“Five Minutes With” Local Singer-Songwriter Trevor Sloan

Trevor Sloan is a Canadian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Toronto. Described as “slyly intricate with ethereal touches,” his music infuses intimate vocals with acoustic instruments and old synths. He hints at singer-songwriters of the 60s and 70s but with an intriguingly modern twist. Green Reflections is the third album under his own name but Trevor has been writing and recording music for over ten years, previously releasing six LPs under the name Phono d’enfant.

He has various film and TV credits including a song in CTV’s The Listener and was nominated for the Louis Applebaum Composers Award in 2014. As a founding member of the electronic experimental group Audiosleep, he learned how to create atmospheric music. This cinematic quality and use of vintage synths and layered sounds is also prevalent in his solo indie-folk work.

Although Trevor often captures city scenes and characters in his songs, he also explores images of nature: robins in the snow, reflecting rivers, pigeon wings… In the song “Shore Patterns” from the new album, a painting by A.J. Casson is a portal into his own life. “I grew up in the town of Markham, which was on the edge of the country. That was the backdrop for my youth, which was full of recklessness, awkwardness, new friendships, unrequited love, confusion and is a point of reference for where I am today in my life and in my relationships.”

Trevor Sloan_Photo_By_Nippun_Goyal
Photo by: Nippun Goyal

Name: Trevor Sloan

Genre: Indie-folk, Psych-folk

Founded: 2010

# of Albums: 3 under my own name and 6 under the moniker Phono d’enfant

Latest Release: Green Reflections

Latest Single: Dusty Boots

Latest Video: 

Favourite local Restaurant:

Nodo in the Junction

Favourite band as a teenager:

Gee… probably would have been something like Guns N’ Roses or Pink Floyd

Favourite band now:

Lately I’ve been into Michael Nau, Jon Mckiel and Beck

Guilty Pleasure Song:

“Islands in the Stream”

Live Show Ritual:

I haven’t done a live show in a while but if I did, the ritual would include several hours of pre-show panicking

Favourite local artist:

Bahamas

Sneaky Dees nachos, pasta from Terroni or a superfood salad from Fresh?

Sneaky Dees nachos

Queen or College St?

The Junction! Or way west on Queen Street (Parkdale)

Trinity Bellwoods or High Park, Riverdale or Kew Gardens?

Definitely High Park. I’m there all the time. I live in a condo so I kind of treat High Park like my backyard

EP or LP?

LP

Early bird or night owl?

Night owl

Road or studio?

Definitely studio.

Swiss Chalet or Roti?

Roti

Where can we follow you?

Instagram

Website

Any shows or albums coming up? 

No shows but I just released my new album Green Reflections