AVAH COCO

Jazz rave, nu jazz, electro jazz – whatever you want to call it – the name doesn’t do Toronto songwriter/vocalist/producer, Avah Coco any justice. There are active pieces of her talent-enthralled trifecta missing in those general genre-bending references, which has prompted the 21-year-old Canadian artist to explore her own innovative title representative of the thing she does on the boards, behind the mic and on stage. It’s the fusion she calls cyber-burlesque: a synthesis of her self-produced electronic beats, deep jazz-infused vocals and burlesque-flavoured, film noir-inspired visuals that, after years of experimentation, she’s ready to share.

“Cyber-burlesque – it’s in a working process right now. I was very influenced by the traditional Josephine Baker and all this very sensual, feminine entertainers with the jazzy feeling. The cyber part would be the futuristic, experimental, electro aspect of it. Combining the feather boa with things associated with electro culture, like glo in the dark accessories are things that I see myself doing in the near future,” Avah says, following the release of her latest single “Psychonarcotic,” the first taste of her artistic hybrid.



With only basic jazz vocal training and self-taught production skills, Avah has been recording music since she was 18, attempting to blend and match her love for music with her emotional sentiments. And by taking a completely hands-on approach to every aspect of her career, Avah’s autonomous indecision soon evolved into comfortable experimentation, which has led her here, sonically.

“When I started out, I was experimenting with very top 40, straight-forward pop sound. I felt that it didn’t really resonate with me. It didn’t show my best abilities. So, I went back to my jazzy, bluesy roots and during that time, I really fell I love with the production of electro house music. I started listening to Madeon, this French producer and Porter Robinson. And I thought, ‘how interesting would it be if I mixed that with jazz?’ So for about a year and a half, I’ve been trying to find the perfect hybrid and I think I got it now. That’s how Psychonarcotic was born,” she says.



Bottling her after-dark, neon-lit, boa-tickled and base-infused experiences from Church and Wellesley – Toronto’s LGBT-oriented enclave – together into a sonic bottle, Avah sites the site as her main artistic influence. It’s also where cyber-burlesque’s performance art has gravitated from, which acts as a pillar to her artform. “It’s important to not only have the ear for music, but a wonderful eye for visuals and I feel like it’s something that this new generation has come to master. Now we’re all doing our own cover art or directing our own videos and putting together our own live sets. It’s really amazing.”

Avah is set to release her forthcoming album Living, which she refers to as “a velvety, futuristic soundtrack to a rave cabaret,” later this spring.

“Living shows a lot of vulnerability. It’s very poetic and whimsical. Sometimes, you may listen to the album and be perplexed or bemused, but it’s interesting, emotional and experimental.”

Find Avah Coco on: Twitter, YouTube, & Soundcloud - Samantha O'Connor