When I heard Emicida was playing two sold out shows at The Axis Club in Toronto, I turned to a Brazilian friend and asked, “have you ever heard of this Emicida guy?” She looked at me, like I had landed from mars. It was time to research.  He was born in São Paulo and his journey into the world of rap began in those streets, honing his craft through freestyle battles and underground performances. He draws inspiration from his surroundings, and he uses his music as a platform to shed light on social issues, inequality, and the everyday struggles faced by the people of Brazil. Impressive. Fi ..read more

So, you meet a guy via some mutual friends at a university party. You talk sports. You talk food. You become tight. You graduate and go get jobs—one as an interior designer and the other is working for the government. Then a global pandemic hits and everyone is sent home. You suddenly have some free time on your hands and an empty bbq in your mom’s backyard, so you decide to feed your friends and neighbours. You light up the grill and start selling sandwiches—steak and only steak… they are delicious. So delicious that your instagram starts popping. This triggers that Toronto blog to creep your ..read more

  PHOTOS: MICHEAL NEAL ..read more

A few years ago, we saw City and Colour was playing a show in Toronto and decided to throw our hats in the ring to try and secure a photo pass. Being a small, independent magazine, we assumed the request would see the fate of most previous attempts to shoot or interview “big stars”—no reply at all—but my fatuous optimism told me to send the request anyway. I found the name of their publicist, Listen Harder. A quick scroll through their website showed an impressive list of clients… Arkells, Alexisonfire, Barenaked Ladies and The Lumineers to name a few. I now did the same thing I had done sever ..read more

LUSO LIFE: Ground control to Helder… what drew you to the moon? HELDER MATIAS: I’m fascinated by the universe & our place in it. I think there’s something special about how every single human being to ever exist has looked upon our moon. LL: Are these photos part of a particular project you’re working on? ongoing series? future plans? HM: I initially began this purely for fun. Once working on it & updating friends I noticed more & more ppl showing interest. So my plan eventually is to make prints from this project in the darkroom. I also intend on capturing the upcoming solar eclip ..read more

In the 43 months since our last encounter with Nico Paulo, she has moved to Newfoundland, set up her own design studio, recorded and released her eponymous debut album—which made it onto the long list for the Polaris Music Prize. While touring in Toronto, Nico brought us up to speed. .  LUSO LIFE: So we met at the end of 2019. You did that acoustic set at Mercado. NICO PAULO: Oh my gosh right. LL: I think that was November 2019 and then you moved right before Covid started wasn’t it? NP: July 2020… That’s when I moved to St. John’s [Newfoundland]. LL: Oh, July. Okay. Yeah. NP: Because the ..read more

It’s a glorious mess of a sandwich. It’s Porto’s favourite hangover helper. It is, according Anthony Bourdain, “Meat, cheese, fat and bread: the immortal combination.” It’s the Francesinha, a sandwich we’ve been wanting to photograph [and indulge in] for a very long time. Fifteen issues in, we arrived in Avó Emilia Silva’s kitchen and we anxiously awaited its arrival like children on Christmas morning. This was not a sandwich… this was a challenge. Before we get to deep into this, I want to remind everyone that we pride ourselves on being authentic… but sometimes a small stretch is needed to g ..read more

Years [and years] ago, I worked at a restaurant that was located above the Robert McLaughlin Gallery. I would usually show up early and wander through the rooms before my shift. I’d stare at the art hanging on the walls until eventually a piece would catch my eye and I would sit in front of it until it was time to go upstairs to serve tables. I was joined by my buddy Nick on one of these strolls and he wandered through the gallery with me pointing at paintings while giving a one word review for each—“Cool. Shit. Neat…” Twenty-something art-school me tried to tell him that appreciating all art ..read more

If I was putting together a soundtrack of my youth, somewhere near the top of the list is Lowest of the Low and their debut album Shakespeare… My Butt.   RONHAWKINS.COM     WORDS & INTERVIEW: DAVID GANHÃO PHOTOS: NOAH GANHÃO ..read more

A ..read more