Associate // Taylor Oballa Murray Leyland LLP

Adrian Barnardo is an associate at Taylor Oballa Murray Leyland LLP. He joined the firm as a summer student in 2015 and articled with the firm in 2016-2017. He practices generally in the area of entertainment and media law. Prior to pursuing his legal studies, Adrian attended Musician’s Institute in Hollywood, CA, where he studied in the percussion program. He spent the following 10 years performing throughout the U.S. & Canada in various Los Angeles based bands. In his spare time, Adrian continues to play the drums, while also pursing his newfound interest in drum restoration.

Founder // Danger Village

Beth Martinez founded Danger Village PR in 2007 to promote emerging artists that she had faith in. After fourteen years of sustained success, she continues to thrive in publicizing artists and music that speaks to her, with the goal of cultivating the careers of the exceptional artists that call Danger Village their home.

Beth’s relationships in the music business run deep and cross the boundaries of publicity, production, distribution, marketing and management. She has assembled career-stimulating campaigns leading to the rise of Bishop Briggs, MØ, Cautions Clay, Welshly Arms, Mating Ritual, Goldroom, Black Honey, Cloud Nothings, Hunnt, Lewis Del Mar, Folick, Yuno, Sure Sure, Magic Man, The Preatures, Aquilo, Holy Child Fidlar, Little May, High Highs, Nicky Da B, Say Lou Lou and many more.

VP of A&R // Third Side Music

Brontë Jane is the VP of A&R at independent publisher Third Side Music. During her 6+ years there, she has been responsible for signing acts such as BadBadNotGood, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Blonde Redhead, Amen Dunes, Beverly Glenn-Copeland, Helena Deland, etc. To-date, she has gained press recognition from the likes of Forbes, Billboard, Fader, Galore, and more. She has also done various mixes for NTS, Dublab, Resonance Extra, Milk Studios, n10.as, and fsr.live. Brontë currently lives in Los Angeles.

Senior Creative Director // Peermusic Canada Inc.

Cheryl is the Senior Creative Director at Peermusic Canada Inc. based in Toronto. Cheryl is responsible for all domestic songwriters, artists and promoting the peermusic worldwide catalogue to Film, TV and advertising agencies. Her current catalogue includes songs by Lido Pimienta, Hannah Georgas, DFA1979, The Tragically Hip and Kathleen Edwards to name but a few.

Producer and Audio Engineer

Damian Taylor is a six time Grammy nominated record producer, music mixer, programmer, and songwriter known for his work with Bjork, The Prodigy, The Killers, Arcade Fire, Bomba Estereo, UNKLE, TR/ST, Odette, The Temper Trap, Dizzy, Austra, and countless more.

Damian’s interest in juxtaposing ideas, technologies, and methodologies have seen him working across countless genres all around the world. His happy place is at the intersection of ideas and expression, performance and design; combining the organic and synthetic methods of creation and manipulation available in this day and age.

His career was established in London as an in-demand freelance programmer, engineer, and co-producer, before expanding operations to North America from his custom built studio in Montreal. Damian is now based in Los Angeles and keeps busy collaborating with artists as a co-writer, producer, and mixer.

In addition to making records, Damian is the founder of The Complete Producer Network, a positive and supportive online community for people involved in all aspects of creating and releasing music. He is actively passing on his knowledge and experience through formal educational programs including The Beats Accelerator Process, engaged group mentoring via his online studio, and his regular Twitch streams.

Owner // CLK Creative Works

David “Click” Cox started his career as a member of the MMVA winning and JUNO nominated group, The Maximum Definitive. Created reputation for his promotional and marketing efforts working closely with concert promotions company REMG. Soon after, he started his career working with BMG Music Canada and then worked at Universal Music Canada as A&R. During his time with Universal, David founded the Stylus Awards to celebrate the Canadian Hip-Hop and R&B music talents and recognition of DJs. After 8 years with Universal, he created his own entertainment company, CLK Creative Works. Today, CLK is responsible for managing an eclectic roster of highly skilled and experienced artists. Along with management, David teaches music business at Metalworks and The Remix Project.

