SOUND WAVES MUSIC MEETING

Registration Now Open for Artist-Focused Meetup

June 23-25, 2022 at the West End Cultural Centre


We’re ready to dive into the music business this summer with  Sound Waves Music Meeting (SWMM), our new artist-focused meetup! Running June 23 - 25 in Winnipeg, the event will host music industry mentors from across Canada and beyond for specialized masterclasses, interactive performance coaching, discussion groups, panels, and networking, including dedicated programming for Francophone artists. Scroll down for the schedule!

SWMM is an opportunity for the local music community to learn from a cross-section of experts and peers, build new connections, and share experiences. This edition will cover critical music topics on the road to pandemic recovery and offer concrete advice on how to grow your creative skillset and career.

Live music will be on deck with a two-stage showcase at the West End Cultural Centre and its patio. Join us on Saturday, June 25 for a packed lineup of emerging local acts during the Ellice Street Festival!

SWMM is made possible by the support of FACTOR and the Government of Canada, Musicaction, the Province of Manitoba, and Manitoba Film & Music. 

MENTORS

Andrea Shipka & Brandon Cathcart, Little Symphony Records
Aven Hoffarth, Indoor Recess
Carol-Lynne Quinn, CQ Voice
Desiree Dorion, Artist
Donald Robins, Warner Music
Dorothée Parent-Roy, House of Supercool
Jamelia Campbell, Publicist / ADVANCE
Kaya Pino, Music Supervisor
Liz Rodrigues, Songwriter
Luther Mallory, Artist Performance Coach
Hallie Anderson & Hana Mogulescu, Rareform
Martyna Turczynowicz, APCM
Michael Powell, Dine Alone Records
Yan Bienvenue, Coup de Cœur Francophone

REGISTRATION

Registration is now open at swmm.eventbrite.ca

General Registration: $25 plus fees for Manitoba Music members, $50 plus fees  for non-members

Pay what you can is also available to Manitoba Music members.

The West End Cultural Centre requires that all patrons wear facemasks and show proof of vaccination for all events in the venue.

 Purple button with rounded corners and the word register in white all caps


Schedule


THURSDAY, JUNE 23


11:30 AM | Get In Sync
Speaker: Kaya Pino (Music Supervisor)

Have you ever wondered how your favourite deep cut made it into that new television show you’ve been bingeing? Or have you ever thought that you have a song that would’ve been a way better choice for that shoe commercial you just saw than the one they used? Well, if you have, then it’s time we had a talk about music placements, music supervision, and sync. This session will help you figure out the process of getting your music placed in ads, shows, films, and games, and explore what professional music supervisors look for when they pick songs for their projects.

1:15 PM | Handle Your Business
Speakers: Aven Hoffarth (Indoor Recess), Michael Powell (Dine Alone Records), Jamelia Campbell

Knowing how your music business works is critical for any artist. In this session, we’ll identify key areas that would benefit from having a manager and strategize ways to tackle them as a self-managed artist. 

2:15 PM | Release Like a label
Speaker: Michael Powell (Dine Alone Records)

3:15 PM | The Many Lives of a Hit Song
Host: Alex Sannie
Speakers: Donald Robbins (Warner Music Canada), Kaya Pino (Music Supervisor), Liz Rodrigues (Songwriter)

Hit songs make a big impact on the music scene, but they don’t all do it the same way. Nowadays, your new favourite hit song is just as easily found in a commercial, video game, or movie as it is on an obscure playlist, radio, or TV.  Join us as we examine reasons why songs become hits in some mediums but not others.

4:15 PM | DIY Recording and Engineering Workshop
Host: Alex Sannie (Manitoba Music)
Speakers: Andrea Shipka and Brandon Cathcart (Little Symphony Records)


FRIDAY, JUNE 24


11:30 AM | Talk, Share, Discuss! Group Speed Meeting

1:45 PM | What We’re Listening For
Speakers: Donald Robbins (Warner Music Canada), Desiree Dorion (Artist), Dorothée Parent-Roy (House of Supercool)

When you’ve finished your latest masterpiece, you naturally want it heard on as many radio stations and playlists as possible. But does your song have that special something that makes radio programmers and playlist editors take notice? Join us for a discussion with industry experts that do just that and find out what they look for in a song.

