Fans of independent Canadian music will likely recognize the name Shane Ghostkeeper from his namesake project GHOSTKEEPER, a band that has been responsible for some of the more thrilling music to emerge from Alberta during the last 15 years. But while his parent band trades in a highly unique, left-of-centre approach to indie rock, this new project is a deeply reverential tribute to the music he absorbed while growing up in the Northern Alberta Métis communities of Paddle Prairie, High Level, and Rocky Lane.

The vocal melodies on “V Chill” were inspired by the need to soothe and entertain Shane’s teething baby boy. After hours of bouncing him around the house, lyrics started to form as fatherly advice and blessings.

“‘V Chill’ was coined by my producer and big brother, Lorrie Matheson,” says Shane. “An appropriate play on my son’s name, Vittal Chillawee Ghostkeeper.”

The Femme Fatale of Folk known as Sarah Segal-Lazar currently splits her time between the busy streets of Montreal and the red shores of PEI. She shares her own special blend of folk and country, wherever the wind may take her. Her latest album, produced by Canadian folk luminary Matthew Barber, comes out later this year.

There’s a farmer in the small community where she’s from on PEI. This older fella lives alone in the home where his family has lived for generations. The locals have speculated whether or not he’s always been a bachelor, or was once married. One day, when Segal-Lazar was visiting, she noticed a room with women’s clothes still hanging in the closet. They looked like they’d been hanging there for years, maybe decades, untouched.

Segal-Lazar didn’t feel like she could intrude with a question, for fear of bringing up painful memories. Instead, she let her imagination take her on a journey, and wrote the song “This Old House” for him – and all the older folks whose stories we don’t always get to hear – incorporating personal details like his grandmother’s rug, faded family photos, and the embroidered tapestries. 

“I started writing this song because I was going to be leaving PEI for a while, and I wanted to write a song about my relationship with the island,” explains Segal-Lazar. “I wanted to write a love song or a breakup song or an ‘it’s complicated’ song about us. But as I started noodling around on the guitar, it turned out that I didn’t actually have much to say about myself – what came out was a song about someone else.”

Originally from London, UK, LTtheMonk had an eclectic musical upbringing that set him off on a journey to becoming a musician himself. Dance is also an intrinsic part of LT‘s toolkit, with bantamweight Gene Kelly-meets-James Brown footwork and immaculate sport socks both indelible signatures of his persona as an entertainer. Melding all of his influences, LT aims to fuse dance music with hip-hop and pop, to create his own unique sound.

LT was listening to a podcast series about the “Cola Wars” of the 70s and 80s between Coca Cola and Pepsi, and it made him think about being in a relationship where you’re considered a “power couple.” In a lot of situations, ego might destroy the relationship, if one person is being given more attention, or achieving more success than the other.

With all that in mind, LT wrote “Pepsi Challenge” with Coke and Pepsi being a cheeky metaphor for the power couple, and how you can compete with each other, or work together and be a way stronger partnership.

1. Tell us the story of this song, why did you choose to visualize this song specifically? 

‘Pepsi Challenge’ was inspired by the Cola Wars of the 70s and 80s, when Pepsi & Coca-Cola were competing to be the number 1 soda in North America, and invented great advertising campaigns like the Pepsi Challenge to try and win. I loved all the vintage Pepsi & Coke commercials that I was watching while I was writing the song (and a lot of the lyrics are references to those commercials), and thought it would be a great song to shoot a video for, to take the Hollywood style of all of those ads and add my own colours and styles to them. And of course, inventing my own Monk Pop and Uptonic sodas for our own Pepsi Challenge!

2.What was the inspiration behind this video (visuals, storyline, etc.)? 

I wanted to take the inspiration of classic Pepsi & Coca-Cola advertising, but bring it into my own new Monk style. So in the video’s storyline, my challenger Kiara Taylor (who also provided background vocals on the song) and I are having contestants take the Pepsi Challenge, but with our own Monk Pop & Uptonic sodas instead of Pepsi and Coke. We compete with the sodas, mix them into alcoholic cocktails, all different challenges to see which soda is number 1.

