Recording Without a Trace: The Forgotten Legacy of Kurtis Vanel

Summary

In this episode, we reflect on the life of Kurtis Vanel, SFU's longtime audio engineer, and a fixture of Vancouver's music scene in his own right. Featuring archive recordings of Vanel, as well as an interview with SFU alumni Dr. Deanna Fong, we uncover the interesting relationship between the archive and those who helped build it.

Interviewee
Dr. Deanna Fong, postdoctoral fellow in English and History at Concordia University

Archival Recordings
Douglas Gyseman and Robert Denis, 1978, from the Simon Fraser University Archives

"The Valley Dansrs" from the album Past Eroticism by bill bissett

Show Notes

Previous mention of Kurtis Vanel in appears in this episode, and a full discussion of Vanel's work as an audio engineer can be found in this publication by Kate Moffatt, Kandice Sharren, and Michelle Levy, "Modeling the Audio Edition with Mavis Gallant’s 1984 Reading of 'Grippes and Poche'" (English Studies in Canada). 

Check out John Mackie's article, "A hidden treasure of 1960s Vancouver recordings resurfaces" (Vancouver Sun) for more about Vanel's story plus cool photos. 

For more on the ideas related to collection thinking explored in this episode, see this publication, Collection Thinking: Within and Without Libraries, Archives, and Museums(2023).