Charlie Winston: Asking Questions One Song at a Time

Charlie Winston sits on the leather chair, swinging from left to right with the phone perched casually in his hand. He finishes up his interview with the Globe and Mail, and his publicist calls me in. In a rather Parisian manner, he kisses me on both cheeks, a stark contrast to my North American handshake. Clad in clothes that have a Bohemian vibe, Charlie does not resemble the typical musicians that we see in mainstream music.

Winston is an English singer-songwriter, who hails from Cornwall. Despite his unwillingness to conform to certain norms in the music industry, he has reached extensive billboard success in Europe with his first album, Hobo, which had a massive success in France. His debut album has been certified as platinum.

This year, Winston has won a European Border Breakers Award for Best UK Artist in Europe and I had the chance to catch up with this award-winning artist to chat about his music and success.

YT: What is the philosophy behind your music and the way you live your life?
CW: It's about asking questions and trying to break expectations and engaging people. It's about engaging people to ask questions about reality and what's real in terms of what gives you your vitality to live and everything like that. For example, the song Like A Hobo is about asking myself questions about where I've come from, how I've grown up and what kind of values I have. Do they really mean something to me? You can grow up and learn some things from your parents and it actually turns out that you don't agree with it. Another example is in my song Boxes [which is] about changes – how as children we don't have structure, categories or places for everything – free and beautiful. As we get older, the more we put things into boxes, the more you trap yourself into a box of your own identity. It's trying to smash your identity without that stigma.

YT: Amelie's Audrey Tautou stars in your music video I Love Your Smile. How did that collaboration come about?
CW: January of last year I released the record in France and it exploded in France. Audrey, at the same time was promoting the film Coco Before Chanel. She was doing a lot of interviews in magazines and on the radio. Whenever the hosts would ask her which records she was listening to, she would always say, “I love the Charlie Winston record - Hobo.” It was great. I told my record label that we ought to get her along with my gig or onto a music video. The director of the video Like A Hobo wanted to work with me for another label. My label told him that if he could get Audrey Tautou to agree to star in the video, it was a done deal – so he worked his six degrees of separation and voila.

YT: Your music has a very blues, folk and soul vibe to it. Where did these influences arise from?
CW: My parents were singers – a singing duo before I was born. They travelled along singing. When I was two, they bought a hotel – and being entertainers themselves, they wanted it to be a hub for a lot of performers. So, every weekend we had bands in the back bar, Charlie's Bar it was called. We had theatre nights, can-can dances, comedy nights – classic circuses and all sorts of things. There were all different types of influences going on. In front of the hotel, my parents were always playing either classical or jazz – or my brothers would be playing the latest records or I myself would be playing. Joni Mitchell, U2 and all sorts of things like that.

YT: Congratulations on your number one hit in France. How did you enter the French music scene so successfully and in such a short amount of time?
CW: I was travelling through France and I bumped into some friends I met several years before in Nice. One French guy Medi, is the drummer in my band now and Peter Gabriel. That night, I went and played. I went and travelled. I came back and they kept on giving me lots of gigs in Paris and I got them gigs in London. We did a lot of exchanges. I sold a lot of their CDs at my gigs and they took mine and circulated the CD.

YT: Tell me about the My Life as Charlie Winston documentary at the Ciné Lumière in London.
CW: That was basically capturing the fast success the record had last year. My friend Steph came and jumped in the tour bus with us and captured everything happening with the band last year – all the gigs and everything. She took interviews of me all over the place – videos of me when I was younger. It was really about my entire life.

YT: Your music began at a very grassroots level but is now spreading throughout the world. What advice do you have for aspiring young musicians?
CW: Make the music which is actually real for you. Don't do it just because it's just for commercial reasons – it's never going to get you anywhere, maybe short term. If you make a lot of money from it, it might not necessarily feed your soul. Work hard – if you really want it – don't be afraid of hard work, it's the only way to get it. You've got to practice.

YT: Your music career seems to be blossoming. A few of your songs allude to love – do you have a current love interest?
CW: (Dramatic Pause) Yes. I was trying to pull off the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire dramatic pause. I'm still working on it. Did it work? I currently live in with my girlfriend.

YT: Why an independent French label like Atmosphériques instead of starting off with a larger record label in Britain?
CW: I was playing for many years with my brother. He signed to Sony and after that he signed to BMI. He had some pretty bad luck with the merge of Sony and afterward with BMI. From doing a lot of work in that field, I saw a lot of the industry that I didn't like and didn't want to be part of. I noticed that a lot of an artist's liberty can be taken away when you're working in a huge organization. Don't get me wrong – they have a lot to offer as well. There's a lot of politics. As a first-time artist, because of the pressure that's on the industry at the moment and the lack of record sales – it's really hard for large organizations to invest long term into artists. Whereas, small record labels are more willing to take time to invest since they don't have so much to lose. I was always interested in going independent.

