Socalled doesn’t like dichotomizing music by genre. That’s why his latest album Peoplewatching can’t be easily categorized.
“I love styles and I’m not part of a style,” he says. “This world we live in, it’s like people aren’t stuck in styles anymore or they don’t have to be.”
However, as a musician and producer, Socalled – the moniker of Montreal-based Josh Dolgin – is best known for fusing hip-hop with klezmer. With its decidedly more diverse sound, many are calling Peoplewatching a departure from his earlier work.
Dolgin is adamant that he hasn’t left his roots behind. “Basically, every song has sounds sampled from klezmer,” he says. But unlike on previous albums such as the Socalled Seder: A Hip-Hop Haggadah, these influences aren’t quite as obvious. “I’m not talking about a bar mitzvah, I’m not talking about gefilte fish.”
He describes the track Boyfriend Material as almost a “Britney Spears pop tune.”
If you listen closely, you’ll hear it also includes sounds from Romanian folk music. But “I don’t broadcast it,” he says. “There’s no clarinet that comes out and plays the tune on top of it. I didn’t sample Fiddler on the Roof into it. It’s just there.”
Peoplewatching showcases musical heavyweights including Canadian jazz legend Oliver Jones, as well as frequent collaborators Fred Wesley, a renowned funk trombonist, and vocalist Katie Moore. Punjabi singer Kamal Chamkila provides vocals on the eponymous track Peoplewatching – she also works at a restaurant near Dolgin’s home in Montreal.
These collaborations are a staple for Dolgin. “I just run into cool people who make music and I think, how can I use these people and how can I work with them?”
Along with the obvious titles of musician and producer, Dolgin is a magician, filmmaker, cartoonist, puppetmaker and journalist. He was also the subject of a 2010 NFB documentary, The Socalled Movie.
Ever the virtuoso, Dolgin performed with his Yiddish barbershop quartet Julius at Toronto’s Jewish Music Week in May. Ashkenaz Festival originally commissioned the project for its 2006 biennial event. This year, Dolgin brought in new singers including San Francisco’s Anthony Russell, David Wall and Toronto local Mitch Smolkin for a sold-out show at Temple Sinai.
“It’s a mechayeh,” says Dolgin describing his newfangled quartet. And the performance was a success. “We made people cry, we made people dance. So I have high hopes for it.”
Despite making a career out of manipulating Jewish tunes, Dolgin doesn’t consider himself particularly religious. Yiddish and klezmer music help him connect to his culture.
As Dolgin explores the world’s various musical styles, Yiddish is always close to home. Although many consider it a dying language, Dolgin hears it every day living in the Outremont neighbourhood.
“When I walk down the street, I literally hear Yiddish all the time, which is crazy,” he says.
He’s realistic about its future, however. “We’re not going to bring it back, it’s not going to be what it was,” he says. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t explore it and try to learn from it. There’s lots to learn.”
Much of the Yiddish and klezmer repertoire is forgotten, its records languishing in dusty boxes, bins and basements. Dolgin continues to find it and gives it new life.
Socalled returns to Toronto for the Luminato Festival with a free concert on June 24, 8:30 p.m. at David Pecault Square.