an.OBJX.prjx
presents
SUNDAY SESSIONS
Sunday Sessions is a love story of its own.
Connecting people from all backgrounds, we watch these layers fade away as we reconvene. The worries of the week, the struggles outside of our window, this is our safe space. To share, to love, to rejoice in ourselves. I am honored to be a small piece of this magnificent tapestry. Tonight, Sunday Sessions is hosted by the lovely Latisha, who has been a staple at OBJX for years. She is an ultimate hype-woman, encouraging all that come through our doors to explore their artistry authentically.
At OBJX, we are dedicated to cultivating the artistry of our patrons. We now offer memberships, so you can get the most of what this dynamic studio has to offer!
For $40 monthly, our COWORK.MBRSHP allows you to co-work with fellow members in our shared Café space, free access to Sunday Sessions and Wellness Wednesdays, 10% off studio bookings, and more...
For more information on our Co-work membership, and more memberships available through OBJX Studio, click the link below:
Lights, camera, action!
Did you know? All performances at OBJX Studio are captured by our audio/visual team providing a high quality performance video that artists can take home with them for only $50! Seeing as how studio, lights, cameras, and a band are all included that is quite a steal!
Instagram:
@sundaysessions.prjx
CHECK OUT THIS WEEKS PERFORMANCE VIDEOS
If you are interested in purchasing your performance video please reach out to us via Instagram @objx.studio with your performance date, time stamp of your performance, and your email.
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Tonight's blog and interviews were curated by Daniel Joe Armstrong.
HIGHLIGHTED PERFORMERS
Maggie & Kris
@musicbymaggie @kris r42
Arranging symphonies of their own design, Maggie and Kris, on guitar and an electric cello, serenade the crowd. I was amazed by their arrangement, and even more astounded to hear that they had only been paying together for about a month! Both having their own background, they found each other online and have been collaborating ever since.
Maggie’s music career began in high school, where she joined the Cardinal Academy for Arts at the young age of 13. She recalls her journey as though it were a love story, being gifted her first cello on her 16th birthday, where she truly found her passion. Since then, she has found herself in various bands around Toronto, but has been mainly working solo. Her desire to connect with other musicians brought her to Kris.
Kris has been playing guitar since he was 11, and has been honing in on his craft ever since. To our question of the night, “Tell us a story about your favorite birthday?” Kris recalls his birthday at his first job, where his boss bought him a cake and he celebrated with his crew.
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Bards
@bards_
Summoning the essence of our city, Bards performs his piece “3am in Toronto.” With resonance of what it means to be an artist, Bards explores themes of ambition, struggle, creation, love, and resilience.
Finding himself in the corporate world, Bards struggled to connect to his creative vision. He shares that his creativity was stifled from a young age; having good grades meant he must find a good, well-paying job, and damn his dreams in the process. He succeeded-he got the job he wanted, with the money too-but it wasn’t quite enough. You can feel this internal fight through his poetry, weaving his corporate life with his passion, he has found his true calling. His career has just begun, he has been performing for only 2 and a half months, but we are all anticipating hearing more.
His most impactful memory from one of his birthdays brought tears to his eyes. His family was struggling financially, he didn’t expect anything. His mom brought him a cupcake with a candle, and he was reminded of the love and abundance found in family.
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Marissa
@Marissa.in
With a soulful voice that begs introduction, Marissa absolutely mesmerized the crowd singing "Just Friends" by Musiq Soulchild, and "Naked" Ella Mai. Though she only performed covers tonight, she assured me she has music of her own.
Her journey with music began as a child, learning how to sing through the voice of her mother. Growing up surrounded by music, Marissa always knew it was something she would pursue. She went to Cawartha Park Arts School, then moved on to Centennial College where she stupid music production. Her first release was made in school, mixed and mastered amongst her peers.
Marissa recalls her favorite birthday last year, her sister surprised her by taking her to an Omar Apollo concert. Marissa felt especially grateful, as her sister got anxious in crowds but overcame it in order to celebrate.
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Claire Stacey
@clairestaceyy
Unprepared, I was called to the stage. As specially requested by Daniel,I played my recent originals “Sometimes” and “Vices.” The more time I’m on stage, the more comfortable I become improvising and playing freely without nerves. I had to remind myself of this tonight.
My journey with music began when I was quite young. I remember singing in the school yard whether or not my peers would listen, I would tell them “I’m going to be famous, I’m going to be on American Idol.” In fact, I was quite convinced of this. Day in and day out I would sing on my swings, on the bus, wherever I went, convinced someone would “discover me.” This image came to a crashing halt when my father told me this was illogical and wouldn’t happen, and that there was NO WAY I was going to American Idol. You can imagine for an 8 year old this was soul-crushing, but my stride only hindered, not collapsed. I sang all the way through high school, through lessons, a couple bands, and embarrassing acapella performances. It wasn’t until a few years of being in Toronto that I found our flourishing open mic scene. I started out with my best friend at Handlebar, Fam Jam, then Painted Lady, and finally where I found home; objx studio. I’ve now been writing music (in full) for over a year, and playing guitar for a year and a half. To me, it isn’t so much about where I am, but the journey along the way. I have met so many friends and talented musicians. I write and edit our blogs.
I am incredibly grateful to be where I am.
My favorite birthday is every birthday I can spend with those I love. This year, my friend Jake took me to a Macklemore concert and we sang our hearts out in the venue and then into the streets on his bike afterwards. When the clock struck midnight, we celebrated my official birthday at Lakeview restaurant (our fan-favorite, but where did the note-art go??). Honored to be surrounded by people that live fully and freely.
