"Oh Canada"

Check it out! We made a video for The Canadian Romantic from his unreleased album. It's an erotic version of "Oh Canada"! If you like it, please please please share it!

Co-directed and written by Robert Dayton (The Canadian Romantic).
Co-directed/camera/editor Jeremy Singer.
Featuring Siânteuse, Chris A Cummings, Nyles Miszcyk
Thanks to The House Of Hot Breath for location and Maura Doyle for beaver footage.
Not visible: drums by Jay Anderson and other musical flourishes by Justin Ladd!
https://thecanadianromantic.bandcamp.com
More info on The Canadian Romantic:
http://www.robertdayton.com/thecanadianromantic/
Contact: mrdayton@gmail.com

where to get Diaper Cake Journal, post on Lewis Furey, more

Is anyone reading this? HA! Big announcement regarding my new book soon but first...

Soooo issue one of Diaper Cake Journal is now available in New York at Desert Island and at Printed Matter, where you can also buy my art book The Canadian Romantic.

You can also order them through Art Metropole:
http://new.artmetropole.com/shop/publisher/robert-dayton

They also carry Young Adult #3, I am pretty proud of my writing in there as close to the marrow of the funny bone as it gets, ow! Only 100 printed, act fast:

http://new.artmetropole.com/shop/13116

 

I just wrote something new for Canadian Glam on Lewis Furey, if you like perverse Montreal nasally cabaret styles:
https://thisiscanadianglam.tumblr.com/post/160307351524/lewis-furey

Maura Doyle interview, plus "Young Adult" launch

hi!

Maura Doyle is one of my favourite artists and this interview that I did with her is up, I wish that I had included "(laughter)" but then it would have been throughout:
http://www.whitehotmagazine.com/articles/interview-with-artist-maura-doyle/3625

I also have a short story entitled "emotionally immature" in issue 3 of Young Adult which launches Monday, March 27th @ 7pm
The Burdock (1184 Bloor Street W, Toronto), FREE

More info here:

http://blankchequepress.com/post/155548250272/coming-march-2017

So I am still posting adrawing aweek from The Empty Bed to my Tumblr (see last post):

http://robertdayton.tumblr.com/

As well, I posted my interview with the legendary Paul Williams to my Canadian Glam project:

http://thisiscanadianglam.tumblr.com/

 

 

weekly drawings

Hi! So I am starting to post a drawing a week on my Tumblr which is here:

http://robertdayton.tumblr.com/

 

If it resonates with you,feel free to follow, share, always looking for input et al...Most of these are from my upcoming book The Empty Bed...if you know of good companies that do prints andtees etc I am all ears!

 

 

 

The Canadian Romantic releases new song "No Borders" to stand with Bandcamp in support of Immigrants/Basic human values this Friday

This Friday Feb 3, 2017 (starting at 12:01am Pacific Time) for any purchase made on Bandcamp, they will donate 100% of their share of the proceeds to the American Civil Liberties Union, who are working to oppose last week’s Executive Order barring immigrants and refugees from seven Middle Eastern countries from entering the United States. 

Here's the track: https://thecanadianromantic.bandcamp.com/track/no-borders-with-marker-starling

Oh, and Canada needs a repeal of the “Safe Third Country” agreement. Call your MP directly: http://www.lop.parl.gc.ca/ParlInfo/Compilations/HouseOfCommons/MemberByPostalCode.aspx?Menu=HOC
CANADA MUST WELCOME ALL FREAKS! NO BORDERS!!!!!

 

No Borders is part of the yet to be released album by The Canadian Romantic with Marker Starling.

Robert Dayton (lyrics and vocals) (Canned Hamm, July Fourth Toilet)
Chris Cummings (keys and melodies) (Marker Starling, Hank)
Justin Ladd and Nyles Miszczyk (production and engineering and sweetening)

Jay Anderson (drums and percussion)

 

The Canadian Romantic is a character created by Robert Dayton, a melodramatic figure of faded glamour who tries to bridge and explore the gap between Canada and romance with somewhat dubious results. So far he exists through live performance (having performed across Canada and the U.S.A.), a series of videos, an album with music by Marker Starling (unreleased), a lenticular winking photo, a doll and an art book.

NEW REELS PAGE and more....

