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songs about death
place in the sun
The last few months have been extremely challenging to say the least. My partner Andrea has been the primary care giver for her Mom who has needed 24/7 care since March due to accelerated Alzheimers and has been living with her in Hamilton since then. The entire family, mine included, has been so very supportive and have all rallied to provide as much wrap around support as possible. Of course this has had a major impact on us in so many ways and we are pivoting daily to meet the needs while reassessing how to support ourselves and leverage our creative strengths.
When Andrea came home for a few days for rest and to recharge, we dove headfirst into a fundraiser to support our operations here and to support our art collective Bureau Of Power And Light and the important projects that we have developed over the last few years that are gaining steam and having a real impact. Within just a few days, we put together the fundraiser, performed, produced 3 videos, created artwork for sale, and are still going full steam ahead.
Place In the Sun is one of these videos, completely self-produced right here in our live/work storefront space.
New Life
Psychotronic music video explodes inner and outer walls of bias
Timeless sweeping panoramas contrast claustrophobic time-bending vignettes in “New Life”, the first video from album “Love More Real” by Geoff Doner.
“New Life” is inspired by Geoff’s personal journey of unlearning and interrogating the ways he benefits from systemic white privilege. Through the song and video, he explores private and public reckoning, when inescapable truths alter our reality and understanding can begin.
In facing our inner personal demons, walls that have hidden and protected us from painful truths are bound to crumble, freeing us to see ourselves and others with more empathy. Today, global pandemic is a backdrop to revelations of institutional racism and emergent truths of Canada's violence against Indigenous people. Erected by architects and managers of colonialism and capitalism, walls meant to divide and diminish our collective social fabric are being toppled by citizens everywhere.
Working remotely during the pandemic, long-time creative collaborators Geoff Doner, Andrea Battersby and Mikela Jay joined forces to realize a visual journey that complements the frank yet sensitive musical message in “New Life”.
The video cycles through alternate cinematic realities featuring “The Nemophilist”, a fluent haunter of the woods, moving without hindrance through lush landscapes, taking time to be in relationship with nature. Their dynamic energy is grounded in self-reflection. Counter to the Nemophilist’s contemplative dance across internal and external vistas are “The Automatons”, diminished figures struggling to remain connected to their humanity in the face of imposed restriction and a hostile environment.
Performing as ”The Nemophilist”, Director Mikela Jay embedded her character in the abundant forest landscapes of her island home in unceded territory off the West Coast of BC. Taking a DIY approach for a decidedly ‘psychotronic’ viewing experience, Mikela pairs her love of black and white movies from the silent era and arthouse films by the likes of Maya Deren, with her own modern minimalist stylings to create a fundamentally contemporary feel.
From their home and BPL art collective headquarters in downtown Toronto, Geoff and Andrea captured themselves performing as “The Automatons”. Drawing on influences like 1920’s classic film Metropolis and iconic punk and goth stylings from the 1980’s, Andrea designed makeup and costuming that blur vintage and contemporary sensibilities. Throughout the video, manually-operated kinetic lighting animates shadowy apparitions that represent true horrors being revealed globally and locally. A pop-up book aesthetic suggests innocence and provides an entry point to reconcile with difficult realities.
In “New Life” we are reminded of the restorative power of nature and the intrinsic value of self-reflection and creative expression in facing our personal barriers and confronting oppressive systems.
CREDITS
Music & Lyrics Written and Produced by - Geoff Doner
Director & Editor - Mikela Jay
Art Direction - Andrea Battersby
Performances by - Geoff Doner, Andrea Battersby, Mikela Jay
Produced by - BPL
Mastering - Wilson Acevedo
Video Stills : the filmmakers/performers left to right, Geoff Doner, Andrea Battersby, Mikela Jay
new life [live version]
drawing fear into service
Absorbing
From the album Orbs Of Light Amongst The Skeleton Trees
Orbs Of Light Amongst The Skeleton Trees is a dark, ambient sonic journey based on and built upon improvisations. Improvising has always been a valuable outlet for me in that it allows me to get out of my own way so to speak and let the music flow through me, as though I am a conduit of sorts. I started improvising on the piano when I was a teenager, a much needed deprogramming of sorts after almost 10 years of classical training. It has since become a key element of my compositions, particularly the more experimental releases such as Orbs Of Light.
Have a listen and purchase your digital copy today! Your contributions support my art practice and allow me to invest more time into doing what I do best: making music.
From the album Orbs Of Light Amongst The Skeleton Trees, released September 7, 2021.
Music: Improvised, Reworked & Produced by Geoff Doner
2016-2021
Visuals: Produced by Geoff Doner
releases
No Secret [ESN Mix]
No Secret is a rally cry to cut the bullshit and help one another, a reminder that social inequities persist based on unequal access to resources and basic human rights. We all have a part to play in taking care of each other by dismantling broken systems and creating new ones that are entirely inclusive. It's the middle of winter in Toronto, where the second wave of the pandemic has some citizens locked down. What options do unhoused citizens have to experience safety and respect and freedom from infection ?
Fellow Toronto residents have stepped up to fill the gap between basic human needs and rights of vulnerable folks and the tone-deaf governmental responses to the affordable housing crisis which has included dismissal of peoples experience on the ground and worse- destruction of peoples temporary shelters without appropriate alternatives offered. Why are individuals and community organizations like Encampment Support Network paying for our institutions failure to provide safety to every citizen equally ?