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JD
jai.dth
It was a pleasure to see JD, who performed his originals “Truce” and “Hysterics.” His journey with music began with guitar, something that has been integral for most of his life. It wasn't until three years ago that he started to pursue music as an artistic outlet, and since then he’s been writing and performing.
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Dave Sangalli
@davesangalli
Dave Sangalli is a new local at our studio, and tonight he performed "Cigarettes" by Noah Gunderson and an unreleased original entitled "All I got." Dave’s musical passion began at the age of 13 when he picked up his guitar and “never put it down.”
In regards to his favorite birthday memory, Dave recalls a core memory as a child growing up in Vancouver. Every year, his father would take him to Playland and they would get what he and fellow Vancouverites call Elephant Ears, not to be mistaken by Beaver Tails.
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Delo Bright
@delobright
We’ve missed Delo Bright in our studio, but it was refreshing to see him again. He recently released his EP Ms Toxic, and tonight he gave us a little taste of his new release, performing “Ms Toxic” and a song he just finished making the night before! If you’d like to take a listen to his lyrical genius, be sure to check out our performance videos.
He described his musical journey as “Great. It’s been great. I don’t even know what mixtape I’m on, but I got a lot.” Which is a true testament to just how dedicated he is at honing in on his craft and sharing it with the world.
When asked about his favorite birthday, Delo thinks back to age 11, when he was gifted a Tracey McGrady jersey (who is his favorite Basketball player) and his aunt came and made him spring rolls.
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Daniel Joe Armstrong
@danieljoearmstrong
Celebrating his birthday, we were honored to have Daniel back again. He performed “Steal My Girl” by One Direction. Daniel is always a radiant light at our sessions, he brings a nostalgic and loving energy to each night.
His journey began in junior high, where his friend introduced him to Green Day. Ever since then, he has been obsessed with Punk Rock. Once he got a ukulele gifted by his mother he was “off to the races” and hasn’t turned back. “I’ve had the privilege of learning from amazing teachers in Calgary and Toronto. Shout out Nicole Haber.” Indeed, he holds immense talent. Just this week, I watched him learn a song that was stuck in his head “Die 4 You” by The Weeknd, just by playing it out loud with a guitar in hand. He is an inspiration!
His birthday inspired tonight's question. Of course, this was his favorite birthday. He got to see all of us at objx <3
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Sasha L Henry
@sashalhenry
Sasha had a vibrant energy as soon as she made it to the stage, performing her originals “Colors” and “Pieces.” Sasha has been singing since she was 13. It was only three years ago that she began recording music of her own, which she described as tough because she has a specific sound in mind. Especially in covid, she had a hard time finding producers. Since then, she has definitely found her stride. She’s released “A Lot,” “Leave,” and “Sweet Tooth,” which has done really well (reaching 20k listens!!!). She has a new single, “On Me,” coming out next month.
Her 25th birthday was a rollercoaster, but ended up being her favorite! It started out with all of her friends flopping on her, and she thought they all hated her. She was having a BAD no, “miserable”, day. Her boyfriend brought her wings, and she was in comfortable clothing thinking that this was how she would spend her birthday. Out of the blue, her boyfriend gets a call. He asks her if she can drive him to a gig downtown and, frankly pissed, she relents. He asks before she goes to leave, “don’t you want to change?” Sasha thinks to herself “No way is this man caring about how I dress before I drop HIM off,” and decides to leave anyway. She gets downtown and parks, he pressures her to get out of the car to join him. Annoyed and perturbed, Sasha leaves the car to enter the gig. She sees balloons “26,” and thinks it’s a coincidence-but it was not! Turns out after all this turbulence her friends had surprised her with a birthday party! She had one of the best nights of her life (but wishes in hindsight she would’ve dressed up).
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Justin
@jgavendo
Tonight, Justin blew us away with an improvised performance on Bass.
His journey began with guitar at 12, being taught by his dad. At 25, he began committing an hour a day to practicing the bass and ended up liking bass over guitar. He’s self-taught, attributing his teachings to YouTube university. YouTube also expanded his knowledge to the basics of piano. His influences in bass are James Jamerson, Rick Danko, and John Entwhistle. He shares that “A lot of playing bass is figuring out where the bass fits in the puzzle of the music. Everyone has their opinion on what the bass should do and shouldnt do, but I believe in music sometimes you gotta throw all the rules away and just listen to the final product to see if it's any good”.
Recalling his favorite birthday memory, Justin shares that he “turned my phone off and played hockey all day. 2021, my 26th birthday”.
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Angelic
@angelic.unt
I was honored to have Angelic back in our studio! They have a radiant energy, spreading love and positivity to those around them through poetry and long talks. Also, you know when someone brings a bag of veggies to an open mic that they are the ones you need to talk to.
Tonight they performed a powerful poem medley entitled “God is Trans.”
Angelic has been a poet for more than 15 years. They started performing slam poetry competitively in Vancouver, then transitioning to clown and poetry. Now rap! They actually recorded their first track on Sunday, which should be released in the next month. We are all eager to hear their work!
Their most memorable birthday took place on Cypress mountain. They convened with 30 of their friends, all on snow shoes, taking the trek to the top. After taking in the view, they slid down. Surrounded by all their friends, it was completely surreal!
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Another night for the blogs!
Thank you to everyone who came out, joined in conversation, in jams.
See you next Sunday
Love always,
OBJX
Blog written by Claire Stacey
Photographed by Claire Stacey &
Event curated by Vini & Bodeen
Live Band by Bitter&Broke
Founded by Ben Bonnici
an.OBJX.prjx