In the current age of social media, where we see trends rise and fall like waves breaking against a beach, it can be hard to navigate what is ‘in’ and what is ‘out’. More and more it feels like we are smothered by one trend just to be freed by another. But who are the people behind this – the trendsetters? More importantly, who are the trend-defiers – those that dare go against the zeitgeist to create, innovate, inspire, and incite trends of their own? 

While I can’t speak on the former, one Saskatoon based musician, Devon Gunn, is one of those trend-defiers ballsy enough to carve their own path in this hyper-trendy world.

Gunn — who performs under the stage name vbnd— is a 28 year old Saskatoon based bassist, DJ and producer who has worked alongside artists like Yung Gravy, Katie Tupper and more across his nine-year long music career. On his instagram he calls himself the “neo-soul baby boy,” whereas his website describes him as “a small man from the small city of Saskatoon.” 

Despite the playful nature of his personal descriptions, Gunn is anything but ‘small’. He has made big moves producing, performing, and releasing music in the genres of indie-rock, neo-soul, funk and jazz. Through solo projects and with his bands, The Soulmate Collective, The Heartaches, and ‘after two am’, Gunn as made big waves.

Late last year, just prior to the finals season, I got to sit down with Gunn and a frequent collaborator of his, USask student and hobbyist music producer Kai Finnestead. We discussed the slow burning rise of the aforementioned musical genres, as well as both musicians journeys through the Saskatoon music scene, and their ventures and dreams beyond. 

Gunn told me he didn’t realize he wanted to be a musician until he was a teenager, but explained that his road to this career was different than some would expect. “I started getting into guitar when I was 12. I never took any lessons [though] and I’m kind of thankful because I think that if I took lessons I would hate music right now because I’m stubborn.” he said. “I would learn from books, or Youtube and also [used] the internet to learn tabs and stuff … because I’m so stubborn I just kept playing until I was really good.”

A few years later, at sixteen, Gunn took to producing house music (electronic dance music) after being inspired by a friend which led him down the route of music production and DJing. But it would be a comment from an ex-girlfriend that really drove Gunn to give music his all.

“When I was seventeen I had a girlfriend and she said, ‘I don’t know why you make music. It sounds like shit. It’s not gonna go anywhere,’” he told me. “And that’s where the stubbornness kicked in. I was like, ‘you know what, I’m going to become famous’ and so I worked really hard on music and then when I took a gap year off after high school the music thing just kicked off and was like ‘oh shit, I can actually make a career out of this.’” 

Since then Gunn says that his career has been “a combination of nine years of work and luck.” He told me, “I know my music is good subjectively, obviously people like it, but … there’s a lot of luck that goes on with the music business … it’s like your name gets picked out of a hat and then you’re like, ‘okay so this guy is next up.’”

With the strokes of luck from those fateful days nine years ago, Gunn has turned away from electronic music and DJing to focus his efforts on expanding the genres of funk, jazz and neo-soul in the province of Saskatchewan to try and ensure more luck for other artists. “I found out [that] there’s not a lot of people doing that [sort of music] in the province so I took it upon myself to try to make that music.” He explained to me. “I want to be the one that gets my foot in the door so I can open it for everyone else; bridge those gaps.”

One person who has benefited from these gaps being bridged is none other than the aforementioned collaborator Kai Finnestead, someone who Gunn described as having “golden fingers.”

Having been initially classically trained on the piano, Finnestead left the traditional techniques to find his own way in music. “I was getting to the point where when you invest [so] much effort [but] you don’t get a lot out. You’d spend months learning one song.” He said. “It wasn’t really stimulating anymore so I branched out into making up my own stuff during school jazz bands. That morphed into jazzier stuff because it lends itself to improvisation,” he explained.

Eventually the pair met each other over instagram where they shared beats, produced and improvised over each other’s tracks with a self-described “playful” quality. Something they now both find integral to the music they make.

