Behind the Scenes

In less than 24 hours, MuchMusic will premiere the Candy Coated Killahz music video to their lead single titled Neon Black. I am ecstatic to have been included in this futuristic video and it's always a pleasure being surrounded by such talented and creative people.

The dynamic duo showcasing urban electro-pop has been hailed by the Globe and Mail as one of the bands responsible for Toronto's emergence as an "electronic music capital". Having already jammed with The Roots, The Gza (of Wu Tang Clan), Pitbull and The Cool Kids, CCK also had their 2009 debut single Playboy appear in a movie and several TV series in North America.

As one of the industry's few female producers, classically trained pianist and multi instrumentalist Tasha Schumann is the frontgirl of the group. Her candy coated partner in crime, Michael Ayodeji Akinlabi (also known as Icon the Anamoli), offers a great deal of artistic edge with his vocals, eclectic dance moves and a background in animation and game design.

The music video that everyone will be talking about is directed by Alon Isocianu. By incorporating a plethora of metallic costumes, wild hair and daring makeup the characters of this video easily fit into a world of flashy buildings and flying cars. Hairstylist Grant Butterworth had no boundaries when it came to my hairdo. He insisted on platinum blond extensions with a heavy set of bangs covering my eyes. The look was topped off with fetish tape wrapped around my head. I could barely see a thing during the whole shoot and was extra cautious when stepping over all the wires on set.

Despite my impaired vision, I was one of the dancers in the club scene. Some may even notice that Tasha gives me a little nudge as she and Icon are walking through the crowd. To let readers in on a little secret - the club scene with hundreds of ravers was actually only filmed with eight dancers in front of a green backdrop. After multiplying all of the dancers a few times over and digitally adding the background, it created the craziest party spot possible. The dancers were specifically asked to use lots of arm movements, which had me busting moves I wouldn't dare unveil even after a few extra cocktails. I bet the cast had a good laugh, not that I could tell for sure due to my lack of vision with the extremely long bangs and all.

Listen and love Candy Coated Killahz and I'm certain your heart will go Neon Black just as mine has. Below are some behind-the-scenes shots courtesy of photographer Michelle Belsky.

Local Natives

Sometimes there's a song that cannot escape my repeat button. After a friend played Airplanes for me one night, I was instantly intrigued by the lyrics, melody and calming voices that all I could do was listen to it over and over again. It wasn't long before I was hooked on the up and coming modern worldly folk band, Local Natives. Recently I scored some free tickets to their sold out concert at the Mod Club in Toronto. My repeat button was no longer needed as I had the pleasure of seeing this talented young band perform right before my eyes.

The five piece group from LA delivered just the show Torontonians were anticipating. Although there was word of a broken down tour bus that day and a small mishap at the start of the show when keyboardist Kelcey Ayer announced "Hello Vancouver!", the band still rocked the stage with explosive energy for a rather laid back style of tunes off their debut album, Gorilla Manor. The use of multi instruments including the dual tribal drums were a nice touch. With their catchy melodies and harmonized voices, they left the crowd wanting so much more. Returning to the stage to perform Sun Hands as the encore, fans joined in and sang along to the chorus.

Meeting the band afterward was a treat. They were pretty ecstatic and surprised with how much of a following they continue to get in Toronto. Bassist, Andy Hamm, said he noticed Nikki and I dancing near the front row and I was glad our fierce dance moves didn't go unnoticed that night. We chatted with the rest of the band mates, but then it was time to get to the bottom of who actually created the song I've had on repeat for the last little while.

I was so curious as to who conjured up the lyrics to Airplanes and what the song was actually written about. One of the beautiful things about music is songs are left for individual interpretation. Isn't it interesting that when an artist writes a song for a specific purpose, someone else can use those exact words to relate to their own personal experiences? The band directed me towards Kelcey who told me he wrote the song about the death of his grandfather. To deal with the fact he never got a chance to know his grandfather, he put those emotions into the making of that heartfelt song.

Nikki, Andy, me & Matt

Nikki, Kelcey (the man who wrote Airplanes) and I

As the band moves onto Montreal, Nikki and I instructed them to try a poutine. They had no idea what we were talking about so we explained it was a delicious snack of french fries topped with gravy and fresh cheese curds which was famous in Montreal. Everyone venturing to the city should try one and they promised to give it a go. Overall these Cali boys not only put on a fabulous concert, but they are genuine and easy going people to talk to. They aren't local Canadian natives, but they'll do just fine in my books.

Some of my other favourite songs by this band include...

Who Knows, Who Cares

Cubism Dream

Sun Hands

World News

Here's the song I've been blabbering about!