Busybee's Playlist

A talented twosome that dreams big

A slight crisp Montreal summer evening, a rusty wooden bench in a park off the corner of Sherbrooke St., and a cool wind rustling the tree leaves — a simple setting for what will prove to be a riveting interview.

I sit on my respective side of the park bench, amused by George Racicot puting on gray shades given to him by Luka Ferraro, who was running around, attempting to find good angles for the camera.

“They actually look good on you!” Ferraro says, looking back at his bandmate.

“Oh yeah? Might just wear them for the rest of the interview then! Give me that douchey rock’n’roll look!” Racicot jokes back, keeping the sunglasses on in spite of his quick diss.

Ferraro jumps around, directing his friend Noah helping out with the film equipment, and trying to find a way to prop up his cellphone for a different angle, coming to the realization that his tripod was too short.

“Oh! What if,” he quickly ruffles around in his bag, and pulls out a red-lidded Tupperware, “I just use my Tupperware filled with zucchini bread? I gotta use it for something!”

And that is how I knew, I was in for one of the most entertaining and agreeable interviews.

20 Minutes Til Sunrise is a Montreal-based band with a very strong following, as well as social media presence. A two-piece band comprised of multi-instrumentalists Luka Ferraro and George Racicot, the duo began jamming together when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020.

But that was not their first meeting.

Ferraro and Racicot actually met back in 2017, at a break dancing competition.

LF: In 2017, George was already on a dance team at that point, break dancing at a wonderful school called Break City.

Break City is the leading dance school in Montreal’s West Island community. Their dance program was created in 2010, and has been embraced by the local community. They’ve been experiencing tremendous growth, and pride themselves in being Canada’s first and only dance school specializing in break dancing.

LF (ctnd): I had just joined, and I was really interested in getting to know the teams. I really wanted to be on like the most competitive team they had. I remember asking “Hey, if I tried out, like, who else is like up for maybe getting on that team? Who’s a threat to me?” And people were like this guy named George. I’m like, fuck George, man. I never met him at that point. I’m like, I gotta get on this team. They’re like, no one’s making it but me. And then, um, fate has it, both of us got rejected from the team.

GR: But we eventually got on the team together, at the same time, in unison. I don’t know why we had an illusion that only one person could make it.

But when COVID struck, the duo lost an important creative outlet, and as most artist can sympathize, there was a lot of pent-up energy that needed to come out.

And as fate would have it, they found another way to bond.

LF: I looked at George and was like “hey, we both play instruments, don’t we?” At the time we were both drummers, but we started hanging out in my gazebo and then one day we kind of just looked at each other and we’re like, we both play, I play guitar, you play drums, you play drums, I play guitar, I play piano, I play bass, we play all these, like, instruments, we’re like, why don’t we just, like, do something with it? So, one day we were just like, fuck it, and then we decided to make a band.

Spur of the moment, organic and genuine are a few qualities that come to mind when one talks about 20 Minutes Til Sunrise.

And as their name aspires, staying up all night.

BB: So how did the interesting name come about?

GR: Basically, the reason that’s our name is because me and Luka used to stay up real, real late making music. I used to go to his house at like 8 o’clock, we’d make music up until like 4 in the morning, and then we’d see the sun go up, and then we’re like, oh shit, we should probably go to bed, you know? We were pretty proud of it.

LF: And then I started like, editing videos and putting the title in, and I’m like, oh, it never fits. That’s why you’ll see like, every video is like, 20 Minutes Til Sunrise. It’s eye catching, but that’s it. It gets attention, like, doom, doom, doom, and people are waiting for it to end.

There are few elements that make 20 Minutes Til Sunrise the band that it is, and it all centres around remaining true to their fun-loving, lively essence. When you put on a song of theirs, you’re thrown into a world where M83 meets Dominic Fike; where Wu-Tang Clan collaborates with Two Door Cinema Club. It is a world of chaotic musical energy that works perfectly, because the people making it love it with every fibre of their being, and enjoy every second of the experience as it is.

That’s probably why they’ve held off on recording in a studio, and choose to self-produce instead.

GR: We really didn’t want to go to studios. We wanted to do it all ourselves. We wanted to play everything ourselves. I mean, there’s also the no money factor. That’s probably the main reason but also just because I’ve been kind of producing music since I was like a little kid, like I used to go on GarageBand and make like little things and like and I don’t know, there’s just something about making it yourself because when you’re producing with a with a producer, of course, it’s always fun to do that and we’ll probably do it one day, cause we’re not always going to produce for ourselves because we like branching out and getting other ideas from other people. But of course we’ll always be in the studio and have say in what we make. But I feel like it’s just because me and Luca kind of just like when we sit in the studio together and well, our studio that we built together, when we sit there, it’s kind of, there’s nothing else like it, you know, it’s just like me and him bouncing ideas off each other, writing songs. I don’t know, just something about making music just the two of us like being able to put the drums down, make the bass and not have anybody else mess with it.

