Saturday, March 7, was the warmest day of the year so far. The unmistakable sounds of melting filled the city. Drip, splash, squish.
It was also the day that I, Dave, decided to just go to the Regent Park Community Centre and start the journey to making this documentary. The AMPED UP Art of DJing drop in session was meant to start at noon. I showed up at 11:30, giving myself time to figure out where exactly the drop in was and perhaps talk to the facilitator before the programming started. I didn’t want to get in the way of the actual program.
I asked the staff at the front desk where the drop-in happened and they pointing me to the Youth Zone room down the hall. The room was mainly glass, new and fresh. It seemed to be full of new furniture, a TV, white boards. Some surfaces saw stickers — “Youth Zone,” “Black History Month,” a raised fist — but overall the room was clean and airy. I sat and waiting on the bench in the hall outside. Waiting for noon and just people watching. Two staff members, both in their green shirts and probably in high school, casually chatted. I imagined them flirting. A toddler lumbering after a soccer ball that had escaped the gymnasium family play time. People coming and going from the gym upstairs. It was a busy place on a Saturday morning.
Image of the Youth Zone entrance with stickers. Photo taken by David Scrivener on March 8, 2026.
Finally, a man came and unlocked the door and entered the room, carrying a large bag. I assumed that was the facilitator and I walked into the room to introduce myself.
“Hi there, sorry to bother you as your setting up. My name is Dave and I’m with the University of Toronto and FOCUS Media. This is kind of a strange thing, but we’re making a short documentary and...”
I laid out the proposal. We’d like to talk to him. Feature the class, perhaps talk to the students as well. Music and community. Regent Park’s musical history. We were already in contact with some other DJs who grew up in the area or were involved in Regent Radio. It would be a short documentary, thinking 10 to 30 minutes, but probably on the shorter end of that.
His name was Will, but he went by DJ Illicit. He had worked at two prominent radio stations and grown up just a few blocks west of Regent Park. The best way to follow up was on his Instagram. But I did need to reach out to the program coordinator for the community centre. Their name was Rowan.
As we wrapped up, two young women had come in and were waiting patiently. I thanked in for his time and wrapped up, not wanting to continue holding up the drop-in. I got home and immediately emailed Rowan. And followed Will on Instagram.
Our next steps are building up an archive of b-roll, for 2026 but also archival if possible. We’re building out a list of a dozen possible interview subjects. We anticipate, after some people don’t get back to us or aren’t available, that will net us 3 or interviews. Hopefully one is Will. I’ll message him on Instagram now.
The team members of Scratches & Mixes are David Scrivener, Lisa Truong, Hana Golightly and Neil Patel.