The Medicshave released a new single from their upcoming debut album Foundations. Watch Griffin here.
The music of Australian indie-rockers The Medics is passionate to be sure. There's frequently a palpalbe intensity and sense of urgency, particularly in this song, that is stirring.
Directed by Lucas Thayer and beautifully shot, the video propels that intensity further, illustrating the lyrics "he's just a boy, just an adolescent child, feed him to the monsters" with teenage delinquency, fear, anger and struggle.
In the YouTube notes, the band included:
The Medics acknowledge the many prisoners and their families with connections to the location - Boggo Road Jail, Brisbane, Australia.
The new album, Foundations, will be released May 18, 2012.
This week not one, not two, but three videos from three remarkable young women artists came across the ol' RPM desk. Our young sisters are moving, inspiring and oh so talented! Check out Nathalie Restoule, Bee Pastion and Crystal J.
Here 16 year-old Nathalie Restoule, from the Dokis First Nation in Ontario, is singing Joss Stone's Landlord with soul, spirit and style:
Amazing, right?
Bee Pastion, from Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation in Alberta, has a voice both strong, soft and stirring. Watch her cover Priscilla Ahn's Dream:
It gave me goosebumps.
And third, Crystal Schooner (Nuxalk Bella Coola), rocks an acapella version of Alica Keys' Fallin, giving a taste of what's to come on her upcoming album:
Woot!
This is just the beginning for these artists - we look forward to seeing what comes next!
Here 2011 NAMMY award-winning musician Bear Fox, in collaboration with comedy troupe The 1491s, performs her song Rich Girl.
More known for their sketch comedy videos - which have made a huge splash on YouTube - the1491s have branched out into other art forms such as poetry and music in some of their latest videos. Their most recent features Akwesasne musician Bear Fox, the 2011 Native American Music Awardwinner for Debut Artist Of The Year.
This video is an unplugged version of her song Rich Girl accompanied by some live beatboxing by Bobby. The song touches on the issues of growing up in an Indigenous environment with very little in material wealth but having riches in culture and beauty of Indigenous life with family.
Props to the 1491s and Bear Fox for sharing this great piece of video artistry with Turtle Island!
Ill Citizens, out of Winnipeg, Manitoba, is a group born out of Capital NeechieZ, which began with three artists by the names of Jordan "Dominance" Henderson, Joel "Smiley" Garson and Nick "Chaotic" Thompson.
This tribute from Ill Citizens eloquently reflects on the value of a human life. The lyrics from Kid Dezmo, Dominance and Chaotic, lead by an intelligible and solemn harmonica hip-hop beat gives way to a deeper understanding of what it means to lose someone close.
The video itself leaves us to think of what privilege we have everyday in being alive. Images of rural communities, matched to lyrics speaking of reality, bring us to notice the intricacies of our relationships and how closely loss of loved ones affects us all.
However, as we see life as not a line but as a circle, we’re shown that death is a part of the cycle and is something to be equally as revered as the miracle of birth. Beautiful Day brings us back to the meaning of honouring someone’s life, as was so elegantly put forth with this video.
Last year, Ojibwe hip-hop artist Young Jibwe attended the Mayday: No One is Illegal gathering in Toronto - an annual march and protest that takes place around the world in pursuit of equality and justice for immigrants and refugees. There, Young Jibwe was inspired to make an impromptu speech from the stage. A year later, he is sharing more of that story and inspiration.
Young Jibwe didn't plan on speaking at the March, but among the many placards and signs with messages of anti-poverty, environmental justice, and health for all, one sign in particular grabbed his attention: "Gay people are killed in Iran".
It's a true and disturbing fact.
Fueled by that information, Young Jibwe asked if he could speak from the stage and, mic in hand, he delivered spontaneous, impassioned and inspired words.
Later, he wanted to share more of the story behind his speech. "I wanted people to get a good insight of me, so they can see and hear the inspiration for themselves", he told RPM.
