Montreal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our more hybrid theatrical productions are usually booked in seated venues like theatres, opera houses, performing arts centers\u2026 But I also do more jump up party style shows in clubs and music festivals. Currently during this pandemic, I’ve been at home in the studio, recording, writing and working on some animated film and video game scores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Film score music, Jazz, Hip Hop, Ambient, Reggae, Blues, Classical, Indie Rock you name it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I still find music through actual human interaction. I get a lot of recommendations from friends who know my tastes. When I\u2019m on tour, I\u2019ll always ask the people that I meet what they\u2019re listening to and excited about. On a DJ tour, I\u2019ll ask the other performers about tracks I dig in their sets. If I\u2019m playing at a music festival, I\u2019ll walk around to the other stages to see\/hear what\u2019s cooking! My favorite way to find music is still digging for sounds (old and new) in the record shops. I love to hear what\u2019s playing in the record store and talk to the clerk about what music they\u2019re enthusiastic about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On a few occasions, I\u2019ve even yelled \u201cHey! What\u2019s that song you\u2019re playing?\u201d at drivers when I\u2019m walking around the city and hear something rad blasting out of some car speakers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I still mostly listen to vinyl. Always loved the sound. Plus it\u2019s a bit of an archeological pursuit when I go dig for records. I discover such wonderful things from every era that way and try to connect the dots. I\u2019ve been in the scratch turntable scene since I was in high school, so vinyl is still my preferred medium of choice. I even have a record cutting machine in the studio. So now I\u2019m getting into the physics of that. Still love the fact that all that sonic information can be stored in a tiny groove. It\u2019s magic!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most of my focused music listening time is probably while I\u2019m on tour\u2026 those hours while we\u2019re travelling between shows and soundchecks etc. I can listen to tracks on my phone and I also have a portable turntable that I bring with me to practice scratches in the hotel or to go digging in the local record shops and flea markets. When I\u2019m at home I have these little SA PM07 hifi systems in the living room and kitchen. The same stereo I\u2019ve had since my dorm room in college. It has a built in CD, cassette plus an AUX input so I can plug in another mixer with a turntable or digital audio player into it too. I know the sound of that system so well it\u2019s perfect for me to check my mixes of new recordings\u2026 but really it\u2019s just a great sounding system that I\u2019ve kind of grown up listening to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I belong to a few record pools and mailing lists. So labels will send me listen\/download links. They used to send me vinyl in the mail but labels don\u2019t really do that anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I try not to make music a source of frustration ever. One thing I have noticed, though more amusing than serious, is that the algorithms need more work in general. Even in my own experience, I\u2019ve had some of my classical piano scores filed\/recommended under BEATS. Or a narrative, radio show type album filed under ROCK. Or one of my ambient albums filed under BEATS\/DANCE. I would think that\u2019s a bit confusing for some casual listeners. It\u2019s most likely happening because earlier in my recording career, I had released records on a more club oriented label, or done some scratching features on some hip hop collabs. I think people have a wide palette when it comes to listening to music. It depends on what time of day, season and activity, they\u2019ll be searching for certain types of music to groove or chill to. So if someone\u2019s specifically searching for BEATS and then gets a classical piano film score (not knowing it was part of a film score)\u2026 it\u2019s kind of befuddling, but also amusing to me. The robots haven\u2019t really learned how to curate correctly for that\u2026 yet. Context is everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My vinyl is relatively organized by context in mini crates. We have a crate of uptempo beats\/workout music near the exercise machine, and a crate of more dinner music in the kitchen\/dining room. The kids also have their own crate in their play area with all their favorite jams! And then there\u2019s my studio, which has all kinds of records in it typically sorted by genre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ll buy actual copies of the record and send it to them as a present!<\/p>\n\n\n\n