At the time, I thought the tracks I had come up with all sounded like my annual salary: pretty stinkin’ average.
Leveraging Average
by Tim Rideout
When I got the contract to compose the theme to “Guy Stuff” for Fairplay in Montreal, I started the process by developing a 20 second TV theme for the producers. As is normal in a music-for-TV process, I developed several ideas I had and submitted them to the board for approval.
The response from the many-too-many-people-on-this-committee committee was positive. I mean, they said the initial stuff was good and they liked it.
But secretly, at the time I thought the tracks I had come up with all sounded like my annual salary: pretty stinkin’ average. So, being at the end of my creative rope, I did what any self-absorbed, anal-retentive corporate yes-man musician Musician not to be confused with “drummer” and sometimes “trombonist”; lowest member of the “entertainment industry” hierarchy; poor, starving, sometimes homeless person, often with meth or heroin addiction; hearing-impaired and sometimes tone deaf; has cool clothes and can sleep with nearly any woman who sees him onstage, even if he can’t play very well; if schooled institutionally, may go on to become unsuccessful at teaching and eventually commit suicide; DJ who can’t scratch about to commit professional suicide would do: I sang.
The company flipped - they didn’t even believe it was me. “How are we going to get the rights for this song,” the secretary asked me. “It’s amazing. Who’s the artist?” I told her it was me. I heard the phone drop and a knock on my door. Within three seconds, we were having sex. Yes, it really is that easy when you’re a rock star.
A Rock Star’s Life
Fairplay tripled my salary and I went on tour, playing sold-out venues for three months straight before my ketamine addiction caught up with me and I had to be locked away in Jojo Savard’s rehab clinic in an undisclosed location in suburban Montreal.
Okay, maybe I jest, but at least they didn’t get sick of the song after 400 plays... [1]
The show GUY STUFF, directed by Stephane Bourbonnais and produced by the hipsters at FAIRPLAY in Montreal, has suave host John Moore and super-smart hottie co-anchor Natasha Gargiulo engaging in lively discussion with their guests, touching on such pressing guy topics like “Do High School Reunions Suck?” “Is Chivalry Dead?” and “Sperm Donation.”
Guy Stuff on Facebook
Host John Moore started a Guy Stuff group on FaceBook.
Check it out here.
