Bonjay photo courtesy of May Truong.
Last night at Canteen’s Bands Undone, I had to chance to chat with Pho and Alanna, the duo behind Bonjay. The two are back where it all started - Ottawa! - for their Gimmee Gimmee EP party, which is doubling as Timekode’s fourth anniversary celebration. It will make for one sweaty night of dancing.
It was really interesting talking to Pho and Alanna about the genesis of Bonjay. From Ian’s remixing and dj roots - he was one of the founders of Disorganised - to Alanna’s dreams of going beyond being an R&B singer and wanting to do something a bit different. They met at Disorganised where Alanna recalls they clicked right away, even though she admits to having probably used the worst method ever to meet Pho - distracting a dj while he’s at work. Nonetheless, it worked.
Fast forward a couple of years, the group moves to Toronto where the diversity of people and genres inspires their music . They got to hone their craft and open up for a few big names like South Rakkas Crew, CSS, Diplo, and Tricky.
Fast forward yet again and the duo is ready to release its first album, although school, work and life got in the way of finding the perfect combination beats, lyrics and groove for a while. But they’re finally done, and I must say that they’ve done it with style.
I’ve just been listening over and over and over to Gimme Gimme and its various remixes. West Indian roots and dancehall are very present throughout Bonjay’s music. Alanna’s mother is from Grenada and the Bonjay actually comes from the French expression Bon Dieu! As in Good God! How awesome is that?!
Accompanying Bonjay on this special night will be the usual Timekode trio of Zattar, Eric Roberts and Memetic. Things start around 10pm at the Erie Café. Bonjay should go on around midnight. However, don’t risk disappointment and get there early.
Stay tuned as Apt613 will soon feature Bonjay’s performance at Bands Undone.
Bonjay was awesome !