Off The Record

LTtheMonk grew up in Beckenham, a small town in Bromley – one of the Boroughs of London in the UK. Music was always a big part of his life, but he fell in love with Hip Hop when we stumbled upon Twista’s “Sunshine” music video while channel surfing at the tender age of 7 – something just clicked and he knew right then that he needed to become a rapper.

When it came time to apply for colleges, LT knew North America would give him the best chance of making a career in Hip Hop, AND because of Canada’s more lenient immigration policies, picked us and bought his plane ticket. He studied music in Hamilton, where he would meet the members of the band that he performs with at his live shows.

In the last year, LT landed a record deal with Hamilton-based label and management company Sonic Unyon, becoming their first hip hop artist. He’s been working hard on the final touches on his upcoming album “On The Wall” (which is a nod to his inspiration: Michael Jackson’s infamous album from the 90’s “Off The Wall”).

Join me as we learn a little more about LT and his journey in life and hip hop.

LTtheMONK

Spotify | https://spoti.fi/3lGBl32

Apple Music | https://apple.co/3lO4SaX

IG | https://www.instagram.com/ltthemonk/

Yester Daze is made up of three members: Brandon McShad on GTR and lead VOX, Zach Lemay on bass and Matt Ware on the drums. The guys originally got together when Brandon hired Zach and Matt as session musicians for his solo project, but once the spark between these three ignited and the music became heavier and louder, they quickly decided that this new direction the music was going in needed a new band name, and so in 2018 Yester Daze was born.

I caught up with the band’s drummer, Matt via Zoom to talk about the band’s origin story, the making of their debut EP, and some pretty big names they got to work with because of it.

Here’s my chat with Matt Ware of Yester Daze

YESTER DAZE

Spotify | https://spoti.fi/3f565cC

Apple Music | https://apple.co/392nUp7

IG | https://www.instagram.com/officialyesterdaze/

The Toronto-based powerhouse, Sam Coffey and the Iron Lungs have been tearing up stages across North America with the likes of Fidlar, The Dirty Nil, Frank Turner and Billy Joe Armstrong’s The Longshot, to name a few.

“Real One” is the band’s third full length album, and while the first two were already great, this is simply better – the band have all matured as musicians, the sound is fuller, richer and they managed to capture that live energy you get from them at any of their shows.

Sam and I talk about all kinds of stuff including band’s DnD sessions, which you can catch every Wednesday at 7pm EST on twitch (their handle is @coffeyandlungs). We also talk about the new record, and how they managed to achieve the sound they did and finally because he’s from Toronto, we chat about some of his favourite spots in the city.

SAM COFFEY AND THE IRON LUNGS

Bandcamp | https://samcoffeyandtheironlungs.bandcamp.com/

Spotify | https://spoti.fi/3sCBmaB

Apple Music | https://apple.co/2ZRlQLA

Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/coffeyandlungs/

Chastity is the brain-child of Brandon Williams, the band’s frontman and lyricist. Over the last six years, Williams has put out an EP and two full-length albums.   

So far in 2021, Chastity has released one single, a cover of Third Eye Blinds “Losing a Whole Year” – which is very fitting with COVID 19 essentially cancelling the 2020.  I caught up with Brandon over the phone, which is why the audio on this one isn’t the best. We talk about all sorts of things, including the making of “Drain The Bloodbath”, and what made him decide to get veteran studio vocalist Makeda Francisco involved.  

We also talk about when his love affair with music started, and how would eventually fall in love with punk rock when he got into skating culture.  I’ve been a fan of Chastity since their first album Death Lust dropped back in 2018, so this interview really meant a lot and I got to ask a lot of questions as a fan – because really there isn’t all too much information on Brandon online – he’s a very private person it seems.   

CHASTITY 

Bandcamp | https://chastitysongs.bandcamp.com/ 

Spotify | https://spoti.fi/3qgeZqF 

Apple Music | https://apple.co/3pkEAgx 

IG | https://www.instagram.com/chastitysongs

Toronto-based Indie Pop duo TandM is made up of lead singer and guitarist Maxine Beck-Sinderby and drummer Thomas Franklin – T for Thomas and M for Maxine – therefore TandM.   

The two met serendipitously at a music studio in high school and became fast friends, and eventually a couple. They both entered into York university for music, where their songwriting skills would grow and they would put out their first EP Reflections Vol 1 and Reflections Vol 2 in 2019. Then in October of 2020, after having graduated from university with BA’s in music and signing with Popguru Sound and Vision, Maxine and Thomas chose their favorite 5 tracks from both EPs and sent them to Howie Beck and João Carvalho to be remixed and remastered and put those tracks out on a new EP called Reflections Remastered.  Here's my chat with TandM.  

