Tonight: Janette King and DijahSB Present "Cool Me Down" At The Diving Bell Social Club

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We’re thrilled to co-present Janette King and DijahSB’s “Cool Me Down” release show, recorded at the beloved Diving Bell Social Club, tonight Monday, April 19th 2021, at 8:30 PM EST. The set will feature both artists performing and coming together to share their new single “Cool Me Down,” set to release on April 21st. Tonight’s performance is presented in collaboration with our friends at Hot Tramp Records, POP Montréal, Exclaim! and The Diving Bell Social Club. Admission for this release show is free with the option to donate, and all proceeds will go directly to the artists and presenters. Folks who donate will receive a download code for “Cool Me Down,” and get an exclusive pre-release listen!

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Janette King shot by kittyshootsfilm, styled by Dress Up Collective

Janette King (she/her) is a producer, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and DJ based in Montreal. [Her] unique sound blends together soulful vocals, an upbeat production style, and honest lyrics to create a truly captivating listening experience. Her debut LP What We Lost is set to release June 2021.

Bio via artist Spotify

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DijahSB shot by Jarius Madion

DijahSB (they/them) is a Toronto-based rapper who makes navigating synth loops, booming bass claps, and smoothed out production look easy. [They] effortlessly glides across these soundscapes with lyrics that are as earnest and personal as they are agile and quick witted. Inspirational without being preachy, their music is a raw look into the mind of a Black, non-binary artist rapping their way through hope, heartbreak, and breakthroughs. Their sound [is] a small light pushing through dark cracks as the self-aware inner workings of an artist in a constant state of growth.

Bio via artist Spotify

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Visit the event page for more information and tune-in tonight via the event link

Tickets available here

Pre-save “Cool Me Down”

Janette King

Instagram | Website | Spotify

DijahSB

Instagram | Twitter | Spotify

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Related Articles

Hold Tighter for Days Brighter: Skinnybones releases "SKB04"

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Photo: Vincent Castonguay for Éditions 8888

Make-up: Ashley Diabo for TEAMM Agency
©Vincent Castonguay
©Éditions 8888

Emerging from what seems like one of the most universally difficult winters, the feeling of warm sun beaming on your cheeks as you walk down snowless pavements, seeing people making cheery smalltalk on the corner, the sparkling sound of birds chirping in the branches above, it’s hard not to have a little spring in your step. A bit of jazz in your strut. Heck, maybe you even divert from your designated path when you go on today’s silly little walk. The swinging electro percussion of SKB04, the latest album from Montreal producer and DJ, Skinnybones, is the soundscape for that glitter in your eye, that pep in your walk, in hopes of brighter days ahead.

Working under the alias of Skinnybones, Léon Lo (he/him) has been involved in the city’s underground music scene since the early 2000’s, releasing numerous electronic projects on his label, Skitracks, and many others, including Well Rounded Records, the Dimseniya compilation by Friends for Friends, and on La Rama Dubs with YlangYlang. Skinnybones also hosts monthly radio shows on La Face B and n10.as and notably boasts two MUTEK performances (in 2011 & 2018), among many other local events.

SKB04 is a delightfully bubbling selection of hardware jams compiled over the past four years, referencing classic techno and electro sounds, tinged with a sunny swing. We talked Bell Biv DeVoe snares, the Rave as a living organism, and how to keep the dance music community alive through Pandemic Part II in the interview below.

In the words of the artist himself: World-wide raving folx, hold tighter for days brighter.

Maya Hassa for Also Cool: The smooth brightness of the opening track of SKB04 feels like emerging for that first sunny walk in March, when spring is in the air and in your step, and you have the sudden urge to buy flowers and smile at everyone you see. You mention optimism, hope, and rebirth amid round two of “pandemonium” spring - what was your mood going into writing these jams?

Skinnybones: The tracks on SKB04 are quite old already, and predate the pandemic. I’ve tracked a lot over the years and accumulated a large backlog of recordings, from which I sequenced this release. I was meaning to put out a follow-up to my last cassette for some time, but things kept getting in the way. Then the pandemic sent all the rigid structures around me into free-fall, which opened me up to reevaluating my priorities, making time for things that were important to me, and spending time inhabiting my inner-world.

While I feel like that was a really valuable gift, I’m burnt-out like everyone else in town - and the thought of us having to sacrifice another summer is gut-wrenching. I wanted to assemble an album that wouldn’t play into despair, but wouldn’t be completely delusional in its optimism, either. I hope it can lift people’s spirits, while still acknowledging the challenges of the times.

Pre-order of SKB04. You get 1 track now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it's released. Purchasable with gift card Pre-order Digital Album $5 CAD or more Send as Gift High-bias 44 minute cassette tape with Riso-printed 4-panel j-card.

MH: It's noticeable throughout the album, but especially in the second half, that the electro patterns groove with a unique swing. Even when an acid bass-line comes in on “Cold Snap,” the track has a jazzy quality to it. You called it “skewed jack swing.” How would you describe your musical inspiration for this album?

SKB: Skewed jack swing happened when I hurried to the studio to tap out a Bell Biv DeVoe snare roll, playfully recorded it, got over the novelty, and started world-building around it in earnest. I’m a very big fan of free jazz music, and though the similarities between it and dance music may seem few, the way musical motifs are combined outside the constraints of rhythm and harmony in free jazz informs a lot of my music. In a way, this is also reflective of skewed jack swing, taking a familiar setup that could easily fall into pastiche and bending it so that it becomes something unintended, unexpected, and true to itself.

MH: What is your creative process when making a track — do you tend to improvise?

SKB: I almost always have one starting point in mind, be it a drum pattern, a melody or a sample I’d like to use. I’ll lay that down first, then start building up elements around it until I have enough blocks to play with. That will usually be within the first hour. Then I’ll spend a considerably longer time just vibing the hell out. I have a hardware setup, so it’s me improvising, twiddling knobs and pushing buttons, probably making pamplemousse faces and breathing really hard the whole time. When I’ve gotten that out of my system, I have a good idea of the elements that work and the ones that are clutter, so I cut the fat and streamline it. I then work out an outline of the song structure, which usually leaves ample room for noodling, then record one take of a controlled jam, which I later trim down.

MH: “Namur” makes me miss emerging from a dark tunnel at 7am with amen breaks still ringing in my ears. In what ways have you been staying hopeful for the return of the dance music scene (if at all) throughout the past year's lockdowns?

SKB: I actually wrote a Medium piece a little while ago about how I miss going out dancing. I think if we allow ourselves to accept that raving may not come back as the romanticized image that we have of it in our minds, there is more room for hope. To me, raving isn’t only about dancing in a club, rubbing sweaty shoulders with strangers to loud music—though that sounds about as close to paradise as anything right now—it’s about being part of a larger living organism.

What can constitute a living organism is actually quite varied and we don’t necessarily have to stick to a venue + sound system + DJ + dancers formula. There might be countless other ways for the rave to exist which may or may not include physical proximity. I’m keeping fingers crossed for “may include,” and hope it’s soon, but if that’s not the case, I’m still totally down to put my body, my mind, and my time to contribute to keeping the rave going in a larger sense.

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Photo: Vincent Castonguay for Éditions 8888

Make-up: Ashley Diabo for TEAMM Agency

MH: Could you elaborate on what being part of a “living organism” means to you? Is it the experience of a unified community, the sense of solidarity brought upon by a shared emotional experience, maybe even the physical sense of interconnection or anonymity brought upon by dancing together? A combination of it all?

SKB: Apart from music, people, venues, and lighting, a rave is also made up of less readily-identifiable things like frequencies, bodies, pressure systems, secretions, intelligence, chemicals, trajectories, impulses, breath, blood, emotions, energy. All of these things are variable, and every one of them acts on and influences every thing else. If a tune I love comes on and I start dancing my heart out, that will definitely affect how the person next to me, who's never heard it before, receives it. All that goes back to the DJ and acts on what they do next, and how they do it.

At the same time, if I had a terrible meal before going out and that same tune comes on when I get to the rave, but this time I feel miserable and just want to crawl into a corner and be left alone, I will act on the rave in a completely different manner, and the experience might end up going in another direction entirely. So, because every little thing is tied together, I consider the rave to truly be a living organism.

MH: That response makes me want to capitalize the word “Rave,” so I’ll do it here. Do you have anything specific in mind when you mention alternative ways for the Rave to live on?

SKB: If we see how easily things from what we consider outside the rave can have an impact on what happens inside it, like the bad meal example I gave, we can also start to see how things from what we consider within the rave can impact things outside of it. An easy image is the low thumping pulse you can hear when crossing the street to get to the venue, and the rush of excitement it can provoke in you while you're technically not even there yet — or how that same sound is perceived by the people living down the block. Bearing all that in mind, inside and outside start to not be such important distinctions anymore, and what we think of as the rave's boundaries start to get blurry. So maybe I don't need to physically see the DJ in order to be part of the rave. Maybe I don't need to have my head in the bassbin of a speaker. Maybe it's my speaker at home, or a set of headphones in the forest, or VR goggles, or butterflies in my stomach when thinking of a song, a place, or someone.

MH: You have a vast discography, going back to your first self-release in 2017, spanning a longtime involvement in Montreal's music scene, which includes two live MUTEK performances and multiple festivals and party series. What has your experience been like as an independent artist — do you prefer to self-release versus working with a label?

SKB: To be honest, my self-promotion game has nothing on my artistic output. I’m not a very outgoing person, so I haven’t always secured the good connections. Because of that, and because I’m not very real-world goal-oriented when it comes to my music, I’m much more comfortable in self-initiated frameworks, be they releases or parties. I should also acknowledge that I’ve been surrounded by talented and gifted people throughout my music-making years, and that I’ve ridden on a lot of coattails, and benefitted from a lot of energy outside of my own. Nothing I’ve done has been self-initiated in the strictest sense.

I have also had the good fortune to have people from the world at large show an interest in my endeavors, and they’ve only been good experiences up to now. I’m always up for more! However, I have a day job and a small family, so I really prefer going at my own pace.

MH: Where can our readers find you (if you're hosting any streams, live shows, online performances, etc)?

SKB: I don’t have any shows lined up right now, but I host a monthly radio show, Sober Ravers Union, which airs every fourth Wednesday on La Face B . I mix records for an hour or two, and usually have mixes from guests of the non cis-white-het-dude-DJ persuasion. I also co-host another monthly radio show with my partner YlangYlang, Heavy Metal Parking Lot, which airs every fourth Saturday on n10.as. That show focuses on experimental music, found sounds and field recordings. Also, I used to put out a free download bootleg every month on my Bandcamp page. I may get around to doing that again, so that might be a good place to look!

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Follow Skinnybones on Instagram

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Finding Freedom Within Limitation: Chicago's Pansy Shares Self-Titled Debut

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Vivian McCall, photo courtesy of the artist

Spring has sprung, and this week we’ve got the brightest bloom in the bunch on repeat. Meet Pansy, the solo project of Chicago-based musician Vivian McCall. Today, McCall releases her self-titled debut album on Earth Libraries: a nine-track collection of impressions inspired by her experiences as a trans woman. Through Pansy, McCall shares how she reconnected with herself throughout her transition, and parses the highs and lows of embracing her vulnerability. Before creating under the name Pansy, McCall established herself in the Chicago indie scene with her band Jungle Green. As an analog admirer, McCall realized Pansy using the same lo-fi equipment that captured Jungle Green’s recordings over the years. The result is a candid, sunny debut that reminisces 90s college-rock as a backdrop for McCall’s frank lyrics. We connected with McCall leading up to her release to chat about her musical beginnings, rejecting confessional songwriting and leveraging musical imperfections and limitations to make an honest record.

Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter for Also Cool: Hey Vivian! Thank you so much for chatting with Also Cool. First thing's first - congratulations on your debut record! To get things started, how does it feel to have realized such a work and to have had so much buzz and excitement surrounding its release so far?

Vivian McCall: Well, to be honest, it really caught me off guard. I always wanted people to like and connect with my music, but never expected all this interest. This is such a cliche... but I made this record for me and hoped it would resonate with other trans people, too. I thought it was so specific to my experience that people wouldn't care about it, or worse they'd tokenize it. I'm relieved that people aren't doing that or projecting weird trans stereotypes onto me. I think the specificity is exactly what people enjoy. They've been able to connect their own troubles to it — troubles that have nothing to do with being trans. That's been beautiful to hear about. I'm happy that something so me is finding an audience.

Also Cool: Knowing that you’ve been playing in your band Jungle Green over the years, when did you find yourself wanting to explore a solo musical endeavor, and where did this project find its beginnings?

VM: I've been writing songs since I was 14, but this is the first time I've wanted to put anything out. You can't really write songs you care about when you're out of touch with yourself. The point of Pansy — before it was anything or even had a name — was to write songs quickly from a really honest place. I didn't want to play a character and I didn't want to embellish any parts of myself, because that was literally my entire life up to that point.

It's hard to explain to people who aren't trans, but before I went on hormones, I could intellectualize what I felt, but I couldn't express it, couldn't talk about it. Everything felt grey, and I don't I mean nuanced, I mean indistinguishable. I used to think there was something really wrong with me, like I was missing some essential part of my soul. So, yeah, I could write songs, but they were totally meaningless! They didn't even feel like a part of me.

These songs did. That's the difference; what I'd always been waiting for. I could write honest songs because I was recognizing my needs and the actual pain I'd been experiencing. It's just trauma and learning how to process it and dig yourself out. So when you listen to the album, know that some songs came before this big tectonic shift in my life… and everything else came during the midst of it.

The whole process was like that scene in The Wizard of Oz when Dorothy walks from the interior of her grey house to the colorful magical land of Oz, only to be ambushed by the Wicked Witch of the West. In my case, the Witch was me and everything I'd ever buried.

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Vivian McCall, photo courtesy of the artist

AC: Thank you so much for sharing your experience and opening up about the evolution of your music. Staying in this vein of thought: You've spoken about realizing that you matter on your own terms, rather than from the approval of others — which I think is really powerful. How did you maintain that mindset while creating such an intimate and vulnerable work?

