I recently got the amazing opportunity to chat with up-and-coming Cree Métis singer-songwriter Iskwē, to discuss her latest music and the meaning behind her art.
As an Indigenous woman expressing herself in her work, I’ve always looked up to Iskwē since I discovered her in high school. When I asked her about her name, she told me Iskwē is the Cree word for woman. She goes on to explain the meaning behind her name, “I am Cree Métis and my traditional name in the Cree language is waseskwan iskwew, which means blue sky woman, and I have opted to use Iskwē, a shortened version of this name as a reflection in my art.”
Iskwē goes on to reflect on how her Cree Métis roots influence her music:
“You know they’re just a part of my being, and so a lot of my a lot of my conversations in art on prior albums have been very rooted in social justice and me wanting to participate and stand up for the community at large and show my dedication to that, by being a part of active conversations, the treatment of Indigenous People, our missing and murdered women, and so on. You know, even if I’m not specifically speaking about social justice issues it's just always in my being so there’s no way for it not to be a part of my art”
Iskwē has been known to use her music as a voice for social justice issues and movements, her JUNO award-winning song “Little Star”, released in 2019, highlights the systemic abuses within the justice system and media against Indigenous Peoples.
Iskwē’s newest single, “Part Two”—which was released November 2nd—revolves around a rocky relationship of hers that came crashing down. She tells me, “This single is a song about a breakup, an inevitable breakup that took a long time, one of those that it got to the point where we realized we were just destroying each other, we were no longer causing joy in each other’s lives… you know the day comes when you’re like ‘Ok enough is enough,’ like gotta call this quits”. The song was co-written and produced by 10x Grammy nominee Damian Taylor. Iskwē really brought forward her vocal skills on this song and the hypnotic feel might put it in my top three.
She explained to me a little bit about how she performs, “To me, performance is a huge part of how I write music. When I am in the creation period, recording, demoing, all of the things, I’ve already started to visualize what it will look like while I’m performing”. Iskwē has been known to do some pretty mind-melting performances, with lots of lights and high levels of sound.
She let me know a little about what the Peterborough show will look like, “what people can expect in Peterborough, is they’re going to get a huge level of sound, and it’s all gonna be done by only three people this time, so whereas the past I had these huge productions, this time the sound has gotten bigger, but the size of the stage has become more focused and intimate”.
Now I strongly recommend when talking to an idol, asking them for advice. I asked Iswkē what she would tell young Indigenous artists following in her footsteps:
“Try to find a way to remain connected to who you are and where you are on your life journey, you know, find your grounding in that and let that be your be your guiding force, because one thing that is very apparent to me now… as life continues as I grow older, as I have spent more time in the industry, is that the world around you shifts and changes and we flow throughout that, but the only thing that is our truest piece, that we can hold tight to is our own spirit. And I think that is a very big part of going after any kind of artistic practice, you have to connect yourself to your own spirit, your own purpose, your own reasons, your own story, you know whatever it might be, and that will be the thing that will be the thing that you can always turn to.”
Now of course, since I am fan (and journalist), I had to ask her if there was any possibility of an album coming soon, she didn’t tell me yes or no, but left me this, “We’ve got four singles out this year and we’ve got a lot of new stuff coming very very soon.”
Iskwē performs in Peterborough on November 24th at Market Hall, with Mike Edel as a special guest.
Get tickets at: https://tickets.markethall.org/eventperformances.asp?evt=315
Listen to “Part Two” here: https://music.iskwe.com/parttwo
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