Jan 16, 2023 New Ohama Album - Live Chinook Theatre Edmonton (June 23, 1985)

I’m so grateful this 38 year-old cassette recording has surfaced. I’ve performed live a couple of hundred times in my life but only a handful of shows were recorded. From the private collection of Cara Skutle-Webster. Photos by Raymond S. Walker.

Thank you so much Cara! This definitely wasn’t planned. Halfway through the concert you probably realized something interesting was going on and rushed around to find a cassette deck; you pushed record, hoped for the best and you captured a rare piece of history! Nearly 40 years ago. Wow.

I love this album, especially Thin Lines and Midnite News IV. I’m reminded how live it really was. There’s a fair amount of structured improvisation and experimentation going on. I’m putting my vocal through DeltaLab Effectron digital delays, messing with the settings with one hand and playing a synthesizer with the other hand. A Korg Poly-Six. A Yamaha DX-7. I’m working closely with the sound person; I can actually hear us talking once in a while, that was a surprise!

I’m in a frame draped with analog tape. The tape deck has two reels but the tape isn’t going to the take-up reel, it’s spooling to the floor. Synth artists in the 80s were heavily criticized as not being real musicians so if I was using backing tracks on tape I wanted the audience to see that I was using backing tracks on tape.

This performance would have taken place a few weeks after the U-Know/CASBY Awards. I was nominated in the Best Independent Canadian Artist category. My albums Midnite News and I Fear What I Might Hear were selling through outlets like Bleecker Bob’s in New York and The Record Peddler in Toronto but mostly I did mail order. If you’ve done it, you know how much work it is to run an independent record label. If you haven’t...hmmm... imagine packaging and mailing a hundred Christmas presents every week. It’s both awesome and a grind.

In ’85 my father would been 73 which means he was retired. At age 25 I was essentially supporting my parents and running the family potato business in addition to recording music, travelling, playing live and selling albums independently. I feel all of this when I listen to this album. I’m so young and intense, passionate about my art and burning brightly. The 80s? Yeah, I was definitely there.

Available on Bandcamp. Streaming everywhere. Enjoy!