PROFILE
Jeremy Elliott
By Manus Hopkins
Jeremy Elliott played his first gig only two months after acquiring his own drum kit . He had been taking piano lessons and begging his parents for a kit after being awestruck by the drummer in his dad ’ s band , which was entirely made up of Anglican priests . The drummer gave him some copies of Modern Drummer magazine , and his fascination grew , he tells Professional Sound .
“ It just seemed super-human ,” he says . “ Like , how can two hands make that sound that fast ? And I think for a young guy with three younger siblings , there was the ‘ blowing off steam ’ element .”
Elliott ’ s mom was adamant that they wouldn ’ t buy him a drum kit , but a stroke of luck came when a family friend asked if he wanted an unused Tama kit that was taking up space in her house . Before long , he was a full-on gigging drummer , after getting his first show playing with his dad at a banquet in Creemore , ON , an hour-and-a-half drive from their hometown of Toronto .
“ I figured out really quickly that when you ’ re a drummer , you ’ re always thinking about a gig differently than any other musician ,” he says . “ Because you ’ ve got to figure out how to get your stuff there , you have to figure out where it ’ s going , and you have to figure out how to get it into the venue .”
As a teenager in 1997 , Elliott formed the band Staggered Crossing with three of his high school friends , including singer Julian Taylor . This wasn ’ t Elliott ’ s first band , though — in grade eight , Elliott drummed in a group called Erotic Politicians , covering standard rock songs like Neil Young ’ s “ Rockin ’ in the Free World ,” and The Rolling Stones ’“ As Tears Go By .” Throughout high school , Elliott continued playing in various bands , often several with the same musicians .
“ Sometimes it was like 20 bands made up of the same six people ,” he remembers .
Elliott is old enough that grade 13 still existed in his high school days , and by this point , Staggered Crossing had achieved a decent level of local success , and he recalls their shows were filling up more and more . Right before the band members graduated , they signed a publishing deal , and then signed a record contract with Warner Canada when they were fresh out of high school .
“ It was awesome ,” he recalls fondly .
The main reason for Staggered Crossing ’ s early success was that they just didn ’ t stop playing . Though saying this now makes him feel old , Elliott remembers there were many more places for young bands to play in Toronto back then than there are now . The band had a regular Friday night gig at a bar when they were still underage , and they never turned down the opportunity to make an appearance at open mic jams , of which there plenty around streets Yonge and Eglinton .
“ You could hit like six or seven of them in a night ,” he says . “ So [ Julian Taylor ] and I would just go around playing all of them .”
A particular favourite Toronto venue of Elliott ’ s was always the Horseshoe Tavern , where he remembers Taylor turning 19 onstage . Luckily , this is one of Toronto ’ s historic venues that is still standing and in business , with local acts and small touring bands alike gracing its stage up until the coronavirus lockdowns began last spring . As Staggered Crossing started playing higher-profile gigs and touring , Elliott took an interest in the logistics of stage production and touring , after learning the ins and outs of that side of the business from the band ’ s front of house tech , Doug McKendrick , and their tour manager , Paul Newman ; McKendrick has gone on to become the vice president of production at The Corporation of Massey Hall & Roy Thompson Hall , and Newman now serves as Coldplay ’ s bass tech .
McKendrick worked for a pro audio and lighting company in Burlington , ON , in the early 2000s when he wasn ’ t mixing Staggered Crossing ’ s live shows , and hired Elliott to help out at the shop in between tours . Between touring and working for McKendrick , Elliott really started to understand the world of stage production . In 2004 , he came off a long tour and didn ’ t have anything on his schedule for another month , so he got in touch with Alex Hahn from Paul Hahn & Co ., a century-old piano store in Toronto that had tuned his family ’ s piano when he was a kid , and started working as their sales manager .
“ The initial plan was that I ’ d be there for two weeks to see what I could do to help out , and then maybe when I wasn ’ t on the road , I could come in and be useful ,” he says with a laugh . “ Fourteen years later , was a big , teary farewell .”
Staggered Crossing called it quits in
2007 , saying the split was amicable and the reason for it was that the band members could no longer commit the time , energy , and enthusiasm the band demanded , also stating that it would not be the end of their musical collaborations . Looking back on the band ’ s breakup , Elliott says it was a necessary end , as the band had reached the bottom of its slow descent .
“ Staggered Crossing went in like a lion and out like a lamb ,” he says . “ I think most people had figured out it was over before we did .”
Elliott still wanted to record and play music , and took up more projects just for fun , before reuniting with Taylor to drum for his solo band , alongside bassist Ben Spivak , whom Elliott praises as his “ dream bass player .”
Elliott believes that very few career paths are linear , and his certainly hasn ’ t been . He eventually stepped away from life on the road once again and moved to St . Catharine ’ s , where he now works as the general manager of Production Service Industries ( PSI ), a production company specializing in pro audio , lighting , and video . Lately , the team at PSI has been working to hone their production and video streaming skills , like many other production companies , and the company has also been chosen as the official production supplier for the Niagara 2022 Canada Summer Games . After a long career in several facets of the music industry , Elliott feels right at home doing what he ’ s doing now .
“ The job is so interesting ,” he says . “ I feel like my creative juices are flowing all day , every day .”
Manus Hopkins is an Editorial Assistant at Professional Sound .
18 PROFESSIONAL SOUND