Ryerson film grad Zachary Gray and bandmate Guillaume Harvey collaborated over long distances before they started a band.

Courtesy of Cinéma Vérité

Before forming Cinéma Vérité, the two bandmates were engaged in a long-distance musical relationship.

Zachary Gray, a Ryerson image arts film studies graduate, and Guillaume Harvey met in 2003, during their first year at Concordia University, where they both majored in film.

Harvey said they both clicked because they had a lot in common, particularly music tastes.

“We were both into ’90s bands like Smashing Pumpkins, as well as other indie bands that were big at the time,” Harvey said. “But Zach knew a lot about music and introduced me to some good bands I never heard about.”

Both from musical backgrounds, the pair connected in class, where the musical duo scored each other’s film projects.  Together they pitched in for other students, as well.

Following first year, however, Gray moved to Toronto to continue film studies at Ryerson.

“I wasn’t really into the Concordia program because it was a lot of theory,” said the Waterloo native. “I wanted more hands-on experience with film, because reading about it really didn’t interest me, so I came to Ryerson because it offered that.”

Gray took an interest in scoring films for his classmates here too, and gained a reputation as a quality music maker with his Ryerson peers.

He soon realized a career in music would be more personally fulfilling than a career in film.  Gray and Harvey continued to collaborate on these projects, but due to the distance, they did so online.

They would upload tracks on each other’s servers and layer each song with the lyrics and instrumentals until they were happy with the final result.

Ben Edelberg, a Ryerson film studies graduate and Gray’s former classmate, said Gray scored the music for his final film thesis.

Working with someone who knew both film and music inside and out made the project a breeze, he said.

“When we worked together he was always really calm, never lost his cool and followed direction well, which is beneficial to any filmmaker,” he said.

Gray started to become more serious about launching a music career two years ago and released a solo EP, catching the ears of  executives at Chicago-based label Le Grand Magistery.

The band officially came into being when they asked him if he would be interested in releasing an album of the songs he co-wrote with Harvey.

The pair decided on the name Cinéma Vérité as a way to pay homage to their filmmaking roots.

Their first album is set to be released this summer, but they already started touring with a five-piece live band, with Gray on vocals and Harvey on the guitar.

You can catch Cinéma Vérité at the Gladstone Hotel Thursday.