We Spoke To Montreal Producer & Artist Lunice About What It Means To Express Your Authentic Self
Nothing gets you in your feelings quite like music. If you want to feel happy, embrace your sadness, feel calm or hype yourself up, there's a tune for every mood. A good song can work all sorts of magic — whether you're listening to it or creating it yourself.
For those who love to make music, there's no better way to explore their authentic selves than through sound. There are no limits to making music, which puts it at the forefront of self-expression. There are tons of talented artists that use their music to communicate their truth in creative ways. With their limitless imaginations, musical artists can create a jam with nearly anything — even fruit.
Truly set out to explore this very idea with the For The Flavourful campaign, using the true-to-fruit flavours of Truly Hard Seltzer and some of Canada's best musicians to inspire self-expression and creativity through music.
Artists including Montreal's Ouri and Lunice, Toronto's Mour and Bombay, Halifax's Rich Aucoin, and Overland, DiRTY RADiO and Teon Gibbs from Vancouver experimented with technology to extract biorhythms from actual fruit to create one-of-a-kind songs.
Sounds pretty unique, right? To pull it off, the artists used a little something called Biodata Sonification technology to detect sounds from the fruit used to create Truly Hard Seltzer's refreshing flavours.
These biorhythms were then manipulated into songs and collected together in Truly's For The Flavourful Spotify playlist. Step aside, Harry Styles, fruit is more than a muse: it can be used as an actual instrument too.
Montreal-based singer and producer, Lunice, was one of the artists who got involved, creating his own track, "Mango Mangifera," inspired by — you guessed it — Truly's Mango Hard Seltzer.
During Lunice's interview with Narcity, he touched on his music, his contribution to the For The Flavourful playlist, and what being authentically himself means. Here's more of what Lunice had to say.
Questions and responses have been edited for clarity.
You've caught the eyes and ears of people all over the world. For Narcity readers who may be new to your music, tell us a bit about yourself.
"I was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec. I've always been absolutely fascinated by the arts as a whole. I'm a very process-driven individual, meaning that I find more fulfillment in the process of things rather than the end result.
"That outlook has led me to try out everything from graphic design, cinema, photography, theatre, to doing art installations and finally music. This general artistic approach is what I think gives me my unique perspective in the music industry after being in it for the last 12 years."
What are three fun facts about you that Narcity readers may be surprised to know?
" 1. I really love and know a lot about fishing. I've been doing it since I was eight years old.
2. My first ever experience of going to the club turned out to be my very first DJ gig.
3. I'm a huge gamer and love Japanese RPGs (I'm a big Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger & Vagrant Story fan)."
You were into breakdancing and graffiti as a teenager. Do you still do both?
"Yes! I still do both and scratch records, too! But nowadays all those skills have evolved to serve itself in different fields in a way. For example, my breakdancing has evolved into the stage presence and movements I do at my shows. The graffiti shows itself in the visual applications I do, whether in person or online. I often sketch a lot of my ideas and logos out first.
"And finally, scratching, that has influenced how I hear rhythms when I make my own music. There's something unique and totally overlooked in the way instrumentals for scratching are done."
Did being surrounded by hip-hop culture at a young age give you a better appreciation for the scene? How does that translate into your music?
"My appreciation for the hip hop culture really grew when I first found out about all the elements that make up that movement: emceeing, scratching, break dancing & graffiti. I tried all four, and what I got out of it was this momentum of curiosity that led me to explore more ideas and sounds beyond the culture itself.
"Without the inherent nature of exploring and discovering different elements that you see in hip hop, I don't know if I would've been as curious as I am today - and that's why I'm able to work on any musical style I feel at that moment."
Anyone who's been to one of your shows will know you have a very unique, charismatic and interpretive stage presence. What inspires it?
"Before I even got to do my first DJ gig, I already had gotten a decent amount of experience performing live on stage through cinema and theatre.
"So when I found myself up on stage one night, I honestly didn't know what else to do while I was waiting for one record to finish so I could mix in the next one. So that gap in time naturally led me to jump in front of the DJ booth and join my friends in the front row and dance with them."
A lot of your music is best enjoyed on the dancefloor. What has it been like for you producing and performing during the pandemic?
