Members of the Candy Coated Killahz, Michael 'Icon' Akinlabi, left, and Tosha 'Dash' Schumann.'Kevin Van Paassen/The Globe and Mail
For over a decade, homegrown bands ranging from Blue Rodeo to Our Lady Peace have given Toronto a reputation for making alt-rock the city's defining music genre: mangy Levis, faded plaid shirts, trucker hats and all. However, thanks to a new wave of singers and musicians emerging from T.O.'s underground dance clubs, all that is changing.
Hipper-than-thou publications from the U.S. and the U.K. such as London's DJ Mag and Los Angeles' Urb have made it their M.O. this past year to follow - and support - a good number of our city's urban dance acts. Popular blogs such as The Eargasm, based in L.A., have even crowned Toronto "Canada's new electronic music capital."
In the way that the Broken Social Scene helped re-brand Toronto's image abroad five years ago, a new batch of cultural ambassadors are taking the city's mash-up, multi-culti vibe to the world - and they might be better dressed, too.
At the centre of this swirl is the stylish dance-pop collective known as Fritz Helder and the Phantoms. Constantly costumed like a squad of art-school-students-cum-club-kids, the five-member band thrives on channelling various runway models and androgynous eighties icon Grace Jones. Luckily, their sound happens to be just as chi-chi as their aesthetic.
The Phantoms' debut disc, Greatest Hits , is filled with a sophisticated alchemy of bass-heavy tracks blending house, rave, glam rock and hip hop. Catching them live is a jump-start to the senses. Whether they are performing at an event in a dilapidated Parisian ballroom or at a posh gala, the Phantoms use their singles such as Making A Scene and Lagerfeld Lady (a tribute to the designer) to transform their environment into their natural habitat of choice: a wild, packed, sweaty nightclub.
Which is probably why their brand of party anthems has managed to grab the attention of two of pop's current monarchs. Lady Gaga was so impressed with the Phantoms' mix of glittering jams and street cred that she requested they play at her CD launch party last year. Nelly Furtado, who recently signed the group to her own record label, Nelstar, has been an avid supporter of the band ever since they formed in 2006.
This makes complete sense as Ms. Furtado has always been up on music trends and electro - a genre which bridges the gap between seventies disco, eighties new wave and nineties house and rave music. It also doesn't hurt that lyrics in 80 per cent of electro-pop tracks today push a check-your-problems-and-politics-at-the-door message - one that seems as popular now, during today's recession, as it was during the economic turmoil of disco's heyday.
"Disco never dies," Mr. Helder confirms via mobile phone, en route to a concert in Montreal. "It just comes back stronger each time it leaves. We knew it was only a matter of time that the city wanted to hear what else Toronto musicians had to offer… our music was like an antithesis to those rock clichés."
Part of the band's modus poperandi was finding like-minded people and places that spoke to the Phantoms' quest. "Our first album came out of what we call 'found couture,'" he says, "objects and sounds that we discovered in our own backyard. Some of the recordings we've made come from the scene on Queen [Street]West. We've taped conversations, made videos and wrote parts of songs at house parties around there. Our first disc could be defined as a soundtrack to the city's social network… how people are living and a hyper-glam fantasy of how they want to live."
This fabulous sentiment is also shared by the Toronto-based electro duo known as Candy Coated Killahz, whose song Playboy has enjoyed heavy rotation on CHUM-FM's weekly Top 30. The hit, which has lead singer Tosha Dash singing, "You know I'm the queen of the libertines" over a synth-laden verse, has also been added to the soundtrack to Tyler Perry's latest film I Can Do Bad All By Myself , along with tracks by Mary J. Blige and Gladys Knight. The newfound success is something that Ms. Dash, 26, says wasn't an easy win in this town.
"Toronto can be a tough town because the combination of cultures makes sharper [critics] It makes for stronger artists, but breaking out is difficult," she notes. "We always have to bring our A-game and new ideas to the table because, as a multicultural city, it's in our blood to mix things up all the time. People expect it.Isis Salam, 24-year-old lead singer, MC and co-producer of the electro duo known as Thunderheist, agrees. Ever since Thunderheist's techno-tinged first single Jerk It (off their eponymous debut disc) was included on the soundtrack to the Oscar-nominated film The Wrestler , Ms. Salam started feeling the heat from all the hype.
"The eye is definitely upon us, globally," she explains. "We now have a big piece of the pie, whereas five years ago, we had nobody's attention. The key is to keep [our]sound close to home so we keep [our]distinction."
As a featured rapper on one of the most popular club tracks of the year - a song called Bounce (released via another Toronto-based DJ duo named MSTRKRFT and recently showcased on the stage of America's Best Dance Crew ), Ms. Salam is also intent on using the buzz from her two projects to build a solo career.
"There are so many talented people I want to work with in Toronto, so I don't want to get bogged down with one group," she says, having just come back from the studio with a local DJ named Mansion.
"Unlike some places, artists and producers in the city don't act like they are on Canada's Next Top Electro Band . We don't have catfights or sabotage each other from success - it's the exact opposite… we collaborate."
Part of the process, says Ms. Salam, is facing the city's shrewd audience. "I'm much more scared of playing Toronto than anywhere else in the world. Everyone you are going to see at tomorrow's party is in your audience. The crowds here expect you to represent their city well."