May 15, 2010

I just finished watching the video from Thursday's MUSIC! Not Mischief Finale Concert and reliving the freaking fabulous night we had at St Mary's Catholic Secondary School!

Congratulations to all 7 of our performers this year from St Mary's and from Central Commerce Collegiate, but especially to Year 2 finale winner, Sergio who played his rendition of Paranoid, by Black Sabbath. Our panel of celebrity judges voted him the best of the group. Having now seen all 7 of the performances for the first time, I sure wouldn't have wanted to have to pick one best out of those. I'm so proud of all of my kids this year. They all worked so hard. I can't help but smile when I think of them.

Like last year, the finale was a big, emotional release. The start of the program each school year is met with fabulous enthusiasm. The kids that have the passion stick with the program. But only after they push, work and practice, they finally get their shot on stage with TraceNine. And then they GET IT. The kids from Commerce and St Mary's in the audience were completely over-the-top! When TraceNine and I closed the show with Spare Your Soul (a TraceNine original from their album, Breaking Silence), kids from both schools as well as Micah Fysh, our Year 1 finale winner, were all moshing in front of the stage together. It was a killer show. We advertised it as "the best $2 rock concert on the planet". I've been to many shows worse and have paid much more.

My thank you speech was way too long to give from the stage. It's actually way too long to give here as well. There are so many people and groups who have offered me their aid to make MnM happen again this year. I wish to thank everyone of you from the bottom of my heart. We are changing the lives of these kids. Look at their faces as they play. And for every 1 of the performers, there were 2 more kids back stage or working elsewhere to make this show run flawlessly. I am awed and humbled and so very proud of every one of them. I may be "the Rock N Roll cop" now, but to every one that had a hand or supported MnM this year, Thank YOU! YOU rock!

Stay tuned to this website over the summer of 2010 for information on where MUSIC! Not Mischief performers will be appearing. There are some BIG, BIG plans in the works.

Plans for Year 3 are now in progress. Pursuant to approval from the Command of the Toronto Police and a funding grant from ProAction Cops & Kids, MnM is set to run in four school in Toronto starting in October 2010. I'm very happy that both St Mary's and Central Commerce have asked for another year of MnM in partnership with 14 Division. But now, 32 Division in North York is partnering with Sir Sanford Fleming Academy. In Scarborough, 42 Division is partnering with Stephen Leacock Collegiate. Now Leacock has an AWESOME auditorium and with my cop from 42, PC Dan LeClerc and school principal George Benedek, I've already decided that we will be doing our Year 3 finale in Scarborough. And still, I have other Toronto Police Divisions expressing interest in Year 3 as well. At this point, I don't know how many schools will be involved in MnM this fall. But I AM very excited.

We as the Toronto Police reach out to many kids through a variety of means, activities and programs. MUSIC! Not Mischief reaches out to a specific group of kids, perhaps not athletically driven, perhaps feeling isolated or alienated and taking refuge in their music. Due to that isolation and some of the negative messages they may be receiving from their music, they are prone to the risk of drug and gang involvement through a source that we are not readily identifying on a day-to-day basis. At least until a school shooting or other horrendous tragedy hits. Wasn't the media quick to point at Marilyn Manson after Columbine? Look at the videos and photos from the Year 2 finale concert. As TraceNine and I closed the show by playing a T9 original, "Spare You Soul" (which Matt Rahn dedicated to all the police officers), kids from 3 different area high schools were arm in arm cheering and dancing, in their own sense of "community".

Music is a powerful vehicle to deliver a message. Our message is that healthy communities are made of healthy individuals; that drugs and violence destroy the health of not only individuals but also communities. We all need to come together to stop the social decay that WE allow by condoning recreational drug use, gang violence and other destructive factors. My officers, my kids and I choose to celebrate life and positivity through our music. And we're waiting for YOU to join us. So I quote TraceNine's lead single from Breaking silence, "Are you Ready to Roll?"

Wednesday, May 5th, 2010

We're down to the wire! Next week is the Year 2 Finale Concert at St Mary's Catholic Secondary School, 66 Dufferin Park Ave, Toronto. Doors open at 6:30pm and the show starts at 7. Last year, we performed 10 songs in 74 minutes. This year, we're planning on 12 songs in under 90. The kids are primed. There is exciting news for MUSIC! on the horizon including potential concert playing opportunities for the kids and growth for the program.

Once again, my favourite rockers TraceNine will be backing up the kids on stage. I recently had the pleasure of doing another live-to-air radio/web cast interview on B105 fm (Bolton, Ont) with Matt, Adrian and Rob from T9, as well as my friend and senior officer level greaser of wheels, Staff Inspector Bryce Evans of the Toronto Police. While TraceNine performed live and acoustic on air, some of my friends, kids from the program and even Mike Carparelli himself were busy texting me, mostly about the fact that Matt wore flip flops and that they were visible on the web cast. Who knew footwear could be so important on radio?

And again, a very, very slick production is being planned for the finale courtesy of our engineer, Brian Bates of Bates Audio Productions (Hamilton, Ont). Not only will we sound top notch, but a new light show and smoke machines should put this year's concert way over the top. This ain't no high school musical!

