James Deen is the Beat-Making Canadian Seth Cohen

James Deen is Brennan Henderson, a 20-year-old beats-based bedroom producer from Vancouver, BC who wants to make you smile. Upon a Google search, his moniker reveals photos of the famed porn star with the same name, but Deen would rather be known as the Canadian Seth Cohen.

"You know, I don't read as many comic books as I used to and I haven't sailed in a few years," says Henderson in a classic Seth Cohen sarcasm. "It's fleeting, but I'm still skateboarding around."

His fixation with the Cali sun-soaked sitcom The OC started in middle school, but his adoration for Cohen's on-screen sweetheart Summer Roberts has stood the test of time. "Summer Roberts season two onwards is an angel. She's my dream girl," he gushes. Instead of validating his love with a comic book sketch, Deen produced a track in her honor, due out on his forthcoming EP I Appreciate U. Cue animated heart-eyes.

Much like his throng of alter egos, Henderson's of electronic music is hard to pin down. Bedroom producers frequently reject the pigeonholes of genre labels and usually finish their reasoning with "its just music, man." But Henderson is strangely complacent being indefinable. "I honestly have no idea what this music is. I've been playing shows, but so many of the core beats aren't danceable," he says. "I can visibly see people completely unsure of how to dance to it. When that happens, I try to fade out to a Venga Boys song as quick as possible."

The pixie-dust speckled music of James Deen is internet user-friendly. If Animal Crossing were made for the 16-bit world of Sega Genesis, James Deen's bright synths and anime-tinged vocal samples would score it. Cheat code: looping hi-hat ticks unlock a bonus level where you can run through the trap with a Shiba Inu. "The intention is always to make happy dance music. If my music were to be played in a club by a DJ, I want to be able to imagine him without the snapback and without his hands up." He praises internet dwelling artists like Cashmere Cat and Ryan Hemsworth as influences to his distinct style, which he elegantly self-describes as "corny, but with taste."

Since his debut release, Cashmere, on the miscellaneous netlabel Cosmonostro, Henderson has been full steam ahead on the S.S. Happy. He says that although Vancouver's electronic music scene is rife with potential, the sounds oozing from the West Coast have been flat. "I'm over the stuff being played in clubs right now," he says. "Right now, everything that's popular is super dark for some reason, but that's so sad! You don't go out to be sad, you don't go out to think about your ex. I want to go out and smile and shit."

"Not that I go out a lot," he adds.

One thing he skirts around is his origins in Kelowna, a place where dubstep falcon-punched its way to dominance. "Kelowna is a weird sphere. It's like five years behind anything relevant in culture. I'm pretty sure dudes still wear G-Unit tee's and people are only just finding out about Passion Pit…okay that's probably an exaggeration," he laughs. "But I never feel outed in Vancouver because I don't make the kind of stuff other people are making. I'm like the black sheep, but in Vancouver it's not a bad thing."

The newest yarn strung from this black sheep is a self-released EP titled, I Appreciate U. Beyond the fluttering harp melodies, the most endearing thing about I Appreciate U are the song titles. The first single "Huskeydoggetsaheadmassage.mp3" is a shining example and can be heard above. "I Appreciate U is all my own. It feels more like my own project by releasing it myself," he says. "I'm actually probably prouder of the track names."

Outside of his dog video infatuation, Henderson's latest feat is on STORYHIVE, a Telus Optik TV program that offers a $10,000 production grant to a group—in this case, a musician and a filmmaker—who pitch the best music video. For someone who's readily armed with The OC trivia and half-baked quips about Kelowna, Henderson is earnest about his music. "It's not that I don't take music seriously, I just don't want my music to be taken so seriously," he says. The same goes for I Appreciate U.__

"I was really happy at the time I made it, so I hope people feel happy listening to it."

_Vote for James Deen's video for 'Huskeydoggetsaheadmassage.mp3' on STORYHIVE here. 'I Appreciate U' is due out in full on May 30._

James Deen is on Facebook // Twitter // SoundCloud

Rachael cried when Marissa Cooper bit the dust and is on Twitter.