by Jenny Bachynski | Christina Ladwig and Hanna Tveite are the creative directors and photographers behind Gene Doe, a creative agency specializing in fashion media. Based out of Vancouver, the talented duo have collaborated on many editorial shoots, ad campaigns, and films. It’s easy to be drawn to their photography for its cinematic quality (it gets me in the same way that a good film does); the style is minimalist and striking, something that I feel is often absent in fashion media. I was keen to hear their perspective and learn how they balance their talents to create a cohesive business. Say hello…

How did Gene Doe come to be? Simply, we both wanted to make work that we wanted to see. Although we didn’t know it when we first met, we shared a sensibility that was quite different than the prevailing one in the city at the time. Once we realized we both felt that way, it just felt like a natural progression.

The name Gene Doe…how did that come about? We really wanted to create a personality. We wanted an identity, but one that was somewhat ambiguous. We didn’t want to limit ourselves by choosing a name that defined us in a specific way. We also knew that our identity would be closely linked to the names we worked with, so a reference to the nameless “Doe” seemed fitting. Everything about it felt right.

Do you feel that you both have similar photographic styles, and how does that play out when you are working together? We have a very similar vision, but naturally assume different roles. Our individual strengths are well balanced. What one of us doesn’t see, the other does.

While you are shooting, are you purposefully aware of what you are trying to capture, or is it more of an organic experience? Everything we do, we do with a tremendous amount of purpose. Our focus going into any shoot is on expressing a particular tone. But in achieving that, collaboration is an extremely important element of our process. The different creative influences of the model, the make-up artist and stylist are something that we fully embrace. We don’t always know how we’re going to get there, but we always know where we’re going.

What has been your favorite experience you have had since you started Gene Doe? Probably the short film we did with Jordan Chu, for her jewelry line, The Woodland. We had incredible creative chemistry. It was, by far, our most ambitious project. It was also the most collaborative project we’ve done.

Gene Doe is primarily a business that is dedicated to fashion media. How would you describe your style if you could only use one word? Understated.

How has living in Vancouver influenced you as artists and photographers? The aesthetic that appeals to us is one that isn’t at all prevalent in Vancouver. The absence of that provided space for us to find our identity.

What is one thing you wish you would have known before starting your own business? Nothing, really. Learning is the best part.

What is your favorite small business in Vancouver (besides your own)? There are a lot of great small businesses in this city, but if we’d have to pick one, it would definitely be Old Faithful. They have a really strong identity, they’re super friendly and they support local business. We also love their aesthetic.

If you could do a portrait session with anyone, who would it be? Bob Dylan.

To learn more about Gene Doe visit www.genedoeproject.com and www.genedoe.tumblr.com.

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Jenny Bachynski was born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta. In her teenage years she packed up her bags and headed to Vancouver to pursue further education in fashion design. In 2009 she started her own small business Jenny Andrews Recycled Leather Goods, as well as her blog Jenny Loves. After starting her blog, Jenny discovered that one of her greatest joys was stumbling upon beautiful and interesting things, and sharing them with anyone who would listen.

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Jeff Hamada is a Japanese Canadian artist living and working in Vancouver. He has created things for Native Shoes, Oakley, Converse, Electronic Arts, and many others. In 2008 he launched Booooooom.com, which has since become one of the highest-traffic art blogs on the internet. Say hello…

The first three things that you do every morning? Hit the snooze button, check my email, eat lunch.

The three things about Mount Pleasant that make you want to live there: Budgies, Congee Noodle House, and the luxury of being able to walk to both trains.

Name the thing that you eat that is bad for you that you will never stop eating? The battered baja fish taco at Chronic Tacos.

Default drink/cocktail of choice? Crown and Ginger.

The Vancouverite that you admire most and why? Garret Louie is a huge inspiration to me. He is a humble guy who works hard. He’s also very generous. The first time we met he bought me a Sponge Bob ice cream bar.

