Begonia opens up about her Polaris Music Prize performance, upcoming tour and more. (Exclusive)

Calvin Lee Joseph

Written by: Gracie Lowes

The Polaris Music Prize gala is fast approaching and is set to celebrate a successful year of music.

Taking place at Massey Hall in Toronto on September 19 at 8pm EDT, the Polaris Music Prize was first awarded in 2006 and annually given to the best full-length Canadian album based on artistic merit, regardless of genre, sales, or record label.

One of this year’s shortlist artists and performers at the gala is Begonia (Alexa Dirks), a Canadian pop singer-songwriter from Winnipeg, Manitoba.

I had the chance to sit down (virtually) with Begonia and talk to her about her gala performance, upcoming tour plans, what fans can expect from her music, and more.

You can read the full interview below.

Photo credit: Calvin Lee Joseph

Gracie Lowes: First off, I just want to say congratulations on everything with the Polaris Music Prize, both being on the shortlist and also getting to perform at the upcoming gala. What has this experience been like for you? Both finding out you made the list, but also building up to your performance.

Begonia (Alexa Dirks): “I'm nervous, but also excited. I'm trying to just take it all in and just kind of take a step back and enjoy that it's pretty fun and an honor to just get to be at the party, to get to perform, and to get to celebrate with my friends and my team. My mom's coming so I’m excited to just have a nice time, it's not hinged on the expectation of winning, it's just fun to have a seat at the table and get to meet people and be a part of it.”

Gracie: What can fans and music lovers expect from your performance? Could you hint at an outfit or the overall vibe of what you're going for?

Begonia: “I just got my outfit in today and it's made by, Evan Clayton who is a designer from Vancouver. I've been anticipating it and now it's in, so now I have to make sure it fits right, as for the music we have a bit like a three-song medley that we're playing. We get seven minutes on stage, so seven minutes in heaven and I'm going to try to make it as heavenly and impactful as possible.”

Gracie: Definitely, enjoy your time on the stage. You earned it.

Begonia: “Thank you.”

Gracie: I know that you're always working on music, but if you could describe upcoming music in three words, what would they be?

Begonia: “I'm on tour, so there's not a lot coming out of the pipe in the next little while because I'm in just a bit of a different mode right now. It's like the album creation process is its own thing, and then putting the album out is its own thing, and then now I'm still in the heavy hustle of playing shows. I have these two big hometown shows next week right after the Polaris Gala that I've been anticipating forever and it just so happens that they're right next to each other, so that's gonna be Cuckoo bananas. Then I go on a Canadian and European tour right after that, so making music doesn't have as much space in my mind right now. I mean visually I'm working on things for the tour like outfits, sets, and all that stuff.”

Gracie: What is your favorite part about touring or getting to perform live?

Begonia: “It's being on the stage, just getting up there is amazing. Because touring is like 20 per cent the actual performance and then the rest of it is just hanging out and being in a van mostly. So realistically the stuff that we do on stage takes up such a little amount of time. I also have such an amazing crew of musicians with me and my partner travels with us too, and does merch and tour managing stuff so we have wonderful family on the road. So the hanging out is fun, but we love playing the shows, being on stage, and just letting everything else melt away and connecting with people, that's my favorite part of it all.”

Gracie: You've accomplished quite a bit in your career so far. I'm wondering what advice would you give to your younger self or up-and-coming musicians.

Begonia: “Just play. Don't worry about things being perfect, don't worry about the right time to just start experimenting. I mean, there comes a time when you wanna be more careful about how you release stuff, but at the beginning, just play everywhere you can because that's the way, for me at least, that I got the most practice and learned how to sing and learned what my voice was. Also, go hang out, and meet people because it's all about community and camaraderie and that's what makes doing this so much more fun and so much less lonely.”

Gracie: What is your go-to song right now?

Begonia: “My go-to song? I mean, for me, lately, my go-to song is ‘Brown Noise for Concentration’. I'm just emailing and on my computer so much. But if I want to just like chill out I put on Kara Jackson's latest record which is one of my favorites that came out ‘Why Does the Earth Give Us People to Love?’