Ian Ferrier ( Cananda)

poesi og musikk

 

 

 

 
 

 

The set I would do at the festival consists primarily of performance
literature works, some new, and some from my last CD/book
"Exploding Head Man."

These works are performances for voice and music. When I am
doing sets by myself I supply both: playing electric guitar at the
same time as I speak (or whisper or yell) the words.

 

 

http://wiredonwords.com

Ian Ferrier is one of the core poet/performers in the North
American spoken word and performance poetry
scene.

His current focus is performing his work-often
with jazz accompaniment-and presenting the
works of other performance poets-both
English and French-on radio, CD and video.

This year Planète rebelle press released his
new CD book Exploding Head Man-a fiery look
at love, sex, existence and the passionate
explosion that results when all three mix.
Subtitled jazz poems, the CD & book present a
collection of ballads for voice, live recordings
with music, sound poems and solo studio collage. They represent the best of three years of his collaborations with top musicians from Montreal and New York.

The CD book, produced in collaboration with Wired on Words, has been getting critical raves. Canada's National Post called it "a musical-score lament for a movie that never was; a movie starring a new breed of fearless poets/magicians doing their best version of Kerouac's rediscovered yelp: EE-Yah!"

Said the Montreal Gazette newspaper: "Even without instrumentation, the poetry of Exploding Head Man-heady, impassioned, sometimes hallucinogenic stuff that regularly makes nods to the Beat work he grew up on-has sonic power. Dreamy words soothe, lusty sentences steam, and with a delivery that's often more gentle that the imagery it yields (even at its most volatile, Ferrier's vocalizations, with their warm, cushiony and almost child-like diction, scream pseudo-innocence) his spoken word is a complex song in and of itself."

Mr. Ferrier's other recent work appears on three CD anthologies:
Unheard Of, being released in July, 2000; Millennium Cabaret, which
he also produced, and La vache enragée, a CD compilation produced
by Mitsiko Miller and Planète rebelle press. The most recent issue of
Blood & Aphorisms features one of his prose monologues, and you
can also find his poems in the Poetry Nation anthology of fusion
poets from Vehicule Press Montreal.

In 1994 Mr. Ferrier and Mr. Fortner Anderson began their flagship
project-Wired on Words. The project took short poems by
contemporary writers and placed them on self-winding cassette so
that radio DJ's could play them like songs. The idea was to make
poetry compete with music in the top 40, and that is exactly what
happened. With the sponsorship of local radio station CKUT 90.3 FM,
Wired on Words cuts became favorites with station DJ's, shooting 8
poems into the station's top 40 and three into the top five. The
project won the station a national Standard Broadcasting Award for originality and excellence in radio programming.

Since that time Wired on Words has become a performance poetry label, releasing three CDs and three cassettes of poets, including work by the late great Montreal poet/performer Ian Stephens. This year saw the release of sometimes I think, a CD of the spoken works of Fortner Anderson. It has topped the college radio charts, as did Millennium Cabaret-a CD compilation of poets, spoken word performers and poetry/music collaborations released last year.

Mr. Ferrier continues to perform extensively in Montreal, and has also performed in Toronto and New York. He currently collaborates as the poet in a poetry/jazz project with the Exploding Head Band, and is engaged in new work with the Canadian saxophone player Bryan Highbloom. Pieces by Mr. Ferrier and other poets whose work he produces can be heard on CBC-Canada's national radio station, which recorded 2 of the cuts on the CD-as well as on public radio stations in the USAand on Canada's NCRA college stations.

Contact & Bookings: 514-849-3911 Fax 514-849-2354

e-mail: poets@wiredonwords.com

www: http://www.wiredonwords.com

Planète rebelle André Lemelin, publisher; email: courrier@planeterebelle.qc.ca

www: http://www.planeterebelle.qc.ca

 

Publications/Recordings featuring Ian Ferrier (sometimes with the Exploding Head Band)

Unheard Of, a CD compilation of spoken literature. Tupperware Sandpiper, July 2000
Exploding Head Man (a CD&book), Planète rebelle/Wired on Words, 2000
Millennium Cabaret, Wired on Words, 1999
La vache enragée, Planète rebelle, 1998
The Heart of the Machine, one of the first Internet novels, Dromostexte, 1986.
From Yr Lover Like an Orchestra, Vehicule Press, 1974

Recordings produced by Ian Ferrier

Millennium Cabaret, a CD of 24 poets & poetry/music tracks, Wired on Words 1998
Diary of a Trademark, a recording of works by Ian Stephens, 1996
Wired on Words #1, a cassette compilation of 8 performance poets, 1995

Performances by Ian Ferrier

Upcoming:

August 25th Volapuk Cultural Festival, Oslo, Norway
Sept. 20th HOWL Art & Revolution Festival, Montreal,
Canada
October 1st Canzine literary festival, Toronto, Canada
October 5th Planète rebelle literary cabaret, Lion d'Or
Montréal, Canada

2000

July 20th Tour des Arts cultural festival; Sutton, Québec, Canada
July 11th Poetry in the Park, Westmount, Québec, Canada
July 7th Artishow re-opening, Montréal, Québec, Canada
July 4th El Macombo, Toronto, Ontario
June 25th The Factory series, Mercury Lounge, Ottawa, Ontario
May 23rd. Now it is Night. Jailhouse.
April 1st, Chapters Bookstore.
March 17th, Red YAWP! II at Cabaret Night Club
March 16th, Yellow Door Coffee House
February 20th, Sergent Recruteur Soirée des contes
February 18th, Exploding Head Man launch, Jailhouse

1999 (selected)

November-Hundred Block Rock ­ An Evening with Bud Osborne
October-Lovers & Others ­ An Evening of Poetry at Café Sarajevo
September-Concordia University Spoken Word Festival.
July-sometimes I think launch (improv w. Sam Shalabi, Alex McSween, Alexandre St. Onge)
February-Cabaret night club, in The YAWP! of Love II, hosted by Jake Brown.
January-McGill bookstore café, with Exploding Head Band, Fortner Anderson, Catherine Kidd,
Alexis O'Hara and Heather O'Neill

1997-1998 (selected)

Vache enragée at Cabaret
Chapters Bookstore, with Buffy Childerhose, Corey Frost, Vince Tinguely & Victoria Stanton
Solo performance - Vache enragée CD launch at Cheval Blanc.
Millennium Cabaret launch at Bistro 4 (poetry/music with Brio Trio & friends).
Solo performance at Corrido launch at Bistro 4
Poetry at St. Marks, NY, NY, USA
Solo performance at the Rialto, Toronto, Ontario
Devil's Voice series at Bistro 4.
Legba series at Graffiti Tango.
Vache enragée. Série Noir at Cheval Blanc
Exploding Head Band debut at Phoenix Café
Ted's Collision, Toronto, Ontario