Your role models? In terms of my career: Jim Henson. For everything else: my father.

Where is your favourite local patio? Barbecuing on my parent’s deck.

What trend have you followed that you now regret? 1) Owning a pager. 2) Wearing overalls with one strap hanging down.

The dumbest thing that you’ve ever done to your hair? One summer I bleached it repeatedly. I was going to say my mushroom cut but I’m still kinda proud of that.

Your go to, no-frills place for dinner? Hawker’s Delight, Deer Garden.

If you could board a plane this afternoon, where would it be taking you? St. Barth’s.

The strangest place you’ve ever been to? I was in Sri Lanka building houses a few months after the tsunami. It is a beautiful place, it was just a strange situation because the government there is corrupt so a lot of the aid they received went straight into rebuilding resorts. European tourists were lounging around on deck chairs a stones throw from families still living in tents.

The three books that you read that made an impact on you in your formative years? I’m not exactly sure when your formative years begin or end but I really like puzzles and I attribute that to: “The Eleventh Hour” by Graeme Base, “The Phantom Tollbooth” by Norton Juster, and the “Encyclopedia Brown” series.

Who’s style do you covet? George Costanza’s.

Where was the last place you traveled to for work or pleasure? I was in Israel in November for work (and by work I mean I was invited out there to meet some designers and eat amazing food).

What is your biggest phobia? Swimming in deep open water.

Where did you go to school? Langara and Emily Carr.

The different career path that you could have gone on? Definitely modelling.

Your ancestry? Japanese.

Your three favourite films? A Prophet, Brazil, Top Secret.

Television show that you could tolerate re-runs of? Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

What was the luckiest moment in your life? When I was a kid I tried to ride my bike all the way home with my eyes closed. I pedalled for awhile and started to wonder when I would feel my front tire hit the slope up to my driveway. I opened my eyes and rode right into the spare tire on the back of my neighbour’s Jeep. From the ground I could see that my neighbour had added a bike rack to his jeep and my face had hit the tire directly between two large metal spikes.

What are you the most proud of? I’m proud to be making a living doing what I love to do.

The biggest mistake you’ve ever made? Doing $5,000 worth of design work on good faith for an American client referred to me by a friend. The client eventually fled the States on multiple charges of fraud (unrelated to my dealings with them).

The relatively normal piece of clothing that you believe you’d look the most ridiculous in? I tried on a fake earring and I looked like a pirate.

The talent that you wish you possessed? I wish I had a photographic memory.

What are you listening to as you answer these questions? Hannah Georgas – The Deep End.

What is the game that you’re best at? Cribbage.

If you had a motto, what would it be? It’s not what you know, and it’s not even who you know. It’s what you do and how you do it.

Scariest situation you’ve ever been in? Being the last Pecha Kucha speaker of the night.

The first album that made you love music? Dance Mix ’93 cassette.

The song that you could listen to on repeat for an hour? Mark Morrison’s Return of the Mack.

What are the three things you’d like to change about Vancouver? We need more Italian restaurants, a train that runs all night, and a casual beer on a picnic blanket should be legal.

OTHER INTERESTING VANCOUVERITES

by Daniel Colussi | Tim Cohen’s a busy man. With The Fresh And Onlys he tours the globe and releases a steady stream of jangled rock and roll that fuses Buddy Holly with the Blue Orchids. When the Onlys aren’t doing their thing he self records the kind of perfect, fractured pop that so much home-recorded music promises but too often fails to deliver. Simply put, he’s got a way with words and knows how to use simple things like an old drum machine and an acoustic guitar to build up songs into mini epics of bejewelled pop. He lives high above San Francisco in a home studio that looks out in all directions over the city and in this way resembles a kind of Nietzschean mountain sage of outsider pop. Between finishing off a new Onlys album and preparing for this West Coast tour, Tim told me about his hip hop faves, touring the world, and more…

I read that you were or big hip hop fan in your high school days. What are your favourite albums? Were you more of a West Coast guy or a NY guy?

