BEAUGÉ SOLEIL SHARE NEW SINGLE EAGLEAIRE
WATCHTOWER EP OUT EARLY 2023 VIA PUBLIC RECORDS
Toronto, ON – November 24, 2022 – “Are you a person or a program?” asks Toronto-Ottawa-based duo, Beaugé Soleil (the collaborative soundchild of emcee/producer, Beaugé & singer/songwriter, Soleil). Born of a kinship sparked by a chance meeting at an open mic night, the duo invites listeners to lean into the question further on Eagleaire, the first single from their forthcoming EP, Watchtower, due early 2023 via Public Records. Bass-heavy production supports the bouncy beat of the track as Soleil's soulful vocals merge with Beaugé's poetic verses, as a reflection on ancestral lineage and foundations that fuel each step forward. Listen to Eagleaire here and read the lyrics here.
Inspired by various neo soul, hip-hop, jazz, blues & psych rock muses, Watchtower is a sonic experience that escapes its current landscape to create its own world. Produced by the enigmatic Ethics, multi-instrumentalist producer, Just Unlimited, and Beaugé (who is executive producer and mix engineer), Watchtower is comprised of a five-song journey featuring both duet and solo pieces showcasing each artist's dimensions, while adding depth to the vision that is "The Watchtower": music paying homage to those that paved the path without pantomiming the legends. Watchtower is a project made for heads that listen attentively, love deeply, live fully, share generously and connect consciously through rhymes, beats, and life. It is grounded on the world we live in and the conditions people are exposed to; the artists’ who have used their voice in the past that still echo today, and the idea that using our own voice can continue artistic tradition and build the future.
The EP draws from a highly collaborative process and workflow as a cumulative result of the duo's musical experiences and formation, which evolved through a chance meeting at an open mic night at Ottawa venue, Live On Elgin. Beaugé frequently performed at the event in anonymity upon returning to Ottawa to support his father. It served as a foundation to try new ideas and enabled him to reconnect with his birthplace and arts community. Listeners can expect to hear unique and contrasting sounds that form a subtle singularity, considering how different the collective are in their respective creative approach.
Watchtower is also inspired by the visual arts. Soleil, a talented illustrator, drew a portrait of Beaugé's father, which graces their studio wall to this day. The concept of forefathers and roots resonate throughout the EP as both artists explore the impact of those that paved a path and created before them, be it family, friends and artists they admire. Soleil shared illustrations she had been musing on with Beaugé, which led to the art direction for the EP; inspired by surrealist cartoon pieces and the overall vibe the duo felt creatively. The Eagleaire artwork was inspired by vinyl record covers for singles.
Read on about both artists and their respective works below, and stay tuned as the duo continue to take flight.
DOWNLOAD - Press Photo by Dwayne Graham | DOWNLOAD - Eagleaire Art
About Beaugé (pronounced Bo-J):
Identities are easy to lean into, especially when your personal adversity and traumas fit into the current overplayed tropes saturating music’s cultural fibre. Beaugé experienced the loss, incarceration, and fast living many artists glamourize today. This background informs the creative choices found in his music; it's why you won’t find him “flipping the coke” every other bar.
The son of respected Poet/Novelist and Haitian political exilé Jacqueline Beaugé Rosier; Dojo Bonski aka Beaugé has quietly built relationships while honing his sound with his team (Ethics Gallardo, Just Unlimited, Dwayne Graham). Beaugé’s continued ties to Junia T, Roshin, City Fidelia and the Toronto indie scene have grown his network considerably.
Recently returning to Toronto, Beaugé spent the recent years forming a great kinship within the local art communities in Ottawa and Montreal. It was during this time while caring for his father until his passing in 2020, that Beaugé met Soleil. After years of discouraging his artistic efforts, and famously advising him to become an electrician after viewing his televised performance, Beaugé’s father raved about his new music with Soleil. A week later he passed due to complications after a fluke accident.
Remaining active prior to and during the pandemic has seen Beaugé perform at Live On Elgin’s television broadcast via Rogers TV (2019), Kalmunity Music Week 2019 (Smif n Wessun), Bootlegger L'Authentique (2019), Live Sur Le Patio 2021 (Montreal QC), Junia-T & Friends (Longboat Hall) 2021. Fresh off the release of ODB featuring fellow Toronto artist, Tremayne (produced by Junia-T), Beaugé looks forward to sharing his latest project, Watchtower, a collaborative effort with Soleil. Music made with care and guided by lessons with love.
Beaugé: Website | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify | YouTube
Soleil’s music plays the muse for a fiercely passionate and vocal woman who finds solace in expressing her vulnerabilities and strong personality through the songs she writes. Soleil sings because she has always been singing, apparently oozing melodies since before she could talk.
Growing up in Hespeler Village, a small town in Ontario, Soleil’s path took her far from those roots. From reckless travelling (and other things that should remain off paper) to sporadic open mic jams, Soleil followed her desires until she made it back to her proudly queer, Métis, authentic self. She fell in love with university and held on to her passion for learning and creating. A songstress with a degree in philosophy, Soleil is balanced and pragmatic in her approach to her art.
Despite all her complexities, Soleil’s ability to find humour in any situation reflects the truly remarkable, yet playful essence of her voice. As she would put it, “I just can’t take myself seriously." Soleil met Beaugé at Live On Elgin, a staple in Ottawa’s art community. Their kinship grew slowly through the pandemic, through the loss of Beaugé's father, and was solidified with the portrait Soleil drew after their first studio session; an illustration of Dojo’s (Beaugé) father now framed and hanging on their studio wall.
Watchtower is the culmination of these events and the official beginning of Soleil and Beaugé’s journey. Soleil’s body of work includes collaborations with local peers and friends such as Snowbanks, Joby The Artist/Rich Grandpa, and Gio From Keppler 22.
In an era marked by artists trying to get clicks and clout, Soleil obsesses over takes, genuine feeling, and quality. Soleil, or Moon Frye, as Beaugé calls her.