2:45 PM | Montreal Is Not Toronto
Host: Jacques Richer
Speakers: Donald Robbins (Warner Music Canada), Dorothée Parent-Roy (House of Supercool), Yan Bienvenue (Coup de Cœur Francophone), Martina Turczynowicz (APCM), Jamelia Campbell

Internationally, they are our two most recognizable cities. Both are known for influencing culture through their innovations in food, fashion, and the visual arts. These two Canadian cities have many things in common but when it comes to the music they share with the rest of the world “ Montreal is definitely not Toronto”.

3:45 PM | Making Waves
Speakers: Hallie Anderson and Hana Mogulescu (Rareform)

Promoting yourself to potential fans nowadays can be harder than ever. Music lovers are constantly being bombarded by ads, articles, suggestions, and posts to check out the latest and greatest batch of singles and videos. When competing for attention against all that noise, it’s important for emerging artists to invest their time, energy, and resources effectively. How do you accurately create your brand, and how can you share it in a way that makes it through the noise to reach your potential new fans? Join this session to find out! 

4:45 PM | NFTs & Web 3 Demystified 
Presenter: Dorothée Parent-Roy (House of Supercool)

5:45 PM | Networking Mixer
 

SATURDAY, JUNE 25

12:00 PM | Take Care of Your Toolbox
Speakers: Carol-Lynne Quinn (CQ Voice)

1:00 PM | Destroy The Stage
Speaker: Luther Mallory (Artist Performance Coach)
 
2:45 PM | What Was I Thinking? (Songwriting Workshop)
Moderator: Alex Sannie (Manitoba Music)
Speaker: Liz Rodrigues (Songwriter)

Join professional songwriter Elizabeth Rodrigues for an in-depth look behind the curtain into the thoughts, feelings, and processes that inspired her songwriting on some of our most loved hit songs. In this “ask me anything” style workshop participants will get to listen to some of the biggest songs that Liz has worked on throughout her career and go through some of her creative process with her in real time. This is a chance to hear from someone who works in the writing room(s) that our favourite songs are created in. 

4:30 PM | Music Industry Town Hall
Host: Sean McManus (Manitoba Music) 

We get all of the SWMM speakers on stage to recap the themes of the week and talk about the big picture issues facing our industry. We’ll talk about the path to pandemic recovery, our work towards equity and reconciliation and climate justice, evolving music company business models, and how to map a future for the music sector that considers the health and wellbeing of artists and music workers. Get ready to hear our panellists philosophize on the future of the music business, and bring your thoughts and opinions for the Q&A.

6:30 PM | SWMM Showcase


** Schedule subject to change **

Mentors

Andrea Shipka
Creative Director
Little Symphony Records
She/Her

What started as a love for art and the need to pay bills turned into a full-blown obsession with every facet of the music industry. Andrea’s love for the industry influenced her to take a five-year degree in Recording and Production, graduating in 2021. Throughout the years, she has made many mistakes. Each mistake was a lesson, that Andrea learned and grew from. These pivotal moments shaped her into who she is today, where she has found her place as the swiss army knife in many people's tool kits.

As a musical artist, she is involved in many different projects. Her key projects include works in the genres of:

  • Neo-Classical: As alter ego Caelin Rivers, who recently hit 60,000 total streams on her catalogue
  • Cinematic Pop: As mightberea... because it "might be... AndREA"
  • Indie Pop: As a member of Cypress, who's song "All Said and Done" was featured on Spotify's fresh finds.

Day to day, she helps run, neo-classical record label, 'Little Symphony Records' with her friends and co-owners David Shoults and Brandon Cathcart.

