sounds pretty cool and wecouldn't believe, in a way, how
well it stood up.
Yeah, after that much time, youknow yeah absolutely Well.
colleyc (25:29):
even listening to it and I've listened to it a bunch
of times I mean it soundstimeless.
I mean it's just like it couldhave been recorded 10 years ago
or like last week, like it feelsrelevant.
Alan D Boyd (25:41):
um, thank you very much.
I mean, I think that was, Ithink one of the things.
That which struck me is thatthat comments come back from a
few people going is this now oris this then?
Is it real?
Is it memorex?
You know, and and and I thinkthat that's um.
You know, I do think there wasa little bit of a zeitgeist that
we were trying to encapsulateand be part of, which was this
(26:04):
new kind of music that wascoming in, sort of mixing
between the american grungestuff and the british sort of
more ethereal shoegazy stuff,which wasn't even we didn't even
call it shoegaze then, you know, that term existed but it was
more derogatory, you know.
We kind of really called it um,we kind of thought of ourselves
as a psychedelic rock band, youknow.
(26:24):
You know a sort of indie altpsych band that was, you know,
with big, loud guitars and allthese noises and things like
that sound and exactly and andyou know, and there were
challenges because I'd gosometimes be working with
engineers and getting thingsmixed and going, no, no, the
guitar needs to be louder thanthe vocal.
They go, you can't do that, youcan't make the guitar louder
(26:45):
than the vocal.
I say, yes, you can.
You just push the faders and itis look they do it, they do it.
No, it's not allowed.
The kick must be there, thisdrum.
colleyc (26:59):
And I thought, no, it doesn't have to be like this
well, that's cool pushing thebarriers, you know like seeing
how far the sound can bring youtrying to, trying to absolutely
so it's.
It's such a really good releasetoo and and I was trying to
pinpoint too like where there'scertain levels that were
changing, or like cause thesongs were recording different,
(27:21):
and it just flows so nicely on.
Alan D Boyd (27:24):
It's just well, that's a.
I got to give a big shout out toChristian who did the show.
I think Montato is his lastname and he's, I think he's
based in Toronto and please,please, forgive me, christian,
if I said your name wrong, buthe, when I got the uh, the
masters back, there was a fewlike oh, can you just tweak this
one and make that one fit morelike this?
(27:44):
And he nailed it and it wasjust.
It was really cool to have that, that final process, which is,
I guess, the modern masteringtechniques and what you can
actually do and what you canactually do and what you can
pull out and how you can makesomething feel and flow, and I
guess that's what great albumsare.
They've got that feel and flowand he, he really brought that
to it.
colleyc (28:05):
Amazing, Amazing.
So, as we kind of bring thingsto a close here on again, thanks
so much.
I've really loved listening toyour your journey here over this
.
Alan D Boyd (28:15):
you know half an hour.
colleyc (28:17):
I wanted to mention Little Sparta as well because I
mean, I just once we set this upI listened to it a bit and it
does have a different feel to it, but something you know,
definitely that's you there.
What would you say the umcomparisons are, or the
differences, I guess I would say, between movie land and little
(28:40):
sparta, in your opinion?
Alan D Boyd (28:42):
I think the one thing that that exists between
the two of them is a love of thesort of sonic, the sonic
landscape, the sonic, the sonicquality and the feeling in it.
Um, and though Little Spartacould arguably be called a sort
of folk, post-punk folk kind ofband, there's a sense of space
and a cinematic element to it,which I think Movie Land has too
(29:07):
.
There's this sort of sense ofwanting to be opulent and
cinematic in some way.
And as a guitarist, I know I'mvery much a, I'm a real strummer
, you know like I'm.
It's about chords and texturesand noises and, um, you know, I,
I, I think I'm pretty good atwhat I do, but you know, if it
gets to sort of noodling andcoming up and playing a blues
(29:29):
jam, I might not sit in quite,quite right to that which is,
which is fine, I'm happy withthat, you know.
And I, it's not that I don'twant to play blues jams, it's
just it's not the thing I do thebest.
But with little sparta, um,that sort of started when, when
I came here and I was puttingthis band together, meeting
people trying to do something,and eventually, um, I don't even
(29:50):
know, I don't even know how thesort of sound developed.
But eventually I met suzyhoneyman, who was and is the
violinist in the Mekons, andSusie came on for this track.
We were asked to record forFire Records for a James Joyce
compilation, and from that pointit was kind of, oh, this is
what we need to have.
(30:11):
And we were working with thispoet, this guy, namederry
mitchell, who he was reallytalented but you know he really
burned me.
In the end it was.
You know, that was veryunfortunate because we did some
really good work together.
But that took us to this sort offire record stage and we had
this seven or eight piece bandand, um, we'd go around and that
was the sort of 2005, 2006 andthere were some really cool
(30:36):
clubs.
There was a place called theSpitz in Spittlefields Market
that we used to play at BetsyTrotswood and a lot of these
places have kind of gone now andyou know I had a young family
so my time was less to be ableto do things.
But Susie, scott Skinner, who'sthe drummer, and myself carried
on and we did some.
We would play art galleries andSusie's husband's quite a
(31:00):
well-known painter named JockMcFadyen and we'd do openings
with him and we'd play thesereally cool spaces and we kind
of had this thing where we wereplaying music in and reacting to
art, and then a lot of that wasinstrumental.
Then eventually suzy said, oh,we can get sally from the mecons
(31:21):
, maybe she'll sing a song ortwo with us.
So we started getting sally tosing a few songs and that
brought the next thing and so,yeah, so it's just been this
thing where we kind of mixbetween our instrumental things
that we're doing and I've got afew new songs I'm working on
right now that are with Sally,and then actually I started
singing again in the band.
So it's this place where we kindof Little Sparta is much more
(31:43):
you know, a kind of it's.
I don't even know what todescribe it as, but before I had
a studio in London which I hadto give up last year.
It just became too expensive.
Before I left we just set upand put down 10 tracks and we
just turned on the mics and juststarted playing and just
jamming them out.
So it's very, you know, it'skind of like you know, that sort
(32:04):
of the ideas behind can andstuff like that.
Uh, you know, with a folky vibeto it, maybe a little bit, but
suzy's got this really amazingway of playing, so there's this
openness to it, and then I'llpull them together, do a few
edits, add some instruments andthen write some lyrics.
Then if sally's passing throughtown, I'll make dinner and say
I've made dinner, and then whenshe gets here you have to think
(32:28):
and, and these things just sortof come together and they come
up together every so often oneor two come out here and there.
But yeah, that's what's whatLittle Sparta is, and it's
something I don't think.
I think it's one of thosethings I'm never going to give
up, but it's not something thatwe put massive amounts of effort
into.
It just happens when it happens.
It's quite an organic thing.
colleyc (32:45):
That's cool.
That's cool.
So, to end things up here, alan, what can we look forward to?
I know Movie Land had someother things, possibly for 2025.
And if there's anything elseyou'd like to share, please what
does 2025 hold for you?
Alan D Boyd (33:04):
Well, 2025, I mean the Movie Land thing is that on
the back of putting out the oldmaterial, because I'm terrible
like this.
I just said to Jonathan.
I said, look, if you're goingto put that out, can I?
I record some new songs as well?
Yeah, okay, go for it, man.
And you know so, here's abudget to do about four songs or
whatever.
And so I I went oh sorry, man,I just did an album of 10.
(33:25):
Oh, okay, I guess we'll putthat out.
So there's an album coming.
I think it's eight tracks inthe end.
Um, we picked for it, but um,it's called now and then before
the beatles.
We came up with that before thebeatles said it, so it's then
and now and now and then, but Iguess it's a bit kind of like
(33:46):
let it be by the replacements.
Right, you know, right, we'llshare it with them.
We'll let them share it andthat's, um, you know that's,
that's a sort of couple of songsfrom you know were written
specifically around the albumcoming out and then the summer
from years over the last sort offive or 10 years, where I've
had these songs sitting there.
That sort of fit into that vein.
(34:06):
So that's the Movie Land thing.
And the first single is the28th of March and I'll be in
Vancouver on the 27th to play ashow at the Red Gate of March
and I'll be in Vancouver on the27th to play a show at the Red
Gate.
Then the 29th they're having adecades, some sort of thing
about decades happening at thesix or four space.
So I think I'm playing there aswell, and I think the Junos are
(34:31):
on the 30th and then I'm off toEdmonton where I'm playing at a
place called the Cask andBarrel on the 5th with a full
band.
So that's going to be reallyfun.
But then I'm playing at a placecalled the Cask and Barrel on
the 5th with a full band.
So that's going to be reallyfun.
But then I'm also making films.
So I've got a film I'm tryingto make about UK session players
which I've been working on for15 years, kind of like the
Wrecking Crew, but for London.
I've got a film I'm trying tomake about the artist Bill Fay,
(34:53):
who just died a few weeks ago.
It's really sad.
We've been working together, uh, doing some interviews with him
, and he's a very private man,but he asked me and his friend
ray russell to work with him tomake a film of his life, so
we're seeing if we can get thatfinished.
Um, yeah, and you know, that'shopefully what 2025 is going to
(35:14):
bring.
And then there's a very smallpossibility, but I might be
working on a film about NeilInnes, who is the music guy from
Monty Python.
So, we'll see.
You've got a full bucket I do Ihave a full bucket A?
colleyc (35:29):
very full bucket.
I love it.
Alan D Boyd (35:31):
Now all I need is the money.
That's right.
colleyc (35:34):
That's right.
Well, usually once all thesethings are set, that starts to
flow, hopefully.
I hope so.
I hope so.
Alan D Boyd (35:42):
It's an interesting little world right now, you
know, and I think creativepeople are finding it hard
because of, you know, digitalworld, social medias, you know
streaming services all thatthat's affecting creative people
of all sorts.
But you know, I I tried toalways sit back and think how
lucky I am to have carved a paththrough this.
(36:04):
You know, you know I'm not amillionaire but like I'm sitting
in a room with like sevenguitars and you know I was
working on a Pro Tools sessionall day today and you know I'm
out meeting amazing peoplemaking music and doing things.
And you know I was working on aPro Tools session all day today
and you know I'm out meetingamazing people making music and
doing things and you know I'mpretty lucky.
colleyc (36:21):
Yeah, you're living your life.
You're living the life you wantto live, which is amazing, like
it's great to carve out yourjourney the way you want it to
be, and it sounds that you'vedone that or you're doing it.
I mean it's.
Alan D Boyd (36:36):
I'm working on it and I'm really looking forward
to.
You know it's nice to spend alot more time in Canada,
actually, and you know comingback and spending that time in
Vancouver with the amazingsupport of the label, which has
been so fun and so cool.
colleyc (36:50):
And then you sort of, because I've been doing that
it's been rediscovering placeslike my hometown, Edmonton,
which is really fun and reallycool.
Well, you're always welcomeback in Canada whenever you want
.
Alan D Boyd (37:05):
I want to come to Montreal again.
I've never been to Quebec City.
That's where I want to go toQuebec City, explore Montreal.
That's it.
colleyc (37:14):
Well, anytime you want to come play anywhere around
here, come on down and it willbe nice to meet you in person.
And again, thanks so much forthis, alan.
It's been really insightful andI love your stories and the
journey that you've had so farand the excitement of what's to
come.
So I wish you all the best withall of that and I'm looking
(37:37):
forward to this uh, um, newstuff coming out in 2025 for
movie thanks, man, and thanksfor being you know, thanks for
doing shows like this.
Alan D Boyd (37:44):
It's people like you that get the music out there
, so it's really important, sothank you so much for this.
I appreciate that I appreciatethat.
colleyc (37:50):
Well, you have yourself a good one, and we'll talk soon
bye, thank you.
Alan D Boyd (38:05):
Guitar solo.
Stood down on the ground.
No pride, no pride.
I knew that you were my God.
(39:21):
Guitar solo.
I am the sun, the moon, thelight, the kiss, the dawn.
No-transcript yeah.
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