Music Supervisor // instinct entertainment

Dondrea is a music supervisor at instinct entertainment founded by Michael Perlmutter.

Originally from Toronto, but now residing in Los Angeles, Dondrea has had the miraculous opportunity of working on a number of television series such as, Netflix’ ‘Spinning Out’, Beauty and the Beast (Showcase/CW), Degrassi (Netflix/Family Channel), Private Eyes (iON/Global) and films, Firecrackers, The Kid Detective, and The New Romantic.

She is a two-time award winner and in April of 2021, she was presented with a Guild of Music Supervisors Award for Best Music Supervision in a Film Budgeted Under $5 Million for her work in The Cuban.

Dondrea has also played a large and active role in producing the Canadian Music Café during the Toronto International Film Festival. (2014 – 2018).

In addition to being a Guild of Music Supervisors affiliate, she is also an active member of the Television Academy of Arts and Sciences and is on the Board of Directors for the Canadian Guild of Music Supervisors.

Booking Agent // First Date Touring

Gil Carroll is a Winnipeg born musician, booking agent, concert promoter, composer, and community organizer. Carroll is a founding member and guitarist of Winnipeg based bands Living Hour and Palm Trees and is the co-founder of Real Love Winnipeg, Real Love Summer Fest, and Slow Shine Records. Carroll is an owner and booking agent at the Winnipeg-based boutique booking agency, First Date Touring - he has booked tours for bands and solo artists all over Canada, USA, and the UK. He has toured extensively in the US, Canada, UK, and Europe with Living Hour. He is also the editor of Manitoba’s only music magazine, Stylus Magazine, and is a volunteer DJ for the show Space Cadet and staff member with CKUW 95.9 FM. Gil was the 2018 recipient of the Kevin Walter’s Legacy Award presented by Manitoba Music.

President of Management Division // Awesome Productions and Management

Jermayne Clayton is President of the Management Division and a driving force of Awesome Productions & Management; an up and coming artist management, label and publishing company. As President, Clayton is responsible for the ever-growing talented roster of electronic/dance artists/producers (Cyril Hahn, Adam K), Hip-Hop/R&B producers (Multi-platinum, Grammy and Juno nominated Producer Jordon Manswell), and artists (Juno nominated singer and songwriter Jhyve).
Claytons love for music is undeniable - a passion that began at a young age. Rhythms from Sinatra, Gaye to Marley, continue to run through his Jamaican-Canadian blood inspiring him daily.
Dedicated to amplifying Canadian talent, Clayton continues to drive each initiative with more passion than the last. With an artist-first mentality and keen musical ear, he is focused on building the brands of his roster - in a time where Canadian Music continues to be a shining light in todays' music industry.

Founder // POSI VIBEZ

Kate Killet (she/her) has been in the music & arts industry for over a decade, starting at MuchMusic at the young age of sixteen. She is a photographer who has been capturing moments ever since she could hold a camera & a creative writer who’s been getting her thoughts out on paper ever since she could hold a pen. Based in what she calls the 666ix, she is the Founder & Creative Director of the registered nonprofit POSI VIBEZ, who throw progressive showcases that aim to be safer & accessible spaces, with a focus on more inclusive bookings. Kate Killet is a jury member for the Polaris Music Prize, the Prism Prize and previously the Juno Awards. From covering concerts & festivals around the world as a journalist in the crowd, to shooting in the photo pit, working with festivals like NXNE (+ now #MEGEAPHONO21 yay!) in social media content creation, to working A&R at Sony, to being a performer onstage with KLIT KULT to booking, promoting and throwing concerts - she does too much but only cus she loves it. Catch her previous work in VICE, The Fader, NOW Magazine, & more. She lives for the sound and feeling of it all and is into creating positive change.

