The Kelowna band sits down to chat about their music, Tik-Tok, and a year where (almost) everything sucked
Joss Arnott // Staff Writer
Post-Modern Connection began with members Tega Ovie and Georges Nasrallah back in 2015. The two-piece started out by performing at open mic nights at UBC Okanagan. “We pretty much stumbled open each other,” said Nasrallah. After two years playing together, the duo decided to form a band. “We really couldn’t get into any good venues without having a full band in [Kelowna],” said Ovie. “They really don’t like dual acoustics here unless it’s like in a coffee shop or something.” Ovie and Nasrallah joined forces with drummer Aaron Gordon, bassist Steven Lin, and most recently Mitch Howanyk, a violinist and synth player.
Things changed in 2020. The pandemic hit BC the day after the band finished filming their music video for Drowning. “I think for the band it was actually not the worst thing that could happen,” said Ovie, referring to the pandemic. “We got to just stop and make music, which I really enjoyed.” The pause has also given PMC the time to consider the band’s future, reaching out to producers and planning merch.
While PMC hasn’t been able to tour since COVID struck, they’ve been busy. The five-piece performed virtual shows for the gigs that had to be canceled earlier in the year. “It really wasn’t the same,” said Nasrallah. “We definitely had fun, but it’s not the same as being there with the audience and just connecting with them, so that’s one thing I miss.”
Joss Arnott: What are you, as a band, about?
Tega Ovie: We’re just compiling different ideas and spinning them out. I feel like that’s what Post-Modern Connection (PMC) is about. That’s kinda why the name is the name. It’s just about discarding the old ways of picking genres and just saying we’re gonna make what we feel inspired to make.
J: Your new single, “Drowning” came out last year. What is the song about to you, and do you think it resonated in the pandemic landscape?
T: It wasn’t written for the pandemic. It was written because life just sucks in general. But, to me, that song is really just about getting that feeling out there and saying; This feels terrible, and I want to give up.
T: That’s kind of what that song is saying, in nice simple terms. But, I also think it kind of works for the pandemic. When it hit, it was just like, this also feels terrible.
Georges Nasrallah: Well, that’s ironic.
T: *laughs* Yeah, that’s my motto.
J: How does your music reflect who you are as a band?
T: I think we’re about just doing whatever we feel at the moment. We’ve got some songs that [have a] hugely Bossa Nova/Spanish Latin guitar influence, and we’ve got songs that are jazz sounding that switch to Afrobeat in the middle and then come back to a slight indie rock. We’re pretty much just about doing whatever we like, and just going with it.
T: “Drowning” was actually a pretty good example of us mixing a bunch of different things. I was listening to Gutter Girl by Hot Flash Heat Wave and Trudy and the Romance, they’re all doo-wopy.
T: So I was like, I wanna make a song with that swing. I wrote the chords, Georges put all the nice licks on it. When we got to the middle, it was—I don’t know how we made that up.
G: [“Drowning”] is definitely a good example of pretty much a cauldron of different genres as well. Pretty much the whole swing of the song is doo-wopy. Having somewhat of a psychedelic part in the middle, and at the end more riffing, and J-rock.
J: How has your success on Tik-Tok affected the band?
T: Tik-Tok is interesting. Our first video really got out there—30,000 views and all that jazz. You gotta be consistent—and we’re not super consistent on Tik-Tok. That one video definitely connected us to a lot of people. It felt like being mini-famous for, like, a week. It’s really spread to a bunch of our other social media networks. It’s potential to connect you with an audience that’s actually interested in you, is massive.
G: The biggest increase was in our Spotify. We went from 800 followers up to nearly 1000.
J: Where do you want to take PMC in the future?
G: Definitely gearing up to work on an EP, and shows hopefully, if the pandemic dies down.
T: We want to put out an EP this year; we’re just waiting for some funding. We have lots of plans, it all just hinges on our EP.
Support your local bands and check out Post-Modern Connection on Instagram, Spotify, Tik-Tok and Youtube to see their newest music video for “Drowning.”