Back in 2011 when we last spoke with musical group Boy&GurL (Jarred Nicklen and Crystal McGrath) they were promoting their album Loves Parallel. This time around I had the chance to talk to them about their new album, Passion Pop.
Their first single off the new album might seem familiar to fans because it’s an updated cover of the 1980s hit song "Waiting for a Star". When I asked them about this song, I mentioned I found it kind of amusing the original duo who recorded this song was "Boy Meets Girl" in 1988, and now it has been retooled by Boy&GurL into a fun song for a new audience. Jarred said it was only later they discovered the name similarity: "it was totally a fluke...we didn’t even really know who did it originally when we first discovered the song."
That being said, remakes can be a hit or miss proposition, so I wondered what the reception had been since they released the single in June. Jarred said it has been nothing but good news. "We’ve got lots of radio play...in Toronto, in Vancouver, and in Alberta...actually all over Canada." In fact, the radio play since Boy&GurL last talked to me has been impressive: "...we’ve hit the top 40 in Canada three times with three different singles...that’s been pretty crazy to see our names right beside Rhianna and Myley Cyrus."
The increasing fan base and promotion may have a part in this, yet the increase in airplay may be due to the evolution of their sound and how comfortable they feel with it. "With this record we found...it really describes what Passion Pop is. It’s passionate music...it’s got that driving dance melody," Crystal told me. Jarred added that the last album was more rock pop, and this one is pretty hard core pop.
Regarding pop music, it’s often derided in some parts of the media, yet some of the world’s biggest singers are pop stars. As to those who might broadly paint all pop music as "bubblegum pop", Crystal defended their work. "I wouldn’t describe our music as bubblegum pop. It’s not Britney Spears from the early 2000s...it has that adult feel. If you don’t like it, that’s totally fine, because we have lots of fans. We definitely don’t write to impress people. It comes really natural to us...as a band we do what comes natural and that’s what we get – passion pop."
They are certainly impressing lots of people out there. In the last few years, Boy&GurL have had the opportunity to share the stage with such acts as Ani Difranco, Lights, David Usher, Suzie McNeil, Bedouin Soundclash and Wide Mouth Mason. As for producers, this album they worked with Trey Mills, as they felt he really understood Boy&GurL’s style and the direction they wanted to go. They also teamed up again with Russell Broom as they liked his work on their last album.
Future collaborations may see them working with DJs to expand the type of sound they can have on their songs. "The nice thing about working with DJs is they’ll take it in a direction you might not have been thinking the song could go," Jarred said.
In addition to being entertainers, Boy&GurL also give back to the local community through their Write2Dream Foundation. This foundation helps subsidize funding for music writing workshops and inspirational courses to be made available to anyone wanting to learn to write and to be creatively inspired. As quoted from the Write2Dream webpage, "We hope to inspire, educate, raise confidence and have fun with people who want to gain more from life via the arts."
Crystal told me they’ve just started an artist development program for young writers and recently worked with a young artist recording six songs. "She got to come into the studio and record full songs. So it has everything – drums, bass, guitar...it’s a song ready for radio." It was impressive to see how the experience changed this young artist’s life and boosted her confidence. Jarred believes that "...this kind of program is so important because I remember being this girl’s age thinking...I just didn’t know what the next step was. I would have killed to be in a recording studio. I would have loved to work with other songwriters and develop my art even more."
They’re just in the process of bringing the writing workshops to various schools in Calgary and various charitable organizations such as the Boys and Girls club, Big Brothers and Big Sisters. They’ll also be doing a workshop with Miscellaneous Youth in the near future.
Crystal and Jarred are in the process of putting together a few tours and an upcoming Christmas concert. In the meantime, you can catch Boy&GurL performing at the Backlot once a month – usually at the start of the month and usually a Saturday. The past couple times they have packed the venue, so if you can’t get down to listen to them, their songs are available for purchase on their website.