Greg Jarvis (musician) explained

Greg Jarvis
Birth Place:Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genre:Space rock, post-rock, classical, experimental music, rockabilly, northern soul, reggae
Occupation:Musician, record executive, professor
Years Active:1990s–present
Instrument:Guitar, keyboards
Label:Optical Sounds, Earworm Records, Shifty Disco, Benbecula, Universal Music, BMG
Associated Acts:Flowers Of Hell, The Red Stripes, Merzky Beat

Greg Jarvis is a Toronto born musician and composer best known for his work leading the orchestral rock group the Flowers Of Hell.[1] [2] [3] [4] His various projects as a musician have received acclaim from members of The Velvet Underground,[5] The Patti Smith Group,[6] the Sex Pistols,[7] The Clash, My Bloody Valentine,[8] and Spacemen 3/Spiritualized.[9] [10] Jarvis's compositions are largely informed by timbre-to-shape synesthesia, a neurological trait which causes him to involuntarily see all sounds as layers of three dimensional shapes.[11] [12] [13] [14]

Biography

Early life

Jarvis was born in Toronto, Ontario where he was a Royal Canadian Air Cadet band leader and served briefly in the Canadian Army reserve forces.[15]

Career

Jarvis worked in marketing in the 1990s at the major label BMG in Toronto, Prague, Moscow, and Warsaw, and later for Universal International in London,[16] handling acts including Nirvana,[17] David Bowie, Dolly Parton, KISS, Aerosmith, Guns N' Roses, Deep Purple, Annie Lennox, Patti Smith, Malcolm McLaren, Beck, Sonic Youth, and The Moody Blues, as well as Death In Vegas, Spectrum, Spiritualized, Cowboy Junkies and The Wedding Present with whose members he would later collaborate as an artist. Jarvis also worked as an executive at the BBC's Top Of The Pops where he conducted interviews with such acts as the Spice Girls, Queen, Alice Cooper, Depeche Mode, Oasis and Radiohead.[18]

He is currently a professor at Durham College's Media, Art, & Design School where he teaches about music history and the music industry.[19] Previously he taught as a senior lecturer in the United Kingdom at London Metropolitan University, and Buckinghamshire New University.[20]

Jarvis has given talks at institutions including Harvard, Oxford, Juilliard, The Kerouac School, and the Art Gallery of Ontario.[21] [22] [23] He wrote music related articles for the Huffington Post from 2013-2018. Presently in the 2020s, Jarvis writes interviews and cover stories for the international psychedelic rock magazine Second Scene, along with live reviews for the British music magazine Shindig.[24] [25]

The Tate Britain gallery included Jarvis's Come Hell Or High Water album cover adaptation of an Aubrey Beardsley illustration in their Beardsley exhibition and catalogue, with The Flowers of Hell performing at the opening ceremony, a few weeks prior to London's first coronavirus lockdown in 2020.[26] [27] [28] [29]

Musical history

Prior to the Flowers of Hell, Jarvis played on Prague's underground music scene in the 1990s,[30] in Moscow rockabilly group Merzky Beat, and in The Red Stripes in the early 2000s (a London based comedy-reggae White Stripes tribute act he formed with drummer Guri Hummelsund.)[31] [32] "We stopped (The Red Stripes) when it started getting crazy big with Peel, the NME, BBC6, The Face, Duran Duran and some peripheral members of The Clash and The Sex Pistols getting into it. We signed to a Universal imprint, met The Wailers in a medieval fortress in Serbia, shot a video in Africa and felt we had to kill it before we became too known for it," Jarvis said reflecting in a 2015 Irish interview.[33]

Jarvis produced, composed, and performed on an album of Northern Soul covers and originals by Emma Wilkinson, whom he managed after she won the 2001 Stars In Their Eyes TV talent series performing Dusty Springfield's ‘Son Of A Preacher Man’.[34]

He founded the Flowers of Hell in London in 2002 as a studio project, growing it into a live group in 2005 recruiting bandmates Abi Fry (later of British Sea Power and Bat For Lashes), Guri Hummelsund, Ruth Barlow, Steve Head, and Owen James.[35] He returned to Canada in 2007 and formed another branch of the group, expanding its line up to encompass musicians living in both Toronto and London. He composes many of the pieces performed by the band,[36] [37] and is its main guitarist.