Media Personality / Marketing / PR // SHIFTER

Toronto-native Kevin Bourne, also known as "KB The Boss" or simply "KB", is an Ottawa-based media/entertainment entrepreneur, freelance journalist, and media personality.

The former political staffer is quickly becoming a staple in Ottawa and Canada's cultural landscape as both a commentator and freelancer, appearing nationally on CBC News Network and locally on CTV, CBC Radio, CityNews, and 580 CFRA and having been published in ByBlacks, the Ottawa Citizen and Ottawa Business Journal. Doubling as CEO of the PR and content marketing firm SHIFTER Agency Inc. and editor-in-chief at SHIFTER magazine, Kevin has covered some of Canada's top red carpet events, from the Juno Awards to the Canadian Screen Awards and has interviewed everyone from Kevin Hart to "Fast and the Furious" star Tyrese Gibson. He is currently host of CBC Ottawa's digital series "In The Loop", a monthly look at the latest in the Ottawa music scene.

He is also a current board member at the Ottawa Film Office and a past board member at the Ottawa Music Industry Coalition, and was recently named to Ottawa Life Magazine's Best of Ottawa: Activists & Changemakers list for 2020.

Artist

Known for her dynamic flows, aggressive stage presence and elaborate story-telling, Lex Leosisis a name you will soon remember. With a unique gravely vocal delivery, acrobatic flows, and a mastery of her instrumentation, Lex breathes life into Hip-Hop and mesmerizes with her rapping abilities. Setting herself uniquely apart by holding space for various causes and using her platform to support other women and non-binary artists and creatives, Lex is not afraid to give props where it’s due.


Born in the west end of Toronto, Lex Leosis has dedicated her life to her music and artistry. Juggling her hiphop career, a plant-forward cooking website and catering company, and holding down multiple jobs, Lex prides herself on hard work, discipline and survival, traits she picked up from her mother.It gave Lex the energy to perfect her craft, grow her career and exchange stories with artists from all over the world. Lex is loud, opinionated, constantly fighting for what she believes in and hungry to make something of the Leosis name.She’s got an attack in her flow, juxtaposed with a finesse in her lyricism and a hunger in her vocal tone. Her family gave her traditions, Toronto shaped her, and California helped form her sound.


From humble beginnings, Lex first found a home in hip-hop at rap competitions and cyphers. She met a number of creatives through online rap communities and has up and parted from Toronto multiple times to join her peers in cities all over the U.S. to collaborate, make music and perform. Sharpening her teeth participating in various rap battles, Lex was widely known as a hip-hop force that could outrap anyone. Spending most of her time in the Bay Area of California, Lex has allowed her traveling influences to expand her music sound and capability.

Lex spent 2017-2019 devoting herself to Canadian rap group powerhouse, The Sorority. The group made waves with a 2016 International Women’s Day Cypher, and went on to release a debut album and toured extensively, sharing stages with artist like Miguel, Joey Badass & Snoop Dogg. After the group disbanded in 2019, Lex lead 2020 with her debut full length, Mythologies, a darker trap-heavy project that allowed her to explore her Greek roots and family history. Despite a derailed album release plan due to COVID-19, she followed the project up with summer bop, Pull Up, and the rap/house collaboration, Swerve, with DJ Cazztekand released under Armin Van Buuren’s label, Armada.

Lex found opportunity and inspiration during COVID lockdown establishing a new sound, taking control of her artistry by learning keys, bass and taking vocal lessons. She formed a team of creatives around her and using her tools, experience and community, developed her quintessential Lex Leosis sound with smooth westcoast vibey instrumentation under melodious hooks and biting hip hop verses. Searching for an outlet to continue to rap bars, Lex began daily duets on Tiktok and has amassed over a million views on her videos and had drawn the attention of Tiktok Canada and numerous artists from The Arkells to K Flay.

Keep your eyes on this rising star as she continues to blaze her own trail in hip hop.

