Folk Fest: Pacifika drinks in voyage

Photo courtesy Six Degree Records. Pacifika lead singer Silvana Kane, centre, didn't intend the lyrics on the group's debut album Asuncion to come out in Spanish but the trio's free-wheeling recording style lets them produce what ever comes naturally.

You can’t help but think of the ocean when you hear of the band Pacifika. When you see pictures of the three band members, Silvana Kane, Adam Popowitz and Toby Peter, they all seem like they’d be very much at home on a beach. And when you listen to them? It’s like you’ve boarded a plane and landed right near a magnificent blue ocean; there’s nothing you can do but drink it all in and be refreshed.

The Vancouver trio of musicians have known each other for a long time but it wasn’t until four years ago when singer Kane and guitarist Popowitz invited bassist Peter to join them in the studio when he came back from touring with k-os. Though they are all influenced by wide variety of musical tastes and each from a different part of the Americas, Pacifika has fused those styles and cultural backgrounds to form a new definition of world music.

“The three of us really just have great chemistry,” says Kane over the phone as she walks along the beach with her dog (“her name is Lucy but we call her Bean because she’s full of beans”).

“Although all of us have explored different types of music, when we’re together the music that we make is really compatible. Our influences kind of jive with each other, despite the fact that we all play them different.”

With the majority of their debut album Asuncion in Spanish, it’s Kane’s Peruvian background that will bring another world flavour to the festival.

“I didn’t intend to have the lyrics come out in Spanish,” explains Kane. “The way our writitng process works is that the three of us go into the studio and we just press record on our old-fashioned ghetto blaster.  When we starting jamming most of the lyrics started coming out in Spanish. I was really surprised by it but I was also really excited because it’s my mother tongue.”

Folk Fest Spotlight
Pacifika
Shows: Sunday 10:30 a.m. Stage 1 (with The Acrorn, Jason Wilson, Mike Marshall) 12:25 p.m. Stage 1 (with Justin Adama, Juldeh Camara, Nedjim Bouizzoul) and 3:45 p.m. Stage 1
For the band’s website click here

Released in 2008, their album has received positive reviews in both Canada and the U.S. For Kane those reviews, along with the response from the crowds at the festivals they’ve been touring this summer have signalled an openess to their sound.

“We’ve had a great response but we’re just as excited as anybody who listens to it,” says Kane excitedly. “We didn’t intend to make something that we enjoyed so much but it turns out we do. I think the public is great, the listeners are amazing. I’m just very grateful to them for their time and energy.”

With the combined experience of the three musicians and the infectious charm of their singer (also an actress), their likely to be highlight at this year’s Folk Festival. Kane is also excited about the summer festival tours.

“It’s the bomb! There are certainly some great artists there and to have the opportunity to meet the fans or to just hang out with the volunteers that work these festivals and to see how much time the organizers spend with the lineup, it’s awesome! You see people of every culture and every denomination, everybody is just hanging out together listening to music. It’s really very healing.”