POPGURU REVUE KICKS OFF OCTOBER 16 VIA REVOLUTION RECORDING IN TORONTO
FIRST PERFORMANCE BY JOHN ORPHEUS
WITH ADDITIONAL PERFORMANCES BY ODARIO,
SIMEON ROSS, SAM CASEY, TANDM AND ALEX EXISTS
THE WILDERNESS OF MANITOBA AND GHOST CARAVAN
Additional performances will include acclaimed artist, raconteur, actor and DJ, Odario, JUNO nominated Toronto band, The Wilderness of Manitoba, who will share recent works from their upcoming album, Farewell To Cathedral (out October 29 on Popguru Sound & Vision); rising Toronto-based singer-songwriter, Sam Casey; the multidisciplinary indie pop laden sounds of musician-actor-filmmaker, Simeon Ross, and the empowering songs of Ghost Caravan, a group of collaborators lead by singer/actress, Shaina Silver-Baird.
Founded in 1998 by A&R maverick Graham Stairs, Popguru Sound & Vision is a fully integrated music company that makes a difference. Its core business is artist management, but, as a diversified company, Popguru is involved in music publishing, two record label imprints and providing music for film, television and other media.
Prior to starting his own company, Stairs was a partner in Intrepid management and did A&R for Intrepid Records, Latitude Records and EMI Music Canada. He was involved with such seminal Canadian artists as Martha and the Muffins, the Rheostatics, National Velvet, Chalk Circle, Damhnait Doyle and Sandbox. He was also behind the soundtrack album for the film, Highway 61, and the Bruce Cockburn tribute album that gave the Barenaked Ladies their first national hit with Lovers In A Dangerous Time. To this day, it is still one of the most played songs on Canadian radio. More recently, Stairs did A&R for True North Records where he signed Catherine MacLellan, Hunter Valentine and Australian band, the Audreys.
The strength of any company is its artists and repertoire. Popguru subscribes to the philosophy of building a community and long-term careers for its artists. The company’s mandate is to develop content for the Canadian and international marketplaces. The business model uses diversification as a strategy to create and monetize content for the existing and next generation uses of music. Since reactivating Popguru in 2009, Stairs has signed Martha and the Muffins, Odario, Grand Analog, the Wilderness of Manitoba, John Orpheus, Ghost Caravan, producer/songwriter, Mike Schlosser, and Sam Casey for management. Stairs’ vision of the interdependencies between record labels, music publishers, management companies and licensing agencies is the reason that Popguru organizes all of them within the same company. This is Popguru’s response to the needs of artists today and into the future.
Popguru Revue Performance Schedule - stream via Popguru's YouTube Channel
October 16 – John Orpheus (electric set)
October 23 – Simeon Ross
October 30 – Sam Casey
November 6 – The Wilderness of Manitoba
November 13 – John Orpheus (acoustic set)
November 20 – Ghost Caravan
November 27 – Odario
December 4 – TANDM an Alex Exists
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Odario:
Odario is a storyteller, a hip-hop junkie and a lover of many musical soundscapes. He is embedded in the beat and submerged in the bass. His solo project expresses all of these qualities; tackling the many sides of "beat poetry." Odario is known for his work in Grand Analog (as songwriter and frontman). His distinctive voice and insightful lyrics have been part of the Grand Analog sound since their debut album, Calligraffiti, in 2007. As a performer and personality, Odario wears many hats and describes himself as a raconteur, an actor and a DJ. He currently hosts CBC Music’s afterdark program. As a founding member of Grand Analog, he has co-written the songs for three albums, three EPs and several singles; and been nominated for Sync Artist of the Year at the Canadian Sync Awards. Odario has also been featured on a number of other artist’s tracks including A Tribe Called Red single Ba Na Na with Haviah Mighty. In 2020, he released his debut solo single, Low Light (In This Space); opened for Bedouin Soundclash on the band’s cross-Canada tour and dropped his solo EP, Good Morning Hunter. He is currently recording tracks for a new single.