Oh hi, I added a new page to my website of reels. ENJOY! For biggest yuks be with the ad voice reel as I wrote something that amuses me...thanks to Nyles Miszczyk for recording and mixing and everything!

Also I have some writing in the new issue of Vulcher, the resurrected rock mag that features such heavies as Eddie Flowers, Gary Pig Gold, Plastic Crimewave, Lester Bangs and more! I wrote a piece about bout Spider-Man, Main and Hastings and Cathy Smith...order here:
http://vulcherfanzine.bigcartel.com/product/vulcher-2

LEONARD COHEN, PLUS: KITCHENER NEW YEARS EVE, JACK FROST

This Friday December 30th I will be part of a Leonard Cohen tribute happening at The Smiling Buddha (961 College, Toronto). One song is one that I have been wanting to do for a decade -can you guess it? I'll be accompanied by the truly great players Chris Cummings, my NEW HORIZZZONS bandmate Craig Daniels .... info: "Sincerely, L. Cohen ~ A Tribute Featuring performances by — Benjamin & Seb of The Holy Gasp, Zach Bines of Weaves, Robert Dayton (The Canadian Romantic), Craig Daniels, Marker Starling, Viktoria & Harley of Meanwood, Martian Crisis Unit, David Felton, Daniela Gassi, Stan Simon, Dylan Gamble, Fresh Flesh & hosted by yours truly, Rogue Tenant"

Then New Years Eve I'll be doing ballpoint pen tattoos in Kitchener at the legendary Wolper Hotel (oooh, the hotelcontains Canada's oldest tobacconist so I'll be grabbing a couple cigars) for a big party on their wooden dance floor, more info here:

http://www.cafka.org/events

I feel negligent for not sharing other news in a timely manner. I had performed as Jack Frost three times these past couple of weeks. Once was as host fora free community screening of Gremlins at The Revue Cinema with a Bing and Bowie puppet show and wild spandex dance performance by House ofHot Breath who recently moved to Canada from England. I leaped out from behind the screen after a special Ub Iwerks' Jack Frost cartoon from the 1930's played. I think I captured the cartoon character! I also hosted karaoke at The Beaver and performed a 'school assembly' style presentation on the dangers of eating tinsel at Laugh Sabbath.

The Persistence Of Print panel

Saturday, Oct 29th at 6 pm at The Metro Toronto Convention Centre (a big building in Toronto) for the art book fair 1/Edition I will be on the panel The Persistence Of Print and it's FREE!
Moderated by the Art Gallery of Ontario's Manager of Publications and Special Projects Jim Shedden, The Persistence of Print is a panel of four "web-positive artists and publishers", discussing their ongoing work in the print medium and the myriad ways that print has been transformed by the web. Their bios are below. The event takes place at 6pm on Saturday the 29th of October. For more information, visit the /edition fair site, here.


Ana Barajas is the Director of YYZ Artists’ Outlet, a non-profit artist-run centre, and Managing Editor of YYZBOOKS. As the Director of YYZ, Barajas has managed more than one-hundred exhibitions to date.

Robert Dayton is an interdisciplinary artist and writer. As The Canadian Romantic, he manifests as a series of videos, live performances, a doll, an art book and a winking photo to make people in Canada and everywhere feel more attractive.

Annie Koyama is a Toronto-based former film producer who, after a health crisis, accidentally fell into publishing art books and alternative comics. She believes that print is not dead.

Flavio Trevisan is an artist and designer. His work has been shown in numerous exhibitions, including Museum of a Represented City, presented by the Koffler Gallery in Toronto. He was a co-founder and co-director of the now defunct Convenience Gallery in Toronto. He has been publishing books as Hex Editions since 2013.

Jim Shedden is the Manager of Publishing at the Art Gallery of Ontario, where he also curates film-related exhibitions. Shedden has been producing publications since his first zine, Gratis, at age 14, and loves print just as much as he loves html. He also occasionally makes films, programs music, writes, and blogs.

 

In Or Out

Friends, I have been doing a project called In or Out and have just started a Facebook page for it entitled In or Out: a place where people can post and comment on their In or Outs (ie. tucked in or untucked). Please join this new community here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/372259246438681/

There will be a karaoke launch party for it in Toronto this Sunday October 9th, 2016 at The Beaver (1192 Queen west) starting at 10 pm.

