JIAN GHOMESHI

Thornhill Post
June 2002
By MICHAEL DOJC

“Alright! I’m really enjoying this disco mix of Star Wars, it’s really getting me in the mood” chuckles Jian Ghomeshi with more than a hint of sarcasm in his gentle voice. Our waiter who has just brought Ghomeshi a black coffee—which he sips straight, without any fixings—overhears, and can’t resist an opportunity to riff on everyone’s favorite interplanetary blockbuster franchise.

“For what exactly? Going down to some dark, dank place finding some aliens and kicking butt in some sort of male bonding ritual?” he rejoins loudly to no one in particular, and the laidback crowd at the Joy of Java, a funky neighborhood coffeehouse in Riverdale, collectively take a break from their beverages and the institution’s fabulous neo-hippie cuisine to erupt into a giggle fit.

“You should be interviewing this guy,” says Jian when the laughter subsides.

Well-spoken and darkly handsome it’s no wonder CBC Newsworld chose Ghomeshi, best known for fronting the folksy art-rock outfit Moxy Fruvous (currently on hiatus from touring and recording) to host their hot new entertainment magazine Play. Shot in parts live from the Movenpick restaurant in the CBC Broadcast Centre, and combined with pre-recorded footage, Play takes a fresh look at the world of the arts through an eclectic hodge-podge of celebrity interviews, investigative sketches, and a touch of quirky tomfoolery—think Jon Stewart meets Air Farce. With conversations with everyone from Yoko Ono, to Carol Shields to Ghetto Concept, the show packs enough star wallop into each hour-long show to satisfy even the most voracious pop culture junkie. To complete the package, each episode of Play raps up with a live musical performance in the Movenpic environment—past show closers include songsmiths Hayden and Ron Sexmith.

“ Play aspires to be really smart and critical. I think that a lot of entertainment and arts shows out there operate simply to capture the big names and promote them and we’re not afraid to be critical of, or take the piss out of, or to lampoon big names and I don’t think we really have that in Canada,” says Ghomeshi.

“On a national level as an artist there really isn’t that much out there—you do the national press tour when you have a new album out and it takes about 3 hours. You do Canada A.M., and Mike Bullard and that’s about it,” he adds.

Spouting the questions instead of fielding them is quite the role reversal from Ghomeshi’s rock star days but he is comfortable with the switch and more importantly as viewers of the show can attest, Jian’s having a blast. “I really cherish the opportunity to talk to smart and interesting people and that’s my job and that’s quite remarkable,” he says in an affectionate tone.

Born in London, England the Ghomeshi’s family relocated to Thornhill when Jian was just eight. As a first generation immigrant of Iranian heritage coming of age in the eighties in what was then a homogenous suburb, Ghomeshi spent much of his childhood and teens trying to fit in. “It was hard,” he says honestly. “Iran was enemy number one,” he continues after a pause making reference to the hostage crisis and the fallout of that. Afraid that if people found out that he was Persian they would start calling him a terrorist, Ghomeshi kept quiet about his ethnicity.

“There are people I went high school with that I would never have told that I’m Iranian,” he says.

“It took me literally till I was 19 to go ‘hey, I’m proud of being Iranian. One of the things that I take a lot of pride in with Moxy Fruvous and especially with the CBC show now is getting letters, and emails from people of other cultures who say ‘hey, it’s inspiring to see someone who’s name isn’t Joe Smith hosting a show and that means I can do it too.”

Ghomeshi’s identity crisis, coupled with feelings of alienation fostered the artist he would later become. Intellectually curious as a youth, Jian would consume biographies with the same fervor other children would reserve for passing levels of Nintendo games and soon Ghomeshi found himsel enamored with people in history who effected change: Malcolm X, John Lennon, and Gandi numbered among his boyhood idols. Driven to make a difference to society in his own way, Ghomeshi attended Thornlee because of its strong arts programs and then went to York to pursue his love for academia where he graduated with a degree in political science and history. Soon after, Moxy Fruvous, the seeds of which had been planted back at Thornlee, started to take off and the rest is a piece o rock and roll history.

During Fruvous’ heyday in the mid-nineties amidst a grueling touring schedule where the band always seemed to be on the road Ghomeshi found the time to pursue and hone his other artistic talents. An accomplished scribe, Ghomeshi’s opinion pieces have appeared in the pages of the Washington Post, the International Herald Tribune, and The Globe and Mail. He also Ghomeshi also runs his own production company Wonderboy where he produces, manages, and mentors new artists including Martina Sorbara, the feature of a recent Thornhill Post cover story. “I see myself as a Supreme being, kind of like Yoda but taller” jokes Ghomeshi on his Renaissance man worthy resume.

Currently on the project tap for Ghomeshi is his first solo album slated for a fall release and eagerly anticipated by Fruheads ( Moxy Fruvous’ loyal following).

Asked if there’s anything out of his artistic scopes, Jian’s deep brown eyes crackle with mischief. “There are not a lot of things I feel I can’t do. The art of the body check from behind particularly, some people call it dirty, I’m just playing the game.”

“I played hockey for years in a Thornhill house league and I was so bad that I actually got worse…I was getting taken off the ice in stretchers bi-weekly and my parents cowering in the crowd, ‘that’s no our son.’ Despite his skating shortcomings, one of Ghomeshi’s childhood dreams was to be a Hockey Night in Canada doing the play-by-play. Now in his thirties, the dream hasn’t been completely abandoned. “It’s not over yet! This is all just a way to replace Bob Cole.”