Sous les projecteurs: Shawn Hook

Article par Tiana Feng | lundi 12 dcembre 2011

Les traductions pour les articles avant l’automne 2013 ne sont pas disponibles pour le moment.

Shawn Hook (formerly Hlookoff) is a seriously talented guy. At 27, the former resident of Nelson, B.C. is already an accomplished songwriter, producer and musician. He has seen his songs appear on hit national TV shows, he runs his own charitable organization (called Live 2 Give), and he even held a Guinness World Record (for standing on an exercise ball for the longest time). What could be next?

“I still have the dream and the passion that I had when I first started playing music” says Hook. “It’s always been to create music and engage a global audience, just like the bands and artists I looked up to as a kid”.

He is currently working with producer Jon Levine (Philosopher Kings, Nelly Furtado, Esthero) on his first full-length album, entitled Cosmonaut And The Girl. Featuring the lead single “Every Red Light,” the album is due out in the New Year. Expect big things from Shawn Hook.

Photo par Caroline Desilets

ECHO Songwriting Prize winner Katie Moore

Article par Kerry Doole | samedi 24 dcembre 2011

Les traductions pour les articles avant l’automne 2013 ne sont pas disponibles pour le moment.

She recently won SOCAN’s prestigious 2011 ECHO Songwriting Prize, but that certainly hasn’t gone to Katie Moore’s head. The self-deprecating, Montreal-based, roots songstress says « it’d be sad if I thought ‘Wake Up Like This’ was the best song written in Canada this year, ‘ca>use I’m sure it’s not. »

But that tune, taken from her current, highly-acclaimed sophomore album Montebello, does, in fact, showcase Moore’s compositional craftsmanship, as well as the pure vocals that are her trademark. Moore does call the ECHO victory (over such strong contenders as Arcade Fire and Handsome Furs) « very flattering. I’m in the process of trying to become a good songwriter, so it’s nice to get this nod of encouragement that I’m on the right track.”

Her potential was apparent on 2007 debut album Only Thing Worse. Moore’s records seamlessly incorporate elements of folk, bluegrass, alt-country and Americana, while she’s also found herself in demand by artists working outside these genres, including Patrick Watson, Socalled, Gonzales, and Plants and Animals.

« Gonzales and Socalled are always making me do things I think I can’t do, » says Moore. « If I only played by myself, I don’t think I’d grow at all, so that’s been instrumental to my musical growth. » She calls this outside work « a good complement… Mostly, it’s just great to be busy all the time. »

Usually the melody and lyrics come at the same time. »

Moore likes varying her songwriting methods. « I try to find different instruments, » she says. » The song ‘Montebello’ was written on a ukulele I’d bought when I was on tour because it’s a little instrument. I got a piano about two years ago so I started writing on that. Mostly it happens on the guitar. I don’t have any real musical training, so I just fumble around with chords until I sing a melody. Usually the melody and lyrics come at the same time. »

The singer laughingly recalls that her first writing experiments consisted of « taking people’s melodies, changing a word or two, and thinking I’d made a major artistic achievement. I re-wrote the words to a Rod Stewart song because I was madly in love with him. I felt a huge surge of emotion from doing it. Maybe that’s when I caught the bug! »

Track Record
• Moore grew up in Hudson, Quebec, just outside Montreal. She knew fellow Hudsonian Patrick Watson from an early age.
• The $5,000 ECHO prize money has already been earmarked for the recording of her third album. « As an independent musician I always need to come up with ways to finance a new album. I don’t have to this time! » she says.
• She is now working on writing songs in French. « I’m proficient in French but not creative in it, so it’s an interesting challenge. »

Entertainment One’s Aideen O’Brien

Article par Christopher Taylor Jones | lundi 12 dcembre 2011

Aideen O’Brien is a smiling example of the adage, “you make your own luck.”

In April 2010, O’Brien assumed her latest gig as Director of Music Supervision and Publishing at Entertainment One in Toronto, a job that didn’t exist until eOne CEO Darren Throop created it for her.
Her new position is at least partly the result of O’Brien’s never-say-die approach. After losing her gig as Director of BMG Music Publishing Canada, following approval of the sale of the company to Universal Music in 2008, O’Brien pieced together a life as a freelancer working in music supervision and management.

“I thought that if I couldn’t create a job for myself then I didn’t deserve to work in this creative industry,” she recalls. “So I started doing what I could and I suppose in hindsight it helped that I was able to finish out my term on the CMRRA and CARAS boards.”

« eOne already has a huge publishing catalogue on the TV side, so we’re trying to activate that. »

O’Brien was friendly with fellow CARAS board member Throop: “We’d chat and I’d make suggestions for growing his business,” remembers O’Brien. “I think those chats stimulated his ideas for how to integrate the company a little better through music.”

Entertainment One was born on the music side but deftly diversified into television production and film distribution. With offices in Canada, the U.K., and the U. S., the company has become a leading independent across all media.

And now with a bona fide publisher on board, eOne is focused on pulling the musical threads of all its operations together. Says O’Brien, “The various divisions are all very good at what they do, but the film guys weren’t thinking about the record label guys and the label guys weren’t thinking about the TV guys. Music is the one thing they all have in common. Now, we’re doing deals with film production companies, for example, where we can administer their publishing as well as distributing the movie, so the different sides of the business are crossing over.”

“eOne already has a huge publishing catalogue on the TV side so we’re trying to activate that so the works can be re-used,” continues O’Brien. “I’m working on digitizing the catalogue and finding a market for it.”

In typical fashion, O’Brien isn’t slipping into complacency now that she’s got a steady gig. She’s taking business classes at the University of Toronto to keep her skills and credentials current.
Ultimately, what she loves about Entertainment One is the energy of the place. “The staff is fabulous,” she enthuses. “It’s a very creative environment. The people are highly qualified and everyone is there because they want to be there, it’s not like some places where people just show up for the paycheque.”