It’s no secret that YouTube has grown in popularity and influence in recent years becoming the platform of choice for content creators everywhere. It’s responsible for the discovery of Justin Beiber and the popularity of the Old Spice Guy. Television stations like Much have hired YouTube creators to come on board and create under their brand. Some of the top companies in the world have hired YouTube sensations to test their products and in return tap into their followings. With subscribers in the millions, YouTubers have become just as, or in some cases even more, popular than mainstream celebrities. To…
Author: Kevin Bourne
Kevin Bourne
Kevin Bourne is the co-founder and editor of SHIFTER magazine. Born and raised in Toronto, Kevin currently resides in Ottawa with his wife Koliah and their three children. He's a big fan of hip-hop, pop culture, and urbanism and spends most of his time keeping up with the Kardashians.
The simple answer is an emphatic, “Yes”. First, Kanye West is a citizen of the United States, a member of the Pan Am family (and the most influential member at that). Second, the truth is billions of dollars were spent on staging these games. The organizing committee probably needs to sell tickets to the closing ceremonies to recoup as much money as possible. Third, Pitbull is also performing at the closing ceremonies so even if those who signed the petition to get Kanye booted were successful, they still have to watch another American act perform. Lastly, Puerto Rico’s Ricky Martin…
From music and art to YouTube and film, creativity is the driving force in influencing culture and producing the content that we consume everyday. This is why we’re launching our Creator Profile feature on our website. Every so often we’ll be introducing you to up-and-coming talent in our network. Our first profile is on Swiss actor, photographer, and sometimes model, Régis Luka. You’ve seen his photographs on our website and you will be hearing a lot about him in the future. Aside from his creativity, he’s also known for his sense of style. We recently had the opportunity to catch up…
In recent years, Alberta has been the darling of Canada’s economy due to investments in the oil sands. Canadians were migrating to Calgary and Edmonton in droves to get it on high payment oil jobs. Three quarters later Canada’s economy is in a bit of a slump…well a recession. The Harper government is looking to family benefit cheques and infrastructure spending to stimulate the economy but the Globe and Mail’s Edgar Cowan believes we should look elsewhere. In his article Canada’s creative industries can lead the economic charge he says our creative industries can be one way to improve Canada’s…
TD Bank, who has been supporting Canadian music for just over 10 years, brought the TD Music Café to the nation’s capital earlier today. Through TD Music, Canada’s second largest bank has sponsored over 70 music festivals from small local events to major festivals in Canada’s larger cities. The TD Music Café featured up-and-coming Canadian talent as well as a beautiful Summer soda bar. Singer/songwriter, Charmie, who finished writing her second song the night before, bared her soul with introspective lyrics and honesty. Guelph’s Nefe, who seemed like a cross between Bob Marley and Tracy Chapman, performed Free The World…
The Roots have come a long way since their legendary album Things Fall Apart, featuring their hit You Got Me, rocked the Billboard charts. Sixteen years later, the Philadelphia hip-hop group has managed to become a household name as the house band for Jimmy Fallon, and have experimented with other sounds including jazz,while still garnering respect from hip-hop purists. The Roots recently brought their eclectic sound to the Ottawa International Jazz Festival. Black Thought and Questlove took us on a musical journey like no one else can. They moved fluently from hip-hop to jazz to rock, weaving these styles into…
Glowfair has come and gone and we must say we were impressed. Often in Canada’s capital city, events are hyped but they unfortunately fall short of expectations. Glowfair bucked the trend by delivering as promised. For two nights we were transported to what felt like a major event in a much larger city. The performances at both the main stage and DJ stage, including headliners Kiesza, The New Deal and Torro Torro, were top notch. Calgary native Lowell delivered a fun performance and hip-hop DJ, Vilify, had the crowd in a frenzy as she played classics and new hits by…
Directed by: Nathan Estabrooks Written by: Christina Cuffari and Nathan Estabrooks Starring: Melanie Scofano as Tessa, Christina Cuffari as Marie, Jocelyne Zucco as Nonna, Paula MacPherson as Lilianna Two women are confronted to the realities of sisterhood when certain circumstances force them to move back in with their mother and grandmother. The cast of Mangiacake had their world premiere last week from the comfort of our very own capital. If you’re wondering whether or not this film is worthy of the praise it is receiving, we’re here to tell you that it is. Indeed, Christina Cuffari and Nathan Estabrooks have given…
It’s finally here! The Glowfair music, light and art festival is happening tonight and all day tomorrow. Our editor Kevin Bourne had the opportunity to speak to the producer, Kevin Martin, about this year’s festival. KB: So, what was the feedback that you guys got after last year’s event?KM: Well, it was really crazy because the positive feedback we received walking the streets, just kind of over hearing what people were saying was really fun. “This is like Montreal”, “We can’t believe Ottawa’s doing this” and “This is needed down here more often”. It was just really positive. The main…
Our editor, Kevin Bourne, recently had the opportunity to chat with Canadian-born, Los Angeles-based DJ duo Torro Torro ahead of their performance at Glowfair. They shared about their musical inspirations, creative process and what we can expect at Glowfair. Kevin Bourne: So first question, when did you guys get started in music and how’d you guys meet? Evan Norton: We met at U of T [University of Toronto] in Toronto through a mutual friend who was in the local music scene. A colleague of ours put us in touch said, “Hey, maybe you guys should start working on some stuff.”…
Julie Beun had the chance to talk with Canada’s superstar-in-the-making, Kiesza, ahead of her headlining performance at Glowfair. They talked about her style, musical and fashion collaborations, and her drive to work hard and keep on creating. Julie: You have a very distinct style in your videos and my girlfriend Erica Wark has styled you. What’s your fashion view? Kiesza: It’s very much evolving. I have a clear direction about my hair, but fashion wise, I like to experiment from urban street style to classic Hollywood. I love to dress up, be funky. I like to wear different hats in…
She’s been a sailor in the Royal Canadian Navy. She’s trained as a ballerina. She’s an artist and photographer. She’s got a number one hit single that earned her three Juno Awards, has worked with Skrillex and will feature on Duran Duran’s new album, due out in September. Oh, and she’s just about everywhere you look this year, from Coachella and the 2015 Tony Awards in New York City to Ottawa’s free Glowfair street festival on June 20th. So when Canadian superstar-in-the-making Kiesza drops into the conversation that she’s also just designed a line for uber-cool men’s sport fashion label,…
