World premiere of Love Shines and Exclusive Interview with Ron Sexmith
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Exclusive Interview with Ron Sexsmith on MAS
By Oswaldo Perez Cabrera
The world premiere of the documentary Love Shines was screnned at the VIFF this Friday at 9:30 PM. If you missed the world premiere the film will screen Saturday October 9that 3:30 PM at Vancity theatre and also on Friday 15th at the same theatre at 3:45PM. The theatre was full, the film is very personal and fans of Ron will love it. The screening had the presence of Ron Sexsmith, Bob Rock and the director Douglas Arrowsmith. Great to see so many people there.
The film has been shot in the course of 7 years by filmmaker Douglas Arrowsmith. The documentary focuses in the struggle of acclaimed Canadian singer songwriter Ron Sexsmith to make a successful record. Not that he has been unsuccessful as he is well regarded and every one of his albums has had great reviews, but I guess he is needing that commercial super hit that everybody sings along. So he teamed with legendary producer Bob Rock to achieve stardom.
I talked to Ron Sexsmith and the director of the film Douglas Arrowsmith for my radio show at CiTR 101.9 FM The Morning After Show about their documentary.
How did the process started with the filmmaker?
It started like 7 or 8 years ago. It wasn’t my idea so I don’t remember exactly how it started. Doug Arrowsmith, He got an idea about doing a film about me but at that time nobody knew what the film was going to be about, there was no funding at the time. At the end it was about me about making a record with Bob Rock. At that point in my career were I was feeling I was at the crossroads I decided I had to do something different because my last bunch or records hadn’t really done very well. So I guess that is what the movie is about. Its been a long, process but its exciting that is finally finished and people will have the chance to see it.
Douglas Arrowsmith told us they started filming in 2002, “but I met Ron in Spring of 2000 at the jazz cafe in London and started talking to him after the show and I said something like I want to study your work and two years afterwards I started shooting a lot of stuff and over the course it” continued the filmmaker whose previous work was a documentary about Stephen Duffy founder and bassist of Duran Duran.
Your latest album is Exit Strategy of the soul correct? I asked Ron via telephone to Toronto.
Well that was my last record. The new album is called Long Player Late Bloomer and it will be released until early next year.
So that is the album you recorded with Bob Rock as a producer right?
Yeah that was it.
How was the process of working with Bob Rock who is a legend having produced The Cult, Aerosmith, The Tragically Hip, Bon Jovi, David Lee Roth etc?
Bob Rock is wonderful. We had a lot of common ground. The movie shows both of us working together quite a bit. I really thought I was in good hands, he has a lot of success in his career. I was there to learn.
How many CDs do you have out?
This will be my CD number twelve.
Any plans of touring? Any stops in Vancouver?
I hope so. I am coming to Vancouver for the premiere of the movie but I will not be performing. I think when the new album comes out there will be a full band tour. I haven’t tour since 2008 so I am really anxious to get on the stage and do what I am supposed to do. I haven’t really felt that I exist lately.
Ron Sexsmith will be at the World Premiere this Friday answering questions. The festival was supposed to premiere at the TIFF but at the end it felt through. Ron said he is always excited to come to Vancouver.
Other luminaries appearing in the film are Elvis Costello which you played with him several times, Steve Earle, Daniel Lanois, Feist could you talk a little bit about that?
They are all in the movie, I did not know who was going to be in the movie, Doug interviewed a bunch of people, including my son, so there were a lot of surprises for me when I finally saw the film. There are just people that have been in my life in one way or another, Elvis Costello always been very supportive, Earl produced one of my records a few years ago so these are probably the right people to talk to.
To finish the interview I asked Ron about his creative process and if he is writing all the time to what he replied that yes.
Yeah, I have been writing with different people and I also been writing songs for another record so yeah I am always writing and in the middle of some projects and after the movie my main focus will be the record and then the touring.
The filmmaker Douglas guaranteed us there will be surprises in the film and the commercial release will be through Movie Central after the festival circuits. So go and be the first one to see the film in the whole world.
Official Synopsis
Ron Sexsmith found himself in a strange position prior to recording his 12th studio album Late Bloomer Long Player. While music luminaries like Elvis Costello, Steve Earle, Feist and Daniel Lanois praise Sexsmith’s work and awards have been piled upon him, his most recent albums haven’t sold well and he’s on the verge of being dropped by his label. So what does Sexsmith do? He hires Bob Rock, the legendary record producer known for his work with the likes of Metallica, Aerosmith and Mötley Crüe (not to mention Vancouver’s own Payola$). Now, it might seem strange that a shy balladeer would chose a hard-rock guru to craft a make-or-break album for him, but Sexsmith is looking to be pulled out of his own tendencies since he believes a radio-friendly three minutes and thirty seconds is the only thing keeping him from the commercial success that has so far eluded him.
However this documentary isn’t bound to the confines of the recording studio. Director Douglas Arrowsmith has been working on this film for eight years, and presents a remarkably candid portrait of Sexsmith, one that touchingly engages with the melancholy that has haunted him since youth. Follow Sexsmith as he visits his childhood home in St. Catharines, Ontario, speaks openly about the challenges he faces just making a living – let alone as a father – and the anxiety he feels as a performer. This tremendously sensitive look at one of the world’s best singer/songwriters is sure to move fans and provide a thoughtful introduction to those unfamiliar with Sexsmith’s music. It’s also a humbling look inside the music business today.
