Additional Information
Since debuting in 2016, Debate Club has gone through a sort of sonic resurgence since the music opened back up in Montreal. On Égarements Vol. 1 the band honed in on its shoegaze and dreamscape indie roots, what lead singer and guitarist, Philippe Hamelin calls an exhausting process. We spoke with him briefly about the new EP, and when we might expect volume two.
PAN M 360: Égarements Vol. 1 kind of has you going back to your shoegaze and dream pop roots. Was this a natural progression?
Philippe Hamelin: Absolutely, the pandemic slowed everything down, including our music. The raw energy that was driving Phosphorescent slowly faded and turned into something with a bit more depth and a few more layers. We are adamant about keeping the writing process organic, Égarements simply happened.
PAN M 360: What are some of the themes that inspired Égarements?
Philippe Hamelin: One of the recurring themes in our songs is anxiety – not sure if it’s the world’s current state but it seems to affect most people, so it very often makes its way into our writing, this release is no exception. We also always keep a place for friends we love and family we miss because it would be meaningless if we didn’t.
PAN M 360: In dreamscape/shoegaze music, there is always an aura of obscurity in what the song is about to the listener. My example would have to be the Cocteau Twins. Does this make it hard or easy to write music in this genre?
Philippe Hamelin: We try not to get too hung up on the genre we might be doing. Égarements was written and we sort of looked back and said, “oh yeah, there is definitely some shoegaze in there.” Writing music is always an exhausting process, regardless of what you are doing.
PAN M 360: This is Égarements vol 1. Is vol 2 on its way already and written? Will it have the same vibe?
Philippe Hamelin: Volume 2 and 3 are written for the most part. The vibe is definitely the same, but we’ll throw a few surprises in there as we like to improvise a bit through the recording process.
PAN M 360: What was the recording process like in the thick of the pandemic?
Philippe Hamelin: In a nutshell, it was complicated. We produce most of our stuff ourselves, so we had some flexibility, but attendance was kept at a minimum when we needed to and mixing was partially done remotely. We adapted, I guess we’re more resourceful now that we’ve done it in those conditions.
PAN M 360: How has the Montreal music landscape changed since it reopened after the pandemic? Will it ever get back to the way it was?
Philippe Hamelin: It unfortunately made it a bit difficult for small indie bands like us to play live as venues were slowly ramping up to their normal capacity. It seems every artist out there is fighting to be heard, it can get tiring at times.
PAN M 360: Do the instrumentals influence the music? How do you know when to go heavy or when to ease off?
Philippe Hamelin: We have two writing formulas. The first one is simply building on songs someone has partially written already and for which they can guide the rest of us through, including the intentions behind every part of it. The second is simply building on a riff one of us has come up with. The riff then becomes the mood and we build from there, challenging each other in the direction it should take. We definitely feel we do better with the latter.
PAN M 360: Who are some Montreal bands that you are really excited about right now?
Philippe Hamelin: You should definitely check Tu/Lips, their video “Les bêtes de joie” is definitely a coup de coeur of ours. You should also check out Yoo Doo Right, Yocto, DDWD and Seulement if you haven’t already done so.
PAN M 360: What is next for Debate Club?
We are starting to plan some live stuff for the rest of the year, and of course some new music. Stay tuned, we’ll be in touch very soon.
