By Sinejan Ozaydemir
Last weekend, Canada Celebrated their very own musical talent at The JUNO Awards in London. There were many exciting events and performances and celebrations. Here are a few of the highlights from the weekend:
Spotlight on Producers and engineers
One of my favourite parts of JUNOs weekend is the Producer/Engineer panel that happens each year. It is an amazing opportunity to not only hear stories from the studio but also celebrate the talented producers and engineers that work tirelessly to create the many hits we hear on the radio and stream daily. All the artists who are nominated appreciate their teams, but one mention at the Gala awards was quite aligned with what was discussed at the Stories From the Studio Panel. After winning Rock album of the Year, the Arkells spoke in the media room about Eric Ratz, their producer who won Jack Richardson Producer of the Year. They mentioned how he and all producers are “musical translators” or “social workers” who gather ideas from the room and are able to put it all together in a magical way.
Some takeaways from the panel were:
Always try to be the hardest working guy/girl in the room and try not to be defeated when you take a loss and not get too high when the wins come. Put your head down and do great work, it doesn’t matter who you are working with, do the best you can every time.
Keep your focus on the artist, don’t let the chatter of the managers or record people take over
It’s all about the artist, when you work with a compelling artist that can perform well, and who is going to connect with people, a part of your job is to realize who you want to work with and once you find an artist like that, to understand when to get out of the way and help elevate what they are trying to create. Sometimes it takes 10, 20, 30 bad songs before you get one good song.
Every presence in the studio counts: Feeling comfortable with even the smallest employee running around in the studio is very important for the overall experience and work flow. Flexibility is key/find your flow: remember every artist you work with will have a different work flow.
Must chase the most authentic and most compelling talent you can find to work with : not just the person in front of the mic but also the songwriters and producers and the engineers.
Create a team. Don’t worry about trying to work with the biggest act out there. As you grow as a team, people will reach out to you.
The electronic album of the year nominees and winners
Milk & Bone took home the 2019 JUNO for Electronic Album of the Year for their album ‘Deception Bay’. The album contains some intimate topics, thoughts and experiences. The ladies shared with us how it was a bit less scary to release the album into the world after having the opportunity to work together on the music. They talked about how being a part of a duo rather than being a solo artist gives them strength. They want to encourage other female electronic artists that are in the process of developing their sound to trust themselves and do their thing! They explain how they still sometimes have worries and doubts but they suggest that trusting yourself as a young artist, as early as possible in your career will help greatly! We had a chance to chat with the ladies on the red carpet about their win and JUNOs experience:
