SPECIAL WEDNESDAY PSYCH SHOW !
Going deep on a weeknight with SAM WOY & Gus Englehorn. Find out more about these artists below.
SAM WOY:
SamWoy is the musical persona of Sam Woywitka—a Montreal-based artist who unleashes brash and unabashed compositions that transcend genre distinctions. Equally at home while pulling the strings in the studio and commanding stages, Woywitka’s restless pursuit of auditory excitement pushes him towards ear-scorching innovation and deeply satisfying grooves and hooks. SamWoy tracks can’t be wrangled or pinned down, and are as likely to delve into ambient bliss and lush orchestration as they are to get torn apart by buzzsaw synths and distorted drums. Live, SamWoy is a high-wire act of dramatic shifts between bangers and beauty—a rager where all forms of emotion are embraced.
In SamWoy’s musical universe, the mood often oscillates to euphoric highs, but pain is always right around the corner. Many of the songs engage with Woywitka’s scrape with death in a near-fatal car accident in his tiny hometown on Vancouver Island right as he was transitioning into adulthood. For Woywitka, engaging with the textures of punk and metal music that inspired him in formative years offers a method of communication with his adolescent self, providing healing from his traumatic past and a ladder out of darkness. For the listener, bearing witness to Woywitka’s ability to use creativity as a life raft can be a powerful testament to the power of self-actualization through music.
GUS ENGLEHORN:
Gus Englehorn is an Alaskan singer-songwriter based in Quebec City. A former professional snowboarder, Englehorn transitioned to music a couple of years ago. My obsession with music grew too intense to ignore, Gus tells us. I’m a one-thing-at-the-time kind of guy.
His approach is visceral, subconscious and much like his snowboarding career, risk taking and unapologetic. Dadaism, alienation, childhood memories, autism and surrealism are all inspirations for Englehorn’s creative process. He shares the stage with his wife and Quebec artist, Estée Preda on drums. Preda is also a key collaborator both musically and aesthetically, and she enjoys being referred to as his indispensable sidekick.
Last January, Gus Englehorn released a debut album entitled Death & Transfiguration and has since been amassing a dedicated following. Death & Transfiguration received warm reviews locally: CHYZ crowned the record #1 album of the year in 2020, it was nominated for a GAMIQ award, and Le Canal Auditif gave it 8.5/10, calling it “a captivating musical UFO.” In France, Indie Music stated, “a true treasure of indie rock, already one of our favourite releases of the year,” while in the US, Atwood Magazine thought his first album was “an explosive release of the mind's goings-on.” Gus Englehorn recently played at the 2021 edition of POP Montreal, at the FME in Rouyn-Noranda and at The Great Escape in the UK.