Premiere: Post Modern Connection - “If You Care”

Return to Boyhood with Post-Modern Connection's "If You Care"

The Vancouver-based indie band's new video single leaves us joyfully winded.

By Julia Dumbrell

Photos by Tamzin Birch

Published on January 24, 2024

As a Post-Modern beginning to their lasting Connection, Tega Ovie and Georges Nasrallah became a duo over avocado margaritas. The year was 2017, when rounds of the blended bevvys were the signature of Fernando’s Pub, a punk dive which kept Kelowna’s underground music scene rumbling below the lake. They laugh, reminiscing on the venue’s tiny stage, dingy back room and postered-up bathroom. It’s the kind of venue that’s essential to every city, bringing new exciting and experimental acts to the mic. Now boarded up with chains on the door, the lore of Fernando’s is remembered by early Post-Modern Connection live performances.

As both band members yearned for a playful diversion to their serious university studies, those who attended these early shows witnessed a raw vigour onstage. While they claimed to just be looking for someone “to shoot the shit with,” when Ovie’s church choir-trained vocals met Nasrallah’s finger-stretching guitar chords, it wasn’t just a fling. A living outlet for vocal exploration and guitar-choreo, the Connection became official onstage.

The bandmates have always felt something special in their live performances; something they describe as vibing sonically. “Each song in the setlist raises the bar, and we always try to hype the next one up even more. It’s sort of like a workout.”

As their partnership came up in the bluegrass-leaning Okanagan Valley, Ovie and Nasrallah were ambitious to bring an unconventional, if not ‘Post-Modern,’ approach to songwriting. The sound and vision have only matured more, with recordings drawing inspiration from their cross-province move to Vancouver. Now they perform in the city’s east side’s best spots, notably bringing tracks from their new EP to life on January 27 at the Wise Hall.

“Our latest EP A Welcome Change represents continuous reinvention, as we were inspired to add touches like time signature changes and complex jazz chords,” Ovie offers. “As we recorded with Tyler Neil Johnson, his production helped us tackle deeper personal topics while keeping the youthful energy of our band.”

Professionally pictured on playgrounds, their grown-up return to boyishness is apparent in everything the duo produces. In the quintessentially coming of age EP opener “Home to You,” Tega sings about the complex feeling of moving to Canada as a teenager, while Georges’ guitar lightly wake-surfs above the monotony of adult life in “If You Care.”

And we do care, as their latest single is visualised through an apartment tour gone-wild in the newly released music video. Shot by collaborators Joey Lopez and Matt Young, watching it will leave the viewer joyfully winded between the constant movement of the camera spinning, and the bandmates grooving, prompting the listener’s toe-tapping along irresistibly.

Tega and Georges still experience an antsy excitement with every release. Back at Fernando’s, the feeling came from the thrill of putting their early tracks out. Now it’s a hope that listeners will follow the flow, as the Post-Modern Connection sound adopts an ever-changing experimentation. Telling fans about their beginnings, showing us their apartments and inviting us to their shows, their connection only strengthens as they refuse to grow up.