Pacifika is a Canadian world music band formed in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, British Columbia by high school friends

Silvana Kane Pacifika is a Canadian world music band formed in Vancouver, British Columbia by high school friends Silvana Kane (vocals) and Adam Popowitz (guitar) in 2004 and joined by Toby Peter (bass and drums) in 2006. According to Kane, who sings in ...

(vocals) and Adam Popowitz (guitar) in 2004 and joined by Toby Peter (bass and drums) in 2006. According to Kane, who sings in Spanish, English, and French, Pacifika "is simply the Latin way of saying 'peaceful' in the feminine, except that we changed the 'c' to a 'k'". The group has released four albums: their independent debut, ''Unveiled'' (2004), and three with

Six Degrees Records Six Degrees Records is an independent record label noted for its catalog of recordings from international musicians and vocalists. History In 1996, former Windham Hill employees Pat Berry and Bob Duskis founded Six Degrees Records with the in ...

: ''Asunción'' (2008), ''Supermagique'' (2010), and ''Amor Planeta'' (2014).

Background

Peruvian-Canadian Silvana Kane met Adam Popowitz while they were both attending Catholic high school in

Burnaby, BC Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard I ...

. They subsequently formed the band Big Bottom Swing. Kane left the band to join the pop trio

West End Girls "West End Girls" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys. Written by Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, the song was released twice as a single. The song's lyrics are concerned with class and the pressures of inner-city life which were ...

, signed a record deal with

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

, and had a top ten Canadian hit with "Not Like Kissing You" in 1991. Popowitz helped form the Vancouver hard rock band Mollies Revenge, signed a record deal with Atlantic Records via

David Foster David Walter Foster (born November 1, 1949) is a Canadian musician, composer, arranger, record producer and music executive who chaired Verve Records from 2012 to 2016. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. His music career spans mor ...

's imprint 143 Records, and released the

Rick Parashar Rakesh "Rick" Parashar (December 13, 1963 – August 14, 2014) was an American record producer, recording engineer and musician. Along with his brother Raj, he founded London Bridge Studio in Seattle, Washington, in 1985. During his career he wo ...

-produced ''Every Dirty Word'' in 1997. Popowitz and Mollies Revenge leader Yvette Narlock then formed Yve Adam and released the Carmen Rizzo-produced ''Fiction'' in 2000. Peter formed the fusion band Salvador Dream, signed a record deal with Warner, and released ''UR'' in 1994. In 2004, K-os enlisted Peter for the touring band on his '' Joyful Rebellion'' world tour. In the same year, Kane and Popowitz reconnected, then wrote and released ''Unveiled''. After seeing a live performance in 2006, Peter approached Kane and Popowitz about joining the band. Now a trio, and with funding secured with a

FACTOR Factor, a Latin word meaning "who/which acts", may refer to: Commerce * Factor (agent), a person who acts for, notably a mercantile and colonial agent * Factor (Scotland), a person or firm managing a Scottish estate * Factors of production, suc ...

album loan, they wrote and recorded ''Asunción'', which they then successfully shopped to Six Degrees Records.

History

''Unveiled'' (2004)

''Unveiled'' was released independently in 2004 under the band's original spelling, "Pacifica". The album was re-released in 2011 with the current spelling. The eleventh track, "Save the Day", was featured on the Syfy series '' Being Human'', in the episode "Children Shouldn't Play with Undead Things", and in the

Space Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually cons ...

series ''

Charlie Jade ''Charlie Jade'' is a science fiction television series filmed mainly in Cape Town, South Africa. It stars Jeffrey Pierce in the title role, as a detective from a parallel universe (fiction), parallel universe who finds himself trapped in our univ ...

'', in the episode "Bedtime Story".

''Asunción'' (2008)

''Asunción'' was released by Six Degrees Records and

Universal Motown Universal Motown Records was an American record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company tha ...

in April 2008. It reached the peak position on the iTunes Latino Album chart, was named Best Album of 2008 by

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

, and got on the

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

"2008 Editor Picks". Pacifika has been praised by ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'', ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'', and

KCRW KCRW (89.9 MHz FM) is a National Public Radio member station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, where the station is licensed. KCRW airs original news and music programming in addition to program ...

