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Isla
Craig, you’re just about everywhere. Sometimes you’re working on Offerings, a
great free magazine showcasing Toronto’s anomalous music scene. Sometimes
you’re collaborating with any one of a million Toronto artists like Bruce
Peninsula or Steve Kado or Ivy Mairi or Jeff Garcia or Canaille. And when
you’re not doing that, you’re often working on one of your own projects, like
The Deeep or OG Melody or New Civilization, or maybe even just filling a room
with strange and wonderful sounds all on your own.

It
seems like a pretty exciting and musical life you lead. Thanks for taking some
time to tell us a little bit about it!

What’s
your favourite Toronto concert story?

Late summer of 2010 – outside
Rosie Robin, a convenience/ home cooking / not your average
"convenience", convenience store at Gladstone and Shanly.  There
was a live reggae band set up on Rosie's patio. The whole neighbourhood had
come outside onto the street; kids in pj's, grandma & grandpa, passersby.
My best friends were with me. The vibe was perfect, open, warm.  There was
food being served with love.  Pulling up on your bike to a free summer
night reggae neighbourhood jam? This is the dream.  This is what I love so
much about Toronto. 

You
collaborate with a ton of other artists. What’s so exciting for you about
working with other people on musical projects?

I would say first and foremost I
am a vocalist, and a songwriter, but defining the shape of what that means
brings me to into many realms of musical exploration.  When you work with
other creators (musicians, dancers, visual artists, thinkers) there is an
energy exchange that has a life all its own.  I've been performing with
Steve Kado and a group of amazing musicians, doing this Steve Reich/ Terry
Reily style minimalist piece written by Steve.  We performed at the Great
Hall in September- 10 electric guitar players and myself and one other mini
keyboardist in tow.  I was sitting on the stage totally absorbing all of
the frequencies of the electrified sound.  It was a physical experience
that i rarely get to have as a solo performer. Collaborating with people
challenges me to bring my talents to the table, to show up and be present and
open to the experience.

What
Toronto musician/band’s recording do you think everyone should be listening to
right now?

The Weather Station's "All
of it Was Mine" – Beautiful lyricism and word painting.  This is a
brave album.
Not the Wind, Not the Flag – Any
and all recordings. Go see them live.  It will lift up your soul.
Prince Nifty – any and
everything. Trance soul master.  Beat sculpting shape shifter.
P EET MOSS – Urban Unit Theory
MC. Reimagined experimental Hip Hop landscapes in a league of their own.

What
advice would you an aspiring artist trying to break into the Toronto music
scene?

Celebrate the rough edges,
the process of becoming, and don't be too hard on yourself! Experiment. There
is no "scene" but many many many scenes. Go to all sorts of performances
and meet new people.  Speak your mind and show love! Do what you love.
 If you follow your heart, you will not be lead astray. Trust yourself.

Seeing
as this is a library website and all, what’s the last really great book you’ve
read?

In the last year, I've done a
bit of reading into the cosmos and human cognition.  What's in the mind?!
Ahh, it's fascinating, how we are who we are, and how we can recognize patterns
and develop new ways of thinking/ being. In this vein, Jill Bolte Taylor's book
"My Stroke of Insight" has been a major inspiration.  She is a
neurologist who suffered a stroke in the right hemisphere of her brain, and
writes about her experience and recovery with such beauty and vulnerability.
 Paul Talbot's "the Holographic Universe" will blow your mind
open in 8 directions all at once on what is possible beyond life in the 3rd
dimension.  The catalyst for all of these cosmic inquires came from
getting deep with Carl Sagan's "the Cosmos".  The man, the voice,
the cosmic search…..