Coming from a town with a population of about 2,000 that may be best known for its dinosaur footprints embedded in rock, Adam Lake decided to come to Prince George a year ago to make his mark with his music and recently released an album, Who I Really Was.
Growing up in the tight-knit community of Tumbler Ridge where country music reigns, Lake said he knew it was a little too small to do the type of music he loves to make.
“I had my group of friends there that started to make music - we got into the studio and I think that was around 2016 and ever since then it’s been all about the music for me,” Lake explained.
So is his music a laid back rap? Hiphop? Soul?
“I honestly don’t have a perfect description but I think of my music as an R&B pop mix, it’s kind of like the slower side of hiphop - more like that than anything else I’ve heard,” Lake said.
He started out just singing as loudly as he could when he was a youngster and didn’t even really care about the quality of his voice - he just needed to sing, he explained.
“I don’t even think I have a good voice for music, I just really worked at it until I felt like I could do music," Lake said.
“One day I was singing in the shower and I got a feeling in my stomach and I thought ‘whoa, this is how I should sound in the studio’.”
As for what he writes about, it’s all about what he knows.
“I only write about things I see or think about, I like to let people into my mind and give people a sense of euphoria when they hear my music,” Lake said. “I love when I get goose bumps from listening to music, so if I can give that to other people that’s definitely what I want.”
He definitely thinks his move to Prince George has benefited his music.
“When I lived in Tumbler Ridge even the social media felt like a blackout zone,” Lake laughed. “I just couldn’t get anywhere there and I feel like there’s a lot of diverse music here in Prince George.”
He’s got some family here and his girlfriend is here as well so it’s been a very nice transition, he added.
His public debut was scheduled for Tumbler’s GrizzFest in October but it looks like it’s going to be cancelled because of the ongoing pandemic restrictions.
“I have been writing music for a long time - five or six years - but this is the first time I’ve tried to focus on the content of my music and how I feel about it so it’s just me getting an early foot in the door kind of thing,” Lake said.
“The end goal, of course, is just to be comfortable and have a good fan base, where I can go and tour around and meet all the different people that like my music and just experience that kind of thing. I just want everybody to know that I appreciate every single person who checks out my music and I hope that everyone knows that I just want to spread happiness and love and to make everyone feel good.”
To hear Lake’s music he suggested his favourite song first and invites people to listen to Veins on YouTube (warning for profanity).
