ARIANE COLLMAN

Publicist for the Urban channel of the Our City Radio Montreal network, a branch of Our City Radio, contributing to creating and providing amazing opportunities for local, independent artistes and businesses via the Internet.

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P.Flow Matics on Our City Radio Montreal (Urban)!

Our City Radio Montreal Urban's interview with P.Flow Matics. Interview by Ariane 'Ari' Collman. Our City Radio Montreal (Urban) - http://montreal.ourcityradio.com/channels/urban Our City GoGo - http://montreal.ourcitygogo.com/ P.Flow Matics' website - http://www.thelabelofcreation.com/

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Cee tells us "This Is All I Know"!

Cee tells us "This Is All I Know"!

Aussie rapper gets ready to release debut Hip Hop album

Pre-order "This Is All I Know" on iTunes and Bandcamp NOW!

When you think about inspirational, passionate, go-getters a few people may come to mind but right now, it's all about Cee. The Aussie native and Montreal resident has been through the wire to get to this point. What's 'this' point? Well he's about to release his debut album, "This Is All I Know", a Hip Hop journey of hardships, trials, successes and hopefully after tomorrow's April 10th release, a bit of fortune.

Since living in Montreal for the past 1 1/2 years, he's grown so much as an Artist. "I've achieved more in this short period of time than the last 10 years combined. So I find that the hustle here in Montreal has been better to me than any other city in the world, so I have extreme amounts of love for Montreal for that." He describes his music as, "a cross between early Kanye West, Common, J Cole, Kweli, Mos Def sorta like conscious, soulful, organic, raw, honest Hip Hop" and from what I've heard he's certainly on the right track. But was he always a lover of Hip Hop? Let's just say, it wasn't his first introduction to music.

Growing up in Australia, he started playing the guitar at 9 years old and first started listening to the radio or vinyls that his mum and dad had around the house. At 6, he even remembered getting a pink vinyl for his birthday from the Aussie movie, "Young Einstein" and being "pretty blown away by that". It was the 80's, whad'ya expect? Ninja Turtle soundtracks, Alice Cooper vinyls and music videos also rounded out his early introduction to music as well as, "metal and stuff, like Metallica, Soundgarden, Guns n Roses (which saved his life), like hard Rock sorta stuff to Eric Clapton, Bryan Adams and Michael Jackson".

But when did Hip Hop seep into the mix? It wasn't until about 10 years old when he first heard the type of music that would forever change his life. "I heard Hip Hop, properly, like Kris Kross at 10/11 but when I heard Snoop, I think I was 12 and that changed my life. Maybe I was attracted and liked that they were cussing and saying all this stuff that I couldn't say, especially a little 12 year old kid in Australia. It's the most furthest removed from my world but I just felt so cool and I was kinda obsessed with things from North America...it felt like a whole 'nother place as well so I guess it just kinda grooved from there and when I decided to try to do that, I was like, "ok I can sorta do this".

However, Cee's life was doubly changed because he also credited his most influential artist's album with that power. "Kanye West's 'College Dropout' changed my life, like literally...we liked the soul beat...we were just obsessed and studied it like crazy, his beats and when he was leaking his raps (Jesus Walks, Through The Wire, All Falls Down) like all that stuff was basically a full album off of the demo versions of College Dropout that he put out there...It was just the way he was saying things, so conversational, he wasn't talking about the same shit everyone else was, it just blew my mind. It was a little bit political, just interesting, cocky but cool and technical. Look at how he changed the way people rhyme now, he created so much. Even today, I still regularly listen to that album, it's beautiful."

Safe to say, Hip Hop turned Cee's world upside down but in a good way. "It was always very, very positive and never like a dark, sad in my room with headphones crying and shit like that, it wasn't emo enough. It was always a very positive, uplifting thing with strong messages." So naturally Cee started to pursue the craft of rapping. "I worked on it for a few years before I started recording (like 5 or 6 years), at 15 years old messing around until like 20, when I started recording stuff. It kinda just went on from there and I just kept enjoying it. I liked the buzz of making a song and being like yo that came together."