TANDM 

Spotify | https://spoti.fi/3pQCXI8

Apple Music | https://apple.co/3pUfQMR

Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/tandm.band/

Bike Thiefs is a Toronto-based post-punk trio made up of bassist Kris Pandierada, drummer Andrew Fasken and guitarist/vocalist Marko Woloshyn. 

The band have been together for over 5 years and in that time have released three EPs, as well as a full-length album titled "Leaking", which they released this year after signing with Montreal-based label Stomp Records. 

I caught up with the guys via Zoom to chat about their album, video games and their favourite bars and restaurants in Toronto.

BIKE THIEFS

Bandcamp | https://bikethiefs.bandcamp.com/

Spotify | https://spoti.fi/2KMlwcO

Apple Music | https://apple.co/2WDdmGn

Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/bikethiefs/

Partner is made up of Josée Caron on guitar and vocals, Lucy Niles on bass and vocals and Simone TB on drums. The band have been active for a number of years now, Josée and Lucy met at university in New Brunswick in 2014, and by 2020 Partner has put out two full-length albums and one EP. They gained notoriety in 2018, when they won the SOCAN Signwriting Prize for their song “Playing The Field”.

Their first album In Search Of Lost Time (2017) had a late 90’s / early 2000’s rock sound to it – one could compare their old stuff to a mix of American Hifi and Wheatus. However, over the years the band have developed a more classical rock sound, taking inspiration from great Canaidan bands like Rush, and you can hear it throughout the latest album Never Give Up (2020).

I got to chat with the band while they were taking a break from recording in a studio in BC. We talk about the formation of the band and how Simone eventually got involved – Simone is an extremely accomplished session drummer who also plays in another amazing band U.S. Girls. We also chat a lot about the new album and the even newer material they are currently working on.

PARTNER

Bandcamp | https://partnerband.bandcamp.com/

Spotify | https://spoti.fi/3oOHjPC

Apple Music | https://apple.co/3a8XCCH

Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/partner_band

Sterling Fox has been in the industry for a long time now and has worked with some top talents, like Madonna, Avicii and Adam Levine to name a few. However, in 2018 Fox decided that it was time to put out his own music, without the limitations of the pop machine and started putting out tracks under his new moniker Baby FuzZ. As diverse as his music is, the lyrics are a singular and hyper self aware narrative with strong political and social undertones.

In 2019, Baby Fuzz released his debut album Plastic Paradise independently and embarked on a DIY US Tour and amidst all of this COVID pandemonium, Baby FuzZ has been working hard on the debuts follow up Welcome to the Future – which fans can expect to drop late 2020 or early 2021. So far we’ve had a taste of 4 singles which are all very different from one another, showing off his wide versatility in music sensibilities.

Sterling and I dive into the new music, he tells me about the challenges of how being completely independent can be difficult if you’re a perfectionist when trying to finish an album, we also talk about his love for video games and movies as well as the story behind the cool mask he wears in his music video for “Acid Night”.

BABY FUZZ

Bandcamp | https://babyfuzz.bandcamp.com/

Spotify | https://spoti.fi/3obUud9

Apple Music | https://apple.co/39x8WbJ

IG | https://www.instagram.com/babyfuzzzz/

Originally, this project started Scott Xylo, a British producer & Songwriter of Jamaican descent befriended Welsh guitarist Adam Martin (ADEEMUS) whilst working together at a coffee shop in Leicester, UK. The duo originally teamed up to work on new Scott Xylo material, but they would eventually add Irish-Nigerian vocalist Demigosh after meeting at a gig in late 2019.

Officially being a trio since February of this year, Shadeemus has already put out one 5-track EP called Arakis in June, as well as a couple of singles since that release.

I caught up with the Scott Xylo and Adam Martin via Zoom and we talk about what starting new project in the midst of a global pandemic looks like, as well as how not allowing themselves to be put in a defined genre gives the group the freedom to really push the envelope and get weird with whatever they are working on.

Here’s my chat with Scott and Adam of Shadeemus.

SHADEEMUS

Bandcamp | https://shadeemus.bandcamp.com/

Spotify | https://spoti.fi/3kXVGij

Apple Music | https://apple.co/375dfYC

Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/shadeemus/

Dayseeker vocalist Rory Rodriguez and drummer Mike Karle announced their new project Hurtwave earlier this summer. For this endeavour, the pair traffic in synths and the output is decidedly different than that of their main band. The band, which is signed to Spinefarm Records, have released three singles so far and plan to release another four to complete their first EP Night Therapy 1.

Rory and I chat about how Hurtwave started, as well as dive into the three singles the band has released and the stories behind the songs, which is always interesting.

Here's my chat with Rory of Hurtwave.

HURTWAVE

Spotify | https://spoti.fi/3kAZSUR

Apple Music | https://apple.co/2IH8zzQ

Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/hurtwave