BLUNT CHUNKs // Wasted
Your music seems to take shape in dualities. There’s a constant contrast between the light sounds and dark imagery of the record, kind of a romanticism vs reality. Is this intentional?
Honestly, I’m not really intentional about songwriting… I just sit down when I’m struggling with something, and sing it out. It’s funny because people always think I’m this light and cheery person based on my personality and the way I present myself; I love to laugh, I love to make people laugh, wear colourful clothing, smile a lot. Honestly though, my brain is a different vibe. I’ve always written while in a pretty dark and heavy place, mentally/emotionally. I write songs to cope, so it makes sense that there’s a lot of dark imagery… but the light sounds are I guess my style! I have a music theatre background so maybe that’s where the “light” comes from? I mean, the duality of life is kind of universal so maybe I just tap into something everyone can relate to. Also my producers are wizards and understand the dualities of life very well, so they bring a lot of that out.
The self-titled EP features contributions from artists like Scott Hardware, members of Broken Social Scene, The Weather Station, Luna Li & more. How would you describe the Toronto scene/and what impact has being a Canadian artist been your experience creating, if any?
Hmm this is tough to answer because I’ve never really known anything else, and everything has happened organically for me over the years, of which I’m very grateful for. I was lucky enough to meet the right people at the right time and connect with musicians/producers who believe in my music. All of those artist who contributed to the record are friends and collaborators who I have met over the ten or so years I’ve spent playing random shows all over Toronto and Canada. The Toronto “scene” is always changing, but I am currently more interested in the music scene in Montreal, New York and LA. Toronto is kind of depressing, to be honest. I don’t know…. I’d probably not be the one to ask about Toronto’s music scene right now since I’ve spent the last year kind of distancing myself from it. I was lucky to play a zillion shows from 2012-2019 but once Covid hit I was relieved to take a break from the hustle, and focus on working in the studio and recording the EP. A lot of venues closed and people just don’t go out as much, it feels like Toronto is a bit lost right now, although I’m sure there’s lots of people who would say the opposite! I will say that I don’t really like “borders”, and Canada is just like everywhere else when it comes to talented people, there’s tons!!!!
Blunt Chunks
MIX
A lot of the music seems to paint a color palette of emotion - there’s very specific details that lend themselves to setting a scene, for example “cotton candy for breakfast / red wine for dinner” always sticks out to be as a very striking lyric. Do you keep a diary / how do you collage together these images from real life?
I DEFINITELY keep a diary. I write a lot, although it comes it waves. When I’m really struggling with a heartbreak, I just write and write and write…. even if it’s no good. Also, a lot of my process involves NOT writing for a while until I can’t handle it anymore…. and then finally sitting down with a guitar and pouring it out. Maybe that’s why the lyrics are so vivid? It’s like a burst. I haven’t quite figured out my muse yet…I just talk about what I feel, and I really just sit there and let it come out how it needs to come out!
When I came across your music I was living in London for a couple weeks and walking long distances to get anywhere. On Bandcamp you have some old compositions that feel very atmospheric & speak to a certain ethereal place & time/memory. How influenced are you by the environment around you / do you find music to be a certain sense of escapism?
This is an amazing question, because pretty much nobody has listened to those tracks! THANK YOU for doing exactly what I hoped people would do: long walks through the city while listening to soundscapes! Those were recorded when I was first getting into making music. I just loved the meditative exploration of sounds, and had recently invested in my own pedals and SP404 and it was all very fresh and important. I didn’t really know what I was doing with my life at the time and so the music was (and has always been) a coping mechanism and a healthy escapism. I was living back in the house I grew up in, in Toronto, with my Mom, it was a return to “the nest” and I was very spiritual at the time. I had just dropped out of University and felt aimless but hopeful. I am still very spiritual and I think I have always kind of healed myself through sound. Since getting more involved with the music industry, my spirituality is something I have to consciously maintain and it’s very easy for me to get swept away with the social aspects (I’m an extremely social person). I need a lot of alone time to get into my zone, though, so I can do dream recalls and sort of figure things out… It’s meditation! It’s tough to fully understand WHAT exactly influences me, but I do know that vibrant cities like Berlin, Montreal, LA, New York all have very inspiring energies, the richness of art in these places definitely encourages me to make my own art… I need to visit London, I’ve never been and I hear it’s incredible.
Tell us more about the recording process/inspiration behind this new track!
This was really fun and intense to do. I got together with my producers and a few good friends who are wicked musicians and we put this song together in a few days. It was different from the way we recorded the EP, which took more or less two years. David Plowman pulled not one, but TWO all nighters because he had to catch a flight and needed to finish the song beforehand. Honestly, the last couple days recording this song were hectic but I trusted in the process and David’s perfectionism. We had a few revisions and just kind of did the best we could in the minimal time we had. I think it turned out beautifully and also reminiscent of some 90’s songs I love, it’s giving Mazzy Star a little bit.
Any under the radar musical peers we need to know?
CopCarBonfire, Merival, Club Diego
What’s special about the mix you’ve made?
Initially I planned to do a mix of all the femme-forward voices I am currently obsessed with, HOWEVER, I cannot figure out iTunes music and so I steered in a different direction, choosing songs I have had on my computer for a while.
This mix is a combination of new and older songs that I just simply LOVE. Starts out really chill, hopefully dopamine boosting, moves into something you can RAGE to. There’s some really intense songs on here that I love to dance and shake my body to when I’m pent up. There’s a few artists on here that people need to know! I hope people can groove and move while also reflect and maybe even cry…. ahaha. I don’t know… it’s a cathartic mix I guess? By the end we are listening to Lana Del Rey and Buffy Ste. Marie, so it’s eclectic for sure.
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