Highlights of the group's career include Lou Reed of the Velvet Underground praising their artistry and commencing his final radio show by playing three of the group's recordings,[38] the Tate Britain including their Come Hell Or High Water LP alongside The Beatles' Revolver in a 2020 Aubrey Beardsley exhibition and bringing the group in to perform at the opening,[29] collaborating with members of their major influence Spacemen 3, being asked by Kevin Shields to open for My Bloody Valentine during the band's 2008 reunion,[39] [40] and NASA's mission control staff declaring their enjoyment of the group's ‘space rock’ with the shuttle launch team syncing footage of a Discovery mission to the Flowers Of Hell's ‘Sympathy For Vengeance’.[41]

Synesthesia

Jarvis has auditory-visual synesthesia which causes him to involuntarily and instantaneously perceive all sounds as abstract visual shapes surrounding him.[42] In 2013 he founded the Canadian Synesthesia Association as a way of meeting other synethetes and raising awareness of synesthesia.[43] [44] [45] [46]

Education

Jarvis did summer studies under the octogenarian beat writer Bobbie Louise Hawkins at The Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics in Boulder, Colorado.[47] [48]

He also completed a master of arts in higher education teaching for which his thesis focused on how the mind processes music, and he holds an Arts & Media MBA.

Personal life

In 2010, Jarvis was chased by a group of protesters in West Papua New Guinea after photographing their activities. He was held and questioned by rebel soldiers from the Organisasi Papua Merdeka and played a ukulele to demonstrate he was a musician, not a foreign spy.[49] [50] [51]

