Landing On Planet Giza [Interview]

Celebrating the release of their new single, New Wave caught up with Planet Giza as they shared how they came together as a group, working with KAYTRANADA and their newly launched radio show ‘Mellow Mellow Radio’ and more.

The Montreal-based beatsmiths, consisting of Tony Stone, Ramy B and Dumix, have released their newest single titled ‘When The Moving Stops’ to kickstart the new year.

Planet Giza’s music is a time capsule that pulls from a diverse range of sounds both old and new. Their playful percussion rhythms and funk influenced basslines show off their organic and free-flowing approach to making music together. When taking in their discography you’ll notice the culmination of R&B melodies, jazz influenced beats and hip hop flow which is a representation of the homegrown talent erupting from Canada’s underground culture.

The trio are setting the tone for the new year with their newly released single, ‘When The Moving Stops’ which features a music video directed by Guillaume Landry, starring Tony Stone. We follow as he cruises through the streets of Montreal chasing a multicoloured lightning streak in the sky. The video is simple yet it alludes to a variety of old school hip hop video concepts. From the 90s inspired black and white shots to the lavish trips on a speed boat, reminiscent of Biggie Smalls’s own ‘Mo Money Mo Problems’ video. Despite their evident influences they still maintain a strong sense of identity and style in their music and visual concepts.

2019 saw the release of Planet Giza’s debut album ‘Added Sugar’, they have since graced stages like Montreal Jazz Festival, collaborated with Mick Jenkins and produced Goldlink’s ‘Ridd’, which he performed on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. The trio have recently extended their creative ventures into hosting their own radio show named ‘Mellow Mellow Radio’. With KAYTRANADA as their first guest featured on the show, the project is another space they have created for their growing community to enjoy fresh new music from themselves and other musicians that inspire them. The monthly show also includes a live discussion from a special guest. With a number of notable achievements under their belts so far, Planet Giza has so much to offer the creative community. Read all about their venture into the radio world, their new single and what to expect in their upcoming EP below.

"We all grew up listening to different genres of music and I believe this is what makes us so unique."

New Wave: How was lockdown for you? Did you find that it affected your creativity in any way?

Planet Giza: Not even gonna lie, it killed our whole creativity at first. We had a project in the works that we had to put on hold until we figured out what was really going on. Then, after going over it as a team we decided to put all our efforts into a new project. That's how ‘Don’t Throw Rocks At The Moon’ came about.

NW: How did you guys meet and when was the moment you realised you had to form this trio?

PG: We knew each other through mutual friends. One day we all met at Tony's house to make music and realized that we work really well together. Ever since the first beat we knew we were on to something.

NW: Individually, what did making music look like before Planet Giza?

PG: Before Planet Giza, DoomX and Tony made this producer group called The North Virus. Rami B was part of the Alaiz collective in our city, Montreal.

NW: In the video to your new single ‘When The Moving Stops’ there are some really cool 90s concepts shown throughout. What was the inspiration behind it?

PG: Special thanks go to Guillaume Landry and Dovi Kotto. They were the ones that came up with the visual concepts and created an amazing video. Big thank you to Racky Sow as well who styled us and made everything fit with the aesthetic.

NW: What’s one thing you want people to take away from the track?

PG: We want people to see that we're extremely versatile. We just have fun and make the songs we want to make regardless of the genre.

NW: You also run a radio show called ‘Mellow Mellow Radio’. What made you want to extend your creativity into the radio world?

PG: We started this radio show because we wanted a platform to preview our many unreleased songs. We also thought it would be a great way to showcase our personalities since we’re normally more lowkey.

NW: Who would be a dream guest to have on the show?

PG: Where do we start! Roy Ayers, Quincy Jones, Madlib, D'Angelo, Erykah Badu and Andre 3000 amongst many others.

NW: Your first album ‘Added Sugar’ was co-produced by KAYTRANADA and with him being so ahead in the game, what are some things you learned working beside him?

PG: Big shoutout to Kaytra but he didn't co-produce the album. He co-produced the song Timeless!

Working with him is always a pleasure and most of the time we just geek out over samples and drum loops.

NW: Your music uniquely fuses together R&B, hip hop, funk and so many other elements. Who do you draw your inspiration from sonically?

PG: We all grew up listening to different genres of music and I believe this is what makes us so unique. You can't pinpoint just a single source of inspiration to our sound.

NW: You have an EP in the works titled ‘Don’t Throw Rocks At The Moon’, what kind of sounds should we expect to hear in this project?

PG: You can expect a little bit of something for everyone. Whether it be dope raps with clever punchlines or smooth singing with harmonies. Keep an eye out for that!

NW: How do you settle your creative differences, if you come across any, and give room to explore all of your ideas?

PG: We hardly ever come across any creative differences but whenever they do come up we trust each other enough to try different things. Executing the multiple options to our same vision.

NW: What Montreal-based producers should we currently be aware of?

PG: We have a tremendous amount of talented producers out here. Kaytranada, Da-P and FREAKEY! are a good start if you're looking to tap in and see what we got going on.

NW: What’s next for Planet Giza?

PG: As soon as the world opens up again you can expect us to hit the road! Until then we'll keep providing these grooves and fire content.

'When The Moving Stops' is out now!