Twenty years ago, I met Graeme Mathieson moonlighting as DJ Gramera. Graeme displays a vast knowledge of soul, funk and reggae music. He selects the music, and people smile and dance. He has also always been shooting, editing, and producing moving pictures. I remember when he left his day job and co-founded Bonfire Originals as a studio to tell stories through documentary film. Graeme is the director and writer of “Play It Loud: How Toronto Got Soul”, a feature documentary about Jamaican/Canadian singer Jay Douglas, launched with TVO and Knowledge Network. In 2024, Graeme completed a 5-part documentary anthology with the NFB titled “Sounds & Pressure: Reggae in a Foreign Land”. Each episode is a careful portrait of a Jamaican immigrant who worked diligently to become a Toronto reggae artist. The 5th episode about Jerry Brown’s Summer Records is probably special to Graeme. Jerry Brown, a mechanic by day, builds a recording studio in his basement by night and invites artists to record reggae music. He releases the recordings to Toronto and beyond. Jerry Brown’s studio was in Malton, Ontario. That’s basically Brampton. Graeme Mathieson grew up in Brampton as a minor. Now he’s producing major documents for the culture.
-Written by longtime friend and collaborator, Tonik
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Which ’hood are you in?
Currently in the Dundas West area, but born and raised a proud Bramptonian. The mashup of cultures in the 90s era Brampton has been crucial to who I am, my friends, tastes and music selections. In fact, when the aforementioned reggae producer Jerry Brown left Malton, he and his family ended up living around the corner from me.
What do you do?
I am a documentary filmmaker, currently touring my recent feature film about the heart and soul of Black music in Canada, through the foundations laid down by the numerous Jamaican musicians and singers who moved here in the 1960s and 70s (the same time my 20-something mother immigrated from Jamaica). It’s called Play It Loud! How Toronto Got Soul, which will premiere on TVO Feb 16th. My side-passion is also music: DJing and collecting vinyl – mostly ska, rocksteady, reggae, funk and soul, but really anything that moves a dance floor. And I’m co-founder of Bonfire Originals production company.
What are you currently working on?
After the success of the release last summer of my other documentary, a NFB 5-part series co-directed with Shella Records owner and filmmaker Chris Flanagan, on the foundation of reggae in Canada, called Sounds & Pressure: Reggae In a Foreign Land (featuring reggae & ska greats Johnny Osbourne, Leroy Sibbles, Nana McLean, Summer Records owner Johnny Osbourne, and ska duet Roy and Yvonne Panton), I’ve been in development on a couple other documentaries. Surprisingly, one of them is not music-related. More to come soon…
Where can we find your work?
The Sounds & Pressure series can be streamed for free on NFB.ca, and most of my work and DJing-related events are posted on my Instagram, or my site: gramera.com. You may catch me at a few local spots flipping the vinyls (Houndstooth, The Little Jerry, Sounds Good, BSMT254, etc.). And Play It Loud is playing at theatres across the country over the next couple of months – keep an eye out at playitlouddoc.com
