P004 → DJ SUNBEAR
Hi, I’m DJ Sunbear! In August 2022, I bought my first D controller, DDJ-FLX4, and started practising. I had the opportunity to shadow my friends and fellow DJs, Sekii and JIYNX, while they mixed at the Remix Project in Toronto. During the session, I compiled a playlist of house tracks from my childhood and mixed the songs to experiment. I learned about beat-matching, keys, time-reliant steps of using CDJ software and the importance of style. Since the Remix Project, I’ve DJed at multiple bars and clubs in Toronto: Ace Hotel, Bar Bowie, Libertine and Bar St Lo to name a few. I also had the privilege of making a Montreal debut at Philemon where I co-created a setlist with major mixers in the city. These experiences contribute to the culture I’m immersed in; it’s allowed me to embrace my background of music that is imbued by Igbo highlife—to create new modes of exercising my musical mind.
LivefromtheFISH and Kalimba
(Left) Released February 19th 2024, LivefromtheFISH is an experimental soundtrack for the Pisces horoscope. The themes of the mix are pulled from water significations, Igbo-Yoruba spiritualism and the conceptual interpretation of songs. I had divided the mix into three distinct acts: enticement, death, and reflection. The mix explores the lens of Mami Wata, a Nigerian water deity, known to lure people to seas and rivers with her enchanting voice. Mami Wata/ Papa Wata is a creature who is not only a mermaid but also a snake charmer. These elements are mimetically expressed in the soundtrack, I take the persona of Mami Wata by luring you into the sonic journey. The tracklist consists of ambient and ethereal edits, most being amapiano and afrobeat-inspired. The mix also plays interpolated tracks from female powerhouses, Beyonce and Rihanna, as an homage to their Nigerian conspiracy theories, perceiving them as witches and mermaids due to the enchanting nature of their music.
(Right) Kalimba was my introduction to conceptualizing a place as a sound. The cover is from my trip to Revelstoke, where we pit-stopped to explore the Hermit Trailhead. There, I captured the cover and ran with the title “Kalimba”. Kalimba is a place we’ve all been before. It evokes a sense of heat, a calming warmth that charges you. You hear the cicadas as the sun beams in your eyes, the smell of sandalwood and salt water. The presence is imaginative but it gives you the opportunity to be in a space where you’re absorbing these vitamins, in a meditative space. As the mix progresses, the tempo increases and the desire to get up and explore is unassailable.
ISORadio with TTYL featuring SUNBEAR
Had the privilege of playing at ISO radio with TTYL :).