29 Mar
The Weeknd producer Illangelo's latest Toronto crooner

It’s no secret we’re big fans of The Weeknd, so when we heard one of his producers, Illangelo, was working on a new project our ears pricked up. The Toronto producer has teamed up with upcoming post-R&B crooner TALWST (pronounced “Tall Waist”) for a seven-track EP titled Alien Tentacle Sex — an album born of Golden Era hip-hop beats married to Brian Eno-styled ambience. Like the instrumental tracks of The Weeknd, TALWST’s vocals are set over bass-laden dream-like atmospherics — just the right tone to get  you into that special headspace. So we shot TALWST some questions to get to  know the man — and we found out he has some serious artistic scruples, a longing to get in the studio with Jamie from the xx, an upcoming exhibit at the Fuse Gallery in NYC, and a very active vampire social life. Look out for Alien Tentacle Sex (out April 24, 2012) and read his Q&A below…

Allow me to introduce myself, I’m…
Talwst Santiago.

You can find me ____, usually posted up in
Toronto Canada aka  New Motown.

You might’ve heard of me because…
I’m rare like spaceship glare

But why you really should know me is…
My art is good, that’s it. What else matters other than love

My next order of business is…
Right now I’m focused on putting together my new band for touring, as well as preparing for my solo art show titled DOS, aka “Death of Swag”, at the Fuse gallery NYC in August.

If it wasn’t for _______ I wouldn’t be where I am today
My big brothers for introducing me to Basquiat, Prince & Bowie.

The first piece of music I heard that I remember waking up my ears was…
Darling Nikki.

The last piece of music I heard that woke up my ears is…
Selda Bagcan  “Gitme”.

I hate to admit it, but I almost gave music up when…
Woke up and found myself surrounded by a team who didn’t give a dam about making great art just making money. Who says you can’t do both?  They just wanted to follow trends rather than innovate.

But it all came together when…
I went home from a terrible meeting with my management who where some of the biggest in Canada at the time. I sat around a table and heard them tell me all the things that wouldn’t work and who I needed to be to break the pop world. That night I received a email on MySpace from a stranger just getting in the management game in New York telling me he understood where I was heading and felt there was a lane for me in NYC. He had one show for me so I went to play it. I found myself winning over a room filled with the kids my old management said I could never reach, Lets say they got reached and the rest is history.

Check out the video for “Peace Tonight” featuring Illangelo below, and continue reading our Q&A with Toronto artist TALWST after the Jump…

“…Incoherent ramblings of an acid trip from last summer in Montreal. I still can’t tell if the naked girls in the woods were a hallucination…”

If I was taking a train from Paris to Madrid, the one person I’d want to share the cabin with would be….
I would roll with painter Liza Lacroix — she’s the tallest, most talented art bitch a dude could know. I would sex her on the train as she painted my portrait, while skyping with Hennessy Youngman so he could tell us how contemporary our love was.

If you want to put a smile on my face, you probably want to…
Put me in the studio with Jaime XX.

If you want to wipe that smile away, then you should…
Tell me the world is out of Roti.

The last time I saw the sun come up I was…
This morn! We some vampires we gather round this art like a campfire.

The person I admire most is…
No question my parents Talwst Sr and Mumala they real like Sunglasses and Advil. They taught me what it means to work hard and not take no for an answer.

The last time I lied was because…
I never lie… so right now

If you hit shuffle on my iPod you might be shocked to find…
Incoherent ramblings of a acid trip from last summer in Montreal. I still can’t tell if the naked girls in the woods were a hallucination.

If you hit shuffle on my iPod I’d be embarrassed if it landed on…
I wouldn’t be I have great taste.

When I get my first really big check, I’m gonna go score a…
Nothing humans can make is as important to me as piece of land in the Caribbean with its own water source and a clear view of the stars.

But it’ll never replace…
Gold razor blade & chain passed down from Talwst Sr, or the preliminary sketch of painting Residential School Boy by Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun.

My one magic power is…
I am able to see the future… for real.

I’d like to give a quick shout-out to…
Shout out’s to The SoTall fam  J.O, London Summers, Illangelo, Anna-Karin Loureiro, Kheaven Lewandowski, Black Atlass, Todd Duym, Gsus clothing, my Milliner Elizabeth Victoria, Red Dice Media

And lastly, If I was Lost In a Supermarket, you’d find me in the…
I’d be in the cash register getting that money.

Leave a Reply