Ottawa-based musician Victor Gabriel-Hanson, also known as Victa, has kept a promise he made to himself, releasing a new track early in the new year, followed by a music video. The track, “Promises,” was released Jan. 6, while the video came out on March 13.
“The vision behind it was just to create a fun dance song,” Gabriel-Hanson said. He wanted this song to work in a house party or a night club.
“What inspired that song, besides wanting to create that dancing environment was promises that I kept to myself and promises that we make to other people, particularly in relationships,” Gabriel-Hanson said.
The music video brought together a group of his friends and other individuals he met on the day they filmed. The group included videographers, photographers and other creative people, Gabriel-Hanson says.
“I didn’t really give much guidance,” he said, other than he wanted them to dance and have a good time. The video shows a group dancing with bright lights and upbeat expressions, performing different tricks and “showing off their moves.”
Gabriel-Hanson’s passion for rapping kicked off in high school where he would practice at the lunch table with some friends.
“My rhyming was horrible, so I would always get clowned on by the older guys, and I guess it just lit a fire in me,” Gabriel-Hanson said.
Growing up, he said he had supportive parents who encouraged his musical dream. His mom even got him his first studio session for his 16th birthday.
“I went and recorded and fell in love with the process, and I released it a week later,” said Gabriel-Hanson. His first song was released in 2020, titled “Switching Sides.”
His mom considers herself his number one fan and his dad is a former musician. Gabriel-Hanson would attend his dad’s rehearsals as a kid.
“I come downstairs in the morning, and my music is on in the kitchen, and she’s dancing,” he said.
“So I grew up with music just as a part of my everyday life,” he added.
His parents attended one of his January shows, where he performed alongside other artists at The 27 Club.
Joshua Reeves, Gabriel-Hanson’s friend and barber, has also been a major supporter since the early days. He has been cheering him on since the sixth grade.
“For video shoots or anything that has to do with photos, I’m the one cutting his hair,” Reeves said. He said that Gabriel-Hanson likes to double-check creative ideas, styling and how he looks for music videos with him. Reeves has been cutting Gabriel-Hanson’s hair for two years, which is when Reeves decided he wanted to become a barber.
More recently, the two have been making their own music together, Reeves says. They experiment with different sounds and tracks together as well.
Reeves said that “Promises” was created in Gabriel-Hanson’s home studio and they were collaborating alongside two other artists.
Reeves has seen Gabriel-Hanson’s entire journey. “He was able to mature as an artist and really find his own sound,” Reeves said.
He has met people along the way who have helped him get to where he is now. Alejandro Santos, an artist and audio engineer, met Gabriel-Hanson when he first started his career.
“I noticed that he had talent and a lot of passion for music,” said Santos. He would book Gabriel-Hanson in at his studio quite often, and Santos would help with putting music together.
“I’d help him with the creative flow of his songs, and also kind of find his voice,” added Santos.
He was one of the first people to offer support, according to Gabriel-Hanson.
Santos called him “authentic.”
“He’s bringing a lot of confidence, and he’s bringing his unique style. Something I always told him is that he has a unique personality, and one of his strengths is that he’s able to present it openly in his music,” said Santos.
Gabriel-Hanson’s journey continues in the Ottawa scene.
“As much as I love music and I want to pursue it as a career, sometimes life gets in the way. It’s hard to stay on top of everything that you have to do as an independent artist,” Gabriel-Hanson said.
Consistently releasing music was one of his New Year’s resolutions, and “Promises” is just the beginning of this resolution.
Gabriel-Hanson has a new song in the works called “Slow Down,” which he hopes to release in April.
