Last September, 2016, I spent 2 hrs talking to composer and sound designer Richard Feren. We spoke about his early career in radio, at the age of 13, through his time in the explosion of indi theatre in Toronto in the early 90's and his work with iconic directors like Daniel Brooks. We land on his process for producing sound scapes and scores for theatre and the genesis of his modern method, from the early days of the Fostex 4-track cassette to Qlab. We finally land on his work in organizing designers to fight back against the cuts to fees in Canada. This is a 2 hr chat, but one that holds on to you at every minute. To see Richard's theatre bio go here.
We did not get to chat about his work as @RobFrod or his other music projects, but you can see more on his website here.
Links
Guelph Little Theatre
Samuel Becket and Theatre of the Absurd
University of Toronto Schools (secondary schools)
David Letterman
CFRU FM at U of Guelph
Post-punk and New Wave
Reel to Reel editing (splicing block, Revox reel to reel)
Fostex 4-track cassette recorder
The Residents (band)
Van der Graaf Generator (band)
Chrome (band)
Brave New Waves with Brent Bambury
Ed Video, media arts centre, (Guelph)
Trinity Square Video (Toronto)
Brian Eno
Fiona Griffiths
U of Guelph
Theatre Resource Centre
Richard Pochencho and Ian Wallace
Clown-through-mask
Mump and Smoot
Futures Grant, from Canada Council
The Maids, directed by Ian Wallace
Rhubarb Festival, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre
Old Buddies' space on George St.
Pow Pow Unbound
Darren O'Donnell
Wendy Agnew
Stephen Seabrook
The Young Company at Blyth Festival
Round Rotund Rumps at Rhubarb Festival 1994
Excerpts From The Emo Journals by STO Union
The Dance of Death by August Strindberg at Equity Showcase
Skye Gilbert
Das Reingold by Richard Wagner, directed by Stephen Seabrook
Justin Roddy, sound designer
Death Waits - Jacob Wren
The Bangs at The Theatre Centre
The 40 Tiny Performances, Darren O'Donnell
The Theatre Resource Centre's Soirees
Daniel Brooks and The Augusta Company
Nadia Ross
Here Lies Henry, by Daniel MacIver
Monster, In on It, Cul-de-Sac, This is What Happens Next, by Daniel MacIver
Necessary Angel Theatre Co.
Insomnia, by Daniel Brooks
The Designated Mourner, by Wallace Shawn
A Doll's House at Soulpepper
The Other Place at Canadian Stage
Todd Charleton
DAT Tape
Tape Hiss
Sampling Keyboards in Theatre
Qlab from Figure 53
Cage
Heartbreak House, 1998 Shaw Festival
Tadeusz Bradecki, director and performer
Faust, at Tarragon Theatre directed by Daniel Brooks
Steel Kiss by Platform 9, at Buddies in Bad Times, by Robin Fulford
Gulag by Platform 9, directed by Sarah Stanley
Steve Marsh, sound designer
Possible Worlds, directed by Daniel Brooks
Mitchell Cushman
Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet), directed by Alisa Palmer
Endgame by Soulpepper, directed by Daniel Brooks
László Marton
Diego Matamoras
John Cage
Stratford Festival
Shaw Festival
Peter Hinton, director
Mike Walsh, sound engineer and designer
Oleanna, at Soulpepper Theatre
White Biting Dog, at Tarragon Theatre
Julie Fox, set designer
Julius Ceasar Hart House theatre, Overture by Richard Feren
Associated Designers of Canada
The Designers Guild