Toronto artist Just Graham is a songwriter at heart. Since picking up a box violin at the age of five he has always played by ear and listened for the melody.

Graham’s latest release is the slow groove, trance-inspired synthpop of “Blood Gutter,” which was inspired by the trauma of Graham and his partner witnessing a skateboard struck by a car who they initially thought had died.

Graham used a Roland Jupiter JP-08 synthesizer to create the line that the song is built around, its experimental sound coupled with violin, acoustic guitar, and a prominent rhythm section.

We learned the next day that the skateboarder had survived, and had my backpack which had been accidentally thrown into the ambulance at the scene of the accident.

I wrote the song the next day in reflection of the events when they were still fresh and raw. Experiencing something traumatic together formed a new type of bond in our complex and ever-evolving relationship. – Just Graham