You may have seen Shawn at one of the shows in the past few months at the Small Hall in HlGaagilda Skidegate. He would be the slick-looking tattooed guy playing drums! Shawn came up here in 2019 to do some video work for the Northwest Fishing Team. “I left Vancouver out of boredom and came to Haida Gwaii for a video project. I was ready to leave the island when I met Joey. He needed a drummer and somebody to do videos, I happened to do both. He convinced me to stay, best thing I ever did for my career.” Shawn was born in Edmonton and grew up in Dawson Creek but spent most of his adult life in Prince George and Vancouver. He started playing music at around five years of age, dropped out of high school in grade 12, moved to PG and joined a metal band called Fueled by Ignorance as their drummer. They produced two records, Tears and Widow, and went on a BC/USA tour. Fueled by Ignorance clawed their way up the ranks of the underground to sit among its elite, playing at the ‘96 Warp tour in Vancouver. The band broke up in about 2001 and Shawn went back to school and obtained a Bachelors in Fine Arts – video production (directing and editing) from the University of Victoria. Shawn took a break from music for a while and worked on a cruise ship as a videographer. “I got to travel everywhere, on all continents. I didn’t play a lot of music but got to see the world.”

Shawn was into metal for the longest time but now plays a lot of jazz and improv. He was influenced by late night jazz on CBC. “I get together a few times per year with a collective called Bermeja in Vancouver. We record improv sessions.” In this threepiece band, he bounces from bass to drums to keyboards to percussion. “It’s great to be versatile. I can still do what I used to do and shift into old school music roles. When we do improv, we just start coming up with something and it brings us to so many places, it gives me a chance to flex my drummer skills.”

Meeting Joey Stylez helped continue to broaden his musical ear and the album he’s putting out now is live drums with hip hop. “Joey got me into playing hip hop. He hired me to join on his tour, and although the tour was cancelled, it got me playing hip hop and R&B.” Will Russ and Joey have done some tracks with him for the album, which has three songs completed to date. “I might sing on one song but mainly I’m playing guitar, drums, bass and percussion. Joey is doing the 808’s (low bass, kick drum and bass) and produced the songs. He’s giving the direction to the songs - he’ll suggest how the song could go. I used to write songs very differently, it would take me a long time to write a song, second guessing everything. When Joey and I write a song, I’ll sit down and play a beat, he’ll say tone it down or up and once we record a good four bar loop, we’ll copy and paste it and repeat it. We’ll continue with a bass line and add an 808 onto that. Then we come up with guitar or piano ideas and layer that on. Then we’ll come up with a hook. It usually takes us a day or two to come up with a whole song. It’s a very different process for me. This is refreshing and easier. Technology plays a big role in that.”

Shawn’s main gigs at the moment are as a drummer for Joey Stylez and sometimes for Joey’s wife Carsen Gray. Nevertheless, he is also signed to Ble$$ed Street, Joey’s label and has started putting out his own songs. “When I play with Carsen or Joey, my role is more supportive, less creative. It’s a more subdued role and although it’s sometimes hard for me to be in the background, it makes me more versatile. I want to put out a few records and hope to be touring soon. A lot of different artists will be featured on the album (Will Russ, Lancelot Knight, etc), mostly indigenous artists.” There are a lot of things in the works. They have been shooting videos locally and recording through Ble$$ed Street’s studio in Skidegate where there is a full production studio for music and film.

Apart from putting out his own album and touring, Shawn teaches drumming on island. “I was teaching out of the Youth Centre in Skidegate and in the future, I would like to teach out of my house.”

You can hear Shawn’s drumming on Horsethieves and Bootleggers, Joey’s latest album. You can also hear him on Carsen’s newest album Notes to Self. Or you can hear his own songs on Spotify now, “Gods General” and “Mask Up.” The latter is a collaboration with Will Russ on Spotify or Soundcloud.

In Other Music News

• Award-winning Canadian hiphop artist Joey Stylez dropped his latest album Horsethieves and Bootleggers on January 13. Executive producer: DJ Kemo from Rascalz. Listen to it on your favorite listening platform.
• The next Haida Gwaii Coffeehouse is on March 31 and will feature The Minstrel Cramps. Doors open at 6 pm for a community meal. Please bring a dish, spoon and your own drink. Open mic starts at 7 pm followed by the feature performer around 8 pm. Entrance is by donation. Please note that there will be no HG Coffeehouse in April.