The Beginning… Waterloo…

Scott Wicken was born the day the Beatles were recording I’m Only Sleeping. At 17, he read Allen Ginsberg’s Howl which changed his life. He started writing furiously and soon annoyed all he met with recitations of his latest poems. His first official public performance of poetry was in Kitchener, Ontario at the Backdoor, a local punk bar in the basement of a schnitzel house. Soon he was doing readings regularly around Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario. Occasionally he opened for rock bands.

Go West Young Man… Vancouver…

At age 21, he left his native city, boarded a Greyhound bus, went to Vancouver. Unable (and unwilling) to find work, he spent his days writing and drawing in Joe’s Cafe on Commercial Drive. Soon he was doing open stages and readings at places like Cafe Cafe, the Classical Joint, Kino’s Cafe, Carnegie Center, The Pie Piper etc.

Go North Young Man… Yellowknife…

In 1990, Wicken moved to Yellowknife, N. W. T. He started to hang with the local theatre people and found himself part of an improv comedy show called Land of the Midnight Sin. He played Unity Haze, manic depressive vegetarian poet in the North searching for spiritual experiences and fresh vegetables. It was in Yellowknife also that Wicken wrote and performed his first song. In Yellowknife, he performed at his first folk festival, Folk on the Rocks.

Edmonton…

In 1992 he moved to Edmonton after a tree-planting contract went bad in Northern Alberta. He found himself falling in with a pile of musicians and songwriters in one of the most vibrant arts scenes in Canada. People like Mike McDonald (Jr. Gone Wild), Bill Bourne, Shannon Johnson (The McDades), Lester Quitzau, Terry Morrison, Luann Kowalek, Chris Smith (Le Fuzz), Wes Borg (3 Dead Trolls in a Baggie) and John Gorham encouraged him to write and perform his songs as well as his poems. He also performed poetry with all the local poets, notably Ky Perraun, Gary Lee, Alan Demeule, Stephen Humphreys. It was with Perraun, Demeule, Lee, Humphreys and Ron Serna that a popular poetry event, The Big Beat Speak, was initiated, a coming together of poetry, music and theatrical avante garde. In 1993, Wicken recorded an independent cassette of poetry, Deeds of Dogs and Heroes, at Cramer Brother’s Productions in Edmonton. In the summer of 1994, Wicken went into the studio of ARIA award winning producer Dave Mockford (Monster Tracks Audio Projects) and recorded his debut CD Something Wicken This Way Comes which was released in 1995. It was a mixture of poetry and song that included guest musicians such as Bill Bourne, Chris Smith, Shannon Johnson, Jason Kodie (of Hookahman), and others. As well as frequent solo performances, Wicken has co-written comedy with Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie and Jr. Gone Wild. The summer of 1994 saw Wicken writing and acting in the sold-out Pirate Radio Show at the Edmonton Fringe Festival and broadcast live on CBC Edmonton. He also co-wrote and performed in Messiah, a rock opera/comedy of alien abduction and the birth of Christ with the same folks in 1994/95 in Edmonton and Winnipeg.

Back Home… Waterloo…

Arriving back in Waterloo, Wicken moved into a shack in his mother's backyard. An old friend, Lester Quitzau had told him he should look up Shannon Lyon. Wicken went to an open jam hosted by Lyon and they hit it off. Shannon got in the habit of inviting Wicken onstage at his regular gig in the basement of the Walper Hotel when he wanted a break... which was really quite nice of him. Soon Wicken was regularly playing the Walper and The Circus Room and other venues. He got to meet lots of the local musicians. One in particular, Tommy Murray, ended up playing with Wicken regularly. Tommy played harmonica, saxophones, percussion and sang like an angel. He could sing harmonies to songs he'd never heard before. Another fortunate event was getting a serving job at the Raintree Cafe, a local cultural hotspot near the Universities. The Raintree had live music every night of the week and had an open jam every Monday. Wicken soon became a regular host and got to play with all sorts of interesting musicians. Here he met Brent Hagerman, Paul McInnis and James Craig who he would later form Dinocopter with. He also formed an earlier collection of souls called The Busted Monkeys. This was a revolving door of local musicians. Whoever showed up to play got to play and take an equal cut of whatever meagre money was available. Brent Losee, Jodie Cram, Cory Williams, Tommy Murray, Deanna Knight, Rob Juneau, Al Reimer, Chris Mulligan and more would make regular appearances. Wicken also occasionally booked friends from out west into the venue, Corb Lund most notably. In 1999, Wicken released a ‘short poetic film’ for his poem Where Do the Souls of Children Go? with grant money from Bravo! Channel. The film was directed by Mario Madau of Giants Films and was produced by Ted Ellis. Sound Recordist was Doug Biggs of Cedar Tree Studio.

From 2000 to 2005, Wicken ran a roots rock band by name of Dinocopter with drummer Paul McInnis, guitarist Brent Hagerman (The Baudelaires) and bassist James Craig. They released one CD entitled Helisaur. For some time, he played a 1969 Ace Tone keyboard through a delay, reverb, wah, and distortion into a tube amp with reggae band The Jolly Llamas. He had a brief stint playing bass with songwriter Lucas Stagg.

Fatherhood and the realities of making a living put live performance on hiatus for some time, but Wicken kept writing and playing at home. He formed City'N'Eastern, an acoustic band, with old bandmates Paul McInnis and Brent Hagerman, both accomplished songwriters and multi-instrumentalists in their own right. Recently, Wicken has been performing solo with his acoustic guitar. The pandemic gave him lots of time to return to writing, recording and practising with a fervour. He has also been working on videos, drawing mandalas, building the occasional guitar and website development. There is no rest for the Wicken.