Pianist, composer, arranger, teacher and conductor Julian Gutierrez Vinardell regularly offers jazz and world music evenings with his students at the Claude-Champagne Room of the University of Montreal. One of them was the subject of an excellent interview with my colleague Michel Labrecque last spring. This time, another of these attractive Latin evenings will serve as an antidote to the cold and the growing darkness of this seriously wintry December. It will take place on Monday, December 8, 2025, still at the Claude-Champagne room. I met Julian to talk about this concert in particular, and his program choices (including Michel Legrand’s Waltz of Lilacs, in a Latin version, of course!). Note that, as usual, the concert is completely free.
Interviews
As cold and snowy weather becomes more frequent, Cruzito recently unveiled the perfect remedy: La Voix du Barrio, his first project where French is at the forefront.
A veteran of the international Latin scene, the master of reggaeton has surrounded himself with 13 big names from here — including Rymz and Imposs — to transport us to where it is hot and where everything becomes possible.
Stepping outside his comfort zone, the Quebecer of Honduran origin had only one goal: to offer a resolutely multicultural Latin fusion, deeply Montreal at its core. And it must be said, he has more than succeeded. The result is a sweet, cohesive, vibrant project that unites his roots and his local identity in a single breath. Without a doubt, Cruzito has the recipe for a hit, regardless of the language.
PAN M 360 spoke with him to learn more about his creative process between Latino, pop, rap, R&B and Afrobeat, his motivations behind La Voix du Barrio, the place of Latin music in Quebec and the projects that await him.
PAN M 360: One week after the release of La Voix du Barrio, how are you feeling and how are you experiencing the first reactions from the public?
CRUZITO : Listen, so far so good, I’m really happy with the response so far. I’ve received a lot of positive feedback on social media, from all walks of life and different communities. Even after 20 years in the business, I still consider myself an emerging artist because this is my first entirely French-language project. I usually cater mainly to a Latino and Spanish-speaking audience. Now, I’m discovering a new openness from people, who seem surprised—but in a positive way—by this side of me. It really touches me. The project is still very new, so I’m eager to see how it will evolve in the coming weeks and months.
PAN M 360: What motivated you to break out of your routine and attempt an artistic approach like this?
CRUZITO : I’ve always been a huge fan of French-language music. I’ve lived in Quebec for a long time, and for me, it was natural to want to fuse my two cultures. Yes, I’m Latino and very attached to my roots, but I also grew up here. Quebec welcomed me, my friends speak French, I watch French TV… The idea had been on my mind for a long time, but I didn’t want to disappoint my Latino audience. In the end, it was a significant, but necessary, challenge to show Quebec who I truly am as an artist.
PAN M 360: How would you describe the sonic identity of this record?
CRUZITO : It’s definitely a Latin fusion, because I always want to showcase our culture. But I also often talk about the Montreal Sound, an identity that comes from the mix of influences and the journeys of local artists. It creates an authentic sound, unique to Montreal, and that’s exactly what I wanted to highlight. It’s a blend of my roots and what I experience here. The title “La Voix du Barrio” reflects that: it’s Latin, Francophone, and very Montreal.
PAN M 360: The contrast between the release in the middle of winter and the warmth emanating from the album is striking. Was this intentional?
CRUZITO : Yes, absolutely. I’ve often wanted to release my projects in the summer, because that’s when everyone goes out, parties, and dances. But this time, I wanted to bring some light during a period when many experience a certain seasonal gloom. The idea was to offer something to warm up the cold evenings. And despite the winter release, I fully intend to keep the album shining next summer.
PAN M 360: What was the first piece created for this adventure, the one that made you want to push La Voix du Barrio further?
CRUZITO : It’s funny, because the first song was entirely in Spanish, very commercial and very Latin. Then my manager suggested I do a French version and invite a local artist. We contacted several people, and Adamo—who’s a friend—immediately jumped on board. That was really the spark for the project. From that collaboration, I started to imagine a larger work, with several local artists. That’s when, about a year and a half or two years ago, everything started.
PAN M 360: There are thirteen collaborators on your project. What did this diversity bring you creatively?
CRUZITO : Often, artists work within the same circle and hesitate to share the spotlight. For me, as a Latino immigrant, it was important to show that I’m here to collaborate and be an ally. I wanted it to be a collective project. And since this is my first creation in French, I wanted to surround myself with local talent to achieve the result I was looking for. The feedback on the collaborations has been really positive, and that makes me proud.
PAN M 360: If you had to choose only one collaboration from all those in the project, which one would you highlight, and why?
CRUZITO : I would say the opening track, LA VOZ. It sets the tone for everything people are going to hear. I created it with Gabriella Olivo, a Mexican-Quebecois artist who was recently nominated for an ADISQ award. I have a lot of faith in her. It was important to me that the first track be in Spanish, to pay tribute to our mixed heritage. I have a great affection for this song.
PAN M 360: Since 2020, you have been managing Joy Ride Latino, the Latin division of Joy Ride Records. What is your role and what are your ambitions?
CRUZITO : I help the label find promising artists and support them in their development. I’m also a project manager for various projects. For now, we don’t have many artists, but we hope to sign one or two soon. We’re working with Mariana Gueza, a Mexican artist who lives here. Joy Ride Latino is really about showcasing local Spanish-speaking talent. There’s so much potential in Montreal, but we don’t always have the resources. Our mission is to change that.
