Photo by Brad Ardley

SOCAN Foundation, CSHF hold 2023 Indigenous Song Camp

Story by Howard Druckman, with files from / avec la participation de Julien Boumard Coallier | Monday November 6th, 2023

PHOTO GALLERY BELOW

The SOCAN Foundation and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame were pleased and proud to hold their second annual Indigenous Song Camp, presented by Amazon Music, at the downtown Tkaronto/Toronto creative hub Kilometre House, Oct. 23-26, 2023. It’s Canada’s only music program solely dedicated to supporting the songwriting and storytelling of emerging Indigenous artists.

Over the course of a four-day creative journey, 17 Indigenous and non-Indigenous songwriters, artists, and producers came together to explore new writing styles, develop new working relationships, and create a positive community experience. The camp allowed participants to expand their networks, while creating new songs in an inspiring setting, and presenting their work at an industry listening session.

The selected participants came from across the country, and represented a wide variety of musical styles. This cohort included:

The camp participants were mentored by hit songwriters, producers, and music publishers Jenna Andrews and Stephen Kirk; Kim Wheatley, an Anishinaabe Ojibway grandmother from the Shawanaga First Nations Reserve; Sākihiwē Festival Director Alan Greyeyes; and Melissa Somosky, Senior Content Acquisition Manager, Amazon Music. The camp was facilitated by Melissa Cameron-Passley, Noah Mirotta, Jess Persadie, and Cole Wilson, all of the Kilometre Music Group; Britt Ralph, of the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame; and Julien Boumard-Coallier, of The SOCAN Foundation.

“This felt like one of the best experiences I’ve had – both musically and on a personal level,” said camp participant Justine Tyrell. “You created a fun, productive and safe space for all of us to really show up to do great work, form friendships, community, and find colleagues that will last long beyond this week. As a songwriter and an artist, I feel like you set us up to be successful, and helped put real-life, tangible opportunities in front of us. These are the experiences and building blocks that genuinely make a difference, and help us sharpen our tools in the work we do, and carry us further in our careers.”

“I’m super-happy that the sākihiwē festival is able to support this incredible opportunity for Indigenous songwriters in Canada,” said camp mentor Alan Greyeyes. “We’re proud to work with the SOCAN Foundation and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame to support the amazing work that songwriters, artists, and producers created at this years’ Indigenous Song Camp,” said John Murphy, Head of camp presenter Amazon Music and Podcasts in Canada.

Photo by Eric Myre. Left to right/De gauche à droite : Kanen, Alexandra Stréliski, Daniel Bélanger

ADISQ 2023: Three Félix Awards each for Daniel Bélanger, Alexandra Stréliski and Kanen

Story by Eric Parazelli | Monday November 6th, 2023

The televised ADISQ Gala was presented on Sunday, Nov. 5, 2023, and the host, Louis-José Houde, announced that he was retiring, after his 18th consecutive year at the helm of the event. Daniel Bélanger won two more trophies during the evening, making him the overall “winningest” artist this year, with a total of five Félix Awards. Winning Male Artist of the Year and the prestigious Songwriter of the Year trophy at this 45th edition placed him at the top of the podium. Alongside him were Alexandra Stréliski – who won both Female Artist and Artist of the Year, and Artist of the Year – International Outreach – and Kanen, who won Indigenous Artist of the Year and Revelation of the Year, becoming the first-ever Indigenous artist to win in the latter category.

SOCAN, Interview, Salebarbes, ADISQ Gala, 2023

Select the image to play the SOCAN YouTube interview video with Salebarbes

In the Song of the Year category, decided by a mixed vote from industry representatives and the general public, fans of the supergroup Salebarbes certainly played a role in selecting “Gin à l’eau salée” as the winning song. Visibly delighted by this accolade, the artists spoke with Paroles & Musique for a few minutes in the press room to share their pride.

The Félix for Show of the Year went to the tireless and perennially relevant Michel Rivard, for his show “Le tour du bloc,” celebrating the 50th Anniversary of his career. While receiving his honour, Rivard invited 11 musicians to accompany him onstage.

Ginette Reno, who was part of a surprising opening number that found her singing with the rapper FouKi, among others, unsurprisingly walked away with the Félix for Album of the Year – Popular Success. Undoubtedly one of Québec’s favourite bands, Les Cowboys Fringants, won for Group of the Year. Louis-José Houde dedicated the gala to the band’s singer, Karl Tremblay, currently battling cancer. The rest of the band members, in attendance on Sunday evening, said they were touched by all the affection they’ve received throughout the past year from their fellow members of the Québec music industry, but above all, by their army of fans. “We’ve always said there are 20 Cowboys when you include our musicians and crew. This year, we found out there are eight million Cowboys,” said bassist Jérôme Dupras.

Gala ADISQ 2023, Loud, Raccoon, MuzionThe gala also featured several outstanding performances from SOCAN members Patrick Norman and Martine St-Clair, as well as Revelation of the Year nominees Bibi Club, Calamine, Francis Degrandpré, Kanen, and Jeanick Fournier, as well as Alexandra Stréliski and Daniel Bélanger, Clay and Friends, and Pierre Kwenders, Maten and Black Bear, and Salebarbes. The evening concluded with a nod to the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, featuring Loud and Raccoon, who were joined by very special guests Muzion, to deliver their 1999 unifying anthem “La vi ti nèg.”

