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A CONVERSATION WITH: A TRIBE CALLED RED

Indigenous people living in Canada have continually found themselves underrepresented in so many aspects of modern culture. When A Tribe Called Red got together in Ottawa just over a decade ago, one of the main reasons was to help shine a light on indigenous culture and to be positive role models to those who have been misrepresented and, in many cases, those who have been systematically devalued. The collective has been lighting up stages ever since with their unique take on hip hop and electronic music mixed with traditional pow wow drums and vocals.

MUSIC PROFILE | GIRLFRIEND MATERIAL

As a member of Tokyo Police Club, Graham Wright isn’t a stranger to hooky pop songs. With his new project, Girlfriend Material, the talented musician steps things up on the ear worm scale with his take on power pop indie rock firmly directed to the people that grew up on this brand of hit and find themselves entrenched in their thirties, still negotiating similar situations they’ve found themselves in over and over again. The spectre of the past looms large over the proceedings but now there’s a sense of self-awareness instead of bitterness.

ARTIST PROFILE | MIKEY WAY & SHAUN SIMON: COLLAPSER

When it comes to fiction, we love rooting for the bad guy. It’s why more cosplayers opt to don Darth Vader’s breath-stifling black mask over an original trilogy Luke Skywalker robe, or why online battle masters went bananas when Fortnite reintroduced Marvel heel Thanos as a playable character this past spring. Imperfect, endlessly complicated, and full of mystique, there just seems to be more to latch onto with a villain.

MUSIC PROFILE | DOOMSQUAD

There are those nights where you and hundreds of your closest friends are all gathered in the dark, dancing together to a band or a DJ, and then all of a sudden it’s not just you and them but it’s us. A collective mass pulsating to the music. A singular organism moving to and within every single note that is playing. This is what DOOMSQUAD is all about. The Toronto-based dance act wants to push the idea of what identity is.

MUSIC PROFILE | ANGEL DU$T

Just like the rest of us thumbing our way through our Insta feeds, Angel Du$t have a big-ass love for dogs. The music videos surrounding the U.S. quintet’s just-released third album, Pretty Buff, confirm as much, with the clip for their energized “Big Ass Love” finding the group, miniaturized and living within a discarded speaker, getting slurped by a Frenchie who punctured the speaker cone with its curious tongue.

MUSIC PROFILE | LA FORCE

It’s a chilly morning in Montreal when I get ahold of Ariel Engle on the phone. She is going on a morning walk and sets the scene for us. “It’s a chilly but beautiful morning just walking down Fairmont beside a bagel store. It’s about -2 degrees and there is a lot of snow. It’s all very Montreal”, she says with a laugh. You may know Engle as one of the members of the mighty Canadian collective Broken Social Scene, but you will definitely start to know her more through her solo project La Force. Her self-titled debut album is a bold artistic statement.

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