PAN M 360: How do you perceive the current state of the Latino scene in Quebec?
CRUZITO : I’m pleased with the progress. Five years ago, a festival like Fuego Fuego probably wouldn’t have been possible here. Now, we see Latin artists filling the Bell Centre or performing at festivals. The Latin music scene is exploding internationally, and we’re feeling it. In Quebec, we’re a little behind, but support is growing. We have to keep working, keep knocking on doors. Projects like mine help put our artists in the spotlight. I’m convinced that Quebec will catch up with other major North American cities.
PAN M 360: What’s next for you?
CRUZITO : I would like to continue in this direction and create other projects of the same kind. I’m eager to see how the work will fare at festivals, and I hope to receive support from programmers and presenters. I want to perform more live and raise my profile. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I’ll play more concerts in Quebec and continue to showcase my art.
Photo Credit: Le gars des archives
Essential works such as Handel’s Messiah and J.S. Bach’s Christmas Oratorio are partially performed by the ensembles Caprice and ArtChoral, both conducted by Matthias Maute, also a virtuoso recorder player. In collaboration with the Festival Classica, Caprice and ArtChoral present a “luminous” program featuring Bach’s cantata Jauchzet, frohlocket, Handel’s ever-popular Hallelujah, and Part 1 (Nativity) from Messiah, as well as an original composition by Matthias Maute, Hallelujah.
Program :
Matthias Maute, Hallelujah
Johann Sebastian Bach, Oratorio de Noël BWV 248, Cantate I Jauchzet, frohlocket
George Frideric Haendel, Le messie HWV 56, Part I (Nativity)
George Frideric Haendel, Le messie HWV 56, Part II: no. 44. Choir: Hallelujah
Their friendship began in Haiti, specifically in Pétion-Ville, 11 years ago. Today, they both live in Montreal and have decided to continue their artistic collaboration. Behind Kwaliti are Ronald Lebeau and Alain Jean Louis, as well as their behind-the-scenes producer, Fridody Jean, and together they created the album Caribbean Groove 7 Renaissance, a blend of Haitian sounds and Afropop with a Caribbean twist. The album was released on November 14th, but it became available on all platforms on November 18th, an important date commemorating the Battle of Vertières. The choice of December 5th for the concert at Balattou is also significant, as it’s another date marking the discovery of Haiti. Our journalist Sandra Gasana spoke with the duo for PAN M 360 a few days before their concert.
Klaus II is neither a monarch of Northern Europe, nor an illustrious descendant of Ostrogothic warriors, and certainly not Santa Claus’s grandson. Klaus II is the title of a second album by Klaus, a trio founded in 2028 that became a duo during the long gestation of this second chapter of the project led by François Lafontaine and Joe Grass. The official launch of this album, released on the Simone Records label, is scheduled for December 10th at L’Esco. Given the stature of its members and their position in the Quebec indie scene, it was essential to speak with Joe Grass and Frank Lafontaine, who are clearly proud of their work.
PAN M 360: Klaus falls somewhere between your personal projects and other collaborations. Since 2018, two albums, the second of which has just been released. A side project of the trio (formerly with Samuel Joly) to the current duo, composed of François Lafontaine and Joe Grass.
François Lafontaine : This is really not a side project. In fact, we started the album in 2020. Then, well, there was the personnel change…one less member… disagreements on many personal or musical matters…life… And then there was the pandemic.
Since the last album, Joe has released a solo album. When he finished his album, we started working together again at a relaxed pace. A lot of things happened after that; Karkwa wanted to start again, I worked with Marie-Pierre (Arthur) and also with Galaxie. Then Joe also toured with his solo show and other projects.
PAN M 360: So you’ve been doing this for a long time. On a sporadical basis? When you had the time? And at some point, it became more focused, is that right?
Joe Grass :Exactly. Last January, we made a big push. We had enough equipment, we set deadlines.
François Lafontaine : Until the album is finished! We would really like to tour with this, we are currently organizing it with our team.
PAN M 360: Would you like a one-year or two-year cycle on stage with this?
François Lafontaine : Yes, that’s the plan. It’s cool because we really enjoy playing together. We want to bring this album to life.
PAN M 360: How have you changed with Klaus II?
Joe Grass : The first album was more of a collage. We were experimenting, which created more abrupt contrasts. But this time, I think we’ve found a vibe. We tried to delve deeper into a single feeling and write songs that stem from that vibe, without forcing things to be interesting. We tried to be a bit more subtle in our choices.
François Lafontaine : It’s more cohesive. It’s normal that it is; we learned to compose together on the first album. We didn’t tell ourselves that the next one had to be more tightly structured; it happened naturally. Sometimes, you progress in the creative process, you work on snippets of songs, and then one ends up defining what the album will become. The form becomes clearer, a narrative thread emerges, and that helps with the rest. So this album is less “pizza” than the first, which was still fun; we enjoyed creating that collage and forcing things that didn’t necessarily go together.
PAN M 360: Another phase, then.
François Lafontaine : What best defines the album is the homogeneity of the songs, which is in no way a bad thing. On the contrary! From the first track to the last, there’s a real arc; it’s coherent.
PAN M 360: So the song form is more important, whereas in the first album, the instrumental form was prominent. Here, you’ve reached a kind of balance between the two, is that right?
