Boogiewall Soundsystem is a collective with a deep dub consciousness bridging pop, electronica and reggae with strong songwriting and beautiful vocals.
Tanya Kornobis, aka; tk2000, (DJ, producer, composer and vocalist) has found her home in the beautiful Madawaska Valley in Canada, after many years as part of the Toronto music scene since the late eighties. Coming from a classical background, she has studied piano, flute, clarinet, saxophone and voice.
Her fascination with global rhythms and her interest in community grew and flourished with several trips to Jamaica, Cuba, California, Hawaii, Europe and Africa. Her spiritual journeys lead her through many places, and in 1991 she returned to Canada and formed her first band Groovelust, which became a CFNY New Music finalist. Shortly afterwards she co-founded her next project,The Skanksters, which rehearsed and played their expansive repertoire for over 10 years at clubs and festivals in Canada and the U.S., alongside some of Reggae’s best, including Freddie McGregor, the Reggae Cowboys, Hugh Masekela, Sister Carol and the Skatalites to name a few. It was during those years that Tanya would fine-tune her magical gift as live performer as well as producer. The Skanksters would go on to record their first full-length album, Dub Cookery (Simmerdown Records) and appeared on numerous compilations.
In 1996 the seed was planted for a dub collective that could unite Toronto's diverse musical talents, and that concept blossomed into Boogiewall Soundsystem.
The production team of Sean Richards and tk2000 started a long-term weekly residency at the Lava nightclub in Toronto, Canada, where they experimented with combining DJ culture and live music along with the rhythms of Dub, Reggae, Electronica, Jazz and eastern percussion. Her global spiritual journey then led Tanya to the West Coast and later to Los Angeles. It was a meeting of musical minds when Tanya met with the Mad Professor during a tour with Lee "Scratch" Perry, and they agreed that a future dub was in order for the newly evolving Boogiewall Soundsystem album.
On her trip back to Toronto in 2002 for the release of Boogiewall Soundsystem’s Confide/My Promise 12" (Play Records) she expanded her musical roots by connecting with the many talented artists of her global family, and started recording, tracking, layering and editing for the upcoming album Super My Own Band. in 2004 Boogiewall Soundsystem released a local edit and are now ready in conjunction with Ohm Grown Records, Orange Record Label and Universal Music Canada for the global release of Super My Own Band, an album that bridges Pop, RnB, electronic music and Reggae with their signature style: strong songwriting and thought provoking vocals couched in warm and textured rhythms.
Tanya’s passion for music comes from a very special place in her heart where rhythm and melody unite to create a force that inspires all in our ever-changing global community. On her journey as singer, composer, performer and storyteller, Tanya is moved by the harmonies and melodies of the oceans of life, and continues to captivate audiences globally with her performances. The haunting chants and celebratory melodies are drawn from her eastern roots and her familiarity with the one-drop meditation: the journey into dub consciousness.
The magic of her music is inspired by simple mantras, in her own words: “Love Love Love Music Music Music”.
Reviews:
TRIBE MAGAZINE:
This work seems to be the sonic equivalent of an interdisciplinary academic program. Cross-pollination between a number of sounds has occurred, resulting in esoteric down tempo with a dub reggae sensibility. Genre bending, where overground pop influences meet electronic music head on. Live jazz instrumentation on track number four was nicely done.
The instrumental scratch fest on track number eight gives us a glimpse into something that should be revisited and expanded upon. Tanya Kornobis' beautiful vocals are couched in warm, textured rhythms. Comparisons to Massive Attack are easy to make but largely unjustified - the Boogiewall Soundsystem has carved its own sound out of an open-source framework of reggae, ska, dub, house, and jazz.
NOW MAGAZINE:
The Boogiewall Soundsystem function more as a collective than a normal band, seeking out collaborations with DJs and dance music producers as well as MCs and horn sections.This disc features remixes by UK dub hero the Mad Professor and a house mix by local boy Rob Nice.
Fans of the Mad Professor's dub mix of Massive Attack's Protection album should be especially interested in this project. While Boogiewall Soundsystem are much more rooted in reggae rhythms than in Massive Attack, the collision of musical influences is common ground. The song that the Mad Professor decided to rework, Confide In You, is one of their least reggae-influenced, and much closer to Massive Attack's dreamy downtempo.
"It grew out of a passion for other kinds of music," explains vocalist and keyboard player Tanya Kornobis. "I love dancing and going out and listening to house as well as dub. We wanted to merge what we've been doing really well for a long time, which is dub, with all our other interests."
Many Toronto bands have been sucked into the trap of trying to reproduce authentically a style and sound from another place and era without taking into account their own musical history and tastes. At a certain point, the desire to express yourself more honestly as a musician takes hold.
"Our roots have always been in early-70s roots reggae, but we're playing now, and it seems closed-minded to be traditionalists about it," guitarist and co-producer Sean Richards acknowledges. "I went to Japan last summer and was really encouraged by the stuff coming out of there -- Japanese domestically produced R&B-reggae hybrids that you'd never imagine would even be heard over there and have made number 24 on the charts.
Reinventing yourself and the way you make music isn't easy, but advances in home recording technology make it much more affordable than ever before to try out infinite possibilities.
"We're not in a hurry. It's a labor of love," says Kornobis. "Our first CD as the Skanksters took six weeks to do, while this has taken two years. We've been working on it really hard, getting the sounds exactly the way we want them.
"We're not settling for anything less than exactly how we want it."
PEACE MAGAZINE:
From full band reggae and ska to down-tempo studio dub, the debut album from Toronto's Boogiewall Soundsystem, 'Super My Own Band" is an ambitious and satisfying endeavor that finds vocalist Tanya Kornobis and crew unbacked by the power of their recent mad professor remix but still indexing Morcheeba or Massive Attack.
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