Mississauga’s Matt Miller on Slamming in Peel

On Monday evening, the surprisingly popular Mississauga Poetry Slam will host its third-ever show at the Mondello Ristorante in Streetsville at 8pm (poet sign-up at 7:30pm).

Why is the success of MPS surprising? Certainly it is not because of the art form itself — it’s clear there’s a big appetite for spoken word and poetry slam in Greater Toronto. It is not because of the poetry, because local poets are well known in the region and across the country for the strength of their performance and their writing.

The surprise comes from how the series has grown from an idea in the back of the mind of its head organizer, Matt Miller (aka Lip Balm) to a slam so hot it outgrew its initial venue in two months. To find out more about the phenomenon turning heads in Peel Region, Cytopoetics Events asked Miller his thoughts on the show he founded.

Cytopoetics Events (CE): What led you to decide to start a slam series in Mississauga?

Matt Miller aka Lip Balm (MM): I made the Toronto Poetry Slam Team in April 2011 and through my experiences practicing and performing as a team I felt like I grew as an artist exponentially. Knowing how valuable the team dynamic is and also that Mississauga is the fifth-largest city in Canada, I realized that we needed a team and by November 2011 we debuted. I also wanted to open up four more spots to a growing local slam scene of deserving poets who didn’t make the cut on other teams.

CE: Why do you think the response has been so positive to the series since it began in November?

MM: I think our generous cash prize of $100 has helped bring out quality slam poets from all around Ontario, as well as support from the Mississauga Arts Council in terms of promotion. We have reached capacity at every event we have had. It’s been growing so fast we’ve already had to find a bigger venue which we will be moving to in February.

Matt Miller is the January feature and the main organizer of the Mississauga Poetry Slam. Photo provided by Matt Miller.

CE: As a relatively new poet, how do you think your newfound status as an organizer affects your practice as a spoken word artist?

MM: Although I retain rookie or sophomore status, I find I have a lot of people even newer to the slam scene asking me for advice. Sometimes I’ve even found myself in a coaching role describing what I believe works and doesn’t work. I mean I haven’t even won a slam, so for me to say what works and doesn’t is totally subjective. But I know how to point people in the right direction when it comes to performance and representing your art cleanly and concisely, keeping the audience on your side and being in the moment with them. I’m still looking for that first win, so that keeps me hungry as a slam artist. I don’t plan to just sit back as an organizer and watch it happen. I go to as many slams as possible, because I need real talk and the real world doesn’t supply enough of it.

CE: What are you hoping to achieve creatively this year?

MM: As MPS grows, I hope to develop a youth slam. I have talked to a lot of young slammers in Mississauga about one-off slams they have been throwing at different high schools and I think it’s time to get organized, make it official and get competing with the other youth slam teams in Ontario and beyond. I will also be heading to the Edmonton Fringe Festival in August 2012 to perform my one-man slam poetry play Skydiving in Suburbia. I’m also working hard with Mississauga Arts Council to develop the Youth Writers’ Guild and the Limelight Committee of Young Artists in hopes of supplying and supporting arts in Mississauga.

CE: How has becoming heavily involved in the poetry scene in the GTA affected you personally?

MM: This is my outlet. This is my therapy. I feel like I can say whatever I want when I’m up there. No audience specific material. No PG appropriate. Sometimes this life gets dirty and sometimes explaining that in words gets even dirtier. Every time I write or perform something new it’s an attempt to pull back the layers and find out what I’m really about. I spent a lot of time pretending to be someone else and even more time trying to be what other people wanted me to be. Both of those paths led to darkness. I have seen the light now and I have no plans to moonwalk.