If you ask DJ duo Loud Luxury what the rest of 2018 has in store for them, they’ll inevitably give you this response: “Very little sleep.” That’s for a good reason, though: since late last year, Andrew Fedyk and Joe DePace – who first met at Western University in London, ON – have been riding an unstoppable wave of success thanks to their hit single, “Body.”
The wildly popular song, which transforms hip-hop artist Brando’s vocal tracks – the duo describes the original take as “way slower, and was intended to be a hip-hop-type, strip-club anthem” – into an amped-up club stomper. To date, the song’s been streamed more than 40 million times, and its music video has earned more than 12 million views.
“We should be clear that we never expected it to be a hit,” they say. But this experience has only re-affirmed their musical instincts, driving home a big lesson: “Stick with the songs that feel special to you and your team,” they say. “Even if no one else believes in it, you’re not crazy, and you should fight for what you think the world needs to hear.”
“Body” only marks the beginning of what looks to be a career filled with more hits. Prior to the song’s takeoff, the duo were prominently featured on Martin Garrix’s remix EP for their take on his song, “Scared to be Lonely.”
Now based in Los Angeles, a city that Fedyk and DePace praise for being a “melting pot for music and, arguably, for the world,” Loud Luxury is excited to continue making more music, both as a duo and with more collaborators. “We think the best music comes from the most unpredictable collaborations,” they explain. They do have a dream list of artists they’d love to work with though, which includes Ed Sheeran, PartyNextDoor and Starrah.
In the meantime, Fedyk and DePace just want to “show people we aren’t a one-trick pony.” With two more singles scheduled to come out this summer, Loud Luxury are ready to show fans more. As they tease, “We’ve barely scratched the surface.”
In the Spotlight: BARKLEY
Story by Melody Lau | Tuesday July 17th, 2018
Susie Yankou couldn’t choose between screenwriting and music, so she just “threw everything at the wall” to see what would stick. And while the former brought the Toronto-born artist to Los Angeles for film school, it was ultimately the latter that took off faster. So, Yankou now focuses full-time on songwriting and performing under the moniker of BARKLEY – though she admits that “both will always be part of my life.”
As a songwriter, Yankou channels her storytelling skills to write conversational lyrics, as she does on her latest single, “3AM,” a synth-pop anthem about an unattainable lover. “I always really loved writing dialogue,” she explains. That style of plain-spoken honesty and narrative-building has paid off so far, especially when combined with musically infectious hooks and Yankou’s gorgeously soaring vocals.
BARKLEY honed her writing skills at SOCAN’s Kenekt Song Camp while living in L.A., and calls her move to the city “legitimately life-changing.” She says her short time there felt like “writing songs in paradise” and, most importantly, it taught her “to just let yourself be in awe of the talent around you, and to follow people’s ideas.”
While her own instincts are an integral part of the process, her time writing with others has hammered home a lesson she learned from the song camp. “The song is only as good as the weakest writer in the room,” she says. “I’ve learned to come prepared to sessions, but also not be precious about my ideas. My number one rule is probably to let the best idea win and to not have an ego about where it came from. If the song is great, that’s a win for everyone.” And so far, BARKLEY is definitely winning.
Ragers: A New Era
Story by Olivier Boisvert-Magnen | Monday July 9th, 2018
Growing from rock and punk roots, Montréal’s hip-hop combo Ragers opens a new chapter in its career with Raw Footage, a debut album tailor-made for their high-octane live shows.
Ever-present as a featured guest of the preceding three EPs, rapper Billy Eff has now joined the ranks of official member, alongside guitarist Jake Prévost, drummer Jay Prévost and bassist Phil Marcoux-Gendron. This formalization perfectly embodies the changes the band has undertaken since signing their first record contract, last winter, with Montréal’s electronic label Saboteur Records.
“We wanted an album with more vocals, so the guys needed me to be more involved,” says Billy Eff. “Jake also wanted to get back to writing lyrics and singing, something he hadn’t done in a very long time. So he came to me with his lyrics and I coached him.”
