Additional Information
Active on the Quebec City music scene since early 2020, alternative rock/punk band Dogo Suicide has attracted more and more interest thanks to a super original hybrid sound that can be found, in others, on their latest EP, Sexe Pour Les Yeux. I spoke with Nicolas Côté, singer and guitarist of the band, about the project and their recent participation at Le Phoque Off festival.
Pan M 360: To begin, can you tell me how the band started? How did you meet?
Nicolas Côté: Manu (Emmanuel Canadian, bass) and I are childhood friends, he even taught me how to play the guitar … We met Richard (Richard-William Turcotte, drums) in 2020 through mutual friends and we’ve been playing together ever since.
Pan M 360: Did you play in any other separate projects before creating Dogo Suicide?
NC: Our drummer is about 10 years older than us (manu and me) so he’s played in a lot more projects than us. He’s been in Ancestors Revenge, The Death Wheelers, Stained Glass, Souphl and a bunch of other stuff. For my part, I had a few bands before Dogo, but nothing serious.
Pan M 360: You must be asked this often, but where does the name Dogo Suicide come from? Is it random or does it have a deeper meaning?
NC: We liked the paradox between Dogo and Suicide, but overall, it sounded good to us!
Pan M 360: I heard the name of the group pronounced in French and in English, how do you guys pronounce it?
NC: In French, but we absolutely don’t mind people saying it in English.
Pan M 360: Being on the subject, what made you sing the majority of your songs in French? Is your Quebec identity important to you?
NC: It really came naturally. It’s easier to describe feelings and ideas in your native language. There’s something very cerebral in the French language, which is super interesting to combine with music that is more aggressive.
Pan M 360: What is your creative process like? Is one of you taking your songs to the others or are you starting from scratch and creating the whole thing together?
NC: I almost always arrive with demos on which I play everything very badly, and then we work on the songs as a group.
Pan M 360: You mentioned a few times that your musical genre would be “post-everything, but a bit punk overall,” I imagine that includes a variety of influences. What are the musical groups on which the three of you get along the best?
NC: We hardly listen to anything in common (laughs). Honestly, I don’t think Rich and Manu ever listened to punk. I’d say It It Anita is a band that the three of us listen to, but I don’t see anything else that is unanimous!
Pan M 360: You are two singers in the band, do you write the lyrics together?
NC: No, I write all the lyrics.
Pan M 360: You recently performed at Le Phoque Off festival for the second time, how was your experience compared to the previous one?
NC: In 2021 we played in front of a technical team at Cégep Limoilou (the set was filmed by the festival), so we were very happy to play in front of a crowd at Pantoum this year!.
Pan M 360: You are from Quebec City, do you have any places to recommend to a music fan who would visit the city?
NC: Le Pantoum, Knockout, Anti and Scanner are downtown staples.
Pan M 360: Finally, what’s next for Dogo Suicide? Any Plans for 2023?
NC: We’re releasing a single on March 10. And lots of shows are to be announced shortly.
Pan M 360: Thank you very much for your time.
NC: Thank you.
