Interviews Archive - Page 22 of 111

Dan Seligman is the founder and creative director of Pop Montreal, the city’s premier fall music festival. He leads the team responsible for booking the artists and bands scheduled to perform from Wednesday, September 24 to Sunday, September 29. As it does every year, PAN M 360 asked him to identify the five daily must-sees from his artistic director’s perspective. Here are the must-sees for Friday, September 26!

TEKE::TEKE & Holy Fuck

I like the program bringing together Holy Fuck, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary, and Teke:Teke. The two bands know each other. Holy Fuck remixed TEKE::TEKE, and I think they’re planning a collaboration this Friday, which we’ll be able to see on stage. Holy Fuck is an electronic and instrumental band from Toronto whose musicians love noise and experimentation, while Montreal band TEKE::TEKE blends avant-rock with Japanese citimusic and other contemporary explorations.”

Hanorah

“This is one of the singers I enjoyed the most during our selection process listening sessions—her latest EP, Closer Than Hell, features some intense songs. Hanorah at Sala Rossa, Hanorah offers neo-soul, folk, and even shoegaze gospel music, all carried by a truly incredible voice that is powerful, highly emotional, and refined. Without a doubt one of my picks for Friday night.”

Poolgirl

“Poolgirl is another Montreal band I recently discovered. These women are part of the DIY, riot grrl, punk, indie-rock scene, and their material is interesting, intelligent, imaginative, raw, and well done. Poolgirl enriches Montreal’s underground punk scene, which is constantly regenerating itself. Poolgirl is surely among the best new bands in Montreal, always on the lookout for opportunities to play.”

Seago

“Seago is another artist who stood out during our listening sessions in preparation for our programming. The Toronto-based artist creates very pop, synth-pop songs with a touch of soul at times. He has his own way of phrasing, he has his own thing going on. He released the EP Lawn in 2022. In 2023, his track Cheapshot racked up over 1.9 million plays on Spotify.”

Jashim

“Jashim is a non-binary musical artist of Colombian origin, based in Montreal. They are associated with post-reggaeton and are interested in Afro-Colombian and Indigenous cultures, as well as Latin, modern, and contemporary sounds. They fuse their culture with recent technologies to redefine reggaeton in their own way. An important artist on the emerging Montreal scene.”

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Performing on September 27th at the Escogriffe with Wizaard, DAPHNE and Tom Leger as part of POP Montréal, Cure-Pipe doesn’t do things lightely. A project by singer-songwriter Thomas Dakin, Cure-Pipe seeks to create a totally explosive and captivating musical experience by combining psychedelic rock, garage and hyperpop. The result is often striking and authentic.

PANM360: Hello Thomas (Cure-Pipe), I listened to your latest album which I would describe as scathing and full of surprising moments.

Cure-Pipe: Thank you so much.

PANM360: Who are your partners in this project and what role do they play?

Cure-Pipe: Usually, I work in hermit mode and like to use all my time to tinker with alternative recordings in search of unique sonic textures. But for this album, I first built demos and then went to the studio to record with my drummer friend Vincent Maltais-Bourgeois. All the drum and bass tracks were recorded over three intensive days with him at Madame Wood Studio in Montreal. Now, for live performances, the crew changes from time to time, but some members are still there, including Ingrid on rhythm guitar and keyboards, Carrier on Moog bass, and Laurent on bass. The basic ideas for the songs are mine, but in a live situation, the band takes creative liberties and we have fun thinking outside the box.

PANM360: What are your influences in terms of psychedelic and garage rock? In terms of hyper-pop?

Cure-Pipe: The neo-psych movement that gained momentum during my adolescence in the 2010s had a huge influence on me. It’s important to mention that the majority of these bands are, like me, first influenced by the garage rock of the sixties. Bands like Ty Segall, Thee Oh Sees, King Gizzard, Mild High Club, Mac Demarco, Tame Impala, The Flaming Lips are all, in my opinion, pillars of contemporary rock music. They retain the use of real instruments to make the boards vibrate. Energetic and dynamic live performances that are different each time give me, without fail, the desire to do it myself. The hyper-pop side would be more associated with a sensitivity to melody and harmonic turns or the frank approach of pop instrumentation. Catchy and assumed melodies put forward and a colorful and lit aesthetic. The sonic density of the genre is something that resonates with me too.