YT: Your debut album, Make Way was never fully released. Do Make Way and Hobo have similar creative touches?
CW: Yes. Make Way has half of the records on Hobo. That was the original record that was going to be released – but Atmosphériques wanted to change a couple of songs – take a few off the record. We had this meeting in London with Real World, Atmosphériques, Peter Gabriel, my manager and myself talking about what we were going to do with the record. At the time, the main CD was still Make Way. By the end of the meeting, we got three different producers to work on the whole project – a producer for the new singles, a producer for the new songs and a producer for the old songs. Eventually, I thought – this is too much, let's just keep one producer and rethink the whole album. Scrap Make Way and put all the songs down on the table and figure out what we want.

YT: How would you describe yourself in three words?
CW: I wouldn't.

Travie McCoy: From Frontman to Solo Star

As the frontman of Gym Class Heroes, Travie McCoy is ready to make his mark as a solo artist with his debut album, Lazarus. Only a few hours away from opening up for Rihanna’s Last Girl On Earth concert in Vancouver, Travie took the time to sit down with me in the back of his cozy tour bus to talk about everything from his uplifting solo venture to his ambassador gig with MTV.

After being the frontman of Gym Class Heroes for over a decade, Travie explains the difficulty of coming into his own as a solo artist. “It was awkward being alone looking around and not having my boys around, you miss that comfort zone,” he says. “I’m still getting used to being on my own and I’m trying to figure out what works and what doesn’t work for me.”

However, Travie is quickly gaining confidence about what works for him. Even after Jay-Z publicly declared the death of auto tune, that didn’t stop Travie from working with hip hop heavyweight T-Pain on the track, The Manual. “I’ve looked up to him since he came out, a lot of people have been shutting him down for the whole auto tune thing but he influenced a whole generation and sound in hip hop,” emphasizes Travie.

André 3000 is another rapper that Travie looks up to. Travie reveals that for his dream collaboration, "I’d have Tricky Stewart (Beyoncé, Katy Perry, Rihanna) produce the track and have André come in and destroy the song!”

Before Travie teamed up with Gym Class Heroes drummer Matt McGinley (in gym class, fittingly), he’d always known his passion for music was more then just a frivolous dream. “I was always that kid in the mirror with the brush in my hand, wondering how I’d look on stage while working on my faces.”

From then on, Travie was determined to take a leap of faith and set his dreams is motion on full throttle. “The day I sat the band down, I said, ‘If we are going to do this, we really need to set all systems to go and take this seriously.’ From that day forward, our minds were set like, ‘OK this is what we’re going to do.’”

This optimistic attitude is evident on Lazarus, but in the beginning stages of the album, the songs dealt with some negative personal issues. Travie soon decided to stop playing the victim of his misfortune and began to deliver a more positive approach to the album. “I wanted something more upbeat and fun just for my own sanity; I didn’t want to come out as the broken-hearted boy,” he comments. “I’d rather uplift people and get them excited and give them a good time instead of having them reflect on negativity.”

With a positive spirit, Travie took time off from the band to become one of the ambassadors for MTV’s Staying Alive Foundation, which helps spread awareness of HIV and AIDS. “I got the chance to travel to Africa, India, the Philippines and it was such a life-changing experience. I came back a different dude after seeing what I saw,” he explains. “I definitely don't take the small things for granted now like running water. If I can have an impression on the younger generation to buy a certain sneaker, the least I could do is help them take life more seriously.”

Meanwhile, just like his work as an ambassador, positive and making an impression are merely a couple of ways to describe Travie and his music. So make sure to check out Lazarus, to witness for yourself Travie's confident debut as a solo artist.

Hayley Sales, Changing the World One Lullaby at a Time

The adventures of singer-songwriter and environmentalist, Hayley Sales, read like a New York Times bestseller. In fact, she admits on her MySpace page, “Many of the experiences that make up my rather short history sound fictional.”

She was born in Washington DC, went to a performing arts school in Portland and currently resides in a cottage on an organic blueberry farm on Vancouver Island. She frequents Australia, where she met her boyfriend at one of her shows, and proceeded to write love songs to win him over. The iTunes critics have dubbed her the female Jack Johnson. And she interviewed the Dalai Lama at age 15. She released her first album, Sunseed, at the tender age of 19, and her self-written sophomore album, When The Bird Became A Book, was released in Canada on June 22nd.