When I asked Cee how many things in those 5 years that he spent honing his craft he had kept in his style today, he replied with a resounding, "not much. I had no idea what I was doing. I look back on it and it's extraordinarily embarrassing because I was 15 years old, literally repeating things Cyprus Hill said, talking about guns and bongs and shit. I had never seen a gun in my life, you know just kid shit when you first start. Though I feel these days, nobody does that. No one hones their craft...I'm in my 30s and I'm putting out my first album but I've been releasing music since 2002." Yes, of course Cee's showing his age but when you think about it, he's right. Many rappers nowadays are putting music out because they have the technology and means to do so, but is it because they are all that good, well, let's just say not all the time.

Anyway I digress, let's get back to Cee. There was one thing he retained. "The flow was always pretty good...probably it's a little more intricate and I'm more confident with it...I feel like, flow has always been our thing (my brother and I), so even if the technicality of the words themselves wasn't brilliant, I felt like the flow was what we had that kept it interesting and that's what separated us. I was terrible with what I was saying but I was never that bad with flow. I don't know why. Which might be why we stick to songwriting as opposed to the other forms like free styling, battling etc." So Cee does not battle, check!

After religiously releasing music and music videos, Cee was also able to go on a small tour last year. "It was amazing. It was just a really great experience. It was sorta like a pulled together tour. We had 15 shows booked over the summer and called it our tour, which was dope...We opened for Raekwon, Mos Def and Oddisee here. So that was a part of our tour...It's just really cool to see people's reaction to us and Raekwon's one was a particularly good experience because that was the first major one and that led to the next day. They booked us for Mos Def, to do that performance and it's kinda like we edged our way in the door and that led to the rest...The fact that it was merit-based and that there were two other opening acts, The Narcicyst and Jai Nitai who were much bigger than us, to be in that company, on that crowd, was mental. That was like by far the illest thing we've ever done...We had another tour this year February and we have another one in May."

Struggling to make ends meet, moving away from family and friends with little hope of returning, Cee has turned his misfortune into an unyielding drive to succeed. "The album's called "This Is All I Know" which you know how they say it takes a lifetime to make your first album, well it pretty much took a lifetime, which is why it's a big deal". I mentioned I liked the title. "It came from one of the beats I had and it became an interlude named "This Is All I Really Know", and I had no idea what the hell I wanted to call the album. I just kinda liked that one. I wrote something to that like a short minute half track and was like ok, lemme call the album that. It seemed to work."

Needless to say, I didn't really need to ask him what his inspiration was for this album but I did anyway. "Life! Every song has a strong theme I guess, everything from girl shit to like it's basically me in 15 songs. Everything we're going into and everything we're trying to do...I'm very excited about this one." (See track list below)

But wait, there's a song about beer on this album! Yes, beer! "There's a song called 'BrewHeads' and it's the world's first craft beer song. If y'all didn't know, I'm a beer nerd I guess, I have a blog called beerandothershit.com, started in 2011...I connected on Instagram with a company called BrewHeads, they're based out of Phoenix, Arizona and and they're like a craft beer merchandise company, so t-shirts, hats, stickers all sorts of stuff. He has become a good friend so he sent me a bunch of gear and hats and stuff to wear, so I rock them in a bunch of videos, at shows and stuff like that...but I think we were talking about it and said we should do a song for that. Dr. Mad gave me a beat and I was like yo this could work. I came up with the hook and wrote the track sent it to Phil, the dude that owns it. So the idea is we're doing collaborative 'merch' to sort of release it...We're trying to do like a bracelet thing, might make some t-shirts for the video and if people want them then we'll sell them afterwards but basically like 50, that's it. If thy sell out then cool, this is to celebrate that this is more than Hip Hop. Beer is a genuine passion for me...there's always been music and this is the only other thing that I've even remotely given a shit about. So I feel like this could be something that could be big for us...it's not about rap, I'm talking about styles of beer, I'm talking about how to home brew, I'm mentioning techniques and the names of the different hop varieties and stuff like that so people are like "alright", they can relate on a level that is beyond music. Even if you're not Hip Hop fans, you can be like "yo I can jam with this"...There's a lot of potential for different opportunities."

