The Dream Eaters have evolved from a dream pop band into a full-on video art project with an extensive catalogue of weird and darkly humorous music videos of their catchy pop songs. The duo started working together after vocalist Elizabeth LeBaron, originally from Calgary, started working at the same bar as singer/songwriter Jake Zavracky, originally from Boston, in the Gowanus neighborhood of Brooklyn.

“I AM BLEEDING INTERNALLY” is their take on synth-pop and country fusion. Their macabre sense of humor shines through, with Elizabeth citing this favourite lyric—”Now I’m crying on the floor of a Wamart store”—as “visceral and troublingly relatable.” Jake adds that “Most of our songs are about dealing with emotional problems and the lyrics are the sort of things you mutter under your breath when you’re walking around pissed off.”

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

For us, when a song is coming along very easily and it’s really starting to sound good when you haven’t really even started working the clay yet, that’s a good sign, and that’s exactly what happened here. Even by our standards the song is light and poppy, but the theme is quite dark. It also didn’t take long for us to find a vocal delivery that was working, which is also usually a good sign – if we’re really struggling to sing something then we know it might need to be re-thought.

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

This song and a lot of our music is pretty much dripping with irony – you have this almost silly sounding music that sounds like the soundtrack to Mario Kart or something juxtaposed against this very heavy theme of blood and injury. And so we tried to reflect that in the video – you’ve got Steve dancing in his pajamas which is obviously a bit of light fun but in the context of the rest of the video – the blown out reds, the flames, and mirroring that image of him, he looks almost demonic. So the whole thing mirrors the irony of the song very nicely.


3. What was the process of making this video?

Shooting it was very simple – it’s one continuous shot of Elizabeth and me singing the song, and then one continuous shot of Steve dancing. And then I just do closeups by zooming in in post. It gives the closeups a grainy look, a little cheap looking, which I like. I always shoot in 4k so there’s enough resolution there to do those close ups, but it still looks a little grainy. I like when things have a slightly cheap look to them, I think it matches well with the music, which is a little cheap sounding. Just a little bit grainy – very poppy but not too slick – that’s sort of our whole aesthetic. I definitely want everything to be approachable, to be a thing where anyone would easily be able to replicate it. A DIY thing.

Ways in Waves is the brainchild of Brian Raine, a multi-instrumentalist and music producer living out of Edmonton, Alberta. With malleable form and the spirit of experimentation at its core, the group began as a live duo, and eventually expanded to a five piece live band with Raine picking up vocals as well as guitar and keys parts.

With the latest releases – including the previously released “Who in War” and “Everything Taken” – Raine chose to focus the sound of the project into a tighter, brighter, more aggressive sound. Combining aspects of rock, art-pop, and electronic music together into a mixture that propels the listener through controlled chaos, Ways in Waves are now sharing “Gliese,” from their upcoming LP out this September.

Raine took a lot of influence from hyper-pop on “Gliese,” from IDM artists like Iglooghost and Sophie, not necessarily in the specifics of his sound design but in the bravery that artists of their like exhibit in presenting something boldly. “Gliese” is supposed to feel a bit overwhelming, a bit alien… it embodies the coldness and the unfamiliarity of a future without our home planet.

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

This song began as an instrumental experiment, I was learning Ableton Live’s “session view” and playing around with phasing rhythmic ideas inspired by minimalist composers and gamelan ensembles. I chose synths that sounded sort of like real mallet instruments for this, but… not really, and had the intention of swapping them out for different sounds later. However when I revisited my early demos for the song, I kind of fell in love with the uncanny valley effect that these sounds had, they made me think of how we misremember things, how we see the past with nostalgia goggles on… and that spawned the initial sentiment of the lyrics: people in the future looking back on the past and justifying it, even when they’re justifying a dead planet. I chose to visualize this song because of how direct the messaging is in some ways, I felt that 3D animation would be able to convey the futurism of the lyrical setting while also embodying that idea of nostalgia. The style of the video is reminiscent of early 2000’s 3d cartoons and that’s not a coincidence. 

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

Mike Guthrtie-Plouffe, who made the video, began with asking me about a few major components that I’d be interested in seeing. I talked about a futuristic city with one tree, and he took that and ran with it where now the tree is actually powering the city entirely, but also can be seen as some sort of religious symbol… like a huge cathedral in the centre of an old european town. I wanted to show the contrast between the futuristic optimism of the verses and the bleak reality of the bridge somehow, and Mike was able to convey that effectively by re-using some of the assets he designed for the city, but also by creating the image of the planet from space. 

3. What was the process of making this video?

It was quite a bit of back and forth, Mike would send me an edit, I’d send back my initial reactions and notes, but more often than not Mike was just so focused on making it as good as he possibly could, and sometimes there were things I thought were fine that he changed completely and made better on his own. I think he was pretty motivated to use some new features in Blender, to try out different animation and modelling techniques and to improve at his craft by pushing the boundaries of what he could do within this video. 