I’m so stoked you asked me this, and I’m glad none of my friends are around to dispute my list of the top ten Hip Hop Albums ever (In My Opinion!)

10. Nas, “Illmatic”
9. Dr. Dre “The Chronic”
8. Freestyle Fellowship “Innercity Griots”
7. A Tribe Called Quest “Midnight Marauders”
6. Ghostface Killer “Supreme Clientele”
5. De La Soul Is Dead
4. Wu-Tang Clan “Enter the 36 Chambers”
3. Genius/GZA “Liquid Swords”
2. Organized Konfusion “Stress:The Extinction Agenda”
1 (tie) Black Sheep “Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing” and Ice Cube “Amerikkka’s Most Wanted”

Jeez, that’s hard. I left off so many records. Where’s Biggie? Where’s Big L, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, Showbiz and AG? Also, from that list it looks like I’m partial to East Coast Hip-Hop but I’m also a huge fan of DJ Quik, Comptons’ Most Wanted, NWA, CPO, Above the Law, Pharcyde, Saafir, Heiro. I basically love it all between the years of 1990-1994.

Did you ever record any hip hop stuff?

Yes, I recorded quite a few rap songs, lyrics and beats. Nothing really available online, but we put out a few CD-R’s and two official CDS and 12″ EPs. I wonder if I should bring those on the road. Ha!

You’ve released a steady stream of solo stuff alongside the many Fresh And Onlys albums and eps. Has your solo work evolved into a stable line up at this point or is it just a grab bag of friends and acquaintances?

It’s stable, but unable to tour as is. Hence my decision to do this tour solo. My bandmates, James, Noelle and Alicia, I’ve been collaborating with for a couple years, they are willing to see my ideas through thoroughly and they are wonderful people. Couldn’t ask for more in a collaborator. James used to be drummer in my other band The Fresh & Onlys, but his career prevented him form keeping up our tour schedule. He plays percussion in all our local shows though. Noelle is an amazing singer. I guess I’ve known her for about five years. Alicia is a supremely talented musician. She’s sang vocals on a couple F&O’s 7″s, too.

What stuff are you going to play for us at the Waldorf?

Probably mostly the last two, Tim Cohen’s Magic Trick, and Magic Trick’s “The Glad Birth of Love” Theres only so many songs I feel comfortable playing solo, and I don’t want to make anyone feel awkward with my bumblings and fumblings onstage. So I’ll keep it simple….

You’ve done a whole lot of touring over the last several years with The Fresh And Onlys. Do you like touring?

I love to tour. New York, Chicago, Vancouver are some of my favorite destinations. I especially love touring in Europe. But For me, a good show starts with whats happening on-stage. If we are in the zone, vibe, whatever. That should translate to an audience. If it falls flat before it leaves the stage, its not gonna be good. If It flies off the stage and falls on deaf ears, it’s not so bad. If it binds you to an audience from first note to last, then its a great show. Everyone goes home happy.

There’s a lot of baseball imagery in the artwork you yourself designed for the first couple of solo albums. So you’re a big baseball guy? Were you psyched when the Giants won the series in 2010?

Definitely a baseball guy, and sports in general. Grew up playing baseball, was raised a Cubs fan by two parents who weren’t even from Chicago. But feeling beholden to a perpetual loser like the Cubs, and having no hometown or even home-state team to root for growing up in Virginia has enabled me to just root for the underdogs in most situations. But the Giants win was thrilling, because San Francisco is such a small, excitable city. We were on tour, actually in Texas, for a couple of the World Series games, and we were in Baltimore when they won. It was crazy to see that no one really cared about that series anywhere outside San Francisco! But we were going nuts. Us and all the other zero people in the club!

You’ve put out a lot of music over the last several years. Is there a particular release that you’re most proud of?

