The attitude of DIY punk for me means to really figure it out on your own, along with all the mistakes that come with it. When I started this project, I didn't want everything to sound or look perfect— in the music or the performance. I desired it to be raw as possible.
In the live setting, there's moments where I'm singing on the microphone and I walk up to a person in audience and try to single them out. With this approach, I'm attempting to cross over a punk spirit on the dancefloor and warehouses have been a perfect platform for trial and error. I want to break boundaries of what people would expect in a club experience.
There's a bit of a performative element that takes place which isn't particularly uniform. Dancing unusually, has been a way for me to materializing another artform that does not have to be straightforward. Punk to me is doing it in your own way, even if it looks awkward.
It's been quite an overwhelming year and the project continues to progress forward. I believe a lot of this had to do with the support system of underground music community in Toronto. At this point it may seem obligatory to say: "There's a movement happening," but there is an undeniable rise of talent, promoters pushing their game and a very diversified amount of people coming out to these events.
Have you ever had a major gear malfunction during a show (as older gear has a tendency to do)? How did you manage it?
I once had an asthma attack when performing with Powell & Not Waving for the Diagonal 5th year anniversary at Soybomb (RIP).
Halfway through my set, I overexerted myself. I felt a short of breath and tightness in my chest and had to quickly ask a friend who was dancing in front of me to grab my rescue inhaler.
I remember having to duck down take a few puffs, trying to control my breathing. There was this one moment where I was triggering samples to 125 bpm, while maintaining a different bpm for my inhale and exhale. That was really intense.
Other than that, just a few Octatrack malfunctions of the machine stalling and a simple reboot to continue. People are pretty forgiving when things are back up and running, nbd.
What different equipment that you have used over the years sticks out in your memory? Do you have a piece of equipment that you miss most? Do you have any pieces that you don't miss at all?
One piece of gear that I still have is the octatrack, it's pretty much the backbone of my live sets, controlling all my sequences and triggering all my samples. One piece of gear that I miss the post is the Roland TR-8 drum machine, for me it was just agile and quick. It has a really nice Kick, tom, and claps. One piece of gear I don't miss at all is the computer.
Any advice for a producer who is looking to start prepping/creating a live set?Any advice for the actual act of performing?
Start lean, don't buy everything and only use what you need until you used it to it's full capacity. The less gear the better and the less confusing. Use only what works best for you. If you can try to rent gear, borrow it from a friend, or hang out to your local music store and see what clicks.
It also helps to sketch or map out your live set visually, I think this good when to know what each machine's role is and how it looks in front of you.
But most importantly, try to play out a lot and leave room for improvement. The more you play out, the more you'll understand what's working. There's things that will happen on the floor that you will never expect no matter what hype gear you have. You'll only be able to experience emotion through emotion. x
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