By broken pencil
Richard Marsella (best known as Friendly Rich) is the hardest working artist in Brampton. Over the past ten years he has been a part of a handful of musical projects, from the group Studenyatz to his own Anal Assassins, and created the background soundtrack for the Tom Green Show. But it is in the past six years that Marsella has made his deepest mark. In the fall of 2000, he started a project called the Brampton Indie Arts Festival. It began as a few nights of focused programming (such as an Indian Arts night, Nihilist Spasm Band night and film night) and has since progressed into an eclectic mix of sights and sounds. The last two years have featured artists such as Ron Sexsmith, Hayden, Cuff the Duke, Scott Thompson of The Kids in the Hall, and the films of cut-and-paste animator Martha Colburn.
But the burgeoning winter festival is not the only thing Friendly has on the go. Through the school year, Marsella puts on the hat of teacher and goes into Brampton and Mississauga primary schools to show grade-4 students how to build and play their own wacky instruments. From a guitar made from a styrofoam cooler and guitar strings to a handmade mini record player, students get to show off their instruments at the end of the year in a recital that takes the form of a parade. Every year the parade gets more elaborate, and last year Marsella incorporated an orchestra of professional musicians to accompany the students starring Montreal turntablist Kid Koala.
In addition to these oddball (and time consuming) projects, Marsella is first and foremost Friendly Rich, the band leader of the group The Lollipop People. Culling together a nine-piece orchestra of musicians including a bassoonist, an accordionist, a harpist and a banjo player, the music that results sounds something like Captain Beefheart fronting a Klezmer band. They have just completed their first album, “We Need a New F-Word,” which is due for release this summer.