Beneath the Rhythm | An RX Music Podcast

"It's a crazy feeling right? To go from just making music in your room to now you get to play to people. It's unreal, I love it."We spoke to Toronto electronic dance artist LOSTBOYJAY. Riding the wave of a his infectious 2022 single COULD BE WRONG, Jay warmed up the decks in February for a unique underground show deep in the bowels of Toronto's Lower Bay subway station. This track cleverly transforms Brandy's I Wanna Be Down, into a summer-drenched house track. Freshly signed to Polydor Records and the entire festival season ahead of him, there's lots to celebrate. We discuss his journey from producing beats on Soundcloud to playing live shows and the positivity of the electronic dance community. You can catch him live in Toronto at CODA April 8 supporting Low Steppa.

With any new sophisticated technology, there comes the trial and error, the novelty, the speculation and the question of longevity. In this episode we pull back the curtain on artificial intelligence x music. Turns out its not all robots and conspiracy, so let’s debunk that. We wanted to explore the different sides of how machine learning can offer innovation in music making, as well as the budding questions of ethics and ownership that go along with it. Are you a musician curious about the creative opportunities AI can offer? We wanted to learn more about how musicians and computer scientists are working in tandem with machine learning and the challenges and milestones in this developing field.To learn more we spoke to Ace Piva, musician and executive director at Over the Bridge, a non-profit organization that provides counselling services to help musicians with addiction and mental health. OTB worked alongside the “Lost Tapes of the 27 Club” – a campaign project that used AI to create new songs by said well-known artists of The 27 Club. We also spoke with Sageev Oore, musician, professor at Dalhousie University and research faculty member at the Vector Institute, to understand some of the more technical attributes concerning AI and machine learning in music making.

In Episode 8 of Beneath the Rhythm, we interviewed Shana Goldin-Perschbacher, author of upcoming book, Queer Country.  From trailblazing queer musicians of the past, who used country music as a springboard in expressing their sexuality, to emerging non-binary and queer artists navigating the music industry today-- with a keen eye and ear Goldin-Perschbacher examines the inherent politics surrounding 'genre,' identity in music and how the normative country music standard was ultimately dismantled. We also interviewed Canadian country music singer and author Rae Spoon. A leading voice in the trans, non-binary and queer community, Spoon shares their insight on both the challenges and victories of navigating the current social and music industry landscape.Use Promo Code F21UIP when ordering Queer Country from the www.press.uillinois.edu for a 30% discount until December 2022. 

WTF is an NFT you ask? Why, a non-fungible token of course! And how do you make 69 million off of selling one? Lions and tigers and bears and bull markets oh my! It started with CryptoPunks and CryptoKitties; if we merge the finance and art world, we're learning to navigate assigning value to intangible art and music. We’re also learning that streaming may not be answer the industry was looking for. Are NFT’s a bandwagon only tech and crypto savvy artists can jump onto or will this transform the game as a new revenue stream? 2020 imposed a lot of strain on artists’ livelihoods because it took away shows--- NFT’s might be the road to follow to in order to bounce back and create in a completely uncensored network, the possibilities are endless.To understand more about NFT opportunities in the music industry and the crypto world, we spoke to Bjorn Niclas (CEO & Co-founder of ROCKI app), Raine Maida (Chief Product Officer of S!NG app, frontman of Our Lady Peace) and David Canellis (cryptojournalist and Director of News Programming at Protos Media).

Tell us you listen to our podcast without telling us, you listen to our podcast...The people have spoken-- if you're an emerging musician, TikTok is the place to be. Let's not forget where we started, we've progressed a long way since 45's and CDs! As old mediums (and old wax), wax and wane, new consumption models have revolutionized the music business. By 2021, we've graduated to the sleek land of streaming; granted even this intangible format will continue to shift and change as our habits do. We can't deny the connection between the songs that go viral on TikTok and the songs that appear to climb the charts. TikTok is restructuring the landscape for emerging musicians and content creators. Even the definition of 'success' in the industry is up for reconsideration. So let's dive in, to the world of TikTok, to hear some of the success artists and content creators have felt through the aid of this platform. In our discussions, you'll be hearing from the voices of the President of Linus Entertainment (True North Records) Geoff Kulawick, Canadian pop sensation JESSIA, seasoned content creator Devo and Canadian indie folk artist Wayley. 

Ah the Christmas holiday season, commercially well-versed in engaging all the senses. It's hard to ignore, we're adept at noticing the festive cheer sprinkled in windows displays, on products, in messaging but most importantly in music! The Christmas season begs to be a case study as the ultimate example of music’s indisputable ability to mood transform. Familiar carols, sights and smells can make us swell with nostalgia and warmth. At RX music, we couldn’t agree more-- which is why behind closed doors, the music industry is talking Christmas long before and we're not the only ones. So when do musicians really start to get Christmas on the brain? Quite early it would seem! We spoke to Canadian singer Tyler Shaw about the release of his Ron Sexsmith holiday cover, the recording process and the magic surrounding sound tracking the magic of Christmas.

Led Zeppelin, Katy Perry - it seems one is safe from copyright infringement lawsuits. Where does ownership begin and end in the inexhaustible battle of music licensing? Its philosophically impossible to prove you’ve never heard a song before. No one can prove that in the span of your life, said song had never entered your conscious or subconscious brain. Behind closed doors, releasing as well as utilizing existing music, can be a bit of a minefield. Why is this lack of understanding, the universal understanding? What resources are out there so content creators and musicians can create without getting burned?We sat down (virtually) with the movers (experts) who fight this system every day and the shakers, who are challenging it. Join us in our conversations with the host of The Stock Music Licensing Podcast and respective guru Daniel Carrizalez, entertainment lawyer Andreas Kilogiannides, lawyer/musician and co-creator of the Allthemusicproject Damien Riehl and CEO and co-founder of Epidemic Sound Oscar Hoglund.  

From Sam Cooke, to Kendrick Lamar, since time immemorial, music has embodied hope and inspiration for social change. Serving as cultural timestamps to identify distinct times, places and distinct turning points in our lives; music can be a powerful reminder of how far we’ve come or rather echo how much farther we have to go. On May 25th 2020, George Floyd’s death by police brutality triggered one of the largest sustained protest periods in modern history. Artists and activists spearheaded this movement how they know best, using their voice. So what does Black Lives Matter sound like in 2020? To further explore, I spoke with Shad (hip hop artist and host of Hip Hop Evolution), Haviah Mighty (rapper and Polaris Prize Winner artist), Owen O’Sound Lee (artist, producer) and Sandy Hudson of Black Lives Matter Toronto (co-founder).