Okay, maybe don’t answer the question in the title.
But as I have gone through this process of writing 6 articles a day about various music genres, artists, and venues in BC. I have come to realize something that I realize every time I learn something new. I am always scared of starting in an uncomfortable place where I know nothing about the topic, or not enough. Then I start the first day, it’s hard, it brings so many emotions out in me, mostly just yelling and screaming about how hard it is. But after I get into the flow, I enjoy knowing more. I love music, but when I mean music, I mean music I grew up with. Bollywood and Punjabi music. I understand how our instruments work, the rhythm and pace of our music. The beautiful lyrics encompass much more than their literal meaning.
It was when we were editing English music into our ads for video editing in our second semester that I understood, it’s not because I don’t have the ear for music. Or I somehow don’t understand the instruments or the rhythm of 1-2-3-4, it’s that I don’t understand English music, I don’t understand just instruments alone. I need the emotion, the connection, and that familiarity of the music to truly be able to play around with it. Why am I writing my personal diary out here? I knew when I got this role that I love writing, and that though I may find it harder to write about unfamiliar topics, I will grow to love it. So, I would like to share some of my personal favorite artists that I have written about and some lesser-known musical facts that I learned as I went on this journey:
Firstly, go check out Baba Chaka for their funky pop music and Jeffrey Martin for his emotional, soulful songs with beautiful lyrics.
Go follow Felix Cartel because he does random pop-ups for his DJ sets, and sometimes he’s in the Vancouver SkyTrain, sometimes it’s a beach. You want Vancouver to be more popping; you have to support local artists who are doing unique stuff.
Now on to the facts:
Vogue Theatre was part of Theatre Row in Vancouver, and it’s one of the last venues that’s still open. It went from a movie theatre to now hosting all kinds of performing arts.
The Commodore Ballroom’s floor used to be made out of horsehair, so it would have a bounce, which was recently renovated, and the horsehair was removed in the 90’s.
Did you know you could borrow instruments? Yeah, the Vancouver Public Library lets you do that in person or put a hold online. Burnaby’s initiative, Harmony for All, does the same, and you could borrow for a year.
Bryan Adams, who has won 20 Juno awards and has had 16 Grammy nominations, signed his first-ever record deal in 1978 for the amount of exactly one dollar, because they didn’t want to take too much risk on this young musician.
Nelly Furtado was actually born in Victoria, and it was in Vancouver that she was discovered during a talent contest.
I know that I am a learner by heart. I know that now that I have become aware of how many talented artists have come out from the Lower Mainland and how popular the music scene is here, I will continue to look out for more facts and fun things about our music scene. I will intentionally try to support the growing music scene. I know that after all will be written and done, I will know so much more about the music scene in BC, and different genres that I have ever known. The fact that most of them have become a part of my Spotify playlist is a bonus!