In 1965, actress and fashion model Edith “Edie” Sedgwick met artist and avant-garde filmmaker Andy Warhol at a dinner party in New York. He gave her the nickname “Taxi”, because she could be anybody at any given time and the ability to pin her down or figure her out was nearly impossible. The life of Sedgwick and her nickname are the inspiration behind Emma Lamarre’s project, TAXI.

“I chose [TAXI] for the name of my project because I've always felt a little bit all over the place - never going in a fixed direction, always chasing something else and getting distracted,” Lamarre said. “When I'm writing my songs, I'm able to be completely honest and work through my issues. After I complete it, I can put it to bed for good, and catch the next cab ride, so to speak.”

Lamarre began songwriting as an early teenager, using her diary entries as means of inspiration. Her earliest studio recordings date back to age 15 and after graduating high school, she began dedicating more time to her music.

Her EP, Intimacy Issues, begins at a singer/songwriter’s circle in February of 2016, where members of the Ottawa music community get together to share their work and receive feedback in a judgement-free space. She performed her song “Flaky Girl”, which grabbed the attention of Bernard Frazer. Frazer approached her after her performance and offered his services – ultimately becoming her musical partner and collaborator.

“I think it's very important to be working with people who both understand you as an artist, but also push you beyond your comfort zone, and Bernard has been able to be supportive to me on both fronts and many more throughout this entire process,” Lamarre said.

The tracks were recorded at Skylark Park Studios with Blinker the Star’s Jordon Zadorozny who recorded, mixed and mastered the EP. Over the course of five months, Zadorozny and Frazer assisted Lamarre in creating a dark pop record that touched on what she calls the “ugly parts of people” that should be embraced instead of kept at bay. Her songs speak of mental illness, substance abuse, sex and emotional detachment, and of course, her intimacy issues.

“I think the album serves as a body of work that is me recognizing some painful truths about my experiences and my past, coming to terms with them, but refraining from coming from a place of judgement,” she said.

When Edie Sedgwick starred in Ciao! Manhattan, her fictional alter-ego’s life was hauntingly similar to her own, although her life was still rather mysterious. With TAXI, her mysterious nature begins to unfold in Intimacy Issues.