IMG_20160826_202858.jpg

As well, The Comics Without Words show at weird Things is closing soon, here's a detail of one of my pieces....

Comics Without Words opening Thursday September 15th/ Diaper Cake Journal

Oh hello, 

It's been a while since I have posted because nothing much good has happened. Ha ha ha! Okay okay, I probably neglected to inform you of a couple of things. What of it? However I am excited to be  part of a group show entitled Comics Without Words opening Thursday evening, September 15th, 2016 at Weird Things (998 Bathurst Street). Honestly I don't know how long the show is up for. A couple of weeks? Dascription: "Wordless narratives by Ginette Lapalme Ted Gudlat, H. Yitzchaq, Sylvia Munson, Scott Carruthers, Tanya Read and Robert Dayton"

Oh, and this is new, issue one of The Diaper Cake Journal....Troubling first issue all dedicated to the loathsome trend known as diaper cakes. 16 pages risograph printed at Colour Code. Shit brown ink on piss yellow paper (with a touch of toilet mint green). Unpleasant. Available here:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/475653809/the-official-diaper-cake-journal-1

ROCK AND RULE

Friends, I have so much going on this month of May! Hopefully some of it will be of interest. Every Tuesday night I am deejaying at the Beaver in Torotno, Cananda (1192 Queen West) playing some of my wildest albums (including an array of whistling records) as well as a midnight candlelight recitation by The Canadian Romantic. What are recitations? Intense spoken reflections of the soul in a romantic manner. We are here to help you get through this mortal life.

There is an art auction Benefit called Multiplier happening at/for Mercer Union, Wednesday May 11th. I don't have any art in it but I will be hosting it and it will be fast paced!  If you want to see some of my art I have been regularly adding quick n dirty drawings to my THIS IS CANADIAN GLAM Tumblr: http://thisiscanadianglam.tumblr.com/

Also the NEW HORIZZZONS art booklet (with art by me and Michael Comeau who designed it and had it gorgeously risograph printed at ColourCode Printing) and music EPis available at various stores such as Parkdale Platters, Likely General and The Beguiling in Toronto as well as through our fine distributor, order here: http://www.tediumhouse.com/artists/new-horizzzons

AND then on May 20th we are performing before (not during, I hate it when people interrupt the movie, I hate MSTK3000) this!...check out this awesome poster by Veronique of Art for Eternity!
 

Art For EternityFriday May 20th 9pm doors 930 NEW HORIZZZONS 10pm Rock&Rule!Rock & RuleClive A. Smith 1983, 77min PG, AnimationWith original songs by Blondie, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Cheap Trick and Earth Wind & Fire.The classic cult Canadia…

Art For Eternity
Friday May 20th 9pm doors 930 NEW HORIZZZONS 10pm Rock&Rule!

Rock & Rule
Clive A. Smith 1983, 77min PG, Animation
With original songs by Blondie, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Cheap Trick and Earth Wind & Fire.

The classic cult Canadian "animated post-apocalyptic rock ‘n’ roll sci-fi fantasy mutant musical" !!

Set in a post-apocalyptic future, humans have been wiped out and animals have mutated into humanoid creatures after being exposed to radiation from nuclear fallout. Angel, Omar and their band strive to be recognized in Ohmtown but the Legendary evil super rocker Mok kidnaps Angel to Nuke York where he plans to use her unique voice in a demon summoning against her will. Omar, Dizzy and Stretch steal a cop car and head to Nuke York to try to save their buddy Angel.

Rock & Rule was Toronto based animation house Nelvana's first and only animated feature. The original story was derived from a 1978 TV special, produced by Nelvana, called “The Devil and Daniel Mouse.” The film utilized over 300 hand animators and relatively few computer images were used as computer-created graphics and animation were still in their infancy at the time. Blondie, Cheap Trick, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, and Earth, Wind, & Fire provide original songs that were then animated, the music and lyrics woven into the scenes of the film. These exclusive songs, including a collaboration between Blondie and Cheap Trick, were never released on a soundtrack.

