-
Artist Spotlight: Eekwol and T-Rhyme
For Women By Women (FWBW) is the debut of veteran rappers Eekwol and T-Rhyme, who team up to relay powerful messages about hip hop, Indigenous experience and being women in a new project which is aptly titled. Thanks to a Canada Council for the Arts, they spare no expense in delivering high quality content. They have built up hype around this album and have been invited to perform at festivals and events, such as Show and Prove in Los Angeles, CA, Regina Folk Festival and Sask Music Awards. Being an Indigenous musician is a political act. There is no exception for being women in the hip hop industry. Eekwol has…
-
Artist Spotlight: MONOWHALES
Fueled by a passionate desire to create a sound as unapologetic and powerful as the personalities within the band, MONOWHALES have taken the experiences gained fighting their way up the ranks of Toronto’s music scene and barrelled headlong into the creation of their new EP Control Freak. Exploding onto the scene with a DIY ethos and an unforgettable live show, MONOWHALES first made waves with their breakout single Home in August 2016. The band would go on to share stages with Dear Rouge, K.Flay, Matt and Kim, Coleman Hell, and many more. The band’s new EP Control Freak, released in June 2018, was produced by AL-P (MSTRKRFT, Death From Above…
-
Artist Spotlight: Kimmortal
Kimmortal is a queer filipinx second generation settler based on the unceded territories of the Coast Salish peoples: the Tsleil-Waututh, Squamish, and Musqueam nations. Recognized as “a voice to be heard” by Exclaim magazine, Kimmortal has been making waves with their multifaceted approach to music. Incorporating song, visual art, rap, and frequently collaborating with poets and dancers, Kimmortal strives to make an impact with their live performances. Their new album “X marks the Swirl” was a two year long process of creation that was ranked 1 of 40 in the Polaris 2019 longlist. Kimmortal’s music and art have been featured on CBC’s show “Exhibitionists”, the Queer Women of Colour festival…
-
A longish list of cis and trans women, trans men, and non binary artists and bands
When we talk about the idea of gender representation at festivals, bookers often say they “just can’t find” bands or artists, that “there aren’t enough women/trans/non-binary artists,” that they’ve “tried but it’s reeeeeeally hard.” These comments make those bookers look out-of-touch and bad at their job, but we figure that having a database of artists or bands made up of trans and cis women, trans men, and non-binary artists might be helpful, especially to bookers who are looking to improve their lineups and aren’t looking for excuses. So it took us a while, but finally it’s here! Secret Frequency Database of Cis and Trans Women, Trans Men, and Non-Binary artists…
-
Artist Spotlight: PIQSIQ
With a style perpetually galvanized by darkness and haunting northern beauty, sisters, Tiffany Kuliktana Ayalik and Kayley Inuksuk Mackay, come together to create Inuit style throat singing duo, PIQSIQ. Performing ancient traditional songs and eerie new compositions, they leave their listeners enthralled with the infinity of possible answers to the question “what is the meaning of life.” With roots in Nunavut’s Kitikmeot and Kivalliq Regions, the sisters grew up in Yellowknife, NWT, where endless sunlight shines for two short summer months and deep, wintery darkness consumes the rest of the year. These environmental extremes had a huge impact on Tiffany and Kayley’s overall aesthetic and the pair have always engrossed…
-
Artist Spotlight: Laila Biali
Multi award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter and pianist Laila Biali has toured with Chris Botti, Paula Cole, Suzanne Vega and Sting. She has headlined festivals and venues spanning five continents including Carnegie Hall. Her accolades include a 2019 JUNO Award for “Vocal Jazz Album of the Year”, “SOCAN Composer of the Year” and “Keyboardist of the Year” at Canada’s National Jazz Awards, a JUNO nomination for her studio recording Tracing Light, and a spot on DownBeat Magazine’s “Best Albums of the Year” list for her follow-up Live in Concert. In 2015, Laila released her first album of entirely original music, House of Many Rooms – an indie-pop project featuring a star-studded lineup…
-
Artist Spotlight: Elisapie
Director, composer, singer-songwriter and activist, Elisapie Isaac comes from the Arctic. “The North is not at the other end of the world. It’s at the heart of mine.” Through myriad projects, Elisapie has established herself as a true Inuit icon. She was first discovered in 2003 as the director of her documentary If the Weather Permits, a film which thrust viewers into her own origin story. The following year, she released her first album with the duo Taima, winning a Juno Award for Indigenous Music Album of the Year. She has since released two solo albums, There Will be Stars (2009) and Travelling Love (2013). The most recent one was…
-
On the cult of genius.
The arts are full of abusive narcissists, people who are “soooo talented” that we’re told we have to overlook their bad behaviour and cherish their scarce genius. We have some prominent examples before us currently, but it plays out everywhere. These people are in every arts community, and they are endlessly destructive. They hoard resources and connections, they cut down their peers, they support no one but themselves. Anyone who contradicts them is ostracized, shouted down, shut out. You don’t kiss the appropriate ass, or – god forbid! – you offer an honest critical opinion of their work. Suddenly you can’t access cheap rehearsal space, you can’t find collaborators, you…
-
Artist Spotlight: Aqua Alta / Jenn Grant
I know I already did one this week, but then this new stuff slid across my dashboard and it stopped me in my eternal scroll and I had to share it, so here we are. Two in one week. Except that this is actually two in one post, so three. Well, I make the rules, such as they are, so I guess I can break them. Aqua Alta is a new project by Jenn Grant, Charles Austin, and Graeme Campbell. So far, it’s barely more than a tease – a name, a one-pager website with no info or photos, and just three songs. The first two got my attention, but…
