Stir Q&A: the Rickshaw Theatre's Mo Tarmohamed on live music, livestreams, being an introvert, and sweatpants
The force behind the beloved cinema-turned-live-music venue has pivoted to survive the pandemic in several creative ways
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EVER SINCE MO Tarmohamed began running the Rickshaw Theatre in 2011, a who’s who of musicians and bands have rocked the cinema-turned-live-music venue in the heart of the Downtown Eastside: D.O.A., Thee Oh Sees, the Afghan Whigs, Pickwick, Typhoon, the Sonics, Death, Flamin' Groovies, Midge Ure, the English Beat, Kid Congo, Built to Spill, Japandroids, NoMeansNo, Real Sickies, the Real McKenzies, Bif Naked, the Buzzcocks, Killing Joke, Russian Circles, King Khan, Mac DeMarco, Pointed Sticks…
Around this time last year, the Rickshaw was hosting the likes of Sunday Morning and Bison. What a difference a year makes.
COVID-19 has clobbered the concert scene, while recent public-health restrictions in B.C. have hit cinemas and theatres especially hard, the venues being shuttered completely rather than be allowed to operate at reduced capacity with safety measures in place like other businesses.
Tarmohamed, an accountant by training who has always loved music, has pivoted in several creative ways. Here, he shares how the Rickshaw is navigating the pandemic and keeping the music alive.
First, a loaded question: how are you? How have you been handling the toll of COVID-19?
Strangely enough, I am doing well, both mentally and physically. It may partially have to do with the fact that I am, more or less, an introvert, but it also has to do with an acknowledgment that the pandemic and its impact on my business is beyond my control. Eventually we will get back to normal. In the meantime, I am doing everything I can that is in my control, such as applying for any and all subsidies and grants available to ensure my business remains viable until we do open. In addition, I would also like to give my landlord a shout out (and how often do you hear that?). They have worked with me during these trying times and have been very flexible with payment arrangements.
What has also helped is that my core office staff—Robert Barrington, our ops manager, and Louise Wersching, our marketing coordinator—and I are all still working close to full-time. The three of us come to the venue at least three days a week. Coming to work not only helps with our sense of well-being; there’s actually no shortage of work to do. In addition to selling merchandise, we have been very active with live stream shows: we have now recorded around 15 livestream events, of which 80 percent of them we produced in-house including our annual fundraisers Keithmas (over $15,000 raised for the Food Bank) and Bowie Ball (over $10,000 raised for the BC Cancer Foundation).
Doing these livestreams has resulted in enhancing mine and my staff's skill set and it has given me an opportunity to rehire some of my freelance technical crew. I would hazard a guess that we have been the most active live music venue for streaming shows. I would also hazard a guess that we have been more active with our social media engagement compared to other venues. From the moment we were shuttered in mid-March 2020 we made the decision to continue to engage with Vancouver’s live music fans every day, and I think it’s been therapeutic for all of us. There’s a real sense that we will all get through this together.
The Rickshaw’s livestream with the Pack A.D. Photo by Michael Caswell
We see that the Rickshaw has a whole lot of new merchandise available. What can you tell us about it?
We have pivoted heavily into merch. Where before we just sold T-shirts and hoodies during shows, we have now expanded our line to include: soccer-style scarves, the ubiquitous face masks, long sleeve shirts, mugs, toques, hats and tote bags. We're now looking into getting sweatpants (because apparently that’s all people wear these days, including yours truly!). The response has been unexpectedly outstanding. We have had to reorder our merchandise twice already within six months where before our inventory would last for more than two years. (Merchandise is available here.)
The Rickshaw Theatre’s marketing coordinator, Louise Wersching.
What other plans do you have in place to help get through this dreadful period?
We will continue to record more livestream events and make the venue available to whoever wants to record a music video. We have all of the necessary infrastructure in place to produce high-quality videos at a fraction of what it would normally cost. Beyond that and selling merchandise, we will continue to advocate for financial support from various levels of government for independent live music venues, not only for those in Vancouver, but also throughout Canada. Small- and mid-size venues play a critical role in the live music ecosystem and it's crucial that they survive the pandemic. Without a network of live music venues, Canada will stop being attractive for touring bands and it will also be a major setback for emerging local talent who will not have places to perform to hone their skills.
A year or so into the pandemic, what else is on your mind these days?
First and foremost, the Rickshaw would like to thank Vancouver’s live-music fans. The love that they have poured on us during these times have been nothing short of remarkable. It clearly indicates to me that there’s a real appetite for the arts by our citizenry. If anything, this pandemic has shown all of us how much performance arts means to our lives now that it has been ripped away from us so abruptly. It has been a shock to the system, not only to those who attend concerts regularly but also to those who were previously apathetic and perhaps took concerts for granted.
I believe that we will see a real renaissance once we’re open again with crowds flocking back to see live music concerts, at least for the first little while. Initially, it will be a major boon for local musicians who will be recipients of large attendances to their shows, as it will still take some time for international touring acts to book to organize their tours.
In the meantime, as soon as we are allowed to, we will be looking to do hybrid live/livestream shows with limited capacity at the Rickshaw. However, I truly can’t wait to open our doors to the general public and not have to worry about social gathering anymore, even for an introvert like me.
The Rickshaw’s calendar: 2020 vs 2021.
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