The result is this video with live footage of Young Jibwe's speech intercut with a candid and open offstage interview about his life experiences - including forced gender reassignment at birth, enduring harassment and abuse as a youth, discovering his past, and sticking with his music despite the difficult times. Through it all, Young Jibwe continues to transform his experiences into music - surely the best medicine of all.
Watch and listen here and be inspired to share your story too. I think whenever anyone is honest about their experiences, it can be healing for all of us.
For more of Young Jibwe's beats and music, go to reverbnation.com/youngjibwe (you can also hear some of his work in every episode of the RPM Podcast - yup, we're big fans!).
Brendt Thomas Diabo is a country/rock/folk artist from the Mohawk Nation in Kahnawake, Quebec. Diabo talked with Windspeaker recently about battling stage fright, recording his new EP, and what next to expect from the talented young artist.
Right from the start, Brendt Thomas Diabo doubted his pursuit of a solo music career. It was April 2011, and he had just started recording songs for his solo music project called Thomas Doubting.
It wasn’t that he lacked the musical talent – he has plenty – or that he suffers from stage fright. It’s just that, as Diabo puts it, it is simply in his nature to doubt. Hence the name, Thomas Doubting.
“It was sort of an experiment for me. I was mainly just testing the waters to see if I could do this,” confessed Diabo, a 21- year-old musician from the Mohawk Nation of Kahnawake.
With his tentative first steps into the Indie music scene of Montreal, Diabo promised himself that if he didn’t reach a certain goal by the age of 22 (to tour outside of Montreal), he would just “stop the whole pursuit and grow up.”
Personally, I would say that 22 is far too young to give up on a professional and creative pursuit, not to mention to "grow up", but setting goals is surely a great way to move forward and happily it's working well for Diabo:
With his 22nd birthday just two months away, Diabo doesn’t see himself giving up anytime soon. He is recording his second EP - which has already yielded a bluesy number called Ride – and has some potential gigs in the works opening up for a well known Aboriginal musician.
“Where I wanted to be last year is now where I’m at this year,” said Diabo. “It’s taken a lot of time, money, and dedication to get the ball rolling, but with my new EP being recorded I have a lot more confidence in myself and my music. I’d like to see how far I could take this one.”
So would we! Keep it up Thomas Doubting, we look forward to more!
Watch his cover of Midnight at the Movies below to get you started, then be sure to download his free EP Haunted for free at mediafire.com/?jhp7sjl83vi2763.
Teenaged pop-singer Savannah Rae Boykofrom Fisher River Cree Nation has released her first music video!
The high-gloss video, directed and produced by James Rewicki from Absurd Machine, runs with a girls-just-wanna-have-fun playful vibe and shows that Savannah Rae is not only a beautiful, talented singer and performer, but that she also has a sense of humour. We love the mix of confidence with not taking oneself too seriously - enjoy!
Estrella Hood and Anand Parmar, partners in life and music, are the love behind World Hood.
I caught up with Estrella Wood, once her voice had recovered from the mayhem of SXSW where Estrella and her partner performed under World Hood at a community venue. They are also the founding members of the Sol Collective, an arts, culture and activist centre in Sacramento. The centre offers everything from music production classes to graphic design to silk screening. They also provide a space where different groups can come in and host cultural activities. They are right near the state capital and run an activist school making sure people are aware of different issues.
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Marika Swan: The discussion about identity is always interesting and I find that this is sometimes different with the Indigenous folks down south. How do you talk about your roots?
Estrella Hood: Yeah it's definitely interesting and it's always different in different places and it really hit home when I was in Canada just in the different ways that people do identify. You know growing up, we're Mexican, so we're Mestizo or Mestiz. I always knew about our Indigenous roots. My grandpa on my mother's side is Matlazinca, Indigenous people from Mexico and he made it a point to let us know where we came from. My dad's side of the family was always proud that their bloodline was Spanish, mainly because of the racism created due to the hacienda system in Mexico. Growing up, I would hear family members on that side say things like she’s the “daughter of the Indian”. I don’t think they meant it in a good way, but I was always proud of that, and I’m glad that they did not allow me to forget. On my mom’s side of the family, her eldest brother still spoke the Indigenous language. They still had their traditions. As I got older and many of them came to California it became less and less throughout the years, with assimilation. Definitely as I got older I wanted to look into that and really get a good grasp of who we were. I had a lot of conversations later with my grandfather.