Otherwise, Andrea can be found working in live settings as a production representative, photographer, technician, and educator. Andrea also works as a freelance graphic designer, photographer, producer, mixing and mastering engineer.

www.littlesymphonyrecords.com

Aven Hoffarth
Artist Manager
Indoor Recess Inc.
She/Her

With small town Ontario work ethic and a Radio & Television Arts degree, Aven entered the music industry in 2013 and hasn’t looked back since. Today, she has considerable experience in social media strategy and digital marketing that ranges from international album campaigns to on-tour coordination for arena tours. As an artist manager, Aven has proven her commitment to the artistic vision while encouraging innovation and growth.

indoorrecess.com/

Brandon Cathcart
Managing Partner and Director of Sound
Little Symphony Records
He/Him

Brandon Cathcart is a mechanical engineer turned sound engineer. After a five year career in forensic engineering, Brandon took a leap and formed Little Symphony Records with his friends David and Andrea. As Director of Sound, he uses his 10+ years of audio engineering experience to elevate the music of artists in the neoclassical community. As a moonlight software engineer, he has built building data-driven music tools for the label and is continually discovering how to navigate the digital music world as an artist and label

www.littlesymphonyrecords.com

Carol-Lynne Quinn
Vocal Coach + Vocologist
CQ Voice
She/Her

Carol-Lynne Quinn is a Vocal Coach, Vocologist, Vocal Producer, TEDx Speaker and Artist. She has the pleasure of working with JUNO award-winning, major label, indie and emerging artists. She is the vocal coach for the JUNO Master Class and Canada's Music Incubator. She currently vocal produces and coaches artists on Universal, EMPIRE, 604 and Light Organ records. She is passionate about combining athletic voice science with soulful connection. She received her Vocology certification at the National Centre of Voice and Speech in the United States and specializes in both athletic voice training and vocal rehabilitation. Her main focus is empowering singers to find the balance between vocal health, vocal strength and effortless freedom while making sure their voice remains authentically their own. Vocal Soul first comes from the fact that she believes in vocal freedom, in authentic artistry and creating a safe place where you can discover your own beautiful, powerful voice. She is based in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

www.cqvoice.com

Desiree Dorion
Artist

Desiree Dorion grew up a mile and a half from the grounds of Dauphin Country Fest, one of the biggest outdoor music festivals in Canada. As a little girl she would ride her bike there when the festival wasn’t on, climb up on the stage, and pretend to play to the thousands of fans that come to watch big country music acts. In 2014 her dream of playing the mainstage came true.

Desiree’s most recent release, “Wouldn’t That be Fun,” was co-written with one half of Doc Walker: Dave Wasyliw and was released in April, 2022. “Wouldn’t That be Fun?” is currently climbing the Indigenous music countdown and the Canadian country music charts (TRAX). The song has over 66,000 global streams (YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music).

The JUNO nominee is a proud member of the Opaskwayak Cree Nation. She recently hosted the Achimotak series with the Canadian Country Music Association and is an artist ambassador with the Downie Wenjack Foundation.

www.desireedorion.com

Donald Robbins
Manager, Radio & Media Relations
Warner Music
He/Him

Donald Robins started out at Universal Music Canada in the 90’s  as a college/street team marketing and promotion captain, Donald quickly learned the business and took on exploring new marketing and promotion opportunities.

EMI Music Canada noticed his work and added Donald to the radio promotion team in Quebec. After 5 years at EMI, Donald continued his promotional role at Sony Music Canada  prior to the SONY/BMG merger.

Following the merger Donald was offered a management & TM  role with Quebecois artist Gage, which including touring and working  the artist in Europe (Wagram)  and in Canada (Select).

In 2006 Donald joined the Warner Music Canada family and continues to explore new marketing and promotion opportunities for his current roster of domestic & international  artists.

In addition Donald programmed Galaxie R&B/Soul channel for 9 years,  a former  CKUT radio host for 15 years, a former club DJ for 16 years & continues to serve on panels for CARAS & ADISQ. Currently member of Advance & siting board member of The Unison Fund & Fondation Dynastie.