LF: I agree. There’s something very special. Like, all of our songs, I don’t know, we write them really all in one day. Like we start it and finish it the same day, 90% of the time. And these are our favourite ones. The way I see it, music is like capturing a piece of time. Like, those were things that we only wrote in one afternoon. Only like, it’s every last bit of it was that piece of time. There wasn’t anything that we pulled from, like, another song, or anything that that was how we felt in that moment. Encapsulated perfectly. And then like, there’s such a great feeling seeing that go on to like a sheet and then playing it back to someone and be like, yeah, this is how I felt and this is me.

GR: And if I like it, then that’s all that matters. And if someone else likes it, please like come on the journey. Listen to it, but what matters is, you wanna make an album where you can actually listen to it and be like this, this is exactly what I would listen to. This is what I want.

The dynamic and camaraderie between the two best friends is a refreshing sight, bouncing off each other effortlessly, recalling specific moments in time during a recording session or a writing anecdote, almost toppling down from the bench from laughing too hard. This type of chemistry is hard to take your eyes away from, and probably why the band has shied away from expanding since they were formed.

GR: I think our whole thing, the whole time has always just been like, it’s gonna be me and you and that’s it. Other people can like, perform with us and other people can write with us and they’ll get all the credit that they deserve and like, and if they’re on stage with us, yeah, of course, but I don’t know, it’s just something about me. It’s a lot simpler to just have two guys because yeah, it’s, I don’t know. Managing a bigger band is gonna be a bit tougher. Yeah, there’s always problems that arise with like bands that are like five, six people just because it’s like getting getting five, six people in a room together consistently, it’s not an easy thing.

LF: So much of music to us is like the vibe. The feeling, and that’s more important than like how easy a live show is to do or like how many different instruments you can all play together. Just having that vibe was so important that we didn’t want to mess it up. We had the formula and we didn’t want to touch that at all. This works. Let’s keep it the way it is, we’re having a great time. I just keep doing that and it hasn’t run out yet. Like to this day, if we lock each other in a basement and sit down for a second, wait a couple of hours, we can walk out with a song. It might not be great, but we always walk out with a song.

Their most recent single, “ETA”, was released on 30 July 2023, and when asked about the inspiration for the song, Ferraro bounces off his seat, ready to share.

LF: One day, I was wearing like a tank top and shorts on the bus, and I’m like boiling, I’m dying [of heat]. And I look to my right, and there’s just like a guy in a full on suit and tie just like standing, how is this possible? How are you doing it? And the worst thing is like, I get on the bus like very early in the morning, I’m usually on there by like 5: 45, 6 AM or something, cause I have some early classes and I live relatively far from school. And he’s on the bus by the time I get on, so I’m like, Oh, you get on earlier than I do. And that’s just crazy. And you’re wearing a suit and tie, and I’m boiling. I’m barely making it. And honestly, he’s probably doing very well, that guy. Hard work, hard at work. We hope we’re doing well someday. We hope you’re doing well, guy in the suit and tie on the bus. We don’t know. It’s not like how you’re wearing a suit and tie, that like, you shouldn’t be doing that, but it’s a how, like, how do you achieve that, how is this even possible? Please, teach me your ways.

At some point, Ferraro leaps out of his seat to grab his backpack, rummaging through it, and presenting us with a roughed up small red notebook with a spiral binding that gave way, being held by a piece of silver tape.

LF: So I write, like, lyrics in this little notepad, right? And they’re normally very bad, but every once in a while I get a little page or something.

He goes on to profess his love for bigger words, with bigger meaning, his constant search for more prolific wording instead of maintaining a basic explanation or description of things in his songs.

My writing hand twitches in response, understanding exactly what he means.

A simple conversation on a park bench with a Tim Horton’s cup and a chilly summer breeze left me feeling joyful and energized. The duo’s energies, in spite of it being late in the day, were infectious and captivating as I watched them speak of their passions with nothing but pure love, and animated hands.

If you are lucky enough to see a live 20 Minutes Til Sunrise Performance, you can be sure to feel a sense of rejuvenation and joy. And I got that from just streaming their tunes. 0