PANM360: Your album is called J’ai trouvé Jésus. Where was he? Why this title?

Cure-Pipe: He was in my bed, with my best friend but especially my jar of maple cookies that I had picked up.

PANM360: What can we expect for the September 27th show as part of POP MTL?

Cure-Pipe: Hair, fuzz, low pass filters, fuzz, sweat, blood maybe? Fuzz, French words and then collective disorganization. We’re coming to play a lot of new songs and some of the latest ones in addition to some old songs. It’s going to be crazy, I can’t wait to see what the other bands will present too!

PANM360: What do we wish for you for this year 2025-2026?

Cure-Pipe: I hope to finish my album projects that have been on hold for some time. Then, I plan to produce a lot of multimedia projects to accompany this music. Music videos, live visuals, live sessions. I hope to be able to do some festivals next summer and play abroad to promote the new music. Finally, potentially collaborate with other Quebec artists who inspire me.

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Our collaborator Simon ‘Polon’ Gervais is joined by his good friend Rémi Gauvin, frontman, singer, and lyricist behind the band Comment Debord. He’s launching his solo project at a show Sunday as part of POP Montréal at La Sala Rossa, headlined by Unessential Oils.

PANM360: Rémi, hello.

Rémi Gauvin: Hello my old friend, how are you?

PANM360: I’m doing very well and did you have a good summer?

Rémi Gauvin: Yes, super nice summer, very busy with Comment Debord. We joke that it’s the ‘Comment Debord Never Ending Tour’, but now it’s really coming to an end, our very last show of the tour is this Friday, this weekend. So after that, it’s going to be the end of ‘monde autour’. We were lucky enough to run it for about two years, so it’s pretty rare to run a show for that long.

PANM360: Where will it take place?

Rémi Gauvin: It’s in the Gatineau area for an Oktoberfest.

PANM360: With beer.

Rémi Gauvin: With beer and with Bon Enfant, so it’s a nice way to end it.

PANM360: Great. We’re here to talk about your solo project, which I don’t know much about because nothing has been released yet, so it’s a big mystery. First, I’d like to ask you, what’s the motivation behind this desire to start a solo project?

Rémi Gauvin: Comment Debord has been going for a while now. It’s a space that’s super nourishing and has clearly shaped me as a musician. It’s been almost ten years since the first lucubrations emerged this fall.

PANM360: Back when it was called Phénix Leclerc.

Rémi Gauvin: Yes, and even before that, there wasn’t even a name. In the sense that we were in Olivier’s parents’ basement in Boucherville, and we were jamming as a threesome at the time. There was just Étienne, Oli, and then me. Then we had the chance to do the Francouvertes, it went well. Afterwards, we released two albums with Audiogram, and it went really well. We were surprised by how well it was received by the public, and we did a lot of shows across Quebec. It’s a project that works really well, and I put all my heart and soul into it. But I think that after that, I needed to develop a more intimate space of my own where I can really do what I want to do in my own way, and do it completely independently. Because the reality is, Comment Debord; it’s really a band. We make band decisions. And yes, I sing most of the songs, I write the lyrics, but it’s really a band. Then there are things that I wanted to tackle and there are things in my personal life too that provoked the idea of writing songs that are perhaps a little more intimate. Then to return to what is perhaps a little bit my first musical love, that is to say a more folk style, more songs, really. To do something more intimate. That’s it, I had a kind of desire to do that.

Then I’ve been working on songs for a couple of years, so basically, this is going to be the first show. I’m opening for Unessential Oils, which is Warren Spicer’s project, who was previously in Plants & Animals. Warren produced our two albums with Comment Debord. Then I’m going to work with him for my solo project as well. He’s going to work on the albums with Étienne. His two close collaborators will be producing my album. We’re still at the beginning of that. We haven’t even gone into the studio yet. But anyway, he wrote to me at one point, and he was like, “Hey, would you like to open for Unessential Oils at POP Montreal?” And it’s really a good way to test out songs a little, to test it out in front of human beings. Then I decided to really go for it, to throw myself into it a little, just like that, on my own, guitar, solo. It’s been at least ten years since I’ve done a solo show.

