Neon Black

Voila! Officially released last night - Neon Black by the Candy Coated Killahz.

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.

Deadmau5 & Benny Benassi Concert

He was a geeky computer guy who found a dead mouse in his hard drive one day. Soon after, his chat room buddies coined him "that dead mouse guy", which was then shortened to a user name allowing 8 maximum characters, hence Deadmau5. The death of that poor little mouse sparked the birth of a very talented electro DJ and producer from Toronto, Canada. Everyone is currently raving about Deadmau5 and after attending his performance at the Guvernment last week in Toronto, my eyes and non-mouse ears loved the experience. I now understand what all the commotion is about.

The night featured legendary Benny Benassi who spun a two-hour set of old and new songs. He was later joined onstage by JFK of MSTRKRFT (pronounced "master-craft") who bopped his shaggy hair with every hard and edgy beat he spun. Both had a great time spinning together and my friend, Nikki, and I had an equally great time watching them front row. (Thanks again for the tickets and guest list Benny and friends!)

With several DJ's in attendance, it was apparent who the crowd favourite was. The venue was packed with fans sporting mouse heads and mouse ears. After my Coachella blog post, I had an overwhelming response to Deadmau5 by readers and friends alike. I started to get the hint that this guy was big on the world music scene when people just couldn't stop talking about him and his live gigs. With all the build up, I was afraid when I actually saw Deadmau5 for myself I'd be disappointed. But, that wasn't the case as Nikki and I were immediately drawn in, impressed and wanted more.

The performance was much more than I ever imagined. His set sounded phenomenal and his light show was absolutely amazing. He performed with his trademark character mouse head for a couple of songs and then threw it into the crowd for one of his lucky fans to take home. His oversized DJ booth/stage spewed a coloured lazer light show and talking mouse head. He knew exactly what and how to mix his sets up so that the crowd felt the build up of every song and stayed energized throughout. The worst thing about his performance is that it eventually had to end.

We watched the end of the show from an open garage door to escape the crowd of overdosing teenagers. With a cool breeze and a nice policeman to take our picture before we left the venue, I'm convinced we had the best seats in the house during that time.