Opening for the film will be Toronto's favourite "Canadian Glamrock" band NEW HORIZZZONS. Featuring Robert Dayton (Canned Hamm, The Canadian Romantic, July Fourth Toilet), Craig Daniels (Leather Uppers, Tijuana Bibles) and Michael Comeau (LSDoubleDCup, the comic book Hellberta, etc).
check out their latest album at https://newhorizzzons.bandcamp.com/

Tickets available at door night of
or via http://rockrulerevue.eventbrite.ca/

The Canadian Romantic opening for Tim Heidecker and Neil Hamburger March 3rd/March 4th

WATERLOO (without Chris Cummings on organ)

live at Starlight Social Club (47 King Street North, Waterloo, ON, N2J 2W9)
Thursday, March 3
Doors at 8:00 PM, show starts at 9:00 PM.

Tix here: http://www.ticketweb.ca/event/tim-heidecker-neil-hamburger-starlight-tickets/6475405?pl=starlight

TORONTO (with Chris Cummings on organ): both Toronto shows SOLD OUT!

 live at The Opera House (735 Queen Street East, Toronto, ON, M4M 1H1)
Thursday, March 3
early show: Doors at 6:30 PM, show starts at 7:30 PM.

late show: Doors at 9:45 PM, show starts at 10:45 PM.

 

Timothy Richard Heidecker is an American comedian, writer, director, actor and musician. He is one half of the comedy team of Tim & Eric, along with Eric Wareheim.

America's Funnyman Neil Hamburger is the hardest working comedian in existence, performing up to 399 shows a year internationally to critical acclaim and audience bewilderment. He's toured as the hand-picked opener for Tenacious D, Tim & Eric, and Faith No More, and his TV credits include Fox News' Red Eye, Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Tom Green Live, and Jimmy Kimmel Live. On his 2011 UK tour Neil played to packed houses at the Edinburgh Fringe and completed a 10-show stint at London's Soho Theatre. His most recent album "Live At Third Man" was produced by Jack White in Nashville; an earlier Hamburger album was among SPIN's "40 Greatest Comedy Albums Of All Time."

 

 

The Canadian Romantic Presents: LAST TANGO IN PARIS!

THIS VALENTINE'S DAY COME WATCH SOME EROTIC (35mm!) DOWNER CINEMA WITH YOUR HOST THE CANADIAN ROMANTIC WHO WILL PERFORM BEFORE THE MOVIE !
Tix here:

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/last-tango-in-paris-on-35mm-at-the-revue-cinema-tickets-21352567103
LAST TANGO IN PARIS
35 MM print
France/ Italy 1972, 129 min, Rated R.
Director Bernardo Bertolucci, Staring Marlon Brando and Maria Schneider.

The Revue Cinema, Toronto
February 14th. 9pm doors/ 9:30 The Canadian Romantic followed by the film.
In Collaboration with the Revue Cinema's Art For Eternity programming.
Licenced event. Regular Revue Cinema pricing applies


Beautiful, elegant and intense, director Bertolucci masterfully circles blood with butter as stars Marlon Brando and Maria Schneider give no names but plenty of explicit sex and implicit everything else in their problematic relationship. Game changer Last Tango In Paris was released to moral condemnation and critical acclaim in 1972. Dark fantasies, here comes reality! What better way to spend Valentine's Day whether alone or not alone?
Prizes and giveaways to single people, couples who breakup during the movie and more!

The Canadian Romantic is a character created by Robert Dayton, a melodramatic figure of faded glamour who tries to bridge and explore the gap between Canada and romance with somewhat dubious results. So far he exists through live performances throughout North America, a series of videos, an album with music by Marker Starling (unreleased), a lenticular winking photo, a doll and an art book. You will come alive with laughter feeling like you’ve woken up at an undisclosed time with makeup smeared across your face.

Poster by Veronique Vallieres.

The destruction of many Points Gray albums

When I get an idea or get immersed in the act of creation I feel a rush of excitement, especially when sharing is involved, be it collaboration or even reaching out to people (which can also be a form of collaboration). Making art can be so spiritual, so divine, a curious lifting to get outside of or higher than oneself.  In 1999 I suggested to Dan Bejar that it’d be neat to do some psychedelic folk cuz no one else was doing it and we deeply loved Skip Spence and Holy Modal Rounders and on and on, even Smiley Smile and Henske/Yester fit the bill for us as weighty influences. I had all these intense, heavy gut-wrenching lyrics that I wanted to get out (even though I had a sense of humour about them),  so the project would be acid downer folk. Julian Lawrence came along for the ride to add some great musical flourishes as well. The creative process came about so easily, it was incredible. We recorded an album at Method, being 'folky music' it took no time even with the curious effects that we wanted to add, and I started pitching it to numerous labels of varying sizes. No bites. 


