Status/Non-Status
Status/Non-Status is the musical moniker of Adam Sturgeon, an Anishinaabe artist from Nipissing First Nation whose work lives at the intersection of indie rock, noise, and Indigenous storytelling. Formerly known under the band name WHOOP-Szo, Status/Non-Status is both a continuation and a transformation—an exploration of identity, belonging, and resistance through sound.
At its core, Status/Non-Status is a meditation on what it means to be “status” or “non-status” under the Canadian government’s colonial classification system—where Indigenous identity is often defined by bureaucratic lines. Sturgeon confronts these realities with layered guitars, ambient textures, and lyrics that speak to family, community, land, and displacement.
Their acclaimed 2022 album Surely Travel (via You’ve Changed Records) is a road record of sorts—drifting through stories of survival, hope, and reflection while sonically drawing from folk, post-rock, grunge, and experimental roots. Whether performing solo or with a rotating lineup of collaborators, Status/Non-Status offers music that is both deeply personal and politically charged.
The project has performed across Turtle Island, playing festivals like Pop Montreal, Wavelength, ImagineNative, and Folk on the Rocks, and has shared the stage with acts such as The Weather Station, Tanya Tagaq, and Jeremy Dutcher.
Part memoir, part movement—Status/Non-Status isn’t just a band. It’s a conversation about reclamation, about visibility, and about refusing to be defined by someone else’s terms