3.What was the process of making this video?

This video was so fun to make! My director Matt Azzarello and I had our treatment ready, and we brought in Kiara as my ‘challenger’, and a few friends to take the Challenge with us. We went to Urban Queens Beauty Bar in Toronto to shoot the video, which was a perfect backdrop while we spent the day drinking a lot of Monk Pop, Uptonic, Coke & Pepsi, and enjoying the laughter and competition amongst friends!

‘I Am The Sea’ emerges from deeply personal and poignant life experiences, beautifully intertwining the narratives of both Marc Darcange (a.k.a. Cedric) and Tryzdin. It is a musical testament to vulnerability, resilience, and the complex dynamics of human emotion. 

As a young boy of 12, Cedric found himself grappling with severe school phobia and the harsh realities of bullying. The expansive beauty of the beach and the mysterious depths of the sea served as potent symbols of the enticing oblivion he contemplated. 

This profound connection to the sea became a central metaphor in ‘I Am The Sea’, its tumultuous waves and serene depths capturing the dualistic nature of his experiences. Tryzdin’s contribution to the song is equally substantial and deeply rooted in his personal encounters with bullying. His potent vocal performance, recorded in his home studio in Columbus, conveys the raw emotional core of the track, his experiences lending an authentic, resonating depth to the narrative. 

The back-story of ‘I Am The Sea’ was further reinforced by a profoundly impactful TV documentary about a 13-year-old schoolboy who tragically lost his life due to bullying. The heartbreaking story hit close to home, striking a chord with Cedric and Tryzdin’s own experiences and lending an even greater urgency to the song’s message. 

In ‘I Am The Sea’, the intimate personal narratives of Cedric and Tryzdin intertwine with the larger discourse on bullying, resulting in a compelling and emotive musical piece. The song captures the profound despair that bullying can evoke, while also highlighting the resilience of the human spirit. It serves as a beacon of empathy and understanding for those who have faced or are facing similar struggles. 

The single, “What Color is the Rain,” by The smallest Creature begins its dynamic alt rock journey with a simple and subtle drum beat, which prepares the listener for the intensity of the thrilling experience that is yet to come. This single is a perfect blend of the hard rock, alternative, and grunge genres. The production is polished while not sacrificing the rawness that exudes what is unique about this style of song.

The song is inspired by the first lockdown of 2020, which pointed the song’s focus towards nature. The band found that both nature and music are what is constant in the world and the song reflects this epiphany. This vulnerable message about humanity is hidden within the pulsating drum beat and relentless guitar chords, creating a paradox of both strength and sensitivity.

The band sings, “I’ll scream my lungs out, Till I’m gone, Till I’m gone.” This is referring to the everlasting nature of music. It outlives all and remains strong in a world where so little is guaranteed. 

The Radiohead/Beatles type song has an end that can only be described as a gentle decay. The thundering drums and brooding melody fades away as if it were never there to begin with.

Today, multi-talented viral artist, songwriter, and GRAMMY®-nominated producer JVKE celebrates hitting 1 billion streams for the all-conquering global hit “golden hour” with a brand-new remix featuring the multi award-winning P-Pop boy group SB19, out now via AWAL.

Stream/download JVKE “golden hour (SB19 Remix)” HERE

Produced by JVKE, “golden hour” is a classic love song that highlights his ability to articulate the feelings of romance and beauty through his lyrics. The vivid imagery is backed by a complex instrumental arrangement of a piano and strings that builds throughout the track. The remix of “golden hour” combines SB19’s incredible vocal harmonies with JVKE’s trademark production style, creating a stunning new bi-lingual version in Filipino and English.