VM: I had to if I wanted to feel okay about what I was making; I had some concerns. For one, this record is not a diary and that's purposeful. I didn't want my songs to be read as confessionals or emotional pornography for liberals. I was really not okay for a long time and these songs were my way of finding meaning. Every song encapsulates some big emotion I'd wrestle with for months. The conclusions are ... ambiguous, because that's how I felt, and still feel, about womanhood.

I didn't stop and ask myself if the music was "good" as often as I normally do. I was really focused on asking, Okay this line... is this totally, one hundred percent, true to how I feel. Seriously, I did that like I was interrogating myself, which is so, so ridiculous.

I truly hope this doesn't sound self-serious because really, some of these songs came out fully formed and I didn't want to think that critically about them because I was afraid of altering the meaning along the way. I was so deathly afraid of using my music to manipulate my own emotions because it's such a powerful thing when you're vulnerable. At that time, that could have been really dangerous!

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Vivian McCall, photo courtesy of the artist

AC: To touch on the sound of this record: You’ve spoken about your affinity for analog recording. What about analog production first moved you as a musician, and how has your relationship with it impacted your creative process?

VM: Recording music uses such a different part of my brain than writing it,and that's why I love it. Classic head and heart, right brain/left brain sort of thing. If I've laid my emotions out in a song, I can start asking how to make those feelings come across clear in a musical sense, or how to make the song catchier if that's what I'm going for.

Analog recording is so limiting, and yet those limitations are freeing. I have to get the right takes. I have to commit to the sounds I'm making. I have to live mix the stereo mixes, making the recordings you hear a kind of performance, too. It can be really frustrating, but I'm not tempted to endlessly tinker with my recordings. They are what they are and I love that.

That's a huge part of the process for me, really pushing whatever I'm doing to new places that I didn't expect. I don't like going into a song knowing what I'm going to do, because that kills the fun and keeps me from exploring. I'm not a master technician or anything, but I'm creative — partially because I don't totally know what I'm doing — but I know what I like. Sometimes that means precision (take after take), sometimes that means making it sound really fucked or sloppy; embracing whatever imperfections and limitations I have as a musician.

AC: To end thing's off, what most excites you about the future of your music career? Where do you hope to find yourself once live music is possible once again?

VM: Well, I'm excited that every song I've written since finishing this record isn’t explicitly about the transition. [My] new songs aren't about transness, but are written from that perspective I guess, just because it's me. I'm excited to be back on a stage again and start figuring out what I want to do next, musically.

Just being a trans woman puts you in some unique emotional situations — some good, some bad — and for the first time in my life, I'm present enough to actually experience my feelings. That's still really crazy to me. I feel like such an alien sometimes, being like, Wow isn't it crazy to be a person? It's so corny. But that's more or less the truth of how I feel. Out in the world, I don't feel as aggressive about my identity anymore.

I wrote a lot of aggressive rock stuff during this huge power-pop phase right before the pandemic hit. I liked the idea of writing lesbian love songs in the language of this super beta-male, cartoonishly sexist genre that I do… love. Then I got my heart really banged up and wrote a bunch of sweet acoustic music. There's a lot, a lot more than I'm used to sitting on at once.

AC: Before we let you go, how is the best way that we can support you as an artist and what are you future plans?

VM: Well, I really need a band! So I guess if you like the record, just write me on Instagram. Maybe we'll get along!

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PANSY

Out via Earth Libraries on April 2, 2021

1. Who Will Love Me Enough?

2. Anybody Help Me

3. Tomorrow, When I’m Even Better

4. Trash

5. Shoes

6. Turn Ur Back

7. Woman of Ur Dreams

8. Mommi Housi

9. Me In Mine

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Pansy

Instagram | Bandcamp | Spotify

Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter (she/her) is the co-founder and managing editor of Also Cool Mag. Aside from the mag, she is a music promoter & booker, and a radio host & DJ.

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Premiere: Sisi Superstar Reclaims Emo Culture with "Demon Tales"

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Photo credit: Ariana Molly

Reject modernity, embrace tradition. Sisi Superstar is queering emo music with her poppy, goth, 2000’s alt-rock-infused debut EP, Demon Tales. From co-founding the queer party series, Unikorn Parties, to her popstar debut, dive into Montreal’s glamorous underground drag scene with Miss Spooky 2021, the queen who creates her own reality, building her own spaces when gatekeepers try to stop her.

The scene kids are coming to take their music back. We talk our favourite early 2000’s melodramatic rock bands, the challenges of writing your first album, owning our skinny jean-wearing high school looks, call-out the high school bullies who turned emo for aesthetics, and analyzed the science behind social media’s ever-present based-cringe ratio in the all-revealing interview below.

Maya Hassa for Also Cool: Let's start with the story behind Demon Tales.  How did the album come to be?

Sisi Superstar: I first met my producer at a party I was hosting over a year ago.  At that time, I was trying to start a band with my friend Awwful - we started working on a few songs, but it was sounding very raw to me.  I had never really sung before - and I didn't know much about music production either. I always want to put the right amount of effort into the work I put out – and that project just felt rushed. I was worried it would become "that one drag single" I release - I didn't want that to end up happening.

Right before the pandemic, I met Pierre Crube at Muy Muy, which is a Mexican party series that we also host in Montreal. It’s funny, I didn’t recognize him at first, but he was in a band that I used to listen to as a teenager called Numéro#. They were really popular in the French music scene - I even had photos of them in my locker and went to a lot of their shows in high school. I was obviously wired when I realized who he was. It was 6:00 AM, I was in a look, talking a lot, but not making much sense - there's a certain point during the night when you start making insane plans with people, knowing that in reality it’s totally not going to happen.

We started talking about music, and he was just like, “Yeah, you should pass by my studio, we can record something, test the waters.” At this point I’m thinking, “Okay – we’re not really friends yet, we just met at this party.” It was super intimidating to go there, especially since it was my first experience making music with a stranger. Afterwards, he sent me some beats and I started writing lyrics for a song that ended up on this EP.

“Icy Tears” is the most lyrically complex song I wrote - it was my first single, so I had a lot to say. In my experience, when you start a new medium, you just have so many ideas. I had so many things to recount about my experiences, since I first moved to Montreal at 17, to now - over ten years later. The title, Demon Tales, is just a play on words – the songs are tales of demons past.

AC: This album is giving me Lady Gaga, a little bit of synth pop, a little bit of early 2000’s goth vibes – what sounds were you channeling for this release?

SS: I have two sides of me - I really like experimental and hardcore electronic music, and I also like rock and alternative. Since this is my first EP, I didn’t want to get too distracted by my music taste, and instead, work on finding my voice and deciding what sounds good. A lot of people don't necessarily produce the kind of music they listen to on the daily - expressing whatever is inside of you matters most.

Demon Tales is a mix of early 2000’s rock moments like Linkin Park, Avril Lavigne, and melodramatic alt-rock bands like Sum 41 and Billy talent, mixed with electronic music, new wave, and a bit of goth in the style of Crystal Castles. If you mashed all of those up and turned them into a pop song, that’s the sound I’m going for. I would call it emo pop.

My aim was also to reclaim emo music. With this new trend of people jumping on the emo and scene aesthetic bandwagon, it often seems like they aren’t genuinely part of the culture. If you were an emo or scene kid in my generation, you would have had to endure a lot of judgement for looking that way. It’s great to see so many people appreciating it now, but this has consistently been my lifestyle for years. People used to bully me for wearing skinny jeans, acting feminine, and wearing nail polish – now it’s considered “aesthetic.” I'm fucking reclaiming emo music – but I’m making it really poppy and queer at the same time.

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Photo credit: Ariana Molly

 AC: You're a visual artist, a DJ, a drag artist, and a makeup transformation legend. How did the start of your career as an artist look like – and how did you end up getting into the club scene?

 SS: My medium has always been a mix of illustration and painting, but when I started going out a lot, I was consistently throwing looks. I’d wear colorful contact lenses and makeup, but I wasn’t necessarily going for the full drag moment - yet. I was experimenting with fashion - and then I think it just grew on me. One day I was like, “wait, let me try on that wig.”

The first time I did drag was about five or six years ago, when I went to the Dita Von Teese show in Montreal. I tried dressing more feminine and burlesque, took a glamorous cab ride with a friend, and realized I really felt in the moment – I loved being femme-presenting. 

It all came together when I started throwing my own events. I was already so involved in the party scene, I thought maybe I should learn how CDJs work, so I decided to give it a try. I was experimenting with drag around that time too, but not necessarily performing – I didn't feel like I had a place at the bars in the Village to actually perform there.

 That didn’t stop me, though - if I didn’t have a seat at the table, I had to build my own. That's what happened with Unikorn parties. Awwful was already DJing and throwing Glitter Bomb, so they showed me the ropes - and that’s how Unikorn Parties was started.

Coincidentally, Ariana Molly invited me to her studio for a shoot one day, and someone was reading tarot cards there. Without telling them much about what was going on in my life, they told me I was juggling way too many things – and they were right. I was DJing, doing drag, making art, throwing parties - doing everything at once.  

They told me that I was going to find a mentor who would help bring all of that together. At the time I couldn’t really imagine how all the different things I was doing would end up working out, but after meeting Pierre, I realized this was it. I could perform in drag and express my creativity through music and visuals. Sisi Superstar became my pop persona. It took time, but now I realize it’s all aligning.

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Photo credit: Ariana Molly

 AC: You said you wrote “Icy Tears” when you were feeling inspired in Mexico City – what was special about being there?

SS: I was there for a festival called Backdoor - a queer party series that happens in Vancouver, Toronto, LA, and Mexico City. My friend Sam Blake introduced me to the organizers when they came to Montreal, and I ended up flying out to Mexico for their next event. I loved it - being in a new place gives such a boost to your confidence. People in Montreal are used to seeing me around the nightlife scene. It’s a small city, so we're like a big family here – but in Mexico it was really popping. People get excited when they see a fresh face – they’re not jaded. That energy was very inspiring.

AC: The first single you released, “Purest Evil,” was recently remixed by D v D, a DJ/producer in the Montreal party scene. How did you end up collaborating?

SS: I first knew D v D’s music through Soundcloud. He came to a Unikorn party once – and I just knew I had to go talk to this person. I ended up going to a few of the events he was DJing – parties in the basement of La Sala Rossa – and I just thought he was a really good DJ and producer.

Our music tastes are very similar – we both love a hyper pop moment, EDM, hard dance, all that. I wanted him to do a remix because Demon Tales isn’t very dance-y, it’s more introspective headphone music for when you’re taking the metro and you’re “having the feels”. I wanted to make a remix that was closer to what I would actually play in a DJ set next time I do my goth night.

@bubblebadbitch

 AC: You’re also a TikTok star. How is that working for you as a platform to promote your art?

SS: I haven't gone viral or anything, I'm just enjoying TikTok more than other social media platforms at the moment. I actually got put in “TikTok jail” recently - I got flagged for wearing a bikini with my breast plate. It was just too sexy, but it also felt deliberate, because I’m a drag queen and the algorithm is very selective. It's less welcoming to queer bodies and marginalized identities - especially targeting sex workers. When an influencer posts suggestive content, their posts are treated differently. A similar thing happens on Instagram – if you have a blue Verified check, your posts are less likely to get reported. I'm basically reported on all social media, so I’d rather just focus on whatever platform makes me the happiest.

The TikTok community is very cringe sometimes, but it’s also a lot more authentic. It’s not about presenting an image for people; it’s about posting the stupid shit showing who you really are. Rawness is valued over curated content – you won’t spend hours modifying your appearance before posting it on there – it’s meant to be a live moment. More importantly, it's usually meant to be a joke. Social media can get pretty dark sometimes, so it’s nice to have this constant source of comedy. I can spend an hour on Instagram and not laugh, but if I'm on TikTok, I'm going to laugh – like, a lot.

AC: The based-cringe ratio is so real - I’m obsessed with testing how far I can go before crossing the line. Navigating the algorithm is especially difficult for artists, because you have to master a lot of different platforms, including Soundcloud and Spotify, to get the views that you deserve.  

SS: It’s hard – I keep them all. I can’t put all my eggs in one basket.

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Support Sisi Superstar on Bandcamp and listen to Demon Tales on Spotify below:

Produced by @pierrecrube
Mix/Master by @lebeaudet
Photos by @arianamolly
Graphic by @casketnap

Listen to Demon Tales on Spotify. Sisi Superstar · Single · 2021 · 6 songs.

Premiere: Magi Merlin Sets the Record Straight With New EP "Drug Music"

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Drug Music cover by Laurent E. Malo

Magi Merlin has arrived with her highly anticipated sophomore EP Drug Music. Produced by her right-hand collaborator Funkywhat, Drug Music settles the dust around Magi Merlin’s reservations on themes of racial identity, love and personal growth, to which she comments: “I wrote the Drug Music EP as a way to process and reflect on some of my heavier emotions. It is some of my favourite writing and I think that it grew into a piece of work that successfully embodies feelings of affliction and confusion but ultimately acceptance.”

Throughout Drug Music, Magi Merlin owns her truth between entrancing beats and smokey basslines, while getting hot and heavy with lush vocal harmonies and a playful raspiness. We love nothing more than a sound that stands its ground while flirting with the listener to come a little closer; and such is the dance of Drug Music.

TDLR: This album is hot and if you don’t immediately listen to it after reading our review, it’s your loss. Thank you Magi Merlin for melting away the grey Winter slush, even just inside our shivering apartments — for this we are indebted to you.

Listen to Drug Music below

Magi Merlin

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Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter (She/Her) is the Co-Founder and Editor of Also Cool Mag. Aside from the mag, she is a music promoter & booker, radio host & DJ, and a musician.

