With roots in a musical household in Halifax, Nova Scotia, SHEAL picked up piano, guitar, and violin as a child, before finding her call to songwriting at age seventeen.
She started committing more to her craft throughout her twenties, writing alongside friends and musicians on the East Coast. Following a move to Toronto in 2016, she released her debut EP and is now set to release her sophomore album, Courage Again, in January 2022.
The album’s first single, a stripped back piano and guitar led piece of introspection, is “Dark.” SHEAL wrote the track when she was feeling a lot of resentment towards someone and was beginning to realize that all the negative energy she had towards them was actually harming her more than anyone else.
Zoocrates was created in 2014 by the Argentinian songwriter Daiana Bolini, now based in Montreal. Zoocrates recently released her first album ‘Bug In The System’, on October 22nd.
Zoocrates music is a combination of alternative rock-pop, indie pop, dreampop, electrorock and acoustic music. Bug in the system is a journey through different aspects of the mind. It leads us to disruptive realities as a search for self-acceptance and connection with our emotions.
Sometimes we feel trapped or stuck in daily life, feeling conditioned about the future and how hard it is to break out of the mold. Last year those sensations intensified, as if all of this was unreal.
“Bug In The System,” the first single from my new album released October 22nd, reflects all those feelings – the system is life and it’s unfair aspects that we sense all the time.
Check out the official video for “Bug In The System” on YouTube
My sound has undergone a radical change and now finds inspiration through a mix of electro pop and progressive rock. From this exploration of sounds and emotions, I encourage you to find your own connections to this song.
The album, Bug In The System, is a journey through different aspects of the mind. It leads us to disruptive realities as a search for self-acceptance and connection with our emotions, giving ourselves the time and space to go through problems and heal at our own pace.
Goose Bolton is a mysterious figure, who we are told came from outer space and crash landed here on earth in early AD 2021 after an intergalactic heist went awry. He has been releasing experimental music for a while, and his latest single/video “Lunatic” is one of them.
We spoke with Goose about this strange, yet powerful video:
Tell us the story of this song, why did you choose to visualize this song specifically?
The song originated as a sonic accompaniment to a story about someone who starts hallucinating that inanimate objects can speak to them. When conceiving of a music video, I chose to visualize this song because it’s one of my favorites on my upcoming record and because, thematically, it felt like the most appropriate starting point to accompany the strange images and narratives that swirl around in my head. I didn’t feel locked into any single specific narrative with this song, and so the Tiger Ji (the director) and I could really let our minds run free during the brainstorming process.
What was the inspiration behind this video(visuals, storyline, etc.)?
The initial inspiration for this video began a dream that Tiger had, which contained the specific image of men in business suits wriggling down a city street while wrapped in plastic. This was the springboard for us deciding that the video should be about a person who is seeing something crazy in the city (that only they can see) and their response to that. Initially, we were going to have the video’s main character be chased by fish people, but then we decided that lizard people would be more relevant to contemporary conspiracy theory as well as more thematically interesting, as it lets our main character wrestle with her own reptilian identity by the end of the film. We were aiming for a very specific mood that mingled elements of the absurd, science-fiction, horror, and comedy. I decided it made sense for the main character to be wearing a hospital gown after having escaped an asylum because the word “Lunatic” to me always seems like it’s a title assigned by society to an individual, rather than a subjective state that the individual feels (“crazy” for instance feels more like it can be either an assigned title or a subjective identity), so the hospital gown was the most efficient way to convey that this person is The Lunatic. The version of lunacy we wanted to explore in this music video is not mental illness. Rather, it is a label thrust upon a person by others in response to that person’s reaction to outside factors or new knowledge. This is important because the main character is not insane—she’s just the only person who can see the lizard people.
What was the process of making this video?
We filmed the video over 2 days across different areas of New York City in both Manhattan and Brooklyn. The final climactic scene with (spoilers) all of the dancing lizard people is the rooftop of a parking garage on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, most of the street pursuit scenes were shot in Bushwick, and we filmed the subway scene at the 2nd Ave subway stop in Manhattan as well. The shoot was incredibly smooth with zero hiccups. Tiger is the kind of director that has every single shot meticulously planned and storyboarded weeks ahead of the shoot, which led to a fun and efficient filming experience where we could focus primarily on the emotions and physicality of the actors in each scene.
