RYAN PREIANO

From a young age, I’ve always had an urge to create; whether it be building lego, drawing, or making music, the passion has always been a part of me. Once music consumed my whole life, I felt a calling to launch Agoria Productions.

I began playing in bands at the age of 13, then quickly wound up hosting my own shows, printing my own merchandise, and eventually I even renovated my parent’s basement into a recording studio. As time rolled on, I noticed how many hard working artists were getting taken advantage of by unfair promotion companies, or grossly over paying industry corporations for the merchandising of simple t-shirts. I know what it’s like to be a struggling artist, so I decided to use the tools at my disposal, from my own personal experience built up over the years, to begin helping artists in the local community while keeping their best interests in mind. Following the success of several live events and an increasing influx of merchandise orders, I guess you could say I’ve been pretty busy since Agoria’s conception.

Agoria was founded to be a one-stop-shop; by artists, for artists, 100% hassle free. The goal: provide high quality products and services to other artists or small businesses at an affordable rate without compromising on quality. A large feat, but one the artistic community desperately needs. To this day, I and the Agoria team work endlessly to achieve these standards for the sake of the music. I am happy to say, based on our large number of repeat clients, we consistently meet and exceed expectations.

When I'm not working on music related endeavours with Agoria, I am typically dedicated to creating even more music under the alias Fluffio. However, when I occasionally take a break from music, you can find me cooking in the kitchen, tinkering with my cars or hanging out with my cats.

LEO "TRUFFLES" MONTERO

Ever since I was little, I've found a fascination with photography; how a single moment frozen in time has the ability to drive one or many emotions and interpretations. I had gotten my first camera in my teen years and the rest, as they say, is history.

On paper, I'm a Humber Business Graduate. What gets me out of bed every morning is the urge to create compelling and impactful images, further learning how pictures best suit people, brands, and businesses alike. I am always looking forward to taking on a new shoot or client- this is something I bring to everything I shoot for Agoria and its clients.

Born in Venezuela, raised in Houston, TX and now living in Toronto, I’ve come to experience an assortment of cultures throughout my lifetime. I believe that my exposure to such diverse backgrounds has translated into my photography, giving me the ability to offer different and unique perspectives- welcome to my world!

JESS BERTAN

You may not know me now, but if you don’t already, I promise you will. My name is Jess, and I'm the keenest, meanest, youngest music journalist hot off the press. If you want to know one thing about me, I'm a natural-born storyteller, and I'm dying to hear yours.

Throughout my adolescence and into my high school years, I excelled in two main talents: music and talking. Music has been there for me my entire life; I took piano lessons from the age of six, then moved on to train at the National Ballet School for nine years. At age 13 I decided to teach myself how to play guitar, which became a lasting element of my high school identity. I’ve always had an eclectic music taste, and my high school dream job was to be a radio DJ due to my unusually persistent love of listening to the radio. Who knows? Maybe I'll get there someday.

In school, I always felt most comfortable in an English class, and in particular I always loved any creative writing based assignments. I never shied away from presenting to the class; having an audience has never scared me. As a volunteer for Ryerson’s campus radio station, CJRU, I have experience writing published album reviews. When I write narrative features, I’m able to combine my prior musical background and my distinct creative writing abilities to paint a portrait in words.

When it came time to choose a field of study, Ryerson University’s School of Journalism was always my first choice, and after two completed years of their program, I am affirmed every day that I made the correct decision in my field of study. At the end of the day, I study people. I take a genuine interest in the stories of others, and when I interview you, I'm able to intuitively ask questions that flow like conversation.

The B-Side is a blog dedicated to local music, and as chief editor, reporter, and fellow music enthusiast, I ask that you please crack open a cold one and sit with me for a chat about your art. Do your worst!!

NICK "THE SLICK" MOKRZEWSKI

Raised in an artistic family, I’ve never had much problem expressing myself whether it be through music, writing, or comedy.

My passion for writing was discovered while completing my Post-Secondary studies at Seneca for Radio Broadcasting then a BFA in Film Production. While in school I had the chance to become the News Editor for the school's newsletter. I'm driven by learning about, creating and celebrating art and I am happy to bring that to Agoria Productions writing for The B-Side!

Writing about music is second nature to me, as I'm a musician at the core. I started at the age of nine singing classical and musical theatre. A few years later, at the age of 13 I then started playing guitar and bass which led me to form my first band. Since then, I've had the honour to work on varying projects with many of Toronto's talented musicians. Currently, I front my own indie-rock-shoegaze project Whisper Gang and am a musician in Fluffio’s RPC.

Away from the pen and off the stage, I am a big sucker for watching and critiquing films, going to concerts and an avid consumer of coffee and chocolate.

JAMES BUGNA

My photographic journey got its start when I was in middle school. Initially, I fell in love with street photography and the concept of finding beauty in everyday life-, capturing those precious moments that can’t be described in words.

I’ve always been passionate about music, but my fascination with live shows really began to take off in high school. Here, I was introduced to various different types of music that captivated my interest. I got pretty involved with the Toronto music scene, and every weekend I found myself attending whatever local show was happening in the city. It wasn't until I started my first year of journalism at TMU that I started photographing music events. I quickly became obsessed with fine-tuning my ability to illustrate live music's intense energy and emotion in a still frame. Now, I’m continuing this work with Agoria Productions & The B-Side, and looking forward to what the future might bring!

Aside from music photography, I’m also a dedicated cyclist. You can find me doing everything from riding dirt jumps to going on multi-day bike-packing expeditions, always ensuring to document my adventure along the way on-camera.

NATALIE MASON

I’ve been a photographer as long as I can remember. Even as early as grade one, I can remember being into caneras and buying an old camera at a garage sale. I first learned to develop film at overnight camp and I was hooked.

After graduation from the photography program at Ryerson, I started my own business photographing babies and family. My specialty was newborns. When the pandemic happened so did a lot of changes and I decided to pursue my dream of being a band photographer. I love music. Aside from photography it is my biggest passion. Combining music and photography makes my heart happy.

With photography we are capturing tiny fractions of a second of life. Sometimes our eyes can’t even see those moments because they go by too fast. Photography allows me to capture those moments and create memories forever. I like to think that I’m illuminating life by holding it still.