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Premiere: punctï Makes a Case For Colouring Inside the Lines With "Surprise"

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punctï is the most intriguing practice of musical constraints since Brian Eno’s Oblique Strategies (or at least we think so). Turning the concept of limitation on its head, multifaceted experimental artist Laura Bardsley (and her alternating cast of one-off collaborators) strive(s) to embrace a “less is more” mindset by creating an album once a month following the same set of guidelines: composition, recording and overdubbing are done in the first, single session, and; post-production is done in another session, who’s duration is roughly the same length as the first. By cultivating a conceptual environment that aims to stretch the possibilities of performance and improvisation, Bardsley captures the “noise, meditation and inner turmoil” at the core of “Yes-Wave.” At the same time, Bardsley explains that “[the] project is all about reclaiming that childhood joy and wonder, without all the learned insecurity.”

Today, punctï premieres her 48th release, Surprise. In 15 tracks that graze the minute mark, punctï paces, yo-yos and chips away at the question she asks herself time and time again: “How do you feel today?” We had the chance to catch up with Bardsley on tinkering solo with her sampler, the restlessness of late-capitalism, and why Tiffany Haddish is “nobody’s bitch” to celebrate the four years of punctï. Check out our full interview below.

Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter for Also Cool: Hi Laura! Thank you so much for chatting with Also Cool. Before we get into the specifics of your latest album Surprise, let's talk about the punctï project. What inspired you to pursue such an ambitious endeavor? In what ways has working within the punctï framework impacted your artistic process, as a musician or as a performance artist?

Laura Bardsley: punctï started 4 years ago on a rather dejected Valentine's Day evening. I had a four track app on my phone and decided to make at least four tracks with the app in one night. After releasing my first album, I realized that it would be super fun to continue making albums in very short time-frames, especially if I collaborated with other artists. [The constraints of punctï] allow my collaborators and I to flex our music muscles every month, and I’ve learned enough about producing, mixing and mastering that I’ve realized there is so much more to learn.

I learned that Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner's relationship was built on a set of rules, just like punctï. It's really illuminated the endless possibilities of what is possible under a specific framework. For performing, I channel a disillusioned office worker, and it's a blast because: a) I've never worked in an office, so it's an acting challenge, and; b) It's a meld of performance art, music, choreography and comedy; sincerely the most fun I can have in one performance.

Also Cool: On that note, you've spoken to how your work channels and critiques feelings of restlessness and inadequacy within the constraints of late-capitalism. How has your perception of, and relationship with, these concepts changed and impacted the spirit of punctï with the dawn of COVID-19 and working-from-home?

LB: My perception of these concepts has only been cemented by the onset of COVID-19, but with more hope for change and growth than ever before. We're at a point where the whole world is experiencing this restlessness and these feelings of inadequacy. Somehow in our shared anxieties, there is a general understanding that this system is worn out and in need of replacement.

I've been doing remote sessions with my collaborators for most of the pandemic, and it definitely is more of a challenge to get into a creative, open and non-insecure mindset. Thankfully, we have the internet and all its gifts… Although I do truly prefer working with people IRL, and will cherish those sessions when they come back.

AC: Something I noticed when studying the punctï project as a whole is that all your collaborative albums reflect different levels of spontaneity. Can you speak to this notion of "Yes-Wave" that you and your collaborators embrace, and how you embody its mindset throughout your production process?

LB: I attribute the spontaneity to the time constraints and spirit of the project: each album is a record of my collaborators and I are at in that moment of our lives. What is grinding our gears right now? What makes us giggle? What makes us nostalgic?

One of my rules for punctï is that if you really like what you're playing, really feeling it, then change it. Make it better, make it different and challenge yourself to explore it. I used to worship No-Wave music, but at a point the rejection of musicality got old to me — I don't want to reject it, I wanna embrace it. I wanna say Yes to The Wave washing over me.

AC: You've tapered off from partnering with another artist to create Surprise entirely solo. What caused this shift and what influences did you bring into the work?

LB: I've produced the occasional solo punctï album, and since this month marks the project’s four year anniversary, I decided to do it alone. As for constraints, I only used my Sampler PO-33 KO, voice, and bass on one track. I was inspired by Tierra Whack's Whack World, where she made 15 one minute songs. Obviously I'm no Tierra Whack, and some of my tracks are over one minute long, but I really enjoyed making Surprise. At points I wanted to make more sample-based tunes, which I pepper into the record. There's bitter stuff, like "Previous Her,” nostalgia for recess on "Snow Worlds,” sex in "Eyes,” and of course, the anxiety of the pandemic in "Like A Lazy Aristocrat.” Oh, and a song about Tiffany Haddish, cause she's the best.

AC: I feel like with any work, there is always some "lessons learned" sentiment that lingers after it's fully realized. If this idea rings true to you, what has been the main take-away from Surprise?

LB: I think because I make an album per month, it's usually not really until later, looking and listening back that I get some kind of a "lessons learned" feeling. The main takeaway from this album is one I keep having to remind myself of: Why try? Why the fuck not.

AC: To close off, do you plan to continue the punctï monthly releases? Do you have any other projects or collaborations you'd like to plug?

LB: I'm pretty sure I'm gonna keep doing punctï until I die. I did the math and at age 69, I'll be producing album #420.

I do more accessible music under Blue Odeur. My newest single "Foam Born" is out on all platforms and on YouTube with a snazzy video.

Listen to Surprise below!

punctï

Spotify | Bandcamp | Youtube

Instagram | Facebook | Twitter

Laura Bardsley

Website

Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter (She/Her) is the Co-Founder and Editor of Also Cool Mag. Aside from the mag, she is a music promoter & booker, radio host & DJ, and a musician.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

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Premiere: DECOUPLR Drifts Through the Now with "Digital Bonfire"

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Digital Bonfire by DECOUPLR is out now. Cover art: Jake Beadenkopf

Looking for something a little different?  Philly-based duo DECOUPLR have released their debut album Digital Bonfire, and the result is a sound that sticks. 

DECOUPLR is the product of two unique musical histories. Vocalist Bailey Walker got her start in Savannah, GA with Rich Animals, and joined neo-soul group Likebirds after finding her way to Philly. Producer Adam Laub is a long-time staple of the Philadelphia scene, releasing indie-pop as a member of OhBree and trip-hop as <radioaddict>, among other projects.

With Digital Bonfire, the listener moves through the pair’s influences and bears witness to their cohesion. Digital Bonfire is a trip-hop-infused product of the pandemic and all the feelings it’s drawn out – uncertainty, nostalgia, confusion. Walker describes debut single “Cold Sweat” as “...an intersection of the whirling uncertainties of this year colliding with a desire to be vulnerable with our closest friends.” On the second single “Changes,” DECOUPLR continues to fight the mundanity of isolation with vivid longings for tomorrow. 

Fans of Sylvan Esso and Flying Lotus will want to take a listen to what DECOUPLR’s been cooking. Let Digital Bonfire remind you to find hope beyond the Zoom screen… and take a read of our interview below!

Rebecca L. Judd for Also Cool: The pandemic’s impact on the album was incredibly pronounced. A standout track for me was the opening, “Keepsake”, which [highlights] this theme throughout the album where there are these mundane reflections of immobility and disenchantment over chaotic piano arpeggios and production. 

Was it your intention to reflect the present times in your album, or did that come about naturally? 

Adam Laub for DECOUPLR: It definitely was. A few of the tracks, we started a month or two before the pandemic hit. But they also happen to [just] be about being distant from people that you haven't seen in awhile, just by chance. And then, as soon as this all hit and we were all stuck inside, it quickly became this is the moment, this is where it should go.

Bailey Walker for DECOUPLR: I remember when we first started writing, the content was very about being lonely, and I had reservations – do we really want to come out with such a bummer album? Over the course of time, [we felt] like this is content that people can relate to. This is what a lot of people are feeling. So it's good to share.

Also Cool: What utility – as artists or as people, members of your community – does making the “COVID album” serve you in this time?

Bailey: I think that [it’s about] creating a conversation and an ability to connect with people during COVID. Creating like this, ever since March, we all started redefining what our community is and building our communities, especially online. To me, [this] feels like self-expression, but also an opportunity for conversation with people about things that [they] are not normally willing to open up about immediately.

Adam: It's been [part of] a lot of the lyrics. [The] concepts were about letting people know that it's okay to reach out to someone and talk to someone if you need to, especially during this kind of time. There was definitely a focus on that.

Bailey: But the privilege of getting to make music during a time like this, it's also not lost on me either. I have all these feelings, sure, but this is a collective struggle, you know? So it's for everyone. 

AC: Absolutely. It's just interesting to see people use [artistry during COVID] not only as something to unite their fans, but to reorient themselves. It's like a keepsake. It's something tangible [where] you can say it's the same sort of memory as a photo album.

Bailey Walker and Adam Laub of DECOUPLR. Image provided by DECOUPLR

AC: Looking at your musical histories, both of you have been involved in so many projects before DECOUPLR. Digital Bonfire reflects that, and it touches on a whole lot of genres. Has there been anything notable that's stuck with you from these musical projects?

A: I would say definitely. The genreless thing is big for me; all the projects I've been in have been pretty genre-absent. And I like being able to jump in between stuff like that. Also, I like a lot of glockenspiels with arpeggiators. You could probably find that on almost every track on this album, if you listen hard enough. It's always there. I promise you. [laughs]

B: I was going to say “glockenspiels''! But every project I’ve been in has also been a genreless, “we don't know what's going to happen” project. Having somewhere where I can just vocally run around in circles and play in [a] space is great. The whole genreless thing has worked out for me pretty well. 

A: I would also say, in general, the projects that I've worked on – including with DECOUPLR – have always been concept albums, even if we don't explicitly say it. So it's just something about having a flow or a narrative [that] has always stuck with me. And even if it's not a sticking point of the album – I think that for me, having that concept in the background has always helped to stitch things together in the end and make it make sense.

AC: That's true. So many artists will either put a completely different story on the page – because it lets them leave their stuff at the door – and for others, art is just an open diary.

I wanted to talk about the “Changes” video, because I thought that [video] reinforced this contrast between the chaotic instrumentals to it all and these reflections of loneliness and wanting to be understood. Hallucinatory animations and the longings for those colours in your own life. [Let’s] talk more about that collaboration process for the video with SUPERVOID.tv. 

A: I’ve been working on and off with [SUPERVOID.tv] on different projects for years. We did an electronic music record label that [had], God, some of the early beats that I made out there. Then, we kind of fell off and hadn't worked on anything for a few years, but Drew and Keppler and the rest of [them] started this new studio because they wanted to move. Drew did a lot of lighting design and then stage. They started moving into visuals, and we'd been talking about doing something like this for a long time and it just clicked.

It was easy to work with them. We'd never done anything like that. And, you know, [as] someone who is not a visual artist, it was mind-blowing to see how they could make two people sitting next to a tree seem so intriguing and emotional. They literally filmed us for like about 10, 15 minutes… and they did take the time to hand-draw, frame by frame. So, thank you very much SUPERVOID.tv It’s an awesome video.

AC: “Punchline” was another track I wanted to ask about. It intrigued me for its change in narrative [and emotion], relative to the rest of the album. That post-chorus of cacophonous “ha”s, that’s been stuck in my head. Could you elaborate on the intentions of that track and how it fits into that [Digital Bonfire] kaleidoscope?

B: With any disorienting mess that you go through, there's always this “aha!” moment, this moment of clarity where you say “...oh, I'm still breathing. I have all my fingers and toes.” “Punchline,” the lyrics, the melody, the little ditty came to me in this moment of just needing to take a second to find humour in a very humourless situation. And I drew from influences like Kate Bush and the silly abandoning of reality that she does. “Punchline” acts as a sigh of relief, a little bit. 

A: We also wrote it [when] we were at the height of the Trump administration. And the rest of the album was a bit about personal feelings towards all this stuff. We needed to talk a little bit about how our country is killing half a million people – but try to make it a little bit light and danceable, I guess. There was definitely a point in the pandemic where it all [sounded] like a big joke on us and they were going to pull it back and it was the Truman Show. But sadly, that's not reality. 

AC: How has your local music scene shaped your musical approach? What do you like about the Philadelphia music scene, or is there anything that you wish could change?

A: I've just found a lot of loving, caring people in this music scene. We've done shows all over the place, but I don't feel like I see the same kind of community… [We have] this huge scene with so many people who don't seem to shut smaller and newer artists out. I've just felt a lot of acceptance here, and it's why I've stuck around and done so much.

B: Savannah is a great city, and there’s lots of artists there and a lot of important movements happening there right now. I felt the same thing when I got to Philly, I would take myself to different open mics and local shows ... And the people, they just want to talk to you. People want to know what you have going on.

AC: Final question: with Digital Bonfire out [today], is it too early to ask about next steps, or anything you’d like to plug?

A: We actually have another music video by SUPERVOID.tv for the first single “Cold Sweat.” With the timing of things, we thought it'd be better to wait until the album's out. With this album, I pulled a lot of beats that I've had in folders for years. I've got a lot more of those. So it's only a matter of time before we've got new music yet again…

I’d like to plug the person who helped us with our album art and graphic design – Jake Beadenkopf. He [also] helped us with all of our fonts and texts.

DECOUPLR

Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

Bandcamp | Spotify | Soundcloud | YouTube

Listen to Digital Bonfire, out now on all streaming platforms.

Rebecca Judd is the features editor of Also Cool Mag.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

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Premiere: Claire Ridgely's First Solo EP, Flowers for a Friend

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Photo Credit: Fayality

Makeup & Styling: Genevieve Sauvé

First we were googling how to develop a widely-distributable vaccine, then it was round two of impeachment research - and now we’re down a TikTok spiral being told how to manipulate the stock market. Is anyone else feeling a little tired of trying to stay on top of all the nonsense? What we all need is some sunny music to dance (or cry) to - and Montreal’s pop sweetheart Claire Ridgely has just the remedy, and we are obsessed.

