Aysanabee returns to Edmonton, with new music on the horizon

Aysanabee is no stranger to Edmonton. He’s performed at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival twice and returned to the city again this year for KDays. Thankfully, he says he loves performing in our city.

Aysanabee is an Oji-Cree singer–songwriter from Sandy Lake First Nation. He’s been on a roll with his music career since leaving his day job and releasing his first album Watin in 2022. Four years and four Junos later, he’s been touring around the world. But at the end of this stint, he’s looking to take some time away to write new music.

“I think the last four years, it was like … because I was emerging … there was this pressure to kind of really keep putting stuff out, to kind of keep building momentum,” Aysanabee explained. 

That pressure eased a little bit after he won the third and fourth Juno. “After the second two, I was like ‘okay, I’m no longer emerging.’”

“So the next album I just want to be really proud of it and really happy with it, and that’s just going to take time,” he said.

He’s been talking about writing some songs with his backup singer, Lala Noel, and his drummer, Miles Gibbons. 

“A lot of the time when I’m songwriting I’ll work with different producers and kind of have a therapy session and then just kind of write for the day,” Aysanabee explained. “If something comes, something comes, and if something doesn’t, it’s no stress.” 

Making music made by people

He added that with the rise of music made with artificial intelligence (AI), there isn’t a way to compete with speed. Aysanabee is just “going to go away and write and make something made by people.”

He said there are AI tools that can be a big help when it comes to organization in producing music. But the idea of someone making an entirely AI-generated song in their bedroom feels weird to him.

“All these guys put so much work into their craft, learning their instrument, learning music theory, learning how to record,” Aysanabee said. “And then somebody can just come in and grab their songs and plug them in [AI] and use those as references to create something, and not having put in the time or that care.”

Most of Aysanabee’s songs are quite personal, but he’s been intrigued by writing from imagination more recently. 

“I went to go see Rosalía play and I was just so blown away,” he said. “She was like ‘yeah, you know what? There’s a little bit of me in there, and then a lot of it is just my imagination.’”

He’s been playing around with the idea of writing from imagination, and other concepts, ahead of writing new music. But his process will really be all about taking the time to reflect and slow down.