Joseph Shabason is a Canadian

multi-instrumentalist A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays two or more musical instruments, often but not exclusively at a professional level of proficiency. Also known as woodwind doubler, doubling, the practice allows greater ensemble flexibility and mor ...

and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

. He is best known for playing the saxophone. As a band member and

session musician A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a reco ...

, Shabason has contributed to bands such as

DIANA Diana most commonly refers to: * Diana (name), given name (including a list of people with the name) * Diana (mythology), ancient Roman goddess of the hunt and wild animals; later associated with the Moon * Diana, Princess of Wales (1961–1997), ...

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and The War on Drugs. Under his own name, Shabason has released

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs whe ...

ambient Ambient or ambiance or ambience may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Ambiancé'', an unreleased experimental film * ''Ambient'' (novel), a novel by Jack Womack Music and sound * Ambience (sound recording), also known as atmospheres or backgr ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

albums as a solo project as well as numerous albums with collaborators.

Early life and education

Shabason was born in 1981 or 1982 and grew up in

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

, Ontario. He began playing jazz music at 10 years old. After first learning to play the guitar, he took an interest in the saxophone when he enrolled in a jazz program at

Humber College The Humber College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, rebranded as Humber Polytechnic since 2024, is a public Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, college in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1967, Humber has three mai ...

as a child. His father was a jazz pianist. In 2006, he graduated from

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

in jazz performance. His musical focus shifted from jazz to

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

in his twenties. Other than some commercial work, Shabason briefly abandoned the saxophone after university—but he's since identified the saxophone as the one instrument he'd bring to a desert island if he could only bring one.

Work as band member and session musician

DIANA

Shabason is one of three members of

, a Toronto

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...

band. It formed after another project fell through involving Shabason and Kieran Adams, who met during university. Its first album, ''Perpetual Surrender'' (2013) was longlisted for the

Polaris Music Prize The Polaris Music Prize is a music award annually given to the best full-length Canadian album based on artistic merit, regardless of genre, sales, or record label. The award was established in 2006 with a $20,000 cash prize. The prize was inc ...

. Their second album was ''Familiar Touch'' (2016).

Destroyer

The first

album to feature Shabason was '' Kaputt'' (2010), which was shortlisted for the Polaris Music Prize. Having toured with Destroyer in an opening band, Shabason contacted Destroyer front-man

Dan Bejar Daniel Bejar ( ; born October 4, 1972) is a Canadian singer and musician from Vancouver, British Columbia. He is the frontman of Destroyer, and was a member of indie rock band the New Pornographers. Overview In 2006, he joined with Carey Merc ...

in 2010 while in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

. This led to Shabason improvising a few hours on the saxophone for the album. His involvement "could not have been more casual," according to Shabason. Shabason went on to play on '' Poison Season'' (2015) and '' ken'' (2017), Destroyer's next two albums after ''Kaputt''. Shabason remained an active member of Destroyer between 2010 and 2017. In 2025, he made a guest appearance on the band's fourteenth studio album, ''

Dan's Boogie ''Dan's Boogie'' is the fourteenth studio album by Canadian indie rock band Destroyer, released on March 28, 2025, on Merge Records. Preceded by the singles, "Bologna", "Hydroplaning Off the Edge of the World" and "Cataract Time", the album was pr ...

''.

The War on Drugs

Shabason played an important role in '' Lost in the Dream'' (2014) by The War on Drugs.

Other

As a session musician, Shabason has recorded for many singers and bands—including

Born Ruffians Born Ruffians are a Canadian indie rock band based in Toronto. Officially founded in 2004 in the Georgian Bay town of Midland, Ontario, the band is composed of frontman Luke Lalonde, bassist Mitch DeRosier, drummer Steve Hamelin, and keyboardis ...

Hannah Georgas Hannah Georgas (born 30 August 1983) is a Canadian pop/rock singer-songwriter, based in Vancouver, British Columbia. She was nominated in the categories of "Best New Artist of the Year" and "Songwriter of the Year" at the 2011 Juno Awards, and ...

