Major Funk & the Employment, courtesy of BreakOut West
BreakOut West 2022
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Presented by
BreakOut West
BreakOut West is an annual music event that includes an immersive music development conference, music festival hosted by the Western Canadian Music Alliance.
BreakOut West is the primary event hosted by the Western Canadian Music Alliance – an organization created by the Music Industry Associations of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Northwest Territories, Yukon Territory, and Nunavut – to promote and celebrate western Canadian music. Each year the event is held in a different member region on a rotational basis. The Western Canadian Music Alliance values excellence, boldness, integrity, inclusivity and passion; values that carry us through all of our event vision and work with artists and industry.
The BreakOut West Showcase Festival features a multi-genre line-up of over 50 of western Canada’s best emerging and established artists showcasing at multiple venues throughout Winnipeg. BreakOut West features some of the best untapped talent in western Canada.
The Icelandic hip hop scene may still be young and small but Cell7—a pioneer of the genre & a rare female presence in a male dominated world—is not just one of its steady fixtures but also one of its brightest stars. As a veteran of the Icelandic rap scene, Cell7 is cited as an inspiration for established artists & women just breaking into the genre. Cell7 returned last year with her sophomore solo album, “Is anybody listening?” & proves yet again that she is one of the most original voices out there. The album was nominated for the Nordic Music Prize 2020 and won the Iceland Music Awards 2020 for the best hip hop album. Cell7´s show is not to be missed. Her show from the last year‘s Iceland Airwaves was regarded by many as one of the highlights.
This pop-trio was founded in Pajala, Sweden and has crafted their own blend of electro-pop and riot grrrl punk. In 2015 they performed at SXSW in Austin, TX and signed with the label Digsin, where their debut album ”Ugly Youth” was released in 2017. Their single ”Young & Wild” premiered on prime time TV and became the 10 most played Swedish songs on Swedish radio the same year. The Magnettes have been praised by sites and tastemakers like Earmilk, Perez Hilton, Elle Sweden and played on festivals like Eurosonic, Tallin Music Week, Golden Melody Awards and the world largest festival Summerfest. They are favorites in the gay HTBQ community and have played on over 15 Pride festivals in Europe and written the official theme for Pride in North of Sweden this year. They have done the digital Canadian version of Heal the Earth. 2021 / 2022 they release their second album and singles. The band is from the Swedish minority groups called Tornedalningar. Their language Meänkieli was forbidden in Sweden and was not recognized until 1999; only 70 000 people speak it and it’s dying. The Magnettes incorporate parts of Meänkieli into their songs.
Having started BSÍ under the premise of trying instruments they didn’t know how to play, Silla Thorarensen (drums & vocals) and Julius Pollux Rothlaender (bass guitar & toe-synths) understand their band as a playground for simply being who they are: Two best friends, rumbling and rolling through life, not taking themselves too seriously, struggling with self-doubts and imperfection while trying to see these as empowering virtues, unafraid to just do and be what- or however they feel. A telling example, on may 21st BSÍ will release a somewhat unconventional debut album that might as well be a twin EP: five songs low key heartbreak melancholy, five songs riot grrrl lofi-cute-punk – ‘Sometimes depressed … but always antifascist.’
