Interview: CARAS’ Chris Topping Talks JUNOs, and the Journey of the Canadian Artist

By: Daniel Gerichter (@ZenDonut) –

The JUNO Awards are now in their 44^th year of (as they put it) putting Canadian artists of all walks on a pedestal. This year, CARAS (the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences) is kicking their week-long festivities in Hamilton this week, the site of this year’s awards.

Chris Topping (CARAS Director of Events) speaks with an enthusiasm beyond someone who’s just doing their job. He believes – quite strongly – in Canadian artists. And it’s easy to see why: taking a step back, the progress and reach of Canadian artists on the international stage has grown exponentially over the past 20 years. For this generation of musicians, national and international success is no longer an anomaly, or out of reach. One only needs to look at this year’s crop of nominees to see that. Topping discussed the awards’ history and how they intend on staying a fundamental part of Canadian musicians’ journey.

There are those who would describe the Junos as “the Grammys of Canada”. Would you say that’s an accurate statement? Is there anything inaccurate about that?

I suppose they’re both celebrations of artists on a national level, and all the attention that comes along with that. In our case, we’re taking the opportunity to celebrate Canadian artists almost exclusively. Barring of course, our international category. And I don’t think there’s anything inaccurate about that per se. It’s certainly not a negative to call the Junos “the Canadian Grammys”. That might just be the way some people frame the awards and we’re fine with that.

Canadian music is more diverse and prominent than it’s ever been. Do you think there’s any national identity in Canadian music anymore?

Canadian music is so diverse now, I don’t know if there’s a true, Canadian sound anymore. But the better question is, was there ever one? The parameters have widened, there are so many more acts and bands out there. Borders are almost insignificant now because the bands have more reach than they ever did before. I think international attention used to be a rare case for Canadian artists and it simply isn’t now. So if there was ever a typical sound to Canadian music before, it’s gone for that reason.

Social media and streaming services allow artists to promote themselves in an entirely new way. Does this at all change the role of the Junos?

I don’t think so. It’s all a great opportunity for the bands to promote themselves, because it’s far more effective than it’s ever been before. As an organization, we hope we can add the Junos to their story, no matter what the narrative is. The truth is, the more popular an artist gets, the better it is for everyone.

Acts like A Tribe Called Red and Tanya Tagaq have brought attention to Aboriginal artists in a way few artists in the past have. Moving forward, what do you feel the Junos need to do to elevate and promote up and coming aboriginal artists?

In many ways, we’re holding up a mirror. Last year, when A Tribe Called Red won, it was a very powerful moment, but it was a moment of its own creation – not ours. We don’t control that, becauseCARAS members vote for the artists they feel made the best music, so in either of these artists’ cases, it’s the talent that wins the day, not politics.

There are tons of Juno-related events all over Hamilton next weekend (as there are every year). Specifically, what’s the overall goal for an event like Songwriter’s Circle?

It’s a chance to give music fans a different perspective on artists and songs they know. We book a wide range of diverse artists and it’s a great opportunity to hear these artists tell the stories behind the songs we all love. They talk about what inspired them to create that song and then they play the song in a unique, live setting. It’s unscripted, it’s spontaneous and with so many types of artists on that stage, it becomes a very special event.

Which genres of music took the longest for the Junos to recognize? What were the reasons behind the delays?

Well, we try to evolve. We try to stay with what’s current and dominant in popular music. We recently added a heavy/hard music and electronic categories to the mix. Right now, we have 42 categories and every year, there are internal arguments to add more. While we’d like to, I don’t know that we can always be adding them. We need to have a balance. Eventually, a more traditional category – say classical or jazz – is going to completely lose the spotlight, so we have to consider that as well. It’s an ever-changing, evolving thing so we’re constantly re-evaluating it.

Every awards show (the Junos included) come with some controversy. What’s CARAS’ strategy (embrace, debate, engage?) for dealing with controversies that come up?

I don’t think any organization is perfect, so you’re right. It’s better to engage and discuss any controversies that come in, instead of pretending they don’t exist. Internal dialogue is always a healthy thing. The viewpoint we take is that we all learn from our mistakes and our successes.

What are the most important things you hope the Junos help Canadian artists accomplish?

We use Juno week to put artists on a pedestal and celebrate them. Our goal is two-fold: we want to bring new fans to the artists, but at the same time, it’s very important to open the horizons of those fans and expose them to something maybe they haven’t heard before.

The Junos chooses a different city every year. Why go from town to town instead of sticking to one location?

It keeps it fresh every year. One of the things I love about that is that we get to know the individual, artistic communities in each place we visit. This country is so diverse, with so many different musical contributions. What you get in the maritimes is going to be drastically different from what you get in Alberta or Saskatchewan or even Hamilton. That’s ultimately what we want to reflect in the Junos – this united diversity that we hope can expand everyone’s horizons.