Performing to the First Nations beat

Every summer, there’s a season for Arts in the Park for local artists that want to perform at lunch or evening.

Jeremy Parkin is among the summer lineup. Still in his early twenties, he is from Kwanlin Dün First Nation, which encompasses his hometown of Whitehorse.

Parkin has also lived briefly in British Columbia and Alberta. But it’s in Whitehorse that he feels most at home to nurture his creative and Indigenous identities.

“I like to say what I feel,” Parkin says. “If I have this platform and I have this support as an Indigenous artist, I’m going to take the opportunity to say what I feel is necessary; to be myself.”

Parkin had many role models growing up. Before getting into DJing and electronic music, his older brother introduced him to ’80s and ’90s-era metal bands. He credits his brother as his biggest influence as a child: he recalls being picked up from kindergarten.  

“[My brother] would always be playing albums in the car when he’d pick me up,” Parkin recalls. “I’d always be really interested in whatever he was playing, and I’d be like ‘What’s this?’ and he’d give it to me when he was done with it – I kind of digested all this music through him.”

Parkin’s musical exploration continued through high school. Even in his DJ work today, Parkin is reminded of his elders’ traditional teachings: from drum-making to hand games, Parkin says that much of First Nations music translates into vocals and drums, which he then incorporates into his DJ tracks.

“I feel like if you mentioned, ‘Jeremy Parkin, he’s an Indigenous artist,’ I feel like a lot of people would instantly associate it with…” Parkin hesitates momentarily. “I don’t even know how to describe it, but they might immediately assume there’s very obvious First Nations influence in my music.

Parkin is drawn to steady, rhythmic beats. Upon this foundation, he further developed a style that accentuates the interior aspects of his personality. It’s a subdued, but effective feedback system for himself. 

“I feel like a lot of the music that I release is fairly introverted,” Parkin says. “I feel like if there’s any sort of message in my artistic vision, if you would call it that, I just want people to feel like it’s okay to be themselves.”