I can't remember how I came across the music of Beverly Glenn-Copeland. It was at some point last year, probably via Wire. I've loved it (not all of it but lots of it) but didn't know much of his story. Catching up on an old New Yorker I came across a brilliant review that has really made me want to dive in again. It starts like this:
"In the early nineteen-eighties, Beverly Glenn-Copeland was living in a quiet part of Ontario famous for its scenic hills and lakes. He heard about the advent of the personal computer and, owing to a fascination with “Star Trek” and science-fiction futurism, became instantly intrigued. He bought one, even though he had no idea how to use it. Initially, he just walked around with his computer cradled in his arms, hoping that its secrets would reveal themselves.
For the next few years, Glenn-Copeland’s free time was spent shovelling snow, feeding his family, and teaching himself how to use his computer to make music. He later recalled that his creative community consisted of trees, bears, and rabbits—“the natural world, that was my companion.” He slept only a few hours a night, kept awake by the conviction that his computer could help him produce sounds that had never been heard before."
It ends like this...
"He spent decades working in obscurity without realizing that that’s what it was. Obscurity suggests an awareness of the outside world and its desires. Only now does Glenn-Copeland understand that he was making music for a generation of listeners who had yet to be born. In the documentary, he is excited to eat takeout on the sidewalk and to listen to his band tell stories about night clubs and new music. He is thrilled to be interviewed on someone’s Internet radio show. Everything is delightful and unprecedented. He wasn’t waiting for all this to happen—the recognition, the new records, the tours. But he was waiting for us."