Journalist // Ottawa Citizen/Sun

Lynn Saxberg is an arts reporter for the Ottawa Citizen/Sun and Postmedia newspapers. For most of her long career as a print journalist she has covered the concert and festival scene in Ottawa. She has interviewed hundreds of artists, including early coverage of Ottawa-area artists who went on to make a broader impact, from Alanis Morissette, Kathleen Edwards and A Tribe Called Red to Elijah Woods x Jamie Fine and Tiagz. For many years, she was also the person in the crowd on her laptop, braving mosh pits and spilled beer in order to write concert reviews on the spot to meet tight newspaper deadlines. In recent years, her focus has shifted to more general arts coverage, including visual arts, publishing, film, photography, poetry and more, though she continues to keep an eye on (and write about) both emerging and established Ottawa-area talent and the growth of the local music industry. Her work can be found at https://ottawacitizen.com/category/entertainment/local-arts/

Music Supervisor // instinct entertainment

Mikaila Simmons is a music supervisor at instinct entertainment. She specializes in creative and music licensing for television and film. Mikaila earned a bachelor’s degree through the Ryerson School of Media in Toronto, and began her career pitching and negotiating music clearance within the licensing department at Sony Music Entertainment Canada. She has had the opportunity to work on award-winning television shows and films such as Vikings, The Handmaid’s Tale S1, New Eden, Condor, Mary Kills People, Diggstown, The Grizzlies and Seven In Heaven, to name a few. She has overseen on-camera performances, custom song production, and sourced everything from 8th century Belarusian folk music to contemporary Inuit hip hop. She has a true passion for the marriage of song to scene, and a deep respect for the disciplines of both music and film production.

Manager and Owner/Founder // CapCityHipHop

Music executive, radio host, entrepreneur Lil' Thrilla, born in Ottawa, Canada of Jamaican descent, began his career as a music promoter in the mid 2000's before eventually expanding his repertoire to include public relations and online media (CapCityHipHop).

While working behind the scenes with various local artists, Lil' Thrilla began his career in radio in 2014 by becoming the co-host of the newly formed NuBRLRadio show on Ottawa-based CHUO 89.1 FM. Working alongside DJ Alive, the 2019 Faces Magazine Award nominee developed a rich media skill set that included high quality interviews, top notch hosting and the ability to draw in listeners. The hard-work led to NuBRL becoming one of the most popular shows by the time it aired its last episode in late 2019. With NuBRLRadio behind him, Lil' Thrilla currently has other radio endeavours in the works for 2020.

A few years prior to hitting the airwaves, Lil' Thrilla made his mark on the local scene by launching the online hip-hop media platform, CapCityHipHop. Focused on supporting the local local hip-hop scene, CapCityHipHop quickly became a popular outlet for discovering the latest from Ottawa rappers, as well as international-based artists making tour stops in the city—some tours which Thrilla himself hosted in the city. CapCityHipHop has gone through various renditions since its initial launch nine years earlier, but Thrilla is planning on a relaunch for the website which is targeted for 2020 during the first or second quarter. Key initiatives rolled out by the company lead to Lil' Thrilla dealing with both industry executives and musical talents alike, providing a unique perspective on turning aspiring talents into viable business investments.

These investments partially included booking artists to perform in the National Capital Region, with Lil' Thrilla bringing close to 10 budding artists from out of town to perform within the last calendar year.. Thrilla has also sponsored some of the biggest events in Ottawa in partnership with his CapCityHipHop brand including the inaugural CRANIUM Festival. 2020 will continue to see Thrilla's growth as one of the most influential hip-hop promoters within the Ottawa area.

