SEE Magazine
Issue #380: March 15, 2001
Copyright © 2001. All Rights Reserved

On Screen Preview BY SCOTT LINGLEY the smalls . . . er, whatever directed by John Stiles Sunday, March 18, 9:30 p.m. Princess Theatre What made Nova Scotia-born, Toronto-based writer/filmmaker John Stiles think he could make a documentary about the pride of the prairies, Alberta’s own hard rock warriors, the smalls? Well, he did live with them for quite a while. In fact, he credits the band with making him pick up a camera in the first place. "This is the strange thing. The film just came out of the love or passion I had for the band and the guys are all friends of mine. I’m primarily a writer, but I just happened to be there for three years with a camera. When you’re around people constantly, you start to pick up what the hopes and aspirations really are." Stiles shared a house with the smalls back in the early 1990s, just as they were getting established as the city’s most popular indie act and he kept in touch with the band after he headed to Toronto to pursue his writing. In 1996, the smalls decided it was time to try their luck in Europe and they asked Stiles to document their journey. "Somebody in the band, one of the guys, actually it was Corby, lent me the money and said, ‘If you can pay us back, you should come over and [videotape] the stuff in Europe.’ Pieced together out of 60 hours of footage and edited down to a concise 22 minutes, the smalls . . . er, whatever gets you up close with the smalls, sometimes uncomfortably so as the strains of tour test the mettle of the band and the friendships contained therein. But Stiles said he tried to strike a balance in whatever and show the clear and vocal fan support of the smalls back at home. "I’m really curious how the film goes over in Alberta. One of the concerns that originally the band members had was that they didn’t want to come across as a band that didn’t have an audience in the audience they have out west. So I was pretty careful to make sure that aspect of it was shown and not make the whole thing a big downer." Luckily, the band members themselves were helpful in providing fodder for Stiles’ lens. "Originally the film was about the smalls and (Montreal’s) Grimskunk, how they were helping each other out in their respective markets, but Grimskunk kind of got pushed aside. The smalls, their personalities kind of dominated the film." Currently preparing for the publication of his first novel, The Insolent Boy, which Stiles says draws on some of his experiences with the smalls, the aspiring novelist has no plans for another movie in the immediate future, but is hoping a Canadian broadcaster would be interested in showing his film in its entirety.

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