Very interesting, which brought me to the question of which Cee prefers: song writing, recording or performing. "They all have their pro and cons. I hated performing until recently, hated it with a passion. Just because we came up rocking open mic nights and there were just like 3 people slow clapping and it made you feel like shit and there were all these other rappers wanting to do it. So until recently, last summer when we did the tour and stuff, that's when I finally felt like yo this is cool because we're confident with the music now. I kind of like recording the most. Song writing is cool cause like recently I'm just knocking 'em out but sometimes you get stuck and it's frustrating and then recording I feel like once I've nailed that process, the recording is probably the easiest thing cause that's when you see the song come to life...When you can take from what's in your head and put it there, even though I'm like not making the production myself, but how I want it to sound and I nail that, that's one of the best feelings...I outsource everything, my brother Notion is a Producer and I think his stuff is crazy but he's sort of already recently in the last couple of years been getting it out there. He's been honing his craft, same as his engineering from 2006, when we got studios."

With someone who's been on the grind as long as Cee has and is quite passionate about the craft, I felt it necessary to ask him to share some advice with up-and-comers. "Work on your craft, don't just drop shit. Work on it, be as good as you can, talk to people, get their advice and pick and choose what you want. Network, just be cool and professional. Make yourself stand out by having everything in place across the board, whether it's marketing or visuals and videos to how you handle tours and all that stuff. Be persistent! Don't ever, ever give up or let anyone tell you no. It took a bunch of years and I'm grinding everyday, I'm not wasting this opportunity. I'm not worrying either because the Universe provides. If you want it, then all the energy that you put out there will fall into place. It doesn't mean I don't get stressed but I mean, I just believe, in the end it'll work out how it's supposed to and I'll just keep pushing...I know it's possible, I believe, I can do it."

Cee's debut album will be out tomorrow, April 10th, but you can pre-order on iTunes and Bandcamp NOW for $7.99 CAD. Price goes up to $9.99 CAD tomorrow.

Thanks so much to Cee for such an inspiring interview, there's still so much more I want to share! Our City GoGo wishes him all the best! Check out his music on Our City Radio Montreal's Urban station, YouTube, and Soundcloud. Also see what he's up to on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

"THIS IS ALL I KNOW" TRACK LISTING

1. Hello (produced by Ever In Lo)

2. Do Ya Hear Me? ft. Chaundon & Bekah (produced by Styalz Fuego)

3. Break Away ft. Emilio Rojas (produced by Trill)

4. No Conversation ft. Aria Zenua (produced by Illmind)

5. Don't Mind Me ft. Ras Kass & Bekah (produced by The Insurgency)

6. All I Know (Interlude) (produced by Trill)

7. This Is All I Know ft. Jonathan Emile (produced by Jase)

8. It Ain't Over ft. Hezekiah (produced by Hezekiah)

9. Times Of Our Lives ft. Tommy Gunnz and Notion (produced by Remot)

10. Rainy Days ft. D-Shade (produced by P.R)

11. Where I Belong ft. Aria Zenua (produced by Shuko)

12. Really Real (Interlude) ft. Notion (produced by Trill)

13. Never Be Peace ft. Jermiside (produced by KidEight)

14. Nothing Into Something ft. iLLvibe & Notion (produced by Notion)

15. BrewHeads (produced by Dr. MaD)

Written by: Ariane Collman

Original article: http://montreal.ourcitygogo.com/articles/0414/cee-tells-us-this-is-all-i-know.html

or

Shortlink: http://montreal.ourcityradio.com/?p=2581

Visit: http://montreal.ourcitygogo.com/ and http://montreal.ourcityradio.com/

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Neil Holyoak

Neil Holyoak

Folk music with a message!