“It was a nice, creative back-and-forth with Billy. We learned a lot from each other,” says Jake Prévost, who was back behind the mic for the first time since folding Duke Squad, the pop-rock outfit that he led alongside his two other Ragers partners. “I mostly needed help to give my lyrics some structure, ‘cause otherwise, as far as choruses go, we’re good. Our background is mostly hook songs.”
“And that’s precisely where I struggle a little more,” says Eff. “I come from a punk background with chorus-less songs.”
For Jake, this period of re-learning wasn’t a cakewalk. “It was fuckin’ hard,” he says. “I put a lot of pressure on myself. I’m a very reserved person in life, so I was filled with self-doubt. Can I fully assume my lyrics? Am I still able to put my emotions into words? With a bit of perspective, I feel I’ve succeeded, even though it’s only the beginning.”
On Alright, a house-funk bombshell co-written with Valaire, Jake sings about the end of a long relationship, but from the reverse perspective, “as if I was begging her instead of the opposite.” Thanks to his satirical persona of a rapper based on a pastiche of Pusha T, “who brags about selling truffles rather than blow,” Billy Eff also gives himself room for introspection. Most notably on “All I Need,” where he opens up about his own suicide attempt in 2015. “It really forced me out of my rap comfort zone,” he says. “It almost felt like I was going back to an emotional punk formula, which is what I listed to as a teen.”
“As a matter of fact, I think it’s when you don’t feel entirely at ease with what you’re writing that you tap something powerful, says Jake. “I find it inspiring to be far from my comfort zone.”
On “Fools,” both writers reflect on the virtual relationships that are modifying our personalities, day after day. “There’s no message per se, but it is a dialogue on the struggle between the real self and the virtual self,” says Eff. “Like, my Instagram account is nothing but pictures of me with my DJ friends, and pictures of me with bottles of natural wine… And I wanted to reconcile that image with the person I really am,” says Eff, who also makes a living importing wine and producing content for VICE Québec.
On that same song, his buddy pleads with spontaneity, and a little bitterness. “I wrote that at a time when I felt that a lot of people weren’t ‘getting’ Ragers,” says Jake. “As if, because there’s such an overabundance of stuff on the web, people don’t care about the quality of the music anymore. Our projects are always professionally mixed, we collaborate with some of Montréal’s best rappers… But we don’t always get the credit we’re due! You can feel those emotions in my verse.”
After breaking onto the Montréal hip-hop scene in 2015 with their caustic first EP Chapters, Ragers underwent a clear artistic evolution over the course of their next two EPs, Unum (2016), a slightly toned-down affair, and the very sunny Joshua (2017). The original three rapidly left behind the shiny masks they proudly wore early on, and had to double down on building their audience, which was struggling a little to keep up with their new image and constantly evolving style.
“From day one, the struggle was always getting people to ‘get’ Ragers,” says Jake. “We were recently asked if we still wear our masks, even though it’s been two years since we stopped wearing them. But little by little, I feel like people are starting to ‘get’ what we’re putting out there, even though there’s still work to do. Having two frontmen will help for sure, and this album is a great calling card to let everyone know where we’re at.”
Much more varied in its sounds and influences, this fourth effort was, as usual, guided by the camaraderie that exists between the three Saint-Hubert natives, who’ve been playing together for more than a decade. For drummer Jay Prévost, the end result is a portrait of their instinctivefusion: “The album is very diverse,” says Jay, “but it’s not like we tried to make it that way. There are dance-ier moments and other very smooth ones, which is ideal for the pacing of a live show.”
“It’s very different from Joshua, which we recorded in L.A.,” says Jake. “It was a great album to listen to on a road trip, but it was hard to play live. Raw Footage is much more like our journey between Paris, L.A. and Montréal.”
In other words, this album is the perfect representation of the journey of a band who has always judiciously used its contacts abroad. Most notably, Jamie Di Salvio (Bran Van 3000’s frontman) and Jean-Michel Lapointe (owner of L.A.’s Owl Foot Ranch studio, and ex-member of The Couch Potatoes), as well as the support of Parisian engineer Vincent Hervineau, and Montréal-based mixer Seb Ruban.
“Yeah, the internet is a great tool to have your music travel,” says Jake, “but nothing beats meeting people in person, shaking hands and presenting your project. Word of mouth is still very powerful.”