Rising lo-fi and bedroom pop artist, &seb, shares his newest single, “I’m Okay.” From age 11, &seb has been singing, playing piano, and calling himself a musician. Later on, he taught himself guitar and started tapping his computer keys (seemingly randomly at first) to make electronic music. After graduating from NYU, he decided to take his music to the public and released his first single, “New Blood.” With immediate gratification from digital numbers going up, he decided to pursue this creative, yet unknown, line of work further, hoping to bring the same good vibes to his listeners that his favorite artists brought to him.
“I’m Okay” was written about a dark time in &seb’s life, when his trust was betrayed. Though the song is mostly electronic, the melody is a catchy base and his deep and low vocals creates the depth of the song. The music itself is similar to that of Billie Eilish with a touch of Timbland and a hint of 80’s pop. You can hear his personal connection to the song; it’s about how he once repeated ‘I’m Okay’ to try and convince himself he was.
“‘I’m Okay’ stems from a breach of trust,” shares &seb. “I was pushed out of a project I was very passionate about, one that I pitched and started years ago. Once the ball got rolling, I was taken off the team without my knowing. It was pretty upsetting, so I ranted to one of my closest friends about the whole situation and about the specific person who pushed me out. Little did I know, that same person was listening in on my phone call. I had no idea and said some not-so-great things out of anger. They told everyone else, and almost ruined my relationship with some good friends.”
You can listen to “I’m Okay” here:
“I’m Okay” is bound to be a hit. This lo-fi and bedroom pop beat is rife with personal meaning for not only &seb, but will definitely resonate with others. We have all been in a similar situation and this relatable song gives us all a sense of relief, that we are not alone. “I’m Okay” is out now. Be sure to give it a listen.
Commas is an artist from Nashville, TN. As a 90s baby raised in the south, he has long developed a penchant for consuming the imagery around him and his fellow peers, and been able to spit this back out on a canvas that is intriguing and melodic–his melodies stick out amongst the music. Jumping into the scene with BZRK in 2016, he honed his skills while collaborating with this collective. Sharing with us the epic video for the release of “MMM” it showcases the true vibe and essence of Commas a whole. The video was filmed, directed, and edited by All3y3z, Calla McGinty, and THiRD i MEDiA and is taken from the EP “thx bby.” Commas stopped by for a special edition of Video Voyageur which you can dive into below!
Tell us the story of this song, why did you choose to visualize this song specifically?
I feel like this song is about as inspirational as I’ve gotten on a track in a long time, and I thought this one was the best choice for the visual because of that. Being named after the richest man who ever lived, the song is about striving to get the most, to be the best, ya know the literal GOAT. It’s not necessarily about chasing monetary wealth but if that’s your goal and this song pushes you to continue that chase, then I’m happy. That being said, the song is more for me than anybody, but if I can share and help someone else then I will.
What was the inspiration behind this video(visuals, storyline, etc.)?
I knew from my first consideration for the video, I wanted to do a loose adaptation of the story of Robin Hood. I did not, however, want it to strictly steal-from-rich-give-to-poor though. I thought steal-from-rich-give-to-everybody-else was a more accurate representation of my beliefs. Cuz “MMM” is for everyone.
What was the process of making this video?
Being my first music video, it was a lot of work. Worth it of course, but I’m not gonna lie and say it didn’t test me. I linked with Alex of THRiD i MEDiA a couple times via phone and in person to explain the concept and nail down a storyline and then filming took about 12 hours across two days. I casted and produced the whole thing, ya know setting call times, communicating with all of the actors, location scouting, etc. And Alex, with the help of Calla McGinty shot, directed, and edited
Los Angeles-based dance-pop and electronic artist, Kao Wonder, just released his music video for his song “Safe Space” from his album, EVOLUTION. He employed his prior dance experience to guide the videos narrative, with Kao acting as a narrator in the story. Kao’s voice is very much like Neyo and his music is much like Dua Lipa meets Tao Cruz. “Safe Space” makes you want to dance along. We spoke with Kao Wonder and he tells us all about the video below:
Tell us the story of this song, why did you choose to visualize this song specifically?
Funny enough, when I wrote this song, I was actually paying homage to all my female friends who considered the LGTBQ nightlife (bars/clubs) their ‘safe space’. Many of them would say to me “well this is my safe space, here I don’t have to worry about men and their ancient pick up lines, I don’t have to worry about other women judging me or acting a certain way towards me. There, I can actually have the most fun and be myself and just have the best time ever with in such a free spirited culture.” How could you forget an answer like that?! I couldn’t! So I wanted to take that and turn it into a love song. It wasn’t that easy at first as love songs aren’t my forte lol, but when I was at the airport on my way to Atlanta to record with my Producer(s) (shouts to Tedy P. and Ced Ivory), I couldn’t figure out how to start it out….until I looked up and saw a guy take off his face mask (because he was eating – COVID rules), and he smiled at this female who smiled back at him from across the way. You could feel that type of warmness in the coldest of winters! So I said to myself, “It’s the smile for me,” and the the rest of the song wrote itself out. I would hope that’s one of the things that makes someone feel intricately connected when they meet their soulmate.
Tedy P and I have this thing before he creates each song, he always begins by saying to me “tell me how you’re feeling about this tune”, and I said for this particular track I want to pay homage to the musical decade that helped shape me and my creativity; the 90s! Something like the New Jack Swing, mixed with a little hip hop and up-tempo R&B, and Pop. Make it as if we were in1995. He did just that!! When the song was done and I heard the final mix, I literally shed a tear because it reminded of growing up in Brooklyn and all my friends back home. It reminded me of a time before social media, when we would run outside and play ‘Tag ‘ or ‘Mother May I?’, Double Dutch or Hand-ball in the park or on the side of a building. Just the fun we had outdoors, music would be BOOMING from someone’s boombox, house or car, It gave me this nostalgia that was a balm to my heart, so I knew I had to do a video to project these thoughts to the world, because I know someone in this world wants to take that same trip down memory lane with me. To get away from all these current politics and redundancies and just remember what it was to be a kid playing until the street lights came on. These thoughts are my “safe space”…
What was the inspiration behind this video(visuals, storyline, etc.)?
Well as you know, the concept of the song Safe Space is someone being their “safe space”, meaning being with someone you are comfortable with, not afraid to be vulnerable with, the person who you can be your honest and truthful self. As fun as that sounds and as great as that concept is…what if we took an alternative look at the premise; suppose there is an object or place that you consider your “safe space”? What if it’s cooking? What if it’s teaching? Or…like me…..what if it’s PERFORMING ? My team and I decided to explore these alternate roads and rather tell the traditional story of’ ‘girl meets boy’, why not make Dance’ the safe space for our protagonist instead? If you look at the video closely, you will see two individuals who met doing what they love to do, which is dancing (shouts to my leads Indo Hayes (who assisted me with the choreography of the video and Malik ‘Gvmby’ Bannister who is also phenomenal). From an innocent viewer’s eyes, during the club scene it looks like as time progresses the two leads in the video separate, which makes our lead male character sad and a bit lonely in his solo scenes, but the element of surprise comes when you see an older version of them in the end still together. So what was he sad about? He actually hurt his leg, which prevented him from dancing alongside his beau (this is why he was at the doctor’s office and this is also he had a horrible limp with his leg up in the club scene) , but still, when he looks to the alley in his older form, he’s reminded of how much dance was his safe space. So the love story is there …..but the ‘subject’ of the love story is what makes it so sweet, and my Creative Director, Joaquin Sagarra, did a fantastic job of telling this story visually. As far as the “setting” of the video goes, that was from my Videographer Jimmy Collier. He knew we wanted to keep the dedication to the decade of the song, but he also reminded us that the Caribbean/Afro culture shouldn’t be forgotten about during these times,..especially with the Caribbean influence in Brooklyn (interestingly enough this also was a HUGE influence on me, shout out to my favorite restaurant still standing back home… the infamous Tower Isle Patty Shop, i can literally taste my favorite chicken patty w/ cocoa bread as I write this and it was literally one block over from where i lived 😉 ) . It was like the icing on a perfectly lined up cake!! 3 tier !!! This is what made this particular video soo monumental for my team and myself? This idea was so big in fact, that it inspired Ced to go BACK and remix the song and create a ‘Riddim Remix” (which basically adds elements of dancehall/afro beats to the song), in which we used for the video and which was released Friday 11/5. All in all, this project was such an experience!
Modern Mystery 
You must be logged in to post a comment.