Recording Artist “Bass Lions”, Nevado Records & Fortnight Music, Toronto & Guelph, ON 2007-Present
Acted as principal songwriter and arranger; contributed principle guitar, bass and vocals, and secondary percussion and keyboards live and in studio
Wrote and secured grants, prepared budgets, and met all reporting requirements
Projects have received multiple arts grants since shifting focus to include available granting opportunities as part of a diversified funding model
Raised complimentary capital from individuals and independent bodies, and secured in-kind contributions from invested corporate partners
Prepared and executed communications plans for pre-release, release, and post-release components of multiple record release campaigns and tours
Negotiated contracts for representation and distribution with record labels, management and promotional organizations
Solicited and contracted producers, graphic designers and artists, photographers, videographers, guest artists, and members of the KW Symphony Orchestra to partner with on special projects
Managed online presence and social media campaigns including Facebook, Bandcamp, CBC Radio, Instagram and Twitter profiles
Contributed media design including: website banners, posters, media packaging, one-sheets, photography, videography, video art, audio recording and mixing
Acted as media contact during promotional campaigns, providing copy and participating in all online, print, and radio interviews
Creative Sector Work History Continued…
Co-producer, “Drummer to Drummer” Web Series, Toronto ON & Halifax NS 2018-Present
Jurist, FACTOR Canada, CA 2018-Present
Music Teacher (part time), Cooperative “Pod” School at Fresh Ground, Kitchener, ON 2020-2021
Music Coordinator and Musician (Volunteer), Youth Eventz, Hamilton and St. Jacobs, ON 2005-2011
Chapel Music Coordinator and Musician, Redeemer University, Hamilton, ON 2000-2005
Releases: Professional Recordings and Video Art
“In-Flux”, Nathan Stretch and Dr. Gerard Yun, Kitchener Public Library, Kitchener, ON 2024 - Present
Binaural, site-specific recording for installation art, shakuhachi and scissor lift
In progress
Calibrated for stereo headphone listening
“Crushed, my beloved”, Nathan Stretch and Phil Irish, Kitchener and Elora, ON 2022
Video Art: https://www.philirish.art/post/the-passion
"Crushed, My Beloved" explores dynamic and repetitive movement representative of people on a cyclical journey. While ultimately a hopeful installation, the subjects' emotional and physical arcs flow from high to low, and around again in a loop. It is a piece representing crushing weight, resilience and vulnerabilities of a shared humanity, featuring: a powerful young black woman, an elderly caucasian man, an asian person transitioning from female to male, and a middle-aged white woman with her two children -- all sharing intimate space and experience
“Perpetual Ceremony”, Nathan Stretch, Clarence Cachagee and Phil Irish, Kitchener, ON 2021
Mixed media, site-specific installation
The nearly two-story collage was iteratively assembled on-site by Irish, Stretch, community members, and Library Staff. It draws primarily from paintings representative of a “home” that is being simultaneously deconstructed and/or reconstructed — a dynamic energized by the interplay between graphic, photo-realistic, and abstracted elements. At the heart of the slashed, sculpted — and at times disruptive — colourful mass, a stark black-and-white video plays on a loop. The subject is engaged in what can be described as “perpetual ceremony”; the flame and smoke from a central smudge pot bind and cleanse the disparate pieces of the paper-based installation. The ritual is paced. The fire is tended — the smoke rises to the ceiling as gift.
“It’s enormous and intentionally so. We wanted to put something in the main lobby that would hold space and impose itself on space that isn’t usually used in this way in order to make a place for people to consider Truth and Reconciliation to contemplate and to have conversation.”
“Dynamite Quartz”, Bass Lions, Independent Release, Kitchener, ON 2019
Video Single
Multimedia, video-art project produced in collaboration with large-scale collage artist Phil Irish, and sound designer Joseph Murray
“Threes” EP, Bass Lions, Independent Release, Kitchener, ON 2017
EP with members of the KW Symphony featuring original arrangements and composition
“Bass Lions’ Threes will make music fans rejoice and other bands jealous. It is a record not to be taken lightly. From start to finish, Threes is innovating, refreshing, clever, and thoughtful. ”
“Be Your Man (Giant Eyeball Version)”, Bass Lions, Fortnight Music, Guelph, ON 2015
Single – remix and accompanying video
“We Got Guts”, Bass Lions, Fortnight Music, Guelph, ON 2015
Video single
Filmed, edited and released at NIGHT/SHIFT, Kitchener’s nuit blanche style festival of the arts
“Bass Lions” EP, Bass Lions, Fortnight Music, Guelph, ON 2014
EP of original music
“[Bass Lions’] music is interesting, complex and varied – combining alt-rock/alt-pop’s sense of melody and harmony with complex musical arrangements and time signatures you’d find in jazz music.”
