If you’ve lived in the Vancouver area for long enough, chances are you’ve seen how active our music scene is. New bands are making their debuts all the time, and fans fill up our different venues nightly. 

No matter where you are, it’s always a challenge to find community in a new space, especially as an artist, but being in a big city definitely helps. With so much of the “BC music scene” being generalized to one area, I wondered how the experience of being an independent musician in other parts of BC differs. I was lucky enough to speak with 2 amazing artists recently: Charis Tazumi, a singer/songwriter from Nanaimo, and Finley Kinghorn of Bucket, an indie pop-punk band from Nelson, to find out more.

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My conversation with Charis took place after she played a show here at Redgate. It was her second time performing in Vancouver, and though she was a bit nervous, she says she felt super welcomed. “It’s intimidating to go to a new city and play your music where you don’t know a lot of people,” She told me, “but I felt really embraced. I found that the energy at that show was just so heartwarming and supportive. I feel lucky.”

When I asked her about her experiences in Vancouver compared to her experiences on the island, she said there are many similarities.“Both [feel] very warm, very communal. People really want to support local art, and they make an effort to do that in both cities.” 

And as to the differences, she noted, “from what I have seen going to shows in Vancouver, it [is] just a different vibe. It felt really intimate. I felt really vulnerable, is what I’ll say. Not to say that there’s not that vulnerability in the Victoria scene…but it’s just different.” 

To hear more from Charis, you can check out her featured episode of New Music Now on the Evolution Podcast Network. As well as her debut, In Subtle Ways, on Spotify. I had such an amazing time chatting with her, I really think you’ll love to hear what she has to say. 

While the differences between Vancouver and the Island may be fairly small, it leads me to wonder how things may differ up in our interior. You can check out part two of this article to hear a bit from Finley Kinghorn of West-Kooteney-based band Bucket!