“I think the music’s just a bit more naked, a bit more honest, and I had more fun with it,” says Hayley, describing her latest album. “[I was inspired by] people, places, and definitely my restlessness. I think it’s this age, being young. You want to see everything and go everywhere and you don’t want to settle into one place, so it [the album] reflects all of that.”

When The Bird Became A Book is more than a lyrical travel diary, however. It is a collection of barefoot-friendly songs with an environmental conscience, reflecting Hayley’s passion for conserving the natural world. Encouraged from a young age to care for the planet, she’s grown into her role as environmentalist over the past few years, embracing the opportunities her music offers to spread her messages. “I always cared about the environment and people in third-world countries and whatnot, but I didn’t know exactly what to do,” she says. “I feel like in the last several years I’ve really figured out how to organize my crazy thoughts and do something with it.” She stresses that age shouldn’t be a barrier when creating change. “We aren’t powerless, being young.”

Her advice to teens is to get outside this summer. “Just go on hikes, go surfing, because it just makes you realize how important it is. That, for me, started everything, just loving being in the water or loving going on a hike, and then looking out over the trees and being like, 'What if that was gone?'"

Hayley’s own summer will be filled with song writing, touring and, of course, plenty of travel. She also hopes to volunteer her own time with MBARI, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. Leading by example, she says, is the best way to encourage others to care about the environment. “If you can show them that you have power with what you care about, that you can do it, then I think that’s all you need.”

If Hayley’s life reads like a novel, then this is one story with an important message. “I really hope that I can just spread awareness to people. And at a certain point it’s not about me. Like, I hope that the music can. And I hope that it motivates people and it opens their eyes to how much we have and how sad it would be if we lost it.”

The chorus of her single, Lullaby, sums her up in a single line: “I’ll change the world... with a lullaby.”

Alex Lacasse: An Everyday Teen With Extraordinary Talent

With today’s pop and R&B music scene being dominated by the likes of Justin Bieber and Jason Derulo, there is one young Canadian artist looking to add his name to the list. Seventeen-year-old Alex Lacasse was exposed to music at a very young age and hasn’t looked back since then. With his fame starting to grow and his career evolving in the right direction, Youthink caught up with Alex during his press stop in Vancouver to gain insight on how he got into music and what the road to developing his career has been like.

YT: Where did your interest in music and performing come from?
AL: Well I started taking piano lessons when I was six years old. My mom put me into piano, because my grandpa gave my parents some money to spend on their kids. So they decided to put me into piano lessons. My mom always loved music and so did my dad. I started the piano lessons and then my mom bought a karaoke machine and it went from there! By the time I was eight I started taking singing lessons and never stopped.

YT: Has your family always been supportive of your dream or was there a time when they were skeptical?
AL: Oh yeah, they've been really supportive. Well, without the family being behind this, there's no way any of this could have been possible. Just driving to the shows and buying equipment… without my parents' support I would not be singing.

YT: You're very active with your tweets. How have Twitter and other social networks impacted the way you connect with your fans?
AL: That's the biggest thing to socialize with, using those - like MySpace, Twitter and Facebook. If you don't do that then you’re stupid. That's the best way to market yourself. The way I look at it is, If I was able to talk to Justin Timberlake on Twitter I'd be crazy happy! I'd become an even bigger fan. So the way I look at it, I'm obviously super-thankful that I have anyone even writing to me. So I spend a lot of time just writing back just to make sure they know that I care.

YT: How do you feel about being compared to other artists such as Jason Derulo and Justin Bieber?
AL: Well, there is no way I see that as a bad thing. I think that those are two artists that are huge. A lot of people say to me "oh you must hate Justin Bieber," but that's really not true. He's a great artist. I've got a lot of respect for him and he's paved the way for new Canadian artists to actually make it. Before Bieber there was nothing for guys doing pop. There was Shawn Desman and he's made a comeback now but other than that there's been nothing. So he's [Justin Bieber] paved the way for Canadian artists. So I'm really happy to be put into that boat.

YT: What inspires your music and lyrics?
AL: It's all based on relationship stuff. I dated a girl when I was turning 14 till I was 16. So that's like two-and-a-half years, and you can use that one relationship for so many songs. You can use it for when it's going great, you can use it for when you first met her and then you can use it for when it's going bad and when you break up. So I really use that one relationship for most of my songs.

YT: What was it like filming your first music video for your debut single Like This, Like That?
AL: That was pretty cool! It was actually at my school too. So I got all the extras… I got all my friends to be in it, so it was just fantastic; I had all my friends in the video. I even had some teachers from my high school. It was just great.

