Following in the footsteps of crooner legend Leonard Cohen and with his deep and sultry ”Bowie-esque” vocals, Cairo-born illustrator and Montreal-based singer/songwriter, Karim Terouz brings his signature ”Hypno electro/noir” to the scene.
Along with his co-producer, mix engineer and keyboardist Gabriel Ethier (Garou, Azam Ali), Karim Terouz curates his original songs with his taste for 90s nostalgia and 70s & 80s synth-pop elements.
His first single “Outstanding” (2019) has been deemed one of the year’s best songs by California’s Rawckus magazine.
“Outstanding” is better than excellent, entering the rarified realm of superlatives. This is one of the best tracks of the year, sexy, powerful, and inspiring.” -Rawckus magazine.
In 2020, his second single, “Burn,” has received the Factor Grant making him one of the 33%Canadians nationwide to receive the Factor Artist Development grant during the first year of the pandemic.
Karim Terouz released his third single in 2021, “Big Boy Games.” This would be the first time the Egyptian Canadian concept artist fully integrates his illustrations with his music.
Big Boy Games was added to Exclaim’s The Eh! List on the Friday of its release.
”Trust me, you’ll love every second of this electro roller coaster.” -Turn Up The Volume
”It’s a unique and thoughtful piece of audiovisual storytelling, one that doesn’t suffer the complexities of vague and veiled lyrics – it’s refreshingly direct, unapologetic and doesn’t mince its words… or sounds.” -Scene Noise
Karim Terouz manages to carefully craft his compositions into intimate capsules, where one is intoxicatingly swayed into contending to lead his epic stories of inner and outer struggles.
”Hypno-noir ‘’ he calls it, a cinematic, muscular sound imbued with wickedly erotic sensations, rife with intensity yet soothing with its pacing.
Name:
Karim Terouz
Genre:
Electro-Pop
Founded:
2019, with the release of my first solo single/video Outstanding
Latest Single: Big Boy Games (September 2021)
Latest Video:
Favourite musician growing up:
Bruce Springsteen
Favourite musician now:
Bruce Springsteen / Tom Smith (Editors)
Guilty pleasure song:
I saved the Worl Today (Eurythmics)
Live show ritual:
Early morning run on Mont Royal
Favourite local musician:
Solomé Lecler
EP or LP?
EP, Singlesleading to EP leading to LP
Early bird or night owl?
Slowly shifting to early bird, just left my side job.
Road or studio?
Studio for now, y’know.
Any shows or albums coming up?
My next single is a cover of Nightcall by Kavinsky, followed by a self-titled 4 track EP, all in 2022
Where can we follow you?
Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Bandcamp | YouTube | Spotify | SoundCloud | Apple Tunes
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Rapid Fire Montréal Qs
Favourite local restaurant:
Taverne Square Dominion (MTL) + The golden turtle (TO)
Favourite street in your city:
Mont Royal street
Favourite park in your city:
Jean Meance park, right in front of the Mont Royal hill.
Favourite music venue in your city:
Le Ministere
Favourite music store in your city:
MOOG on St-Laurent