Proud is a strong word. I like the most recent Magic Trick “Glad Birth of Love” mostly because I feel that I did what I’d always wanted to do, and just say “Here’s the songs, they’re kind of out there, hope ya like em. By the way, they will never be on the radio,” and Arvel Hernandez, who runs Empty Cellar, just stood behind me the whole time. Also, I’m in love with the artwork that Kevin Earl Taylor did for that. So I’m more proud of those guys than myself. I’m proud to have been involved in Castleface Group Flex, because it’s the most unique and radical packaging idea I’ve seen in many years. I’m proud of Castleface. And I think I’ll be very proud of the next Fresh & Onlys record. It’s been a real joy recording that one.

What makes a song right for the Fresh And Onlys, and what makes a song appropriate for you to do solo?

I mostly leave that up to Fresh & Onlys by committee. Because we are a working, touring band, it’s important that we all are into the songs we are playing, for our job. If I write a song, those dudes will usually tell me that its going to be an Onlys song. But sometimes, I just know they’re not gonna go for it, and I’ll record it for Magic Trick. It’s all conditional.

The Glad Birth Of Love seems to represent a bit of a turning point in terms of your solo stuff. It’s a semi-proggy album with a lot of acoustic guitars and some oboe on it. What were your ideas going into making this album? What were they albums or bands that were reference points for you while you were making it?

I wouldn’t pinpoint one or even a group of albums that informed “The Glad Birth of Love” but I would say that it definitely took on a school-assignment type of process. In other words, I would force myself to find something further in each part or melody, that would open doors to another. Like a research paper, I was referencing all types of other artists, and I wanted to Frankenstein together four compositions that could each have been broken up into several songs. But I wanted it to be cohesive, and I feel that I came close to that. But I was very self-directed, something that comes easy to me in music that I never quite achieved academically. It’s fun when I feel that things have to be “turned in” i.e. to a label, it makes you really get inside something and work on it. In earlier times of my life, I would have been much less patient. “The Glad Birth of Love” is also a direct response to the somewhat Spartan approach that The Fresh & Onlys employs, i.e. meat and potatoes, ABAB song structures, catchy melody, the whole nine. Not that meat and potatoes is a bad thing. I could eat that stuff for days.

Tim Cohen supports The Papercuts at The Waldorf on Friday December 9th.

UPDATE: The bad new, Tim just informed me that Friday’s Papercuts/Tim Cohen show is cancelled due to border issues. The good news, The Fresh And Onlys play the Bitlmore Cabaret February 18th with Chicago psychers Disappears. There’s always a silver lining!  

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Zulu Records veteran and tunage aficionado Daniel Colussi is the Music Editor of Scout Magazine.

Vancouver’s popular Memphis Blues may now be serving all that is delicious and tender in 5 locations (two in the city, two in the burbs, one in Kelowna), but no matter how big it gets, it’s doubtful that we’ll ever think of the Southern Barbecue restaurants as amounting a “chain”. They’re just too good for aspirational veneers or airs. Memphis Blues is what it is, which is as honest and unpretentious an operation as any diner (red in tooth and claw) could possibly hope for. We’ve long suspected the same was true of owners George Siu (above right) and Park Heffelfinger (above left), as further evidenced by their answers to the following questions…

Name the thing that you eat that is bad for you that you will never stop eating?

George: pork rinds.

Park: ice cream.

Default drink/cocktail of choice?

George: Pimms No.1 with ginger ale and a slice of cucumber.

Your favourite word?

George: “absolutely”.

Park: I can’t use it.

Your least favourite word?

George: “no”.

Park: “can’t”.

Your favourite curse word?

George: fuck.

Park: that’s the one I can’t use.

The character flaw in others that you can’t abide?

George: rudeness.

Park: indecisiveness, I think.

How do you know when you can trust someone?

George: by their actions.

Park: when you’ve broken bread with them.

Your favourite sound?

George: Champagne cork popping.

Park: frying bacon.

Your least favourite sound?

George: alarm clock in the morning.

Park: screaming baby.

Your favourite smells?

George: barbeque, garlic.