YT: You are all over Youtube performing covers of songs. How do you choose which songs to cover?
AL: All the songs I am doing are all songs that I love… songs that I want my fans to hear I can put a spin on it. Like, I took a Lady Gaga song and made it completely different and I think it's a lot of fun taking songs that are great songs and then making them my own.

YT: Which song will you be covering next?
AL: I'll have to see what hits the radio soon. I usually just go for the top 40 stuff and take songs that I like. I just did an Usher song. So I'm not too sure what will be next.

YT: Tell us about the night you met Nelly Furtado.
AL: Yeah! I was singing in Toronto for Universal Music with a band. It was our first show as a band. We wanted to show them that we could go across Canada with this, and in the audience there's Nelly Furtado. So I started singing to her and then at the end I met her and her husband. Her husband is actually the sound engineer and writer for Timbaland and he said he wanted to write a song with me so to me that’s crazy!!! So now I could be working with Timbaland. So that was just amazing!

YT: You mention Timbland and brought up Justin Timberlake earlier. Who influences your music?
AL: My music is really like Justin Timberlake type stuff. Growing up I always loved *NSync and I kind of grew up with his music as it changed. I have always been a big pop fan.

YT: What are three songs on your iPod that would surprise your fans?
AL: I really don't listen to anything different. Everything is usually top 40 songs. I can't think of anything crazy. The Lonely Island's song? Funny songs like that. Honestly, I listen to the most generic songs. This is funny though. I like to listen to my own demos. It sounds really weird but I kind of have to do that so that I can see how I can make them better. I spend a lot of time listening to my unfinished demos.

YT: How do you cope with the stress of being a teenager?
AL: Well, this last semester has been the hardest for school, because grade 12 as you get near the end, it is not easy. So keeping up with studying has been the hardest thing. Other than that I don't find it too stressful. I love music and I love doing this, so for me this is great. I couldn't ask for anything better.

YT: You have been so successful in a short period of time. Has it surprised you how quickly things are happening?
AL: I am surprised how quickly it evolves. I've always wanted to do this and I've always wanted to make it happen. There is no one way you can make this happen, it's kind of a series of events that leads to all the success. It's been really, really quick lately and I am just enjoying the ride so far.

YT: How would you like to see your career grow in the next three years?
AL: I just really want to be able to sing more than anything. I want to have a career in singing and be able to travel the world and be able to sing in front of fans on an actual stage. It's one thing to have a song on the radio but to perform it in front of thousands of people… I'm kind of being greedy by saying thousands of people but just to perform in front of an audience who understand my music. So being able to perform, start off across Canada and then maybe one day try to make it into the States too and just be able to sing for the rest of my life would be great.

The Rise of As I Lay Dying

After the longest recording process in As I Lay Dying’s 10-year history, the California metal band is about to release its fifth album. The Powerless Rise is an intense disc that is sure to excite and inspire metal fans. Youthink caught up with singer Tim Lambesis by phone to find out more about his band’s latest release.

YT: How does The Powerless Rise differ from your previous work?
TL: You know, we’ve always kind of progressed from every album to the next. We’ve never really tried to shock our fans by completely changing [our sound] or anything, but just try to take the elements that make up our band and push them a little bit further every time.

YT: Which song on this album are you most connected to?
TL: That’s tough to say because we haven’t started playing a lot of these songs live yet. I think I get connected to the songs the more often we’ve played them in the show and kind of feed off their live energy as well as their studio sound. But if I had to make my best guess I’d say that just the overall intensity of the opening track, "Beyond Our Suffering," is one of my favourites because it’s definitely the heaviest, most intense songs we’ve ever written.

YT: Where does your inspiration for song-writing come from?
TL: I think it can come from a lot of different sources, not necessarily all musical sources. For me, as a lyricist, I have to be inspired by what I’m currently experiencing in my life, and the lessons that I’m learning. But as a musician, I think that there’s this overall sound in my head and I don’t know where it comes from. It’s probably subconscious in a lot of ways from some of the trash bands I grew up listening to, but I think there’s just this type of sound that I always strive for and I can’t pinpoint where it comes from.

YT: What is one piece of advice you would give to aspiring musicians?
TL: I think keep writing, and if you can afford it, keep recording new stuff. I think that if the music itself is good enough, nobody will deny you the opportunity to take your band to the next level.

Justin Nozuka’s Emotional Roller-Coaster Results in Nothing Less Than Success

You may not have heard his name before, but it’s almost certain you’ve heard his voice.

Justin Nozuka is the New York-born, Canadian-bred artist who lent his vocals to the re-recording of K’naan’s Waving Flag earlier this year to help raise money for Haiti.

“It was really positive, a really good experience,” says Justin of the recording, with a sense of excitement that is obvious even over the phone. He continues, “Everyone was speaking out of love and just being really proud of it.”