On the release of “golden hour”, JVKE shared “This might just be my favourite song I’ve ever written. It feels like a pause in time, with all your attention on that special someone. the sun is shining… it’s your golden hour. I wanted to capture the emotion that you feel when you see something beautiful. That feeling is ‘golden hour’.”

Speaking on the remix SB19 noted, “It’s always fun collaborating with another artist – just like how it is when we, as members of a group, collaborate with each other. But it’s something else when there’s a collaboration of two cultures, which is what happened when we collaborated with JVKE. It’s really special how the embedded culture in each of us affects how we write songs and how we portray our experiences in a song, and we’re glad that we’re able to include some parts of our Filipino culture in this song.

We’re always listening to JVKE’s songs and we’re very grateful to have had the opportunity to work with him.”

JVKE added, “SB19 are crazy talented. As an artist, when I open my art to others so they can add their own interpretation, I never know how I’m going to feel about what they contribute. With SB19, I was just blown away. I hope this isn’t that last time we work together.”

The original “golden hour” is already a smash hit single worldwide having amassed over 1 billion streams along with over 3 billion views across YouTube, TikTok & Instagram, a #1 spot on the Global Spotify viral chart and hit Top 20 on the Billboard Global chart. The track has also been flying high on radio airwaves around the globe including Top 10 on the U.S. Top 40 radio airplay chart. “golden hour” also hit Top 50 on the global Shazam chart, alongside official single charts in U.S., U.K., Germany, Norway, Netherlands, Switzerland, Australia and New Zealand, while also hitting #1 on both Shazam and Spotify charts in Malaysia and Singapore. “golden hour” is now certified Platinum in the US, Double Platinum in Australia, Gold in New Zealand and Silver in the U.K.

Cumulatively, JVKE has amassed over 2 billion career streams, an awe-inspiring 35 billion views of his music across social media along with an ever-growing global audience of over 23 million followers. JVKE’s 2020 breakthrough smash “Upside Down” generated over 200 million streams to date and 15 million TikTok video creations and spawned a Charlie Puth remix. His 2021 follow up track “this is what falling in love feels like” launched his career into the stratosphere, amassing over 390 million streams and 45 million views and reaching #33 U.S. Top 40 Radio. Last year JVKE recently released his stunning debut album, “this is what ____ feels like (Vol. 1-4)”,  a collection of songs written, produced, engineered, and recorded by JVKE and his brother ZVC that experiments with production, time signatures, tuning and style to create a truly unique listening experience.

JVKE also currently features on the international hit single “Angel” from the Fast X soundtrack alongside Charlie Puth, Jimin from BTS, Muni Long, Kodak Black and NLE Choppa.

JVKE has also featured as MTV PUSH global artist and appears prominently in the trending VOX documentary “We tracked what happens after TikTok songs go viral”. In addition to what the piece portrays, JVKE has been able to stand out amongst his peers and cut through the virality to establish himself as a true multifaceted artist on the rise. 

SB19 is a multi-awarded five-member group from the Philippines composed of Pablo, Josh, Stell, Ken, and Justin. The “SB” in SB19 stands for “Sound Break,” which represents their aspirations of disrupting the music scene and bringing Filipino music and culture onto the international stage.

SB19 broke into the global spotlight as the first Southeast Asian and Filipino act

to be nominated in the Billboard Music Awards as Top Social Artist in 2021.

They are also the first Filipino act to land on the international Billboard Social 50, Next Big Sound Charts, and also remarkably hit #1 on the Billboard Hot Trending Songs with “Bazinga”. The band debuted in October 2018 with their single “Tilaluh”’ and quickly gained popularity with their second single “Go Up”. Since their debut, SB19 has amassed fans across the globe – known as A’TIN – and were recognised by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts as Philippines’ Youth Ambassadors.

SB19’s latest release “GENTO” debuted at #8 on the Billboard World Digital Sales Charts, ahead of the release of their new EP, “PAGTATAG!” in June this year.