Canadian Musician - September/October 2020 | Page 57

about The Cold Manitoba Project,
which aims to raise awareness
about, and funds for, the Native
Addictions Council of Manitoba.
The initiative, Boguski explains, is
his response to Gord Downie’s call
for all Canadians to do whatever
they can to help move towards
healing and reconciliation with
Indigenous people through awareness,
education, and action.
“Awareness comes first,”
Boguski notes, “but you can also
do something tangible, something
personal. Music is a platform that
can be used to amplify important
social messages that need to get
out, but it’s up to the individual
to find their path. Every musician
has to ask themselves deeper
questions like, ‘Why do I live in this
circumstance and why does my
brother or sister have to struggle
because they’ve been born with
different coloured skin or in a different
culture?’”
In Canada we often pride ourselves
on the “patchwork” or “mosaic”
makeup of our nation. Let’s think of
it as a massive continent-spanning
quilt with room for everyone underneath.
Cozy enough for some, but
far less so for those at the edges,
freezing their asses off.
In recent times, there have
been some efforts to move towards
cultural equity. For his part, Matthew
Cardinal believes that more
people are becoming aware of and
willing to promote diverse voices,
slowly and surely. “I think more
people are making music and, in
general, more styles of music,” he
says, and there’s definitely more
representation happening in the
scene at large than there was.” But
often, he notes, when people think
of Indigenous popular music, for example,
they envision folk or country
or bluesy rock. “But there’s hip-hop
and electronic and experimental
music. And if I could influence
someone to start making their own
art, that would be amazing. That’s
why representation is so important
– because if you see someone that
you can relate to doing something
you want to do, you realize that you
can do that, too.”
Kevin Young is a Toronto-based
musician and freelance writer.
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