Meet our new team of student interns!

Our fall 2021 team of student interns have been hard at work getting ready to make some big announcements — stay tuned for more on that soon. Here’s a little bit about the new team!

Alexa Cable
Alexa is a fourth year composition major with a special focus in recording and production. This passion for recording has led her to an internship with Bent River Records in her final year at MacEwan. She spent the summer recording several singles for her solo artist career as “Lexene” which will be released this fall and in early 2022. She also spent the summer working with the YouTube channel ‘Learn Audio Engineering,’ producing an interview series focused around “how the recording industry is changing.” Before coming to MacEwan, Alexa studied film at Langara College, and did voice-over work in several commercials. Alexa is excited to build her audience online through Behind-the-Scenes YouTube videos about her recording process. 

Carolina Odashima
Carolina is the new social media and promotions intern at Bent River Records. She has been collaborating with musicians for several years, creating posters, communications, and album covers. She is also a bookworm with a Bachelor of Visual Arts and a Bachelor of Education with a major in Arts, and is currently a second-year student at MacEwan’s Graphic Design Diploma program. A fun fact about her: Carolina has a very peculiar accent, and that is because she is Brazilian, and her first language is Brazilian Portuguese. You can find her work @chiodashima on Instagram.

Dylan Cave
Dylan is an interdisciplinary technician in the Canadian live entertainment Industry and a student in the department of Music at MacEwan University majoring in Sound recording and Production. He has worked all across Canada including working tours with companies such as Cirque Du Soleil, and the Professional Golfers’ Association of America (PGA TOUR). Dylan has worked as an audio engineer for many local and international artists such as: Rex Brown (Pantera), Vinnie Appice (DIO, Black Sabbath), RUSH, John Fogherty and The Wailers to name just a few. He likes working with passionate artists in high energy fast paced work environments that push boundaries and encourage growth in his own technical development. Currently Dylan is working as a producer and co-host for MacEwan University’s new knowledge mobilization podcast Research Recast(ed). In addition to his roles with the podcast Dylan is the Production coordinator for the TD Edmonton International Jazz Festival and he also works as a swing technician at the Starlite Room in YEG doing video, sound, and lighting.

Gladwyn Badger
Gladwyn is a 4th year Bachelor of Music student at MacEwan University.

“I am so excited to join the BRR team for this semester! I am looking to actively engage with artists and musicians of all types during my time here, as well as to further develop my skills for the professional world!”

Valentina Osorio
Valentina is currently a 4th year student in the East Asian Studies Department at the University of Alberta, and this is her second year doing concurrent studies in the Arts and Cultural Management program at MacEwan University. As a person that has always been greatly intrigued by the entertainment industry and wished to know more about the ins and outs of the music industry, she feels excited and extremely grateful for the opportunity to be part of the Bent River Records team. She hopes to use the knowledge she gains from this invaluable experience towards future endeavours internationally, wherever her degree may take her.

Interview with Fine Art Competition Winner Gwynne McMaster

Gwynne McMaster was recently named the winner of the Bent River Records Fine Art Competition. Her artwork (to be revealed soon!) was selected as the cover image to accompany the winning songs from our Song Writing Competition, “Where Your Love Lives” by Cynthia Hamar, and “Whatever Comes” by Kael Sauerborn. The contests were conceived to honour Dr. Craig Monk, the Provost & Vice-President, Academic at MacEwan, and his generous and ongoing support of the record label. Gwynne wishes to express her thanks and appreciation to Craig Monk: “His support for fine arts has created many amazing opportunities for students and their work! Thank You!”

Gwynne is a multidisciplinary artist whose current practice involves motion, memories, and mundane moments. She is also heavily inspired by the Canadian environment that surrounds her. Using mediums of traditional animation, painting, illustration, and film, Gwynne aims to connect with her audience through visual storytelling. In 2017, Gwynne won the Fort Saskatchewan Art in Public Places Award (Youth Category) for her Painting, Old Barn. This year, Gwynne has had her art exhibited in MacEwan’s Digital Gray Gallery as well as MacEwan’s Fine Art Grad Show. Most recently, Gwynne has completed her Fine Arts diploma at MacEwan University and will be attending Vancouver Film School for their Classical Animation Program this following September.

Can you tell us about the artwork you submitted and how it was created?
My cover art is composed of still images from an animation project I have recently created also relating to themes of home. When considering home, I think of a barn that used to be on the side of the highway leading to my hometown, Fort Saskatchewan. For me, seeing this landmark always signified that I was on my way home. Within the past year, this barn has been torn down. While the barn is no longer there, it continues to be a ghostly figure in my mind that represents how home is not necessarily a physical place, but more of a feeling. I decided to represent this within my animation where I have white animated drawing of a barn falling apart and piecing back together behind a photographed background. When determining how to show this work as a single image for the cover, I decided to create a triptych using three still images from the animation itself to demonstrate the progression of change. I decided to use white space to separate each still image, which ended up working as a perfect space to include the text for the record cover!

How do you feel your piece relates to the winning songs from our Songwriting Competition?
I felt that my artwork especially connected to both of the winning songs and their lyrics, each reflecting how home can be a feeling rather than a place. Listening to Cynthia’s song, “Where Your Love Lives,” I really felt a sense of haunting memories that matched the nostalgic tone of my work. I also felt my work connected to Kael’s song “Whatever Comes,” in how the foundation of home strongly impacts someone as they continue to move forward in their life.

