Jesse Rivest is a singer-songwriter, guitarist, and self-producing artist. An observant, introspective, yet adventurous soul, his songs aren’t written seeking to effect change. However, the fact that he’s been writing and performing them for about 20 years, all the while living around the world leaving light footprints, has had an unintentional consequence. 

With his new single “Nostargic,” he draws a parallel, allured by the idea that perhaps memories are like starlight, still reaching us long after their sources have burned out. A dose of nostalgia can stone us as much as a starry sky; both are intoxicating encounters with something that once was.

The fire pit in the music video ties in with the penultimate lyric, “if I could I’d find the old spark… blow it back to life,” born out of his childhood fascination with blowing the nighttime campfire back to life in the early morning.

His next EP—and various singles after that—were produced in Brasilia, the capital of Brazil, where he has lived since 2013. Before that, Rivest held a home base in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Argentina.

Residing on the fringe of the Ottawa/Gatineau region, Pedal Generic is a multi-instrumentalist, producer, and songwriter who likes to make sounds that make him feel bigger than himself. His upcoming 9-track LP, Pedagogy, is his 6th project.

The possibility of finding “the one” is such a beautiful thought. Unfortunately, to love is easier said than done and the past proves this to be true. Do you open up at the possibility of love or stay closed off at the risk of hate?   

The reminiscent and intimate single, “Longing,” is Pedal Generic’s call for love. With this song, he’s opening up his heart to the possibility of romance and using music as a way to attract a potential lover. 

You can listen in here:

The album, Pedagogy, was entirely produced, written and recorded by Pedal Generic at his home studio in Ottawa, ON. It was mixed by Mike Dubue (HILOTRONS) at Studio Cimetière in Quyon, QC, and mastered by Phil Bova at Bova Lab Studios in Ottawa, ON. 

Emotionally, it was a tough project for Pedal Generic to take on, as it has been his most honest and vulnerable work to date. Pedagogy’s theme is of an individual trying to live, love and grow in a cold world of adversity. 

Parks N’ Rec is the new project from Canadian singer Marco DiFelice (Supergarage), 

songwriter, music supervisor (Orphan Black, Lost Girl). In collaboration with several producers at Self Titled Studios, Parks N’ Rec deals with lost love, polarizing societies, and self-renewal. 

His new song, “Deep Sea Diver,” was created while DiFelice was staying in Belize, though lyrically it had been brewing in his mind for over two years. It explores themes of loneliness and courage; it’s a song about DiFelice’s attempt at ego death. 

Belize is a place where the sea is dotted with cayes and a history of courageous and adventurous divers exploring there. DiFelice was specifically interested in how a lot of those people are breaking through barriers of their own mind and body. He felt lucky to be around that culture and to have an opportunity to understand the obsession with “what’s underneath.” Through these experiences, DiFelice was trying to walk himself through his fear of the deep sea. He then created a magical place where fear and beauty collided as he daydreamed under the sea. 

Casey Møøn is a genre-defying multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and half of the production duo Zookids. Having handled production for Young Thug, Gunna, and A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, written for independent artists in the indie-pop world, and played in a slough of rock bands over the years, his style has absorbed an eclectic array of influences. 

Over the course of 2022, Casey plans to release his trilogy of EPs: Fountains, Mirrors and Ashes. Each project varies in genre and draws thematic influence from a different film or TV series. Listened to sequentially, the projects tell a story about growing up, love, and loss.

Boasting a strong voice with an ear for pop melody, modern production and a dazzling live show, Casey shines on “home,” crooning “if we can’t talk about what it is we can’t talk about, all that shit’s got to come out somehow.”

“home” is taken from the first in the series, Fountains, which evokes childhood feelings of wonder and alienation. Unable to express anything and having that emotion built up with nowhere to go. Alone in a sea of people pushing him to do things he didn’t understand yet. 

There’s an anxiety in life that comes from knowing there isn’t anything to do but try to prepare for the inevitability of change. And sometimes the only thing that can make a drastic shift or an ending more difficult is to see it coming. On their seventh full-length, A Eulogy For Those Still Here, Counterparts set out to capture that surreal space in-between, and in the process pushed their sound to its greatest extremes to make their most definitive statement as a band. 

“I think I deal with things by preparing myself for the end,” explains vocalist Brendan Murphy. “With so much of this record I’m mourning the loss of someone that’s still alive or saying goodbye to something that hasn’t left yet.” Murphy’s preoccupation with endings reaches wide, from relationships dissolving, to friendships fading, to loved ones passing away–and even to his band.

The band convened at Graphic Nature Audio with their longtime producer/engineer, Will Putney (Knocked Loose, Every Time I Die, Vein.fm) to make what would become A Eulogy For Those 

Still Here. The result feels like Counterparts have honed every element of their sound into its sharpest point, resulting in 11 of their most viscerally compelling songs to date. 

 “A lot of these songs read as though I’m delivering the eulogy at a funeral even though the subject I’d written about was very much still alive–and also in attendance,” says Murphy.