Several years ago, I was doing a lot of reading about different kinds of planets that exist within the habitable zones of stars. I came across Gliese 581, a star with several potentially habitable planets surrounding it, which are all very likely tidally locked (meaning one side always faces the sun, like the moon is to earth). I started imagining how life would evolve in eternal sunshine, eternal darkness, along the paradise line in the center… It was a wonderful fantasy that I could imagine and return to for many years. But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve noticed that the people who want to leave earth, who want to colonize space, are often the most terrible among us. These people who are willing to put absurd resources into fleeing our planet are the ones who are destroying it, and so this song became about the fallacy of escapism, specifically fleeing to the stars. – Brian Raine

Owen Marchildon is a songwriter and guitarist who has been part of the Toronto music scene since 2002. 2024 has seen Owen pulling back the veil of all of his previous monikers and releasing new music under his own name, starting with the sweet pop ode to his wife, “Heavy Dreams.” 

His latest release, “Celebrity Singles,” is a jangly rock ‘n’ roll tune about the loneliness and isolation of fame and the endless amount of energy that goes into maintaining the dream. After all, “in Hollywood nothing ever lasts forever, except plastic surgery and sunny weather.” Longtime bandmates and collaborators, Jordan Bruce and Brent Hough, spread out the sound, complimenting the style, imagination, and fabric of Owen’s songwriting.

Have you ever thought about being famous? The big paychecks, the luxury lifestyle, the endless amount of admiration? To be recognized everywhere you go. For most of us, it would be like walking around in a dream. But what if you actually did become a celebrity overnight? Would you be prepared to be praised and diabolically defaced all in the same month? Would you be able to hang onto who you actually are and not become the fabrications people are writing about? – Owen Marchildon

The nine-piece soul/roots superband Secondhand Dreamcar is crafting a distinct, funky, and lyrically driven sound that journalist and programmer Peter North has deemed the most exciting thing to come out of Edmonton since KD Lang and The Reclines. “Eight of Spades” is the group’s first ever release, and it’s a song about finding satisfaction in whatever life has to offer at any given moment, and about watching someone struggle in that dance with life and loving them for it. The song’s title refers to the tarot card the Eight of Pentacles, which encompasses the joy that can be taken in mundane work and activities, in everyday life.

“Lyrically, our songs deal with the nitty-gritty of the work of life, from a spiritual perspective. Because I believe that if there is a reason we are all here living a life, it is because there is something we are supposed to learn,” says lyricist Dana Wylie. “Musically, we work to engender joy in collaboration, collectivity, collegiality. We love writing and playing music together, and our songs are an embodiment of that.”

Secondhand Dreamcar is fronted by Canadian Folk Music Award-nominee Dana Wylie and also features notable producer Harry Gregg on bass, Jamie Cooper (Up and Over Trio, Obsessions Octet) on drums, Kyle Mosiuk (The Hello Darlins) and Chad Murphy (Dallas Smith) on guitar, Rooster Davis on organ, and a horn section led by Dave Babcock. 

John Orpheus’ musical journey has taken him from the Caribbean bush to festivals across Canada and the US to opening for Liam Gallagher on a UK tour. Orpheus is known for his rabble-rousing live shows filled with audience participation, chanting, and impromptu dance-offs that feel more like Caribana road parties than concerts.

Lush with hip-hop swagger and “whole school” vibes, his brand new Get Right! EP is a catchy, fun send up of the era when funk, punk and pop could all be found on the same dancefloor. Influenced by early Prince, Rick James, and ‘90s hip-hop’s affection for Parliament Funkadelic, Get Right! is a funky throwback that feels like 2024. “I think we all could use a dance party right about now. GET UP! GET DOWN! GET RIGHT!”

Focus track, “U Funkin Right,” is a slinky and melodic number anchored by bass synth. “There’s an energy that drapes the track like a sensual fabric and that feels like sex and truth,” explains Orpheus. It’s a track about falling in love with your boldest, baddest self.

“U Funkin Right” is about falling in love. You out and about and you catch a vision of your lover. They’re dressed fly, moving hot, grooving, doing it. Then you realize that you’re looking in a mirror and you’ve just met your soulmate: your boldest, baddest self. So, go on, kiss yourself. You deserve it! – John Orpheus

Like the tides of the Bay of Fundy on which she was raised, or the steadfast city line that broods along its port, Kylie Fox has been devoted to honing her craft as a songwriter for as long as she can remember. 

Growing up with a mother who would sing to her, and a father who sat at the helm of every kitchen party with his Yamaha and uninhibited voice, it became clear to Fox from a young age that music was how to show love, how to express identity, and how to connect with the people around her.

Grand, ethereal and epic, “‘Brandi Baby’ is my coming-of-age song,” says Kylie Fox about her new release. “It touches on my awkward high school years where I had the confidence to go to a school dance by myself, my early touring years where my ambition and my schedule prevented me from dating much, to when I found real big love in my now fiancé and drummer Ryan, where I feel so free and safe.”

She continues, “I used to straighten my hair to Brandi Carlile everyday in high school, and she became a big influence for me becoming a musician. ‘The Story’ was the first song my partner and I danced to and we are going to use it as our first dance at our wedding next year.”

In 2020, she released her first full-length album, Green, and is now preparing to release her second studio album, Sequoia, that was made with the support of ArtsNB, Music New Brunswick and Canada Council for the Arts. Sequoia has come to life as an 11-track album, developed with her band and six-time ECMA-winning producer Daniel Ledwell (Jenn Grant, Fortunate Ones, The Good Lovelies). Sequoia is deeply rooted in folk-Canadiana elements that have characterized Fox’s career, while also exploring folk-rock and jazz-pop fusion. The LP could be described as 70s Sesame Street meets Sharon Van Etten.