François Lafontaine : Exactly. The first album was a mess. Sometimes you get carried away. You want to try and cram as many ideas as possible into a song. But this time, we just thought, OK, that’s cool. It breathes. We don’t need to add things just for the sake of adding them. But ultimately, I think it’s better. More cohesive and more focused.
PAN M 360: The song form can lead to this homogeneity. Instrumental music or any music without lyrics leads elsewhere.
François Lafontaine : Yes, absolutely. And if we made another album, I don’t know what it would be like. I have no idea. But there’s one thing that fundamentally unites Joe and me: melody. We’re melody fanatics! Yes, then there are the chords, the arrangements, the sound of the words, what you say in the songs, etc. But…
PAN M 360: How does the creation process work?
Joe Grass : Often, one of us (either of us) brings an idea. A seed, you lay the groundwork: “Look at this, I think it’s cool,” and then the other person chimes in. It makes me think I’d like it to do this. And you try to bring that to the table. We’ve got a great beat here, we’ll see if it works. Back and forth, trials, a continuous process. At the end of the day, you listen to it. It’s cool, but I don’t know. I don’t think it’s worth it. Maybe we’ll keep this little section for something else. We left it open, we went with the flow. We also talked a lot about the meaning of these songs, the feeling of these songs. We found a path between the songs. I think it worked out well!
François Lafontaine : Once we had a somewhat developed structure, we would indeed start asking ourselves quite early on what it would be about. I don’t write lyrics myself, but we consulted each other on this question. Very early in the process, the meaning of the songs was determined.
Joe Grass : Often, we had a couple of lines, the work consisted of finding the other colors, the vocabulary… The first results obtained were a kind of North Star that guided us.
PAN M 360: A very open process, in short.
François Lafontaine : That’s what I love most about Klaus: when you have an idea, a chord progression with a melody, or anything else, it’s always worth trying. There’s never a “no,” we try it right away and see where it leads. That element of the unknown is absolutely fantastic. So we proceeded in a workshop-like fashion, if you will. Sometimes we started our day with absolutely nothing. Other times, Joe would arrive with something. Other times, it was me. It was a really great creative exercise, and I think that’s what we should hold onto.
PAN M 360: Can we create a narrative framework for this album? What is the arc?
François Lafontaine : Naturally, we thought about the order of the songs. For every album you work on, the question arises at a certain stage of the creation process.
Joe Grass : We knew clearly when we had our first songs, it was obvious. And things started to fall into place gradually. It’s a bit like turning on the light in a dark house: you see this corner, you see that other corner, here’s a room here, here’s a room there… It starts to make sense.
François Lafontaine : The first song, yes, that was clear, and at a certain point, it was just as clear for the one that concludes the album. Without realizing it at first, there’s a choir on the first song, Wider Sky, and when you get to the very end, that choir returns on Coldest Cold. Little things that seem trivial, but in the end, it makes perfect sense.
PAN M 360: Tell me about the studio instrumentation, and then we’ll see how it translates to the stage.
François Lafontaine : Well…how can I put it? It’s true that we went from a trio to a duo, a lot of things were done with machines, beatboxing, synth bass, etc. Joe and I did pretty much everything. We thought about adding instruments, but often it worked well with what we had used initially.
Between the album and what happens live, however, it’s two worlds: you can’t reproduce everything you did on a live album, unless you’re playing with backing tracks. At some point, you need a bassist and a drummer.
PAN M 360: Several are now playing out sequences. It’s less suspicious to arrive with a background storyline and a real-time intervention.
Joe Grass : Yes, but we like things to move differently. On this album, there’s more room to play, so these pieces lend themselves well to a show where the musicians can really play. We’ve done a few concerts already, and these songs translate really well to the stage. It’s instantaneous! It’s also so much fun to do this with Jonathan Arseneau (bass) and Robbie Kuster (drums). We’re super happy with this band.
PAN M 360: The album is released on November 28th, and when will you actually start playing it?
François Lafontaine : On December 10th at L’Escogriffe, we’ll be filming in 2026, the festivals and everything…
PAN M 360: Remind me what Klaus means, I’ve forgotten!
Joe Grass : There aren’t really any, haha! It made us laugh… I don’t know… You can give it an identity if you want.
François Lafontaine : Well… it’s fun that it’s a first name, like a fictional character. It’s perfect that the question arises and that there’s no answer!
A graduate of the Montreal Conservatory of Dramatic Arts in 2010 and the National School of Humor in 2014, Philippe-Audrey Larrue Saint-Jacques is a subtle player in the major leagues of French-language comedy, both in North America and Europe. He first gained attention with the series Like-moi! Hélas, ce n’est qu’un spectacle d’humour (Like Me! Alas, It’s Only a Comedy Show), which won first prize at Zoofest 2017. His next show, Enfant du siècle (Child of the Century), earned him two Olivier Awards in Quebec in 2022, and a “4 T” rating from the leading French comedy magazine Télérama. His columns on Radio-Canada and now on RTL have also boosted his reputation and highlighted his undeniable talent for uncovering the ridiculous and absurd aspects of our lives. Philippe-Audrey Larrue Saint-Jacques is currently pursuing a career in France, where it is experiencing a meteoric rise. A discerning music lover, he was recruited by the Montreal Symphony Orchestra (OSM) to host programs where he acts as a liaison between the Montreal orchestra and the program with which he is associated. This Tuesday, December 2nd, the comedian will host a Symphonic Happy Hour dedicated to the Austrian Erich Wolfgang Korngold and the Hungarian Béla Bartók, two European composers who fled Nazism to pursue the second phase of their careers in the United States, thus exerting a major influence on Hollywood film music. This Symphonic Happy Hour will be followed the next day by a regular OSM program featuring the same repertoire.
