Ambient music has exploded on streaming services, as listeners turn to abstract soundscapes for relaxation and concentration — but one label is aiming to engage with listeners more directly than your average algorithmic Spotify playlist.
"We want people to see how ambient music is more than just the music you hear at the spa, that it's music created by humans with a passion for finding the details in the calm, mellow, and quiet textures," Imaginary North founder Daniel Field tells Exclaim!
Field launched Imaginary North in spring 2022 after finding streaming success with his own music under the name Kilometre Club. During pandemic lockdowns, he had made progress in getting his music heard, racking up tens of thousands of monthly listeners on Spotify — and being featured by Exclaim! for his debut project, when he made a song for every TTC subway stop. "I felt that my music wasn't necessarily better than anyone else's, but I had started to figure out some approaches to gaining momentum in the ambient music world that had found some traction," he acknowledges.
Initially, the label was digital-only, meaning that overhead costs were essentially nonexistent, requiring time but very little money to distribute releases through streaming platforms. Field reached out to designer Mitch Burke, who helped to create the label's visual identity — an aesthetic that has become as intrinsically associated with Imaginary North as its music.
Soon after, producer/engineer Chad Skinner (a.k.a. Sun Rain) reached out and became the label's in-house mastering engineer. And, after raising money with a couple of streaming successes, Collette Andrea (a.k.a. Gollden) came on board as a publicist, rounding out Imaginary North's team.
From left to right: Daniel Field, Collette Andrea, Chad Skinner
The label's initial focus was on streaming services, but from the get-go, Imaginary North wanted to offer something more unique from the many playlists clogged with ghost artists. "We love big concepts and ideas, which can be hard to do with an instrumental genre like ambient, which usually has no vocals to tell a direct story," observes Field. "Most of the albums we have released have some kind of specific approach, or focus on technical challenges. The more an artist can say without words, the more likely we're interested in it."
Field is leading by example with his latest Kilometre Club album, It Doesn't Snow in Toronto Anymore. Out February 21, its drone soundscapes are designed to mourn the planet's environmental changes. Similarly conceptual is JICS's Quadrants, four full-length albums that will arrive between February 28 and May 2025, his cinematic atmospheres playing out with a narrative flow that resembles a film score. The label has shared over 50 releases since its inception, with most of them available to download for free via Bandcamp. More than half of the albums are by Canadian artists.
This focus on ambient music as conceptual art has pushed Imaginary North away from focusing exclusively on streaming services, as the label has ventured into cassettes, multi-artist compilations and live events. This includes a monthly live show at the Toronto venue Standard Time. "These are free, all-ages, and welcoming to those looking for a way to engage actively or passively with live and DJed ambient music," says Field. "The shape of Standard Time allows that there is a seated area in the back where the audience can chat without feeling disruptive, while still enjoying the music, or sitting near the front." The February 23 event features JICS, Rosy Glow, A.V.E. and Coy Haste, while March 23 will bring shn shn, Drones Over Dufferin, Metric Time Ensemble and Raf Reza.
"We feel that our city and its surroundings have such a wealth of incredible talent," enthuses Field, who is placing an increased emphasis on celebrating Toronto artists. This community-minded approach represents a welcome change from Field's formative days in the early pandemic, when he launched Kilometre Club from the isolation of his home.
"When I started the label in 2022, it was still very pandemicky — if that's a word — and I don't think I had met any Toronto musicians in person, other than picking up a couple of albums on someone's porch with masks on," Field says. "Since then, I've been able to meet, work with, and connect with so many musicians in person, which has pivoted the label to focus more on local talent."
Having amassed such a huge catalogue of music in less than three years, it's clear that Imaginary North has found a goldmine of ambient talent in the city. Dive in with the label's playlist of its complete discography — a massive, far-ranging collection that amounts to 790 songs and several days' worth of music.