Park: frying bacon and baking bread.

Your least favourite smells?

George: durian (though I still eat it).

Park: poopy diaper.

The Vancouverite that you admire most and why?

Park: John the Oyama sausage guy, great products.

Your role models?

Park: Jamie Oliver, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

Where is your favourite local patio?

George: Lift.

Park: my house.

Name three drinks/cocktails you’ll never have again?

George: sweet martinis, Southern Comfort, mezcal.

Park: Cosmopolitan, Pina Colada, Pink Lady.

The historical personalities, both good and bad, that fascinate you the most?

George: Homer (as in The Iliad).

Park: Trudeau, Ghandi, my mother.

What trend have you followed that you now regret?

George: skinny ties.

The dumbest thing that you’ve ever done to your hair?

George: my Mom permed my hair when I was 11, thanks Mom.

Park: Simon LeBon pigtail.

What are the three things you’d like to change about Vancouver?

George: less rain, less whining, less bureaucracy to open a business.

Park: transportation, crime, large chain restaurants.

Is there a local bartender who could sell you anything?

George: Jay Jones.

Your go to, no-frills place for dinner?

George: No. 1 Beef Noodle House

Park: any good Vietnamese restaurant & Congee Noodle House.

If you could board a plane this afternoon, where would it be taking you?

George: New York.

Park: Hawaii.

The strangest place you’ve ever been to?

George: karaoke bar in China right across the border from Macau.

Park: Casablanca.

The books that made an impact in your formative years?

George: Animal Farm, Lord of the Rings.

Park: Lord of the Rings, Lord of the Flies, Catcher in the Rye.

Who’s style do you covet?

George: I make my own!

Park: Mario Batali’s.

Where was the last place you traveled to for work or pleasure?

George: Paris.

Park: the Okanagan.

What is your biggest phobia?

George: heights.

Park: running out of food.

Where did you go to school?

George: a tour of East Van high schools.

Park: Winnipeg.

What did you major in as an undergraduate?

George: majored in finding out structured school wasn’t for me.

Park: Sociology and Drama (of course).

The cliché that you overuse?

George: Absolutely!

The strangest talent that you possess?

Park: I piss people off easy.

Shoe of choice?

George: flip flops.

Park: Crocs.

The different career path that you could have gone on?

George: Sales – I can talk to anyone.

Park: I could have been an actor.

Your ancestry?

George: Mom is from Hong Kong, Dad is Chinese/Tahitian.

Park: Swiss / American

Your three favourite films?

George: Local Hero, Body Heat, Lord of the Rings, and something else.

Park: 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Thin Red Line, Doctor Zhivago.

Television show that you could tolerate re-runs of?

George: Seinfeld.

Park: Any of the ‘River Cottage’ series.

Under what circumstances would you join the army?

George: threat of death.

Park: if we invade the USA.

Your most regrettable purchase ever?

Park: a Kobo!

Your major character flaw?

George: impatience.

Park: irreverence.

What was the luckiest moment in your life?

George: every day.

Park: realizing I had a complete life with my two girls and wife.

What was the unluckiest moment in your life?

Park: getting hit by a car in grade 6.

What are you the most proud of?

George: my family (wife, 2 daughters).

Park: my family (wife, 2 daughters).

What is the best thing about your work?

George: how excited people get when they come in and eat our food.

Park: people. I love the staff, my customers. I truly do. Interacting with people.

What is the worst thing about your work?

George: long hours.

Park: the daily grind.

The relatively normal piece of clothing that you believe you’d look the most ridiculous in?

George: skinny jeans (doesn’t suit a guy who is short and stocky).

Park: spandex workout pants.

The talent that you wish you possessed?

George: NHL calibre hockey skills.

Park: playing a musical instrument.

What are you listening to as you answer these questions?

George: my wife’s voice.

Park: blues!!

What musical instrument do you secretly long to play?

George: guitar.

Park: banjo.

What sport did you give up and why?

