Could you explain how your musical career started and how long have you been playing?
When I was about 12 or 13 I was invited to sit in with local bands in Cambridge, Ontario. The older, more experienced musicians around me really helped me along and encouraged me to expand on what I was doing and that gave me the confidence to start my own band and eventually write songs and tour extensively.
What is it that makes you wake up every morning to create and compose?
The Unified field.
Have you toured much outside of Canada? Which regions are you interested in touring to? Why?
I have played shows in the US, Jamaica, Mexico, Costa Rica, The UK and more and I really want to tour in Japan and China. I hear it’s a wild place to play and the people really dig good music.
What was your motivation to hit the trail as a solo artist?
I love playing with different groups of musicians. I have been blessed with some of the most inspirational band mates and collaborators and at the same time I wasn’t meant to be one of the Beatles. By that I mean I never found a group of people that were SO aligned that it was a no brainer to work toward that collective higher sound. So I’m carving that path while trying to be the best band leader I can be, alongside the great musicians that accompany me.
What was it like to share the stage with the legend, “Les Paul” and how did that come about?
It was a world that I wasn’t ready to enter. I went on stage with him as a teenager, a few months before his passing and a few years before I would fully grasp the musical depths he was coming from.
He told me he wanted to make me famous.
Your music has a lot of influences; it has that 90’s R&B meets Motown sound; that sound seems to be making a comeback, artists such as The Black Pumas have definitely opened the doors. Would you say that this style of music is the next big thing?
When creating my approach I listen for music that has modern production elements, soulful connection to the songs intention, and some sort of roots – a classic familiarity that leaves me feeling like I’m hearing something timeless and of the times. I think that can make people feel like they are being presented with something they have never heard before. For example D’Angelo mixed old school soul and rnb with hip hop and then he really opened up what people think about rnb music and now that is integrated into the word/genre of “rnb”. It was innocent and sweet with artists like Bobby Hebb and the temptations and now when somebody says rnb it has hip hop connotation with today’s artists like Miguel and Erykah Badu.
You have such a sexy and sultry style to your singing; a very unique voice indeed. What keeps you grounded and anchored in your uniqueness especially because in music there seem to be so many bandwagoners?
Thank you.
I try and stay in my own lane and make the music that comes to me naturally.
Your new EP, “Three”, is very solid front to back. Who were some of the artists or songs that inspired you during the writing sessions of “Three”?
Thanks again.
During the writing process for this record I was listening to alot of Frank Ocean, Thirdstory, BJ the Chicago Kid, along with a lot of singer-songwriters like Jeff Buckley, Hozier,
Leif Vollebeck. And I’m always listening to funky soul music like Chuggy Otis, Stevie, Donny Hathaway and the likes.
If there was one musician you would like to to collaborate with, who would that be and why?
That’s a tough question.
I would say working with D’Angelo would be my top pick. Just because he is, in my opinion, one of the most talented musicians, singers and “vibesmen” of our era.
Check out Conor Gains new album ” Light Shine In” available on all streaming platforms and follow himon Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/ConorGainsMusic Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/conorgains/