. KCRW picked the band to perform at the Hollywood Bowl at their 2008 World Festival, alongside Feist and

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings were an American funk and soul band signed to Daptone Records. They were part of a revival movement of mid-1960s to mid-1970s style funk and soul music. They released their debut album ''Dap Dippin in 2002, the firs ...

. The second track from ''Asunción'', "Me Cai", was featured on the HBO series ''

True Blood ''True Blood'' is an American fantasy horror drama television series produced and created by Alan Ball. It is based on '' The Southern Vampire Mysteries'', a series of novels by Charlaine Harris. A reboot is currently in development. The ser ...

'', in the episode "Scratches" (season two). The

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...

used the tracks "Libertad", "Sol", and "Paloma" for their series ''

Covert Affairs ''Covert Affairs'' is an American action drama television series filmed in Toronto, Canada, starring Piper Perabo and Christopher Gorham that premiered on Tuesday, July 13, 2010. On January 6, 2015, USA Network canceled ''Covert Affairs'' afte ...

''. The ''Asunción'' album tour included headlining spots at the

Montreal Jazz Festival The Festival International de Jazz de Montréal ( en, Montreal International Jazz Festival) is an annual jazz festival held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Montreal Jazz Fest holds the 2004 Guinness World Record as the world's largest jazz fes ...

, Bumbershoot,

Winnipeg Folk Festival The Winnipeg Folk Festival is a nonprofit charitable organization with an annual summer folk music festival held in Birds Hill Provincial Park, near Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The festival features a variety of artists and music from around the ...

Vancouver Folk Music Festival The Vancouver Folk Music Festival (VFMF), founded in 1978, is an outdoor multistage music festival, located at Jericho Beach Park on the west side of Vancouver, British Columbia. It takes place annually, on the third weekend of July. The fes ...

Calgary Folk Music Festival The Calgary Folk Music Festival (also known as "Calgary Folk Fest") is held in late July each year at Prince's Island Park, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. July 2022 is the Festival's 43rd edition. The four-day Calgary Folk Music Festival annually featu ...

, and

Sunfest SunFest is a musical and art festival held annually in the first week of May in West Palm Beach, Florida. SunFest is the state's largest waterfront music and art festival in Florida and attracts more than 100,000 visitors. Main attractions of this ...

in London, Ontario.

Radio-Canada The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

picked the band for their "Révélations 2008" roster, alongside

Coeur de Pirate Cœur is the French word for heart, and may refer to: * '' Cœurs'', a 2006 French film by Alain Resnais * Coeur (playing cards), a brand of playing card produced by VEB Altenburg in East Germany People with the surname * Jacques Cœur ( – 1 ...

and

Caracol Caracol is a large ancient Maya archaeological site, located in what is now the Cayo District, of Belize. It is situated approximately south of Xunantunich, and the town of San Ignacio, and from the Macal River. It rests on the Vaca Plateau ...

''Supermagique'' (2010)

''Supermagique'' was released in August 2010 by Six Degrees. iTunes named the record "Best World Album" of 2010, and it was nominated for "World Recording of the Year" at the 2011

Juno Awards The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

. The album contains a cover of the song "

25 or 6 to 4 "25 or 6 to 4" is a song written by American musician Robert Lamm, one of the founding members of the band Chicago. It was recorded in 1969 for their second album, ''Chicago'', with Peter Cetera on lead vocals. Composition In a 2013 interview, R ...

", originally recorded by

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

in 1970, and it was featured in the pilot episode of

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

show '' Ringer''.

''Amor Planeta'' (2014)

''Amor Planeta'' was released on May 6, 2014 by Six Degrees Records.

Solo projects

Silvana Kane released her debut solo album, ''La Jardinera'', in 2012, under Six Degrees Records. The album pays tribute to the South American musical heroes of her youth.

Band members

* Silvana Kane – vocals * Adam Popowitz – guitar * Toby Peter – bass, drums

Discography

* ''Unveiled'' (2004) * ''Asunción'' (2008) * ''Supermagique'' (2010) * ''Amor Planeta'' (2014)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pacifika Musical groups established in 2006 Musical groups from Vancouver Canadian world music groups 2006 establishments in British Columbia Six Degrees Records artists Universal Motown Records artists