With a wave of his hand, a Vancouver punk rock legend becomes Theremin Man

Stephen Hamm remembers watching The Song Remains the Same, a concert film featuring British rock band Led Zeppelin, as a teenager at Vancouver's Ridge Theatre in 1979, and being captivated by guitarist Jimmy Page.

In the film, Page wields his fameddouble-neckguitar on stage at New York's Madison Square Gardenand plays aGibson Les Paul guitar with a bow. But what stuck with Hammthe most was Page's use of the theremin an electronic instrument that's controlled without any physical contact by the performer "to make the crowd go a little bit crazy in their stoned state."

"It was pretty great," Hamm told CBC's North by Northwest.

Hamm went on to become a key character inVancouver's music scene. He was a founding member of the seminal punk band Slow, played bass for the Evaporators fronted by Nardwuar the Human Serviette, and performed in his own duo, Canned Hamm.

North by Northwest17:40Stephen Hamm, Theremin Man

We visit the home studio of Vancouver music legend Stephen Hamm, otherwise known as Theremin Man, as he prepares for the release of his new album 'Songs of the Future' on May 6. He discusses his love for playing the enigmatic instrument and even gives Margaret a lesson!

His latest musicalincarnation isTheremin Man, which sees Hamm playing the enigmatic instrument while wearing shimmering robes. His new album, Songs for the Future, is set to be released on Tuesday.

Theremin Man's origin story dates back to a conversation Hamm had with his "guru," who he claimslives on "one of the highest peaks on Bowen Island." He suggested Hammbranch out on his own after working on projects with others.

Hamm's home studio, which he calls his "celestial grotto," is filled with musicalinstruments, but it was the onecreated more than 100 years ago byRussian scientist Lev Thereminthat called out to him, he said.

"The theremin really popped to the forefront and people were attracted to it because it's a really unique instrument," he said.

The theremin is controlled by moving one's hands in the air near two metal antennas, thereby altering their magnetic fields. One antenna determines pitch, the other volume.

"It was the sound of pure electric current," Sean Michaels, author of Us Conductors, a novel about the life of the theremin's inventor, told CBC News in 2020 on the theremin's 100th anniversary.

Hamm describeswaving your right hand to control the theremin's pitch and left hand for volume asakin to "patting your head and rubbing your tummy."

Duets with Rosie

Emulating a disembodied voice, the theremin has been featured in films, including the 1951 science fiction classicThe Day the Earth Stood Still.

Hammsays the theremin fits in perfectly with his interest in retro-futurism, which explores howthe future was envisioned inthe past.

"I love the esthetic of how the future looked from the 1960s or the 1940s or the 1950s," he said. "This thing [the theremin] is like the future in 1920.This was the future. It was a sensation."

Among his favourite thereminsin his celestial grotto is the Claravox, which was designed by Moog Music to mark the 100th anniversary of its creation. The instrument is named after Clara Rockmore, the theremin's first virtuoso.

Hammnamedhis Claravox "Rosie"because it resembles Rosie the Robot from the retro-futurecartoon series The Jetsons.

OnSongs for the Future, Hamm sings and plays the theremin, which he says has a unique, ethereal sound. The album, he says, highlights a relationship between musician and instrument that is anything but typical.

"It's like a voice, so it's almost like having a second singer," Hamm said. "So it's almost like I'm duetting with the theremin ... Rosie is my accompanist. Or I'm her accompanist. I'm not too sure how that goes."