Inside Eric vs AfterProm, the fundraiser show for Eric's Backyard Film Festival

Off The Record sat down with Cameron Carolan, the co-runner of AfterProm Records and Eric Genier, the creator of Eric’s Backyard Film Festival to talk about Eric vs AfterProm, the fundraising show for the fifth annual Eric’s Backyard Film Festival. Check out the full show lineup on August 8 at the Bovine Sex Club in Toronto and Eric’s Backyard Film Festival on September 21 in Oakville, Ontario. 

The show is being billed almost as a title fight, what can fans expect from the evening?  

Cameron: It’s going to get weird. The poster is based off of this Andy Warhol and Basquiat picture that we really love of them two boxing and I’ve always wanted to use it. I thought this was the perfect mesh where its like two different media stuff coming together and I think kind of billing it as a fight rather than a community thing is just funny.

Eric: Yeah we were making the bill as a fundraiser, AfterProm Records is putting the bill together but its for Eric’s Backyard so its like Eric vs AfterProm, it just worked out that way.

What do you think this show means for the bands involved?

Cameron: I did the most part working with the bands, Eric obviously did a great job helping as well, a lot of bands carry the same kind of values that we do at After Prom as well as Erics so everything we do is just extremely community based and I wanted people who I believe in, who give back to the community in ways like that whether it be film or music and after talking to a lot of these bands they either knew of Erics Backyard beforehand or they became aware of it after and were like “oh shit we’re so down for this”, there’s so much crossover between music and film especially artists who are like “oh I also do photography work” or “i’m a writer” so there's a lot of synergy, a lot of corporate synergy going on.

You’ve previously had bands play live at Eric’s Backyard Film Festival, how do you feel the combination of film and music adds to the experience for the audience? 

Eric: It’s a part of every festival we do, out of the 5 events we’ve done, four of them have had bands. It was something early on that we decided works for what we’re trying to go for, making the night feel really special at our events so having two bands play before the short film section is something we’re hard on doing every year. We’ve got our bands for the backyard festival that's September 21st, I cannot tell you who they are yet! It's a secret! But it’s cool now that we’re switching gears and going full bands for this one.

How would you describe the creative scene in the GTA [Greater Toronto Area]? 

Eric: In the GTA? In Oakville… No… It’s Sherdian and then whoever stays doing film outside of Sherdian which is not a lot of people, a lot of people end up doing their own thing. There’s a handful of directors that stay in the game and then you make friends with the people you resonate with the most, the people you see at the local film festivals and around. Compared to anything in America there’s not much funding for film in Canada in general, there used to be, or at least very no bar entry, a lot of people could just hop in but we lost a lot of our funding over the years so it's very much people who can afford to do it, and people who have time to do it as well.

Cameron: I think for music it's really like there’s always been a scene there for the GTA, the only thing, the caveat, is no bands from the GTA play in the GTA. They’re kind of only playing in Toronto or Hamilton or wherever the bigger cities are but I’ve seen a lot more in recent years, bands from Mississauga or Oakville or even Milton just kind of pop up and we’ve really come together with the shared experience of… I don’t know, it’s a funny thing being like an hour away from “the cool stuff” but I think that garners in itself a sense of community and pride in owning, you’re like “oh we’re not going to lie and say we’re from Toronto, we’re not, we’re from fucking Mississauga or Meadowvale or whatever and I think that’s a huge part of what Eric’s Backyard Festival is, kind of reclaiming these spaces and making them cool again and I think it’s nice we’re finally doing one in Toronto cause it’s one thing that sucks about the GTA people coming from Toronto into the GTA, it’s hard to get to a lot of places, public transportation sucks, so I think having a spot to reach out in a different sense I think is very cool, fostering this scene and community.

Eric: Yeah to add on to what Cameron said, to do anything in art you have to go to Toronto so in that sense what we’re trying to do with Eric’s Backyard is to give people who live in Oakville, or have to be in Oakville, something to do, that’s one of the big things and we try to find people who can resonate with that a lot or can understand that sense of ennui that comes with living in the suburbs.

As you get ready for the fourth iteration of Eric’s Backyard Film Festival, the fifth festival you’ve organized altogether, what are you most looking forward to? 

Eric: Ooooh, the theme. 

Has it been announced or are we still waiting?

Eric: It’s still under wraps but it was… a stroke of genius when we came around to it.

For first time contributors or audience members, is there anything you’d like them to know? 

Cameron: I think at least for the Bovine show, on August 8, I think just be open to everything. There’s a lot of different bands from different genres, different styles of artists; we have a rapper, we have indie kind of bands, we have more like dance punk stuff and shoegaze so there’s just a little bit of everything, it just kind of sums up a lot of what we’re into as people and what we enjoy and it's a reflection of that, and just be open and have fun. 

Eric: Be yourself. Be weird. Have fun. 

Has there been a specific moment so far where you’ve begun to feel the momentum of what you’ve started has gone beyond your friend group?

Eric: Yeah, that was after we finished the winter film festival, where I was like this is something else now. We were talking about it for a while, do we wanna go big, we were scared of losing that feeling of it just being our friends. It’s a very beautiful feeling, there was a part of it that was a little bittersweet with that but what I’m most realizing now is there's a lot of cool things on the horizon that I’m excited for

Cameron: I think I had that moment at the third festival, where I kind of looked around, I think I talked to Eric and I was like “I think there’s more people here that I don’t know than I do” and I was like “that’s weird” but it was cool! 

Any parting words? Anything you want to leave the audience with?

Cameron: Be ready. 

Eric: Come hang out! We don’t bite. 

Cameron: We don’t bite, get involved, talk to people while you’re there.

Eric: Everyone there is awesome.

Cameron: Everyone there is cool.

Check out the Bovine Sex Club on August 8th for a night to remember with Eric vs AfterProm Records. Mark your calendars for Eric’s Backyard Film Festival on September 21 in Oakville, Ontario. The Eric vs AfterProm lineup includes Brother, Moss Lawn, Tiger Tag, Calvin Moon, and Torrent.