At the height of the golden age of reggae, some of Jamaica’s brightest stars left their homeland behind to shine their light in an unlikely hub of Caribbean creativity: Toronto.
Getting their sound to catch on in Canada wasn’t easy. These innovators of rhythm and rhyme had to work against racism, scarce resources and an industry that stigmatized reggae music. But that didn’t stop them from transforming the city into a reggae hotspot. With a powerful message of love and a revolutionary spirit behind them, these visionaries faced the pressure head on—and thanks to them, you can still feel the infectious beats of Bathurst Street and Eglinton Avenue reverberating all over the world.
Sounds & Pressure: Reggae in a Foreign Land is a captivating five-part anthology series that chronicles the musical and geographical journeys of Nana McLean, Johnny Osbourne, Leroy Sibbles, Jerry Brown and duo Roy Panton and Yvonne Harrison.
Through rare archives, electrifying needle drops and lively interviews with the artists themselves, directors Graeme Mathieson and Chris Flanagan take you from Kingston to Kensington Market to see and hear how reggae made roots in Canada against all odds.
Coming August 23 to NFB.ca + apps
Sounds & Pressure
Graeme Mathieson & Chris Flanagan
2024 | 5 X 15 min
Documentary Series
English
NFB INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTORS GRAEME MATHIESON & CHRIS FLANAGAN
What inspired you to make this anthology series?
Graeme and Chris: We both met at a record fair back in the mid-2010s, and we instantly realized we shared a love for reggae music and its preservation. Soon after, we collaborated on a self-funded short doc about ska and reggae icon and Kensington Market fixture Stranger Cole, which premiered at Hot Docs in 2018. It soon became clear that there were many other legends whose stories had not been documented, so we worked on the idea of developing a series of shorts on Toronto’s buried reggae history.
Graeme: As a Jamaican Canadian, coming from a family who have long been involved as musicians in Jamaica, it was important to showcase the musical contributions of Jamaicans, especially in a city and country that tends to easily forget the role of racialized communities. Nowadays, Jamaican culture is synonymous with Toronto, from the vernacular to the food (the patty arguably being Toronto’s unofficial snack) to popular music, yet we rarely celebrate those who sparked this influence.
Why these artists?
Graeme: Narrowing the subjects to just five was a challenge because there are so many important Jamaican icons who came to Canada—the talent that migrated here was incredible. The six subjects we ultimately selected are some of the most relevant to the foundation of Jamaican popular music and its roots in Toronto. We also looked to highlight different aspects of the music, including a label owner and producer, female artists, ska and reggae singers.
Chris: All of the subjects are extremely dynamic, and they each represent something different while facing similar barriers and challenges to success. Though this is a celebratory series, it’s also an indictment of a music industry that refused to support the talent of Black artists (a couple of the biggest ones returned to Jamaica) and a reminder not to repeat the same mistakes in the present day.
Sounds & Pressure (Excerpt: Johnny Osbourne) from NFB/marketing on Vimeo.
Sounds & Pressure takes us on a musical exploration from Jamaica to Toronto. What do you see as the unifying themes to the stories of these musicians’ journeys?
Migration, cultural legacy and influence, perseverance and erasure. The films feature artists who migrated to Toronto for a better life, at various junctures in their careers in Jamaica, and all persevered to build, create and continue their music, no matter the challenges they faced. They created something magical here, with infectious sounds that attracted audiences outside of the Jamaican community. These artists and their body of work have not been celebrated the same way other non-Jamaican artists have in Canada.
What attracts you to reggae, and was there anything you were surprised to learn about the genre in the making of this series?
Graeme: The rhythm is infectious and undeniable. The music is used to empower voices and issues, creating awareness through a rhythm that comes from the heartbeat, and the huge global influence of this tiny island is truly unique and inspiring.
Chris: The level of my love for reggae makes no rational sense. All I can say is reggae conveys joy, pain, humour, wraps you up in a story and makes you want to dance, sometimes all within the same song!
Sounds & Pressure (Excerpt: Nana McLean) from NFB/marketing on Vimeo.
Favourite moments while filming?
Chris: We’ve felt very lucky to be involved with these films with such a great crew at every level. Hanging out with Leroy Sibbles at a roadside fish stand in Kingston has to be a highlight. And having Nicole Simmons and her art department recreate aspects of our artists’ journeys, whether it be a 1980s record store or a community hall sound system dance from the ’70s, has also been beautiful.
Graeme: Definitely being able to tell one of Nana McLean’s earliest musical memories through a recreation that was filmed at my grandma’s home in Kingston, Jamaica—and having family members involved behind the scenes. Later in the shoot, when we drove Johnny Osbourne around Toronto, we found out that his mother was a nurse at the hospital in my mom’s hometown of Buff Bay, Jamaica—the same small hospital that my grandmother was also a bookkeeper at! It was truly a family affair.
What are your go-to songs by the artists?
This is a tough one because we have so many favourite songs in this series; the soundtrack is wall-to-wall incredible reggae music from our artists! When filming in Jamaica, we discovered Leroy Sibbles’ “Garden of Life” in a shipping barrel on a record-digging excursion. It just has so much heart and soul that it stays with you long after the record has spun out.
It’s been amazing to learn more about the singles Summer Records producer Jerry Brown created here in Canada. “Let Me Love You,” featuring Stranger Cole, resonates sonically with the Canadian experience of our artists: minimal, raw and full of soul. I have to say I really love “Who Really Cares,” another Jerry Brown-produced scorcher!
And there are just too many Johnny Osbourne chunes! Like “Where Will I Go,” a super-rare 45 on Canada’s first reggae record label, Bathurst Street’s Tropical Records.
Why do you think this is the right time to tell the stories of these musicians? What do you hope viewers will take away from this series?
Chris: It’s important to give these legends their flowers now while they are here to enjoy them. The majority of these artists are still performing, and hopefully these films will expose them to a wider Canadian and international audience.
Graeme: With the Jamaican and Caribbean communities at risk of being gentrified and erased in Toronto, it is more important than ever to make sure their stories don’t disappear. I hope our series will raise awareness about the rich Jamaican contributions to our musical and cultural landscape.
