Elementary school days inspire musician’s latest

Zoon Monkman, the Polaris Music Prize-nominated musician from Brokenhead Ojibway Nation, found inspiration for his latest album, Happy Thought School, during his elementary school days at East Selkirk's Happy Thought School. With limited funds, Monkman turned to the Scholastic Book Club's AM-FM radio pen, which connected him to artists like Feist, Avril Lavigne, and Broken Social Scene.

Monkman, now 34, credits the pen for introducing him to a world beyond his isolated school environment. Happy Thought School, released in June through Paper Bag Records, reflects Monkman's journey and his family's experiences with racism in Manitoba's school system. The title track features his mother and aunt's accounts of racial discrimination, while other tracks blend pop sensibilities with Indigenous musical influences.