Growing up, Justin says he listened to mostly mainstream music and tried to copy the songs he heard on the radio. He first tried his hand at songwriting with his brother when he was 12 years old and he wrote a song that he still remembers to this day. “I think in the beginning it was just a way for me to express emotions,” he explains. “A way for me to cry or let out my anger or let out my expression of happiness.”

Now, as an adult, emotion remains dominant in Justin’s music. Even when listening to music, Justin’s focus is not on its label or whether it’s mainstream or popular, but he appreciates music that genuinely touches him. “For me, personally, I don’t listen to [a] specific music genre. I just listen to whatever makes me feel. If there is a sound that makes me feel good or it just catches my ear, my attention, that’s all that really matters to me.”

You I Wind Land and Sea is Justin’s sophomore album and it is obvious through this record that – just like the music he enjoys listening to – he is no stranger to writing music that captures emotion. Released just this past April, the album rides a wave of easy-listening acoustic vibes with a steady folk undertone, and a signature sound that comes from its edgy beats.

You I Wind Land and Sea is an interesting name for an album and Justin explains its organic meaning: “The way that I see it, the earth is like the human body in many ways. We are all intertwined like the cells in our body moving through the vessels and such. The world is pretty much the exact same thing, you know.”

If you’re a fan of singer-songwriters like Jack Johnson, Jason Mraz or John Mayer, definitely give this 21-year-old rising star a listen.

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Image credit:  Universal Music

Laughing with LMFAO

BY Ravan Dosange – L.A. Matheson Secondary, Surrey BC | Jun 10, 2010

From onstage to backstage, the guys of LMFAO bring the party with them wherever they go! Spreading their energy all around the world, the L.A. duo’s electro hip-hop club music has created a musical movement, empowering people to celebrate every chance they get.

We caught up with Redfoo and Sky Blu on their Vancouver tour stop (opening for the Black Eyed Peas and Ludacris). Between all the joking around, we got the chance to talk about Canada, family and their Motown pedigree.

YT: How do like being in Canada?
RF: This is one of my favourite performances because Canada is probably our No. 1 market. As far as the passion that they give back to us from the audience, from the cheering and when we say, “Party!” people, they scream loud and that is just amazing!

YT: How does it feel to be called a Grammy-nominated artist?
SB: It feels great, but you know what it does, it puts more gasoline on the fire before it becomes a big explosion. It’s great to be called nominated, but it’s better to be called a winner. So for us it’s like, “Wow, it’s amazing to be in that room,” but now it’s definitely taking it to the next level, you know what I mean?”

YT: Party Rock has been out for about a year now. Aside from deciding to create an album that celebrates living life to the fullest. Can you tell me more about the writing process?
RF: The writing process happens at any moment in time; it usually gets triggered by an emotion that happens in real life.
SB: Well, you know, my girlfriend she was very controlling. We were starting out our music and stuff and she was telling me that my music wasn’t working. And every time I danced and I did my thing, she would laugh and she would say, “No, I’ll get you a job” and all that stuff. So I left her for music basically. I said, “I’m leaving you for the groove; I’m leaving you for music.” And one night I’m sleeping, and I was going through all this stuff and I wake up at four in the morning and go into my garage and just started writing a song and stuff, and that’s where it comes from.

YT: Anyone who has followed your career knows how much hard work you put into this album. Do you think this has made you appreciate your success more?
SB: You know, it’s funny… we don’t even stop to think how successful we are. We always look forward because once you stop, that’s where you’re going to stay. We’re the same dudes just like, “Man we gotta do this and we gotta do this.” We’re always onto the next thing that we want to do. Right now it’s the next album, so we’re focusing on that you know.

YT: Although you are close in age, you have an uncle-nephew relationship. How does that affect any of the big decisions made for the group?
SB: I think it makes it easier because I grew up looking up to Foo, you know what I mean? He’s taught me everything I know about music, everything, so you know the decisions that he makes are really the decisions I agree with. It’s very simple because we think the same; we have the same philosophies in life so every decision is basically logic.
RF: Yeah that’s what we like to do, make logic the boss. We got that from our grandfather – logic is the boss! Whatever makes sense is the bomb and that’s it!