“Body Doubles”, Bass Lions, Independent Release, Kitchener, ON 2013
Single - experimental simultaneous song/video creation and production
NIGHT/SHIFT official selection
“… is Diamonds”, Bass Lions, Nevado Digital / Fontana North, Toronto, ON 2010
LP of original music
“It takes just over 20 minutes for Bass Lions to get intimate ― every bit of this album feels like it’s being projected right in front of you. There are fuzzy guitars, tussled percussion, subtle keyboards and warm, steady guitars. Nathan Stretch and Janine Smienk take over the harmonies on longing lyrics of love, friends and shiny objects. …Is Diamonds shows great promise.”
“More than Islands”, Bass Lions, Nevado Records, Toronto, ON 2009
EP of original music
“There’s a certain feel to Bass Lions’ debut EP, More Than Islands that any keen follower of the past two decades of Canadian rock will recognize. It’s an earthiness, coupled with a dark edge that suggests long, cold nights and barren highways. This has led to the band already drawing its fair share of comparisons to groups such as the Rheostatics.”
Selected Performance and Installation
Nathan Stretch, Dr. Gerard Yun et al, “Into the Ma of Nature: Intermedia explorations of sound and sight”, Kitchener, ON 2024
Performance for shakuhachi, effected guitar, voice modulation, video, and bio-sonification of plants
Nathan Stretch and Dr. Gerard Yun, “In-Flux”, Kitchener, ON 2024
Concert and live recording of original composition “In-Flux”
Nathan Stretch and Phil Irish “Crushed, my beloved” Installation, (The) Passion, Hamilton, ON 2023
Video Art installation for screen hung perpendicular
Nathan Stretch “Tryptic” Installation, enCompass, Hamilton, ON 2022
Video art installation for three screens
Nathan Stretch and Dr. Gerard Yun “Plant Choir” Performance, Open Ears Festival, Kitchener, ON 2022
Audio installation and performance for shakuhachi, effected guitar, voice modulation, and bio-sonification of plants
Nathan Stretch and Phil Irish “Crushed, my beloved” Installation, Imago: “Crossings”, Kelly Library, Toronto, ON 2022
Outdoor Video Art installation
In collaboration with artist Phil Irish
Nathan Stretch, Clarence Cachagee, and Phil Irish “Perpetual Ceremony” Installation, Kitchener Public Library, Kitchener, ON 2021
Two-story installation for inaugural National Day for Truth and Reconciliation featuring indigenous ceremony, video art, and large scale collage
Bass Lions “Dynamite Quartz” Video Release Party, Commons Studio, Kitchener, ON 2019
Acoustic performance with video projection in the “Infinity Cove” at Commons Studio
Featuring large scale, immersive collage by artist Phil Irish
Bass Lions “Threes” Listening Party and Installation, Fresh Ground, Kitchener, ON 2017
Bass Lions “Bass Lions” Performance, Riverfest Elora, Elora, ON 2015
Bass Lions “Bass Lions” Performance, Koi Fest, Kitchener, ON 2015
Bass Lions “Bass Lions” Performance, Kazoo! Fest, Guelph, ON 2015
Bass Lions “Bass Lions” Tour, 18 Show Central to East Coast Tour, CA 2015
Bass Lions “Orchestra 2.0” Performance, Maxwell’s Music and Events, Waterloo, ON 2015
With members and associates of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra
Bass Lions “We Got Guts” Installation and Performance, NIGHT/SHIFT, Kitchener, ON 2014
Interactive video shoot and subsequent presentation of completed video-art project during a complementary musical performance
Bass Lions “Body Doubles” Installation, NIGHT/SHIFT, Kitchener, ON 2013
Interactive audio/video installation at Kitchener’s annual festival of the arts
Bass Lions “…is Diamonds” Tour, 15 Show Ontario Tour, CA 2011
Bass Lions “More than Islands” Tour, 10 Show Central to West Coast Tour, CA 2009
Reily “We Were Archaeologists” Performance, Sled Island Festival, Calgary, AB 2007
Reily “We Were Archaeologists” Tour, 24 Show East to West Coast Tour, CA 2007