DOWNLOAD – Odario Press Photos
John Orpheus
Born and raised in South-Central Trinidad, John Orpheus is a multi-cultural musical artist and published author. For a year and a half, he had been writing his memoir called SAGA BOY which was published by Penguin Random House Canada on January 19, 2021 and was launched by Milkweed Editions in the US on September 14, 2021. With the book done, John decided to return to music and release a companion album entitled SAGA KING. Both the book and the album are based on similar themes: searching for home, family, love and a fly coat to wear when you get there! SAGA BOY is the journey of the boy. SAGA KING is the celebration of the man. His recently released single FELA AWOKE (I WILL MISS YOU) was the beginning of this new phase and introduced you to his deeply personal story. The next single, IG, was about “celebrating yourself and giving yourself all the love you deserve without asking permission.”
John Orpheus’ musical journey has taken him from the Caribbean bush to festivals across Canada and the US to opening for Liam Gallagher on a UK tour as the frontman for a Happy Mondays offshoot band. He combines hip-hop swagger, Afrobeat energy and dancehall charisma to create a sound built on big catchy hooks. John is known for his rabble-rousing live shows filled with audience participation, chanting and impromptu dance-offs that feel more like Caribana road parties than concerts. In September 2019, he released his debut album WEY YA CALL DAT TING, the culmination of a three year, four mixtape project that he used to develop and hone his unique sound. Produced and co-written by Mike Schlosser, the album and the standalone single ELECTRIC released in 2020 fulfilled his early promise with a noticeably more pop and upbeat vibe. “The world is a soulful, sound-splash, dance party. That's the sound I want to create."
DOWNLOAD – John Orpheus Press Photos
The Wilderness of Manitoba
After a three-year hiatus, The Wilderness of Manitoba have returned with a new line-up and a new album entitled Farewell To Cathedral. Founding member and singer/multi-instrumentalist Will Whitwham is joined by Victoria Carr on vocals and acoustic guitar, Tavo Diez de Bonilla (Jenn Grant) on bass and vocals, and Adam Balsam (The Most Serene Republic) on drums, vocals, guitar and keyboards. The group prefers to characterize itself as an evolving entity. Whitwham says, “I've always been a believer in fresh collaborations because everyone you meet influences your creative process in some way.” From the band’s inception, it has redefined itself with every new release; from Hymns of Love and Spirits through When You Left The Fire, Island of Echoes, Between Colours, Across The Dark and various EPs. The evolution of their sound has run the gamut from four-part harmonies and its initial chamber folk sound to duo lead vocals and an expanded sonic palette ranging from cinematic indie pop to anthemic folk rock.
In its twelve year existence, the Wilderness of Manitoba’s strengths come as a direct result of the wealth of traveling and playing the group has done. They have played the End of the Road Festival and Peter Gabriel’s WOMAD Festival in the UK and toured the UK, US, Netherlands, Canada and Germany with such artists as Aimee Mann, The Low Anthem, Lord Huron and Other Lives among others. Those efforts were recognized when the Wilderness of Manitoba was nominated for a JUNO and two Canadian Folk Music Awards.
DOWNLOAD – The Wilderness of Manitoba Press Photos
Sam Casey
Sam Casey grew up in a musical family, the third of five kids. They have been singing and playing music together for as long as she can remember. The Toronto-based singer/songwriter took guitar and vocal lessons for six years at Beyond The Beat music school whose focus is on artist development and producing original music. Sam began songwriting as journal entries. “I have been writing in journals since I was a child and, when I began learning the guitar, I started to think of some of those entries as lyrics to songs. The songs I am writing today mirror a lot of my past or present experiences whether it’s a break up, isolation, family issues, self-control or pure happiness. The most challenging aspect of songwriting is the vulnerability of the whole thing. I am putting my soul and feelings and heart into these songs and it is scary to put everything on the line.”
