Blasts of creative inspiration. Sometimes they happen, sometimes they don’t. But when they do

‘It’s one of those things,’ says Jody Colero. ‘When it happens, and you know it’s right, it just flows out of you quick.’ He’s speaking of the music he and Tim Tickner created for the Molson AIDS Walk spot.

Molson and The Einstein Bros. have been doing aids spots together since Molson got involved. This year they decided to ‘get serious’ and ‘do a real spot, with an agency and stuff.’

The challenge for the partners was to send a musical message about aids that’s engaging without being downbeat. ‘Defining music for all of the aids walks or for any of the aids issues at all,’ says Colero, ‘is a fine line between being really sappy, over-the-top and engaging people enough to say, `Hey, this is something you should pay attention to.’ ‘

Both Tickner and Colero believe the message the spot sends is the right one: ‘C’mon, let’s get together and do something as opposed to sitting on your ass and doing nothing and giving some money if you have some. It’s more about participation and it deals with joy rather than sadness.’

The spot was the first ‘official’ collaboration from the new and improved Einsteins. ‘It’s the Jody and Tim show now,’ says Colero. ‘This is one of the first we-want-to-do-things-right spots and it’s a signal. Here’s what we want to do and this is where we want to be – making music that moves people as opposed to just sitting there and doing the job.’

Tickner, formerly head writer for the Air Company, came out of a six-year ‘rest’ to join Colero at a new, scaled-down version of the company. Says Colero: ‘He came back to Toronto a year ago and we liked each other. I hadn’t been doing that kind of music without him.’ MEA