Meet Shem G. | Emcee & Musician

We had the good fortune of connecting with Shem G. and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Shem, can you tell us about an impactful book you’ve read and why you liked it or what impact it had on you?
Typically, I’d answer with some sort of comic book or graphic novel, (shouts to Bryan Lee O’Malley), but the first book that came to mind was actually Siddhartha, the Hesse Novel about the human pattern/cycle of growth.

“Have you also learned that secret from the river; that there is no such thing as time?”

Really fun thoughts about omnipresence and effervescence came out of that one.

It was a gift from a good friend a number of years ago and I can’t help but reference it in my brain at times. I try to stay away from cheesy self help books, this one is more of an accidentally deep short story about some dude, it wasn’t trying to be a lifechanging and that’s what drew me to it. I’d be lying if I said self help books don’t make me smile as much as they make me cringe.

Honestly I spend most of my time reading manuals and art theory books.(Big Nerd over here).

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I guess the main “Schtick” would be that I want to be as independent as possible. I love collaborating but there’s something about doing the heavy lifting on projects that I thoroughly enjoy. Also, way too many horror stories of business and music not being in balance. My goal is to be a little like Aang (BigNerdAlert).

It’s definitely strange but I can get really lost in the process of starting, progressing and finishing projects of various forms. As of late, I’ve been going deep into the “finishing part”.

I feel like every artist has a pile of ideas sitting in their notebook graveyard. What I’ve started doing… or more so, stopped doing is caring about preconceived notions of “Quality”. Just letting every piece tell it’s own story.
Nothing ever comes easy, but all of it can be made easier for you, just have to be adaptable.

Time management tools are all over the place these days, I picked the things I like the most and started cutting out the things I didn’t mind dying without learning. Turns out it’s only sports and cars (and sportscars).

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We’re probably going to spend most of our time in parks. But I would have to take any good friend of mine of a record store run.

180g is for sure my favorite, has been for a long time, even before the loop sessions meetups, always loved the homey vibe and the homemade food always on deck. Chris, the owner really digs deep into the local urban art community and is always willing to lend a hand with his resources, I look up to that spot.

Nowadays they’re connected to Mitch Deli which may or may not have the best sandwiches wines and service in town.

To be honest with you, we’d probably just pick up stacks of wax and chop.

sightseeing is cool, but mostly for sample grabbing.

There are always shows out in the city, but it all moves fast so you need to keep your nose to the ground. My last favorite burger spot closed and there will be a void in my heart until I find something as good as the Burger Royale “Tarantino” Special.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’ve got to give thanks to my mother first, her blind support of any and all my endeavors pushes me to new heights, helps me forget judgement and face challenges with laughter and optimism.

There are a lot of names I want to put in here so I’ll stick to groups.
The Dust Gang.
Started with just a short beatmaking session with the wonderful bass wizard Fred Doston. We made five beats or something in an hour or two and just knew the workflow was there. Now it’s been almost five years, terabytes worth of sound files and beat projects. Many friends along the way, it’s like an anime almost.

Most of my energy goes towards making the dust projects see light. We make so much, so constantly, I want to make sure we don’t pickup a heavy backlog. Spoiler alert, it’s too late..

That being said, it’s all about community for me, so every montreal creative has a place in my heart.

Quick shouts to Paul Cargnello, Kalmunity & Urban Science. All long standing artists in the city who always helped me establish myself in town. Gratitude for that.

Website: https://linktr.ee/Shemistry

Instagram: @shemgeedot

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ShemGordo

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShemGeeDot

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeA8BekhFQq31LfDiPqfQ1A

Other: https://shemgeedot.bandcamp.com/

Image Credits
Photos by -Manikmati – Vishan Charamis -Vera Visuals