With a voice fit for summer, she’s been a force in the Montreal indie scene for a while. After graduating from the 2020 SOCAN Incubator for Creative Entrepreneurship and receiving a FACTOR Artist Development grant, over the past year, Ridgely has gained a lot of recognition for her warm, close-to-home songwriting sensibility. Her voice garnered significant attention from features on pop singles by Robotaki, Pat Lok, and Said the Sky - and familiar labels like Majestic Casual and Kitsune Musique. If you listened to the Canadian R&B duo, adhoc, you may also remember their song together called “the heat”. We fondly remember her rooftop performances for the iconic Montreal event series called Bliss.

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Now it's really Claire’s time to shine - after dropping four singles over the past year, she’s releasing her first solo EP called Flowers for a Friend. Featuring contributions from Clay and Friends, wordsbyjuni, and Oscar Luis, the album is a collection of comfy and intimate songs reminiscent of a BFF sharing secrets with you at a sleepover. It’s well-produced pop with a story - Ridgely’s lyrics recount personal narratives that aren’t always as bubbly as the beat, but that makes them all the more alluring. On a cold and snowy January day, Flowers for a Friend is a reminder that the warm days of summer will return, curfew will eventually end, and we’ll be breaking hearts and soaking up the sun at Jarry pool once more. 

Dive into the summertime-dream music video for “Island” below:

Follow Claire Ridgely on Instagram

Listen to Flowers for a Friend on Soundcloud or Spotify

Premiere: Kue Varo Has Something to Say with Debut Album Daffodil-11

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Kue Varo, photo courtesy of Ariana Molly

After much anticipation, it’s finally here – Montreal-based artist Kue Varo (she/her, he/him, they/them) has released their debut album, Daffodil-11, and we couldn’t be happier.

Kue Varo is the solo project of Kat Spreen, a musician and multi-instrumentalist with a passion for creativity and authenticity. Daffodil-11 is the accumulation of years of writing, working and playing in her local DIY scenes, whether that was during her teenage years in the traditionally conservative city of Calgary, or the artistic hub of her current home, Montreal. 

Album standouts are a-plenty, including “Dreaming” – an emotional freefall of a track in which Varo pleads to anyone who will listen: “Is this the waking life / Or have I died in my sleep? / I used to have something / I thought I could keep.” Shoegaze fans will be entranced by “Fully Clothed”, a feminist anthem that cloaks the listener in reverb. Between bouncy guitars and wails of release, “Animals” will get you thinking about your relationship with social media. Can you tell we’re a fan?

Float away and feel the feels with Kue Varo on Daffodil-11 – and take a look at our November interview, where she dished on identity and its influence on her creative expression. If you need us, we’ll be ~vibing~.

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Kue Varo, photo courtesy of Ariana Molly

”Daffodil-11 is a reference to Kurt Vonnegut's Slapstick, which is my absolute favourite book of all time," said Spreen. "It’s roughly about human decency for human [decency’s] sake, without attachment to outcome. This album starts with an angry introduction to the planet, and ends with me trying not to bury her. It’s a very vulnerable and sometimes uncomfortable undressing."

Daffodil-11 was recorded at Montreal's St Zo Studio. The album features Matthew Spreen on rhythm guitar, Chris Dadge (Alvvays) on percussion, Scott Munro (Preoccupations) on synth, and Rena Kozak (Child Actress) on bass and production duties. The seven songs on Daffodil-11 each have one of two personalities attributed to them.

"Although I believe strongly that traits assigned a gender are silly, I enjoy exploring duality in the form of gender to help come to terms with what was imposed onto me," Spreen said. "Gender presenting is a fun visual way for me to do so through my art. Each song on this album has one of two personalities attributed to it: the mod princess light and magnificent of the 1960’s and the grungy 1970’s/90’s beatnik poet/failed artist who is bitter and feels entitled to be. These traits simultaneously exist within me and it’s incredibly liberating to lean into them as a form of expression and creativity."

Listen to Daffodil-11, out now on all major streaming platforms.

Kue Varo · Daffodil 11 (January 28, 2021)

Kue Varo

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Soundcloud | Bandcamp | Apple Music

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Premiere: Lindus asks, "After the Haze, What?"

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Cover art: Bénédicte Morin

Whether it’s work fatigue, COVID-fatigue, or just feeling plain tired of being in situations, the experience of being stuck in a fog seems ubiquitous. Lindus has been roaming the shadows of the underground music scene for over a decade. Now based in Toronto, he’s freed himself from corporate shackles and produced a highly emotional 5-track EP called After the Haze, What? for Liquid Love Records’ third release. This psychedelic house record is the product of transcending the barriers of an unfulfilling lifestyle and stifled creativity, of growth, and of bravely asking the question, “What comes next?”

Check out our interview with Lindus - and don’t forget to listen and support - below:

Lindus makes his Liquid Love Records debut offering a heavily emotional and unique five-track EP of deep, psychedelic, house. “Rubber” kicks off with a minimalist, bass-laden take on the Eastern European micro sound: think Rhadoo making modular synth loops. Things speed up on “More Underground”, a Montrealer’s take on Jeff Mills retold through distant memories of summer loft parties and winter mornings spent at the mythical Stereo club. Haze gives way to texture and melodies with the delicate euphoria of “In My Wires” and “For These Places We Loved” - rhythmic dance tracks while basking in the melancholic, distant calls of re-pitched vocals and outlandish synths. It's finally time to leave the club and things wrap up with “Try Not To Forget”, the kind of pronounced dark techno hit whose energy contrasts the fading body of the early morning raver. Lindus has been a bedroom musician for over a decade and is currently based in Toronto, Canada, where he works on themes of originality, process and the possibility (or lack-thereof) of transcendence in music. After The Haze, What? EP drops Wednesday 27th January via Bandcamp. 1. Rubber (Loop Mix) 2. More Underground 3. In My Wires 4. For These Places We Loved 5. Try Not To Forget Bandcamp: https://linduslindus.bandcamp.com/album/after-the-haze-what

Maya for Also Cool: How did you get into making music?

Lindus: I'm part of the internet generation - it's where my first connections came from. Sites like OiNK [Oink’s Pink Palace, now shut down], the first private torrent site, introduced me to some extremely nerdy internet stuff, which then expanded into music and music sharing.

I never really discovered much music through friends - most of it was through there - and the people on it listened to a lot of post-rock, like Godspeed [You! Black Emperor] and Explosions In The Sky - then everyone started getting into Burial’s end-of-the-world vibe. It was a time when the internet was a communication hub, but not as standardized as it is today. You had to crawl through lots of forums.

In 2010, MUTEK did a crazy showcase in Montreal. They featured Kode9, Spaceape, Flying Lotus, and Martyn - they were really on top of it that year. I started getting into dubstep and discovered clubbing through that - which in retrospect was a weird introduction to [the scene]. So my musical brain at the time looked like a mix of dubstep, psytrance, and all the Montreal post-rock bands like Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Silver Mt. Zion.

Also Cool: When did you start producing your own tracks?

Lindus: There's something about the world of dance music where there’s a high chance that someone who is consuming it is also participating in creating it. Especially back then, no one was buying gear - we were all making beats on the computer. There was a sense that anyone could try it. Lots of people downloaded the free version of Fruity Loops [FL Studio] and tried their hand at making music. That was when going to parties and making music started to overlap for me. I began making loops and sharing them online - before Soundcloud became so popular, people were using other platforms, like Myspace.

AC: Your write-up on the record describes a melancholy night at Stereo - do you have an emotional connection to that nightclub?

Lindus: Around 2011, there was a split in the scene - something broke at a local level, where what was originally supposed to be about music started having social consequences.

People started going into totally different scenes - some went from dubstep to bro-step, and some people realized they needed something new. A notable transition track was Joy Orbison's Hyph Mngo - it's deep, it's physical - like dubstep - but it sounded new. So a lot of dubstep heads transitioned to house and techno, myself included.

At one point people started hosting parties at this place called Velvet. One time I showed up with my roommate - we were like 18 or 19, just these awkward guys who went to these parties they found a link to online. When we showed up to Velvet, we got bounced - the bouncer actually pretended that we got the wrong address.

To me that was a sign that something in the scene had changed. The people putting on those parties were making a kind of shiny house music that was becoming really popular at the time - and all of a sudden these new venues would check you when you came in. That was totally unlike the [more relaxed] dubstep parties. At that point, it was a departure from the [underground] scene - it became more corporate. There was a car brand called Scion that put a bunch of money into these parties - I think that's when Red Bull also started getting involved - it felt really stale.

Maybe a year later, I went to Stereo for the first time, and it felt like a new community. It was like discovering a new part of dance music that I didn't know, because I didn't grow up with house or techno at all. When you're in there during the weird hours, like seven-thirty to nine [A.M.], you’d notice a special type of vibe - and the music made so much sense for the room.

That's also when I understood why people had to play house and techno in certain settings - you’re not going to play dubstep at seven in the morning when most people in the room are tripping. I tied the utility of the music with the scene and the space - and suddenly things made sense for me.

Then I just kept going. I definitely went to some weird nights. I saw Solomun there, which made me realize, “wow, they can really pack it with bros,” then I went to CLR Chris Liebing nights, where everyone was dressed in black and the music had really clean and crisp production and sounded super mechanical. I also went to see Danny Tenaglia and other house classics there - and those nights were great. It felt like I was entering into dance music history.

AC: How do you think SoundCloud affected the development of underground music culture - and the politics of it?

Lindus: Form became really important. I usually think of the Low End Theory stuff [the experimental club night responsible for Flying Lotus’ rise to fame, among others]. When that album came out, it was just at the beginning of the Internet. Everyone picked up on the formal characteristics of it - like the sidechaining, the pads, and the unquantified beats. Because of the Internet, like a week later, people from Sweden were copying those beats. Music felt really decentralized. You could also say democratized, because there were more people taking part in creating [these new genres].

With dubstep, there was this messianic thing. There was this vision of a scene in the UK - and with me being far away in Canada, experiencing this new genre from the UK felt full of promise. It didn't have anything to do with the formal characteristics of the music - it was more about the vibe, the projects, the communities. When people started getting good at Ableton and making really quick clones of beats, it made it hard to situate the music and sound within a scene. You no longer knew who to look to for leadership. Now it's easy to connect with a lot of people online and you can build community through the online medium.

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Credit: Liquid Love Records

AC: Why sad nights at Stereo?

Lindus: Dance music got so big, and happiness became such a key part of the messaging that was used to sell it. Suddenly everything was like a Zedd music video - starting with some lady working at her boring office job, then the beat drops, and all of a sudden she's dancing on a beach.

Transcendence and dissociation through dance music became a push for happiness. They lowered the booth and stereo at some point, and that was a big change because all of a sudden, the DJ was like right there, six feet away from you. You got sold so much on the idea that every night you went, you had to have [the time of your life] - so my anticipation would really build up. With time, I became more attuned to the fact that things didn’t really have to go that way.

There was this one night that I went to Stereo with Martin [Liquid Love Angel], and we saw Jeff Mills. Immediately after his set, Mills suddenly disappeared with a small group of people - there was just no community vibe in there. It was really the antithesis of the dance music "promise" that you're going to go in and find community and warmth.

It felt grim - Jeff Mills played for like three hours and one minute. That's probably what the contract said, but it wasn't just about how that specific night went, it was about the industry of expectations and selling you this dream. It became even more commercial with things like Boiler Room and hyper-produced videos of parties with messaging like, "This could be you..."

AC: So what is it about a club culture that isn't necessarily the foam parties and euphoria that get marketed to us?

Lindus: Like with any artform, you can experience different emotions through music - there are sad tracks, you can feel melancholia, dissonance. Sometimes you actually can't lose yourself in the music - and maybe that's a good lesson to have. Compare that to times when you feel like ravers are in disregard of the world that they're in, where raving seems to be all about consumption and taking drugs. Everything is focused on the self. Or when you see people throwing water bottles at Stereo - it's stupid - and you can really feel the disregard for the context and the space that these people have. They don't give a shit about your experience - they're only there to have a “great” night.

Another thing is that the sadness you might feel is not necessarily the minor-chord type. You feel it with the cliché of leaving a club in the morning and seeing people go to work. Why does it feel weird to be on the subway at 10:00 AM on a Sunday and seeing people way older than you going to their real jobs? How do you relate to that?

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Credit: Liquid Love Records

AC: Coming back to the album, and more specifically its title, did you transition from a corporate job into making music? What's the story behind that?

Lindus: I studied philosophy in grad school. When I graduated, I didn't really know what to do. I was in Toronto and there were just so many corporate jobs. So I got one, and it was soulless. It's a cliché that corporate work has no soul, but working for one of the big insurance companies, I was thrown into this completely regimented life - there was no originality. Everything was processed and repetitive. At one point I just couldn't do it anymore, so in August I quit, after over two years.

I found a space with some friends, and I was so over the structured lifestyle, that I decided to just smoke a lot of weed, sit in this basement, and make music. It was such a strong response to everything that I had experienced - a real loss of hope from being in that regimented world where you couldn't really want anything, where the barrier between what was true or not was really blurry. Corporate messaging was so often around keeping people motivated and engaged - that involves mountains of deception. I got out of there with such a deep feeling of nihilism - without even really realizing it - but [in the basement] there was nothing to do but smoke weed and make music.

AC: So what's after the Haze? What's the story behind the album title?

Lindus: It's in reference to that hazy time after leaving my corporate job. Standard stuff like going to therapy, starting to figure yourself out, building a healthier relationship with yourself in the second half of your twenties.

I really enjoyed the Haze - I found a lot of comfort in being stoned, going to parties, and things feeling kind of approximate. I also always liked music with tons of reverb. When I abandoned the corporate lifestyle, I still felt the haste of it. Wake up, get high, go to the studio - I was still totally drowning in those loops.

At one point, I faced the question: what do you do after that? The Haze is kind of atemporal - you're high, then you're tired from the high, then you sleep, and then you get high again. It's hard to make change from within that circularity. It's kind of like being in a relationship, when you're at a point where you want to know what comes next. You can't really put it into words, but there's a striving for [growth].

