Having done A&R for ten years and been accommodatingly downsized by EMI Music Canada, Graham Stairs came to the belated conclusion that he was ill-suited to work for other people and that it was time to be his own boss for better or worse. Graham Stairs founded Popguru Sound & Vision in 1998, which is now a fully integrated music company involved in artist and producer management, music publishing, sync licensing and its two record labels: The Confidence Emperors and Popguru.  

The World According To Popguru: Single-Minded is a collection of early singles released by Popguru Sound & Vision between 1998 and 2005, including songs by Red Autumn Fall, Hush Hush, Stirling, Hennessey, Beautiful 2000, and The Blue Raincoats.

The compilation release includes restored music videos, never-before-released tracks, and new video footage. There will also be a 25th anniversary live celebration in the fall that will include current artists such as Odario, The Wilderness of Manitoba, John Orpheus, Sam Casey, Alex Exists, and more.

“I have experienced a lot of highs and a lot of lows over 25 years, but working with the Popguru creative community has made it all worthwhile and I’m looking forward to hearing the next great new song that gets me excited,” Stairs says.   

Hamilton, ON’s Madam Sad is the six year long project of Maddison Schrieber, a name created by combining the names Mads and Adam. They are a disabled, traumatized, and queer person. Making whatever they have access to, while still keeping it small, they focus on Americana and folk styles of music, guided by the vulnerability and sincerity they see in those styles. They hope their music can help other marginalized individuals take solace.  

As part of a psychological horror concept album titled Paradise, that is inspired by the cold reality of capitalism, their latest track “Accepted” is about the main character in the album’s narrative finally becoming accepted in the story. The symbolism behind violence being a key for acceptance comes from the idea that extortion in capitalism gets you accepted or admired. It’s a purposefully bare bones recording with back-up vocals by Connor Marquis-young and Saxophone played by Connor Bennett. 

Crossed Wires is a fuzzed out, 90s inspired pop-punk band from Halifax, NS. Their songs are filled with driving drums, catchy, melodic, pedal-drenched guitar, and relatable, infectious lyrics that will have you singing along to every word and nodding in agreement. With a sound that bears strong similarities to such 90s indie giants like Jawbreaker and Superchunk, Crossed Wires embrace the sonic diversity that exists out east and are completely at home playing shows sandwiched between shoegaze and metal.

Their song “Looped,” is about getting stuck in an anxiety-fueled thought loop. You replay a scenario over and over in your head, wondering if it’s your fault, wondering what’s real and what’s just your brain playing tricks on you. The song itself mimics that with looping riffs that bleed into one another.

The band had been sitting on 4 out of the 6 songs on this record for nearly 6 years, and it was time to finish an EP so those songs could be out in the world. It finally took shape after a long period of intense writer’s block and self-doubt on frontperson Heather Grant’s part, and a couple freshly written songs. The album’s title Ellipsis speaks to that feeling of leaving things unfinished, but also having more to say but not quite saying it. 

Based in Victoria, British Columbia, Jesse Roper is a blues/Americana artist with a penchant for writing modern indie infused blues music and delivering bombastic live performances buoyed by his virtuosic guitar playing. The stage is where he shines. It has been his home since overcoming crippling stage fright during his early twenties. Fear is a part of Roper’s past that seems hard to believe today – especially when you see the in-concert image of a six-string soldier, hair matted to his face, tearing up the stage, without a hint of second guessing. 

Following up on “Make It All Work Out,” the first single to be shared from his forthcoming album (set for release later this year), Roper is now releasing the second of multiple energetic, fresh, soulful and R&B inspired tracks. “Throw This Rope” is about being told how to run your life and career by folks who are currently running theirs aground. 

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, Shane Ghostkeeper’s new album, Songs For My People, 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. Truly a family affair, it’s out now on Victory Pool Records and can be streamed here.

From the opening notes of the album, this notion rings true wholeheartedly; shades of classic boot stompin’ anthems shine through, offering glimmers of Waylon Jennings, Johnny Horton, and Conway Twitty; and the singer took a particular shred of influence from the “Bakersfield sound” scene, a strain of ’60s-era artists that infused traditional country & western songwriting with the electrified, then-new zing of rock & roll.

Presented “as a gift to my people, an exploration of the country & western and roots records they surrounded me with since childhood,” it wouldn’t truly be a Shane Ghostkeeper project without a few flashes of sonic risk-taking, with the latest single “Sunbeam” sporting a lightly psychedelic overcoat in tribute to Shane’s T. Rex and Led Zeppelin-loving Uncle Tucker. 

“Sunbeam was written for my late Uncle Tucker and the family he left behind. I was unable to attend his funeral so I wrote this to express my condolences and support for my Aunty Lorraine and my cousins. Tucker was a huge force in the Paddle Prairie Metis Settlement community and beyond, and he was a fiercely dedicated father and husband.”

Further extending the concept of “family,” Shane recruited a close-knit crew of collaborators to help him bring this project to life. Producer extraordinaire Lorrie Matheson (Rae Spoon, Art Bergmann), who has been part of the Ghostkeeper world since day one, and bandmates in the main Ghostkeeper band: drummer Eric Hamelin (known for his work with JOYFULTALK and drumming on Alvvays’ smash hit “Archie, Marry Me”), bassist Ryan Bourne (Chad Van Gaalen), and guitarist and pedal steel player Wayne Garrett (Surf Kitties). 

Montreal singer-songwriter Daniel Isaiah has always been bound to music. He grew up surrounded by music, traveling the world and busking with his guitar, and played with his indie rock band Shoot The Moon before pursuing his solo career. Since then, he has released three critically acclaimed albums and toured with the likes of Sloan, Van Dyke Parks, Mother Mother, Basia Bulat, and more. 

For his upcoming album, he challenged himself by learning to play piano from scratch and writing the entirety of the album on that primary instrument. The first single, “I’ve Got A Lot Riding On You,” doesn’t mean that someone needs to rely or depend on another. It’s just recognizing that two people can be in this thing called life together, and that we are strengthened and sustained by each other.