“I want all the human imperfection because you can’t fake that. The way you play off somebody is different than the way you play off somebody’s recording – there’s an energy to it,” said Gunn. Finnestead elaborated saying, “I think so much of the way that we do shows, and the way that we write stuff is just like messing around.”

And mess around they have, but not in a foolish or ignorant manner, as both Gunn and Finnestead assure that despite what fun they have behind the scenes, their goal in the end is to create good music for themselves and with others.

“When somebody hires me to come and contribute to their song, I’m not trying to, you know, make it a vbnd thing, I’m trying to play the song, serve the song.” Gunn said, on collaborating with other artists. “But also … I’ll add my little spin … my ‘vbnd spice’ to it because that’s why you hired me.”

Finnestead shared similar sentiments on how he approaches collaborating with other artists.

“If I’m working on someone else’s project and knowing exactly what they’re looking for, having direction [from the artist] is super important because I know [that] I want to bring my own spin to something but I don’t want to take over the track itself,” said Finnestaed. 

With their roots deeply settled in the prairie province, I decided to ask both Gunn and Finnestead what their interaction with the Saskatoon music scene has been like. Is the music scene here as small as we expect it to be, or does it have the capacity to reach beyond this bridge city we call home?

For Gunn, he said that his interaction with the Saskatoon music scene has always been “a little alienating” not because it has not welcomed him, as he assures it more than has, but rather because his success — particularly in the streaming music world — has existed abroad more than at home.

“It’s always been backwards, because you know, usually you start in your hometown, you build fans here, then you travel out and you gain popularity. It’s been the exact opposite.” he said. “Nobody in the city knew about my music, [but] everywhere around the world: [the] United States, the UK, Germany, Australia … Brazil … South Korea [were big listening countries] when I started releasing my music.” Gunn explained. 

Finnestead meanwhile highlighted talent within the city and suggested people try to integrate themselves with local music scenes rather than merely allow music to be advertised to them over social media.

“When you’re having music marketed at you these days you’re getting it from all over the globe. [Everybody] is targeting you because of the age of the internet so it’s really hard to pick up on local acts that you might really enjoy.” He lamented. “But, if you go out of your range, you try and find people that are in the area and you keep up with these people, then you can find some gold,” he continued. “I’m still getting more involved … but the more that I do, the more I find that I’m really enjoying it.”

Regardless of where the success comes from Gunn remains appreciative and holds true to his mission: opening doors for younger artists that want to get into neo-soul, soul, jazz, or R&B in the province. “I just like showing them [aspiring musicians] that they can do it if they live in Saskatoon or Regina or Prince Albert … it’s a career choice you can make and  it’s not impossible just because no one else is doing it [here].”

As for future projects, both Finnestead and Gunn seem to plan on maintaining their playful nature, mixing soundscapes and styles from their favourite genres, while trying to add their own signature flair.

“I’ve been thinking about jazz, soul, or maybe an electric style thing … I’m gonna keep remixing stuff, working on stuff for myself, then leaning more into the promotion side of it.” Said Finnestead. “I’m a business major. I should be doing some marketing [of music] if I can,” he told me amusedly. 

Gunn on the other hand said that his future album output will likely continue to shift between neosoul and more grungy live-band motown R&B music as per his prior records Daughter of the Sun and Scum Punk. “Every album I’ll just go back and forth.” He said, “I get bored with music pretty fast so if I’m not doing something a little different then I don’t want to do it.”

For those interested in checking out Gunn’s music, it can be found on Spotify, Soundcloud and Apple Music under the artist name ‘vbnd’. For more information regarding pop-up shows or other collaborations of his you can check out his Instagram (@vbndmoney).

In the age of the internet it’s easy to get lost in the sea of trends. With so much stuff being promoted to you at every hour it can be hard to find media — and people — that break the mainstream mold and dare to do something different. Fortunately, it’s easier to find than you think, if you’re willing to do some digging rather than just eat what the algorithm feeds you. In the case of vbnd and Kai Finnestead, they show that taking your own trend-defying route to media, music and more can offer big opportunities in careers and hobbies alike.