Music is his passion and he works with artists with the same determination and joy as he did when he first started over 25 years ago!

www.warnermusic.ca

Dorothée Parent-Roy
Head of Marketing
House of Supercool

Dorothée Parent-Roy a découvert les rouages de la distribution numérique en 2012 lorsqu'elle a commencé à travailler pour Believe Digital au sein de leur équipe de trade marketing. Elle a ensuite rejoint Distribution Select en 2017, à titre de directrice du numérique, ce qui lui a permis de continuer d'aider les labels à construire leurs stratégies de marketing numérique. Au fil des ans, elle a participé à diverses conférences ou ateliers de formation (FEQ, PopMontréal, CMW, MaMa, ECMA, BreakOut West), ce qui lui a permis de partager les connaissances qu'elle a accumulées au fil des ans. En 2020, elle fonde La Swell Musique, une entreprise de coaching et de marketing numérique, maintenant intégrée à House of Supercool. Elle est également co-fondatrice de Distribution Amplitude, une entreprise de distribution numérique à but non lucratif en plus de sièger au conseil d'administration du Festival Phoque Off de Québec.

Dorothée Parent-Roy discovered the inner workings of digital distribution in 2012 when she started working for Believe Digital within their trade marketing team. She then joined Distribution Select in 2017, where she led the digital distribution team while continuing to help labels build their digital marketing strategies. Over the years, she participated in various conferences or training workshops (FEQ, PopMontreal, CMW, MaMa, ECMA, BreakOut West), allowing her to share the knowledge she accumulated. In 2020, she founded La Swell Musique, a coaching and digital marketing company, which is now part of the House of Supercool. She is also a co-founder of Distribution Amplitude, a non-profit digital distribution company, in addition to sitting on the board of directors of the Festival Phoque Off de Québec.

www.houseofsupercool.com

Hallie Anderson
Co-Founder
Rareform
She/Her

Hallie Anderson began her career at AEG Live NW and then moved to New York in 2013 to work in tour marketing at Foundations Artist Management. She joined Mom + Pop Music in 2014, where she spent nearly seven years rising to Head of Marketing and Co-GM alongside Jessica Page in early 2019. During her time at Mom + Pop Music, Hallie helped run global marketing and release strategy for many successful campaigns including Courtney Barnett, Flume, Alice Merton, Alina Baraz, Sleater-Kinney and many others. In July 2021, she joined forces with Jessica Page and Hana Mogulescu to launch Rareform, where they work directly with artists, managers, labels, and distributors on marketing, digital, and release strategies with a strong focus on artist development and artist fan base growth. While at Rareform she has worked with artists including Ocean Alley, Genesis Owusu, Faye Webster, Julia Jacklin, Windser, among others. 

www.wearerareform.com

Hana Mogulescu
Co-Founder
Rareform
She/Her

Hana started at Beggars Group in NY in 2010, where she rose from an A&R scout to Senior Product Manager. During her nine years at Beggars she oversaw campaigns from artists across all six of their labels, including The xx, Queens of the Stone Age, King Krule, Sampha, Perfume Genius, FKA Twigs, Jungle, and many more. In early 2018 she joined  September Management as VP of Marketing and Label Manager, where she helped launch the September Recordings label and ran the global marketing campaign for Rex Orange County’s Pony alongside company founder and owner, Jonathan Dickens. In July 2021, she joined forces with Jessica Page and Hallie Anderson to launch Rareform, where they work directly with artists, managers, labels, and distributors on marketing, digital, and release strategies with a strong focus on artist development and artist fan base growth. While at Rareform she has worked with artists including Samora Pinderhughes, Big Wild, Jawny, A-Wall, and others.

www.wearerareform.com

Jamelia Campbell
Publicist
ADVANCE

Jamelia Campbell is a first-generation Canadian, born and raised in Toronto of two Jamaican parents who instilled the love of music in her from an early age. Exposed to everything from Barrington to Vybz, En Vogue to Destiny’s Child and Eurythmics to Spice Girls, she got a crash course in the diversity of sound across various genres, geographic locations and eras. Her love for music furthered as she learned to play clarinet and violin in middle and high school band/orchestra, which led to singing in school and church choirs, followed by singing and dancing in musical theatre and commercial and TV broadcast appearances (MTV Live). However, as she transitioned to post-secondary education, Jamelia chose a career path behind the scenes in the entertainment industry.

