New music to listen to this week: Boniface

Now Hear This

Boniface

Boniface - aka Micah Visser - spent his childhood learning how to play different instruments in Winnipeg, Canada, going onto develop a signature 80s-style synth pop sound..

He recently put out a new track "Phantom Limbs", which follows his debut "I Will Not Return As A Tourist", and it's pretty damn catchy.

Boniface expains: “I wrote Phantom Limbs a few years ago when I was starting to become really unhappy with the way I was treating myself and the way my friends were treating themselves.

"I wrote it out of frustration without much redemption, and in the years since I’ve really tried to stop doing that. I think it's stuck with the band and I because it’s just really fun to play and we like that contrast.”

Check it out below:

Q&A with Boniface

What are you listening to at the moment?

It just came out, but "Make Me Feel" by Janelle Monae has been constantly on repeat the past few days; such a brilliant song. As soon as the pre chorus hits I'm hooked. It's just one of those songs you can listen to forever and not get sick of.

Also really loving the new Lo Moon record - got to see them the first time we were in London and since then have been keeping up with their singles. Really creative music - great sense for melody without being afraid to break conventional pop structure. I love that.

What are your plans for 2018?

Stay as busy as possible. It's really exciting for us to be sharing our music now and every single opportunity that comes our way is like a dream come true, so we intend on taking as many as we possibly can. We have a little tour planned on the way to SXSW in March — The Great Escape and some Europe shows in May, and recording throughout all that.

What was the first gig you ever played and what’s been the best one so far?

First gig I ever played was at a restored theatre in Winnipeg (Canada) called The Park for a friend's birthday. The first iteration of the band was made of friends from high school and I'm sure our set was really sloppy but the crowd started dancing during our last song and I remember falling in love with the energy in that room.

The best one so far is tricky to say (they've all been great for us) but last weekend we might have played my favourite one. We played a tiny secret set in a St. Boniface garage. It was completely packed with our best friends as well as some strangers. Again, I just fell in love with that energy. Facilitating positivity is all you can ask for really, and when I can tangibly feel that in a room it reminds me why I love doing this.