This project is me striving for something beyond the Haze.

After the Haze, What? is available on Bandcamp at the link below:

After the Haze, What? by Lindus, released 27 January 2021 1. Rubber (Loop Mix) 2. More Underground 3. In My Wires 4. For These Places We Loved 5.

Written and produced by Lindus
Mixed by Lindus.
Additional arrangement by Martin Cadieux-Rouillard.
Mastered by Cristobal Urbina at See You Mastering.
Cover by Bénédicte Morin

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Montreal's DEMO FEST Utilizes Punk Ethos in a Call to Action

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The 2020 Winter Solstice marks the anticipated launch of DEMO FEST, a huge selection of submission-based demos created by over 350 musicians around the world during the Fall season of the pandemic, as well as a dusk ‘till dawn livestream telethon, hosted by Suoni Per Il Popolo’s Suoni TV.

What started as a songwriting challenge between DEMO FEST founder, Martin Tensions, and his bandmates has now grown into a world-wide benefit for Solidarity Across Borders, a migrant justice network based in Montreal. Since 2003, Solidarity Across Borders supports primarily non-status and refugee individuals and families in Montreal through popular education, direct mutual aid and support work, and political mobilizations, including demonstrations, pickets, delegations, and direct actions. All proceeds from the sales of the DEMO FEST release, as well as funds raised during the telethon, will be donated to Solidarity Across Borders.

We had the chance to chat with Martin Tensions and DEMO FEST team member Sasha Pozzolo about how their community mobilized to beat the woes of isolation while advocating for migrant justice, making DEMO FEST more than a compilation.

Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter for Also Cool: Hi Martin and Sasha! Thank you so much for collaborating with Also Cool to chat about DEMO FEST. To start, can you introduce yourself to our readers and tell us more about who you are and what you do?

Martin: I've been in and around “DIY punk” since I was a teenager; playing in bands, booking shows, going on small tours. Playing and participating in music isn't something I want to “make a living” from, but it's always been the center of my friendships and creative endeavours. I used to organize mixtape exchange clubs for my friends every year, which I think could be described as a forerunner to DEMO FEST.

Sasha: Similarly, I’ve been in and around DIY/punk since I was a teenager and playing in bands actively more so for the last five years. I have a nerdy history of studying photography and going to library school; I’m really into meshing punk into image making, subcultural documentation, and how punk is archived. I make up ¼ of I.F.O. which is a punk and punk-adjacent collective event organizing group. We ran the festival I Can’t Believe It’s Not Paris last year. We are acting as support staff for DEMO FEST and will be running the livestream today.  

Also Cool: Can you tell me about how you've managed such a wide-reaching project? How was it originally conceptualized, and how has it felt to watch it expand into such a large-scale action?

Martin: When the stronger lockdown measures came into effect in Montreal in March, all live shows were indefinitely postponed. All my bands stopped jamming. A lot of my friends were talking about taking the time to try and work on solo projects, writing songs with collaborators remotely by sending tracks back and forth, or learning some new instruments and/or production/home recording methods. I had a small burst of energy, trying to demo tracks for my bands or other projects at home, but that energy tapered off. I knew that was happening for a lot of people around me. Without shows or tours, there seemed to be a lot less motivation to actually finish anything.

Originally, I thought of doing a “challenge” with three of my band mates where we each had to finish a solo isolation project by a certain date, hoping we could all motivate each other. I shortly realized I could just invite more people, make it an open invitation, make it a benefit, etc. Once I put it all together and started talking to people, I thought maybe 50 of my friends would do it. My wildest dream was getting 100 demos. I had a pretty good feeling and hope that it was going to tap into something for a lot of people, but didn't really expect it to spread too widely. Seeing that happen as more and more people registered to participate, and then finish, has been very cool and validating. Many people have expressed that it was the perfect thing to get them through an otherwise isolating and creatively stagnant Fall.

Managing the project has not been too difficult. Many people have stepped in to help: Sasha and the I.F.O. crew have been involved from day one, Will Killingsworth of Dead Air Studios has been mastering most of the demos, members of Solidarity Across Borders have been coordinating and advising the fundraising (and helping us reach out to press!), we have friends helping with the art and graphics, managing the massive amount of Bandcamp logistics, and of course spreading the word. The last few weeks have been a bit busy and stressful handling all the submissions and getting them ready, but before that it has not felt difficult to manage at all!

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AC: Branching off of that, what are your thoughts on the idea that artists are often pressured, or even expected, to create works inspired by tragedy and the feelings attached to it? Was this a roadblock that many of the DEMO FEST contributors, or even yourself, encountered during lockdown?

Sasha: I think that there is a lot of voyeurship in artistic creation of all mediums. We are living in such a bizarre time, yet I don’t feel there is a particular emotional bar to meet right now. I have noticed less work being made about despair, but this could also be that there is less work in general. Perhaps it’s a collective understanding that we’re all doing poorly?

As far as DEMO FEST goes, I always felt that the project promoted the opposite intention. Although it was put forward as a “pandemic project,” there was no onus to dwell on the pandemic itself. I heard that 2020 is the year of escapism— maybe we accidentally tapped into that zone by offering a platform to distract ourselves from the pandemic. I’d like to think it’s a little more wholesome kind of escapism. This was a fun little push for people to make music that they put aside, that they never had time for, or maybe they never had conceptualized before having a little DEMO FEST pep talk. 

It’s difficult to continue to make something when a lot of joy is taken from what you are making and how it is received. DEMO FEST doesn’t create the same reciprocal energy as a live event, but regardless of working on a solo project, working remotely, or with a band, it does give a sense of collective agency. In addition, I think that the notions of productivity and spectatorship (or lack thereof) have the ability to place a looming constraint on how, what, and where people will make music. By encouraging projects to occur now and in this manner is to ultimately encourage music being made for the sake of music being made. This coupled with DEMO FEST as a benefit, which collectively and exclusively releases music, I think, makes it an anti-capitalist initiative. It’s both fun and important to analyze what makes art function, what we want from it, and what we can get from it on our own terms. 

AC: I'm curious to know more about your thoughts on demos, as they make-up the DEMO FEST corpus. What elements do demos hold that make them significant, both culturally and sonically, and what made you choose to prioritize launching a demo-exclusive release?

Martin: I realize that 'demo' means a lot of things in the "music industry.” For me, it means a punk demo tape. If you are a band in punk or a punk-adjacent genre, a cassette tape with 2-5 songs is the first thing you release, and that's called your demo. I didn't want to end up with compilation of individual songs. Instead, I wanted people to fully realize a new musical project or produce a complete release for an existing project in this new pandemic context. I wanted people to be empowered to experiment with a new instrument, new collaborators, or a new way of making music and take it to a completed state. Demos don't have to be super well-polished or produced, and they shouldn't be too long… But they should full “demonstrate” (haha) the vibe and sound of the band/project. And I just love digging through piles of new demo tapes. So, calling it DEMO FEST and asking for demos seemed like the thing to do.

AC: This project certainly speaks to the power of community across many spheres. What has surprised, or inspired, you the most about the journey of DEMO FEST and watching the level of inter-community collaboration progress throughout?

Sasha: With entire honesty, the sheer scope of the project was both shocking and heartwarming. It’s been intriguing to see some of the ways that DEMO FEST spread; through friends, through one-degree-of-separation, through both Blink 155 and Barely Human podcasts, and also through absolute mystery. There were online discussions about the best way to record something without a lot of equipment, what benefits certain free programs offered, as well as offers and requests for collaboration on tracks. In true punk solidarity, Will Killingsworth shared so much time and expertise with mastering to tie together everything. Have you ever had a hang out with someone where you both work separately on something, but you’re in the same room? I feel like that was the general community feeling, and it was really wholesome. 

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AC: Before we let you go, do you have any closing thoughts that you'd like to share, and can you tell us how we can support and engage with DEMO FEST?

Martin: Well thank you for helping us spread the word! All of the info and links are collected on the website. You can also follow us on Instagram. The important date is today, the Winter Solstice. The DEMO FEST Bandcamp will go live around noon. All 200+ demos will be there to stream for free and purchase for download. All proceeds from all of the DEMO FEST efforts are going to Solidarity Across Borders, and you can also check them out and donate to them directly. They are seeking one-time donations but also people to sign up with recurring monthly donations! I’ll let Sasha explain the other stuff.

Sasha: The dusk ‘till dawn DEMO FEST livestream will start at 4PM today and run until 8AM on December 22. We will be playing at least one song from every project submitted to DEMO FEST, all of the music videos that have been submitted, and doing a very special screening of the newest edition of Will Mecca’s video-zine Paranoid Anxieties. A schedule will be posted today through DEMO FEST social media. We’ll be screening video collages made by I.F.O. Connor Crash, have a chat room open, and be giving regular updates on Solidarity Across Borders donations!

As for the USB boxsets! Orders will end on December 22. The “All Dressed” Full Team boxset has already sold out, but each of our individual boxes are still available. Each box will contain a USB key card with DEMO FEST artwork on one side, and artwork by Jane Harms on the opposite. There will be DEMO FEST pin packs and a personal mixtape/playlist from one of us. Every person will be putting in secret special other items in each box. You can read our little bios on and order boxsets from icantbelieveitsnotparis.bigcartel.com!

I’ve launched the beginning of a new project called Rock and Roll Highschool. It’s an online event that will happen every Thursday in February and March, which will host short presentations on anything punk and punk-adjacent. It’s very low pressure and meant to be a fun semi-social activity that people can engage with during the next few months. Presentations can be done orally, with a Powerpoint, on a chalkboard, etc., and can be anywhere from 5-45 minutes. There are people signing up for subgenres (like power violence, pop punk, and crust punk), regional music scenes (like UK twee pop, Japanese hardcore, and Belgian synthwave), or doing workshops (on embroidered and cross-stitching patches). Anyone is invited to present and/or participate in the online meetings. The deadline for submissions will be January 14, and the first lecture series will be on Thursday February 4, 2021. 

There is more information and a very quick submission form available here.

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DEMO FEST livestream poster by Sasha

DEMO FEST

Website | Big Cartel | Bandcamp | Instagram | Facebook | Livestream

Solidarity Across Borders

Website | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter

This interview was conducted over email and has been condensed and edited for clarity.

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Premiere: Misao McGregor Celebrates Self-Definition With Debut "Kid In The Corner"

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Kid In The Corner album art

If you haven’t already met her, Misao McGregor is a name you won’t forget. Based in Los Angeles, McGregor has an impressive resume. First, she is a member of PlayGround-LA’s Writers Pool Playrights Program for the 2020-2021 season and has had her works produced in major cities such as Connecticut, Seattle and her hometown of Los Angeles. Second, she is the founder of Sacrosanct, a digital community blog that aims to highlight and uplift the creative expression of queer, trans and non-binary BIPOC through community centered activism. Today, she adds to this list of achievements through the release of her debut album Kid In The Corner. Written, recorded, performed and produced by McGregor, Kid In The Corner exhibits her exceptional gift of storytelling, and in her own words: “seeks to provide a voice for those who feel marginalized and disenfranchised while also showcasing her unique and individual experience as a queer, non-binary, mixed-race human in this world.”

We were so excited to meet McGregor and learn about how this album, with roots in indie, pop and soul, has grown with her over the years as “an homage to the experiences that have shaped [her], both good and bad, and acts as an end to a chapter only to start anew.” Read our full interview with the 24 year old singer-songwriter below!

Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter for Also Cool: Hi Misao! Thank you so much for chatting with me. To start, congratulations on the release of Kid In The Corner! As you've said yourself, your album encapsulates all the experiences that have shaped who you are during your 24 years on this Earth. How did you conceptualize such a powerful work and see it through from start to finish? Did you have any inspirations guiding you along the way? 

Misao McGregor: Thank you so much! I guess everything sort of came together in a narrative that served to illustrate my life’s experiences, particularly in the ways that I’ve grown over the last couple of years. All of the songs on the album were written within the last five years and represent different formative experiences within my life. So in terms of any kind of inspiration, I just decided to sit back and listen to what my body and my soul needed to hear. Music has always been a therapeutic tool for me and it’s allowed me to discover new insights into my subconscious. So taking a back seat and listening to what I needed in order to heal from certain experiences allowed me to be guided by the music, and ultimately presented itself through the making of the album. 

Also Cool: Branching off of that, the album draws on your own experiences with marginalization and disenfranchisement: How have you maintained self care throughout creating such a vulnerable work?  What advice would you give to other creatives using storytelling as a form of radical healing to mitigate anxiety, stress, burnout and so on? 

MM: Oh, this is a great question! There were times when I really needed to step away from the work. There are a lot of moments in the album where I talk about my struggles with eating disorders, depression, and anxiety. At times, I didn’t want to face those things through music because I was already facing it in my everyday life. But at the same time, music has allowed me to validate my own feelings and express my struggles through a means of creation. If anything, viewing music as a tool rather than an artistic obligation allowed me to put the work down and walk away when I needed to.

I firmly believe in taking a breath of fresh air during the creative process to gain a better perspective, or just to clear your mind when you’ve been so entrenched in something artistic. I try to focus on my basic human needs in those moments, you know, making sure I’m eating, breathing, drinking water, meditating, doing yoga, etc. I often find that even taking a small break from the artistic process can actually help keep me grounded, so that when I do return to the work, I feel like I can approach it more authentically. 

AC: Along with composing this album, you are also behind it's production - which is so amazing! Tell me, what was it like occupying both roles as artist and producer when realizing Kid In The Corner? Did the scenario impact your relationship with or feelings towards any of your songs? 

MM: Woof, it was a ride! I’ve taken piano and voice lessons from a young age, but only within the last two years have I started to explore producing my own work. I actually found myself feeling like a fish out of water in that sense because I was entering new territory, but within the realm of music which has always been familiar to me.

