| Status/Non-Status | |
| Origin: | Guelph, Ontario |
| Genre: | Alternative, Folk |
| Years Active: | (–present) |
| Label: | Out Of Sound Records, You've Changed Records |
| Associated Acts: | OMBIIGIZI, Zoon (band) |
| Website: | https://statusnonstatus.bandcamp.com |
| Current Members: |
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Status/Non-Status, formerly known as WHOOP-Szo, is a Canadian alternative rock band from Guelph, Ontario, led by Anishinaabe-Canadian singer-songwriter Adam Sturgeon.[1] The band is most noted for its 2019 album Warrior Down, which was longlisted for the 2020 Polaris Music Prize.[2]
Sturgeon was born on March 19, 1984, in Erin, Ontario, and is the son of former National Hockey League player Peter Sturgeon. Like his father, Sturgeon was a hockey player in the Ontario Junior Hockey League and Ontario Hockey League before his career was ended by an arm injury.[3]
WHOOP-Szo was founded in Guelph, Ontario in 2009 by Adam Sturgeon and Kirsten Kurvink Palm.[4] The band's original name came from Margaret Craven's I Heard the Owl Call My Name.[5] When the band relocated to London, Ontario, several years after their formation, they expanded and incorporated three new members: Joe Thorner, Andrew Lennox, and Eric Lourenço.
In 2014, WHOOP-Szo released the two-part album Qallunaat/Odemin. The record was inspired by the band's year long stay in Salluit, Quebec, working with indigenous youth.[6]
In March 2019, as part of Juno Week for the 2019 JUNO Awards, WHOOP-Szo opened for Canadian metal band Voivod.[7] In November 2019, WHOOP-Szo put out their album Warrior Down through You've Changed Records, which made the 2020 Polaris Music Prize longlist.[8] [9] Warrior Down features Sturgeon's grandfather on the cover, a survivor of Canada's Residential School system.[10]
WHOOP-Szo was set to embark on a North American tour in 2020.[11] In mid-March 2020, after playing only a handful of shows, the band was forced to cancel the remainder of their tour due to COVID-19 restrictions.[12]
In 2021, Sturgeon announced that he was changing the project's name to Status/Non-Status, calling attention to the political and legal distinction between status and non-status indigenous people in Canada. Concurrently, he released the EP 1 2 3 4 500 Years, which was recorded in 2018 during a trip to Guadalajara, Mexico.[13] On September 23, the band's sophomore album Surely Travel was released.[14] The band released a surprise EP on January 3, 2023, titled January 3, consisting of three songs that were held back from making the cut for Surely Travel.[15]
Sturgeon has also collaborated with Daniel Monkman of Zoon in OMBIIGIZI, releasing their debut collaborative album Sewn Back Together in 2022 and were shortlisted for the 2022 Polaris Music Prize.[16] [17]