A new six-part miniseries called “Then/Now” showcasing the evolution of northern B.C musicians will be filmed in Prince George.
Local filmmaker Adam Harasimiuk owner of Frost Films will be leading the project alongside producers Darby and Erin Yule.
The trio are long-time friends and this project, made possible by Telus Storyhive and airing on Optik TV, is the latest iteration of creative endeavors they’ve worked on together.
“It was a cool way to blend all of our skills because Darby and I were professional musicians until COVID-19 happened and then Adam, of course, runs a wildly successful film company,” said Erin.
“So, it was a really cool way to sort of bring those things together in just kind of a new and fresh way.”
The series will be filmed with a live audience over the course of two-days at Trench Brewing where musicians will take the audience on a journey starting from the beginning with their first song and finishing with their latest material.
They will also be telling stories about their creative process and careers along the way.
The idea for the project came from reflections on Erin and Darby’s own career. They began making music as the Statistics and then became the Yule Brothers, all the while gaining national radio features and performing across the country.
“Like for Erin and Darby the change in the evolution of their music has been so significant,” said Harasimiuk. “We were talking about how hilarious it would be if they were one of the acts, because their first song would be from when they were 12-years-old.”
Harasimiuk said the event will look at six different musicians from different generations and examining their careers and asking the question “what did their first song sound like and what does their latest song sound like?”
“Because, surely, everyone will have a different evolution. Everyone will have different and unique career changes and reasons why.”
Darby noted that discussing how a song or a musician has evolved is what most people don’t get to see in many live performances.
“That's what's exciting about this whole thing is that we're going to see that with local artists too, which is really exciting because local artists don't always get that kind of platform.”
Erin added that the arts scene in northern B.C. is often overlooked and to be able to showcase this concept with northern B.C. musicians on a national stage is important.
“Also, it shows the world class caliber of a lot of these musicians. They've been doing this for a long time,” said Harasimiuk.
The taping will take place on Jan. 11 and 12 and feature Marcel Gagnon, Amy Blanding and the Ebbs on the first night and The Pucks, Genevieve Jaide, and Keith David on the second night.
The musicians will be given half an hour to perform and tell stories from their career and then those performances will be filmed and edited into six episodes with each episode featuring one artist.
“The aspect of storytelling is the other biggest part of this, where they're not just going to be playing their music from start to finish,” said Harasimiuk, noting that the live audience is also an important factor to the project.
“We chose to have it in a live venue, in a place that we really enjoy, Trench which is also is local, to say – hey here's an opportunity for other people to come and be a part of this little piece of history and unique thing.”
Darby added they also hope to get some special moments of connection between the audience and the musicians who will be sharing their stories.
“I think it's an important event for everyone. It's super local, which has been really, really fun and will be a good way to kick off the year,” said Harasimuik.
“I think it will be fascinating to see thee super unique artists and musicians tell their story in a very short amount of time.”
The series itself will be available on Optik TV sometime next summer, but tickets for the event are available through Eventbrite now.
There are only about 100 tickets available per night and participants will have to be over the age of 19 to attend.