In terms of being both the producer and the artist, those roles seemed to come fairly easily to me. I recorded this entire album in the back bedroom of my parents’ house completely on my own. While at times that felt isolating, it was also kind of my greatest fantasy to have complete creative control, but then if things went wrong, I only had myself to blame. If anything, knowing what I wanted the final sound to be like gave me a better idea of how to deliver the vocals while recording. I knew what elements I wanted to highlight, which also made mixing the record easier as well. I think with such a comprehensive understanding of each song, I actually managed to discover new themes and ideas. After listening to these songs on constant repeat for the last two years, I went through stages of feeling numb to the meaning of these songs, and then rediscovered how important they were, and are, to my personal development. As challenging as it was to wear several different hats in this process as artist, producer, mixing engineer, marketing and public relations, etc., it’s an experience I honestly wouldn’t trade for the world. 

AC: Of course, COVID-19 hinders how we all interact with art at the moment... But how are you hoping to share this album with the world in person when it becomes possible? Do you have a vision for what your ideal performance would look like? 

MM: I know, COVID has put a damper on pretty much everything in our lives. I’ve just been so lucky that my family and I have managed to stay healthy and safe throughout this entire period of time. But! I am excited to be facilitating a giveaway for two different digital booklets that I made to accompany the album: One standard edition with lyrics to each song, and another exclusive addition with accompanying personal essays and childhood photos. If I had an ideal performance in mind, I honestly think I would rely a lot on simply piano and voice. While producing my own work has been so much fun, my roots will always be just sitting at the piano and singing my heart out. I suppose my ideal performance for the album would take place in an intimate environment given the personal nature of the album, and would feature a lot of storytelling and meaningful interactions between myself and the audience. 

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Misao McGregor, photo courtesy of the artist

AC: Alongside music, you are also a playwright. Though both mediums in your case tackle similar themes of identity, friendship, family, sexuality, and trauma, does your approach to storytelling change depending on the form it takes? If so, how do you manage being a multifaceted author? 

MM: Oh, absolutely! I have found that with songwriting, I write solely from my own experience and it is much more introspective and personal. But with playwriting, I’m able to take on different roles through different characters and allow the contradictory parts of myself to battle it out within a dramatic setting. I think playwriting actually forces me to place myself in others’ shoes, while songwriting lets me sink into myself and validates my own personal experiences. It’s kind of a nice balance between the two because I’m able to explore various iterations of myself while still broadening my perspective through other people’s points of view. Playwriting also involves a lot more research, whereas songwriting is much more instinctual for me. 

AC: That last question leads me to ask if you can tell me about your project Sacrosanct, and what the creatives behind it, such as yourself, are aiming to do through your own modes of self-expression? 

MM: Yeah! Sacrosanct is a community blog that provides a space for queer, trans, and non-binary BIPOC to share their art and voice their personal experiences, while simultaneously [using the] platform to heal, self-define, and self-actualize through art and wellness. I started this project in June of this year, and have managed to collaborate with and feature over 50 different artists ranging in disciplinary fields from writing, poetry, music, visual art, photography, dance, sex work, academia, wellness, fitness, fashion, food, and community activism.

I, myself, am fair-skinned and can easily [present] as a white, straight, cisgender girl, though I identify as a gay, non-binary femme of mixed-race Japanese and European descent. I take my privileges very seriously, as they have provided me an easier existence in this world, and have also allowed me to benefit from the various forms of oppression that continually marginalize and disenfranchise Black and Brown queer, trans, and non-binary folks. More than anything, I wish for Sacrosanct to be a space that can reflect the diversity of experiences within queer, trans, and non-binary BIPOC [communities], because each individual within these categories of identity brings a different perspective, background, and cultural understanding to what it means to exist in this world. 

AC: Before we let you go, are there any other projects that you're working on that we should keep a look-out for? 

MM: As of right now, Kid in the Corner and Sacrosanct are the main two projects I have been working on to keep me occupied throughout 2020! I will absolutely keep making music and continue facilitating the blog, but in terms of any organized plans, I don’t have any at the moment. Though I’m sure that won’t last for long!

AC: Finally, how are you planning to celebrate the release of Kid In The Corner? 

Since there won’t be any opportunities to gather with loved ones in person, my plan for right now is just hopping onto Instagram Live and celebrating virtually with friends! I don’t think it’s really hit me yet that this album is going to be out in the world. Being able to share it with others will definitely help me feel like I accomplished something that represents who I am right now in this moment in my life

Misao McGregor

Website | Instagram | Youtube | Facebook | Soundcloud

Listen to Kid In The Corner out now on all major streaming platforms

Listen to Kid in the Corner on Spotify. Misao McGregor · Album · 2020 · 11 songs.

This interview was conducted over email and has been condensed and edited for clarity.

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With "Fresh Paint," Andria Piperni Creates A World All Her Own

Andria Piperni, “Fresh Paint”. Photo courtesy of Calli Cohen

Montreal-based singer-songwriter Andria Piperni has long proven that she is the one to watch, and her latest track “Fresh Paint” is no exception. 

On this track, the R&B songstress sounds slinky and seductive, telling a story of blissful intimacy as a brand-new world is created. On her Instagram page, Piperni explained that “Fresh Paint” is all about “...getting lost in a moment, and that enchanting feeling of discovering somewhere, something, or someone new.”

The essence of Piperni’s vivid dreamscapes is revealed in clouds of soul and jazz, with delicate vocal melodies floating through. With the right person or the right environment, there is safety – even in floating above the ground, or crashing through waves of the sea.

Piperni enlisted the help of Chris Vincent, member of Montreal electro-soul band Busty and the Bass, to produce and mix “Fresh Paint”. This lush, sensory track is the latest single to be featured leading up to the release of her debut EP, Who’s Counting?, which is slated for release early next year.

“Fresh Paint” is a perfect demonstration of Piperni’s ability to balance indulgence with illusion. If this single is any indication, the rest of the EP will surely follow in such a descriptive and immersive direction. We had the chance to talk with Piperni in the weeks after the release, getting into her influences and perspective on the music industry. Take a read below!

Rebecca Judd for Also Cool: Hi Andria, thank you so much for chatting with us today! “Fresh Paint” is a beautiful track, congratulations on the release. Listening to this track, it feels as though there’s room for multiple interpretations - what’s yours?

Andria Piperni: Thank you! Yeah, I left a bit room for each listener to have their own interpretation of the song. The lyrics are quite metaphorical and hold a lot of imagery — I wanted listeners to envision their own world, the same way a painter would when they paint. It all plays on this idea of creating something new. The scenario I had in mind while writing was two people coming together and creating this magical moment of their own.

AC: It’s an incredibly difficult time to be a creative - how has this year treated you? 

AP: The uncertainty of it all has been hard, and I miss playing live shows. It can be pretty stressful not knowing what’s ahead or how to plan for the future. But in some ways, this pandemic has made room for some great things, too. I spent most of this year writing and recording new music, and it was really nice to be able to put my full focus on that. I’ve also had more time to do some writing for other projects, even outside of music, and got around to doing things like getting my merch online! And I get to wear sweats 95% of the time. Despite everything, I’ve managed to find a silver lining. 

AC: You describe yourself as inspired by  “...everyday human experience, as well as the surreal episodes of … vivid dreams”. Can you elaborate on these inspirations? (I’d love to start having these dreams…)

AP: Those closest to me know that I have the weirdest dreams! For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a vivid dreamer. It’s rare to wake up and not remember my dreams in detail, sometimes several of them. It can be a bit exhausting sometimes. But now and then, I’ll wake up with a certain storyline or melody in my head, and I’ll write it down for later. And I do the same during the day too – I take notes in my phone anytime an idea comes up. They can come from a conversation, a movie, an observation… I always try to pay attention to those little everyday moments, because those are the things that people can really connect to when listening to a song.

AC: Montréal is your hometown, but you briefly lived the ~ Parisian ~ lifestyle and found yourself across the pond. How did this relocation impact your creativity and your music?

AP: Oh man, it was everything. I was studying abroad for about 5 months, and it was amazing. This was before I decided to pursue music full-time, and I think the experience really shifted my perspective and helped me learn more about myself and life in general. Being somewhere completely new, where you don’t know anyone, where there is so much culture and opportunity to travel and meet people from around the world … see[ing] so many beautiful places… It made me realize that life should be lived to the fullest, and your choices should not be based on fears. It gave me courage to do everything I’m doing now.

Andria Piperni. Photo courtesy of Calli Cohen

AC: If you could change anything about the music industry, either in Montréal or at large, what would that be? 

AP: I guess it’s not a secret that it’s very hard for artists to make a good living off of streaming royalties. Don’t get me wrong – as a listener and as a creator, streaming has given me a lot. I discover new music, and listeners can discover my music like never before. But the cost of creating and putting out music (you know, “marketing”) is still very high when you compare it to the streaming payout. It’s just not feasible for independent artists in the long run, especially right now without the ability to play shows. But artists are more and more empowered these days, and I’m hopeful that it will lead to a balanced and fair system. Also… more womxn and minority representation on all fronts! We’re starting to see programs emerge with this goal, and it’s great, but there’s still a long way to go. 

AC: Who is your dream collaborator?

AP: I think my answer changes every time someone asks me this question. It’s hard to pick just one, but someone I would love to collaborate with is John Legend. He’s, well, a legend. And if I happened to meet Chrissy and their adorable children in the process… it would be a dream! 

Thanks again for your time, Andria. Before we let you go, we’ve heard that your debut EP Who’s Counting? is set to release early next year. What can we expect from you in the months to come? 

Yes, [it is], and I’m so excited! I have one more single off the EP coming out before I release the full project. You can also expect some new merch, a music video… and in the meantime, maybe a little holiday cover song or two on my Instagram page before the year wraps up. :) 

Listen to “Fresh Paint” – out now!

Andria Piperni

Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

Website | Spotify | Soundcloud | Bandcamp

Rebecca Judd is the features editor of Also Cool Mag.

This interview was conducted over email and has been condensed and edited for clarity.

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Premiere: Plush Managements Inc Release Debut EP, "Magic Plush"

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Credit: Plush Managements Inc.

Plush Managements Incorporated - the OG lux & lavish party starters. Lifelong friends and associates, Regularfantasy & D. Tiffany, welcome you to their flamboyantly finessed world of plush, soft and subtle dance-floor realness with their inaugural release on their new label, Plush Records. The 6-track EP references R&B mega-hits and naughty pop nuance, adding their signature tongue-in-cheek genius to create an irresistible collection of straight-up sumptuous hits. Synergizing as Plush Managements Inc, the Plush associates both produced individually and welcomed esteemed collaborators, Bea S-P and DJ Chrysalis, to create Magic Plush - the riotous celebration 2020 has been craving.

Immediately infectious, the A-side bursts to life, modestly bumping and rolling, bleep injections oozing over bright, brilliant stabs on “Slow Prayer.” A2 is “Mr. Mailman” feat. Bea S.P. - aka the official-unofficial anthem of the year. Contagious & outrageous, with strut-worthy, sexy opulence., “Mr. Mailman” features deliciously demanding lyrics you won’t forget any time soon. DJ Chrysalis from Down Under™ joins Regfant for a tech-driven switch-up of teenage lore on “We like to Party” - ring the alarm!

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Flip it and the B-side, “Touch My Body,” bounces, undeniably grooves, and has a timeless feel-good sensibility with a sensual switch up - it’s Mariah’s glow-up at the plush penthouse. B2 starts sweet and slow, with sensitive 2-step drum-work building around the “Let Me Love You Down” (2dam doap) vocal cuts, tinged with melancholy, laughing, crying, and dancing until dawn. Closing out the record in style is “Waiting For Plush” - with sultry, brooding bass gliding under sassy percussion and chopped vocal chatter, a perfect evening initiation.

The much anticipated first offering from Plush Records has arrived - polished Plush-House heaven!

Magic Plush by Plush Managements Inc., releases 08 December 2020 1. Slow Prayer 2. Mr. Mailman (feat. Bea S-P) 3. We Like To Party (DJ Chrysalis & Regfant) 4. Touch My Body 5. Let Me Love You Down (2dam Doap Plush) 6. Waiting For Plush Plush Managements Incorporated; the OG lux & lavish party starters.

Healing’s Hard To Measure, But Peyton Stilling Gives It A Try

Peyton Stilling, photo courtesy of the artist

Exam seasons, holidays, the pandemic – if you’re exhausted, it makes sense. The chaos that is otherwise known as 2020 is coming to a close, and we are all surely in need of a little healing. Dallas-based singer-songwriter Peyton Stilling would agree, fresh off the release of “Healing” – a brooding testament to her own process.

“Healing was written during quarantine,” the artist explains. “I’d just broken up with my boyfriend and had to move back in with my parents, and I had no money or job. I had all of this time on my hands, but felt no motivation to write anything.” Teaming up with multi-platinum production team locknkey (Moses Elias & Robert Sewell), Stilling wrote this track as a means of release.

The results are infectious (are we allowed to use that word right now?) – balancing soulful vocals with tight production, Stilling paints a picture of resilience. She speaks her survival into existence over a moody baseline and assertive claps: “The doubts and distractions / I will get past them …”  With such conviction, we’re tempted to believe her.

Last week, we were able to catch up with the singer-songwriter and discuss her musical journey, the scene that has fostered it, and some distant dreams for a post-pandemic life. Read our interview with Peyton Stilling below!

Rebecca Judd for Also Cool: “Healing” is a beautiful testament to the post-breakup blues, and comes from a deep place of vulnerability. How does creating your music help you move through life’s challenges?

PS: Music helps me process how I am feeling and gives me the ability to give myself advice. I don’t always listen to my own advice, but at least I am writing songs about it. With “Healing”, I wasn’t able to finish writing that song until I had processed all the emotions I was feeling. 

Songwriting has helped me get through some really hard times, and is definitely my outlet. It will be very funny to listen back to some of my music in 10 years’ time and think “...that was the boy I was upset over?”