Sam listened to a lot of Fleetwood Mac as a child so Stevie Nicks’ voice was very enticing to her. She loves to dance and can imagine making music for people to dance to like inspirations Maggie Rogers and Dua Lipa. “I have learned so much from other artists. My most valuable take-away from songwriting is the ability to express my feelings. There is nothing in this world like writing a song that people can relate to and hold close. Hearing the reactions of fans to the honesty in the lyrics is the best gift that I could ever receive in this life.” One of her goals is to be able to connect with and learn from as many people as possible. Sam is passionate about her songwriting. She would love to expand her musical abilities, play for audiences around the world and make connections with different musicians while learning from different cultures. She is currently working on an EP with UK producer Joe Thompson.
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Simeon Ross
Simeon Ross has proven himself to be a talented and tireless pop songwriter having written and released more than 10 albums as a solo artist and with various bands including Red Autumn Fall, Charmer, Infighter, Shoot The Image and Uniter. Shoot The Image’s album was produced by Boz Boorer (Morrissey/Adam Ant) at his studio in the mountains of Portugal. About his music, Simeon says, “You got to put in the time. Do not make excuses for not doing the work. All those hours and days I put into music mattered. You got to practice, write and record.” The songs on his most recent EP, Westmount, have been described as “often hopeful and full of bright choruses." His indie pop sound has enabled him to share stages with artists such as Oasis, Rheostatics, Fast Romantics and 54-40 among others. A graduate of the Toronto Film School, Simeon recently won an award for the innovative video for his song All Of You which he directed, wrote and produced himself.
DOWNLOAD – Simeon Ross Press Photos
Ghost Caravan
Ghost Caravan is a group of collaborators lead by singer/actress Shaina Silver-Baird. On her debut album and various singles released since, Silver-Baird has collaborated with members of Martha and the Muffins, Grand Analog and the Weeknd. Silver-Baird says, “My music is about finding the light, the moment when you realize your own strength and ability to move forward. I want to be proud to share our songs with young women. There are so many voices in the world telling women how to think and feel about themselves. I want to be the voice that celebrates women. I want to empower and uplift people.”
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TANDM
TANDM is a Toronto-based Indie Pop band consisting of Thomas Franklin on drums and Maxine Beck-Sinderby on vocals and guitar. Serendipitously, the duo met at a music studio in high school. Maxine's distinctive vocals and catchy reverb-filled guitar riffs are driven forward by the energy of Thomas’s dynamic drum flourishes. Musical talent runs in Maxine’s family as her uncles are Jason Beck known to the world as recording artist Chilly Gonzalez and Christophe Beck, the prolific Hollywood film composer whose work includes Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Frozen, Frozen II and Ant-Man. Thomas honed his craft studying with international jazz drummers Bill Ransom and Anthony Michelli. TANDM’s songs tell complex stories of the bittersweet personal pleasures and conflicts experienced in young adulthood. Their music creates a memorable experience for the audience that echoes long after the first listen. After releasing two EPS in 2019 and a single in 2020, TANDM is currently working on new music for release in 2022.
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Alex Exists
A founding member of both The Ruby Spirit and The Nursery, Alex Exists started his foray into music at the tender age of eight when he wrote and recorded his first songs (and noisy experiments) using the family’s home karaoke machine. Its two tape decks and record functions were used to overdub and build songs with Alex recording with every instrument he could get his hands on. On the heels of The Ruby Spirit breaking up, Alex started writing and performing his songs with the Nursery. Their debut album, Life After Wartime, was awarded Best Independent Rock/Pop Band in Canada by Indie 88 in 2018. The station described the album as “a complex record that explores numerous themes such as our society’s obsession with technology, fame and nostalgia”. That same year, the band was awarded Best Music Video for Digital Ashes by the Toronto Independent Music Awards. Alex’s music is inspired by absurdism, hyper surrealism and optimistic nihilism with an acid tongue planted firmly in his cheek. He is fascinated by pop culture and ego. His new project, Alex Exists, launches with a reimagined version of The Nursery song, Everybody’s Famous (Except Me), featuring Aarys. Alex played all of the instruments on the track except drums. The signature of his creative work is the way he makes the intrinsically personal feel normal. Currently residing in Toronto, Alex owns Audio Ritual, a production studio, where, in addition to recording his music, he is involved in music composition, video production and mixed media.
DOWNLOAD – Alex Exists Press Photos