It’s an honour, then it’s super exciting, then it’s destabilizing to do this, but it’s part of a great deal that’s coming up.

PANM360: Is this a way for you to “level up” internally?

Rémi Gauvin: (Laughs) Well, it’s a new challenge, you know, definitely. And you know, practicing for these pieces, I approach it completely differently, in the sense that… Well, you’re completely naked, there, in front of an audience, being like that, with your lyrics and your guitar.

There’s nothing, you know. I can’t hide behind a band, I can’t hide behind grooves either. You know, Comment Debord, it’s like perks, it’s the bass, the music that dances, it’s not only that, but you know, there’s a lot of that. Then in a show, we put a lot of emphasis on that, because our shows always end up being danced, and it’s a big party. There, it’s completely different, I’m going for it for this first show. I want to test my songs to see if they’re good? If you’re alone with your guitar, an audience, and then lyrics, that’s the best test. That’s it, but I’m pretty confident, and I’m super excited, I can’t wait. I’m happy with the confidence that Warren has in me for that too, because it’s really exciting. I’ve been practicing every day for a month…

PANM360: So there, you’ll be all alone on stage, if we understand correctly.

Rémi Gauvin: Yeah, exactly, it will be in a stripped-down format.

PANM360: On this show, or even the project, it might be this approach, guitar-voice, simpler, in terms of the tracks, how are you going to put them together?

Rémi Gauvin: Oh no, there’s going to be a band, I’m going to be accompanied by musicians. But I really want to put the lyrics forward. I think that’s perhaps the big difference. The lyrics have always been important to me. In Comment Debord too, it’s always been central. But like it or not, when there are seven musicians on each song, everyone sings, and then everyone plays instruments, it means that the lyrics aren’t necessarily forward-thinking. It becomes less like a song. Whereas here, it’s really a folk approach, a chanson approach. I want to put that forward, I want to get a little more involved.

I think that perhaps subconsciously, being new to this environment when I arrived, surrounding myself with a big band was reassuring. And it still is… It’s like a team sport. If you make a mistake, the rest of the team can pick up the ball. Then, I put myself in more danger, but at the same time, it’s this vulnerability that interests me. Then I think it’s something I also discovered with Warren, who gave me a lot of confidence, even through the Comment Debord albums, where I really experienced magical moments, sometimes, when I was working on more intimate tunes, precisely, like I think, let’s say, on Plancher flottant, on the last album, where it was a really more folk tune, more vulnerable, then Warren, he encouraged me to assume that and then to accuse a little the imperfections, as much in my way of singing as of interpreting, that there is something beautiful in the imperfection, precisely. I think I assume that a little more in my project. Then at the level of the people who surround you for this project, well, you named Warren, you named Étienne, who has been your partner in crime for a long time, who is the bassist of Comment Debord. Do you have other names to name who will be in the adventure?

Well, I have a lot of ideas right now. I have prospects, I have people I’ve asked a little, but I don’t want to get too involved because we’re not very far along. But I already know that in the studio, because I really want to take it one step at a time, I really want to put the songs forward, then I want to bring in musicians for each song, asking myself what will elevate the song, what will do the song good, what will make it better. I really want to approach it like that, and not, ah, here we are a band, there are all these musicians, and then we do this… which is more the Comment Debord approach. But you know, I’ve already asked to have a good friend, then a drummer that I admire a lot, who will come to the studio with us. We will begin studio sessions in the coming months.

Then there’s Pete Pételle, who’s a drummer for several bands, including Klo Pelgag. He’s a guy I discovered in the last few years, who’s a really great guy, a guy I really, really like. Then, well, we met him, because with Comment Debord, we did the Festif tour in schools, then we went to Charlevoix at one point with Pete and Étienne, we were in a small format, and we really got along really well. Then at one point, quickly it was like natural, I asked him, “Hey, are you interested in drumming on some songs?” Then he’s super motivated, I sent my demos, and all that. Among others, there will be Pete, but there might be a lot of people there too, left, right, it’s not clear yet, but there will be people.