It's no secret that everyone deserves the same human rights and that the ability to thrive is dependent upon some basic human requirements - freedom, water, food and a home.
100% of sales goes to the Toronto-based Encampment Support Network in aid of their urgently necessary work to support unhoused citizens seeking safety in temporary shelters like tents, tiny homes and foam domes in city parks.
About ESN:
"ESN is an ad-hoc, volunteer-run network supporting people living in encampments in 6 locations
throughout Toronto. This includes ESN Parkdale, ESN Trinity Bellwoods, ESN Scadding Court, ESN
Moss Park, ESN LNP and ESN Cherry Beach. ESN is not a charitable organization we are group of
people trying to build community, support our neighbors, and advocate for better conditions in
encampments and demand long term housing in Toronto. We wish we didn’t have to exist and hope to
dissolve once people get housing or the city starts providing people with what they need. This is not a
sustainable situation, and we are not a charity."
This release is a remix of the original No Secret from Geoff Doner's forthcoming EP Love More Real
Written & Produced by Geoff Doner 2020
Geoff Doner | Vocals & All Instrumentation
Andrea Battersby | Vocals
Mikela Jay | Vocals
Troy Jackson | Vocals
Love More Real
Love More Real is about waking up to our relative privilege, embodying ruthless compassion, embracing impermanence, and using our agency to cultivate a better world for ALL.
Love More Real weaves classical, industrial, alternative rock, goth, ambient and electro pop to forge a debut that will move you to dance while reflecting on the state of the world. On this album, Geoff steps back and interrogates his fabricated sense of self, explores his position as a white settler on stolen land and is a testament to Geoff’s commitment to embracing and leveraging his music talent towards a sustainable means after suffering the loss of his main source of income in live events due to the pandemic. Love More Real is a manifestation that springs from Geoff’s true passion: making music.
Geoff is a long-time supporter of the Tibetan Freedom Movement and the release date of Love More Real, March 12, 2021, was chosen to honour Tibetan Women's Uprising Day. This album is dedicated to the youth activists of Students For A Free Tibet (SFT) Canada, and their peer artists and activists around the world working for social justice. 20% of album sales goes to SFT Canada
Written & Produced by Geoff Doner 2021
Geoff Doner - All Instrumentation & Vocals
Andrea Battersby - Vocals on "New Life" and "No Secret"
Mikela Jay - Vocals on "New Life" & "No Secret"
Troy Jackson - Vocals on "No Secret"
Tenzin Tsering - Original Cover Art
Follow @tenzoniart on Instagram
Released March 12 , 2021
Orbs Of Light Amongst The Skeleton Trees
Orbs Of Light Amongst The Skeleton Trees is a dark, ambient sonic journey based on and built upon improvisations.
Improvising has always been a valuable outlet for me in that it allows me to get out of my own way so to speak and let the music flow through me, as though I am a conduit of sorts.
I started improvising on the piano when I was a teenager, a much needed deprogramming of sorts after almost 10 years of classical training. It has since become a key element of my compositions, particularly the more experimental releases such as Orbs Of Light.
Have a listen and purchase your digital copy today! Your contributions support my art practice and allow me to invest more time into doing what I do best: making music.
Written, Improvised & Produced by Geoff Doner 2021
Released September 7, 2021
SILO
In 2017, Nik Beeson invited Andrea Battersby and I to join him at a silo at Ontario Place to make some music magic. Nik had composed a soundtrack for a film that was to be projected on the concave ceiling of one of the silos as part of the in/future arts festival in 2019.
Nik had access to the silo days before to prep, so we took advantage of this opportunity and hauled a some music gear to the site, set up and let loose some sweet improvisations.
SILO is a snapshot of that live performance! The cover photo is the outside of the silo we performed in.
Buy silo on Bandcamp
credits
released August 6, 2022
Geoff Doner | keyboards, effects, pedals, vocals
Andrea Battersby | effects, pedals, vocals
Nik Beeson | guitar, effects, pedals, vocals
Improvised & Performed Live in a silo at Ontario Place
2017
bio
Geoff Doner is a Toronto based classically trained multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, singer, performer and co-founder of art collective Bureau Of Power And Light (bpl.productions). He self-released two albums (Love More Real, Orbs Of Light Amongst The Skeleton Trees) and a single ( No Secret [ESN Mix] ) in 2021. Geoff will be releasing a new experimental album based on improvisations entitled Into This Dark Machine in 2022 and is currently working on material for a new pop rock album entitled Place In The Sun to be released in 2022. He has co-produced music for other artists, including performer and activist Troy Jackson. He has played live with various different bands and performers in the Toronto area, playing his own original material as well as assuming the lead vocal role of Mike Patton in a Faith No More tribute act called Midlife Crisis. Live shows include headlining twice at Nuit Rose Queer Arts festival alongside Troy Jackson, Mikela Jay and Andrea Battersby on Church St. and at Barbara Hall Park, as a supporting act for Squid Lid with partner and band mate Andrea Battersby at the Mermaid Ball, Revival Club, Toronto and several times at the Centre For Social Innovation, Toronto.