George: football, no time and it’s a young man’s game.

Park: distance swimming, laziness.

What is the game that you’re best at?

Park: euchre.

What is the one animal that scares you the most?

George: shark.

Park: wasp.

If you had a motto, what would it be?

George: live it to the max, play until it hurts.

Park: Barbeque…it aint’ just for breakfast any more.

Scariest situation you’ve ever been in?

Park: thrown up against a wall by the Shah of Iran’s secret police.

George: shit, like I can top that! Okay, turbulence on a flight to Hong Kong.

The thing that makes you the happiest?

George: travelling with my family.

Park: being with my family.

The thing that makes you the angriest?

George: people who don’t follow through with their promises.

Park: lack of sleep

Three things of no monetary value that you own and will keep dearly until you die?

George: memories of the trips & meals eaten with my family.

Park: Yeah, memories are good. Love of my family, and that includes extended family (brothers and sisters), friendship, and my family signet ring.

The strangest road you’ve ever travelled?

Park: Khyber Pass.

George: tripping out with the poet Bill Bissett (a friend for over 20 years).

Your first memory?

George: eating deep fried sweet potatoes at a food cart in Taiwan (where I was born).

The first album that made you love music?

George: The Ventures (surf music).

Park: Beatles Long Tall Sally

The song that you could listen to on repeat for an hour?

Park: Are ‘Friends’ Electric? by Gary Numan.

The best way to die?

George: in your sleep

The song that you want played at your funeral?

Park: ‘Fix You’ by Coldplay

The one place that you have the least interest in ever visiting?

George: Midwest USA,

Park: Las Vegas

The first three things that you do every morning?

George: let the dog out (Brisket, a 70 pound, American bulldog/pitbull cross we rescued from the SPCA ), make an espresso, catch highlights on TSN.

Park: make coffee, have a steam shower, eat breakfast.

Have you ever fired a gun?

George & Park: Yes. Staff party at a gun range, tons of fun.

MORE SCOUT INTERVIEWS

(photo: Michael Sider) Owen Lightly is as good a guy as they come. A quintessential British Columbian (not many people have a spring salmon tattooed on their forearm), he was raised on Gabriola Island and formally trained in Nanaimo before working his way through many of our kitchens – among them West, Au Petit Chavignol, Araxi, Market – before going into business for himself. Today, he runs his own catering business, which is named after his popular food blog, Butter On The Endive (kitchen code for “a good looking woman just entered the restaurant”). As regular readers are aware, he has contributed to Scout as a food writer in the past, but you’ll be happy to learn that he is about to launch a regular column on these pages called A Pound of Butter. In advance of its debut, we thought it prudent to ask a few questions of him, for you…

Your first memory? Campbell’s Tomato Soup.

Your ancestry? Welsh and Scottish.

The three books that you read that made an impact on you in your formative years? The Soul of a Chef by Michael Ruhlman; Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres (the movie was terrible!); Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson.

Your favourite word? Caramelize.

Your favourite curse word? Fuck.

Your major character flaw? Neuroticism.

The character flaw in others that you can’t abide? Not delivering what was promised.

The first three things that you do every morning? The three s’s.

What are you listening to as you answer these questions? Feist’s new album, Metals.

Your role model? Growing up I had a neighbour named Laurie. He was about the same age as my parents and always gave me the straight goods. He wasn’t afraid to drop some heavy philosophical shit on me from time to time as well, which never hurts.

Three things about your Mt. Pleasant that make you want to live there: Good restaurants and bars within spitting distance; I can see the mountains when I wake up and there’s lots of cool, creative people doing their thing.

What is the thing you’d like to change about Vancouver? More open spaces for people to congregate.

The Vancouverite that you admire most and why? Brad Miller (owner of the The Red Wagon) for showing me you can be successful in this business on your own terms.

Name the thing that you eat that is bad for you that you will never stop eating? French fries with mayonnaise.

Default drink/cocktail of choice? Depending on the mood, a nice hoppy beer or a Negroni.