In California there’s a lot of politics around being Native. A lot have to do with the politics around casinos, specifically where I live. There is a bit of a divide in the community around folks that are Mestiz and folks that are full-blooded Indian, who can say they are Native and who can’t. I think some of these tensions have risen because some people have right to money from casinos and some people don’t. So even though we’re not Native from California, I still felt that tension around cultural identity.
When I went to Canada to see Indigenous people from all over the place and Mestiz people from all over the place it was very interesting to learn about the politics of cultural identity outside of my own community.
MS: When did music become a big part of the work that you do?
EH: I think I've always had that as an outlet. When I dropped out of high school and I hadn't told my parents yet - I would take off and go to my friends place and we would record music. Its always been a way of expressing myself and getting my thoughts and my ideas and my energy out. Recently with the World Hood project it's the first time I've really put it out there and allowed other people to hear it.
MS: And this is a music project with your partner? It sounds so romantic.
EH: (laughs) Yeah, he's a producer and an amazing beat-maker so it's convenient because we have a studio set up in the house. We have two children so when they go to sleep we can work on a project together. He's East Indian, his family is from India and he was born in Africa so he brings a whole different cultural element. We go back and forth with the sound, adding different elements of who we are. It's been fun working with him.
MS: How did your show go at SXSW?
EH: It was cool, it was a little difficult 'cause we were organizing the event. As a band, it was difficult because we were doing way too much as usual. We were on the sound and hosting the guests. So that part was hard to put myself in the role of now I am going to perform because I was running around but as far as the show itself it was a wonderful experience. We got to invite all of the different artists who's music we really respect. It was nice to meet face to face with people who have similar music or similar ideas around activism. And represent some kind of cultural element in their music. That we're not trying to assimilate, we're trying to keep our culture intact out here. So everyone had some kind of cultural element to their music which I think is really important.
Especially for us, physically we’re outside of Mexico and going into the next generation. My kids are the second generation. They say that by the third generation children will completely assimilate and there is basically no trace of where we’re from. So the cultural centre is a way for me to combat that. To try and keep our culture intact as much as possible for our generations to come.
MS: Was there any other music that just blew your mind out there?
EH: One show that I just loved was 3BallMTY from Mexico. It's three DJs that are super young, like 17-19 years old and they mixed a lot of different styles of music. From traditional to Indigenous sounds and electronic so its just such a great mix of music. It totally blew me away. It was amazing to to see them. I really feel like they are a good representation of Mexico today, of who we are from our roots until now. Who we are as a people and how we are continuing to move forward and evolve as a people.
MS: What's coming up for you?
EH: We have a new EP with 5 tracks coming out in the next month and dropping a full length album in the summer.
MS: Wow you are a such a busy woman!
EH: Yeah we are always doing too much. Life is short so you have to live out all your dreams and everything that you feel inspired to do. Everything that you visualize, move forward on it.
MS: I think it's so key to mix the activism with the arts and music. It's so important to have that balance.
EH: Music and art are such powerful tools to communicate with people across culture or boundary or gender. Images and sound are able to move people in a way that words aren't. They are such an integral part of our culture anyways.
Legendary Cree singer, musician, actor and activist Tom Jacksonvisited the northern community of Attawapiskat as the last stop of his 2011 Christmas tour. He brought a camera crew with him, including Algonquin filmmaker Caroline Monnet, and here is the short, moving documentary they created about their visit.
Late last year Canadian media focused on the poor living conditions in Attawapiskat as community leaders and the Federal Government clashed. Tom Jackson decided to bring his music to the embattled community, to meet the people living there and to talk with Chief Theresa Spence. He shares facts on Canada's treatment of Indigenous people and his thoughts on the present circumstances as well as his hopes for the future.
