Creating an urban genre
Suffer the Children mixes art, music, fashion to forge statement
A gritty Gastown alleyway revealed Suffer the Children’s name to the band. Members Shallom Johnson, Rian Peters and Chin Injeti were taking a break from recording sessions for the trio’s coming album. The sad reality of the surroundings lead Injeti to quote Jesus’ familiar verse from the Gospel of Matthew: “Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”
“I always thought that statement rang so deeply, and both Rian and Shallom each got something from it too,” said Injeti. “It’s hilarious because some people do think it’s a foundation and we’re raising money for UNICEF; it’s not. Later, we discovered that one of my favourite bands ever, Tears for Fears, had a song titled Suffer the Children, so it made total sense.”
Name: Chin Injeti
Place of Birth: India
Citizenship: Canadian
Role in Suffer the Children: producer, composer
First musical inspiration: Stevie Wonder
Last album listened to: Tyler The Creator: Flower Boy
Killing Hands is released on Aug. 18 on most social media platforms. The single references the mega act from the ’80s with some of its big drums and tasty keyboard passages. Multiple Grammy Award-winning producer Injeti (Eminem, Lecrae) had certain things in mind with this trio, which combines his musical chops, Johnson’s accomplishments in visual and performance arts and Peters’ soaring and powerful vocals.
“It takes about three years to develop a brand and we have been working hard for about a year,” he said. “What are our influences and what do we want to say and how do we make it relevant? This is a search for creating something that really says who we are to an audience that understands where it’s coming from.”
With a lengthy career in urban, funk and soul music, Injeti is a polymath when it comes to mixing and music making. Johnson hasn’t worked her creative muscles musically too much. Her art and design talents are evident in the group’s logos, buttons and the giant Stevie Wonder painting adorning the studio wall. Her poetry serves to guide the creation too.
“I try to curate the visual identity of the project and develop a lot of the narratives that appear in our songs,” said Johnson. “My writing is from more of a poetry and journalism standpoint rather than writing to music and I gravitate to things that are a bit darker, melancholy and a little bit twisted. I don’t write happy songs very often.”
Name: Shallom Johnson
Place of Birth: Victoria
Citizenship: Canadian
Role in Suffer the Children: Songwriter, creative director, singer
First musical inspiration: My mother had a dance studio, I’ve been surrounded by all kinds of music since forever.
Last album listened to: Slowdive’s new album
Killing Hands and the previously released Confessions and Bear Witness all benefit from their moody atmosphere. Johnson is on record stating she has “no interest in writing stupid words,” and there is a directness to both tracks’ lyrics. Fans of early trip hop will be smiling at the huge, echoing production and shimmering textures in the tune. Credit for much of that goes to lead singer Peters.
“Coming from Southeast London, Peckham area, I had the pleasure of the experience of growing up surrounded by all varieties of music and dance on the street and in my home and my cousin’s house,” said Peters. “Chin has said that he thinks we are making music for an educated listener, someone who can think outside the box and experience new sounds and ways of listening to words. I like that idea.”
Name: Rian Peters
Place of Birth: London
Citizenship: British
Role in Suffer the Children: Singer, writer, visionary
First musical inspiration: Michael Jackson
Last album listened to: CTRL by SZA
“Can I just interrupt here and say that, honestly, I’ve wanted my whole career to be in a band with an English singer,” said Injeti.
Yet what the producer/multi-instrumentalist hopes to accomplish with a crew that crosses continents is to yield a Vancouver sound. Citing the whole world’s focus on Toronto with the Ontario city’s dominance in contemporary urban music, he waxes philosophically about the seeming lack of any other Canadian cities — save a very specific part of the Montreal scene — having the same sort of play in the market.
“When I first moved here from Ontario, Vancouver had 54-40, Sarah McLachlan, Moist and Bryan Adams,” he said. “These were artists known all over Canada, and in some cases the world, for being from here. There are still great groups coming out of here, but nothing that grabs that key urban genre and I hope we can change that.”
There is an urgency in the creative process to bring as much into the final work as possible, but not with an eye to “chart power.” Rather, it’s been bringing the elements of music, fashion and art culture into a cohesive statement that is Suffer the Children. Chin is the first to admit that it has been unusual to have so much collaborative back and forth without the tensions that usually go along with it. Rian and Shallom agree.
“First and foremost, we want this to affect people,” said Peters. “It’s been a blessing to be here the past year and create music that I love.”
“Killing Hands was the one that clicked, after almost two years of working and experimentation, here was the one where we all went “OK, that is the direction that this needs to travel,” said Shallom. “The process is as much a part of this as the end product.”
Suffer the Children has big plans, but without big planning. The launches have been independent and the team relies on social media to brand its attitude, its affiliations and reach its audience. There is no doubt that something special is going to be the final outcome of the band’s organic creative method.