Name three drinks/cocktails you’ll never have again? Black Russian, Royal Reserve and my dad’s homemade red wine. All because of some very bad mistakes made as a teenager.

Is there a local bartender who could sell you anything? Giovanni at Campagnolo always makes me feel welcome.

Your favourite sound? The clicking sound your knife makes as you fillet a salmon.

Your least favourite sound? Metal on metal.

Your favourite smells? Chicken stock, sautéing mushrooms, fresh cookies, cedar, rosemary, duck fat, bread, butter…I could go on and on.

Your least favourite smells? Mold and mildew.

The relatively normal piece of clothing that you believe you’d look the most ridiculous in? A beret.

The dumbest thing that you’ve ever done to your hair? Dreadlocks in the summer of 1995. What was I thinking?

Your go to, no-frills place for dinner? Congee Noodle House.

If you could board a plane this afternoon, where would it be taking you? Rome.

The strangest place you’ve ever been to? Las Vegas, Nevada.

Who’s style do you covet? Mark Ladner, chef of Del Posto in New York.

Where was the last place you traveled to for work or pleasure? New Orleans for work.

What is your biggest phobia? Line ups.

Where did you go to school? High School at NDSS in Nanaimo followed by Culinary School at Vancouver Island University.

The strangest talent that you possess? Tying a cherry stem into a knot with my tongue.

The different career path that you could have gone on? Folk musician.

Television show that you could tolerate re-runs of? Molto Mario.

Under what circumstances would you join the army? If there was no chance that I would ever have to kill anyone and everything we did was for the good of mankind.

How do you know when you can trust someone? When you look into their eyes and feel it with every fiber of your being.

What was the luckiest moment in your life? Finding a career I truly enjoy.

What was the unluckiest moment in your life? Being robbed at gunpoint in Harewood, Nanaimo.

What are you the most proud of? Every time our catering company pulls off a big event without a hitch.

What are you the least proud of? The amount of wasted food in the restaurant/cooking industry.

What is the best thing about your work? Constant pressure to perform at a high level and the opportunity to be creative on a daily basis.

What is the worst thing about your work? Stress.

The talent that you wish you possessed? I wish I could walk into a room, bust out a Yngwie Malmsteen-esque riff on an electric guitar and then disappear in puff of smoke.

What musical instrument do you secretly long to play? Piano.

What sport did you give up and why? I gave up hockey in grade 6 to start playing bass guitar.

What is the game that you’re best at? Mind games, followed closely by golf.

What is the one animal that scares you the most? Cougars. I lived in Squamish for a while and whenever I was in the woods they were on my mind. How much would it suck to get ripped apart by a big cat?

Have you ever fired a gun? I have fired my dad’s .22 on numerous occasions, but never at an animal, only at water balloons.

Scariest situation you’ve ever been in? See above when I got held up at gunpoint.

The thing that makes you the happiest? Making good food for people.

Three things of no monetary value that you own and will keep dearly until you die? I try not to get too attached to things.

Describe your tattoos? A spring salmon as a nod to my family’s fishing heritage, an onion to make soup with, a fern to remind me of where I grew up and a bass clef so the music can live forever.

The strangest road you’ve ever travelled? Wandering the streets of Palermo, Sicily was an intense experience. One block would be burned out cars that looked like they had been there for decades, the next block a bustling market full of every fish in the Mediterranean, and few blocks down the road there would be Armani boutique. Fun!

The first album that made you love music? Baby Beluga by Raffi.

The song that you could listen to on repeat for an hour? Racing in the Street by Bruce Springsteen.

The best way to die? Peacefully, after I have checked off the last thing from my life’s large “to do” list.

The song that you want played at your funeral? Blitzkrieg Bop by The Ramones.

The one place that you have the least interest in ever visiting? Nebraska.

If you had a motto, what would it be? ”It’s all about the process”.

OTHER INTERESTING VANCOUVERITES