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A small-town Alberta man is bringing joy through his hilarious music remixes. Shane Kimber, a 29-year-old creative, has been capturing hearts with his Canadian twists on popular songs.
"I aim to make people feel something special by connecting relatable humor to catchy tunes," Kimber explained. His unique blend of music and comedy has resonated with audiences, particularly those who can relate to his Canadian experiences.
It all began in 2020 when Kimber a.k.a. OGR-Scintilla, inspired by a fresh snowfall, decided to create a humorous TikTok video. Little did he know, this simple act would spark a viral sensation. We sat down with Shane to discuss his music remix career and his desire to remake The Red Green Show theme song.
Our junior high in Youngstown, Alberta just decided for a couple years that they would have a guitar teacher come in and run guitar lessons for us a couple times a week, so I guess I had no choice. Luckily the teacher was great and the culture of my friend group decided it was cool to learn guitar and we all got into it. Once I learned the basic chords I was able to write songs, and that’s what really made me stick with it! Since then I've always used songwriting as a way to express myself and process my thoughts/feelings.
I have picked up a bit of piano, banjo, trumpet, sax, drums and bass guitar but not really to any level of proficiency. I guess I’m just not afraid to pick up anything that makes sounds and give it a try. Exploring for new sounds is part of why I’m hooked on music production.
To be honest I kinda stink at hockey. I played from the ages of maybe 9-12 but as soon as the hitting started I left for court sports, mainly volleyball. I was also 6’2” and about 120lb soaking wet when I was 13, so sometimes you just have to play the cards you're dealt haha. When you’re that age there are already kids growing beards who can bench press a chevy and I was sick of getting injured, so I went to where being a tall skinny kid makes this a lot more fun. I always play shinny with my friends a few times every winter, so I love the game. But in the end I grew to 6’6” and played 4 years of collegiate level volleyball, so I’m pretty confident I made the best choice.
Basically ever since I picked up the guitar I didn’t want anything else. Even as a kid a lot of my most vivid memories are hearing my parent’s CDs playing in the car on long drives. I’m lucky they had great taste! I was listening to Great Big Sea and Barenaked Ladies from such a young age I can’t really remember a time before music was a part of my life. I accepted early on that not everyone gets to be a rich famous musician, but I knew that I would write and record music until I die, so I decided if I’m gonna be doing it regardless, I may as well let people see what I have going on!
It hasn't always been easy, and for a long time in University I was insecure about wanting to be a musician, especially since I was never in bands or choir or anything. I just had a few public school music lessons and I loved writing songs. Going into the summer before my 5th year of school I decided I wasn’t going to play volleyball for my last year, and instead, I bought a stack of textbooks on music production and that entire summer I just read and read and read. I got so much better from reading what great minds had to say, and then that following year I was the bedroom producer for every college soundcloud rapper who wanted to record tracks. The next summer when I graduated I moved home and decided music was my plan A, and just started putting my whole time into figuring out how to become a career musician. That’s how I discovered Tiktok and from there I just stuck with it.
A close friend once told me in those years before success, “It’s not IF you’ll make it, it's WHEN you’ll make it, and it’s just up to you if you want to stick with it until your time some.” I’m happy I didn’t give up.
You know, I hadn’t realized, but I have been doing this since I was born. If I'm cutting onions I’ll sing a little song about cutting onions. If I’m brushing my teeth I’ll hum a little tune about doing that. So basically everything inspires me to write no matter what, and the only reason I can really give for that is that it’s who I am and it’s what I love. Having something you love gives life purpose and makes every day matter, so I’m really grateful that God gave me this blessing of a songwriter’s mind.
Absolutely!!! My family loves comedy and The Red Green Show was on constantly in my house from as early as I can remember. Not only is it amazingly written and produced, but coming from a small Albertan farm, the subject matter was just so hilariously relatable. I’m not only a fan, but deeply inspired in what I do because of The Red Green Show.
Go outside. Do cool stuff.