Taking his authentic sound all over town

Minutes after wandering into Barros Luco, a Chilean restaurant in the Mile End, I meet Neil Holyoak, a singer and guitar player who makes folk music. He's meek, unpretentious and best of all, on-time! We sit down and he suggests something to order.

Photo courtesy: Neil Holyoak

I'm extremely hungry, so I go big and order a burrito plate with rice and salad and he gets the house burger. While we wait for our food, we get to talking.

AC: How would you describe your current sound?

NH: Surrealist, 1970s influenced outlaw country. That's the kind of music that's felt the most alive to me the last few years. I was listening to a lot of country music, Townes Van Zandt, Hank Williams, David Allen Coe, and reading symbolist French poetry, Charles Beaudelaire, Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Eluard. I wanted to capture the sound of those old recordings, so I made my newest record at Breakglass Studios here in Montreal, on a 1970s Neve mixing board, to capture that sound.

AC: Do you play a lot of shows?

NH: Yes, a lot. I'm always trying to get shows lined up, once or twice a month. I've also been traveling to New York, Los Angeles, Toronto and Chicago. I just made a video in Hong Kong; In Montreal, I've played at Casa del Popolo, Le Cagibi, Divan Orange, Il Motore, La Sala Rossa and many other venues.

AC: What have you put out so far?

NH: Four records: "All These Mountains Look the Same" in 2007, "Holy Oak" in 2009, "Better Lions" in 2010, and the "Silver Boys EP" last year (2013).

Suddenly our food arrives and we take a moment to dig in. Then it occurs to me:

AC: Why Music?

NH: I feel like music is one of those things that you don't really choose to do, it kind of chooses you. I felt compelled. Listening to songs made me feel less alone as a kid, less disconnected from the world. I wanted to do the same thing, sharing the experience of life with people who felt disconnected or strange. I'd listen to The Smiths and Belle and Sebastian, English and Scottish bands, and they put me in a totally different mindset. I felt like I was there with them, in a different country, living through their lives and the stories they were telling. I'd relate the songs to my own life, and they validated the ways that I was feeling. I want to play music to give other people that same feeling of validation or acceptance. Like, "don't worry, you are never as strange or as alone as you may imagine yourself to be".

AC: When did you get your start? What was your first song?

NH: I started at 16 in California, then went to Montana then Colorado then settled in Montreal for the past 6 years. In Montana at 18, I was living in a halfway house. I wrote a song called "The Baron and Me" inspired by a German man who worked at a food bank with me and played the harmonica. He had a look in his eyes like he had a crazy story behind him.

AC: What's your fave song you've written and your fave to cover?

NH: From the new EP, 'Silver Boys' (the single). I enjoyed the process of recording it. We did it live at Hotel2Tango, and all stood around in a room, no headphones, watched each other, sang and played it. We'd never really done that before in a studio, where everyone played at the same time in the same room. I love the song "Only Him or Me", by Townes Van Zandt. It's one of those songs that really captures the sensation of time passing. Townes sings: "You're gonna drown tomorrow, if you cry too many tears for yesterday". I think it's pretty powerful. People can feel different in so many ways, and feel like they can't relate to one another, but everybody is here together, moving through time, excitement of youth turns to memory, we grow old and eventually die. The song is about capturing the joy of fleeting moments, not dwelling in the past, and everybody on Earth can understand that sentiment.

AC: What's been your most memorable gig?