What does “home” mean to you?
To me, home is the foundation of love, whether that be from family, friends, or oneself. Home embraces welcoming feelings of comfort, warmth, and authenticity. Home provides me with memories and experiences that help me to continue grow into my own individual self while learning to appreciate the little things that surround me daily. 🙂

2021 BRR ARTIST SPOTLIGHT SERIES ON CJSR 88.5

Did you miss our 2021 Artist Spotlight Series on CJSR 88.5? Fret not! You can now listen to the episodes on Soundcloud. Thank you to Mark Rodgers, host of Soul of the City, and to the Bent River Records interns who co-hosted the shows.

Listen Now:

Bent River Records ran our annual Spotlight Event again this year, albeit in a slightly different format! Normally the Spotlight event is an in-person event celebrating the new album releases of the artists on the Bent River Records label.

Last year’s event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the 2021 Spotlight took place as a two-part radio event on CJSR 88.5FM.

Bent River Records interns are guest hosts on the two episodes (in 4 parts on this playlist).

Aired April 15th & 20th on CJSR 88.5
Soul of the City, hosted by Mark Rodgers
Guest hosts: Nick Adkisson, William Conway, and Jacob Toop

“Where Your Love Lives” Recording Session with Cynthia Hamar

We caught up with Bent River Records Songwriting Competition winner Cynthia Hamar at Macewan University Recording Studio, a conversation in which we discussed some of her personal story, inspirations and experiences with MacEwan and Bent River Records. Cynthia Hamar is a Métis singer-songwriter, guitarist, and pianist, whose work greatly impressed the jurors and won her the Bent River Records Song Writing Competition with her bluesy folk song, “Where Your Love Lives.” The contest was conceived to honour the generous and ongoing support of one of the label’s significant donors, Dr. Craig Monk, the Provost & Vice-President, Academic at MacEwan. “Having a leader like Craig Monk who shows so much interest and invests in supporting creative students and projects is deeply inspiring and has encouraged me immensely in my journey as a songwriter and student.”

Born in Drayton Valley, Alberta, Cynthia grew up in a musical family and has had a passion for music since an early age. Now Cynthia has recorded three studio albums and is looking forward to making more. “I’ve been writing and playing by ear, at home, in church. I even wrote little songs when I was a kid and stored them in my tape recorder,” Hamar says about the beginnings of her musical journey.  Hamar decided to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Music at Grant MacEwan and has been hoping to use this opportunity to explore her possibilities as an artist further. “It’s just fun to be around creative people, and all the opportunities are great!”

“I always say I’m folk, although there are lots of different vibes going on.” Cynthia’s inspirations are multifaceted, from folky singer-songwriters such as Brandi Carlile and Gregory Alan Isakov to more eccentric acts such as Tom Waits and Radiohead. Cynthia herself has difficulty describing her style as her ears are always open for new inspiration! 

 “Where Your Love Lives” is such an intimate and personal song, and Cynthia’s writing abilities are strong and on display. Cynthia finds so much value and love in the concept of home, and with her kids now being adults, this song is a chance for her to express her feelings of where love is and how it stays consistent as concepts of home and family change through time. “The songs that I make that are worth recording or performing are the ones that touch me and make me feel something.”

Fresh Cuts from MacEwan Music – Interview with Bill Richards

Last week we had a chance to catch up with MacEwan University’s Head of the Music Department, Bill Richards, and chat about the upcoming Music Department CD! Bill is the co-producer of the CD alongside Paul Johnston and has been with MacEwan University since 1992.

This new Music Department CD has been in the works since 2019 and is the latest CD from the Music Department since 2009. Previously, MacEwan has released department CDs that featured both staff and student works on the album, but this installment is entirely student-led, focused, and produced! When asking Bill why this CD has more of an emphasis on student work, he said: “It’s an excellent experience for students to view and partake in all aspects of music production and see all that goes into creating an album. It also allows these students the opportunity to work alongside their peers and faculty members to create a collaborative piece of art that creates a timestamp in their careers!” Students are the driving charge of this CD and are working hands-on in every part of this project, from writing and recording to mixing and mastering. Even the artwork was student-designed in a MacEwan fine arts competition!

Artwork by Chris Twin (Cover not final)

Bill also mentioned that this project is a great example of what a student focus project should look like. Integrating students and faculty from the Music Program and all over MacEwan gives individuals from all different academic/creative backgrounds the opportunity to co-create one wonderful, cohesive project. 

When asking Bill what the reasoning behind doing another Music Department CD was, he responded: “Hearing some of the student’s music made me ask myself, ‘Does anyone else get to hear this? Do other people know that people are doing this in third or fourth year?’” Bill shared how incredible MacEwan’s Music Department students are and that he hopes many people will be able to hear their work. This CD also helps create a milestone in everyone involved’s careers, as well as captures where these students and the program are at this exact point in time. With the CD being peer-reviewed, some of these students are able to use this CD for their personal grant applications, among many other things!

This particular Music Department CD, Fresh Cuts from MacEwan Music Vol. 1, started off as a competition in which MacEwan students (individuals/groups) were to submit an original piece to one of five categories to be selected to be on the album! With many submissions spanning a wide variety of genres, creating a track order took some creative thinking to create a cohesive album. The CD was chosen to be arranged thematically to take the listener through a wide variety of genres. The 16 tracks on the album include a unique arrangement of big band pieces, contemporary pieces, neo-soul/funk pieces, electronica pieces, acapella ensemble, and much more! The album is split up into “chapters,” with both big band pieces opening and closing the album as prologues and epilogues.