In this video made for Boing Boing tv, Russell Porter (Porter Report) interviews Canadian rap / IDM / hiphop / house / genre-bending artist Cadence Weapon, aka Rollie Pemberton. Cadence Weapon originally hails from Edmonton, Alberta.

Cadence Weapon, who is 22 years old, is touring Europe and US throughout the summer. Dates are listed — where else? — on his MySpace, along with various blinky things. His newest record Afterparty Babies was just released on Epitaph, and is, as the kids say, fierce.

While I was in Toronto for NXNE, I got the chance to sit down with Toronto’s singer/songwriter Mia Sheard to talk about NXNE as well as what opportunities there are for Canadian musicians. We also touch on what Canada and the world expect from musicians.

Mia Sheard, as you may recall, is a talent to be reckoned with! If you don’t quite remember the profile of Mia Sheard that was featured on TransCanadaRadio, go ahead back and check it out.  Then be sure to come back and check out the exclusive interview!

Interview With Mia Sheard, Part One

Interview With Mia Sheard, Part Two

While at NXNE, I managed to steal away some time from Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Sonicbids, Panos Panay, for an interview.

Sonicbids is a web site that helps bands get gigs, and promoters book the right bands. Their community includes over 150,000 bands, singers, songwriters, and performers of all kinds, and 14,000-plus music buyers of all kinds, including promoters, licensors, festival programmers, and much more. Bands go there for gigs; promoters go there for bands. They have lots of both!

Panos’s childhood dream of being alternatively the next George Best or the next George Benson came to an end when each canceled the other out. The idea for Sonicbids came to him while reading the book “Blur” and decided to go for it in September of 2000. Before that, he worked on the “dark side” of the business as an international talent agent. Panos hails from Cyprus and is a self-described “voracious” reader, usually traveling with more magazines than clothes (that’s a LOT). He graduated from Berklee College of Music in 1994 with a degree in Music Business. In 2005 Panos was named as one of Fast Company Magazine’s “Fast 50″ entrepreneurs and is currently serving as co-chairman of CREATE Boston, an initiative launched by the Mayor of Boston to bolster the creative economy in the city. He is a diehard supporter of English football club Arsenal and by last count he owns over 25 jerseys of “The Gunners” dating back to 1983. He loves his coffee extra strong and blames Elvis for his lifelong fascination with America.

Check out part one of my interview with Sonicbids‘ Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Panos Panay, where we talk about what Sonicbids does and why artists should be all over it like glue.

What Is Sonicbids? An Interview With Panos Panay

Said the Whale warmed up the crowd and then it was time for Dan. Joined by friends John Walsh on stand up bass and Andrew McCormack on drums, playing songs from the album “ postcards and daydreaming. They gave me the chills more than once. Dan’s voice is like a beautiful black hole that you just want to fall a sleep in with a smile and dream about his songs. He had the hole crown smiling.

My musical background is mostly electronic but when the music is good I can recognize it. He has such a simplistic approach to music. All he needs is himself and a guitar to deliver beautiful music. Check out this interview and live performance to see for yourself.

He will be playing more shows this summer, so here are some dates and other artists that he will be performing with.

UPCOMING SHOWS:
14 Jun 2008 22:00 Savannah Room (NXNE) Toronto, Ontario
25 Jun 2008 20:00 Vancouver Jazz Festival @ The Media Club Vancouver, British Columbia
30 Jul 2008 19:00 The Living Room NYC, New York

Written by

Mathieu Coates

In the Greater Toronto Area, rappers are a dime a dozen, but artists are one of a kind. James Richfield, is exactly that. One of a kind. Struggle, perseverance, ambition, and inspiration are no stranger to James. Growing up, James was very much into Much Music and Electric Circus often dancing and singing along with his favorite artists such as Billy Idol, Iggy Pop, Billy Joel, Van Halen, Kiss, and much more. Although many children show signs of what they’re meant to be from and an early age, James took his time really settling into music.

I recently got in touch with the man himself and we discussed his music and what it’s like to work towards becoming a musician in Canada.

Bambi Blue: According to your biography, you took some time settling into the idea of music: Where and how did you finally make your start in music and what really motivated you to really jump in?

James Richfield: I started into songwriting when I was seventeen. At first I didn’t get too in depth with it. I didn’t consider making a future career out of it. It was more like a hobby. Actually, I really started figuring out music by taking songs and writing my own lyrics for them just for laughs. After a while I started to develop my own concepts derived from the original artist’s instrumental flow. Once I started receiving all kinds of feedback, I began to actually consider it more seriously. I’ve always wanted to make a career out of being me. What really motivated me was knowing that people would hear my words and could be influenced by them. With that said, I guess that’s when I knew I was meant to be a musician and help better the world through my creative output.

BB: So fans are a big motivation for you – getting your message out there. What about other artists? I noticed that the influences you’ve listed on your Myspace are really diverse (Korn, Slipknot, Aerosmith, Weezer, Metallica, Smashing Pumpkins, etc.). Do you draw anything in particular from any of them?

JR: All my influences all have a similar trait– they’re all where they are at for being themselves and having a relative sense about them that listeners can feel a part of. For example, Korn became an influence to me after their album Issues because they made music from another person’s perspective, putting the listener in the driver seat. I like that concept, so I draw the element of realism and outside-the-norm-thinking from my influences because this is what makes them great bands in my eyes and I think it will help me become great as well.

BB: Where do you see yourself going with music? Where would you like to go? Where do you not want your music to take you?

JR: I want every household in the world, anywhere that sound can be omitted I want to be there. I personally see myself as the next Timbaland – potentially bigger! It’s funny, that’s one of my goals — to go to Mosley Music Group Studios and just boggle Tim’s mind. Also I really used to want to go to Tokyo and perform out there, but not so much now because Kanye went there and now everyone wants to be Kanye and to go to Tokyo. Ugh. I hate wagon jumpers. I want my music to still take me there though, but when the hype dies down. Then I’ll be appreciated more. I don’t want my music to take me into the mainstream. I want to be semi-mainstream. I’d be out there on TV and stuff but not too intensely… (I don’t want to get) to the point where everyone gets sick of me but I like how it is with Busta Rhymes… where people love my music underground and don’t really care if I do an album but when I do they eat it up like a buffet.

BB: Being a musician in Canada myself, I find it difficult to really get out there and become recognizable in the larger scene. Do you find that Canadian musicians really support each other? Do we stick together? Do you have any bands or solo artists that you’ve become friends with that are always there to tell others just how awesome you are and vice versa?

JR: True (Canadian) musicians do support each other. The ones that just want to be the shining star (sic) will step on every last toe so they can walk ahead. We have the potential to stick together but too many people want the spotlight so they use each other to get ahead and in the end, both end up right where they started. I have, actually, become friends with bands, singers, classical musicians and engineers. I talk about them all the time and vice versa theres Mr. Pink (a band from Mississauga), Sabrina Fallah (a rock singer from Ottawa), and Jenni (a violinist from California). It’s really great to have a diverse circle of friends that are involved with music because it keeps you level headed and personally keeps me open to many genres of music.

Stay tuned to TransCanadaRadio for more interviews with artists like James Richfield as well as Canadian concert listings.

As always, I’m reachable and ready to hear from you at: bambi(at)transcanadaradio.com!