Publicité panam
Part one of the interview: what does Philippe-Audrey Larrue Saint-Jacques do at the OSM?
Part 2 of the interview: A symphonic happy hour at the OSM featuring Korngold and Bartók
DECEMBER 2 PROGRAM
Artists
Rafael Payare, Conductor
Simone Lamsma, violin
Philippe-Audrey Larrue-St-Jacques, presenter
Works
Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Concerto for violin, op. 35 (24 min)
Béla Bartók, Concerto for orchestra, Sz.116, BB 123 (36 min)
THE SAME PROGRAMME WITHOUT PHILIPPE IS PRESENTED ON DECEMBER 3RD AT THE MAISON SYMPHONIQUE
In Jiyoung Wi’s recorded works, her field recordings reveal “fictional truths” so powerful that they distort our perception of space. Tonight, this fiction will momentarily occupy a very real space at S.A.T., and beyond the simple physical conditions of the event, it is impossible to predict what will happen. While her latest album, “Accept All Cookies”, offers a thoughtful documentation of human behavior, Jiyoung Wi’s live performances reveal her own humanity in a striking narrative of the present moment. The heart revealed through static noise.
Freed from almost any conceptual framework, her improvised approach is rooted in the immediacy of the stage, the audience, and the violin in her hands. This is a show not to be missed, as it will never be performed the same way again.
After listening to “Accept All Cookies” several times, I contacted Jiyoung Wi, who kindly answered my questions, offering insight into her creative process, her relationship with improvisation, and the ideas behind her latest work.
PAN M 360: What is your main instrument? Tell us how you learned to play it and how you practice today.
Jiyoung Wi: I mainly use the electric violin as my primary instrument for my concerts. My only formal training consisted of studying a few Suzuki method textbooks for two years as part of an after-school program when I was ten years old. In that sense, I consider myself technically, even intentionally, untrained. At one point, I bought a violin and left it aside for years, until I finally gave my first concert in 2023. At first, I had trouble reconnecting the instrument with muscles I hadn’t used in so long. I rented a small rehearsal room and immersed myself in exploring all the different sounds I could produce with the bow. Today, I try to discover sounds not only from the bow, but also from all the elements that make up the violin itself. I don’t practice in the traditional way of a violinist, but when I discover a kind of “sudden technique” during a concert, I remember it and keep it in mind as a preset, then try it again at the next concert. The result is always slightly different, because it’s improvisation.
PAN M 360: In your article on Record Turnover, there is a photo of you with a field recorder in an amusement park. What other tangible or intangible/imaginary spaces do you include in your work?
Jiyoung Wi: Like the term “diegesis” in film theory, space can be anywhere as long as it contains clues that evoke your auditory memory. For example, the recording of the amusement park was incorporated into a chapter of my book and album Sound Fiction 4’44”, where the character calls his grandmother to check on her. I juxtaposed the noisy sounds of the amusement park with the superficial conversation because I wanted to reveal the character’s unconscious guilt. You could say that this represents the main protagonist’s auditory memory.
PAN M 360: Your album oscillates between staged conversations and spontaneous conversations. What does “truth” mean in your concept of Sound Fiction, and how do you reconcile authenticity and construction?
Jiyoung Wi: In the context of fiction, as I juxtaposed text and sound and tried to reveal something through the narrative, any notion of existing truth would be closer to a fictional truth. From a constructive point of view, I enjoy the process of fictionalizing fragments of reality during my field recordings. For example, I might secretly record a phone conversation on the street and use it as a clue to imagine another layer of fictional possibilities.
PAN M 360. In your methodology of recontextualizing field recordings and anonymous dialogues, what narrative “symptoms” emerged in this album that surprised you during the process?
Jiyoung Wi: That’s an interesting question. In Sound Fiction 4’44”, seven speakers express themselves in seven different languages, and at a certain point in the editing process, I began to perceive all their voices as my own. I felt as if I were living several lives simultaneously. It was as if all the notes were resonating at the same time, which is fundamentally impossible.
PAN M 360: When you perform live, do you treat sound fragments and dialogues differently than you do in the studio, or does improvisation play a more important role on stage?
PAN M 360: Is there anyone or anything you would like to thank for supporting or influencing this project and performance?
Jiyoung Wi: All the tracks on Sound Fiction 4’44” last 4 minutes and 44 seconds. In many Asian cultures, the number 4 symbolizes death. So, when I was designing this project, I couldn’t help thinking about John Cage. I thought about adding 11 seconds to Cage’s 4 minutes and 33 seconds. Also, when I imagined the death closest to me, I felt I had to write a book for my grandmother in Korea. The last time I saw her, she was suffering from dementia and kept repeating the same phrase: “Be happy.” She made me think about something important that repeats itself in 4 minutes and 44 seconds, or in the very form of life itself.
