Music was an 'outlet' for Inuit 'throat boxer' during turbulent childhood

At age 7, Nelson Tagoona took up playing the guitar. At 15, he was composing his own songs.

Today, at 21, the Inuit throat boxer’s life is firmly rooted in music. He has a powerful message for today’s youth about finding their voice, and he delivers it through his high-energy performances.

Growing up in an isolated community, Tagoona struggled with bullying and mental health issues. He found his own voice by combining beatboxing – a vocal style that simulates percussion sounds -- with throat singing. A form of musical performance that is unique to Inuit culture, throat singing requires the performer to control air through inhalation and exhalation to create a rhythm, chant or melody.

Though he wasn’t the first to coin the term, Tagoona has helped pioneer the hybrid musical genre.

With 300 performances under his belt to date, Tagoona’s compositions have been heard in front of live audiences at concerts and in classrooms across Canada’s North. In YouTube videos of his shows, Tagoona’s energy is boundless, as he encourages his rapt audience to sing along.

“In a lot of my songs I’ve always talked a lot about believing in yourself, being courageous and not being afraid and having a lot of heart,” he tells CTVNews.ca in an telephone interview from Nunavut. “No matter how dark your days have been, you’ll see that shining light once again.”
 

As a child growing up in Nunavut’s Baker Lake, music was an “outlet,” Tagoona says, a place to run away from life. “And then it turned into my life.”

Tagoona lost his father and many of his friends to suicide. He also struggled with bullying, depression and a constant feeling of alienation. The theme of loss permeates his music, but in front of a classroom of students, Tagoona’s overall message is clear and personal: Believe in yourself and fight for your happiness, he tells them.

“There are things that really break you down in life and that’s the fuel to my music,” Tagoona says. “When I’m composing my music, I’m in tears, and I’m really shaking and I’m nervous ... scared even.

“But by the time I’m done the piece, I can really see how it went from negative, dark … to being full of life, full of courage, full of positivity.”

Tagoona said music helps him move on from the past.

“Instead of looking back at all that has happened, I’m looking ahead at what we can change,” he says. Fans relate to Tagoona, and take his music to heart. Often times after a show, audience members come up to walk around with him and chat about difficult topics.

“Some of the fans I’ve met lost both parents to suicide,” he says.

Tagoona says he engages with youth in aboriginal communities because he understands where they’re coming from. He’s been there himself.

“In Nunavut, a lot of these towns don’t have much,” he says. “Youth who live in a remote community have a different perspective on life than those in the cities because it’s a completely different lifestyle.”

But Tagoona also says that city-dwellers can learn a lot from that lifestyle, which among other things, involves hunting and fishing.

“Coming back from the land, you are super grateful for what you have, even if it’s an empty house,” he says. “I feel like everyone on the planet should experience this at least one time so they could understand that society today is actually pretty spoiled.

“A lot of people have it made, but they’re ungrateful.”

Tagoona is proud of his role model status with youth, and takes it seriously.

As a member of the National Centre for the Arts’ Music Alive program, Tagoona is frequently invited to perform at public events and for youth. The Music Alive program sends teaching musicians to work with children and youth in northern communities, including Iqaluit, Igloolik, Rankin Inlet, Pangnirtung and Kugluktuk.

Tagoona also works with Blueprint for Life, a non-profit organization that conducts hip-hop workshops with vulnerable youth to help boost self-esteem and tackle issues like violence, domestic abuse, sexual assault and suicide.

Next up for Tagoona are shows in Ottawa, Toronto and his hometown of Baker Lake.

Tagoona has yet to cut an album or obtain a manager, but all in due time, he says. He’s a perfectionist when it comes to his music, and isn’t afraid to wait until the time is right.

“I throw myself out there as far as I can, and I’m not afraid of where I’m going to land.”