PANM360: Around here?

Rémi Gauvin: There are other people who are also interested. I’m going to surround myself with good people; I’m lucky, I’m a good conversationalist, I’m able to make friends, and then invite them to come and play on my project.

PANM360: We touched a little on the difference that there will be between Comment Debord and your solo project. We see that the emphasis will be really more on the song, the approach on the lyrics, rather than having big solos, having big musical flights into funk, disco, all that we saw with Comment Debord. This leads me to ask the question in terms of influences. We’re talking about what kind of influence, in terms of what are we trying to draw inspiration from?

Rémi Gauvin: There’s definitely a lot of folk stuff. I’m a huge Bob Dylan fan, obviously. I’m really into John Prine, I’m really into JJ Cale. Really influences like folk, a little bit of country too. I’m really into Townes Vincent. Those are definitely major influences. I’m really into Michael Hurley too. I think he passed away recently, but he made a kind of super touching, super real folk. Those are influences. In terms of Quebec music, the lyrics, I think they’re a bit like the same influences that I had in the sense that I always mention Stéphane Lafleur from Avec pas d’casque and Richard Desjardins. Those are major influences. In Quebec, I’ve really been into Ariel Soucy recently too, more recently on the folk scene. Recently, I discovered an artist named Ada Léa, who’s from Montreal. I love what she does. I really like it, I think it’s incredible. I’m really into Big Thief. It also makes me think about influences in terms of a more indie sound. I come from there too. When I was in high school, at Cégep, with my good friends, we would go see indie shows in Montreal.

We were leaving the South Shore for Cégep. I would say Cégep-Université, early twenties, all that. I come from there and I think I want to find that in the productions too, that little side and the sound of Montreal.

PANM360: A return to Montreal indie perhaps?

Rémi Gauvin: That’s it too. Warren is Plants and Animals. It’s that era, that sound. There’s something naturally that brings me back to that. There’s a lot of 90s music that’s popular right now too. I fell back with Pete in Mazzy Star. He’s definitely an influence. I love Mazzy Star. Otherwise, to go back to the great Montreal classics, I’m also a big fan of Leonard Cohen. That’s it. I would say those are perhaps the major influences. It revolves around those artists.

PANM360: Not too many French songs like Brassens, Moustaki, Brel, Gainsbourg?

Rémi Gauvin: Of course, these are artists I’ve listened to endlessly. In the sense that it’s a song, yes. Afterwards, from an aesthetic point of view, I don’t quite think so. But at the same time, a song remains a song. It’s a really interesting creative constraint to say that we’re putting the lyrics forward; choruses, verses, a little bridge. It’s kind of the kind of material I want to work with. French songs, in a way, yes, but I think that what I do is resolutely Québécois and it always will be. In French, obviously for what I write. Recently, I might have an idea for an English cover. In any case, something from Montreal, I thought, maybe I can afford it. We’ll see. Yes, a song. I think that’s it. The song, a folk song, which has a little country influence. But I don’t think I’m going to do country, but maybe have a cut of tunes that are a little more country. That could be also.

PANM360: And finally, is there anything you can reveal to us about your solo project? A little nugget, a little scoop or a little detail about what it’s going to be about? One of the themes?

Rémi Gauvin: Well, it’s true that I want to allow myself to go into more intimate, more sensitive areas. And it’s true that in Comment Debord, I didn’t talk much about love, let’s say. I think that I really wanted, when I started making music, to write about something else. I almost made it a point of honor to tackle other subjects. Then I think that reality is catching up with me. (laughs) So in the end, I talk about it a little more. Maybe it’s inevitable. Maybe it’s a certain maturity with that, I don’t know. Maybe in the end, I realize that I’m not better than everyone else. You have to tackle real subjects like love, in the end.

PANM360: Well, Rémi, we’re really looking forward to Sunday. We’re going to see the opening act for Unessential Oils. It’s going to be a pleasure to hear these new songs.

Rémi Gauvin: It won’t be too long. I have to keep it short so Patrick Lagacé is happy.

PANM360: (Laughs) ‘Not too long the first parts.’ It’s quite a pleasure, my dear friend.

