The dance floor may be a place to let your mind go, but that doesn’t mean dance music has to be mindless. Vancouver-based artist Devours, AKA Jeff Cancade, crafts minimalist electro-pop bangers and ambient anthems that are as at home in the club as they are in the middle of field under a starlight night sky.
Devours’ newest album Late Bloomer is Cancade’s fourth in three years – the name references the fact that Cancade didn’t come out as gay until his 20s.
“So call me if you want some tickets / front row seats / to my quarter life crisis / it’s already bleak,” he croons on the album’s titular track.
Westender caught up with Cancade to discuss polar bears and the indisputable sex of appeal of Kevin Costner.
Who are you? Jeff Cancade; vocals and synthesizer for Devours.
Where are you from? Nanaimo, BC.
How do you describe your sound? My first album was built almost entirely from samples, so I was using the term “collage pop” a few years back. My new album is more synth-heavy, so I'm just calling it electronic pop.
Who are your major musical influences? Enigma, Timbaland, Trent Reznor, Janet Jackson, Moby, Phil Collins.
Favourite sandwich? I eat a peanut butter sandwich almost every day. If we're talking favourites though, Slickity Jim's Cuban sandwich is incredible.
Best live music performance you’ve ever seen? Either Owen Pallett or tUnE-yArDs, both in Montreal circa 2009.
Closest you’ve ever come to death? A few scary bike accidents, but nothing major.
Finish this sentence: When I’m not writing and playing music, I spend my time… Watching old wrestling matches on YouTube and wondering where my life is heading.
First album you ever bought? Goo Goo Dolls, A Boy Named Goo.
What is your spirit animal and why? Polar bear, if only because I'm really hairy and better suited for cold climates. I am determined, self-reliant, and like polar bears, am a bit of a loner sometimes.
Super secret fact about you that (almost) no one knows? My earliest celebrity crush was Kevin Costner in the Bodyguard.