We will also have a celebrity judging panel this year with some great and caring talent. They are slated to be:
- Steve Anthony - co-host of CP24 Breakfast and original MuchMusic VJ
- Pat Kelly - guitarist, songwriter and musical consultant to MnM
- Rick Farrell - lead singer for littleSUNDAY
- Ali Stead - guitarist for Moeraes Fate
- Alan Marginean - creative principal for Killer Audio Productions and consultant to MnM
- Sean MacLean - bass player for Streamlined and consultant to MnM
- Marshall Dane - recording artist and Country Music Radio "Big Break" contest winner
- Staff Inspector Bryce Evans of the Toronto Police
- Herbie Barnes - Canadian actor of Dance Me Outside, Spirit Rider (film) and The Hobbit (stage)

It's been a whacky year. MUSIC! is poised to grow in a beautiful and glorious way. There are a number of opportunities on the horizon for these kids to be involved in as they continue to be ambassadors for the program and its anti-drug, anti-violence message. I always believed that these things would come to pass. Maybe not this fast and not this big, but I am truly happy.

Someone said to me today that I should be proud of what I have accomplished with MUSIC!. And I'm sort of ambivalent to the feeling of pride for this. I actually had this random thought of Johnny Appleseed. You remember the story of how he wandered the land with a tin pot on his head planting apple seeds wherever he went. Those seeds grew into apple trees that fed other travellers on the road. And I thought about Johnny Appleseed (honest, I did) and what he would have thought if someone had told him that he should be proud of himself for planting all those trees and what they had grown into.

I believe that he would have sooner said, "Pay reverence to those trees, not to me. It's those trees that are beautiful and productive. I'm just a dude with a tin pot on my head making my way through life the best way I can." Because one day, these kids will achieve great things. And we will all be able to be proud of them. I'm just a dude with a patch on my shoulder and a guitar and some friends, making my way through life the best way I can. At the end of each day, I sit down and think of the wonderful things that these kids are going to do and I am very proud of THEM.

In March every year, MUSIC! Not Mischief celebrates a milestone, our annual live rehearsal day where the students who will participate in the year end finale show get an opportunity to play their selected song with their backing band, Cambridge, Ont. based rockers, TraceNine.This is the only time that the kids get to work out their arrangements and practice with the band before the big show.

Last year, the rehearsal was played with a couple of stacks and a tiny P.A.
in the back of a music store. This year, we went all out! Courtesy of ProAction Cops & Kids, our funding partner, we were able to bring master engineer Brian Bates of Hamilton, Ont. based Bates Audio into St Mary's Catholic Secondary School in Toronto. We wired the room like a concert hall so that our kids, the band (and a little help from yours truly), could rock the house! The pictures here show what an awesome day was had by all.

But the purpose of my commentary is this;

MUSIC! Not Mischief is a program by which we use guitar lessons, noise, professional musicians and our police officers to engage kids in pro-community messages. Those messages are anti-drug and anti-violence in nature. By adopting those messages, we foster in those kids a healthy sense of identity. We hope that they will take that healthy, strong sense of self and lead their communities into a new age of societal rejection of the use of recreational drugs and acts of violence. We KNOW as police officers that the societal liberalization and acceptance of recreational drug use, drug trafficking and living in fear of criminal predation tears our lives, our families and our communities apart.

This year, MUSIC! promoted a friendly competition between our two partner schools, St Mary's and Central Commerce. But yesterday, something beautiful happened! I started to get emotional while talking about it on camera, filming an upcoming episode of Roger's Cable's "On Patrol with Toronto Police". There was NO competition. I saw a group of high school students from 2 schools and 2 school boards come together like long-lost cousins. St Mary's kids were cheering for Commerce kids. Commerce kids applauded St Mary's kids. No one was competitive. What they had become through their participation in MUSIC! and their adoption of our message, was a community of their own.

These kids came together to appreciate each other, to validate each other and to work together toward what is going to be the best $2 dollar rock concert you'll ever see in your life; the MUSIC! Not Mischief finale concert to be held at St Mary's on Thursday, May 13th, 2010 at 7 pm.

Recently, I have been forced to re-evaluate my life path due to a personal event which has been extremely difficult for me and fraught with intense, internal conflict. But two events occurred that made me sit up a take notice. Sometimes, you just have to recognize the signs, especially when they hit you square in the face. One of the events was as I described above. But on Tuesday last, I was at Central Commerce for our weekly, regular jam session. One of my attending professional musicians ( also my longest standing and best friend) Alan Marginean of KillerAudio Productions here in Toronto, was also at Commerce to assist. It turns out that two of my players are known to him. He had been their guitar teacher since they were 12 years old. (No wonder they are so good!)