Jiyoung Wi isn’t afraid to confront the realities of life and death, and this is clearly reflected in his music. This is perhaps one of the first openly acknowledged noise performances in this space, and I can’t wait to hear what would normally be heard in a DIY venue with what is now being presented through such an impressive sound system.
Keru Not Never, aka Justin Leduc-Frenette, has been composing major works of electronic music for several years now, and with disconcerting ease. While his first two albums revealed a great mastery of electroacoustic methods, his most recent album, Mezzanine, delves into the complex worlds of classical and contemporary music. Long orchestral variations are condensed into layers of harmonies and melodies, as deeply rooted in silence as they are soaring. The drama that unfolds is intense in nature, but soothing in form. Justin Leduc-Frenette manages to walk the fine line between repetition and unpredictability with finesse, and his musical aesthetic also cuts across tradition. This could be described as “post-classical,” a recurring theme in EAF concerts. Here is a gem of counterculture at the heart of the S.A.T.
This Thursday at the EAF concert, Keru Not Never will present some of the new processes developed during the creation of Mezzanine, as well as a range of entirely new works.
PAN M 360: Welcome back! I’m glad to be able to talk to you after our previous interview. I was very disappointed to learn on the day itself that your concert with Corporation had been canceled.
K.N.N.: Yeah, me too.
PAN M 360: I understand that you put a lot of preparation into this concert, considering that it was the opening act for Andy Stott. You realized quite abruptly that it wasn’t going to happen after all. How did you feel about that?
K.N.N.: The cancellation hit us hard, because we had invested so much work and creative energy into it. It was as if the show had become fiction, and that fiction had collapsed.
As we mentioned in the other interview, we composed material exclusively for that show, and we also collaborated with William Hayes on a video. It was awesome. The concert has been postponed until May 9, 2026. That’s a long way off, but maybe we’ll create new things for that show and work on it even more. In the end, it might be a good thing. And maybe public transportation will be up and running by then.
PAN M 360: I can’t wait. Let’s talk about Keru Not Never. For the upcoming concert, will you mainly be performing songs from Mezzanine or other material as well?
Keru Not Never: There won’t be any material from my first two albums. There will be a few tracks from Mezzanine, modified for live performance but close to the album versions, maybe three. That’s not the main part of the concert, which lasts about 50 minutes.
Most of the show will be new material, with echoes of Mezzanine, particularly in the use of strings and wind instruments. It will be much more massive than Mezzanine, which was more delicate and minimalist.
I started with the Mezzanine method, but I wanted to do something more inspired by spectral music. It’s going to be almost like doom metal in terms of aesthetics, even without electric guitars.
I also wanted it to be a bit like an opera. There will be lots of voices, masses of voices like clouds, but it will be purely live electronic music.
PAN M 360: That really speaks to me. I already find the album Mezzanine quite powerful. But I’ve heard what you’re capable of on your previous albums too. When you talk about creating something “massive,” I have high expectations.
Keru Not Never: I kind of see what you mean about the other albums, because there was some electro-acoustic work, sometimes quite brutal, with percussion and all that. But yes, there are things that might remind you of the other albums. Sometimes I don’t realize it, but I have my own aesthetic. Without meaning to, I repeat certain things, certain obsessions. I don’t know if it will meet your expectations. I hope so.
PAN M 360: I hope that, at the same time, I can be surprised. That’s the best part.
Keru Not Never: I’m exploring new things. I really tried to do something new. For me, I don’t know about the people who are going to listen, but for me, I tried to do new things. There are moments that are even a little bit close to rock. That’s new for me. I’ve never done anything like that before. We’ll see how it turns out live.
PAN M 360: There are some beautiful intersections between electronic music, rock, and noise. Especially in a performance context.
Keru Not Never: Yes, absolutely.
PAN M 360: Speaking of renewal, in Mezzanine you mention having used new methods. What was your journey like in that regard, going from your first albums such as Tereza and The Wind Of?
He had a lot of shows in churches where he had a somewhat sacred side to electronic music, so I used a lot of synthetic choirs. I wanted to break away from that “sacred” side of electronic music, a bit like “power ambient” and all those subgenres. It was an aesthetic renewal. In the meantime, I studied literature at the bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral levels. That really shaped my writing, and it continues to do so.
PAN M 360: Dans tes derniers albums, on ressent qu’il y a une intention derrière chaque morceau, dont les albums sont l’œuvre accomplie d’une recherche passionnée. C’est un phénomène qui se fait de plus en plus rare dans l’industrie musicale actuelle où le streaming domine. À ton avis, comment est-ce que cette réalité affecte le processus créatif?
Keru Not Never: Yes, these are questions that are always on my mind, because I have difficulty with the cultural industry, so to speak. I think slowness is really important in creation. Yet, in terms of the act itself, the act of creation can be very quick. Some of my pieces took very little time to make. But the idea that things need to settle, dry, inhabit time, is something that has become important to me.
I don’t want to be prescriptive about these issues; I think every artist does things their own way, but there is definitely pressure to release more and more music quickly. Some artists are even abandoning the album format in favor of a faster format. The short form allows you to hold people’s attention. Not permanently, but every three months, with a new release. There’s this kind of technique that, whether intentionally or not, traps us in a kind of saturation of the cultural space.
I’m not saying it’s the norm, but let’s say it’s part of a particular culture, which is that of the attention economy, of speed, of production, of the profitability of things, of the way artistic successes are evaluated according to statistics on views, listens, streaming on a given continent, in a given country, all this kind of mapping of supposed success.