YT: Growing up with the founder of Motown records as a family member [Berry Gordy – Redfoo is the son of the Motown Records founder and Sky Blu is his nephew], you must have been immersed in the industry from a young age. How do you think that shaped your view of the music biz and your dreams?
RF: That’s a great question! It’s a Catch-22 because we heard stories of how it happened. Growing up we were friends with Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, Rick James… so that was fun to just be around that and see how they are off stage, like Smokey is a comedian and stuff. They always advised us not to get into the business because it was a dying business; the sales were dropping and all these things, times were different. It wasn’t like the old days, but what happened was being exposed to it so much it couldn’t stop us because we had heard it growing up and it was easier for us to do it because we had been in videos and seen concerts at five years old with Rick James. We tried not to do it. Sky went and played basketball, and he went to skateboard. I went to play tennis; soccer and we tried our hand at panhandling, literally.
SB: I think we’re like Luke Skywalkers and the force is always like the music for us, but we were always like nowhere – going to do this and going to do that – and then it’s like destiny, like the force.

YT: What artists have influenced you the most?
RF: Wow! Well, I would have to say Rick James is a big influence and Michael Jackson is probably one of the biggest influences – not because we hung out with him so much… I mean we met him a couple of times here and there, but I feel like for me personally, I was just a fan of that dude. And I mean wearing his jacket… there was not really an artist that I really wanted to dress like besides Michael. That’s why we have zippers on our sh** now. You should change that to “stuff” for the high-school kids…
SB: They need to learn how to cuss properly at some point.
RF: S. H. * .T.

YT: You guys have your own clothing line, “Party Rock,” and you’ve talked about having you own web TV show and a feature movie. Is branding the route artists are going to have to take to find success these days?
RF: I love that question because I’m very involved in that question and that subject. And you know it takes money to produce products. We make a lot of money touring and we make a lot of money with our songs selling stuff like that. But, it is often hard to find money to produce a movie. I mean, that’s like five million dollars and up, or even a TV show, it takes money to shoot.
Since we have such a powerful brand, it’s one of our next goals to have corporate sponsors and things of these natures fund these TV shows. Like we want to create a network on the web, and have a web TV show and do a movie, and we ‘re just figuring out that we can make a deal with like five corporate sponsors.

YT: What do you have to say to people who view perfumes and clothing lines as selling out?
RF: Selling out would just be… for instance, if they said to us, “Hey, you would be doper or more accepted if you dressed in suits,” and we like to wear the zebra and the animal look and if they said, “You’ll be more famous dressed in suits,” you know what I mean? If they said change your image, or if they said, “You guys have wild hair that’s not the average demographic. If you guys cut it up and did a Mohawk, you would be more accepted.” The point is we want to do what we want to do.

YT: If you weren’t famous today, what would you be doing with your life?
RF: I would probably, honestly, be some kind of stand-up comedian, you know, or maybe a street performer in Venice selling our own stuff.

YT: Can we expect a new album any time soon?
RF: You can! You can expect a new album around September-ish.

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Danny Fernandes Hits the Road for Haiti

BY Nina Kiridzija - Carson Graham Secondary, North Vancouver BC | Jun 8, 2010

R&B sensation Danny Fernandes is not only a hardworking singer with a rising career, but a philanthropist looking to make the world a better place. Joining Emily Osment, The New Cities, Jesse Labelle and Alyssa Reid, Danny is part of Much Music’s SodaPOP Tour, which is making its way through Canada with the hope of raising money for UNICEF’s relief efforts in Haiti. This tour, which kicked off in Vancouver at The Centre on Saturday, June 5th, isn’t exactly what Danny is used to (he is the only R&B singer), but when Youthink sat down with the young star before earlier in the day, it was clear he was very excited to be a part of what he calls an “awesome” event that also serves as a good cause.

YT: We know that the SodaPop Tour will be helping UNICEF with its Haiti relief efforts. What were your first thoughts when you heard about the devastating earthquakes in Haiti?
DF: I think devastated is the right word to use. It was sad, it was really, really sad, I didn’t know about it right off the bat. I had heard there had been something but I just didn’t know how bad it was until you actually see it for yourself you know? I have a bunch of Haitian friends out in Montreal and I know some of their families were missing and stuff like that so I called everyone I knew and made sure everything was alright. Thankfully they were all okay.

YT: How did you hear about this tour and how did you end up getting involved?
DF: One of my managers actually called me and asked me if I would want to do it and I was like “okay.” I already knew about it because Much Music told me about it and I didn’t know who they were going to put on the roster and what they were going to do so I said if you guys want I would be happy to do it! So then they called me about a month later and said they wanted me to do it so I ended up doing it!

YT: Why did you feel it was important for you to be a part of the SodaPop tour?
DF: It’s for a good cause. I mean UNICEF was nice enough to ask me to come out and do this and we actually recorded a song yesterday in Bryan Adams’ studio. It’s for UNICEF [and] it’s going to go on iTunes and all the money from all the downloads goes towards relief in Haiti.

