Building on several contributions to Bristol's forward thinking label Limbo Tapes and appearances at festivals across North America including Mutek, Bass Coast and Active Passive, Birthname (fka Caro) continues to distill their loop-oriented style of storytelling. They relate to music as both a mirror and a bridge. Merging intimate, inner-life with current historical, topological and geopolitical landscapes. Like any spiritual practice, it is an exercise in attention.

On the air regularly since 2018, Birthname has hosted and welcomed many guests through radio shows on CJLY (Nelson), B.Side Radio (Vancouver) and online through Noods Radio (Bristol). Their new monthly called Fire Shelter, airs monthly on n.10as radio out of Montreal.

Spiral Dance, their most recent LP, was released in 2025 via Limbo Tapes.

INTERVIEW WITH BIRTHNAME:
Q: you moved from western canada to montreal: how has that shift in place changed how you hear or create music?
A: this was my second bounce back eastward (first was in 2012 or so, in nova scotia) and it’s been a real delight to have a new daily soundtrack. i don’t often listen to music while i’m out and about. i completely understand wanting and sometimes needing to drown out traffic or what we consider to be more "undesirable" "noise" to get through the day, but for me that backing track actually helps me ground out and situate myself in space. i’ve always been really interested in site specific work. a big portion of my schooling was studying community design so it’s sort of enmeshed into the way i move through the world at this point. a concept that really stood out to me in those studies was linger-ability, literally how well does an environment foster sticking around. as a pretty transient person thats been on my mind a lot lately. montreal has a lot more lingering in parks and on the streets, a generally wider use of public spaces than where i’m from. i’ve been thinking a lot about how sound helps or hinders that and what bodies are welcomed and encouraged to stay.

Q: when you’re working in ambient or downtempo modes versus bass or club sets, what parts of yourself show up in each?
A: yeah good question! i’m still figuring this out myself. i think its been a long process for me to accept the parts of myself that live in the more bass heavy sets. it’s easier to love and share the calm parts that come through in downtempo mode i guess. but life is messy and in honour and recognition of that long madness and the full spectrum of human emotion it feels important to sort of hash out the less desirable parts. learning to love the unbridled part of me that runs those heavy more chaotic moments found in anything from free jazz to hardcore to early dubstep. i’ve leashed those madder parts for most of my life, for various reasons, but djing and making music has been a huge release. clubbier and more heavy sets like this one are definitely a place where i can just untether and thrash around for a bit.

Q: in your sets or compositions, how do you balance the act of listening versus dancing?
A: i live in my head a lot more than i’d like to so i tend to lean towards headier more listening oriented music. embodiment is something i’ve struggled with as a trans person and i feel like i’m just learning to practice that in a way that feels good for me. when i’m djing that comes through because i really like to pull things back and play with the energy of a room. if i feel things moving towards a mindless mosh i'll be like no i'm gonna play this super heady track and make people think for a minute. i’m almost never trying to hammer out an hour of peak energy moshers, its just not me, so pacing the dancefloor and finding that balance between mind and movement is a reality whenever i play. "calling this one 'Soundboy's Grave Gets Slowly Consumed by Moss'. an homage to and sort of spectre/reincarnation of Skull Disco (2005-2008). stripped down dance floor music with at times "the fewest elements required to make bodies move" (Rory Gibb). " - Caro

Tracklist: Damos Room - Mineral Blend (Polyop Remix) [Nudibranch] Simone Bauer - Driade [Sure Thing] Froid Dub - Just One [Ransom Note Records] Yushh - Ghost Of What [Tectonic Recordings] Yu Su - Futuro [bié] Duckett - This Is It [Greta Cottage Workshop] Crespi Drum Syndicate - Broken Bread [Isla] Slow83 - Photan [LW Recordings] D.K. - Inertia [Midgar Records] Old Man Crane – Hepp [Bait] Babe Roots - It A Come (feat. W. Bryan & Galas) [System Music] Pinch - Qawwali V.I.P. [Planet Mu] Carrier - Slow Punctures [CRRR (Stamped)] Yushh - Feeling Everything All At Once [Pressure Dome] Tighe - Untitled [Bait] Leese & Chewlie – Saamna [YUKU] qwqwqwqwa - lovesong [FCR (Future Culture Records)] Michael Red - Change [Modern Math] E Wata - U D S2S [SLINK] Method Sound - Moss [YUKU] V.I.V.E.K - Gone W3st [Tectonic] Crespi Drum Syndicate - Sandee [Isla] Beatrice M. - Oval [Tectonic] Pinch - Tectonic Sound [Tectonic] Slow83 - Subterranean [Self-Released] Trois-Quarts Taxi System - Spectre [Bait] Dialog - DOT [DOT] epoch - Ribcage Pt. III [ZamZam Sounds] Mean Old Man - No Sound (ft. Nikita T) [Isla] Old Man Crane - Quork [Bait] Mark Prichard - Heavy As Stone [Deep Medi Musik]

Birthname Socials:
https://www.instagram.com/_______caro/
https://soundcloud.com/carosound

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