I’m not looking to make music that is financially profitable; that’s not my goal at all. In a way, I’m playing the game a little less. But there is pressure to do so, because that’s what allows you to do things that are heard today.
PAN M 360: Do you think there will be fatigue associated with this attention economy?
Keru Not Never: Yes, I think there is cultural fatigue. Everyone feels it, even if few acknowledge it artistically. I’m not saying I’m succeeding, but it’s a shared feeling.
PAN M 360: We must move forward with confidence, without worrying too much.
Keru Not Never: Yes, but it’s hard. When you’re not in the public eye or on people’s minds, you feel like you don’t exist. This pressure undermines creativity. Creativity is lost and becomes an accessory with which we appear in public. A collective cynicism sets in. We need to find ways to stay optimistic without falling into that trap.
Keru Not Never: Hakeem Lapointe is doing an excellent job. It’s essential. He’s giving the SAT back an interesting space for contemporary electronic music that’s almost counterculture, but with a great infrastructure. He’s doing important work for the Montreal scene.
PAN M 360: I agree. I’m excited to see shows at the SAT again. Jiyoun Wi will be doing almost a noise set, and that makes me happy. I’m really excited for tomorrow. For your performance, do you leave a lot of room for improvisation?
Keru Not Never: I have a 45-minute structure in Ableton. I segment the pieces into different elements so that I can play with the timbres live: make a sound almost absent, distort it, choose how I feed it. The sequence of the pieces is set, but I want to be able to deviate from certain choices.
It’s half improvisation, half selection of composed pieces. I play on minimalist skeletons to which I add elements. I want to be able to push the intensity slider: stack, superimpose, saturate. It’s a new show. We’ll see how it goes.
PAN M 360: It’s cool to have that intensity. Will the audience be seated?
Keru Not Never: It’s a seated show. I like seated concerts: there’s less pressure to get a physical reaction, and the focus is different. Tomorrow, it might be different.
Helado Negro, real name Roberto Carlos Lange, has always understood that the darkest songs can make you move. In a wide-ranging conversation about his new EP The Last Sound on Earth (out via Big Dada), the electronic producer and singer-songwriter discusses the paradox at the heart of his work: pairing lyrics steeped in gloom and doom with music that demands your body dance. Drawing from childhood memories of Caribbean dance music at family parties, the rave culture that shaped him in ’90s Miami, and decades of experimental electronic production, Lange explores how movement—whether on a dancefloor or in the studio—can be a way of processing what the thinking mind cannot. From Kraftwerk to Michael Snow films, from jungle compilations to Deep Listening practices, this is our conversation with Helado Negro.
PAN M 360: What was the inspiration behind this new EP, The Last Sound on Earth?
Roberto Carlos Lange: One of the motivations was this idea of like having lyrical content that felt a little doomy and gloomy, but then also having something to contrast it, like the music that was more danceable, more moving, more body moving. That was reflecting a lot of music I grew up with. A lot of music that’s dancing music from the Caribbean, like salsa, merengue, bachata and cumbia. And I remember as a little kid, you know, being at parties and dancing with my relatives or then just like it occurring to me that like, everyone’s like having such a beautiful, great time. And then, the song they’re dancing to, which has a lot of energy and rhythm, is like the darkest song in the world, you know?
PAN M 360: There is something about dancing to, yeah, these like doom and gloom kind of like lyrics…
Roberto Carlos Lange: Yeah, I think it may make you feel it less in your head and more in your body. And I feel like in your body, at least you can get it out. You can sweat and move. And I feel like sometimes when you’re like ruminating, it’s like you’re stuck, and there’s no way to like move your brain, you know? But dancing helps that.
PAN M 360: There is definitely way more drum and bass, kind of jungle on this EP than your other, more soundscapey stuff. Is that from the music you grew up with as well?
Roberto Carlos Lange: Historically, I have released EPs. A lot of EPs. And a lot of them are deeply electronic and deeply experimental. And some of them are danceier, like this one. I think, you know, albums always end up getting more contextualized than they do with EPs. So for me, it’s something I’ve always done and something I grew up with. Like, I mean, like those are my first majorly influential records for me. I got a sampler, and then when I was 18 and that’s how I started making music. I didn’t really play in bands or anything like that. I was just gathering sounds via samples and synthesizers. And then it kind of like all spawned from there. A really early influence was my brother. I remember he came home in like ’94 from a trip he had taken. I can’t remember where, but he had these like compilation CDs of a bunch of jungle and techno CDs. Then we started going to raves in Miami.
PAN M 360: Do you remember those raves quite well?
Roberto Carlos Lange: I mean, I was like 14, 15, or 16? And there was this one called Beat Camp, and downstairs was a jungle room with a live MC. And they were just like playing jungle nonstop, and there would be a new, different live MC. And in Miami at the time, there’d be a lot of people from the UK coming. So we were getting like all these people, and I had no idea who was there. There was like all this massively influential music coming through. And then upstairs, there was like the chill-out room, and it was like all this experimental stuff. It was the first time I heard things from like Warp and Skam [labels]. Man, it was just like this whole other world that I was just exposed to and excited about. So those were kind of things that formed me and that are inside my head and my work.
