TTC Announcer: Arriving at, Summerhill. Summerhill station.

Yezua: This is TMU’s Life of the Track. I’m Yezua Ho. 

If you commute in Toronto often, does this sound familiar? 
 
 The sounds of the train going from station to station, its doors sliding open and close as the announcer urges you to travel safely. 
 
 The beeps on the automated fare system; the never-ending footsteps from you and other commuters. 
 
 Most days, you only hear these noises on repeat. But sometimes you hear something else. An instrument. 

Today on this episode of Life of the Track, we’re talking about TTC Subway Musicians. 
 
 For more than 35 years, local artists can be heard playing throughout the transit line stations of Toronto. 
 
Think of someone who shreds on their guitar on a thin black mat while greeting someone at the same time, even as their voice is drowned out by either their playing, or the arrival of an incoming train.
 
 But like their instruments, they may play for a different reason. 
 
We’ll be talking to two about their experiences when playing, and why they began playing in the first place.  
 


Kristin and Sheree, singing: "… I'm walking on sunshine, wooah
 I'm walking on sunshine, wooah
 I'm walking on sunshine, woooah
 And don't it feel good!"

Yezua: Kristin Fung and Sheree Spencer performed in the TTC as the acoustic soul duo K-Funk and Lady Ree. But how did they meet? Well, in 2012, it took a chance meeting in a gospel music workshop at York University. 

Kristin: “Yeah, we just became fast friends, and realized like, “You know what? We both play the ukulele and it’s super fun, and we think we would totally smoke the subway system if we just sang duets, and just brought the zest of life and joy and happiness that we have for music to other people.” 

Kristin, singing: "Singin': Don't worry about a thing!"

Kristin: I think our goal was, like, really just to have fun and also just have a new life experience. Because both of us have experience performing on stages, and being a part of choirs, ensembles, orchestras and stuff like that. But, like the everyday audience of people just doing their thing, on their daily commute, just being themselves, and just having to get from Point A to Point B; that’s a really fun audience to play to. Because, there’s no expectation, like, no one bought a ticket to see you. I mean, they paid their fare, but I find that, like, people who are receptive to the music in the subways. They’re often really appreciative, and you know, we had people come up to us, who were like crying just tears of joy because the music- the song we happened to be playing at the moment when they walked by like, it just really was what they needed to hear. 

Yezua: Of course, not every commuter thinks the same way. Some believe there's more to it than just performing.

Kristin: I just remember another time. I think we were playing at Kipling. And um, this guy came up to us and he was super confused, because we were wearing our winter jackets 'cause it was super cold, Toronto as you know, and we're also wearing like leis, like Hawaiian leis around our necks. And just because yeah, Sheree and I love summer, we love tropical weather. You know, we're both like, technically we're both on tropical countries, even though we were born in Canada, but she's from Barbados, my family's from Hong Kong. Those are those are tropical places. So like, we just want to bring like the summer vibes to people in the winter. And this was what we were doing. This guy was super confused. And he was like, "What, what are you like, what do you do this for?" Like, he thought that maybe we were like promoting something or we were like, you know, working for something, but we were actually just like, You know what, we're just doing this... because we love music! And we love like, we're just happy to make music. And he was like, "Oh, okay."

Kristin and Sheree, singing: "Together!~~~"

TTC Announcer: Next station is, Finch. Finch Station. This is the terminal station. 

Yezua: Meet Mr. Finch, a musician performing in the TTC for more than 20 years. Compared to Kristin, his busking story is nowhere near as organized or planned. In fact, it was all he had. 

Mr. Finch: I worked hard my whole life, I had many jobs. But one company I settled in was there for almost 10 years, and one day they fired us all. It was a hostile takeover, they fired thousands of men across North America. I found myself 35-years-old…or, sorry, maybe 32-years-old something like that or whatever it was. You know, out of work, unskilled and uneducated, so I hit the street with my guitar because I vowed to never work for anyone again. 

Yezua: Rather than give up, Mr. Finch took his layoff as a sign to do what he wants. 

Mr. Finch: So I vowed that day, I said “ I will never work for someone again,” so I hit the street with my guitar, I’ve been my own bus and I've just enjoyed it immensely. Compared to those crappy jobs I’ve had, this is a million times better. The freedom I have, nobody has this freedom. 

Yezua: Rather than just give up Mr. Finch took his layoff as a sign to do what he wants.

Mr. Finch: So I vowed that day I says, I will never work for someone again. So I hit the street with my guitar, I've been my own boss, and I've just enjoyed it immensely. Compared to those crappy jobs I had. This is a million times better. The freedom I have. Nobody has this freedom.

Yezua: Being able to show your love for music or just doing whatever you wish are a few of the reasons why these musicians perform. Unfortunately, the subway is not always the safest place.

Mr. Finch: I’ve been robbed three times. I’ve been-No, I’ve been robbed a dozen times, I’ve been assaulted three times. I’ve been- had my life threatened more than a hundred times. Cops don’t care. You know, one time I got robbed I was playing downtown. I called the police for the very first time in my life. They didn’t even show up. 

Kristin: There was one time where we were robbed at Dundas Station. Luckily, there was no, like, violence or anything against us but someone just stole money from our case. It was really like, demoralizing and we were really upset and disappointed. It wasn’t even about the money. It was more just like feeling completely violated and taken advantage of. 

Yezua: But has that stopped them? Of course not.

Mr. Finch: This has been, this has given me freedom and happiness like nothing else in my life. 

John: Well, oh thank you, sir.

Commuter: No problem. 

John: Oh, thank you so much. 

Commuter: Just, uh, some stuff on the site. 

John: Oh, great. Cheers. Thank you so much.

Commuter: You have a beautiful voice.  

John: Thank you very much. You have a great day. 

Commuter: You too.

John: Oh, yes. Happy Friday. 

TTC Conductor: Oh, they're all, they're all talented. Yeah, they're all good bro! 

Tim Horton's Employee: A lot of people likes him, I like his music!

Kristin: Yeah. And, you know, there's a lot of like, very troubled people in our world. And the way they respond to what we're doing, it's gonna vary so much from person to person. Like some people might hear us and be like, "Yeah, I started crying because like, I just really needed to hear that song." And then someone else might just walk by and be like, "I don't care. I just I gotta get to work or I gotta get home." I think there's a reason why. You know, we get up early in the morning. Travel somewhere super far away on the TTC. And like, bring all our stuff set up in the freezing cold, stand out there for hours, like the things I'm describing are like, "Ugh, why would you do that?" Well, I can't speak for everyone who plays music or who busks. But, I would, I think I can safely say that a lot of it, so much of it, is about the audience and the relationships to your audience.

Yezua: Thanks to everyone who listened to this week's episode and a special thanks to all our guests who took the time to talk with me throughout the process. This has been a glimpse at the Life of the Track. I'm Yezua Ho.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai