Full disclosure: the house I called home this past year in Calgary played host to Chad VanGaalen's artwork: a felt pen rendering of a deer being cut in half by a station wagon was taped proudly to the door in our kitchen. Additionally, small sketches of animalistic monsters hung throughout one of my roommate's bedrooms. Why was all of this in my house? Well, my roommate's older sister used to date VanGaalen.

Upon moving in, I heard epic stories of Chad giving impromptu performances in our basement. Excited and proud to be living where a local (Calgary) hero and Sub Pop recording artist used to keep up the neighbours at all hours of the night, my roommates and I would boast of our famous abode amongst Calgary's music circles. But of course, I've never met him.

VanGaalen is the epitome of "DIY" (do-it-yourself) in which musicians record their own albums entirely at home. It doesn't always yield positive results; in his case, though, his first full length, Infiniheart, gained critical acclaim and was fawned over by major and indie labels alike. Again gaining grand reviews, VanGaalen's follow-up effort, Skelliconnection, was made in his home without a producer or a professional studio. He has since gone on to sign with the Sub Pop label.

And if music wasn't enough, the ACAD graduate has used his skills as an artist to illustrate album covers for notable bands such as Edmonton's electronic six-piece, Shout Out Out Out Out and Calgary's folk-rock trio The Cape May.

Similarly, he has animated videos for his own songs "Clinically Dead" and "Flower Gardens."

His videos are akin to the drawings that were strewn throughout my university home; they are bizarre and at times lascivious and they are often met with puzzlement.

Both Infiniheart and Skelliconnection are chock full of beautiful and whimsical melodies that VanGaalen executes magically in his recognizable falsetto. Although most of his tracks are gentle and rolling, some of his best are the ones that blast the guitar and pound the skins, most notably, "Flower Gardens" on Skelliconnection.

Thomas Rasmussen studied International Relations at the University of Calgary and is currently pursuing a media empire to match Conrad Black's, minus the fraud.