NH: I played at this big dance hall in Colorado when I was 19. I was just starting to play and we (my band and myself) just sucked. I wasn't singing in tune, it was a big crowd of people that wanted to dance and it was a college thing. They kept telling us to stop playing and plug in the MP3 player and we were singing sad, slow folk songs, but we just kept singing. My buddy Anthony, who was playing trumpet in my band, finally jumped off stage and got into a fist fight with one of the frat guys. We didn't know what to do, so we just kept on playing. I was actually glad that he stood up for us because we were trying to do something, we just weren't doing it very well. After the show, one of the frat dudes came up to me and was like, "hey, nice show man". That made it all worthwhile.

AC: Wow, I'm afraid to ask but, what was your worst?

NH: I think that show in Colorado was probably my worst, but also the best.

AC: Any not so great moments here in Montreal?

NH: Well, my first or second winter. I didn't know the city or the scene and found it hard to focus.

AC: What makes making music worth it?

NH: Feeling like I'm connecting with people. A friend posted a song from YouTube on my Facebook wall that I didn't even upload and it had a ton of views. I read the YouTube comments and someone even wrote out all the lyrics and I was really touched by that. It wasn't even from my YouTube channel. It was pretty cool that strangers found  value in what I was doing.

AC: That's great! Where can people see you perform? Got any gigs coming up?

NH: On March 27th, at Peut être, a Polish friperie on Parc and Van Horne. It's a performance/EP release for a friend Nic Scribner, who plays guitar on the 'Silver Boys' EP and my unreleased album. After that I'm playing with S. Carey (the drummer in Bon Iver's band) at Il Motore on April 18th.

AC: Ooh, an unreleased album? When can we expect its release?

NH: I'll hopefully release the album this year, maybe later in the summer, on a record label or self-published. There'll also be a series of five (5) videos to be released as promos for the new record.

Many thanks to Neil Holyoak for this interview and to Barros Luco for that burrito plate, I was full for days! Sorry but for the first time in my life, I didn't take a pic of my food. Next time! :)

Neil and Tamara Sandor, a singer in his folk band

For more on Neil Holyoak, check out his music here on Our City Radio Montreal's Folk Station, his website, Bandcamp, Facebook and YouTube.

  Written by: Ariane Collman

Original article: http://montreal.ourcityradio.com/uncategorized/neil-holyoak

Shortlink: http://montreal.ourcityradio.com/?p=2522

Visit http://montreal.ourcityradio.com/ and http://ourcityradio.com/

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WELCOMING SMIZZY HURRYKANE

Our City Radio Montreal proudly welcomes Smizzy Hurrykane!

The young, lyrical and unapologetic rapper brings his style to Our City Radio Montreal and we're happy to welcome him!

GET FAMILIAR!

Smizzy Hurrykane - I Swear

'I Swear' is a single off his up-coming, independent, street album (produced by Smizzy Hurrykane and D6 Beats), which should be out soon.

Let us know if you're feeling Smizzy Hurrykane and look out for our ARTIST SPOTLIGHT on him, on our urban station.

Also, stay tuned to our urban station to hear his music!

Go ahead and connect with Smizzy Hurrykane on Facebook and  Twitter!

Written by: Ariane Collman

Original article: http://montreal.ourcityradio.com/music-news/welcoming-smizzy-hurrykane

Shortlink: http://montreal.ourcityradio.com/?p=2472

Visit http://montreal.ourcityradio.com/ and http://ourcityradio.com/

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He may not have been from or lived in Montreal but he performed here, so we give him a pass! Happy Bob Marley Day everyone! May his messages of peace and love live on through his timeless music! Get out your rasta hats and Reggae music and celebrate with us! #BobMarleyDay #OurCityRadio #OurCityRadioMontreal #Montreal #TbT

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FRO Festival 2014 #artists #makingtheinvisiblevisible #amazing #talent #art #youth #fourthwall #culture #african #roots #MontrealMuseumofFineArt #OurCityRadioMontreal #OurCityRadio #Montreal #urban

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FRO Festival 2014! #art #youth #culture #african #roots #MontrealMuseumofFineArt #OurCityRadioMontreal #OurCityRadio #Montreal #urban