As someone who gets lost in their fairytale often, something about January's song of the month just resonated with me. Wayfie, not to be mistaken for Wayfair, seemingly came out of nowhere; for me at least.
Fairytale lyrically is filled with a compelling story that many can relate to. "For the life of me I can't catch a breath, it feels like I'm dying, but at least I'm trying" the opposing forces at play not only in the line above but throughout the song create a beautiful dichotomy that drives the story of the song.
Sonically, Fairytale is simple at first glance
a guitar-driven track that builds to drums as we reach the chorus. I believe the beauty of the sonics lies in everything else happening around the main instrumentation. By the last chorus, we get grand and reverbed back vocals from Wayfie that fill every space left from the first half of the track. The ghostly-sounding choir adds a layer of depth that resembles the lyrics of the chorus about getting lost in a fairytale in his mind, like falling through space. On-air I remarked that this track deserves to play on every major radio station as it has all the ingredients of any mainstream indie/folk hit song.
I had the pleasure of asking Wayfie a little about his creative process behind the song and in general:
D: "When did the initial idea for the song happen?"
W: "The initial idea happened while living at my parent's home in Richmond when I decided to write a song that introduced me as a human to people in an honest way. The creative process consisted of me writing from verse one to the end of the first chorus accompanied by my guitar. Verse two and the rest of the song's production came to fruition towards the end of the summer marking the completion of the song's production."
D: "You've mentioned to me that you enjoy storytelling, why do you believe it's important to share your truth through your music?"
W: "Sharing my truth through music is what I deserved for so long, yet I chose to deprive myself of artist ship because I needed to feel confident in my contributions to each creative collaboration. I'd been working as a producer for so long and I kept telling myself, "I could write something like that.." or, "I could sing something like that." So I decided to start actually doing it instead of saying I could."
D: "Has the current state of the world affected your creative process, if it hasn't how have you remained focused on continually creating?"
W: "It has and it hasn't - the pandemic definitely gave me some new things to wrestle with, but since re-contextualizing my perception of creativity entirely, I've begun to notice why and when I get blocked."
D: "What did 2020 teach you about yourself, that you've integrated this year?"
W: "2020 taught me that I'm a workaholic fueled by fear of failure and I'm far more insecure than I could have imagined prior to exploring the life of an artist. I also learned how to chill tf out and enjoy life."
As a music curator and radio DJ, it's very easy to sleep on all the amazing music coming out of Canada, especially on the west coast. Wayfie is now on my radar after being woken up by everything he had to offer with fairytale, the music video just adds yet another layer to an already great song. Be sure to follow Wayfie's journey via Instagram and everywhere his music is streamed.
The allure of a night drive in a city like Vancouver is something all should experience in this lifetime. Ryu Darko, Kid Sharif, Tres6ix, and Renz Monclare are just a few artists who have seemingly honed this sound, and done it in their way.
This is ever so clear in Renz's video for 'Elantra' where he is seen cruising the city in said Elantra recounting catching feelings for someone after the fact while not being present when they were together; anyway sales of an Elantra after the release of that video are because of Renz. Don't at me. Just coming off the release of his debut ep 'Monclare mood ring' which features the vibey and melodic 'Elantra' there was a deeper cut off the record that caught my attention. 'Won't you be mine' is the 4th track on the 7track ep which is an ever-changing blend of moods, sounds, and textures. I was able to ask Renz a little about his creative process and how he's handled creating during a chaotic time:
D: "You describe your sound as "somewhere between retro & futuristic" it creates an immediate sense of feel good music, is this intentional or something you stumbled upon while creating?"
R: "It’s a bit of both. Early on while I was still trying to pinpoint the sounds that I enjoy, I was drawn to 70’s-80’s disco/funk records. The sounds that were used 40 years ago still have aspects that make you feel like they’re lightyears ahead of 2021. So at that point, the futuristic part was intentional.
Shortly after, I tapped back into the era that I grew up in, 03’-09’ Hip-Hop/R&B records. I noticed that no matter how much new music I’d discover, I constantly found myself creating playlists that consist of records from that era. That was when it clicked in my head that I wanted to be somewhere between those two moments in time, because those types of records influenced me the most."
D: "With the release of your debut EP "Monclare Mood Ring" one of my favourite tracks is "Won't you be mine" can you take through a little bit of the creative process?"
R: "For sure, that’s one of my favourites as well. The concept of “Won’t You Be Mine” was based on a warm autumn night in Vancouver, three years back. I met a unique woman at a nightclub, and it was definitely one of those nights that you didn’t want to end. She’s got an old soul, but she’s also free spirited so your regular tactics wouldn’t capture her attention. As soon as I heard the beat from TWYCE, the vibe instantly brought me back to that night, and I got to writing. We sat on the record for a couple of years and tweaked some things here and there, but I’m glad it’s finally out for the world to enjoy."
D: "Has the current state of the world affected your creative process, if it hasn't how have you remained focused on continually creating?"
R: "I’m not going to lie, it has affected the process slightly. I’m mainly focused on writing about introspective experiences and emotions at the moment. I usually travel and get inspired to write when I have some down time wherever I’m at, but since the world is at a stand still I’ve used some themes from my past and present to express myself."
D: "What did 2020 teach you about yourself, that you've integrated this year?"
R: "2020 taught me that you don’t need much to be happy. If you woke up with a roof over your head, food on your table, clothes on your back and a bed that you lay in, you’re blessed. Don’t let this internet shit fool you. If you’re up, break some off and give back where you can, as often as you can. Check in on your loved ones as frequently as possible, and don’t be afraid to tell ‘em you love ‘em. That’s it."
Now, as Renz said, the ability to blend two timeless eras of music in the present allows his music to have a timeless quality to it. Produced by TWYCE 'Won't you be mine' even features what has almost become a lost art in the vocal sample. Renz seemingly glides over a beat that immediately makes me feel like he needs to be dancing after this woman. The constant drive of the beat makes the breakdowns that much more potent, where sparse instrumentation allows Renz to sing directly to this woman. The groove of the shakers makes it impossible to not move along, not to take anything away from the chords that seem to linger in the listener's ears.
If you live on the west coast of Canada, you don't need me telling you that there is amazing music coming out from various artists. It makes my job easier when the talent level is continually being raised in every genre by artists like Renz and Wayfie, who aren't afraid of being vulnerable to produce the kind of art that hits deeper than the surface. Be sure to follow Renz via Instagram and stream 'Monclare mood ring' which is available everywhere music streams.
If you made it this far, thank you for reading, I appreciate you! In the meantime, keep creating.
- Darko
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