"I still have my ticket stub from Lady Gaga’s Fame Ball tour when she played Metropolis in Montreal on March 28, 2009. It was right around the time she released 'Poker Face' and really started to explode, so it was one of the last times you could see her in an intimate venue like that. And as an emerging artist, she had no budget back then, and I remember between songs she would lie down in the fog and pretend to disappear and we were like, 'Umm, we can still see you!' It was delightfully low-fi."
"I should probably start with the DJing and the music production, but right now I'm all about escapism. I feel like it's fairly likely the world as we know it is going to end soon — maybe Trump, maybe some kind of massive social upheaval caused by decades of unchecked neoliberal capitalism — so I'm trying to just enjoy stuff like food, my partner, my friends, and my consumer electronics."
"I was blessed enough to work with Aaliyah and her choreographer, Fatima, on a dance scene in the film Romeo Must Die. Being so young, the cast as well as directors didn't mind me chilling all day on set with each of them."
"I Saw Sigur Rós at the Greek theater in Berkeley about eight years ago, and it was an incredible show. When they began playing their final encore, the drums were pounding and at the exact moment they released confetti it started to pour rain. Everyone screamed out of joy and people's faces were turing pink and yellow and orange because of the confetti that was getting wet. I cried, it was pure magic. When I think about it I still get goosebumps."
“I see music as a language. Before I saw it as a thing. When I go to a show, I look at the person and I’m like, ‘what are you trying to tell me? What’s your story?’ But it’s deep because you can do it through rhythms and through melodies and it’s a really complex language.”
"My favourite concert of all time was Bruce Springsteen a few years ago. It was at the Skydome. The dome was down on a beautiful hot summer evening, with the Toronto cityscape lit up in the background. Everyone knew every song. He played for 4+ hours, we were surrounded by mega fans. It was pure magic. He's a legend. "
"Since I associate cooking with an old-school domesticated practice, I like to really tune into that with the music I play — anything from classical (there’s this super lame and oddly enjoyable playlist on Spotify called ‘Instrumental Study’ and it’s essentially my go-to as I spiralize cucumbers), to jazz (again, I pick a playlist that screams elevator music and hit go), or I’ll put on my greatest fallback, CBC Radio 2, and see what musical goodness they have in store for me."
"I still have my ticket stub from Lady Gaga’s Fame Ball tour when she played Metropolis in Montreal on March 28, 2009. It was right around the time she released 'Poker Face' and really started to explode, so it was one of the last times you could see her in an intimate venue like that. And as an emerging artist, she had no budget back then, and I remember between songs she would lie down in the fog and pretend to disappear and we were like, 'Umm, we can still see you!' It was delightfully low-fi."
"I should probably start with the DJing and the music production, but right now I'm all about escapism. I feel like it's fairly likely the world as we know it is going to end soon — maybe Trump, maybe some kind of massive social upheaval caused by decades of unchecked neoliberal capitalism — so I'm trying to just enjoy stuff like food, my partner, my friends, and my consumer electronics."
"I Saw Sigur Rós at the Greek theater in Berkeley about eight years ago, and it was an incredible show. When they began playing their final encore, the drums were pounding and at the exact moment they released confetti it started to pour rain. Everyone screamed out of joy and people's faces were turing pink and yellow and orange because of the confetti that was getting wet. I cried, it was pure magic. When I think about it I still get goosebumps."
“The first music I ever listened to was on tape cassette. Somewhere I still have the tapes I stole from my brother -- Cooleyhighharmony and Arrested Development's Mr. Wendal. There is something evocative in the sound of a tape that brings back to me the time and space and familial relations of those listening experiences."
"I hang out with the people I love because it brings me joy. I will do something nice for the person I love because it brings me joy. It can be selfish or selfless, and it can still bring you joy. It's about being honest with yourself and pursuing the right path for yourself. That is what will ultimately fulfill you. This pursuit of joy is, I feel, what drives most of us, and I think it's at the root of why we're all here."