PAN M 360: This new EP, did you make most of it on the road while touring?
Roberto Carlos Lange: As soon as I finished PHASOR, I had finished that song “More” as well. I was like, ‘Damn, I really like this. Maybe I could add this to the album, or I was like, or I could just have this be something else, you know? And then, right after that, I finished “Sender Receiver,” and those became like a kind of couplet. And I was like, okay, well maybe I can make more music that feels like it’s in this world. So then I kind of focused on that. Soon after came “Protector.” And at the very end came “Zenith” and “Don’t Give It Up Now.” “Zenith is like the only real non-vocal track, more of an ambient track, I guess you could say. I feel like “Zenith” ended up being one of these cool processes that just appeared. It was just like a jam, per se, you know? And I think what’s really important when you do these things is you gotta make sure that they’re relating to something human and conversational. Like, it sounds a conversation between me and a machine or something, you know?
PAN M 360: And during the songwriting process, do you think about how these tracks will translate to a live setting?
Roberto Carlos Lange: That always comes later. I feel like that would stifle the studio environment. As I said, since I’m not a band and I don’t necessarily have like a band when I’m writing in a room that changes the dynamic of what the playability of things is, you know? And I think the exciting thing, historically speaking, has always been that like … I think of like Kraftwerk and like all these like early electronic groups when they’re performing live, you know, they would use reel-to-reels and play back a bunch of tracks and then play on top of it. I think Can did it too. And for me, a lot of times my end result is like the most important thing, I think, my performances, especially if I’m singing on something, is my connection with my voice and my body. And ultimately, if there are people there.
PAN M 360: Is there any other form of art that kind of influenced The Last Sound on Earth? Like visually or films?
Roberto Carlos Lange: There’s that Michael Snow film, Wavelength. It’s like a pretty experimental film that’s really long and tedious. I watched it in small increments. It wasn’t like I was captivated by every moment. But I think what every moment revealed to me was kind of just thinking about patience and thinking about observation and thinking about maybe even like a parallel to Pauline Oliveros’ Deep Listening. In that film [Michael Snow’s], it’s just like there are affected and unaffected moments, but it’s slowly zooming in throughout the film. And I think that’s really, I don’t know, I just found it fun and interesting.
Photos by Spencer Kelly
For many years, the M For Mothland event at La Sala Rossa during M for Montreal has been the stuff of legends—a showcase of the weird, underground, and alternative talent from Montreal and anywhere the extra-dimensional label, booker, and artist agency, Mothland, has decided to foster. Last year’s M For Mothland was opened by the hypnagogic pop stooge, Alix Fernz, and this year it’s about to be opened by Brainwasher—a triphop psych duo from Oklahoma City, made up of Tommy McKenzie and Matthew “Duckworth” Kirksey.
McKenzie grins widely from a dining room table in the Pensione Popolo hotel, right across the street from La Sala Rossa. “We’ve got some serious shoes to fill,” he says, the excitement crackling beneath his laugh. Kirksey sits beside him, and in a few hours, they’ll transform into Brainwasher—a force about to commandeer the cavernous floor of Sala Rossa. The stage setup is nothing short of theatrical: a 360-degree platform bristling with gear, like an esoteric monument at the room’s centre. The audience will surround the performance, orbiting the action from every vantage point, leaving nowhere to hide on that stage. During the show, McKenzie owns the low end, conjuring hypnotic textures from bass, guitars, and an arsenal of noise pedals that blur the line between instrument and effect. Kirksey commands the chaos from above, his high vocal cords lifting the song while his hands dance between the drums and synths. Tonight also marks a milestone: the Canadian premiere of Brainwasher’s debut album, 39 Lightyears from Heaven.
The album was born in fragments across a decade. While touring with The Flaming Lips, Kirksey and McKenzie would steal moments in hotel rooms and borrowed studios, piecing together sonic sketches between shows. They’d reconvene in their respective homes, push the work forward in unfamiliar spaces, and gradually—almost glacially—bring it toward completion in Savannah, Georgia. It took a cool eleven years.
“It’s always the fear of making music, writing these songs and wondering ‘Do these actually make sense together?’ We’re writing with The Flaming Lips right now and going through that,” Kirksey says. 39 Lightyears from Heaven is an odd little beast of an album; there are moments of triphop beatmaking, like with the title track opener, bright, anthemic psych pop with songs like “Home” and “Burning Cars,” and then downtempo, industrial-tinged, “Control.” If the album were a real creature or animal, Kirksey says it would be a stomping bear. “You know, a bear can be delicate and quiet if it’s trying to sneak up on somebody, but then if you rile it up a little bit, it’s like stomping around, and it will eat you.”
It’s an album that rewards you with multiple listens, feeling like playing a trance-inducing 2D video game where each song serves as a specific level. There is also this recurring sound of whirring—sounding like a helicopter’s blades plunged underwater—that is sprinkled in between different songs. McKenzie says it comes from a pedal with a built-in oscillator mixed with tremolo. “There is this kind of surging crash when I turned off the pedal and turned on the tremolo,” he says. “So you can kind of sample that and mess with the timing to make it more ‘musical.'”
