When the Toronto Spark reaches award-winning musician Sebastian Gaskin over Zoom, he’s feeling elated. That’s because the Tataskweyak Cree Nation singer, multi-instrumentalist, and producer is about to fly to Taipei to headline the Jade Music Fest in Asia.
“I’ve never been to Asia,” the Toronto-based Gaskin reveals. “So, for my first time out there, performing is quite the dream.”
On Friday (April 24), Gaskin will share the stage in Huashan 1914 Creative Park with two celebrated Taiwanese Indigenous acts, both winners of Golden Melody Awards. The Nanwang Sisters hail from Taiwan’s Pinuyumayan tribe, whereas Giyu Tjuljaviya is from the Paiwan tribe. Following Gaskin’s two appearances at the festival, he will tour Taiwan, visiting Indigenous schools and meeting with tribal leaders.
“A friend of mine played there last year—Aysanabee,” Gaskin says. “He did a similar tour. So, when I heard that I was selected this year, I can’t tell you how excited I was.”
It comes as Gaskin’s career is taking off in North America. In 2025, he received the Juno Award for Contemporary Indigenous Song of the Year for his haunting single, “Brown Man”. The riveting lyrics open with: “I am a brown man / My skin ain’t white / They could pull me from the wreckage / And still shoot me in the light”. From there, Gaskin declares that he’s not a savage—just a human being who needs to heal from heartache and sadness.
“That song was written around the time of the George Floyd murder,” Gaskin says. “That whole situation got me thinking about my own existence as a large, masculine-presenting person of colour.
“And it can be dangerous to exist as that in certain places,” he adds. “So, I wanted to start a conversation about that in the larger Canadian diaspora of Indigenous people as well as settler colonials.”
Gaskin includes “Brown Man” on Lovechild album
Gaskin recognizes that “Brown Man” is also a song of solidarity with oppressed people from other parts of the world, whether they’re Indian, Mexican, or Indigenous American. They share common ground in all having been subject to the forces of colonial violence.
“I had never really written a song that was so politically charged before,” the musician acknowledges. “So, this was a big turning point for me, actually.”
“Brown Man” is one of 11 tracks on his R&B and pop-infused album Lovechild (Ishkōdé Records Inc./Universal Music Canada Inc.). Another hit song from the 2025 disc, “Shadows”, earned a five-star review from NEXT Magazine. On this danceable number, Gaskin’s velvety voice is backed by a slick, upbeat arrangement, yet the lyrics speak of deep pain.
“That’s always been a big theme in my music: sharing the truth while making it easier to swallow,” Gaskin says with a smile. “That song was very heavily inspired by punk rock music in the ’90s—they were sharing messages but people were dancing to it. So, that’s definitely what I was going for with this one.”
Gaskin is proud of his Indigenous heritage and he was thrilled when the Tataskweyak Cree Nation erected a billboard in his honour in 2024. But he doesn’t want to be pigeonholed over just one aspect of his identity.
“I’m an artist who happens to be Indigenous,” he says.
Diverse tastes inform songwriting
Gaskin credits his single mother for instilling him with a love of country music from a very young age in northern Manitoba. Then in his teens, he discovered hip-hop and started writing raps and poetry.
“With hip-hop, you’ve got to be witty, you’ve got to be really quick, and I think I got a lot of my power from writing in that style in those early days.”
He also developed a taste for two highly polished queer artists—soulful pop singer and songwriter Sam Smith and R&B singer-songwriter and rapper Frank Ocean. Gaskin, who is queer himself, incorporates a high level polish in his recorded music.
He describes his music genre-defying, which reflects his diverse tastes. In his youth, he also listened progressive rockers Hogan, Coheed and Cambria, Rush, and Dream Theatre.
Gaskin feels lucky to have spent his formative years as a musician in Winnipeg when he was still living with his mom. He calls the Manitoba city a “wonderful incubator for musicians”, due in part to cheaper rent than other cities.
In 2021, Gaskin won a Western Canadian Music Award for R&B Artist of the Year for his single “Snakehold”. Then in 2026, Gaskin received a second Juno nomination for Contemporary Indigenous Artist of the Year for his album Lovechild.
The second-to-last track on Lovechild is “Song for Granny”, which he describes as a conversation with his late grandmother.
“That’s what those lyrics are: letting her know what’s going on down here on Earth. It’s a literal conversation.”
Gaskin puts in the work
He also has a nearly two-minute segment on the album called “ADHD Interlude”.
“I’ve recently started taking medication for ADHD and it changed my life,” Gaskin says.
Now, he finds it easier to get to meetings on time, keep his room clean, and make better sense of his thoughts. He also recognizes that with ADHD come some gifts.
“I have this theory that thousands of years ago, pre-colonization, a lot of Indigenous people had what they now call ADHD—when we were the people who stayed up through the night keeping the camp safe,” Gaskin states. “We were the gatherers, the hunters of the group. As many bad things come with ADHD, there’s an equal amount of good things.”
With all of his success, Gaskin insists that he is nowhere near the finish line. Even after winning a Juno, he feels that he is only “mid-journey” in his musical career.
So, where might this path lead in the future?
“I’ve got a rough idea,” Gaskin replies. “I’m aiming for the Grammys. That’s the North Star right now. I’m putting in the work and doing what I think is necessary to get to that point.”
The Society of We Are Canadians Too and Huashan 1914 Creative Park will present Sebastian Gaskin at the Jade Music Fest in Asia. He will perform on the Outdoor Stage in Huashan 1914 Creative Park (華山1914文化創意產業園區) in Taipei on Friday (April 24) and Sunday (April 26). The festival is free (免費入場). For more information, visit the Jade Music Fest in Asia website. The Toronto Spark is on Bluesky @torontospark.bsky.social.
