On Friday Oct. 4, Raw Sugar Café hosted local Ottawa artists Herons Wake and Jon Hynes, as well as Toronto musician LUKA.
The event was organized by LUKA, who chose Ottawa artists to play an intimate show for the community.
Starting off the night were Ottawa locals Herons Wake.
Jacob Bornheimer, vocalist of Herons Wake, said the band came with a desire to flesh out some solo tunes.
“I was doing a lot of solo stuff but eventually that wasn’t feasible anymore, and I just wanted to flesh out the sound,” he said.
The band agreed that within a few months practicing together they became great friends.
“I wanted to skip the awkward part and jump straight to spitting memes at each other, and we got to that really quick,” Bornheimer said.
Following Herons Wake, Ottawa local Jon Hynes performed.
Hynes said he was passionate about his music and drew inspiration from his Canadian identity.
Hynes added he would be producing a new album this winter with Yukon musician Rob Dickinson.
“For my next album I’m reading ten Canadian novels and drawing inspiration for each song. Canadian culture is a huge part of my music,” Hynes said.
Closing the event was Toronto indie-folk act LUKA. The evening was curated by frontman Luke Kuplowsky. Kuplowsky said his musical style was greatly influenced by a number of sources, including his academic studies.
“I want people to feel my music and experience it. It’s important to me that they connect with it. I’m really inspired by romance and I studied the use of animals in movies in university so it comes through in my music,” Kuplowsky said.
The artist explained how over the past few years his connection with music has developed and aided his own self-expression.
“This project has been in development for around two years. I’ve been playing for however long, but my music gained direction during this time. My music isn’t a genre, but instead a group of artists who are sincere about their writing. I follow that sincerity in my songwriting,” Kuplowsky said.
The audience was extremely attentive during his set. No one spoke, except for the screams that erupted after each song.
Horia Troval, a local bartender, expressed his satisfaction with the artist’s performance, and said it was one of the best sets he had ever seen.
“LUKA isn’t music and he isn’t something I would ever define as good. LUKA is pure art, I sat back and let his voice enter my mind and make love to my senses. LUKA is enchanting, and I’ve never experienced something so beautiful,” Troval said.
