The Junos

DJ and producer Grahmzilla is the Juno-nominated music mastermind behind Thunderheist’s kickass, booty-shaking beats. He spent some time with the Vancouver Observer during the 2010 Juno Awards weekend of mayhem, sharing his thoughts on Thunderheist’s Juno nomination and break up, as well as his future projects as a solo artist. 

photo credit: Mark Bennett

VO: How would you define your musical style?

Juno-winner K’naan has had quite a year.  Following the release of Troubadour – which hit #12 on the U.S. Billboard top albums chart – K’naan remixed “Wavin’ Flag” to be the official song of the FIFA World Cup and is currently touring on the Coca-Cola Trophy tour which hits 86 countries, including every African nation.

K’naan took a break from his hectic touring schedule to attend the 2010 Juno Awards in St. Johns, Newfoundland, where he performed Wavin’ Flag (with Young Artists for Haiti Drake, Justin Bieber and Nikki Yanofsky), presented Brian Adams an award and won for artist and songwriter of the year.

West Jet reports that they've released all flights leaving St. John's.  The delay in air traffic as a result of volcanic ash  reported this morning was only temporary, the airline said. 

The New York Times reported today that air transportation authorities hammered out a proposal to resume air traffic in Europe, where thousands have been stranded for the last few days. Authorities carved out three zones, including a "no-fly zone", to deal with the presence of volcanic ash over the continent.  From the Times:

Bublé accepted awards on Sunday, April 18th for album of the year, fans choice, and single of the year.  He rushed off to the airport because flights from St. Johns may be cancelled for several days due to volcanic ash from Iceland.

Metric won for group of the year.  Emily Haines advised young artists to "set your own course."

Drake won rap recording of the year (So Far Gone) as well as new artist of the year.  Drake says that in Canadian music this year, "we've seen some special people rise up this year and I'm proud to be one of them."