A couple or three years after our recording psychedelic folk went through a revival however labels said that we were ‘good but weird’ (as labels would tell me oh so often about oh so many things) …too weird for the psychedelic folk revival even. I don't go into a project thinking, "Let's make this weird so that there will be no audience." I usually regard the audience highly, that audiences want something different that speaks to them about the human (and beyond) experience, that they aren't zombies (are zombies still popular?)...I have mixed feelings about the word 'weird.' When I'd find, say, an old horror comic book called 'Weird' I am interested and intrigued because it probably won't be 'boring' but when the word is placed on me disparagingly I sometimes consider the source and think that maybe they want 'boring' or 'safe.' Is it really so simple? Does 'safe' sell?

Also we weren’t technically ‘active’ (one show only in 1999 and that's it) no bites…hey, the music industry is dying, labels want bands that are going to tour, that's the reality. But still I’ve pitched a lot of stuff over the years, I get things done and try to make it good (I do not want to add to the forgettable dung-heap, I may as well just be working in an office instead of creating boring work that has no depth -by the way, I am writing this in an office) but no bites. Finally in 2013 I decided to do it myself …yet again.  Always DIY, DIY has sucked me dry, I've done it so much and I don't want to do it again, I've tried and I've tried and I can't make it alone, I hit the ceiling of my own reach. Soooo crowd-sourcing! Crowd-sourcing is a bit embarrassing, even when one treats it like a pre-order the infrastructure of crowd-sourcing platforms set it up to seem like begging ("Won't you please help so and so to make their dream a reality?") With the crowd-sourcing I basically made the money back, though reviews were few if any, next to none (the industry has changed so much, now one has to hire a publicist to get any ink)…Couldn't I have just put it online to get lost in the hallowed halls of the internet? I am a record collector and clearly I am attached to the physical object. Is it really more real, more legit, because it is a record? Isn't manufacturing a  record somewhat wasteful? Attachment can be a killer. Maybe that's what's at issue here, maybe that is the source of these very long-term frustrations: attachment. Certainly letting go of things is healthy. My next therapy appointment is in three weeks, I'll keep you posted.


I got my MFA (Masters of Fine Arts, the air of legitimacy) this year and left the hallowed halls to yet again pitch and hustle to the response of silence and/or rejection. Waves of frustration hit me again. I was back in Toronto in a house with fleas and a few housemates including a shirtless noodle slurper (which terrified me from bringing dates over), perhaps mercifully it wasn’t long before we were 'renovicted' (as a blessing in the midst of my jobless perpetual wall hitting the land-lord let us live rent free for the final months). When it came time to leave I had to move so many heavy records including the unsold copies of the Points Gray LP. The perils of a record collector become known come moving day.

How to make the physical album be as precious as it sounds? How to try to tear down these walls that block me (I am not blocked creatively -I must assure and be grateful for that, it is a blockage in getting it to the people and I am grateful for the people, I am grateful for the people that I care about, I am grateful when I reach and impact people) that may be outside of my control? How to let go of attachments? How to heft around less albums and downsize? Destroy 100 copies. But first I wanted to trade some copies to anyone who was interested in the days leading up to the destruction for the small sum of dark chocolate and the odd subway token. This felt more like a magick ritual and much less selfish. People that I did not know seemed genuinely excited to get a record. I am unsure how they feel now that they have listened to it. I destroyed the albums myself in the back alley of my new home. Perhaps doing it alone made it seem truly more 'self-important' in that the importance was minimized (yet here I am writing about it and sharing the experience) while texting close pals like Kevin Howes, who wrote the liner notes, and texted back images of one of his own record destroying moments. Then, as a method of cleansing, I burnt some sage (apparently sage actually does cleanse, not just spiritually but physically, too) and threw them in the recycle bin. That this is such an emotionally heavy album where some of the songs were pretty perfect for Halloween, which had just passed, made it all seem right. I well and truly hope that it was a positive act and I can move forward with my current and future projects. There's still a few copies out there by the way, it isn't so 'diiiiire' you can order it here:
http://www.tediumhouse.com/artists/points-gray

Enjoy the photos! 



                      burning sage

                     buh bye