Eric Parazelli and Marie-Michèle Bouchard of SOCAN’s Communications & Marketing team were on the red carpet and in the press room to gather impressions from the nominees and winners, while CEO Jennifer Brown, Chairman of the Board Marc Ouellet, Chief Membership Officer Jean-Christian Céré, Chief Legal Officer Andrea Kokonis, Executive Director of Québec Affairs Alexandre Alonso and Creative & Partnership Executive Sara Dendane also attended the gala, demonstrating their unwavering support for members of the SOCAN family.

For a complete list of winners, visit the ADISQ website. Stay tuned for our backstage interviews from the Premier Gala and the ADISQ Gala.

Photo by Brad Ardley. Left to right/De gauche à droite : Stephan Moccio, Gagan Singh

Stephan Moccio shares demo recordings, stories, insights at Masterclass

Story by Howard Druckman | Thursday November 2nd, 2023

In a wide-ranging, free-form discussion, Grammy- and Academy Award-nominated songwriter, composer, producer, pianist, and recording artist Stephan Moccio shared his demo recordings, stories, and insights with a crowd of about 100 aspiring music creators and music ecosystem representatives, at a Masterclass presented by The Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame (CSHF), on Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023, at the CBC’s Glenn Gould Studio in downtown Toronto.

Moccio was joined by SOCAN Creative Executive, Film/TV & Visual Media, Gagan Singh, who moderated the event, which was co-presented by RBC Emerging Artists, in association with Ontario Creates, and supported by SOCAN and SOCAN Foundation.

Moccio played recordings that illustratively segued from the solo-piano-and-voice demo versions of his most famous music to the final recordings of it, including those for “Wrecking Ball” by Miley Cyrus, “Earned It” by The Weeknd, “A New Day Has Come” by Céline Dion, and “Daylight Saving” by Seal. He also demonstrated the evolution of those compositions – and others, including the Rogers Sports Network themes for NHL Hockey and Blue Jays Baseball, and the CTV theme for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics – by playing snippets of them on a grand piano, in the various styles assumed as he developed them.

Among the stories he shared was the one about how he co-wrote “Wrecking Ball” with Sacha Skarbek and Maureen “Mozella” McDonald. “Mozella was supposed to get married, but she called off the wedding that week, and almost didn’t show up to the writing session,” said Moccio. “Sacha had the pre-chorus idea, and we came up with the verse, but we were stuck for the chorus.” Moccio presented a delicate melody for it, that was later turned into big, dramatic piano chords. “Mozella spent the next three hours completing the lyrics for it, which was painful… She played it for her friend Miley Cyrus, who was going through her own breakup, and Miley loved it… My piano, which Mozella originally sang to, ended up being the final piano on Miley’s recording.”

Moccio also told the story of how, while studying at the University of Western Ontario, he attended a Céline Dion concert, introduced himself to her manager René Angélil, and asked to meet Dion. Backstage, he boldly told the singer that he planned to write her a hit song. Exactly a decade later, Moccio – with Aldo Nova – co-wrote Dion’s “A New Day Has Come,” a record-breaking hit that topped the Hot AC charts for 21 weeks in 2002, and was the title song of both her album and Las Vegas residency show.

Moccio said that passion and dedication are required to fulfill and complete that kind of 10-year artistic vision. As with “A New Day Has Come,” when he was inspired by David Foster’s theme for the Calgary 1988 Winter Olympics theme, he was determined to compose one as well – and 22 years later, he did. The same passion and dedication was in effect for the first TV theme he landed, for CTV’s the Camilla Scott Show. The 26-year-old Moccio was working three daily jobs – one as a house producer at Sony/ATV Music Publishing Canada, and two as a lounge-bar pianist, at both the Four Seasons Hotel and Centro Restaurant in Toronto – when he cold-called a CTV producer and asked about pitching a theme song. When they agreed to give him a shot, he spent countless late-night hours recording, and endlessly refining, his demo in a small, camped apartment. But when it was accepted, his first SOCAN cheque after that was for about $17,000 – which he promptly re-invested into his career.

Moccio was at pains to explain that despite what it might look like, he’s had far more “misses” than hits. As an illustrative example, he played three different, high-end video commercials, with three different musical variations of his theme – all created independently, at his own considerable expense –  that he pitched to Air Canada for a huge branding campaign. Despite a great reaction at the pitch meeting, the company ended up not using it.

Among Moccio’s best insights and advice to music creators:

  • “Make sure your melody is reduced to the minimum amount of information required to get it across.”
  • “Achieving your dreams will depend on your ability to fund them.”
  • “Screen composing can provide invisible support for a pop music career.”
  • “Go get what you need; nobody’s going to give it to you.”
  • “Your audience will feel it if you’re making music for the right reasons.”
  • “Believe, believe, believe in yourself, and keep on doing it.”