SHINING BLUE LIGHT INTO THE DARKNESS ROGER LEVESQUE
Josh Q. has been channelling creative energy into ‘Arctic soul’
Consider for a second what it’s like to live in a place where the shortest days of the year bring around four hours of sunlight. That’s December in Iqaluit, the capitol of Nunavut Territory, roughly 2,700 km northeast of Edmonton on Baffin Island, a city sporting a population of about 8,000.
For songwriter and guitarist Josh Q. climate conditions are reason enough to sing the blues.
“Living in the north, in winter time at least, it gets pretty dark and there’s not a lot of sun,” he explains. “Sometimes I get these uneasy feelings and I wind up writing quite a bit of music.”
For over a decade now he’s been channelling his creative energy into music, and since 2012 into a band called The Trade- Offs. It’s fascinating to hear how much of their selfproclaimed “Arctic soul” style exerts the same sort of rocking blues sound that’s reminiscent of classic blues material. For a taste, check the band’s latest single Dancing With The Wind.
Like many classic blues artists, Josh Q. (now 33) identifies with the healing power of the music. It’s in some of the lyrics he sings about getting over the dark times, and literally in his name. That “Q.” stands for Qaumariaq, which translates roughly from Inuktitut as “lighten up” or “brighten up.”
Songs about feeling the blues and getting over it are no small thing in Nunavut Territory, a place where the suicide rate is 10 times the national average, and in the demographic for young males aged 15-29, more like 40 times the national average.
It was only natural that themes of geographical isolation and living in a harsh climate would find a voice in some of the social commentary of The Trade- Offs’s songs. It made total sense for Josh Q. to write a song called Qaumariaq that addresses issues like suicide. It’s the title song to the Trade- Offs’ rocking 2016 album release, which includes 10 tracks mostly in English, with a few in Inuktitut.
You can hear Josh Q. & the Trade- Offs thanks in part to Aakuluk Music, the recording label that sprouted up in Iqaluit several years ago, a spinoff of The Jerry Cans. Through their label and their own music, the fivemember roots-rock Jerry Cans (also from Iqaluit) have been co-leading a national campaign to win more attention for music from the north, and from Inuit people. Their sound offers a kind of pan-folk-rock fusion that includes both English lyrics and some traditional throat singing.
Along with musicians like Josh Q. and The Jerry Cans, the
Aakuluk label is starting to have an impact on the still struggling music scene across the territory.
“There’s a pretty good boom of young musicians in Nunavut right now,” Q. explains. “It’s a great opportunity for people to have a new path, to find something else to do.”
All this adds further fuel to Northern Rodeo, a three-act evening that hits the Starlite Room Thursday featuring The Jerry Cans, Josh Q. (with the backing of two Jerry Cans members on bass and drums), and female singer-songwriter Riit. Josh Q. and Riit will also reprise their music as solo acts at the Interstellar Rodeo on the weekend.
When he’s not making music, he’s busy working on the Inuitthemed television show Qanurli, produced at home in Iqaluit with a unique mix of comedy, drama, and musical contributions from across the Arctic. While the show started eight years ago, Josh Q. has been a co-creator and cohost for about three years now, sometimes creating new music for the program, which you can view through Aboriginal Peoples Television Network or online at aptn.ca.
Growing up in Iqaluit, he heard pop artists like Bob Seger from his father, Fleetwood Mac from his mother, and country greats like Johnny Cash thanks to his grandfather. Radio was the key source for many years with only one small store in town that brought in cassette tapes and CDs. Eventually things changed when the internet brought the availability of so much more music online.
Josh Q. was around 18 and a self-described “late bloomer” just finishing high school when he started turning on to blues greats like B.B.King, Buddy Guy, Jimi Hendrix and Ray Charles. Before long, he learned to play guitar and began performing in local clubs. His regular collaborations with local bassist Jeff Maurice led to the formation of The Trade- Offs around 2012.
“We just wanted to play music and you could play maybe twice a week or so at the bar in town. It’s still like that, but we have more opportunities now, including festivals like Interstellar Rodeo.”
Since their first out-of-Nunavut date at a Toronto showcase in 2013, The Trade- Offs have played Vancouver, Ottawa and a few stops in between but this week marks his Edmonton debut.