While working with local Ottawa artists for over a decade, Lil' Thrilla has also been working especially close with a budding star named Pressa. Building with the Toronto rapper⁠—who has toured with Drake and received co-signs from the 6ix God⁠—inspired Thrilla to add public relations to his work load and he became Pressa's official publicist in 2017. Since then, Thrilla has become a publicist and management for not only Pressa but also his independent record label, Blue Feathers Records, which includes artists like budding Toronto talent J Neat and more. Over the years, Thrilla has taken on various other duties connected to artist development including press-kit creation, booking features with well-known artists, creating marketing plans, planning national tours, planning and creating albums, and more.

Lil' Thrilla looks to take huge leaps in 2020 that will secure his place as one to be reckoned with.

Agent // Ensemble Concerts

Before launching Ensemble Concerts in collaboration with Opak & Simone a few months ago, Ouss Laghzaoui spent four years at Heavy Trip, where his work and collaborations in the Americas with many programmers and agents have been a key element to the ongoing development of his roster which currently includes Chad VanGaalen, Suuns, King Hannah, Tempers, Dana Gavanski, Cadence Weapon Magi Merlin and Corridor among many.

Producer / DJ

Paul Chin is a lifelong student, lover, and explorer of music, which manifests itself in his work as a music producer and DJ.

Manager // Birthday Cake Media

For the past 8 years Windjack has resourcefully devoted her time and energy to delving into the crevasses of the music business; for better, and most certainly for worse. Following a short stint working in radio and film, Windjack became Program and Education Coordinator at SaskMusic, while simultaneously acting as the Backstage Coordinator for Gateway Music Festival and a member of the provincial board of directors for the Saskatchewan Country Music Association. In 2016 Rebecca moved to Hamburg Germany to join Devil Duck Records for a year of international experience in independent label operations, booking shows, and tour management. Upon returning to Canada in 2017 she was offered a role as local festival promoter for Rockin’ The Fields of Minnedosa, while also teaming up with Pandyamonium management (Serena Ryder, Dear Rouge, Alejandra Ribera) in Toronto, ON. In 2018 she was approached by The Sheepdogs, and stepped in as day-to-day manager for the newly self managed band to execute the release cycle of "Changing Colours". Pre-pandemic times, Windjack loved the travel and adventure that came with this working territory, along with seeing multiple shows a night, exploring some of the best vegetarian cuisines out there, and meeting some amazing characters along the way!

Agent // Arrival Artists

Agent at Arrival Artists, representing artists such as Andy Shauf, Charlie Cunningham, Connan Mockasin, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Lido Pimienta, Mercury Rev, Patrick Watson, and more…

Agent // Ground Control Touring

Susie has been booking tours for over a decade because she believes in the power of live music to connect people and build communities. Her heart is in the indie-folk world and she represents artists such as Ani DiFranco, Gregory Alan Isakov, Haley Heynderickx, Leif Vollebekk, Sun June, Andrea Gibson, Anjimile, Sarah Harmer, and Hand Habits.

Susie graduated from University of Michigan, and then jumped right in booking artist tours on behalf of Fleming Artists where she went from starting as an intern to growing into the role of Vice President. After her time at Fleming, she joined APA and started the Portland, OR office for the agency. Now since 2019, she has been at Ground Control Touring, an agency that represents artists from Bright Eyes to Whitney to Japanese Breakfast to Big Thief.

Susie has booked her roster into a wide range of events and venues, where cultivating the right promoter partners and communities continue to reinforce her artist’s growth and success. Growing touring careers with her artist families, market by market along the way.

When she is not booking tours, fielding offers, or hanging out with artists, she can be found propagating her house plants, shooting hoops, and building upon her endless vinyl collection. Oh yeah, and her pandemic hobby…. Re-upholstering old furniture.

Promoter and Agent // INDIE ASIA

Yasushi Sato is a promoter and agent at INDIE ASIA based in Tokyo.

He has booked tours and festivals for Canadinan artists that includes Andy Shauf, Bahamas, Colin Stetson, DO MAKE SAY THINK, EFRIM MANUEL MENUCK and SUUNS.

He also organizes several festivals in Japan such as LifeSign, Hijiori International Music Festival and HELLO INDIE