DJ Murge was an untapped talent when he moved to Victoria from Port McNeill at 18.
Though young at the time, he was serious about hip hop. Before long, the Vancouver native (born Josh Haase) was cooking up music of his own, both on tours with Swollen Members and in recordings bearing his own name.
Now, with more than 15 years of beat-making in the bank, DJ Murge is at a stage in his career where he can move about in a number of artistic capacities.
A staple of Victoria’s hip-hop community, he’s a regular performer — look for him on the occasional Sunday at the Strathcona Hotel’s Rooftop Surfclub — and studio contributor, in part via his position as the A&R director of local imprint Wolf/Sheep Records.
His new release, The Current, which arrived online Saturday, is a product of a collective that features Murge and a trio of local products, rappers Just B. and Ishkan, and singer Ashleigh Eymann. The crew (now making music as Murge, Just, Ish & Ash) goes back a decade, but recent developments spread sessions for The Current over a two-year span.
Along the way, Murge solicited guest contributions for the album from Madchild and Prevail of Swollen Members, Cadence Weapon and Vursatyl (Livesavas/Quannum). Local help on The Current comes via Daniel Lapp, Martin MacPhail, the Set, Pigeon Hole and Ian Avery of Hi-Q Sound.
The group has no live performances on tap, given that only Ishkan and Murge live in Victoria. (Just B. is based in the Fraser Valley, while Eymann is stationed in Vancouver.) But look for Murge the weekend of July 25 at the Phillips Backyard Weekender, or an upcoming recording with Miami Nights 1984 under the duo moniker Future Noir.
The Current is available digitally on iTunes, Amazon and Juno Download.
Esquimalt’s Memorial Park Music Festival reaches its midway point Tuesday with a performance from popular Prohibition-era jazz interpreters the Capital City Syncopators.
The shows starts at 6 p.m. The swing-tastic Syncopators are known for their throwback style, so “bow ties are encouraged,” as per the band’s request.
The free summer music series continues every Tuesday until July 29. Alive and Kickin’ with Cynthia Davis is up next on July 15. Virtual Elvis (July 22) and Bijoux du Bayou (July 29) round out the offerings.
Memorial Park is at 1212 Esquimalt Rd. For more information, visit esquimalt.ca.
Victoria singer-songwriter Mike Edel has released a baseball-themed video for The Closer, a song rife with imagery of Edel’s youth.
Edel was born in Calgary and raised 45 minutes away in the farming community of Linden, Alta., a small Mennonite town of fewer than 1,000 people. In a note that accompanies the animated video, Edel says the song was inspired by watching his older brother’s baseball games when he was a wide-eyed six-year-old.
The story, which is accented by the emotion of its stark animation, follows a closing pitcher as he attempts to win a game. There is a deeper subtext involving a boy’s father and a farming accident. “I think that sometimes we think that these small moments in small towns don’t matter,” Edel says in the note. “But the truth is that they do.”
To watch the video, visit timescolonist.com/arts. To buy The Closer on iTunes, visit tinyurl.com/kr8sb7d
Camille Miller is celebrating her return from extended stays in Mexico and Brazil with a new album and tour.
Miller, who is based in Crofton, should be well-known to local audiences. During the ’90s, the former Victoria and Nanaimo resident fronted a number of popular local bands, among them the folk-rocking Man With the Yellow Hat, the blues-based Dr. Tongue and the disco party band Wunderbread.
Miller will reunite with some of her former bandmates for a performance Thursday at Logan’s Pub in celebration of her new album, More Than This. Her bandmates include Odds frontman Murray Atkinson, Kerplunks singer Tina Jones, noted Nanaimo producer Rick Salt, David Gogo drummer Billy Hicks and esteemed jazz bassist Sean Drabitt.
To watch her Mexico-shot video for Guilty Birds visit timescolonist.com/arts.
The second season of the W network drama Cedar Cove premières July 20, which is good news for fans of Vancouver Island singer-songwriter Hayley Sales.
The show, which stars Andie MacDowell, features Sales in a role as the girlfriend of actor Tom Stevens, who plays MacDowell’s son on the show. Cedar Cove began life as a Hallmark network TVmovie, the majority of which was shot in and around Vancouver Island in 2012.
Sales lives part-time in Los Angeles as she transitions into acting. The singer, who can occasionally be found at her family’s blueberry farm in Errington, just south of Qualicum, is also working on a new album set for release later this year.
The native of Washington, D.C., moved with her family from Portland, Oregon, to Qualicum Beach when she was 16 and grew up on the Island.
Cedar Cove airs July 20 at 8 p.m. on the W network.
For more information, visit wnetwork.com/ shows/cedar-cove.