Over lunch, Alan and I discussed how a pair of kids like us from our old home-town of Brampton would end up in the same part of Canada's largest city and working together with music to change the lives of these kids. I remembered some cruel criticism that had been levelled at me by someone accusing my intentions behind the program, according to said critic, to be based in my designs to want to shmooze Mike Carparelli and hang out with rock stars. Talk about devastating! I mean, I have publicity saying that I believe that this is the most important police work I have ever done. And police work is my "calling"!  Between the serendipity of Alan's personal connection with the kids in my program and the results that we witnessed at Thursday's rehearsal, I believe more than ever that I am on the RIGHT path; that MUSIC! Not Mischief and the efforts of all that participate will make a lasting difference in the lives of these kids. A very special friend said to me recently that what we are doing with this program is "laying footprints for these kids to follow".

I am more committed than ever now to bring the message behind MUSIC! to the kids that need it. With the continued support of the Command of the Toronto Police, ProAction, Mike Carparelli, TraceNine, our supporters and vendors and our partner schools, MUSIC! Not Mischief is going to put on a killer show to end Year 2 and with luck, will be expanding into North York next year courtesy of some visionary officers at 32 Division. Our fingers are crossed.

Special thanks to Alan, TraceNine, Rhea, Ingrid, Vanessa and Sara. You guys ROCK!

Until next time. R

Thursday, April 8th, 2010

MUSIC! Not Mischief continues to hit its milestones this program year. On Sunday, March 28th, our supporting artists Pat Kelly and the Core, Marshall Dane and Streamlined played at the 2nd Annual Tyler McGill Memorial Benefit
(TMMB) Concert in Scarborough. For those of you who don't know, Tyler
(T-Lar) McGill was 22 years old in the summer of 2007. He and his friends were at a local restaurant when a dispute erupted with two men who were refused walk-up service in the drive-thru lane. During the ensuing melee, Tyler was stabbed 9 times by the younger of the two suspects. Tyler, an avid guitar player, died 5 days later in hospital due to his injuries.

His mother, Carole, and her circle of family and friends pay tribute to Tyler's memory each year by hosting an annual charity concert at Cactus Pete's Restaurant on Birchmount Road. The proceeds from the concert and accompanying silent auction go to our funding partner, ProAction Cops & Kids. Last year, the TMMB raised $8500 for ProAction. And thus, the memory of one musician, who was taken from us far too early, lives on in the lives of the kids in MUSIC! Not Mischief. Every time I have the chance to speak publically, I always say that Carole is the bravest woman I know. I can not imagine the strength she must possess to soldier on advocating for justice for her son and the hope for a life free from violence for the kids in our communities.

While our musicians rocked the stage, the attending crowd had the opportunity to bid on a variety of donated items. A Carparelli guitar, donated by Mike Carparelli himself, was signed by the members of Blue Rodeo and sold for $550. A  Sidney Crosby Team Canada hockey jersey, secured by my friend Constable Brad Haywood, was autographed by Sid the Kid himself.
That little piece of memorabilia sold for $1750! That will put a nice dent in next year's guitar purchases.

This week in the MUSIC! program, the performers and I have been working on their rock star attitude. At St Mary's, Austen, Carren, Sergio and Dylan spent their Wednesday morning playing air guitar in front of their peers in the auditorium. When their arms weren't flailing about, they stood on tables shouting, "I'M A ROCK STAR!" Some might say, "Tajti finally snapped", or think that this sounds like some sort of sophomoric hazing ritual. But not so.

Once we had our laughs, we talked about what they had done. What my kids learned was that leadership starts when you're not afraid to stand in front of a crowd armed only with your convictions and shout, "Follow me". As ambassadors for MUSIC! and the anti-drug, anti-crime messages behind the program, my kids learned that when you believe in the virtue and righteousness of your beliefs AND actions, there is no need to feel foolish by putting your heart and soul out for the world to see and be inspired by.

Over 20 years of police work and a few personal trials and tribulations, I have had this lesson beaten into my thick skull; That you attract the qualities you project. Mike Carparelli, CEO of Carparelli Guitars is a perfect example of this principle. For those of you don't know, Mike was once a factory worker. He also worked at menial labour in the fitness industry trying to establish a foothold for himself as a personal trainer.
Verging on flat broke but believing that his diminutive frame was 7 feet tall in spirit, he approached the woman who would be the love of his life with the mind set that, "If she accepts me the way I am now, then she'll stay with me forever". Mike is now a self made man and the owner of a successful company with Global distributorship and married to that beautiful woman who shares and supports his dreams.

The purpose of this lesson is this: (Like Bon Jovi says,) Believe! Believe in yourself. If and when the darkness finds you and envelops you, don't despair. That's when you stand up in the dark and gather your courage.
Challenge the darkness and the reasons that make you feel unfulfilled.
Break down the reasons into their component parts and eliminate them systematically. When you've accomplished this your life will change. Not so much because you've accomplished it, but because something in the world will recognize the qualities that you resonate with and you will attract to yourself your future.

Remember, life is perfect. Everything that happens, happens to bring us to the place we are at (like Van Halen says,) RIGHT NOW. The question is, what will you do YOUR "right now"? Will you reach out to someone who needs your mentorship? Will you take the criticism of the masses so that the few who truly need you will respond? Will you lead or will you follow? Seize the day, friends. You'll never get a "right now" better than the one you have RIGHT NOW!