YT: Why do you feel it’s important for celebrities, especially young ones such as yourself and the other artists on this tour, to be involved in these types of charitable events?
DF: I think it’s very important because we are in a position where we’re able to help. I mean, there are people who look up to us and stuff so I mean if I were to go on TV and tell my fans to go donate a dollar to somebody, they’ll do it. So yeah, I’m in a great position and I love helping people. I actually work with World Vision as well, so I have a couple children that I sponsor and we just did a 30-Hour Famine last month.

YT: With the tour kicking off tonight, in Vancouver, how are you feeling and what are you most excited for?
DF: I’m just excited to be in Vancouver, I love Vancouver! I got here and I’m very excited I saw a couple of fans outside who are coming so I’m very happy to be starting this tour in Vancouver. Actually I wish I was coming back to Vancouver!

YT: Other than Vancouver, which city are you most looking forward to performing in? Would it be your hometown of Toronto?
DF: Yes! Actually we’re doing a bunch of cities around Toronto too like Hamilton so anywhere near home is good, because I know I’ll be going home right after!

YT: Can you describe what the experience has been like getting to know the other artists on the tour? Have you worked with any of them in the past?
DF: I’ve never worked with any of them in the past and I just met them all yesterday; but now it feels like I’ve known them forever, they’re all so nice, Emily [Osment] is a great girl she’s so cool, Alyssa Reid is also really cool, Jesse Labelle, The New Cities, they’re all awesome, it’s like we were friends before, we’re getting along really well.

YT: How would you describe this concert to our teen readers?
DF: Awesome! It’s not really my style of concert. It doesn’t really make sense to me, it’s all rock, and then there’s me! I stand out I’m like the odd ball!

YT: What can fans expect from your performance?
DF: Anybody who’s seen me perform before will know it’s a great show. There’s going to be a lot of dancing, most of it’s dancing to be honest.

YT: I understand that at the end of each concert, all the artists will come together to perform a special song. Can you tell me more about that?
DF: Yes, that is the song that we recorded. It’s actually a song from the 80’s by Men Without Hats. It’s called Pop Goes the World so we just remade it, with all the same lyrics from the original song.

YT: What do you hope those in attendance will take away from the concert?
DF: A great experience. I mean there are a lot of us going out there on stage. There’s like five acts and we’re all different so it’s great!

YT: What will be up next for you once the SodaPop tour wraps up? What can your fans expect in the near future?
DF: I just finished my second album so I just wrapped that up, I have a single coming out next month featuring Belly from the new album. The song is called Automatic and we’re shooting the video for it after this tour. So what I did last year I’m going to do all over again! And I’ll probably be back in Vancouver soon!

So go to ITunes and download the SodaPOP Tour’s version of Pop Goes the World. With proceeds from all downloads going towards UNICEF’s Haiti relief efforts, it’s definitely a song you can feel good about jamming out to.

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• by oliver

Image credit:  Pamela Littky, courtesy of Universal Music

Meet the Man Behind Owl City

BY Eva Bieniarz - Argyle Secondary, North Vancouver BC | Jun 7, 2010

You’ve probably heard the catchy song "Fireflies" on the radio for months now, but you still may be wondering who sings it. That would be Owl City, an electronic/pop project of Adam Young. Young single-handedly created the project in 2007 in his parent’s basement, writing songs to help take his mind off his insomnia. The result? Ocean Eyes, a successful full-length album that has earned him a growing number of fans all over the world. Youthink caught up with Adam Young via email (apparently the way he prefers to do interviews) to find out more about his recent projects.

YT: When you wrote “Fireflies,” did you have a feeling it would be a hit?
OC: I didn’t even have an inkling. It was one of those songs that wrote itself and I never gave it much thought. For whatever reason, people really seem to connect with it and I’m completely honoured.

YT: What went through your mind when you realized that millions of people were listening to your music?
OC: I remember thinking “How?” and then I remember thinking “WHY?”

YT: Obviously the Internet played a big part in your success, specifically MySpace. Even now that you’re signed to a major label, how important is this DIY philosophy in your career?
OC: I like how accessible music is these days, and how everyone seems to be doing it. There’s so much to be discovered and it’s so easy to do so. MySpace certainly helped me out in more ways than one but Universal is the right home for me right now.

YT: “Vanilla Twilight,” your second single, has done well on the US and Canadian charts. What was your inspiration for this song?
OC: It’s about an astronaut who gets lost in space and what his family is feeling from their perspective back on earth. It’s sort of an acceptance of loss kind of a song. It’s not the most optimistic song ever written haha.

YT: Your music has a real fantastical quality to it. Is this sense of wonder a reflection of your outlook on life?
OC: Yes, I’m a daydreamer and an escapist and I’ve always been fascinated by the way the imagery in music can be so powerful. It can change the way you feel, even the way you think about things.

