Yaris Paris Has Been Training On and Off the Dance Floor

An experience in sound and movement, Club Yaris might be the endorphin kick you are looking for.

by Julia Dumbrell

Published on November 20, 2023

In the zone, Yaris Paris is coming back down to earth after spending the start of his day running on Vancouver’s Stanley Park seawall. It’s an appropriate setting to meet with the artist Corbin Pawer, who is training—quite literally—for his fifth Yaris Paris project and second release of the year. Returning his earbuds to their case, Pawer is vibrating with a serotonin boost, gleaming in neon running gear and flushed from his cardio under the grey Pacific Northwest clouds. It’s the day of his debut live performance as a DJ, so when asked what he streamed on the run, his breathless post-exercise admission is fitting: his latest set of tunes, Club Yaris, of course.

The six-track house exploration was produced to be experienced in continuous movement, “inspired by the duality of late-night dancing and early morning running,” as Pawer elaborates. Its upbeat energy is evident from the refreshing sip of the first Club Yaris track, “Soda.” He opens the project with a lively cymbal and a poppy sample of one of the planet’s most satisfying sounds — opening up a can of LimonCello La Croix. Effortlessly pulsing into the track “New Tones,” the album maintains an energetic, exercise-ready tempo of 125-Beats-Per-Minute throughout.

“The fast-paced nature of this release lends well to [both] dancing and running,” he says of the trance-inducing frequency. Both are activities which Pawer can often be found partaking in around Vancouver, bringing high stamina and style. The project became something of a mood lamp for Pawer to continue giving himself “an extra push” forward as the seasons changed, acknowledging that this time of year “can be challenging.” Club Yaris seeks to illuminate the season, with Pawer motivated to move and “Stay Ecstatic,” as one track’s title puts it.

In canon with his preceding four albums, listeners will take note of the simplified production on Club Yaris. Although it still ended up as his most complex work yet, Pawer tightened his tracks by challenging himself to minimise. “Pavement testing Club Yaris reminded me to practise restraint in my production,” he says, giving his ideas “space to breathe.” As a creative exercise, his songs are shaped within the lifelike pulse of his consistent 125-BPM parameters. Take “Face 2 Face,” where, in between his use of hand drumming and echoed vocals, the track is carried by beats of silence. The details warm us up before the synth-pop drop hits its stride at a steady pace.

Born just three months after the release of his previous project, Maximize Comfort, the groovy new sound came together by taking his demos out on a mind-clearing jog. “The Club Yaris songs weren’t designed for home listening as much as my past albums,” he clarifies. Corbin polished the tracks by test-running the demos through headphones, hearing the throbbing of tracks like “One More Chance” re-contextualized under Vancouver’s towering construction and crowded stretches of seawall.

Welcoming Club Yaris to the physical, he even created a visual backdrop for his live sets with vlog-style iPhone clips. The shots support his tracks, hypnotizing crowds as they set the scene and seamlessly transition into each other, “like events occurring throughout the day.”

Meeting up later at Yaris Paris’ live DJ debut, Pawer reminds us of his project’s intention: “To come to life in the context of a dance floor.” His live mixes reimagine the tracks on Club Yaris, creating an energy-centred experience which draws out, pulls back and amplifies his beats through an extended version of the project.

The night becomes a partnered dance between Yaris Paris and his audience, as they take turns determining the club’s energy and giving heartbeat to his vision of hosting “an experience in sound movement continuity.” Audiences lose themselves in the consistency of Pawer’s BPM, breaking a sweat and brightened by serotonin. The energy in Club Yaris is tangible, pulling Vancouver audiences out of their seasonal moods and producing the euphoria of a running group. Yaris stands on the podium, mixing with the focus of a marathon pace setter.

Corbin sums the debut up ecstatically. “I’m excited to continue exploring the world of DJing, and to find ways to give these songs continued new life through that process.” With a November 28 set as part of Shindig 2023, fans should start their training to bring the stamina for the next Yaris Paris experience.