Rocking Out with Vancouver's 16mm

Their style has been described as Brit Pop-Rock and with just the right amounts of wittiness and toe-tapping melodies, Vancouver's 16mm sure produce some catchy tunes.

The group was formed years ago and although they've had several line-up changes, Matthew Moldowan (vocals, keys)  and Jefferey Josiah Powell (bass, vocals) are the mainstays. "It's kind of like dating, you know within the first five minutes," said Jeffrey about choosing their recent band mates.

Their self-titled album, that is currently available on iTunes, was released through Universal Music and they also recently played JUNOFest.

They produced a music video for the song SOS with the assistance of VIDEOfact and with such connections already, I was wondering what these two were still doing with day jobs.

"Once you disclose that you're part of a serious endeavor outside of work you have to make sure you continue to be on top of your tasks," said Jeffrey. "You don't want to compromise people's view of how you go about your business."

Their humour is never lost on or off stage and I was delighted to hear a piece of "16mm trivia" that attributes all of their current ambition to an autographed photo of Henry Winkler as "The Fonz" that Matthew received when he was young.

"My most prized possession is an autograph from Fonzie that says: To Matt, the world is yours, stay as cool as you are." Both Jeffrey and Matt joke that any success they make encounter can be directly attributed to Winkler who also told Matthew on the side, "you can be anything that you want to be".

They've been playing shows and promoting the album though they hope to re-energize in the near future, working on fresh content and moving forward with their musical style. "We've been writing new material that's a little bit of a departure, it's a little more focused," said Matthew.

16mm will also be playing with The Manvils at Richards on Richards May 29th. When I asked Jeffrey what to expect, he said (and I quote), "good energy and requests for piggy backs." 

GUEST BLOGGER: Rebecca Bollwitt has been blogging about Vancouver since 2004 on Miss604.com, co-hosting two podcasts since 2005 and in 2008 she co-founded sixty4media, a social media consulting firm.