"We as human beings must make change. We all need to bring awareness to the living conditions of the people of Attawapiskat. We can no longer let children grow up in unacceptable conditions or deny them the best opportunities available. Unfortunately the story of Attawapiskat echoes that of many First Nation communities in our home and Native land. It is unacceptable that we have 3rd world conditions in a country as rich and proud as Canada. I pray that there is a will and a determination to change for the better."
We asked visual artist Sonny Assuwhat music he can't get enough of lately and he put together this killer playlist of his current faves.
Regarded as a ‘Vanguard’ for his work in the Vancouver Art Gallery’s exhibit, How Soon Is Now?, Sonny Assu (Laich-kwil-tach (Kwakwaka'wakw) of the Weka'yi First Nation) merges Indigenous West Coast iconography with the aesthetics of popular culture to challenge social and historical values placed upon both. In an exploration of his mixed ancestry and his interests in Indigenous issues, branding and new technologies, Assu crosses many boundaries with his work and message. In doing so, he reveals a ravishing oeuvre that speaks to many.
His work has been accepted into the National Gallery of Canada and various other public and private collections across Canada and the United States. He graduated from the Emily Carr University in 2002 and frequently holds solo dance parties in his studio.
We're big fans.
Currently, you can see some of his work in the Beat Nation exhibit at the Vancouver Art Gallery (check out the RPM video installation while you're there!) and anytime at sonnyassu.com.
Without further ado, here's Sonny Assu's Spring Playlist. Enjoy!
RPM's Marika Swan caught up with Choctaw singer-songwriter Samantha Crain mid-tour to talk about the art of packing, what it takes to keep healthy on the road and what's changed for her in the six years since she started this job.
I interviewed Samantha Crain a few weeks ago as she was just setting off on her spring tour - by now she's all finished up and back home. Her Choctaw father introduced her to the guitar and at the age of 25, she has been touring for the last 6 years. So since she was 19 years old she has toured for at least 6 months of the year and sprinkled the other half with one-offs, festivals and mini-tours. I managed to catch this busy veteran after she finished doing a spot on a local radio show:
Marika Swan: How did your interview on the radio go?
Samantha Crain: It’s one of those things about interviews because everyone wants me to tell them how exciting my life is. But it’s just as normal as anybody else who has a 9-5 job. Well not just like it because it is very different but it's not overly exciting. I am doing what I like to do which is traveling but also I’ve gotten used to it. It’s the routine that I get into. Driving to the city that I am going to play at, do whatever radio stuff or interviews that we do. And then we play the show and then we talk to people after the show. Then you go to sleep then you wake up and you do it again. It's not like a road trip. It can be if you want it to be. Which sometimes we want it to be. But sometimes it's exhausting to do that. This time around, we are all mellowed out a little and just want it to be a business trip. As you get older in life you need some routine in your life or you kinda go nuts. And that’s where I am at right now. We are going to cities we are really familiar with. We know where we like to go and people that we’re going to see. Its really enjoyable and satisfying because you are working for a paycheck and you want to be working for it.
MS: Probably the way you feel about it all now is very different than when you were 19.
SC: Oh yeah definitely. I mean also when we go to new places I get a lot of the excitement that I felt when I was first starting. When I go to Europe now and do shows I am very excited to see the cities. Anywhere in the States though is pretty much familiar. There are lots of cities that I have played over and over and over. I really love that too though, it's really nice to feel like they are your home away from home since I am not home a lot. I also have different resources available to me now. I wont happily sleep on the floor every night like I used to. Being six years older, you need a mattress under you once and a while. Just to be healthy you need some sort of routine. Get a good sleep, have something good to eat and maybe go jogging every once and a while. It’s just the things that become important to you as you get older. It’s probably that way for anybody who has a job. For me I just need to fit it into a day that’s otherwise pretty strict.
I just try to think of it like instead of me trying to get out of being a part of society this is how I fit into society. I think that everyone is there own cog in this machine that we live in and this is what I do. It's my job and it's because I love traveling and that’s very much a part of me. I love to play music. This is me contributing to society. We all work in our own ways so everything can move together so I don’t like to think of it as me trying to get out of being a normal person.
