Srvent (Spencer Richard) started his artistic journey in his parents basement. He was a toddler hellbent on slapping the piano keys, trying to stretch his arms as far apart as they could.

A typical middle child (three brothers), he found ways over the years to seek attention. He sang and made dance routines in the living-room for company, composed wordless pieces for the piano, signed up for Air-Band competitions in his school, made LEGO creations for days, and wrote stories on a blue screen on what would be now considered an ancient device. But what might have started as attention-seeking led to the fortunate discovery of his need to create.

The piano was his first instrument to process emotions with, and eventually around the age of ten he was enrolled in piano lessons. When he rebelled against learning how to read music, his parents and piano teacher conspired to help him develop his natural ear and composition abilities instead. This became the foundation for much of his musical growth. He performed and won talent shows with his original wordless compositions as a teenager, once even performing to an audience of eight thousand for the Alberta Winter Games in 2006.

His introduction to rap music came later. When he was 12-years-old, his rebellious older brother, Chase, started blasting Eminem in the house when their parents were at work. At the time, rap was considered inappropriate for the household and so Spencer’s love affair with it had to go underground. It should be stressed that at the time, Eminem had an alarming effect on middle-class families in rural Alberta. Srvent guarded his hidden CD’s and eventually tried writing secret rap lyrics in Grade 8, something only his first girlfriend ever had the displeasure of being exposed to.

Besides being a wannabe-rapper at that time, he was also an aspiring author and actor. He delved into writing poetry and found love for it too, but it didn’t blossom until the age of 17 when he taught himself how to play guitar. Poetry became lyricism. He started writing songs with words the same day he learned his first chords and with every new song he found himself quickening the lyrics and tightening the internal rhyme schemes. Gaining confidence was a slow burn for him. It took about five years of keeping rap as his relatively secret love affair before it started to come out publicly.

In 2015, with Spencer's firstborn daughter nearing the age of 1, he put forth a Kickstarter to help him purchase professional music software, Ableton Live. He wanted to make rap. He knew he could compose music but he didn’t know how to produce at first. Eventually the Kickstarter was funded and after another 3 years of toil and self education, dabbling in performance and filming music videos, Spencer finally released his debut project as ‘Srvent’.

With Identity being self-produced, mixed and mastered, it was personal proof that he could accomplish what he set out to do. He was suddenly in the realm of performing, and while he had some stage experience in his past, now he was performing poetic essays in front of audiences, working up a sweat and feeling the hit of connection that only a performer can know. He was getting booked for festivals and learning how to grow into his role as a full contact independent artist. All the while he worked through various full-time jobs.

Shortly after releasing his 3rd major project, ‘Srvent: Battle Angel’, he was able to start making his living through filmmaking under his company, Red Reach Productions.

His music is a blend of hyper-lyrical Hip-Hop, engaging song structures, and wildly varying production, with influences ranging from pop to aggressive electronic and classical orchestration. He’s squarely in his own lane of Alternative Hip-Hop, constantly growing and developing into whatever he’s supposed to be.

Srvent’s lyrics are deep and sometimes painfully honest, though not without some humour, and his live performances are always characterized by intense passion and energy. His music is rich in emotion and full of complex imagery. He approaches rap as a story-teller, often infusing a cohesive narrative. His solemn goal is that his art be of service to others.

Beyond the music; in 2020, Srvent also started an occasional podcast named, ‘Creative InSanity’ that brought him into conversation with other people who are hyper-creative. He featured artists of various disciplines from all over the world, from collaborators like A-F-R-O, who have appeared on Jimmy Fallon, to J.H. Moncrieff, Tammy Peterson, and more.

Srvent has also developed into a fully-fledged filmmaker who has made several short films and is on his way to making his first feature length production. He directs and edits his own music videos, writes his own films, and does all the things.

Thank you for reading. Support Srvent best by contributing to his BuyMeACoffee account here.