Ontario Arts Council – Popular Music Program
ARTIST STATEMENT
Artistic vision of Tom Desson (Fourway Flashers songwriter)
My earliest memories as a child are of music being played on the radio at home, followed by me dancing and singing
along on the living room floor. Road trips in the car with my dad were frequent. I don’t remember where we went all the
time, but I do remember there were always great tunes. Today, I still dance and sing on the living room floor, but now it’s
usually while I’m writing. My car has become a mobile studio and has also been the birthplace of many new songs. I
have an innate passion for writing and music, and really can’t imagine not having it as the focal point in my life. My songs
are who I am and what I see. I believe writing to be my most important means of communication, and music, the best way
to tell my story.
For ten years I wrote and performed original music with Toronto bands Letters on the Phone and Joywood, while also
teaching high school. During the past two years I’ve worked full-time on songwriting, performing, and recording. I built a
project studio in my home and from there I’ve been writing and recording new material for myself and other musicians.
Having a home studio provides me with a creative freedom that allows me to work on my craft seven days a week at all
hours of the day and night. This has been critical to my development as an artist. On a daily basis I’m able to set up
writing sessions for myself, and archive my new material straight to Pro Tools. Sometimes the songs come all at once
with lyrics flowing freely and other times my focus is strictly on recording instrumental ideas that I write lyrics for later.
Typically I write on guitar, but also devote time to writing on piano, bass, and drums.
With my current band Fourway Flashers, I find myself very fortunate to continue making original music with great artists
who are also great friends. Together, we are able to turn my compositions into different musical shapes and sounds. For
me, this is both rewarding and inspirational. Being able to formally record my songs and create finished works is essential
to my artistic career and helps to continually fuel my songwriting muse.
Ontario Arts Council – Popular Music Program
CATEGORY 2 – AUDIO RECORDING
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
1) Specify the type of recording: Full length album.
2) Provide a production plan/schedule:
3) Describe what activity has been started or completed to date:
Fourway Flashers have recently completed a six song demo which is going to press in the new year. Plans for the fulllength album are complete, a budget and schedule is in place, the songs have been written, and discussions have been
initiated with the proposed recording and mastering studios. At this time, we are only waiting to secure appropriate funding
before moving forward with the project.
4) Describe what activity you are requesting funding for: Pre-Production, Recording, Mixing and Mastering.
5) Provide the name of the producer: Adam Faux. (Resume attached.)
6) Provide the complete song list to be recorded (in no particular order):
Track List
1. Villains
2. Goodbye Chicago
3. Let Me Take Care of You
4. Lovers
5. One of Those Things
6. Train Wreck
7. Coma
8. Anything for a Song
9. Acrobat
10. Fifteen
11. It Doesn’t Matter if You Know
12. We All Fall Down
13. Mary’s Done
14. Postcard
Songwriting Credit
Tom Desson
Tom Desson
Tom Desson
Tom Desson
Tom Desson
Tom Desson
Tom Desson
Tom Desson
Tom Desson
Tom Desson
Tom Desson
Tom Desson
Tom Desson
Tom Desson
Nb: If the three submitted songs are near completion, explain what remains to be done.
While We All Fall Down, Mary’s Done and Postcard are essentially done they may need to be remixed/re-mastered in
order to ensure that they flow with the rest of the album. Often when things are recorded at different times in different
studios, they will have a different sound. We want a consistent line to be running throughout this album, to ensure that it
has a consistent sound.
7) List other participants, describe their role and provide a brief bio of each:
Tim Bovaconti - Bassist
Tim Bovaconti has been a fixture on the Toronto music scene for the past 15 years. In that time Tim has fronted bands,
The Love Cows and Pop Vultures and developed a reputation as a talented multi-instrumentalist, performing, touring and
recording with artists such as Ron Sexsmith, Kim Stockwood, The Sattalites, Strato-Chief, The Supers, Andrea Koziol,
Shonen Knife, Jerry Lee Lewis, Lost Dakotas, Bob Egan (Blue Rodeo), Andy Kim (Sugar Sugar), Mad Violet, Robbie Roth
and many others.
In late 2004 "Bover - Not Live at Budokan", Tim's first solo album was independently released. Contributors to the album
include Toronto music scene stalwarts Maury Lafoy, Kevin Fox, Fergus Hambleton, Paul Brennan, Chris Whiteley, Blake
Manning, Peter Fusco, Peter Nunn, Sara Mcelkerin, Bob Mckitrick and Doug Romanow.
As a session player Tim is adept on guitar, mandolin, lap and pedal steel, vocals and bass guitar.
Nb: Because of Tim’s busy touring work schedule with Ron Sexsmith he’s not able to make a full-time commitment to Fourway Flashers at this time. Tim
has committed to the recording project, has played live shows with us in the past, and will in the future as time allows. But we will also perform live
shows with another bassist in order to allow us to play frequently and to continue to develop our audience.
ADAM – MIX ENGINEER?
8) Provide a distribution and marketing plan:
9) Describe any agreement you have with a music publishing company or record label: None.
10) Provide details on any agreements that you have with a manager or agent:
We’re managed by Sara Malabar of Malabar Artist Management (incorporation in process.) She acts as both
Management and Booking Agent, and is paid 15% of all band revenue. (Excluding grant revenue as appropriate.)
11) Explain how you will complete the project if you are unable to secure all projected revenue:
If projected revenue does not come through the recording project will still go ahead. The primary result of this outcome
would be that the recording project would take much longer to complete as the band continues to save money. In addition
artists would donate their time in the recording studio and all revenue would be spent on the physical costs associated
with recording.
12) Describe the intended outcome of the project: