Music.
MUSIC EDITOR Immanuel Matthews / @immanuelmatt music@theconcordian.com
PROFILE
Minoe’s journey in the music world Montreal artist explains her path and goals Maria Bouabdo Contributor
Minoe, a 20-year-old R&B singer, started performing in musicals when she was around eight years old, as well as singing national anthems and in honour choirs. She joined her first band at 16. She now sings solo and sometimes plays guitar, opting for more creative, solo-driven artistry.
“I needed a stage name because I didn’t have one for a long time and I had a show coming up, so I was in a rush,” she said. “I went to my roommate and I wanted something to do with the ocean because I’m from Nova Scotia (Halifax), so she said ‘whale’ as a joke. Then, she said ‘minnow,’ and I liked it. I realized I spelled it wrong, but I liked it that way, and it ended up working well.” Minoe came to Montreal three years ago to continue working on her
music and start studying at Concordia University. She is doing a double major in art history and studio art. Minoe’s latest song “Cellphone” is about an ex-boyfriend who would never put his phone down, but she said it can apply to anyone. She added that her previous song, “Best for You,” is about getting out of an unstable relationship, putting her needs first and doing what’s best for her. “There are a lot of songs that I really relate to, and I want to be that for somebody else if that’s a possibility. It would be amazing,” Minoe said. She is now focusing on shows and PR work. Her team consists of her manager
Dany, also known by his producer name Fairchylde, and her stylist Julia, owner of Explicit Mess Boutique. Because Minoe finds inspiration everywhere – from Destiny’s Child to Louis Armstrong – she is not afraid of trying different genres. The next step in the musician’s career is to start travelling. She said she would like to perform in Toronto. “I really want to experience as much as I can and perform wherever people will come and see me perform. I’m grateful for any opportunity,” Minoe said,
adding that one of her goals is to release either an EP or an album next year. She also said she’d love to start collaborating with more artists, such as Kaytranada, a HaitianCanadian DJ and record producer, and to perform in big festivals, like Osheaga and Coachella. “It’s so important to surround yourself with friends who support you,” Minoe said. “I have that and I’m grateful. They always help me with my music. My best friends Ellis and Mia have been so instrumental and important in me believing in myself and doing what I want to do. I couldn’t ask for more incredible people in my life.” Minoe emphasized that people shouldn’t give up because of what others say. With absolute certainty, she said: “I don’t believe in luck. If you want to succeed you have to work hard and keep going.”
Photo by Britanny Clarke
SHOW REVIEW
Toro y Moi truly emits inner and outer peace … there’s no single way to find that Chloe Lalonde Arts Editor Toro y Moi takes me back to my years in high school: playing Tame Impala, MGMT and Toro y Moi in the yearbook room, lying on the grass with our heads in a circle, feeling whole with the world and one with my friends... yeah, I did that.
On Nov. 5 at Corona Theatre, Chaz Bear, aka Toro y Moi, aka Chazwick Bradley Bundick, brought this back.
Bear, who changed his name four years ago when he married Samantha Beardsley, feels fresh, composed and genuinely happy; he emits a gentleness. He sings, his eyes squint, a smile spreads across his face. Moving across the stage in a dance that feels characteristic of Childish Gambino. Blissful. Real. Truly himself, in love with his music; a joy that rubbed off on the crowd.
His band members feel very Portland – I’ve never been to Portland, any Portland, but that’s the vibe – complete with long shaggy hair,
blundstones, thick socks, button down shirts and reusable canteen bottles. Bear wore an Everlaneesque get-up, mod wide-leg blue pants (not jeans), a black jacket, and a black mock neck, which he kept on the entire time – a rarity on stage. Performers usually strip halfway into the third song. The stage glows with simple, pleasing colours: pinks and purples, blues and greens, yellows, oranges, peaches… the instruments highlighted with bits of f luorescent orange tape scrawled with “TORO E MWA,” a translucent drum set of the same colour. His crisp lyrics linger, echoing not only in the theatre, but mashed up in my mind days after the show. You saved my life, I don't want to be alone, I want somebody, I don't have time for this weather... Die for my love... For a second I forgot who I was, I thought I was over you ... now I don't know who I am ... I feel weak, uhuh...
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On Oct. 29, Toro y Moi released “Soul Trash,” a 30-minute long art film by the same name of a mixed tape released in January of last year. The duo moves away from simple lo-fi musician status and into the world of pure artistry. Sixteen minutes in, the film pauses to watch Bear, wearing a bucket hat, eat chips.
“I see two of you, I see one of me,” he says, pointing to the viewer, a photographer taking pictures of his reflection, I imagine. The whole thing is pretty obscure. As though Bear was given a paintbrush, needle and thread to collage together this masterpiece, his new album, Outer Peace, feels authentic, not as laboured or crafted as I felt in some of his older albums. Now the poster child of chillwave, his music crosses boundaries, feeling very 70s indie pop with a sprinkle of some c l a s s i c T- P a i n autotune. Outer Peace spea k s to finding satisfaction, oneness and peace out in t he world, rather than just within. Whet her in blending genres, dance, work or just being present in a social environment… there’s no one way to find that. Photos by Cecilia Piga