In the early 2000s, Vancouver’s independent arts community was sustained by a network of venues and broadcasters that actively supported experimental and interdisciplinary practices. The Sugar Refinery functioned as a central gathering point for musicians, artists, and organizers, providing an inclusive space where lo‑fi, performance, improvisation, and cross‑media work could develop without commercial pressure. Artist‑run galleries such as the Orr, Western Front, Unit/Pitt, Artspeak, The Crying Room, Video In & The Blinding Light Cinema contributed to this environment as well, offering openings and events where music and visual art regularly intersected.

Broadcast media played an equally important role. CBC Radio’s Radio Sonic, initially under the direction of David Wisdom, consistently highlighted emerging and unconventional work from across the country, helping to legitimize experimental approaches within a national context. Grant Lawrence’s live in‑studio sessions and work with Radio 3 further reflected the program’s commitment to documenting and supporting independent production. At the local level (in my experience), UBC’s CITR‑FM — through programs such as Parts Unknown and Replica Rejects — provided artists with an essential platform for non‑mainstream material, ensuring that exploratory music remained audible within Vancouver's cultural landscape.

Alongside these supports, artists engaged in a range of informal public spaces. For myself, these included amplified synthesizer performances on Granville Street and developing a simple acoustic‑augmentation system using funnels and a length of garden hose to create a stereo listening experience for pedestrians on the Burrard Street Bridge. These activities paralleled the broader ethos of the period, in which experimentation often occurred outside traditional venues and relied on improvised methods and public interaction.

Taken together, the venues, broadcasters, and artist‑run spaces of this period formed an interconnected system that enabled experimental work to circulate and develop. My recordings and performances from this time reflect the conditions shaped by that system: resource‑driven, interdisciplinary, and supported by people committed to fostering independent artistic exploration.