Sporting his Lightning McQueen-red graduation gown and a toy guitar, singer-songwriter Ethan Lyric’s infectious smile brings home the peppy, nostalgic tones of the music video for his new single “Just Like That.”
Though we only sat down over Zoom, Lyric’s passion for music radiated through my screen. Lyric was born and raised in Winnipeg, where he graduated from high school in 2021 — but he had planned to move to Vancouver from the get-go.
But as the pandemic shifted his plans, he decided to give music a quick shot — and things ended up going quite well. From elementary school singing, to casual composing, to his previous single, “Messing Things Up Again,” getting featured on SiriusXM’s The Indigiverse for 60 straight days, Lyric describes his career as a “boulder rolling down a hill."
“I wrote my first song — I remember showing it to my mom, and she cried … I was like, woah! That’s weird," Lyric laughed. "I feel like I’ve ended up where I am in the blink of an eye.”
To his mother's (and my own) dismay, this first song — “Seventeen” — was never released.
As an indie-folk artist, Lyric prefers his tunes happy, no matter what he's trying to say. Citing Cavetown, boy pablo, and children’s music as his inspirations, he prefers to write songs through a "simple lens." Light on the surface, with heavier narratives underneath. It's a bittersweet, retro vibe — as I listen, I feel like I'm in grade 10 jamming out to bedroom pop all over again.
"I think that it's easy to make a sad song about being sad. But it's harder to make a sad song sound happy and lift people up, even though I'm feeling sad."
Lyric plans to attend UBC starting this fall. As an Ojibwe artist, he cites Indigenous musicians as strong influences. Between touring reservations to doing community work with Indigenous youth, Lyric expresses his gratitude towards the Indigenous music community for welcoming him with open arms and for being a main contributor to his success in the industry.
"[Being Indigenous] affects every aspect of our worldview and our life. How we see things, and how we grow up. But I wouldn't say I directly write about my culture," Lyric said.
"Music is a way for me to reconnect with my Indigenous heritage — in an unconventional way, but it's my way. My dad's side is Indigenous, but I didn't grow up around him ... so I was always looking for a way to connect."
He pointed out that within Canada's music scene, people often make generalizations about art by Indigenous creators.
"We tend to be boxed into that label of Indigenous artists. Look at Spotify, for example — if you look at Asian American artists, you'll see Asian American R&B, Asian American rap, Asian American pop playlists ... but there's just one Indigenous playlist.”
“If you look deeper, it's just a bunch of people making music who just so happen to be Indigenous."
Another standout element of Lyric’s craft are his music videos. His film background serves him well in his storytelling — Lyric grew up acting in movies and commercials, and taught at an acting school for five years. Collaborating with his best friend from Vancouver Film School on video content, Lyric stressed the importance of friendship, and how it’s integral to collaboration. All of his album covers are also made by the same Calgary artist — each with illustrations of cute little bears.
"I think the best product comes when you work with people you're genuinely connected with,” he said. “Not only does it [create] more genuine products, but it's easier to have a casual dialogue."
As an incoming linguistics student, Lyric plans to work on Indigenous language revitalization in the future — at which point he's happy to keep music as a passion, rather than a profession. In the meantime, he hopes to keep growing as a musician — while also noting the “smallness” of the music industry.
Lyric reached out to boy pablo’s producer, Erik Thorshiem, with the hopes that he would agree to mix Lyric’s music, and he said yes.
“If you want to talk to someone, it’s really easy,” Lyric said. “[You’re] like one conversation away … you gotta shoot your shot!”
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