MS: You must be an expert packer.
SC: I’m actually not good at it. Its one of those things where I wish I had that skill and I feel like I’m getting better at it. When I first started touring the situations that I was traveling in were like we were in a really small vehicle and we could all bring one backpack full of stuff for two months. But I was also 19 years old so two weeks without showering, I didn’t care. Then we started traveling with a trailer so we had more room so I would literally bring everything that I wanted. Two giant suitcases full of stuff and like a bicycle. Just all sorts of books and tapes. And now I am doing more Europe stuff and I have to cut back on what kind of stuff that I can take. I pretty much take a small suitcase for however long I am going to be over there. Now I am trying to relearn the art of packing. You’d think I’d be good at it but I never bring what I need. And I bring everything that I don’t need.
MS: When you get full of doing what you do now, do you have other things that you dream for yourself?
SC: I don’t want to think about it. It would just be worrisome to think about all the things that you’d rather be doing other than what you are doing. It doesn’t seem very healthy. I think that you should focus on what you are doing and then when your path isn’t working out and you need to change the path of your life then you can think about that. Anytime that I feel unhappy it's probably because I am thinking too much on the "grass is always greener" mindset. So it makes it more sense to me to think about what I am doing now and try to focus on that as much as possible.
MS: So you try to live as much as possible in the present?
SC: I try to because I don’t think its something that comes to me very naturally. I think naturally I am a very futuristic thinker and so it’s better for me to kind of live where I am at for my own mental health.
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Here's a lil' video of Samantha Crain's Churchill with Penny Hill, Brian and Laney of O Fidelis and Daniel Foulks, by VDub Sessions who documents Oklahoma musicians on the move.
The award-winning and hugely popular rap group Winnipeg's Most starts their first Western Canadian tour this month and have released a promotional video to tell us all about it.
Next week Winnipeg's Most, along with DJ Dow Jones, will start their tour from their hometown of Winnipeg and head west from there. The boys have already sold out shows and will continue to add dates to the tour so keep an eye out if your town isn't on the itinerary yet, and let them know you want them to come to you!
Official tour dates and cities:
March 23rd - Winnipeg MB - Venue: Maquee - 18+
March 24th - Regina SK - 306 Hip Hop Skate Shop (All Ages)
March 25th -Prince Albert SK - Union Events (All Ages)
March 26th - Saskatoon SK - Odeon Events Centre (All Ages)
March 27th - Calgary AB - Dickens Pub 18+
March 28th - Edmonton AB - Empire ballroom 18+
March 30 - Williams Lake BC - Diamonds & Dust 19+
March 31st - Prince George BC - Ramada Hotel (All Ages)
March 31st - Prince George BC - Ramada Hotel (All Ages)
April 1st - Dawson Creek BC - George Dawson Inn
April 4th - Surrey BC - Ephin Store CD signing - - (All Ages)
April 4th - Chilliwack BC - Echo Room 19+
April 5th - Langley BC - Troubadour NightClub 19+
April 6th - Nanaimo BC - The Queens NightClub 19+
April 7th - Nanaimo BC - Vancouver Event Centre (All Ages)
April 8th - Campbell River BC - The Paramount 19+
More dates TBA
To celebrate and announce the tour, Winnipeg's Most released this video - check it out:
RPM Records
Revolutions Per Minute is a global new music platform, record label, and boutique agency for Indigenous music culture. RPM’s mission is to build a visionary community of Indigenous artists and to introduce Indigenous music to new audiences across Turtle Island and around the world. Our main site, RPM.fm, has featured the work of more than 500 Indigenous artists and shared their music across our social networks of more than 275,000 followers.
RPM Records is the first of its kind: a label for contemporary, cross-genre Indigenous music, run by Indigenous people. Selected by The FADER as one of “5 New Canadian Record Labels The Entire World Should Know”, RPM Records artists include Ziibiwan, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, Exquisite Ghost, and Mob Bounce.