“Tommy is really good a mixing in these kinds of droney layers that really become the foundation of the song,” Kirksey says. “So he would send me a piece of droney music, and I would crank that shit up and turn down the melodies.” “It’s like you start hearing more tones and song structure within white noise,” McKenzie adds. “Nothing is permeating your brain otherwise, in terms of melodies, so you’re working more with your lizard brain if that makes sense.” There is also a compelling lo-fi or DIY quality to the album, which is all purposeful. Some of the drumming sounds were recorded by slamming a dryer door or clanking beer bottles together, for example, and the song “At Least It Beats An Actor” has that looped whirring sound that isn’t always perfectly in time.
“I think we’re good about that,” Kirksey says. “If we like the way something sounds in through a phone or whatever, we don’t fuck with it. We’ll do some hi-fi shit on top of it or something. Like with that song [“At Least It Beats An Actor”], that quality gives it that cool, weird gallop.” The connection to The Flaming Lips goes a bit deeper than just Kirksey and McKenzie being in the band. The opening title track to Brainwasher’s 39 Lightyears from Heaven actually started from a soundcheck jam with The Flaming Lips. “Matt had the quick idea to record it on his phone. So it was just a piece we had that we just tried to recreate,” McKenzie says. “I think of being in that kind of state of mind, you’re just jamming with another band and not being critical about it. That just leads to the best sort of ideas.”
The mapcap leader of The Flaming Lips, Wayne Coyne, also helped make the psychedelic album cover of 39 Lightyears from Heaven—featuring a noir-esque photo of Kirksey and McKenzie walking on a bridge in Oklahoma and being viewed by rows of eyes. Coyne also let the duo record some parts of the songs in his studio. “He’s just been a complete champion,” Kirksey says. “I mean, I was a Lips roadie before I was in the actual band. And he gave us a lot of confidence on this record, especially in the beginning. I just didn’t know if it was any good, you know? I’d send him stuff, and he’d be like, ‘Yeah, you gotta keep going with this, this is great.’ I don’t know if we ever finished it without him, to be honest.”
Brainwasher Press Shots by Blake Studdard
The National Jazz Orchestra (ONJ) will perform on November 27 in a unique format at the Cinquième Salle of Place des Arts. To pay tribute to the legendary Charlie Parker With Strings, a unique blend of bebop saxophone and strings, the ONJ will be composed primarily of strings. Four Montreal saxophonists will share the role of Charlie Parker, aka Bird. Our contributor Michel Labrecque discussed this with Samuel Blais, himself a saxophonist, who will conduct the Orchestra.
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PAN M 360: Charlie Parker is a monument of 20th century jazz, what can you tell us about him for those who may be less familiar with him.
Samuel Blais: Charlie Parker didn’t live long; he died at 34. He was one of the great instigators of bebop. His importance is immense, indescribable. He is taught in all the major universities. At the time bebop was created, it caused a scandal. Louis Armstrong once said of Parker that his music wasn’t jazz because it was so different from what he was doing. Before that, jazz was more of a dance music, with less improvisation. His influence is endless.
PAN M 360: This episode where he performed with a string ensemble is really very special. How did it go?
Samuel Blais: In fact, it was the producer and impresario Normand Granz, someone who was very important to the history of jazz; he discovered Oscar Peterson, among others. He also produced an album by the singer Billie Holiday with a string ensemble. Charlie Parker was a lover of classical music, particularly Igor Stravinsky. When he heard Billie Holiday’s record, he told Granz, “I’d like to do that too.” So, several sessions were organized starting in 1949. These were small string ensembles. For our concert on the 27th, we’ll have the chance to have many more musicians than Bird ever had. There will be about twenty string players, including a harpist, as well as oboe and French horn. It will be something never heard before!
PAN M 360: This cross between Charlie Parker and strings is a very small episode in his history, but one that marked this era.
Samuel Blais: It was a huge commercial success for a jazz album. Some tracks were even played on the radio. It’s worth noting that, for the recording sessions, producer Normand Granz had found some excellent classical musicians. But this intimidated Charlie Parker. There were times when he left the sessions without playing a single note. It was a dream for him; he finally achieved it, and these recordings have become landmarks in jazz history. They include many standards, such as “Just Friends.”
PAN M 360: For Thursday’s concert, there will be not one but four saxophonists to reinterpret Bird.
Samuel Blais : We’ll have André Leroux, Alexandre Côté, Jean-Pierre Zanella, and Rémi Bolduc, four of the best saxophonists in Quebec. My job was to listen to the repertoire and assign each piece to one of the four. We’ve kept the original arrangements, but of course, the saxophonists will improvise, and we don’t want them to imitate Charlie Parker. We’ll also play “They Didn’t Believe Me,” which was written for Charlie Parker but which he never performed. So, saxophonist Rémi Bolduc will have free rein to do whatever he wants.
We have chosen twelve pieces from this repertoire, which I hope will be a hit. For me, it will be a great pleasure to conduct this ensemble, and I warn you, I’m likely to have a huge grin plastered on my face, as we say in Quebec, throughout this entire concert.
Chilean-born jazz saxophonist Melissa Aldana will be in Montreal on Wednesday, November 26, at the invitation of the University of Montreal Big Band, at Salle Claude Champagne. This rising star of contemporary jazz, a Grammy nominee, is compared to the great Wayne Shorter by several music critics. Michel Labrecque spoke with the Big Band’s director, trumpeter and professor João Lenhari, for PAN M 360. In addition to the concert, there will also be a free masterclass open to everyone on Thursday, November 27.