She attended Humber College, transferred to York University where she graduated with Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, and then to Seneca@York where she culminated her education with a post-graduate certification in Corporate Communications. The program allowed Jamelia to marry her love of music with her studies via an internship opportunity at Sony Music Canada, in the Media Relations department, and before the internship finished, Jamelia was hired full time in December 2015, becoming the label’s first Black publicist. She worked her way up the ladder from Coordinator, to Manager, Media Relations working with a large roster of domestic and international artists, including Khalid, Rick Ross, H.E.R, and Diamond certified DJs Loud Luxury. In April 2021, she pivoted from Publicity and joined, The Orchard, the industry's leading independent music distributor and label services company, as a Manager, Account Management & Marketing. She worked at the Orchard for one year and now serves as a full time publicist for the non-profit organization fighting for the retention and development of Black professionals in the Canadian music industry, ADVANCE, Canada’s Black Music Business Collective.

www.instagram.com/itsjameliacampbell

Kaya Pino
Music Supervisor

Kaya Pino is a Music Supervisor, Curator and Consultant based in Toronto. Blending a deeply personal understanding of music’s affect on both audience and art form with an ability to create relationships between movement, musicality, rhythm and sound, Kaya takes an anthropological approach to music supervision. She started her career in advertising, and continues to work in the branding space alongside film and series projects. Kaya’s recent credits include: The Porter (CBC/BET+), Sort Of (CBC/HBO MAX), Ginny & Georgia S1 (Netflix), Strays (CBC), Pretty Hard Cases (CBC), YouTube, RBC, Real Canadian Superstore, Air Canada

www.kayapino.com

Liz Rodrigues
Songwriter

Toronto-born, Liz Rodrigues, is a versatile singer and songwriter, whose songs have been covered by artists as diverse as Pitbull, Pink, Gwen Stefani, Nicole Scherzinger, most notably on numerous projects with Eminem and Celine Dion.

Liz cemented her success in the hip hop world with song placements on Eminem’s Grammy winning albums, Recovery and Marshall Mathers LP 2, contributing vocals to several of the placements. Continuing her association with Eminem along with her co-writing partners from the hip hop/alternative band The New Royales (which includes producer DJ Khalil, Chin Injeti, Erik Alcock and Rodrigues) Liz co-wrote and sang the chorus on the rock anthem “Survival”, which was premiered on the “Call of Duty: Ghosts” video game trailer. In 2015, Liz co-wrote “Kings Never Die”, a Gwen Stefani/Eminem duet which was the end title track for the feature film, “Southpaw”, also included on the film’s soundtrack album.

Recently, Liz co-wrote 6 songs on Celine Dion’s latest album, Courage, including title track and first single, “Flying on my Own.”

www.lizrodrigues.com

Luther Mallory
Artist Performance Coach
He/Him

I've spent 25 years in music - producing, writing, singing, and touring. For the last 9 years, I've helped more than 900 artists learn how to access the moment when performing on stage to let go of judgment and overthinking and build a more impactful live show. I've taught the same skills to major label and indie artists, JUNO Award and Polaris Prize winners, and recording artists with 20+ million Spotify streams from every background and genre. I am the performance coach for the JUNO Masterclass Program and for CMI's Artist Entrepreneur Program. I help artists break down the mental, emotional, and spiritual barriers they face in pursuit of success.

www.luthermallory.com/artist-performance-coach

Martyna Turczynowicz
Chargée d'accompagnement et administration
APCM
Elle

Martyna, (elle) est la chargée d’accompagnement et de l’administration à l’Association des professionnels de la chanson et de la musique. Pendant son séjour à l'APCM, elle a supervisé des programmes tels que la résidence virtuelle Pro Fusion pour les artistes mi-carrière et la résidence Rond Point pour les artistes émergents de l'Ontario. Avant de travailler à l'APCM, elle était directrice des programmes de La Coalition de l'industrie de la musique d'Ottawa. En dehors de l'APCM, elle dirige Sofar Sounds à Ottawa et est la directrice artistique de Polski Piknik Montréal, un festival célébrant la culture polonaise contemporaine au Québec et au Canada.

www.apcm.ca

Michael Powell
Marketing Manager
Dine Alone Records
He/Him

In his current role as a Marketing Manager at Dine Alone Records, Michael works closely with artists and management teams for both developing Canadian acts as well as international celebrity artists. Recent projects include: Homeshake, LP, New West, Lucius, AVIV, Land of Talk, and Edwin Raphael.