Austra Austra may refer to: *Austra, Norway, an island between Trøndelag and Nordland counties *Austra (band) Austra is a Canadian electronic music band from Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalit ...

Jill Barber Jill Barber (born Gillian Grace Barber; February 6, 1980) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. Originally associated with the folk-pop genre, she has performed vocal jazz and pop music on her more recent albums.Matt Barber,

Dragonette Dragonette is the stage name of Canadian singer-songwriter Martina Sorbara. Originally an electronic music band from Toronto, Ontario, formed in 2005, the band consisted of Sorbara with her then husband Dan Kurtz as bassist and producer (also i ...

, The Operators,

Allie X Alexandra Ashley Hughes (born 31 July 1985), known by her stage name Allie X, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and visual artist. She began her career as an indie pop artist in Toronto in the mid-2000s, playing with local bands and recording se ...

, Peter Elkas, The Fembots and

Fucked Up Fucked Up is a Canadian hardcore punk band from Toronto, Ontario, formed in 2001. The band consists of guitarists Mike Haliechuk and Josh Zucker, bassist Sandy Miranda, lead vocalist Damian Abraham and drummer Jonah Falco. From 2007 to 2021, t ...

. Around 2008, Shabason and a friend started a rock band, Everything All the Time. He played keyboard and sang

backup vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

. Another band he played in was called Bass Groove.

Solo work

''Aytche''

''Aytche'' (2017)—pronounced like the letter "H"—was his first solo album. It was inspired by composers such as Jon Hassel and

Gigi Masin Gigi Masin (born October 24, 1955) is an Italian composer, Ambient music, ambient musician and producer from Venice. He is best known for his 1986 LP ''Wind'' and as a member of Gaussian Curve (band), Gaussian Curve, a trio with Jonny Nash and Y ...

. After the album was finished, Shabason realized that the album reflected the impact that

Parkinson's Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become more prevalen ...

was having in his personal life; his father-in-law was suffering from it and his mother was recently diagnosed. Only "Westmeath" has vocals. The song features clips from an archival interview from a son of a

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

survivor. (Shabason's grandparent were survivors.) A music video for "Westmeath" was directed by Maxwell McCabe-Lokos. Though Shabason voiced some dissatisfaction with the album, suggesting there was "a lack of vision", it received positive reviews. On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the album rated 82 out of 100, indicating "universal acclaim". The album was funded from a grant by the

Ontario Arts Council The Ontario Arts Council (OAC) is a publicly funded Canadian organization in the province of Ontario whose purpose is to foster the creation and production of art for the benefit of all Ontarians. Based in Toronto, OAC was founded in 1963 by O ...

''Anne'' and ''Anne, EP''

''Anne'' (2018), Shabason's second album, is named after his mother. Focusing on his mother's Parkinson's illness, the album includes audio clips from interviews with her. Shabason was determined that the album not be overly sentimental or exploitative; in his own words, "the challenge becomes how do you take that nterviewand weave it into the fabric of the composition and extract the essence of it without beating people over the head with it." His mother was pleased with the result, calling it a "beautiful album." Critical reception was positive. On Metacritic, the album is rated 77 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. Music critic Miles Bowe of

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called it "gorgeous and empathetic ambient music". ''Anne, EP'' has five songs and was released May 10, 2019. The

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

describes the EP as an "afterword" to ''Anne''. Its song "I Don't Want to Be Your Love"—previously a bonus track for ''Anne—''features vocals by Destroyer's Dan Bejar.

''The Fellowship''

Shabason's third album was released April 30, 2021. ''The Fellowship'' "focuses on Shabason's own past, examining his fraught religious upbringing within—and eventual need to walk away from—an insular Islamic community called The Fellowship." Like his previous two albums, it was critically well received. On Metacritic, the album scored 76 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

''Welcome to Hell''

Released October 20, 2023 by labels Western Vinyl and Telephone Explosion Records, this

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

re-scores a 1996 skateboard film with the same name distributed by

Toy Machine Toy Machine is a skateboarding company, housed under the Tum Yeto distribution company, started by Ed Templeton in 1993. History Prior to inception, Templeton was unable to decide on either "Toy Skateboards" or "Machine Skateboards" for a comp ...

