VELVET VIXEN
Dontmesswithjuan has been drawn to and immersed in the artistic world from a young age. She has been writing lyrics and music for over a decade. Learning how to produce electronic music gave her the ultimate tool to share her creativity.
Her infinite need to escape human reality has shaped her art. Originally from Montreal, she is unfolding into her own genre called Surrealist Electronica, where her philosophical questions, haunting voice, dark textures, glitchy foley beats, and surrealist videos collide, creating a world outside of the human truth. Loving emotionally-charged voices, hypnotizing electronic music and sound design, Stéphanie has been influenced by Amon Tobin, Massive Attack, Thom Yorke, and Patrick Watson.
She ended up working with visual artist Abraham Merr who creates most of her songs' artwork, to bring another dimension to the stories, a new perspective and a recognisable experience.
Dontmesswithjuan and the record label SONO Music Group have released her debut album Juan & the Pursuit of Happiness in 8 singles, written, recorded, produced and mixed by herself, in June 2021. Each single represents a level into fictional character Juan’s quest to shed light on his questions of purpose. He will go on the search to find happiness, to find some unchanging truth, but he will end up evolving into the next version of himself.
Tōryanse (通りゃんせ), a collaboration with RHYME.
"A trip through the conscious and subconscious layers of our souls, and yet completely rooted in truth and essence, Dontmesswithjuan’s new record beautifully embodies life’s dichotomy, only to transcend it to reach a higher state of oneness. When Juan’s initial ambition was to search for happiness, he ended-up being conscious of who he is, and fully aware of the power of being alive. Dontmesswithjuan’s Juan & The Pursuit Of Happiness is a hypnotic debut album set to propel the Canadian artist to unprecedented heights."
~ Minimal Sounds
"Whether sonically, lyrically, or visually, Dontmesswithjuan’s new album Juan & The Pursuit Of Happiness sets the tone and confirms the astonishing potential of this young emerging creative force. The entire tracklist is a powerful display of her versatility as a trailblazing artist capable of imagining a new kind of genre she calls Surrealist Electronica. We had the opportunity to chat with her about how she started making music, her new album, her fictional character Juan, the meaning of happiness for her, and so much more!."
~ Dontmesswithjuan & Vents Magazine
"I can’t tell you much about Stéphanie, the person behind Montreal’s Dontmesswithjuan. She’s a bit of a mystery, preferring to let her unconventional sound speak for itself. One listen to 'Young Lady', and you’ll be assured that confidence isn’t misplaced. The song, which features on her debut album, 'Juan & the Pursuit of Happiness', is highly experimental and drenched with atmosphere. The vocals feel uncertain at first, surrounded by the darker presence of the arrangement. But they grow in confidence, even as the song moves into a more unstructured though powerful territory, building a compelling narrative between the suspense of the arrangement and the purposeful air of the vocals."
~ Analogue Trash
"Daily Grind' is the first song in my first conceptual album where the fictional character Juan goes on the pursuit of happiness. Will he find happiness?.... Or something else? Every song is a level in his quest. 'Daily Grind' is the first chapter where Juan takes a good look in the mirror and realizes he is not happy. He questions the structure around him and wonders why he feels empty inside.."
~ Dontmesswithjuan & Visual Atelier 8
"Lo-fi aesthetics combine with leftfield electronica are laid down to form a beautiful bedrock, as the Colombia-based, Montreal-native producer and vocalist: Dontmesswithjuan contributes to an appropriately dreamy vocal performance for this sleepy title. She further enhances her already growing reputation on a track that captures the mind with it's soulful, heavy-eyed hypnotism. Her vivid lyricism mixes the everyday and the surreal with overarching themes of stopping and stepping back for reflection, looking to find joy and beauty in simple moments, and not just sleepwalking through modern life scenarios and situations."
~ Magnetic Magazine
"This EP is an exploration of how we humans deal with the concept of purpose. There is no message in particular, but more reflections. Everyone has their own truth. This is a glimpse of how a character handles all of these questions in a seven song life cycle, portrayed through visual images. Perhaps these songs can accompany you when you feel a little lost or help you escape everything for a moment."
~ Dontmesswithjuan & IOYK
"Daily Grind will easily turn into your new daily obsession. With punches of melancholy and dark vibes, she fuses electronic with enchanting vocals and unexpected lines of dark pop. Daily Grind, her latest advance, is a dark diamond. Hugely cinematic, also ambient and capable of giving the listener space to breathe between the chorus and melodies, we might want to entitle it as a modern masterpiece."
~ Where The Music Meets
"On “Daily Grind”, it literally feels as if we step into an eerier atmosphere right from the get go.
The vocal delivery and the peculiar production feels quite ghostly, but at the same time the allure comes from Juan’s ability to craft a listening experience that is very distinguishable. I adored the overall progression of the track since it genuinely felt like I was listening to a story unfold through distorted drums and wistful electronics."
~ Lulibo from Stereofox
"Dontmesswithjuan condenses the itty bitty inquiries of one’s fast and furious decisions of infatuation and trepidation of the ordinarily extraordinary. The vocals dance as in the arms of Radiohead’s shimmering poetry, as the lyrics glance at the potency in principals and gnostic invalidity.
The skies confirm. As you should, without providence. In independence."
~ Come Here Floyd