In 2001 I released a new collection of songs
titled "We All Fall Down". It includes three original songs written for the motion picture
soundtrack of the same name. The movie is an independent production which was written by Martin
Cummins and Richard C. Burton and features the acting skills of Darcy Belsher, Martin Cummins,
Francoise Robertson, Helen Shaver, Nicholas Campbell, Rene Auberjonois, Richard C. Burton, Rocky,
Barry Pepper, Raquel Meade and Ryan Reynolds. This is the story of how I came to be a part of it.
My first introduction to the film industry was around 1976 when two young men,
just out of university and anxious to make their first movie, approached me and said they were
keen to make a documentary about our band (Cement City Cowboys). Their names were Brenton Spencer
and Sturla Gunnarson. They followed us around for the better part of a year shooting our live
performances and doing interviews with the different members of the group. This became a film
titled "Country Music Nightly".
My next encounter with the film and television business was in the early 80's
when a director approached a few friends and I and asked if we would be interested in playing
prisoners in his upcoming movie. This resulted in a series of jobs working as an extra.
If you were to freeze frame and knew exactly where to look, you might see me in the Tom Selleck
movie "Runaway" or William Shatner's "Secrets Of A Married Man". After a while I decided I didn't
appreciate the way that extras were treated or spoken to on set so I went back to music full-time.
I believe that no matter what position you hold, or what spoke you represent in the wheel, you're
just as important to the whole picture as the boss or anybody else.
Then, in the early 90's, while recording some publishing demos, I met Denise
Henry. Denise was employed in film and television as a stand-in and offered to introduce me to
her agent and maybe do a little work. My initial response was "No way! I've worked in that
industry before and I hate it". Luckily I realized that I was being presented with an opportunity
and that I should see what was in the offer. I ended up signing with the agency. After working
on about thirty productions as an extra I went to set one morning for a movie called "The Diana
Kilmury Story". It turned out that the director and the director of photography were the two
young men from the seventies who had shot the Cement City Cowboy's documentary. It was a great
reunion, they immediately hired me as their new stand-in and included my song "Another New Old
Tragedy" in their movie. It sure is a small world but I wouldn't want to paint it.
This led to more work on different shows and landed me a steady gig on the TV
series "Poltergeist/The Legacy" which is where I first met Martin Cummins and Richard C. Burton.
Martin was one of the principal actors and Richard his stand-in. They approached me one day and
said, "Hey Mack, we're writing a script for a feature film and we want you to write the music".
The film was to be titled "Main Street", and because I grew up around Main Street in Vancouver,
they thought I would be the perfect guy to score the film. When I got home that day, I took
out my guitar and started writing the title track "Main Street". A few days later we were on
location and Martin was doing some driving in a scene. I passed him a tape of the song and
suddenly the sounds of Main Street were wafting over the set from the car's cassette deck.
A month or so later, shooting back in the studio, I followed Martin as he stepped
out for a breath of fresh air and said "Hey listen man, I wrote a new song for the movie".
I stood there in the studio parking lot and sang him "We All Fall Down". Martin seemed a little
taken aback as he smiled and said "Mack, how do you do that"? I smiled back and asked, "Well,
how do you act"? It turned out they liked the song so much they changed the title of the movie
to "We All Fall Down". Now how cool is that!!!
To be honest I didn't really put much faith in the fact that the movie would
actually get made since every actor, stand-in, A.D., grip, gaffer and their sisters have a script
that they hope will be the next big film. Very few ever see the light of day so I say hats off
to Martin Cummins for writing, directing, acting in and most amazingly getting his movie shot. The movie was first shown in 2001 and it all turned out great! Helen Shaver won
a Genie (Canada's Academy Awards) for best supporting actress for her portrayal of Sherry. Martin
won best new director at the Victoria Film Festival. I've got a new CD which features three songs
from the movie soundtrack and my friend Dan Tapanila and I got to play ourselves on screen.
The film tells the story of young actors and artists who are far too strung out on crack cocaine
and booze. Some of them make it and some don't. Because it's not a pretty story it was a great
opportunity to write lyrics and music depicting the portrayed feelings of desperation, degradation,
abuse and addiction. I attempted to bring the images of the street to the songs. Since we already
had songs recorded for the movie my partner Bonnie Dakota and I made a decision that I should
write some more songs with the same gritty theme and put together a new product. We hope you will
be affected by our latest CD "We All Fall Down"
It sure ain't dance music!
