Viv Pencz

For an underprivileged, overanxious teenager growing up in the car-theft capital of North America—aka Surrey—music was the sweetest escape. While getting ready for school, I blasted David Bowie, the Libertines, and the Smiths, stabbing pins through my clothes and squeezing into leather in juvenile imitation of the male rock stars I admired. I felt a…

Romanian-born, Vancouver-bred Stefana Fratila is only 23 years old and probably more accomplished than you. She is a folk-pop musician turned electronic producer, a political-science student working toward her master’s degree, and a feminist artist with a mind as uniquely bright as her red lipstick and matching ladybug earrings. And yet Fratila sees herself as…