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://torontoist.com/2010/11/sound_advice_o_by_the_flowers_of_hell/ "Sound Advice: O by The Flowers of Hell"
  2. News: Anon. . Hype Monitor: Brajo, Avi Buffalo, Flowers Of Hell . . 9 April 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110115003934/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/blogs/staff-blog/hype-monitor-brajo-avi-buffalo-the-flowers-of-hell-20090528 . dead . 15 January 2011 . 28 May 2014.
  3. News: O'Keefe . Niall . Album Review: The Flowers Of Hell, Come Hell Or High Water . . 3 April 2009 . 28 May 2014.
  4. News: Raber . Rebecca . The Flowers Of Hell, Come Hell Or High Water . . 28 July 2010 . 28 May 2014.
  5. Web site: Lou Reed's New York Shuffle . BBC6 Music . BBC . 21 January 2023.
  6. Web site: Keogan . Natalie . Ivan Král, Collaborator of Patti Smith and Iggy Pop, Dead at 71 . Paste Magazine . Paste Media Group . 22 January 2023.
  7. Web site: McDaid . Justin . The Flowers Of Hell - Interview . Golden Plec . 22 January 2023.
  8. Web site: My Bloody Valentine Concert History . Concert Archives . 22 January 2023.
  9. Jarvis . Greg . Sonic Boom Interview . Second Scene Magazine . Fall 2021 . 1 . 10 . 16–22.
  10. Web site: Eastaugh . David . The Flowers Of Hell - Greg Jarvis . C86 Show . C86 . 22 January 2023.
  11. The National - Blended Senses . Television news . CBC . Canada . 30 July 2013 .
  12. News: Everett-Green . Robert . For Musician With Synaethesia, The Cello Can Sound Too Fury. Or Too Red. . . 3 Dec 2010 . 28 May 2014.
  13. http://www.themillions.com/2012/01/if-you-could-hear-a-book-this-is-how-it-would-look.html "If You Could Hear A Book, This Is How It Would Look"
  14. http://drownedinsound.com/releases/15801/reviews/4141474 "The Flowers of Hell"
  15. http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/greg-jarvis/moscow-yelstin_b_4761663.html "Westerners Don't Get That Russia Needs Putin"
  16. http://www.thewaterbuffalomagazine.ca/from-vinyl-to-torrents.html "From vinyl to torrents - Who buys music anymore?"
  17. http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/greg-jarvis/nirvana-slovenia_b_4866362.html "20 Years Ago I Watched Nirvana's Penultimate Show In Slovenia"
  18. http://theblogthatcelebratesitself.blogspot.ca/2017/01/symphony-no1-with-flowers-of-hell.html, "Symphony No.1 With Flowers Of Hell - An Interview"
  19. http://www.durhamcollege.ca/wp-content/uploads/Reflections_spring_2011.pdf "The Sights And Sounds Of Success"
  20. https://web.archive.org/web/20151208172321/http://www.durhamcollege.ca/wp-content/uploads/music_business_management.pdf "Program Guide"
  21. Web site: Music & Synesthesia Talk . Youtube . 30 August 2018.
  22. Web site: Greg Jarvis Discusses Music & Synesthesia at the AGO . Youtube . 30 August 2018.
  23. Web site: Upcoming Conference Abstracts . American Synesthesia Association . American Synesthesia Association . 23 August 2024.
  24. Jarvis . Greg . Sonic Boom . Second Scene . 10.
  25. Jarvis . Greg . Review: Laetitia Sadier in Toronto . Shindig . 1 May 2024 . 151 . 36.
  26. Web site: Maconie . Stuart . Freak Zone - March 15, 2020 . BBC Radio 6 Music . BBC . 19 August 2020.
  27. Web site: Coe . Gideon . Gideon Coe - 20 Feb 2020 . BBC Radio 6 Music . BBC . 19 August 2020.
  28. Web site: Bitu Tshikudi . Patricia . Une artiste de Steinbach au musee Tate a Londres . CBC Radio-Canada . 4 September 2020.
  29. Web site: Small . Alan . Songwriter Throws Perfect Opening Day Strike . Winnipeg Free Press . 27 July 2020 . 4 September 2020.
  30. http://mattwelch.com/prognosis/velvetmag.html "Prague's Music Scene"
  31. http://www.bbc.co.uk/berkshire/content/articles/2005/03/31/club_v_review_feature.shtml "Review Club Velocity"
  32. http://www.londonnet.co.uk/ln/out/music/rockpop_swearingatmotorists.html "LondonNet Gig Review"
  33. https://www.goldenplec.com/featured/the-flowers-of-hell-interview/ "Flowers Of Hell Interview"
  34. http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+great+pretender%3B+With+reality+TV+and+talent+shows,+15+minutes+of...-a085072492 "The great pretender; With reality TV and talent shows, 15 minutes of fame is ever more attainable - but what happens when the show is over?"
  35. http://therevue.ca/2014/06/09/09mundo-musique-flowers-of-hell/ "Mundo Musique: The Transatlantic Space-Rock Orchestra, Flowers of Hell"
  36. http://tmakworld.com/2012/11/flowers-of-hell-emerging-artist.html?m=0 ""
  37. http://www.vueweekly.com/the_flowers_of_hell_shapes_of_things/ "The Flowers of Hell: Shapes of things"
  38. News: Anon. . July 20, 2012 Playlist . LouReed.com . 20 July 2012 . 9 September 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20151208162341/http://www.loureed.com/nyshuffle/?p=444&fb_source=message . 8 December 2015 . dmy-all .
  39. News: Now . Perlich's Picks . 23 September 2008 . Tim . Perlich . 19 August 2019 .
  40. Web site: Mondo magazine concert review. archive.today. 24 January 2019. 7 September 2012. https://archive.today/20120907072840/http://www.mondomagazine.net/?p=2478. bot: unknown.
  41. News: Louche . Liz . Flowers of Hell enlist musicians from Broken Social Scene, Spiritualized, Guided by Voices, and more to join their NASA-approved space rock jam session . . 15 March 2010 . 15 September 2012.
  42. News: Everett-Green . Robert . For Musician With Synaethesia, The Cello Can Sound Too Fury. Or Too Red. . . 3 Dec 2010 . 9 September 2012.
  43. http://www.metronews.ca/news/canada/2015/01/28/man-who-can-see-and-hear-sounds-shares-his-story.html "Life with synesthesia: Toronto man who can see sounds shares his story".
  44. http://startouch.thestar.com/screens/56cd3c2f-74ae-47f7-b407-15e45bf67d97
  45. http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/TV+Shows/The+National/Health/ID/2398859805/ "Blended Senses".
  46. http://www.cbc.ca/player/Radio/Local+Shows/Ontario/Ontario+Today/ID/2652383406/ "Synesthesia".
  47. http://cadencemag.com/2012/10/growing-the-flowers-of-hell-an-interview-with-bandleader-greg-jarvis/ "Growing the Flowers Of Hell – An interview with bandleader Greg Jarvis".
  48. "The Flowers Of Hell Interview" 21 October 2012, Northern Transmissions
  49. http://exclaim.ca/Music/article/Flowers_of_Hell_Leader_Greg_Jarvis_Mistaken_for_Spy_in_Papua_New_Guinea_Forced_to_Play_for_His_Life "Flowers of Hell Leader Greg Jarvis Mistaken for Spy in Papua New Guinea, Forced to Play for His Life"
  50. https://pitchfork.com/news/40380-flowers-of-hell-leader-mistaken-for-a-spy/ "Flowers of Hell Leader Mistaken for Spy"
  51. https://www.nme.com/news/various-artists/53384 "Flowers of Hell Mainman Mistaken For MI5 Spy in Papua New Guinea – Greg Jarvis had to ‘play for his life’ while holidaying"

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