AC: You’re a Dallas-based musician - what is the ~ scene ~ like down there, and how does that inform your own musical approach?

PS: Dallas is a great place to grow as a musician. There are so many talented musicians here and it is a great place to get your [musical] start. There are no real labels in Dallas, but when it comes to venues and gigs you can make a great living here. It has helped to grow my confidence as a live performer, and really cement in my head that this is what I want to be doing for the next 20 years – just hopefully on a bigger scale. (No shade to the Dallas coffee shops, I still need to perform there...)

Peyton Stilling, photo courtesy of Hannah Dimmitt

AC: Your debut single, ‘Forest Through The Trees’, came out last February - how has your process changed since then? What have the past couple years taught you as a musician?

PS: My songwriting process is very similar to when it all started. I think the biggest thing that has changed is [that] my team has gotten bigger. When I started a year ago, it was just me; now I have an amazing group of people rallying behind me and my music. I am super thankful to have those people in my corner.

The past couple years have taught me to trust my instincts. I still have self-doubt, but am constantly working towards being confident in my decision-making. That is a big part of being in the music industry – trusting yourself and not letting the opinions of others sway you. 

AC: Are there any songs that you wish you had written?

PS: Yes, 100%. “Green and Gold” by Lianna La Havas or “Carried Away” by H.E.R. Honestly, anything by either of those artists and I would be happy. 

I have actually started rewriting some of my favourite songs on my YouTube channel. So far, I have rewritten Broke by Samm Henshaw, Location by Khalid and of course, Carried Away. I have been uploading a different rewrite the first Sunday of each month.

AC: When the pandemic subsides, what are you most excited to do?

PS: I am excited to have a real concert again. I absolutely love performing, and this year, not being able to do that, has been really tough. Live streams are just not the same. 

[Aside] from music, I can’t wait to travel. The pandemic has made me miss freedom and realize there is so much of the world to see. My manager is originally from London, and has told me that he would love to take me over there for a few weeks. I think that would be awesome. And it is in writing now, so he has to take me…

Listen to “Healing” - out now! 

Peyton Stilling

Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

Official Website | Youtube | Soundcloud

Rebecca Judd is the features editor of Also Cool Mag.

This interview was conducted over email and has been condensed and edited for clarity.

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Premiere: Queer Cowgirl Crooner Fliss Makes Her Debut With "Comfrey and Calendula"

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“Comfrey And Calendula” cover art by Emily McPhee

“‘Comfrey and Calendula’ is the most vulnerable song I have written to date. The process of writing it and performing it for the first time was extremely cathartic and healing for me. Now it’s time to put it out into the world.” - Fliss

Meet Fliss, a self-described queer cowgirl crooner from Ottawa, Canada. Today, Fliss makes her debut with “Comfrey and Calendula,” a song written straight from the heart, and her most vulnerable work to date. The single teases at her to-be-released EP (out sometime in the early new year), which marks an exciting new direction for the singer-songwriter as a solo artist after finding her creative footing as the lead vocalist, guitarist and songwriter for dream-pop band Sparklesaurus. We had the chance to meet Fliss and chat about growing up in an artistic family, what influences her approach to making music, and her incredible group of friends behind her upcoming music video for “Comfrey and Calendula.” Read our full discussion below!

Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter for Also Cool: Hi Fliss! Thank you so much for chatting with us at Also Cool. To start, can you tell our readers about yourself and your artistic upbringing? 

Fliss: Thanks for having me! Well, I grew up in a pretty musical family. My grandparents on my mom’s side were folk singers in the 60s and 70s, my mom plays some piano, my dad played guitar, and I have many aunts and uncles who play music. I was always interested in music, but I really got into it when I got my first bass guitar around age 11. I fell in love with bass, but then I started writing songs and the guitar lent itself to writing more, so I picked up my dad’s guitar and started teaching myself chords. I had an uncle who gave me some pointers on bass and guitar, but my main way of learning was just getting tabs off the internet and printing out binders of covers. I pretty much always played in my room alone until I was 16 or 17, when I finally gained some confidence — with the help of my high school music teacher — to sing in front of people. I hadn’t even really sung much in front of my family before then. Only my mom, if she promised not to look at me! 

Also Cool: You're now branching into a solo act while also being a member of the Ottawa band Sparklesaurus: What has embarking on this project been like so far? How has your approach to songwriting changed, or perhaps adapted, now that you're working alone? 

Fliss: Sparklesaurus has sadly disbanded for the foreseeable future, so I’ve really been focusing on this new project. I had quite a few songs in the vault already that didn’t really work for the Sparklesaurus sound and style, so some of the songs on the upcoming EP are ones I wrote a couple years ago. Others are more recent. I guess my songwriting approach has changed a bit in the way that I don’t really need to think about if the song will be a good fit or not for the band’s sound or whatever. I don’t know if I did that too much anyway when writing, but a lot of the time with Sparklesaurus, I would bring a song, and together we would kind of experiment and decide on what the vibe and arrangement would sound like… If we should add a bridge here, or a solo here, or things like that. Some songs worked for the band, and others didn’t. I definitely miss the aspect of bouncing ideas off of each other and the camaraderie. On the flip side, maybe there’s a bit more freedom to just follow whatever creative direction that is inspiring me.

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Fliss, photo courtesy the artist

AC: On that note, you describe your music writing style as "introspective and untethered": What inspired this approach to music-making? 

Fliss: I am a quite introspective, sensitive, and very emotional person. So I am always writing straight from the heart. It’s not really a conscious choice, it just happens that way. It’s very scary and vulnerable to share your deep thoughts and feelings in such an open way, but I also think that it is extremely rewarding and, dare I say, cathartic. I try not to overthink my music and writing too much. I hardly ever go back and rewrite or change or tweak songs over and over again. Usually if I’m doing too much of that, I end up falling out of love with it and just kind of scrap it and start a new song. Only the [songs] I love the absolute most will make it onto the EP.

AC: So, without further ado, congratulations on the release of "Comfrey and Calendula!" When choosing a single to debut off a to-be-released album, what made you pick this one? Can you tell me about the song's significance to you, in your own words? 

Fliss: Thank you so much! Honestly, I did think about whether “Comfrey and Calendula” was the best choice for the first single or not. Mostly because lyrically it’s pretty bold, pretty intense, and pretty personal. I wasn’t sure if maybe I should ease people into my music with something less... Like that. Maybe something a little more fun or digestible. But, I decided to go with it because at the end of the day, it is probably my favourite song I’ve written, and I think the subject matter is important. It’s very close to my heart. So I really, really hope that it resonates with people. It was written when I was doing a lot of reflection and processing family-related trauma. It really poured out of me and it’s just really special to me. It would be so amazing if it touched even one person.

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Fliss, photo courtesy the artist

 AC: You also have a music video coming out soon for this track. Without giving too much away, can you tell us more about the creative process behind the video? 

Fliss: Yes! The video was written, directed, produced, and edited by Emma Lamarre, a really good friend of mine. Her and I brainstormed concepts, ideas, and shots, and she and another friend, Christine Loomans, put a storyboard together. Christine also co-directed and helped shoot, as well as helped with a bunch of logistical things. My other friend, Alazaar Dadi, also got some awesome drone shots! And my other BFF, Shamisa Schroeder, is animating the title. I won’t give too much away, but there is a group dance scene with choreography by my friend, Surraya Dawn. The credits for all the friends in the dance scene will be in the video. So, it was definitely such a collaborative effort and I feel so lucky to have so many talented, incredibly generous, and supportive friends who all contributed to making this truly amazing piece of art! 

AC: Before we let you go, is there anything you'd like to plug that you're working on? What can we expect to see from you in 2021, and how is the best way to support your work right now?

Fliss: The music video for “Comfrey and Calendula” will be out next week, on December 13th. The full EP will be finished and released in 2021. 

One really amazing way to support me would be listening, favouriting, adding the single to your playlists, and following me on Spotify — so that you will be notified of my future releases as well! Other than Spotify, you can follow me on Instagram. You can also buy the song on Bandcamp, if you’d like to support me that way. I am so amazingly grateful for any and all forms of support! Since everything is online these days, and especially right now, all the online support helps immensely. Drop me a message anytime. Oh and also! You can sign up for my email list at www.flissmusic.com for special exclusive releases, news, or things like that. For example, this month I am sending all my subscribers a couple of unreleased phone demos as a thank you for pre-saving the song. And thank you so much for supporting me by giving me a platform with Also Cool to talk about my music and help get the word out. I really appreciate it!

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Fliss, photo courtesy the artist

Listen to “Comfrey and Calendula”

Fliss

Instagram | Facebook | Website | Twitter

This interview was conducted over email and has been condensed and edited for clarity.

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Nora Toutain Has Found Her "Grounding Place"

Nora Toutain, photo courtesy of Jawad Elajnad

As the days grow shorter and the nights get colder, I am searching for warmth in everything I consume. There is comfort in an oat latte, a feel-good rom-com; and now, happily, the soothing sounds of Nora Toutain and her debut album Grounding Place, Vol. I.

Nora Toutain is a Franco-Moroccan singer-songwriter, based in Montreal. Her unique sound can best be described as alt-R&B, though Nora combines masterful vocals with a variety of genres – jazz, funk, neo-soul, and Afropop – to create music that is distinctive and intrepid. 

Produced by Chris Vincent, member of Montreal electro-soul band Busty and the Bass, Grounding Place, Vol. I is one half of a collection of songs that honours and celebrates Nora’s North African roots,  the place where her story began.

This album captivates and celebrates, guiding the listener through an auditory experience unlike any other. I recently had the opportunity to speak with Nora about her magical debut, the experiences that have informed it, and those who inspire her to continue creating. Read our interview with the talent that is Nora Toutain below!

Rebecca Judd for Also Cool: Hi Nora, thank you so much for taking time to chat with us. I’m a huge fan of this record, it’s been on loop. Let’s start off with the basics - tell our readers about yourself and your artistry!

Nora Toutain: Thank you so much! I’m honoured to be featured, and I am so humbled to hear that the record resonates with you! I’m a Franco-Moroccan singer songwriter based in Montreal.  I was born and raised in Morocco, lived in India during my early teens, and came to Montreal to study science at McGill. After graduating, I made a drastic switch and got a Music degree in Jazz Performance at the University of Montreal. My music is a blend of alt-R&B, soul, jazz, funk,  blues and Afropop. My sound is a direct reference to my diverse cultural background and musical influences.

AC: Musically speaking, Grounding Place Vol. I is an incredibly playful album. “Bad at Love” is a bouncy fusion of soul-pop and jazz, “Victoriaville” celebrates freedom through sonically sparkling Afropop… What are you trying to express through all these melanges? 

NT: It’s true that it’s eclectic in genre and style. But that playful sound you’re referring to reflects, in part, the spark and burst of spontaneous energy I felt from starting my career as an artist.  I think that that’s just something that can be felt due to the vibe I had at that moment in my life, about to embark on this epic journey. Vol. I is bright, energetic, and fiery, drawing inspiration from the North African sun, and the colours of my home in Morocco. The themes explored deal with heritage, power, identity, travel, dreams and love.

Nora Toutain, photo courtesy of Alexya Crôteau-Grégoire

AC: You got your start performing with Kalmunity, which is Canada’s largest musical improv collective. How did this experience inform your musical approach?

NT: Kalmunity played a huge role in my musical life. When I first discovered KVC, it was like an epiphany. Seeing these beautiful souls getting together, trusting each other and the music enough to perform improvised song after song… it really resonated with the way I approach and experience music. It feels like a testament to this notion of having a higher force guide us through the process of creation.

So to answer your question, joining the collective definitely made me a stronger performer, because doing what we do requires a lot of courage and faith to step on the stage and deliver a performance without knowing what’s going to happen next.  It definitely helped me learn how to quickly and efficiently adapt to different situations.

[Kalmunity] also naturally guided me through my songwriting later on, because really, what we were doing was constantly writing songs on the spot. It nurtured my curiosity and desire to take it a step further, and convert some of my musical sketches into fully structured songs that take time to really craft.

AC: Branching off of that, I’m really intrigued by the track “Kvc”, in which you speak about the importance of artistry and creativity in order to build community. It feels especially timely in this moment, when we are having to build communities beyond the physical realm. Can you elaborate on your philosophies shared in this track?

NT: In this interlude, I’m definitely making a link between artistry and community, which is important to me.  It’s true that artistry and creativity help build communities, but I’m interested in how community actually informs creativity.  I think one of my strengths is [knowing] other people’s strengths and [putting] them in contexts where they shine. For me, there is no [magic] and no sparks if there are no exchanges - this is an example of why I love and thrive in collaborative creation.

AC: The music video for “Women” is really beautiful - in sharing these clips of your family’s traditions, there is a real sense of authenticity and intimacy in all that the song expresses. Can you name some of the women who are inspiring you right now?

NT: Thanks for the kind words!  I have to start by shouting out the women in that video, who are all family or close family friends.  My mother is the primary source of feminine inspiration in my life. Also, interestingly enough, I’m finding myself currently collaborating and working with a lot of women that inspire me… like the women of LOTUS Collective, who I’d like to shoutout.

AC: Thank you again for your time, Nora. Really excited to see what comes next from you - what can we anticipate in the months to come?

NT: Thanks again for having me! In the next few months, other than taking time off for the holidays, I’ll be working on some live performance videos to release in anticipation for Volume 2…

Nora Toutain, photo courtesy of Alexya Crôteau-Grégoire

Listen to Grounding Place, Vol. I - out now!

Nora Toutain

Instagram | Facebook | Bandcamp

Spotify | Youtube | Soundcloud

Rebecca Judd is the features editor of Also Cool Mag.

This interview was conducted over email and has been condensed and edited for clarity.

