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Musician respectfulchild received Creative Saskatchewan’s Marketing Grant (Micro Stream) to promote their album 更新 re:new.
Starting music lessons at just four years old, respectfulchild has been playing violin for most of their life. After hundreds of hours of required practice and exams, they managed to maintain a loving relationship with music. The multidisciplinary artist has been making ambient, experimental music with their violin and exploring their creativity since 2015. Creating under the name respectfulchild (a literal translation of the mandarin name given to them by their grandmother)their unconventional use of a classical instrument creates exquisitely unique sounds that captivate and inspire listeners.
With the support of the Marketing grant, they promoted their most recent album 更新 re:new which came out in November of 2023. The grant allowed respectfulchild to hire a digital promoter, work with a film crew to create a trailer, and create some fun special effects such as a prosthetic belly, CD ultrasound, and a violin puppet named ‘Pluck’. With the album’s theme being connected to gender, the artist designed the video concept as a play on pregnancy announcements and gender reveals. “The trailer has given me and the album lots of visible recognition when I go to play festivals and shows.”
This concept album draws a parallel between their classical music training and the gender binary. “I was thinking of how the violin is a body and how we’re taught to use that body in a specific way, in the same way we’re taught very specific things about ourselves based on the body we’re born into,” they explained, “I wanted a space to question all these rules we are told, whether it’s about music or about our place in society.” The album travels through a farewell to classical music and their gender, moments of pause, uncertainty, despair, and renewal. “By the end of it, I realize that I don’t have to throw everything away, but that it’s empowering to be able to choose what I want to keep rather than doing things a certain way because we’re told to.”
The album launch was a success, selling round the world, with airplay as far as Stuttgart, Germany. The artist has plans to make more videos with Pluck, the violin puppet, and will be making an appearance at Winterruption in Saskatoon later this month. Visit their website to stay up to date: www.respectfulchild.com
View the album trailer here:
A special shoutout from respectfulchild to those involved in the making of the video:
- Directed by Gavin Baird
- Starring Aldeneil Española as the Doctor
- Set dressing by Levi Mierau, Heather Adrian, and Myriad Entertainment
- Violin puppet by Levi Mierau and Laura Crossman
- Ultrasound VFX by Kyler Wilton
- Cinematography and colour grading by RAKK Productions
- Rip/ac by Jacob Farrell
Listen to the album here: respectfulchild.bandcamp.com
Follow respectfulchild on socials:
