Jonah Yano is the Hiroshima born, Montreal based singer-songwriter,
whose journey into music began with recording music using his cellphone
in 2016. Having played piano and guitar as a child, it wasn’t until Yano
moved from Vancouver to Toronto in 2016 that he began putting his songs
online, catching the eyes of Toronto’s thriving local music scene.
Spending the next couple of years obsessively songwriting and practicing
vocals, and learning technical skills, he collaborated with Toronto duo
MONEYPHONE on the 2018 song “On Lock” which became an underground
success. Shortly after, Yano released his first solo single “Rolex, the
Ocean'' with producer Joseph L'etranger. Once he began writing his full
EP, he was introduced to frequent collaborators BADBADNOTGOOD, who are
featured on the EP’s title track, “nervous”. Following the “nervous” EP,
Yano and BADBADNOTGOOD released a highly praised cover of the
Majestic’s “Key to Love (Is Understanding)” along with another well
received collaborative track with BADBADNOTGOOD titled “Goodbye Blue”.
In July of 2020 Yano released his debut LP titled “souvenir” which
features production from Monsune, Jacques Greene, frequent collaborators
BADBADNOTGOOD, and lastly his father, Tatsuya Muraoka,
who Yano reconciles and reconnects with in the music video or the
album’s final track “shoes”. Yano’s work has garnered praise in major
music publications like The Fader, Billboard, Complex, and Exclaim and
the attention of the late Virgil Abloh, Gilles Peterson, and Benji B
along with millions of streams on Spotify and Apple Music.
Following a highly acclaimed 2020 which included the release of the
debut LP souvenir, collaborations with BADBADNOTGOOD, a double feature
on COLORS, and industry praise from The Fader, Billboard, High Snobiety,
NME, KCRW and Exclaim, Yano quietly released a cover of Jessica Pratt’s
“This Time Around” and took some time away from releasing music to
write and record his forthcoming LP, set to release in January of 2023,
titled “Portrait of a Dog”. Yano was recently announced as the opening
act for the critically acclaimed singer-songwriter Clairo for the last
leg of her North American and entirety of her EU/UK tour dates.
Yano’s sophomore LP, Portrait of a Dog, set to release in January of
2023 on Innovative Leisure, is a 12 track exploration of themes present
throughout most of Yano’s catalogue – identity as a part of the
Japanese-Canadian diaspora, contemplation of different family dynamics,
and the intricacies of interpersonal relationships. Portrait of a Dog is
a clear departure from Yano’s previous recordings – having established a
clear sonic identity throughout the LP’s 12 tracks to tell a clear and
succinct collection of stories guided by clear and intentional
instrumentals. The LP is produced entirely in collaboration with
BADBADNOTGOOD and features guest work from Slauson Malone, Sea Oleena,
with string arrangements by Eliza Niemi, Leland Whitty, and Yano himself.
Tracklist: 1. leslianne 2. always 3. haven't haven't 4. portrait of a dog 5. call the number 6. the speed of sound! 7. in sun, out of sun (feat. Slauson Malone) 8. so sweet 9. glow worms 10. quietly, entirely (feat. Sea Oleena) 11. song about the family house 12. the ordinary is ordinary because it ordinarily repeats (feat. Badbadnotgood)
Some of the greatest artists in the 20th century have been
multi-instrumentalists – cue Prince, Stevie Wonder, Curtis Mayfield,
Todd Rundgren and Paul McCartney. That expansive understanding of
composition, technique and sound changes how artists approach musicians
has inspired Leland Whitty’s approach on his new record Anyhow.
Leland Whitty has been part of Toronto-based band BADBADNOTGOOD for
seven years. He joined BBNG in 2015, but had met the group in 2010 while
they were all studying in the Humber College jazz program. When the
band decided to rework their line up after their third album, Alexander
Sowinski (drums), Chester Hansen (bass) and Matthew Tavares (Keyboards)
approached Whitty to complete the quartet on saxophone and guitar.
Whitty has also worked with artists including Charlotte Day Wilson, Kali
Uchis, Kendrick Lamar, Ghostface Killah, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige,
Earl Sweatshirt, and Kaytranada.
Whitty’s current solo project is a departure from the improvisation
focused collaborative band that has made his name. Anyhow began in 2020
after Whitty had finished working on several film score projects
including Disappearance at Clifton Hill
(Albert Shin) and Learn to Swim (Thyrone Tommy). That focus on
narrative fed into his own work, which combined elements of cinematic
composition with jazz and rock like he has created in the past. His
latest album Anyhow features Whitty on guitar, synthesizer, woodwinds,
production, composition and strings. Narrative is built into each of
Whitty’s tracks in some way. Rather than a specific story, he drew from
photographic or cinematic sources. The aim was for the production and
arrangement to imply the kind of structural narrative found in jazz
improvisation. Whitty’s compositions emerged from voice notes and short
loops, for example guitar riffs that he would feed into Ableton and
flesh out into larger arrangements.
BADBADNOTGOOD’s Alex and Chester were also guests on the album,
alongside other friends and notably Whitty’s older brother, Lowell –
which Leland credits as being a central musical inspiration in his life.
This is the first time they had the chance to fully work together.
Whitty built the album from small excerpts rather than have a more rigid
intellectual compositional technique. He would envision the whole scope
of a song, asking friends to contribute to shift each tracks’ rhythm
and energy. Whitty’s role was both performer, composer and in some way a
director, asking contributors to execute in an organic way and editing
the results. Whitty’s influences include numerous jazz musicians, from
Wayne Shorter to John Coltrane.
However, the inspirations for Anyhow were library records and arrangers
like David Axelrod, Gary McFarland, Arthur Verocai and Brian Bennett.
Contemporary composers - notably Jon Brion and Jonny Greenwood – were
also strong stimuli for the scope of sound that feels personal and
cinematic at the same time. The layered result is very much a
studio-based experience, creating a very particular sense of intimacy as
a result.
The track titles also have a focus on intimacy and emotion – Svalbard
referencing ideas of physical isolation, for example. The album title,
Anyhow, references Whitty’s do-it-yourself approach to composition,
production and multi-instrument performance. The album is a look inward,
expressing something personal – a reflection of the experience of music
itself.
Tracklist: 1. Svalbard 2. Glass Moon 3. Awake 4. Windows 5. Silver Rain 6. In Circles 7. Anyhow
