Bonjay Avoids the Subtle Approach For the five minutes that it takes Bonjay beat-master Ian “Pho” Swain to locate the second phone in the duo’s temporary New York City crash pad, singer Alanna Stuart is left on the line to entertain the Straight. Naturally, the conversation turns to the weather. But instead of making a vague observation about dropping temperatures in Bonjay’s adopted hometown of Toronto, or even an offhand remark about kicking their tour off under grey skies in the Big Apple, Stuart opts for something a little more full-on: ranking Canadian cities in order of most frigid. She’s just gotten to Montreal when Swain joins the conversation, redirecting the focus to Bonjay’s new dancehall-heavy EP, Broughtupsy. That Stuart has no trouble passing the time while her musical partner dashes down a flight of stairs isn’t of much interest. What is, however, is her natural inclination to fill the minutes in such an inventive manner when run-of-the-mill pleasantries would suffice. Her approach here isn’t subtle, nor is it when it comes to Bonjay. “It started from me sketching out from a beat,” says Swain. “But then increasingly—especially with the last couple of songs we finished on the record—it’s Alanna sneaking into the studio and adding parts, and then me opening a song and finding that something had been added, and then us arguing over what stays in and what goes.” Swain’s rundown of their working relationship causes both members of the dance duo to laugh. Bonjay may be composed of two strong personalities, but clearly the outfit—which fuses dancehall reggae, African rhythms, and dubstep with indie rock sensibilities—benefits from having such fierce types on deck. Boasting a list of influences—hip-hop and soulful R&B are given their due—Broughtupsy doesn’t tiptoe about. The six-track record is fresh and worldly, and brazenly dashes between feral bangers (“Stumble”) and melancholic electro-pop (“Shotta”). Stuart suggests that this adventurous sound has emerged because she and Swain tackle the project quite differently. “He has a good sense of what’s happening in the music, where I sort of react to the instrumentals I hear,” she says. “I’ll sit down with a microphone and a desktop mike stand, and just improvise and try to see what rhythmic pockets there are that my voice can fill in, or decide whether the melody will fit on top.” The project is a collaborative affair, but Stuart insists that not everything is a group effort. “Ian’s pretty much banned from singing,” she jokes. “We’ll save that for the Bonjay experimental album.” While Swain isn’t much of a songbird, his years as a DJ and producer make him an invaluable member of the team. “When I was a kid starting to play synthesizers and make beats, I always thought I’d be working with rappers, so I didn’t think I’d need a sense of melody in songwriting,” he says. “That’s the cool thing about working with Alanna. She really does have that going on.”
