This week’s Feature Friday is Sebastian Gaskin!

We caught up with the Winnipeg-based singer-songwriter to tell us about his new single, “False Nostalgia,” which just debuted in the Indigenous Music Countdown top 40 last week! Check out the song and what he has to say about it. We know you’ll dig it and we think you’ll relate!

What is the story behind your song, “False Nostalgia”?
“False Nostalgia” speaks on the way my brain conveniently leaves out all of the bad memories associated with a past relationship that affected me deeply.
The calm after the storm, all you can hear are your thoughts, the memories are constantly replaying within the realm of your mind. All of the good ones, and the bad ones too, but my brain chooses to boot them away from my immediate conscious, creating a dream world where the past relationship was sunflowers, and lake water splashing onto the shore while we walked silently together on the Grand Beach. The times that you screamed in my face and stormed into the other room, the times you threw my office chair across the basement floor, all of the bad times and white lines, (almost) completely forgotten and pushed aside to make room for the beauty of it all, the best of times were the worst of times.
“False Nostalgia” was recorded mostly in my basement, the guitar solo was purely improvisational, but it ended up working out so well that I decided to keep it on the final cut. The only thing not recorded at home, were the vocals, which were re-done at a friend’s studio.

How do you find inspiration?
I find my inspiration through relationships and experiences, most of my writing happens pretty randomly, but I seem to write best immediately after I’ve just waken up.

What does your songwriting process look like?
I don’t really have a set formula when it comes to creating a song, sometimes it’ll start with a few chords that I play on the guitar, sometimes I’ll find a really cool sound in a VST that will inspire the mood of the song. False Nostalgia actually started with the lyrics, I wrote the pre-chorus first and then the song just sort of blossomed from there.

What is your favourite concert of all time?
My favourite concert would have to be The 1975. I saw them about 4 years ago at a smaller venue here in Winnipeg, which is nuts to me because now they’re selling out arenas.

What is your go-to karaoke song?
My go-to karaoke song is “Chocolate” by The 1975.