I am here, being present in this moment. In the title track for my mixtape ‘Greatest in Canada Volume. 1’ I wrote, “The past’s already gone and tomorrow isn’t here yet. So I’ve got nothing better to do than get lost in this moment.” I think that’s when you’re with God. If you’re having trouble living in the moment, that's where you need to go on a journey to find what you love. If you don’t have that you’ll be in hell on earth for a large portion of your existence here. Once you know your purpose and your passion, life becomes simple.
The main melody of the Red Green theme is so iconic so when I was writing the lyrics I knew I had to share space with it. That’s why I leave these long passes in the melody of the chorus, so I can sort of ‘duet’ with the accordion. That’s something you’ll learn when listening to country music. The lead vocalist and lead guitarist will often duet back and forth in the chorus, so the sounds don’t clash too much. Just figuring out the main melody took a few weeks of listening to the resampled beat on a loop. I knew I didn’t want to copy the exact melody that was already there, and sometimes creating a counter melody that feels right when it lays over the main melody just takes patience.
Next, for the lyrics, I knew I wanted to incorporate one of Red’s iconic sayings. Was thinking about ‘if the women don’t find you handsome they should at least find you handy,’ and ‘keep your stick on the ice,’ but something about ‘remember, I’m pulling for you, we’re all in this together’ seemed so powerfully poetic and beautiful to base the entire song around. From there, the rest of the words came easy, just talking about things people are going through and how life can be hard, but at the end of the day it’s always totally worth it! I also worked in that classic ‘keep your stick on the ice,’ during the chorus, because when you start to think about it it really is good advice for life. Be ready for life to present opportunities to you, because if your stick isn’t on the ice you’re gonna miss that pass when it comes.
Lastly, I had a ton of fun creating the sounds of a full Possum lodge chanting the chorus. I layered over thirty-three vocal tracks in the hook to make it all sound like a crowded room of rowdy Possum lodge members and I think it sounds just about perfect. I’m putting out a video on my YouTube where I show the entire process of making the song so if this nerdy music stuff interests anyone they should go check it out for more insight into the process. Never a dull moment!
Scintilla is a word meaning ‘small spark,’ referencing the impact a tiny spark of inspiration can have to set a huge fire of happiness or passion for the other’s in our lives. OGR references a few things. First it was the name of a music label I started in University called Overgrowth Renaissance. Secondly, it means ‘Oyen’s Greatest Rapper,’ which the kids from my high school in Oyen came up with, once my music started taking off. Thirdly, I tell myself it means ‘Old Ghost Risen,’ or ‘On God’s Roster,’ just as a reminder to myself to always be channeling my highest purpose in all the work I create here.
More Canadian Remixes! And of course lots of original music as well. I’ve been in this rhythm of releasing a new single about once a month for the past couple years, so I haven’t made the time to sit down and flesh out a cohesive album since 2022. I’m starting to get this feeling though that it’s time to make a Greatest Hits in Canada Volume. 4 and I’m excited to make that happen.
Other than that, I try to make time for fashion design, which is something I don’t have a huge public following for, but I love sewing unique pieces. I just think that everything can have a special twist put on it, and oftentimes people just accept the choices they have presented to them because they haven’t flexed their ‘creative’ muscle enough to go make exactly what they want by themselves. Same with my house! I envisioned an open concept so I just started smashing the walls down. The plumbing was leaking so I went on YouTube and just learned how to re-plumb a house. When I go to make supper, I’m in the spice cabinet imagining what unique flavor I could create for tonight's meal. When you are living your highest purpose, everything is a creative project. I hope people know that even if they aren’t an author or painter or musician or what-not.
I believe that humans are creatives and problem solvers by nature, but that distractions and negative forces like fear and self doubt lead us away from who we truly are. Don’t forget that you have the power to make your life look and feel exactly how you want to make it. Chances are by doing that you’ll make God and the other people in your life very happy along the way.
Thanks so much for the interview! Remember, I’m rooting for y’all and WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER!!!
We’re All in This Together (Red Green Show Theme Song) by OGR-Sctintilla will be available soon on Spotify.
As an Okie (we have two canadian rivers and a county), The Red Green show hits on all cylinders (with a few backfires) of the redneck, rural culture. I love that you bring even more to this Icon of humor with your interpretation of its music.
I imagine that Steve Smith is proud that you focused your creativity on his masterpiece.