Michael also co-founded a management company called Muk Posh and manages a roster of artists including Sylo, Maddie Jay, and Yumi Nu.

Michael got his industry start with business and artist development company, Sub Management Group. Here Michael built his Toronto relationships working as a project manager for artists like Daniel Caesar, RALPH, and Sean Leon.

This led to an opportunity with international multi-arts festival Luminato where he programmed and produced the music series for 2 festival cycles.  

The culmination of his experience in management, label work, and live events has given Michael a multi-lens view of the industry, allowing him to bring a well-rounded approach to developing artists’ careers—no matter if they are starting out or launching a world-wide campaign.

dinealonerecords.com

Yan Bienvenue
Programmateur
Coup de cœur francophone

Natif de Val d'Or en Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Yan tombe en amour avec la musique live au festival FRIMAT à l'âge de 16 ans. De nature curieuse il fait ses débuts en touchant à toutes les facettes de l'industrie musicale en passant par la stratégie web & la gestion de projet chez Dare To Care Records et le marketing traditionnel chez L'Équipe Spectra. Il est présentement programmateur du Coup de coeur francophone à Montréal en plus de programmer le festival FRIMAT et d'être à la tête de sa boîte de gérance Maison Pingouin qui chapeaute les carrières de Thierry Larose et blesse.

www.coupdecoeur.ca

Diaphanie

Born in the cool, dry air of prairie autumn, songwriter Heather Thomas' introduction to folk music came at an early age. Diaphanie is a return to that beginning, channeling Thomas' first influences - from Joni to John Prine - to tell the well-trodden stories of old through a new lens. From unrequited love to living in the inner city, Diaphanie draws new breath into the genre while remaining faithful to the folk tradition, never shying away from truth or beauty. Diaphanie will be heading into the studio in June, followed by a busy summer including performances at the internationally acclaimed Winnipeg Jazz Festival, and indie darling Real Love Summer Festival

linktr.ee/diaphanie

JC Campbell

With three albums now under his belt, the Winnipeg, Manitoba-born JC Campbell has hit his stride with his new album Lately, a collection that brings together all his influences, while offering messages of hope in dark times. Multi-award nominated, Indigenous artist Campbell has a unique perspective on the world, expressed through a soulful voice reminiscent of Memphis or Muscle Shoals in the 60’s. JC has previously worked with Winnipeg producer/guitarist Murray Pulver (Crash Test Dummies, Doc Walker) and songs they recorded together made lasting impressions on the National Indigenous Music countdown and were added to regular rotation on Sirius XM. Now with Lately, his second collaboration with producer Marc Merilainen (aka Nadjiwan), JC Campbell is poised to transcend any specific labels that may have previously been attached to his music and stake his rightful claim within the worlds of Americana and roots rock.

www.thatjcguy.com

Kelly Bado

Avec des influences de son Afrique natal, de la chanson française et du gospel américain, la musique de Kelly Bado franchit les barrières culturelles pour rassembler les gens dans la joie et l'espoir. Sa voix saisissante et ses mélodies entrainantes ont été récompensées par deux prix de la musique de l’Ouest canadien : artiste francophone et artiste mondiale de l'année 2021.

A travers ses paroles inspirées par l'amour, la célébration et l'égalité sociale, Kelly s'engage à bâtir un monde plus inclusif où nous nous rassemblons en tant que citoyens et citoyennes de ce vaste village planétaire qu’est la Terre - chacun apportant ses forces uniques à l'expérience commune.

Weaving in influences from her African heritage, la chanson française, and American gospel, Kelly Bado’s music crosses cultural barriers to bring people together in joy and hope. Her striking vocals and uplifting melodies were recognized with the Francophone and Global Artist of the Year Awards at the 2021 Western Canadian Music Award Ceremony. 

