READER SUBMITTED CONTENT To say that Martin Streek influenced who I was in my formative years would be an understatement.

To say that Martin Streek influenced who I was in my formative years would be an understatement. As a young teen, I wasn’t old enough to be in bars or clubs and adults didn’t take me seriously. I wanted to be a part of what was going on in my city, yet I only had limited access. Still, every weekend I and thousands of others in the GTA could tune in from home to Streek’s live to air show and we were right there at the club with him listening to the best music on the planet.

Through my teenage years whether I was alone, in the car on my way to somewhere or out at a party with my friends, the one constant was always the soundtrack of Streek’s live to air show on CFNY playing in the background. It’s impossible to know how many nights there were for me between the ages of 14 through 18 where Martin Streek’s voice was the last thing I heard before falling into sleep.

Man, that voice…

During these same teenage years my CD collection also grew quite a bit thanks to Martin. I had a really great system in place: I would dub Streek’s weekend broadcasts from the club, wait for him to run down the playlist after another epic non-stop set and then I would jot down the names of the bands I didn’t know. I would then pass this list to a friend who would steal me the CD’s for these bands at $5 a pop. So many of the artists I grew to love, artists that are still in my CD collection today, have come to me courtesy of Martin Streek.

It’s hard to imagine, given that today it’s such a pile of generic corporate shit, but there was once a time when CFNY Toronto was one of the best radio stations in North America thanks to independent thinking DJ’s, like Martin. In the Golden Era of CFNY (the late 80′s/early to mid 90′s) the DJ’s played bands on a basis of personal interest and cultural relevance, not corporate dictatorship. They played obscure stuff and took chances on new artists giving them airtime when no one else would.

When they spun cuts from the bigger alternative bands instead of adopting a ‘singles only’ policy like most stations they went deeper into the catalog. For example, when it came time to play Nirvana instead of beating you over the head with “Smells Like Teen Spirit” for the millionth time, you’d be just as likely to get “Floyd the Barber” or “D-7.” It was the best case scenario: a radio station for and by the fans of alternative music with the most knowledgeable and enthusiastic leading the charge. Martin Streek was a huge part of this. The energy and passion he brought to the scene made him a local legend in Toronto.

Over the years it has become progressively more painful to listen to CFNY, now called 102.1 “the Edge”. After being bought out by the CORUS network everything vital and unique about the station has been slowly suffocated to appease the demands of corporate radio. 102.1 is now the antithesis of what it originally started out as; today it’s a corporate rock station specializing in “top 40” alternative. The playlists are no longer cutting edge and fan-oriented, instead they sound more like something a DJ came up with while a record executive held a gun to their head.

In the face of this decline Martin Streek remained one of the few highlights. His integrity carried through to the very end when he was unceremoniously ‘downsized’. Up to his very last broadcast he maintained the spirit of what originally made the station great.

If you’re looking for an example of how corporate agendas fail to accurately reflect real world sensibilities look no further than Martin Streek and Barry Taylor being ‘downsized’. It’s the kind of move that could only ever make sense to someone who wasn’t in tune with the station or its spirit in any capacity beyond bottom lines and marketing.

As a 14 year old I never thought that I’d actually get to meet Martin, but over the last 10 years I was fortunate to share time with him on a number of occasions. One of the coolest things about him was how accessible and open he was to his listeners.

The one thing I took away from the interactions I had with him was that he was someone who was involved with the scene for all the right reasons. His humility and enthusiasm were the type that could only be found in someone who was doing what they truly loved to do. The word ‘genuine’ has never been more applicable.

When I heard that Martin Streek was dead, that he had taken his own life on Monday July 6th, I was absolutely stunned. The sense of loss was so personal. He was such a part of my youth; his voice and the music he played inextricably linked to more memories than I can even call to mind.

I’ve learned since Monday that I’m not alone in feeling this way. Read any comment thread from any of the articles that have been written about him since his passing; read any of the comments from the Facebook group that has been setup in his memory (now boasting well over 12,000 members). You’ll se that almost every person has the same thing to say about Martin:

“You were the voice and soundtrack of my youth.”

Building a scene, or being part of one, is like building a sand castle. There’s no ultimate purpose to it and you know that the tide will eventually come to wash it away. The point however isn’t found in the purpose. The point is simply to care to build it with others; the fun and reward is given through the activity itself. Martin Streek helped to build the foundations for the alternative music scene in this city. He invited us all to come out and play every weekend and the fun was in finding each other. I cared so much about Martin because he cared so much about the things I loved most. Or maybe it was the other way around.

It’s hard to express how important someone like Martin Streek was to all the people out there like me. How do you say thank you to someone for introducing you to so many things you love?

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