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Premiere: Cyrus Jordan Sets the Tone for the Weekend with "Not My Flavour (Anymore)"

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Cyrus Jordan, photo courtesy of the artist

Though it’s getting colder in Canada (sigh, winter is coming), Vancouver-based artist Cyrus Jordan is turning up the heat with his new single “Not My Flavour (Anymore).” Jordan is well-versed in the world of bass, playing both stand-up and electric, and his commitment to groove shows in his first formal experiment in creating house music (and thank goodness because it’s about time we get up and dance after a long week!) Reminiscent of 90s neo-soul, Jordan tackles the timeless theme of heartbreak with a gentle touch, while making “Not My Flavour (Anymore)” bouncy, vibrant and wholly his own.

Press release:

Vancouver based artist Cyrus Jordan releases his first foray into house music with the single “Not My Flavour (Anymore).” As a bassist (stand up and electric!) Jordan creates bodacious vibrations that groove with influences from D'Angelo, Channel Tres, Devonte Hynes​.

Jordan works closely with members of beloved group Schwey and has come into his sound through previous single ”Stretch” with drums by Alex Bingham of Winona Forever.

“Not My Flavour (Anymore)” offers dreamy, nostalgic energy as Jordan recognizes that he is no longer in a healthy relationship. The track is spacious but groovy, as warm synths and tasty bass lines weave around Jordan’s soft vocal. The track is inviting and an exciting glimpse into Jordan’s versatile musical vocabulary.

As Jordan says: “the track was an older song that I wrote on an old piano on Salt Spring Island while I was in a relationship I realized wasn't healthy for me anymore. It was one of the most fluid songwriting experiences I’ve ever had and it transformed really well into a produced track."

Stayed tuned for more of Cyrus Jordan’s grooves, he will be releasing many more tracks and videos in the coming months.

Cyrus Jordan

Instagram | Soundcloud | Spotify

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On the Rise and Here to Stay: NOVEMBER'S "Bedroom Eyes" Defines Star-Quality

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Bedroom Eyes EP album cover, courtesy of NOVEMBER

"This EP is about evolving and coming to terms with some of the more beautiful parts of living but acknowledging what can happen during the harder ones." — NOVEMBER

NOVEMBER is the moniker of Ottawa-born, and now Montreal-bound, singer-songwriter and producer Gregory-Yves Fénélon. Today, he graces us with his dynamic EP Bedroom Eyes. Though the album is self-described as pop, Fénélon’s powerful, velvety vocals and signature dreamscape instrumentals masterfully transcend the genre’s expectations to achieve a truly romantic and innovative sound. Leading up to his release, we had the chance to chat with NOVEMBER about reaching out to his inner child while producing Bedroom Eyes, finding solace in silence, and how he excited he is about re-introducing himself to his listenership with this EP. Read our interview with NOVEMBER below!

Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter for Also Cool: Congratulations on the release of Bedroom Eyes, and thank you so much for collaborating with us again, NOVEMBER! To start, how have you been leading up to the launch of your EP? 2020 has been quite busy for you: working with Japanese act Frasco; performing at POP Montreal; and collaborating on a campaign for Sapporo, to name just a few projects. What has been fuelling your drive and sustaining your creativity as of late? 

NOVEMBER: I honestly really enjoy what I do, which I think should be the case as much as possible in this life. As hard as the last few months have been, music and art have been my primary means of expression for most of my life, so going forward is very much [a] default. Also, when these opportunities pop up, they’re almost like fun little challenges to me. It’s important that I still have so much fun and get so excited. The Sapporo thing, for example, came during a really stressful point in the summer and pandemic, but getting to collaborate with foreign artists on a track (that had to make us and the-powers-that-be happy), [sounded] like a hill [I wanted to] climb! Yes please! And it gives me something to focus on. 

Also Cool: On the EP more specifically, you recorded Bedroom Eyes in your apartment and childhood bedroom. What was the decision behind designating these areas as a studio space? What effects have they had, both conceptually and sonically, on the album? 

NOVEMBER: I’ve always recorded in the bedroom I live in from the time I started making music. I think the habit started because when I was a kid just experimenting, it was a place where I felt safe to try things without fear, which I think is really important for any artist.  It can sometimes be complicated now because I live in a small studio in Montreal and the walls are thin. But hey, I’ve been here almost 6 years through many sessions and [have never gotten] a noise complaint.

Because the EP was done over the course of a year, some stuff was done before the world stopped turning. I was still going to Ottawa to see my mom and knew I’d be back in my childhood bedroom, which hadn’t changed since I left at 18, and seized the opportunity to do some of the wilder vocals whenever I was there. So it’s all come full circle, and these are still the places I feel the least seen and most free. I was belting my ass off at 9PM last summer for this solo on “Red Room,” and that feeling of freedom is really present vocally. I’ve been to studios before too, and even though I’m recording most of my stuff alone in a studio, it more so felt like the case: colder almost and more cavernous. I think the most important thing I had to learn with this EP though was really designating the space for certain things at certain times. I never wanted it all to feel like one murky room all the time. 

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NOVEMBER’s home studio, photos courtesy of the artist

AC: Branching off of that, you described yourself as a child as "creative and emotional," with a significant interest in many artistic fields. How has your passion for the arts grown with you throughout the years? Do you find yourself reaching for any modes of expression in particular to connect with, or perhaps soothe, your inner child? 

NOVEMBER: I’ve always loved the richness of silence, but as I’ve aged I’ve really come to adore stillness too. Stillness has led me to find new appreciation in genres, artists and even whole mediums I couldn’t wrap my head around even 5 years ago. What I’ve also learned about myself is that my inner child is so curious and ready to observe. So throughout the years I’ve really expanded my possibilities of what I enjoy and it’s led me to a lot of different kinds of rooms. I still naturally reach for music, but I’m all the better for experiencing what others naturally reach for. 

AC: You note in your description of the album that you'd like to guide your listeners on a journey that concludes in their own "emotional catharsis." How have you maintained, and plan on persevering, self-care after creating such emotional and vulnerable work? 

NOVEMBER: This is a great question. If I’m being honest, I hadn’t really thought about it. The truth is, by the time I make the decision to include something or someone in my writing, I think it’s me acknowledging that I’m ready to talk about it and ultimately surmount it. So a lot of the emotion is still there, but not so much active for me and more so embedded in a line or instrument. This isn’t a rigid rule though. Things come up sometimes when I’ll do a song live or while I’m listening to my music, and I’ll just let them come and go and usually that means tears. In those cases, I remind myself that these songs are fragments of my experiences and feelings, and some catch the light when I look at the mosaic. 

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NOVEMBER self-portrait, courtesy of the artist

AC: Now for a more light question: If you could perform Bedroom Eyes with an elaborate set design and with 100% creative direction, what would the production look like? 

NOVEMBER: I have a background in musical theatre that jumps out in the sense that I really love a spectacle. In a perfect world, the show for Bedroom Eyes would mimic the music and have this story arc with different stops for the audience. Every song is actually set in a different place. It would be cool to bring them to life, since the inside of my head isn’t exactly reality and everyone’s perception of things is their own. It would have dancers, costumes and basically be a big pop show. I’d also love for people to have enough room to dance, move or just do what they need to. 

AC: Before we end off, how do you plan on celebrating this release and what are you looking forward to as 2020 comes to a close?

NOVEMBER: Donuts, vegan food, weed and some time doing absolutely nothing. No but really, this EP has been such a long time coming and these songs have taken up so much space in my head that it almost feels like an empty nest. I am super happy it’s a tangible thing, though. I celebrated with stillness since when I’m at my busiest that can be something I only get in limited amounts. It’s only temporary though, and I’m trying my best to figure out a way to get at least one video together throughout everything. I’m really just excited for this to be out and for whomever to be able to hear it. I think it’s some of my coolest stuff and a great reintroduction to where I’m at now.  

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NOVEMBER self-portrait, courtesy of the artist

Listen to Bedroom Eyes out now!

NOVEMBER

Bandcamp I Spotify I Instagram

This interview was conducted over email and has been condensed and edited for clarity

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Premiere: Magi Merlin's Walking to the Dep

Magi Merlin by Lawrence Fafard

Whenever I've moved to a new neighbourhood or started a new phase of my life, I often romanticize my new daily routines—walking to the dep, going to the grocery store etc.

Often I'll be listening to my favourite music, or sometimes I'll even dress up a bit to motivate myself to get out of the house. I guess that's what TikTok would call being the main character.

Magi Merlin's new music video for her track "Walking to the Dep" is exactly that. It's a perfect fusion of the dreamworld going on in your head, mixed with the most mundane but comforting of routines.

I spoke with her about her artistic career, inspirations on a cold November night. Tune in to our N10.as show next Thursday at 8pm EST to hear the full interview, and be sure to check out her new music video below. 

Malaika Astorga for Also Cool Mag: Thank you for being a part of Also Cool! Why don't you tell us a bit about who you are and what you do?

Magi Merlin: Hey, I'm Magi Merlin! I'm a singer-songwriter based in Montreal, Canada. I would describe my music as an alternative RNB Neo-soul, but I've recently discovered that I'm branching into different genres. So maybe like RNB fusion. Yeah, let's say that. (laughs) 

Also Cool Mag: That's so fun. So did you grow up in Montreal? 

Magi Merlin: So, funny story, not really. I grew up in Saint-Lazare outside of Montreal, so it's actually quite boring. I went to school in the West Island, and I moved here for university, which I've now dropped out of. So now I'm just here, which I like.

AC: What were you in school for initially?

Magi Merlin: I was in computational arts, which involved graphic design and website development. 

AC: What has your experience with the music/creative scene been like? 

Magi Merlin: I've been making music for my whole life, which I feel like a lot of people say. But it started with me teaching myself how to play guitar, so very indie.

Once I moved to Montreal, that's when I started to understand what kind of music I wanted to make. Also, by being in Montreal, you're just closer to the scene. It makes it so much easier to get into contact with people, and I feel like I could like to grow as a musician after moving.

AC: Did you start going to shows here? How did you end up finding the scene? 

Magi Merlin: Okay, so I actually have a clear origin story. In 2017, I had I ripped this song from a producer called WunTwo. I had taken one of his tracks and wrote on it, and put it out on SoundCloud. 

I made a music video for it, which started getting a bit of traction, and this guy found my music. He introduced me to his friend funkywhat, and that's who I make all of my music with now. We've just been working together consistently for the past three years, and I even lived on the same street as him in NDG for a year.

AC: One of the things that I enjoy about Montreal is that you can see people around really easily, and that's a huge contributing factor to the scene. You see people at shows, but you also see people when you go out for a coffee, or you run into them sitting on the sidewalk, eating a sandwich. 

That kind of casual interaction is definitely responsible for a lot of my friendships and collaborations and discovering new aspects of the city. 

Magi Merlin: Yeah, it almost prompts inspiration. It prompts your creativity. It's just like a good-ass place to be. 

Magi Merlin by Yusuf Victory

AC: So I read that you've played quite a few shows. How do you like performing live, and how has that changed over time?

Magi Merlin: Confidence is a big part of it, getting used to knowing what I feel like and how I sound on the stage. There are older videos where I'm barely moving on stage versus more recent videos where I'm flowing a lot more; there's a lot more movement.

AC: Do you have like a favourite venue or like a favourite show that you've played?

Magi Merlin: I really liked the one I did recently for Slut Island. It was a bit weird cause everyone has masks on and all that, but I really liked Sala Rosa as a venue. 

AC: I miss that place. That kind of leads into my next question. I was watching the music video, and since I live in the Plateau I was super excited to recognize all of the locations. Is there any reason why you chose this neighbourhood in particular?

As I watched it, I found it made me think about all of my different apartments and how emblematic routines like walking to my dep would be of specific eras of my life.

Magi Merlin: I feel like in Montreal, you fall into these little routines. Deps are everywhere, but you always kind of have that one that you go to regularly. 

The song just ended up being super Montreal. It's my version of a love song. One of my love languages is gifts, but it doesn't have to be a big thing. Going to the dep and getting me like a bag of chips means a lot. I was trying to put that in a track, that homey, comforting feeling.

AC: How would you describe Montreal to someone who hasn't been here or wants to move here?

Magi Merlin: It definitely depends on the area. Right now, I live downtown, which I would describe as casual shopping, Urban Outfitters kind of vibe. But in the Plateau, it's very homey. It's very, "Going out to a cafe, chilling with your friends, reading a book, tote bags."

AC: That's so funny. When I moved to Montreal, any idea that I had that I'd ever use a purse again was gone. Tote bags from the grocery store became my go-to, and now I have way too many but also keep buying more.

So, I'm interested to talk about who inspires you. Where do you find inspiration? 

Magi Merlin: I've been super inspired by existentialism lately. I've been reading a lot of books, most recently A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle. 

I'm also super into movies. I am obsessed with this app called Letterbox. I'm on it just as much as I'm on Instagram. It's like basically this bank of just every movie ever, but not to watch the movie. You can read about the movies and then you can organize them into little lists. It's great for organization, I highly recommend it. 

I watched movies a lot growing up, and I was introduced to The Go Goo Dolls because I watched Treasure Planet. More recently, I watched The Queen's Gambit on Netflix, which was bonkers. That stayed with me for a few days afterwards. I also really liked Honey Boy by Shia LaBeouf, Hereditary, and My Cousin Vinny.

AC: Do you have any like favourite poets or books that have stood out to you in the last little while?

Magi Merlin: Yeah, Nejma by Nayyirah Waheed. It's really pretty and very direct. I like poetry that doesn't complicate things too much, but it makes you think about a situation in a new way.

AC: Who have you been listening to lately? 

Magi Merlin: This past week, I've been listening to In Rainbows by Radiohead. I'm also super into Mk.Gee's "A Museum Of Contradiction," and then older artists, like The Spinners and John Coltrane.

AC: How do you want people to feel when they listen to your music?

Magi Merlin: I want people to feel cool. Often, when I'm listening to music from various artists that I enjoy, that's what I feel like. To be able to give that to somebody else would be the ultimate goal.

Watch “Walking to the Dep” by Magi Merlin below

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