—a modified version of its logo is used for the album's cover art. Shabason received permission from Toy Machine founder

Ed Templeton Ed Templeton (born July 28, 1972) is an American professional skateboarder, contemporary artist, and photographer. He is the founder of the skateboard company, Toy Machine, a company that he continues to own and manage. He is based in Huntingt ...

for the project, and Templeton even supplied the cover art. A video set to the original film was released for the song "Jamie Thomas". The idea for ''Welcome to Hell'' came to Shabason record as he thought about the expression "write what you know." Besides spending summers skateboarding as a kid, he had an interest in skateboard videos at the time he was contemplating a new album. He also wanted to do something "much lighter and joyful" than his previous concept albums. Shabason sees jazz and skateboarding overlapping in that both rely on a progression on players/skaters that have come before and carving out a unique style.

Collaborations

In 2019, Shabason released an experimental ambient album titled ''Muldrew'' with Ben Gunning, recorded at a remote location in Northern Ontario. In 2020, he collaborated with

Nicholas Krgovich Nicholas Krgovich (born 1982), also sometimes credited as Nick Krgovich, is a Canadian musician from Vancouver, British Columbia.Alex Robert Ross"Nicholas Krgovich's 'In an Open Field' Is Very Chill and Kinda Scary" ''Noisey'', November 29, 2017. H ...

and Chris Harris on the album ''Philadelphia'', which was a longlisted nominee for the 2021 Polaris Music Prize. In 2021, Shabason, working again with Nicholas Krgovich and Chris Harris, released the instrumental album ''Florence''. Shabason also composed the musical score of the 2021 dark comedy film '' Stanleyville''. In 2022, Shabason and

Andre Ethier Andre Everett Ethier (; born April 10, 1982) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2006 to 2017 and is second all-time in post-season appearances as a Do ...

released the collaborative album ''Fresh Pepper''. (Some of Ethier's paintings serve as cover art for Shabason's albums.) ''At Scaramouche'', Shabason's third collaboration with Krgovich, was released in October 2022. In 2024, the second collaborative LP between Shabason and Ben Gunning was released: ''Ample Habitat''. It was recorded in Shabason's Toronto studio. Also in 2024, the album ''Shabason, Krgovich, Sage'' was released in April. Musician M. Sage had invited Shabason and Nicholas Krgovich to collaborate on an album in a barn in Colorado. Speaking about this project, Shabason stated: "As long as we can get into one space together for a short amount of time, the collaborative magic that is needed to make a record is totally possible."

Discography

Here are works released under Shabason's name, including solo work and collaborations. This list does not include any singles.

LPs

*''Aytche'' (2017) *''Anne'' (2018) *''Muldrew'' (2019) (with Ben Gunning) *''Philadelphia'' (2020) (with Nicholas Krgovich and Chris Harris) *''The Fellowship'' (2021) *''Florence'' (2021) (with Nicholas Krgovich and Chris Harris) *''Fresh Pepper'' (2022) (with André Ethier'')'' *''At Scaramouche'' (2022) (with Nicholas Krgovich) *''Welcome to Hell'' (2023) *''Ample Habitat'' (2024) (with Ben Gunning) *''Shabason, Krgovich, Sage'' (2024) (with Nicholas Krgovich and M. Sage)

EPs

* ''Anne EP'' (2019) * ''Fly Me to the Moon'' (2022) (with Vibrant Matter) * ''One for The Money'' (2023) (with Thom Gill)

Official soundtracks

* ''Stanleyville Original Motion Picture Soundtrack'' (2022)

References

External links

*
Joseph Shabason on Western VinylJoseph Shabason on Bandcamp
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shabason, Joseph Living people Canadian multi-instrumentalists Canadian jazz saxophonists Canadian ambient musicians University of Toronto alumni Western Vinyl artists Year of birth missing (living people) Canadian session musicians Canadian experimental musicians