Scarberian Khatru

Episode 25: Toronto Fingerstyle. In 2005 I discover the Toronto Fingerstyle Guitar Association and assist it’s founding member Randy Finney in the production and promotion of various guitar events.

Episode 24: Amitabha. Scott Matthews and I venture into the world of ambient music recording remotely by sharing files using FTP software.

Episode 23: The Atomsmasher’s Noisy Trade. In 2004 I record solo electric guitar soundscapes at my home studio and release music independently on CDBaby.

Episode 22: Platinum Blonde. In 1999 David tours and records with iconic Canadian band Platinum Blonde.

Episode 21: Kush. Bassist and producer Etric Lyons and I form the downtempo collaboration Kush and release a CD in 2001.

Episode 20: The Alex Lifeson Mixes. Disenchanted with our production of the no.9 album, Alex Lifeson came to our rescue and mixed the entire album in his home studio in 1998, these mixes would not be released until 25 years later.

Episode 19: Staring Into The Sun. My first CD of solo electric guitar music is documented here, recorded in 1995 and produced by Richard Chycki.

Episode 18: Demoitis. I recorded an astronomical amount of music at the Jeff Healey studio in Toronto for most of the nineties. This is an unreleased song written by Mark Holmes of Platinum Blonde fame - called Drowning.

Episode 17: Duke Redbird The Poet. David collaborates with Indigenous Canadian poet Duke Redbird on a spoken word / music CD in the early 1990’s.

Episode 16: Reel To Reel Revisited. Real authentic analog recordings on a Fostex 8 track 1/4” reel to reel machine in the early nineties, released digitally everywhere thirty years later.

Episode 15: Trouble In Mind. Trouble In Mind was formed in 1989, we recorded out 14 song demo at Metalworks and signed a publishing deal with EMI Canada. The band imploded sometime in 1992 coinciding with the closure of Rock & Rock Heaven. Those were epic times!

Episode 14: Rain. Toronto based original band Rain recorded and showcased their music to audiences and recorded companies in the late 80’s to no avail, but learned a lot in the process.

Episode 13: Firedance Overture. In 1985 I toured Canada in a U2 tribute band but we also managed to record some originals. This is one of our better tunes Johannesburg written by Dave Robertson with an extended guitar solo by yours truly.

Episode 12: Exit Bedford Road. Scott and Dave delve into the world of New Age Music doing their “Windham Hill / ECM” thing! Here are a couple unreleased analog gems from 1985.

Episode 11: Sounds Interchange. Currently residing in the “Where are they now file…?” “Media”, a short lived prog band from 1983-84 released a 7” 45 single recorded at the glorious Sounds Interchange in downtown Toronto at a time when giant recording studios ruled!

Episode 10: Early Prog. This episode features a cassette recording sent to me by my friend and bassist Paul Mathur from 1982, a prog instrumental he named Pink’s Revenge.

Episode 9: Wayne’s World. In this episode I tell the story of Mike Myers auditioning our high school band “Crucial Taunt” and how the band name became immortalized in the movie Wayne’s World.

Episode 8: Open Space. This atmospheric Pink Floyd influenced composition was written and recorded at home in 1981, and re-recorded for the David Barrett Trio Broadcaster album in 2022. Produced by Terry Brown and orchestrated by Scott Matthews - it caught the attention of Canadian filmmaker Kurtis Watson and was used for the closing credits in his award winning documentary “My Dad’s Tapes.”

Episode 7: Neveu Music. In this episode I talk about working at Neveu Music in Scarborough and cashing my pay checks for various exotic instruments like my Fender pedal steel - and using them on home recordings in 1980-81. The featured track here is the unreleased and pretentious “State of the Art.”

Episode 6: Malagueña. I talk about the early days of flamenco guitar lessons which finally lead me to recording a version of the legendary song over 40 years later, for the album Broadcaster with Terry Brown producing.

Episode 5: Sound On Sound. In this episode I talk about early sound on sound recordings using two cassette decks and a Radio Shack mixer to create my own brand of Frippertronics.

Episode 4: Battle of Tribulation. This was our first progressive rock epic written by Scott and myself in Scarborough around 1979. We performed it at our first concert in 1980, and over 40 years later we tracked a studio version that appears on the David Barrett Trio vinyl “Broadcaster” produced by Terry Brown. It sounded like something that could have been on Caress of Steel!

Episode 3: Leviathan. David talks about early digital home recording using a Boss BR-9 and a vintage Gibson Barney Kessel. The song Wholeness and the Implicate Order is part of a recently released compilation of recordings from 2000-2002 called Leviathan . The material was produced by David Barrett and remastered by Kevin Comeau . Leviathan is now available for download and streaming everywhere!

Episode 2: Bread of the Dead. This episode features the demo process for the new David Barrett Trio instrumental to be recorded September 19 at Chalet Studio as part of our 2025 Live Vinyl GoFundMe Campaign!

Episode 1: Introduction. Hello earthlings!