Justin Nozuka walks into a crammed Queen Street West café and orders a bowl of soup. With a nondescript winter parka hiding his tall, slim frame and a pair of glasses perched on his nose, even Nozuka’s diehard fans (of which there are many) would struggle to recognize the unassuming 25-year-old musician who has so confidently commanded the stage for the past seven years.
The first time I interviewed the singer-songwriter was in 2007. Still a teenager at the time, Justin Nozuka was all but reeling from his new-found fame. Everything that could go right, career-wise, had gone right: he was “discovered” by Canadian songstress Damhnait Doyle at a Humber College songwriting workshop, and he was relentlessly pursued by Coalition Entertainment Management’s Eric Lawrence (who, it should be noted, remains his manager to this day) until he agreed to sign a contract.
Holly, his first album, was reviewed with acclaim — and led to a whirlwind tour that saw Nozuka sharing the stage with musicians such as Sam Roberts, Xavier Rudd, Ziggy Marley, Jully Black and even Crowded House. Just a few years later, Nozuka released his sophomore effort, You I Wind Land and Sea, and enjoyed more star-studded international tours and rave-filled reviews.
Today, after a two-year hiatus from the limelight, one would think that the erstwhile 905 resident would be poised to drop another chart-climbing single. But the man sitting across a wobbly, wooden table from me has pointedly taken a new approach to his craft this time around.
“I guess you could say this album’s a little different,” says Nozuka, leaning forward in his chair. “I mean, I think people were expecting me to go a certain way with my music this time around. But I chose not to.”
When asked for clarification, the ever-humble musician struggles to find a way to say, in so many words, that he could have piggybacked on his previous albums’ success. He could have worked with just about any combination of producers and songwriters to churn out what was expected of him at this juncture in his career: radio-friendly blockbusters that would further cement his reputation as a pop-folk darling of the Canadian — and perhaps international — music scene.
After a Juno nod, two very successful albums, several celeb-studded musical collaborations and sold-out international tours, that’s exactly what Nozuka seemed primed to do. But instead of taking the well-trodden route of almost-assured commercial success, Nozuka decided to go it alone.
Ulysses, which is to be released on April 15, is all Nozuka’s doing. He wrote each song, sings each song — and even produced each song — on his new album. “[Initially] I’d experimented with some new producers. But I came to the realization that maybe I wanted to do it myself this time. So I got the gear, set up my studio and started producing.”
Guitar player Paxton-Beesley (who’ll be joining Nozuka on the road when the Ulysses tour kicks off in a few months) helped the musician overcome his “first-time producer” jitters and find the sound that had evaded him for so long. Even after several false starts in the recording booth, Nozuka still managed to stay positive — and productive.
“We’d actually thought that the album was done last year,” Nozuka explains. “But when we listened to what I’d produced from beginning to end, I knew I needed to write more songs. So I took more time, I recorded more songs, re-recorded other songs and finally found the sound that made everything just … fit together.”
It may have taken Nozuka over two years to create Ulysses in its entirety, but it took only a few guitar strums for Paxton-Beesley to realize the musical potential he and Nozuka might have together.
“We actually met in Montreal,” says Paxton-Beesley, reached on the phone. “I was going to McGill at the time, and Justin’s brother [actor Philip Nozuka, known for his role on Degrassi, and parts in Carrie and Cosmopolis] was going to the National Theatre School. “So, I met Justin when he came to visit once. I brought my guitar with me to Phil’s place, and from that moment on, Justin and I were always playing music together.”
That was five years ago — around the time that Nozuka was about to go on tour to promote his second album and about two years before Nozuka’s resolve to take more control of his own music had taken hold. Indeed, just as Nozuka’s popularity seemed to be peaking, the artist decided to take a break from the life that he had created for himself.
“It seemed like I just needed to stop everything [and] take a big break,” he says. During this hiatus of sorts, Nozuka began to develop the sound that permeates his new album: it’s softer, still soulful and completely stripped of pretension. It seems a little more indulgent than Nozuka’s previous efforts, too: vocals are more prominent, lyrics seem more pointed, and every note just seems, well, deliberate. Simply put, the two painstaking years Nozuka poured into Ulysses show — and the thoughtful, stripped-down production style suits him.
Having had the opportunity to interview Nozuka just as his very first album hit the shelves, I was uniquely positioned to ask him about his creative transformation over the past half-decade (and then some).
Now, finished his soup, Nozuka scrolls through the article I had written seven years ago. He begins to read aloud one of his own quotes from the original article: “‘In a way, growing up in [the 905] let me see things from the outside,’” recites Nozuka, now smiling. “‘When you’re from a smaller town, you tend to be more hungry. You don’t take anything for granted.’ Oh, that’s so funny!” he says, as we conclude our momentary trip down memory lane. “I actually crave that kind of quiet [that you get from living in smaller towns]. That’s what I’m hungry for now.”
During that original interview, circa 2007, Nozuka had also explained how his musical ambitions had blossomed: taking his cue from older brother George (now an R & B star in his own right), he told me that his very first track was cut in his mother’s 905 home. “I actually recorded my first demo in my brother’s room,” he had said, also admitting to having choreographed dance moves to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” with his multi-talented siblings when they were all living under that same roof.
Although he is long gone from his mother’s home in the 905, it’s clear that Nozuka has returned to his roots: by self-producing his own album, he’s found a way to assert himself as an artist — in his own way, on his own time.
