music
Check out the album on Spotify
Photo by Edo Van Breemen
bio
Tariq is a Juno nominated songwriter and recording artist with a music career that spans over two decades. Born in rural Quebec to parents from Pakistan and Fiji, Tariq grew up on a healthy diet of Bollywood soundtracks. Then, in high school, he got his hands on a guitar and started writing songs which sounded more like Cat Stevens and Neil Young than Mohammed Rafi.
By the end of the nineties, Tariq had released two full-length albums, Splat, and The Basement Songs. The Basement Songs, which came out on EMI Music Canada, earned him national radio play as well as a Juno nomination for “Best New Solo Artist.”
Photo by Rachel Pick
Into the early aughts, Tariq went on to release more music—two albums and one EP—independently and through small imprints. In 2009, he joined the ranks of the Vancouver based band, Brasstronaut. Since joining, this critically acclaimed act has been putting out music and touring extensively in both Canada and in Europe in support of their records.
Tariq’s latest offering is Telegrams, his fifth full-length album and follow up to the 2013 Moonwalker EP. On Telegrams, the songs feel a bit like short stories, hence the title—three-and-a-half minute snippets of fictional lives. A fan of short fiction, Tariq found characters in stories by some of his favourite authors, like Lorrie Moore and Roberto Bolaño, and cast them as leads in his songs. Written in his apartment on an acoustic guitar, the songs were eventually shaped by a band who helped him envision fresh tempos, feels, and arrangements, adding layers of texture and melody. The result is a ten-song album with thoughtful lyrics and singable melodies reminiscent of artists like The Mountain Goats, and John K. Samson.
Sometimes though, those Bollywood soundtracks still play for him somewhere in the background.
Telegraphers:
Sam Davidson CLARINET, EWI (ELECTRONIC WIND INSTRUMENT), SAXOPHONE + MUSICAL ARRANGEMENTS
John Walsh BASS
Skye Brooks DRUMS
JP Carter TRUMPET
Jesse Zubot VIOLIN
Micajah Sturgess FRENCH HORN
Leah Abramson BACKGROUND VOCALS
video
"Coquihalla"–Official Video
"Walking Dead"–Official Video
"Light of the Moon"–Official Video
tour
Tariq
PAST TOUR DATES
Vancouver, BC @ China Cloud December 09, 2022
Ymir, BC @ Tiny Lights Music Festival, September 02, 2022
Vancouver, BC @ House Concert, July 16, 2022
Vancouver, BC @ The Lido: Book Launch Event for Charlie Demers, June 23, 2022
Kelowna, BC @ Pony Cabaret (Black Box Theatre) April 30, 2022
Vancouver, BC @ Cabaret Show (Zoom) w/ Dionne Taylor, Suzie Ungerleider, Lynn
KeMiles, Suzie Vinnick, May 02, 2021
Vancouver, BC @ Sonic Summer Nights, Aug 26, 2020
Vancouver, BC @ Mainland Concert Series, (Zoom) Aug 16, 2020
Vancouver, BC @ Live Music From Collaborative Garden, July 19, 2020
Vancouver, BC @ Telegrams From Home, (Zoom) May 09, 2020
Vancouver, BC @ SoFar Sounds, Nov. 24, 2019
Vancouver, BC @ SoFar Sounds, Sept. 21, 2019
Reno, NV @ Nevada Lit. Crawl, Sept. 14, 2019
Vancouver, BC @ Private House Show, August 17, 2019
Vancouver @ CBC Headquarters, July, 09, 2019
Vancouver, BC@ SoFar Sounds, June 28, 2019
Ymir, BC @ Tiny Lights Music Festival, June 07-09, 2019
Calgary, AB @ The King Eddy, May 25, 2019
Edmonton, AB @ The Groovenor, May 24, 2019
Vancouver, BC @ The Cultch, April 27, 2019
Vancouver, BC @ Red Cat Records, April 13, 2019
Kamloops, BC @ Words Alive Festival, October 19-21, 2018
Victoria, BC @ Rifflandia Festival (lyric workshop), September 13-16, 2018
Vancouver, BC @ ArtsWells Festival (solo set), August 3-5, 2018
Vancouver, BC @ Rahila’s Ghost Press (official launch party), August 18, 2017
Vancouver, BC @ The Cobalt, May 13, 2017
Brasstronaut
PAST TOUR DATES:
Vancouver, BC @ The Cultch, August 26, 2018
Rock Creek, BC @ Ponderosa Festival, August 17-19, 2018
Wells, BC @ ArtsWells Festival, August 3-5, 2018
Ymir, BC @ Tiny Lights Festival, June 8-10, 2018
St. Andrews, NB @ Paddlefest, May 18 to 20, 2018
Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore Cabaret, December 02, 2017
Vancouver, BC @ Red Gate Revue Stage, November 11, 2017
Vancouver, BC @ Fortune Soundclub, October 02, 2017
Wells, BC @ Artswells Festival, August 4-7, 2017
Vancouver, BC. House Concert (West 18th), July 22, 2017
Oxford, UK @ The New Theatre, March 12, 2017
London, UK @ Shacklewell Arms, March 11, 2017
London, UK @ O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, March 10, 2017
Cambridge, UK @ The Junction, March 09, 2017
Brighton, UK @ Komedia, March 08, 2017
Glasgow, UK @ Old Fruitmarket, March 06, 2017
Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club, March 05, 2017
Manchester, UK @ The Academy, March 04, 2017
Exeter, UK @The Phoenix, March 02, 2017
Cardiff, UK @ Tramshed, March 01, 2017
Bristol, UK @ Colston Hall, February 28, 2017
Gateshead, UK @ Sage Gateshead, February 27, 2017
Nanaimo @ Queens, January 28, 2017
Victoria @ Upstairs Cabaret. January 27, 2017
news
Telegrams, recorded and produced in Vancouver, BC by John Raham & Tariq at Afterlife Studios, is available everywhere music is streamed. Also available for purchase (digital/CD/Vinyl) on bandcamp.
"Clara," the lost child of the Telegrams album, is available for streaming and purchase on bandcamp & also for streaming on Soundcloud.
writing
In 2006, Tariq moved to Vancouver to sit in the host’s chair for CBC Radio 3. Over the next three years, he would write extensively about music, host a live show as well as a podcast (The CBC Radio 3 Sessions Podcast), and conduct interviews with Canadian and international musicians about their craft. A few years later, Tariq earned his MFA from UBC’s Creative Writing program where he now teaches lyric writing. Tariq’s essay on how to write a hit song was published by The Walrus magazine in March 2018, and he is currently working on a creative non-fiction work (memoir) about growing up as a first generation kid who feels an undeniable pull towards pop music.
