WORLD PREMIERE: ISOLATION SUITE AUDIO SERIES by Tim Carlson

Featuring Tim Carlson and Christie Watson and the music of Cold Calculi.

Meet UnDone. He’s going grey. Fast. Not just physically but socially, psychologically – even technologically. Ghosted by friends and society at large, the aging isolated musician fades toward invisibility in an East Vancouver that seems increasingly surreal.

Written by Tim Carlson with music by Cold Calculi, Isolation Suite is a hybrid of indie rock, poetry and drama that explores survival as a creative act. A Theatre Conspiracy / Rumble Theatre co-production, the 6-episode audio series launches April 15, 2021 on the interactive website isolationsuite.ca + Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other major platforms. Tune in on Thursdays weekly beginning April 15 to catch the latest episodes.“I began work on Isolation Suite in Fall 2018,” says Carlson. “The piece grapples with social isolation, depression, suicide and aging. Little did I know how much the story would resonate with a world in pandemic mode. Isolation and its fallout are surely one of the most common experiences everyone is dealing with on some level. I haven’t rewritten the piece to touch specifically on the pandemic as the surreal events in UnDone’s world reverberate poetically with our times."

Check out the interview with Tim Carlson and Christie Watson in Stir Vancouver: “Isolation Suite captures the soundscape of a man who's come UnDone.”

The latest video is We Teach Our Objects How To Speak Our Language by Margaret Krawecka and Ulla Laidlaw with music by Cold Calculi. The stop-motion video was supported by a grant from Canada Council / CBC’s Digital Originals program.

“The music video explores themes of isolation, memory and attachment,” says Margaret, who directed the video and did animation design with Ulla, who edited the video. “The scenes all take place inside a domestic interior filled with objects and mementos from the protagonist’s past, a space that represents his mind. This ‘mind-space’ gives us a glimpse of his inner world, seeing the environment through his point of view.”  Read more in Krawecka’s blog post.

Concept and Direction by Margaret Krawecka
Collaboration and Edit by Ulla Laidlaw
Tim Carlson - lyrics, guitar, vocals
Christie Watson - drums, vocal, guitar percussion
Jon Wood – recording, bass and additional instruments, original mix and master
David Mesiha – video mix and master

For more music visit Cold Calculi on Bandcamp.

Ulla Laidlaw’s video beautifully captures the sleepy-eyed melancholy of this new cut of Don’t Start Thinking Too Early by Cold Calculi. Shot mainly on phone in Vancouver’s Absolutely Broadway & Fraser area as well as above the Salish Sea and in Toronto. The song is featured in episode 3 of the Isolation Suite audio series from Theatre Conspiracy and Rumble Theatre.

Director & editor: Ulla Laidlaw
Song by Cold Calculi: Lyrics by Tim Carlson; music by Christie Watson (vocals, drums, guitar) & Tim Carlson (guitar); and David Mesiha (additional instruments).
Video footage shot by Tim Carlson, Christie Watson & Ulla Laidlaw

Recorded at Rain City Recorders, Vancouver, engineered by Emily Ryan and mixed by David Mesiha. Original track recorded and mixed by Jon Wood at JFD Studios, Vancouver.

Tim Carlson: playwright, performer, guitarist

Christie Watson: performer, drummer

Jivesh Parasram: director

Kellee Ngan: dramaturg

Margaret Krawecka: set and lighting design; video direction and animation

Ulla Laidlaw: music video director & editor; animation

David Mesiha: sound design

Gavan Cheema: associate producer, dramaturgical support

Belinda Bruce & Shanae Sodhi: Communications

All songs Tim Carlson & Christie Watson © 2020 SOCAN Recorded at JFD Studio, Vancouver. Mixed by Jon Wood.