Toronto Subway Music

[DevO]

Here's an article from today's Globe & Mail that I found interesting:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070105.SUBWAY05/TPStory/TPNational/Ontario/

Tuning in to rhythm of the underground

Teacher turns subway sounds into music

by HAYLEY MICK

As they shoot through the underbelly of Toronto, many subway passengers crank up their iPods. Others tune out, zone out, or on especially long trips, submit to the train's rhythm and sleep.

Not Andrew Moore.

During his daily underground commute, the 27-year-old elementary-school teacher listens carefully -- wondrously, even -- to clattering turnstiles, squeaky brakes, the whoosh of air through tunnels and door chimes.

For six months, the part-time musician has gone on an auditory hunt beneath the city, capturing the sounds of the TTC and its humanity on his digital recorder, mixing them on his computer, and converting them into songs.

Print Edition - Section Front

"I've lived in Toronto all my life, and I've taken the subway for as long as I can remember. And I've always really loved the sounds of it."

Last month, he launched his second independent electronica album, Underground, at a subway-themed CD release party at his St. George Street apartment, where friends nibbled on Union-rings, Queen's quiche and Bloor-Yonge veggie-line (made of green and yellow vegetables, of course).

"It's sort of a hometown pride thing," he says.

The 11-track disc loosely represents a full day on public transit, beginning with the first track, Rush Hour, and ending with Blue Night, which incorporates the drunken jumble of a ride on the night bus.

Before delving into electronica, Mr. Moore sang and played guitar in a local rock band called Oberlin. They had some success, playing at the Horseshoe Tavern, but when a member took off for Germany and the band folded last year, Mr. Moore switched genres.

With his second electronica album, he decided to incorporate his love for the subway that began as a child growing up on the Danforth with English-born parents who preferred the tube to wheels.

He recorded mostly during his commute from Ossington to Pape, catching drivers on the intercom, buskers, and the groans and whispers of the trains.

He had his girlfriend, Meghan Roberts, 27, wear heels and clack along tile floors. One summer night, he hopped on the night bus and recorded the revelry. "It was kind of neat to be the only sober person around," he says.

Back in his apartment, he mixed those sounds with samples, acoustic guitar and keyboard. In the songs, some subway noises are more noticeable than others. People who are unfamiliar with the TTC might not hear them at all.

"It's kind of neat," says Mr. Moore, who goes by the initials, A.M., on his albums. "There's so many sounds on there that are so evocative, like, you know those [subway] sounds even though you've never really listened to them before."

Not everyone is so enamoured with the TTC. At Union Station on a recent afternoon, most commuters said they hadn't noticed the rhythms of the underground.

"I don't hear music," said one businessman, raising his eyebrows.

"I never hear anything," said Ruben Zina, 16, before his friend, Johnathan Benincasa, chimed in: "Sometimes I hear the 'click, click, click' and it's like the drums from a rock song I've heard before."

Musicians have long borrowed from their environment. Railway rhythms appear in American roots music. Composer Philip Glass has been inspired by trains, as was American composer Steve Reich in his work Different Trains, which superimposes a live quartet performance over a recording of sampled sirens and train whistles.

During the past month, Mr. Moore has sold about 50 discs, mostly in Britain, and he knows he won't quit his job as a Grade 4 teacher at a Toronto private school any time soon.

But he does think his work will strike a chord with Torontonians.

"I feel like in the past five years people have been starting to care about not just the subway system, but Toronto in general," Mr. Moore says. "I never hate my commute."

[Jaimoe]

The delta blues guitarist/singer that usually plays the University-Osgoode line is really good.

[The Chameleon]

The delta blues guitarist/singer that usually plays the University-Osgoode line is really good.

Agreed. That guy is awesome. I once asked him to play Leory Carr's "How Long Blues" and played it ont he spot.

He's got the blues repertoire down.

[DevO]

Cool! Maybe he's on there.. Is that between Ossington and Pape? (I'm clueless about the Toronto subway pretty much).

[Davey Boy 2.0]

The delta blues guitarist/singer that usually plays the University-Osgoode line is really good.

Agreed. That guy is awesome. I once asked him to play Leory Carr's "How Long Blues" and played it ont he spot.

He's got the blues repertoire down.

How much did you give him? (out of curiosity)

Edited January 5, 2007 by Guest

[Jaimoe]

The delta blues guitarist/singer that usually plays the University-Osgoode line is really good.

Agreed. That guy is awesome. I once asked him to play Leory Carr's "How Long Blues" and played it ont he spot.

He's got the blues repertoire down.

How much did you give him? (out of curiosity)

A couple of bucks from time to time, although he's a semi-regular there.

[Davey Boy 2.0]

...that was more for the Chameleon who requested a song...

[Jaimoe]

Cool! Maybe he's on there.. Is that between Ossington and Pape? (I'm clueless about the Toronto subway pretty much).

Between Ossington and Pape? Yes, but so too are at least 15 stops.

I'm talking the University line at Osgoode (Queen Street) - which runs north-south. The Bloor line runs east-west, including stops at Ossington and Pape. The dude plays a beat-up National and has a wicked looking beard.

Edited January 5, 2007 by Guest

[bradm]

Cool! Maybe he's on there.. Is that between Ossington and Pape? (I'm clueless about the Toronto subway pretty much).

Ossington and Pape stations are on the Bloor/Danforth line, which runs East-West. Osgoode station is on the University line, which runs North-South.

http://www.ttc.ca

Aloha,

Brad