IN CONCERT
A Tribe Called Red, Monolithium, Shrew and Juice
When: Sunday, 10 p.m.
Where: Sugar
Tickets: $12 at Lyle's Place and Ditch Records
Dan General of A Tribe Called Red hasn't suffered through a bad club night in some time.
In fact, since joining the Ottawa group three years ago, General can't remember a time fans assembled before A Tribe Called Red weren't hoofing it hard.
"As soon as we start spinning, everything gets hot and sweaty," said General, a product of Fort Erie, Ont., who performs under the moniker DJ Shub.
"Our set is pretty energetic. It's kind of hard not to dance."
A Tribe Called Red has just returned from a tour of England, following an appearance at a World Music Expo in Greece. The group, known for the pioneering musical hybrid "pow-wow step," likely fit in perfectly at the multicultural music festival: Theirs is a unique mix of traditional First Nations rhythms and chants and modern-day bass music, specifically dub-step.
That it happens to be created by three DJ-producers with a shared heritage - DJ NDN (Ian Campeau) is Nipissing First Nation, while DJ Shub and DJ Bear Witness (Bear Thomas) are Cayuga Six Nations - makes every bit of difference, in terms of delivery.
"We've created something that hasn't really been heard yet," General said. "This is something that we can't stop. It's a new title, so we're setting what it stands for through our music."
The group is set to close its seven-date Canadian tour on Sunday with its first show on local soil, a highly anticipated performance at Sugar nightclub. The group has been building considerable buzz as it travels across sa国际传媒, something neither General nor his bandmates take lightly.
Pioneering a new strain of music, especially one with deep cultural roots, is sometimes a difficult load to carry, General said. "We don't want to be pigeonholed as the guys who just do pow-wow music. We want to be known as the guys who play music and also are aboriginal."
Earlier this year, the group's self-titled debut was named a longlist finalist for the Polaris Music Prize, which raised A Tribe Called Red's profile considerably. Word spread further over the summer, thanks to the trio's appearance at Toronto's Mad Decent Block Party, an event conceived by U.S. beatmaker Diplo - the same performer who effectively brought A Tribe Called Red to the greater public eye via his Twitter feed.
The song that took the group out of Ottawa clubs and onto a cross-country tour is the thumping dub-step remix of Red Skin Girl, written and recorded by Grammy-nominated group the Northern Cree Singers. By combining family traditions with new-school expertise - A Tribe Called Red has mined material from the past on many occasions, including Don Armando's 1979 hit I'm an Indian Too - the production team is successfully manifesting its own identity.
"Sampling in our music is like sampling in hip hop," said General, a technical wizard who has won both Canadian DMC Championships and RedBull Thre3style Canadian DJ Championships as a performance DJ.
"But that's our only tie to hip hop. We play electronic dance music but get 'umbrella-ed' under the sub genre of pow-wow step. It's a new title, so we're setting what it stands for through our music."
The group isn't an overtly political project, General said, but he believes its presence alone is something of a political statement. And while much of their energy is spent making party jams, they won't stay silent if a topic - particularly one relating to First Nations issues - is worthwhile.
Their single Woodcarver examines the controversial story of Canadian First Nations wood carver John T. Williams, who was shot to death last year by a Seattle police officer while carrying a piece of wood and a carving knife on the street.
King County prosecutors eventually decided not to file criminal charges against the officer.
When the members of A Tribe Called Red heard the story, General instinctively knew a song would come out of it.
Woodcarver features actual news reports of the incident, as well as eyewitness testimony, painting a provocative picture on an otherwise upbeat album.
"We're not out there to make every song political. We're not Rage Against the Machine," General said. "But now that we have this platform to use when we want to, we are going to use it."
