Niagara’s only independent talk show, MOCtalk, has been consistently growing over the last year.

From the rocky start of their first episode to the recent airing of their 11th, founder and host Joe Stracuzzi admits that each episode is as unpredictable as the last.

“I can say that we’ll never, ever, ever get it down to a science,” he said. “We got a little more comfortable on the later episodes and it became less … stressful for us.”

MOCtalk (MOC is an acronym for Musician’s Online Community) began as Stracuzzi’s vision – an opportunity to showcase Niagara’s art scene to the rest of the world.

But when it all began 12 months ago, things were shaky for the production. Stracuzzi’s original plan was to have the show broadcast live on the Internet, but after experiencing some difficulties with this process, a different approach was created.

“It’s funny because the show has been consistently inconsistent from day one,” said Stracuzzi. “We got lucky that one of our cameras happened to be an HD camera that [first] time around, and it happened to capture more behind-the-scenes than anything. We ended up taking that camera, as well as the live feed, into post-production and working that into an episode. So from day one, we were off the track that we were supposed to be.”

After taping the first five episodes at Stracuzzi’s house, the production moved to 4triple5 café in Niagara Falls, to incorporate a larger live audience. Having been promoted through online social networking sites like Facebook, and mostly through word of mouth, MOCtalk has gained a considerably larger audience and monthly following.

Twelve months and 11 episodes after that first episode, things are rolling smoothly, and MOCtalk will celebrate its anniversary with a special evening, dubbed “Rock the Block”.

The event will take place on Dec. 5 at three Queen St. venues in Niagara Falls – Mide Bistro, Niagara Gallery and The Queens. The evening will begin with a live taping at 7 p.m., featuring Green Dynamo and

The Amazing Flyin’ Hammer Brothers, then the after-party will extend to separate venues where previous MOCtalk guests will perform.

“It should be quite the event,” said Stracuzzi. “I’m excited that most of the performers from previous episodes have dedicated their time to come out. A big thing about the whole MOCtalk show is that none of the performers have ever been paid. It’s been strictly on the terms that, we help promote them and they come out and play for us.”

After a successful inaugural year, Stracuzzi admits said he’s not certain of what’s in store for the future, but that the original intent of showcasing independent acts will remain.

“That’s the main idea behind the entire show. When the idea came to me, I saw it as a way to take my friends and people that I was interested in what they were doing, and try and showcase it to the world,” said Stracuzzi.

“Every time around we try to do two different types of music, like hip-hop with a rock’n’roll band or country with a heavier rock’n’roll band. I find that bleeds everything from a young crowd – we’ve had children in the audience – to an elderly crowd who says, ‘hey, there’s some free entertainment happening on a Friday night, why not go check it out.’”

A little over a year ago, Niagara Falls’ resident Joe Stracuzzi had a vision – a vision to create his very own talk-show.

Just over a year later, Stracuzzi’s vision has not only become a reality, but on Dec. 5, 2009, it will achieve its first major milestone, as his creation, MOCtalk, will celebrate its one-year anniversary.
“It’s completely indescribable,” said Stracuzzi of the milestone. “I had no anticipation that it would go farther than the first episode, so everything beyond that has just been gravy.”

On Nov. 27, 2008 the self-proclaimed “MOCtalk Collective” introduced the world to Niagara’s only independent talk show when the pilot episode was broadcast live from Stracuzzi’s basement. Twelve months and 11 episodes later, MOCtalk is now gearing up for their one-year anniversary show, Rock the Block with MOCtalk.

The event will be held at three neighbouring venues – The Mide Bistro, Niagara Gallery and The Queens Pub – and will pay homage to the year that was by featuring a multitude of appearances and performances from musicians, artists and special guests from the show’s first eleven episodes.
“It’s something different, out of the box, and it’s definitely going to be a celebration,” said Stracuzzi of the anniversary show.

Headlining MOCtalk XII will be musical acts Green Dynamo and The Amazing Flying Hammer Brothers, while the show will also feature interviews with Stracuzzi, MOCtalk Director of Photography Kevin Davidson and the show’s ever-colourful host Blenderhead.
“What I’m definitely looking forward to is the interview that I will have on the show – it will be the first time I’ve sat in that position,” said Stracuzzi. “We’ve spent the past year creating a show based on interviews with guests and, for once, I get to be in the spotlight […] It should be an adventure having [co-host] Joel Van Vliet taking the role of the lead host this time around.”
To say that MOCtalk has grown over the last year would be an understatement, as it not only shifted location from a residential basement to Niagara’s downtown core, but it has developed quite the following, and even garnered its very own magazine.

The Niagara Falls online show MOCtalk will celebrate its first anniversary with a downtown bash Saturday.

The indie show will take over three venues, and is inviting past guests – and their fans – out for the party, starting at 7 p.m.

Performing at the Mide Bistro will be Green Dynamo, Danielle Oegema and the Amazing Flying Hammer Brothers. The anniversary special will also be filmed here.

At the Niagara Gallery will be Brandon Agnew, Thunderclap, Kirby, Hire Wire String Band and Pete Tremblay.

The Queen’s Pub will have the hefty line-up of Half Ton Knights, Mule Skinner, The Black Flies, A Sea of Gold and Burgundy, the Spooky Scarecrow, blenderhead and DJ Gaelic.

MOCtalk camera operator Cam Schwarz says the monthly show allows Niagara artists and musicians to chat in a relaxed, unfiltered setting.

“They love the fact there’s a show showcasing a variety of arts in general,” he says. “We’re actually getting calls to us finally saying ‘We want to be on the show.’”

The show aired its first episode a year ago from the house of creator Joe Stracuzzi. By its fourth episode, it was airing live from the 4555 Cafe on Queen Street and drawing about 100 people per show.

Each show attracts between 600 to 700 online viewers. The entire production is run by volunteers.

“It is mindblowing the amount of work we’ve put into it, and the amount of care and love we put into the show,” says Schwarz.

The show has expanded to include a magazine, with the one-year edition being handed out Saturday along with a DVD of MOCtalk’s first six episodes.

The fact the show has lasted a year will only make things easier now, adds Schwarz.

“Nowadays, people need to see that you are in it for the long run in order for anyone to come on board. We’ve pretty much settled our stay, and it’s getting better from here.”

Following Saturday’s show, MOCtalk will take a short hiatus as it prepares for year two. It’s also leaving the 4555 Cafe for a new home.

“We’re going to take a couple months off to regroup and see where we’re going with the show. Just come up with some new ideas and see how we can change the show up.

“(But) it’s not going away.”

The show can be seen at www.moctalk.ca

jlaw@nfreview.com