With lyrics inspired by love, celebration and social equality, Kelly is committed to the vision of an inclusive world where we come together as citizens of this vast planetary village - each contributing our unique strengths to the common experience. 

www.kellybado.com

Lana Winterhalt

Multi-instrumentalist, producer, and indie-pop artist Lana Winterhalt delivers enigmatic and layered compositions inspired by junky breakups, insomnia, and true love, all in an attempt to leave you feeling sparkly and weightless. Whether it be her vocals that float effortlessly with warm restraint or playful pop melodies featured on her debut full-length album If & When (2018), Winterhalt is experimental and bold yet warm and familiar. After releasing 3 unique projects over the course of the pandemic, signing with High Priestess Publishing, and participating in the Women in the Studio National Accelerator 2021, Lana is ready to bring her perfected sound of grandiose harmonies and dusty acoustic guitars to fresh ears all across Canada and beyond. From heartbreak to pure bliss and quiet ambience to exploding soundscapes, Lana Winterhalt's artistry is the kind that sinks deep into your soul, and intends to stay there.

www.lanawinterhalt.com

Len Bowen

Len Bowen is a Canadian hip hop artist based In Winnipeg,  Canada – a city with a robust but often overlooked Hip Hop music scene. Noted as a respected artist in his community, he has garnered praise by artists such as Black Moon, and DNA. A skilled lyricist, Len has delivered a catalogue of music ranging from honest and thought-provoking meditations, to fierce battle-ready lyrics. Often called upon by peers to uplift songs with his verses, he has collaborated with artists such Shad K, and JRDN.

A founding member of the Western Canadian Music Award nominated hip hop collective Shadez, Len has pursued the path of a solo artist with growing success at every step including a feature on the Jadakiss curated mixtape Who Really Got Barz, a collaboration with Wisconsin based poet Charles Payne for Connecting Perspectives: A Cross-border Art Initiative, and the successful release of 4 EPs including 2021’s Flow Nostalgic 2 (Good Years).

Confident and hungry, Len is ready for worldwide recognition and to be listed among hip hop’s elite with the release of his coming full-length project in Fall 2022. 

linktr.ee/lenbowen

Sam Singer

Sam Singer is a singer/songwriter from Winnipeg, Manitoba. His works include Fatal Friends (2017), Don't Mistake Me for a Lovebird (2019), as well as soundtrack contributions for multiple independent films screened locally and internationally. Singer plays a forever changing style in his unique voice, thus far ranging from folk, indie, as well as faint visions of a lounge singer on his most recent work Don't Mistake Me for a Lovebird.

linktr.ee/samsinger

Show Pony

Born from a deep desire for connection and understanding amidst a world of chaos, Show Pony is the desert rock, alt-country love-child from members of Winnipeg’s rock scene. Show Pony draws from their familiar punk-rock and indie influences and merges them with a respect for country sensibilities. Inspired by the universal truths of classic country storytelling, the band takes a Loretta Lynn approach to songwriting; a marriage between blunt and honest lyricism, punchy sing-along choruses and captivating melodies. Fresh off the release of their slinky cowpunk sophomore single Rising Sun (April 15th, 2022), Show Pony plan on spreading their vivacious live show to new audiences with the hopes of becoming indie-rock’s gateway into country music.

linktr.ee/showponyband

The 12/21

Based in Winnipeg, Canada, the exciting power pop punk trio - The 12/21 - was originally formed in Manila, Philippines. A newly signed artist of Black Sheep Records and Viva Records Philippines. This young, energetic, and performance driven, numerically-named act consists of three talented brothers: Roman Maceda (vox/guitars), and twins Rico Maceda (bass/vox) and Roque Maceda (drums).

The 12/21 signed a record label deal in the Philippines under Blacksheep Records and Viva Records, since then they released singles and been featured on CBC Manitoba. Back in early 2020, the band had a successful tour of the Philippines, from playing well known venues to performing on live television in Manila. The brothers won the 2019 Jim Beam National Talent Search in Canada and performed at Canadian Music Week in Toronto soon after that. They released their debut EP entitled, Hello Yellow independently the same year. The Brothers also opened for Arnel Pineda of Journey, performed at 92.1 CITI FM, and appeared on The Village Idiots' live series, Live At The Roslyn in Winnipeg. The trio has been featured on the cover of University Of Winnipeg's The Uniter Fiver Music Issue 2018.

www.manitobamusic.com/the1221