YT: I read that you started creating music as a result of insomnia, and your music does have an almost dreamlike quality to it. Do you still mostly write songs at night?
OC: Yeah, I tend to be most inspired during nights when I can’t fall asleep. It’s a blessing and a curse.

YT: What else influences your music?
OC: Travel, photography, kids, books and art.

YT: You’ve said in other interviews that Johnathon Ford of Unwed Sailor and composer Thomas Newman have greatly influenced you... in what ways?
OC: They both capture optimism in the sense of it being very serious and sober rather than silly and carefree. It’s so inspiring. Their melodies exude a feeling of hope and that’s a tough thing to do.

YT: Recently, you announced that you will be joining John Mayer in the summer as part of his Battle Studies tour. How are you feeling about the upcoming tour?
OC: I’m excited. I have June and July off to write and record, so it will be nice to have a break in the process and see some new sights. I’m going to remember my camera this time.

YT: What’s your favourite thing about being on tour?
OC: The pizza.

YT: What’s the worst thing about being on the road?
OC: The green rooms.

YT: What things must you bring with you on tour?
OC: Clothes, food, friends, songs.

YT: What’s on your iPod these days?
OC: I actually lost my iPod so I listen to music on my friend Daniel’s computer. We listen to Norma Jean and As I Lay Dying and stuff.

YT: Looking ahead, what is your ultimate goal for Owl City?
OC: To be the first artist to perform on a live TV show broadcasted from the moon.

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Image credit:  www.jaydeebixby.com

Bixby Picks Up the Pen for Easy to Love

by Erika Stark – Dr. EP Scarlett High School, Calgary AB Jun 4, 2010

When Jaydee Bixby first looked at the lyrics to Tom Cochrane’s The Boy Inside the Man, he figured there was no way that he would be able to record this song and have anyone take him seriously.

“I’m thinking, ‘No one’s going to believe this!’” recalls Bixby. “I haven’t even made it to the second age in the song yet.”

However, following some revisions by Cochrane to the song’s lyrics, Bixby recorded and released what would become his first single off of his sophomore album, Easy to Love. His version chronicles a man’s hopes and expectations for the future, which is a fitting story for an artist who has yet to turn 20.

Easy To Love, which was released May 25th on On Ramp Records, demonstrates Bixby’s personal and artistic growth since being named runner-up to Brian Melo on Canadian Idol in 2007. “This whole album is basically an older version of me,” the 19-year-old Drumheller native affirms. “It’s more sincere and honest.”

It’s also a pretty good album. In addition to Boy Inside the Man, Easy to Love boasts a solid array of tracks. The album’s title track showcases a more vulnerable side to the Alberta-raised cowboy, and Tailgate may well go down in the books beside Aaron Pritchett’s Let’s Get Rowdy or Toby Keith’s Get Drunk and Be Somebody as another danceable, honky tonk anthem.

A large part of Bixby’s artistic development comes from his increased involvement in the songwriting aspect of the album. As a result, he hopes that his listeners will feel more connected to him.

“[I’ve written about] a lot of the stuff I’ve been going through,” says Bixby, who co-wrote nine of the 10 songs on Easy to Love. It is a notable feat for someone who didn’t think he was “too good of a writer.”

“I’m just writing about what I know,” he says simply. “Everybody writes their own way, and I figured out how I can do it. I like to think that I’m developing [my writing talent], slowly but surely.”

“You practice at anything and it only gets better,” he adds.

Of course, Bixby’s time spent in Nashville, surrounded by industry professionals and songwriters like John Higgins, was bound to help him come into his own as a writer.

“It was cloud nine,” he says of his experience in Music City. “Going down there and learning [about] all aspects of the music industry…it was so valuable.”

It’s evident that Bixby also values those around him who have helped him develop musically. “The difficulties in making an album depend on the people you have working with you,” he declares. “The crew that I have, my producers [John Webster and Bill Buckingham], and my own band…I couldn’t be happier with [them]."

“There’s always points where [I wonder] if I am doing the right thing,” Bixby admits. “That’s why there’s family and the people who work with you…they keep you on your feet and grounded.”

Perhaps the key to Bixby’s success thus far is his single-minded focus on achieving his goals. “I’ve had my eye on the prize since I was knee-high to a grasshopper,” recalls Bixby. “I wrote down my dreams and goals and read them everyday. I always focused on them and knew what I wanted…It worked fine for me.”

That formula seems to be working pretty darn good so far and Easy to Love attests as much. As Bixby himself states, “[the album] just screams my name.”

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• by esther