"It's been great thankfully! Because I'm not touring at the moment, I've gotten a lot of time to reflect and experiment with a bunch of ideas that I would otherwise not have had the time to do. I'm grateful to know that I can create from within without the need for external 'forces' to help motivate me to create."
Tell us about "Mango Mangifera," your contribution to the Truly For The Flavourful playlist.
"I like to play with every aspect of a project, including the track title. 'Mangifera' is a genus of flowering plants in the cashew family, and the Mango finds itself in that category. So I wanted to recreate the sonic environment where you'd find this fruit in its natural habitat. Sort of laying the original soundtrack to a scene of a film."
You sampled biorhythmic sounds from the fruit in Truly's Mango Hard Seltzer to create this track. This sounds pretty complicated. Can you tell us a little bit about what the creation process was like?
"The technology behind it is no doubt complicated. But thankfully, the end software that processes it makes the whole experience seamless. So all that's needed is for me to find the section of the plant's waves that had the highest potential to make a musical piece out of.
"In short, the biorhythmic box (using Plantwave Technology) converts the electrical conductivity of any plant (in my case, fruit) into audio. And it's with that audio information where I can create the soundtrack you hear."
Narcity is all about showing love for your own city. Having been born and raised in Montreal, do you often use your hometown or local music scene to inspire your own music and distinct sound? Did you use it to inspire your track with Truly?
"Absolutely! Montreal is everything to me. I find myself working with more talent from my city than I do worldwide. Especially with the new generation of artists in this city, they're all so inspiring and forward thinking like Miko, Yuki Dreams Again, Zach Zoya, Skiifall to name a few."
This opportunity was about using Truly's flavours to inspire creativity and self-expression through music. How were you able to successfully express your art, creativity and talent through the lens of Truly's flavour?
"I find a good creative project really comes down to the people who are running the concept themselves. When I first met the Truly team and their designers, I already could tell they're the kind of individuals that are keen on executing things in a more artistic manner. The concept of using biorhythmic waves alone was already a great idea that made the whole concept that much more exciting to explore and play with.
"I'm huge on exploration, discovery and playfulness and they delivered on all fronts."
Are you working on anything else right now that you're excited about?
"I'm almost done with my second full-length album! I had a lot of time to work on it during the pandemic and it turns out I'm pretty good at finishing songs."
What does it mean to you to be authentically yourself?
"The only way I can see myself being authentic is by first having true empathy for myself. In a way of cutting myself some slack and never overanalyzing or questioning what I do or express in my music and performance. That has enabled me to not be too hard on myself or to have any doubt about the ways I produce my art.
"You just can't forcibly be 'authentic' if you can't accept who you truly are."
If you hadn't become a musician, what would you be doing right now?
"I initially was majoring in a University program called 'Intermedia Cyber Arts' before music became a full time career. So no doubt I'd find myself somewhere else in the arts if it wasn't music."
What's the best setting to listen to Truly's For The Flavourful playlist?
"My personal go-to for almost any sonic experience is to include scent in the mix. It doesn't have to be mango scented but anything that could possibly relate to scents that are commonly found in Southeast Asia, like sandalwood or ylang ylang for example. That will enhance your overall experience exponentially. I use scent at my live shows before I even play any music. That's how important the sense of smell is in that setting."
For Lunice, creating music and being your most authentic self are totally connected ideas. If you're unsure of yourself and who you are, it can be really hard to tap into what you really want to say with your creative work.
Inspired by the artists who contributed to this project, Truly released the For The Flavourful Soundpack on Landr. This pack consists of sound samples collected from mangos, strawberries, lemons and more. The sample pack aims to encourage Canadian musicians to download the samples (for free) and use them to express their own authentic flavour through music and Truly's fruit flavours.
Whether you create music or just listen to it, championing your own self-expression should always feel as refreshing as Truly's seltzers. Each batch is made with simple ingredients and no artificial flavours or sweeteners to help keep it real while you relax and enjoy some fresh and fruit-filled tunes.
Check out Truly's For The Flavourful Spotify playlist to hear music made from the sound of fruit. To learn more, visit Truly's website and follow them on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or YouTube.
For more stories from the UNFILTERED series, check out the Truly hub here.
Narcity does not condone the overconsumption of alcohol. If you are going to drink alcohol, please do so responsibly and only if you're of legal age.