Rémi Gauvin: Thank you very much, my friend.

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The Quebec-Colombian singer-songwriter-performer Sofia Le Quéré-Galvis, Lapelúda by her stage name, has just released an EP, Entre cielo y tierra, which she will premiere in the beautiful setting of Bourgie Hall on October 3, 2025. Her soothing folk style, but also capable of a few dance steps, draws as much from her mixed roots as from her personal life, such as her experience accompanying people at the end of their lives. A gentleness imbued with spirituality and temperance. Before seeing her on the stage of the esteemed musical institution, I met the young lady for a very friendly interview. Discover with his young local artist.

READ THE REVIEW OF THE ALBUM ENTRE CIELO Y TIERRA BY LAPELUDA

DETAILS AND TICKETS FOR THE LAPELUDA CONCERT : RIGHT HERE!!

(The interview and all excerpts are in French)

Interview (excerpt) – Lapelúda in Bourgie – What effect does playing in this room have?

Interview (excerpt) – Lapelúda in Bourgie – Life, death, inspirations for the album?

Interview (excerpt) – Lapelúda in Bourgie – Why the name Lapelúda?

Interview (complete) – Lapelúda in Bourgie

Dan Seligman is the founder and still creative director of Pop Montréal, Montreal’s premier fall happening. He leads the team that recruited the artists and bands scheduled for Wednesday, September 24th to Sunday, September 29th. As is the case every year, PAN M 360 asked him to identify his artistic director’s top 5 daily must-haves. Here are Thursday’s picks!

Sarah Rossy

“For Thursday, Sarah Rossi would be my number 1 choice. This Montreal singer is in a musical world comparable to that of Thanya Iyer, that is to say very orchestral, performed by very high-level musicians, often from jazz and serious music. I received the album she is releasing on Thursday in advance, I was really surprised. I had the impression of discovering an artist of the caliber of Annie Lennox, Goldfrapp, Kate Bush… , in short these singers who push the limits of expression. There will be several people on stage, a big program.”

Hanako

“I really like this young singer from Montreal that I discovered this year: Hanako. My 16-year-old daughter introduced me to her and I noticed that she had applied to the festival, so I programmed her! She does grunge, folk and dream pop. Her first album, My River Goblin (2022), was recorded by Ky Brooks. She made an EP in 2024, KakoBako, with Japanese references – it’s part of her origins. She will release a third album in the coming months.”

Joseph Shabason

One of my favorites this Thursday is Joseph Shabason, from Toronto. He comes from the world of jazz, he’s a saxophonist. He’s collaborated with several important bands, Destroyer, War on Drugs, etc. He records a lot, he presents a lot of interesting concepts, really cool, often hypnotic. One of his albums tells the story of an immigrant, from a Jewish family settled in Toronto. He’s really very prolific, you have to go to his Bandcamp page!

Annie-Claude Deschesne

I also have to choose Annie-Claude Deschênes’ solo show. I think she’s one of the best local artists. Performance-wise, there’s no one in the country who does what she does, she’s an extraordinary stage animal. When I saw and heard her show, I was captivated, and we invited her for our showcase at South by Southwest. She has this incredible ability to capture people’s attention and transform a rock show into an extraordinary, theatrical, completely crazy performance. I’ll be at that show! Really cool.

Surma

In the same program as Annie-Claude, there is the artist Surma, from Lisbon, Portugal. There are touches of world music, but it’s primarily cutting-edge electronic work, very solid and very refined, with jazz also present. Surma tours a lot, especially since her albums alla and Antwerpen launched her onto the international indie circuit. Her music seems very interesting to me, and I’m very curious to see what she’ll do with it on stage.

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Rachel Bobbitt’s voice carries the mastery of a trained jazz vocalist, yet remains strikingly unique. She sings from a place of truth, weaving intimate stories and memories of home. Though her new album, Swimming Towards the Sand, has yet to be released in full, the promising singles are rich in depth. Her songwriting evokes powerful visual scenery, supported by production meticulously decorated with chopped vocal samples, expansive synths, and guitar tones reminiscent of Smashing Pumpkins, blending folk and jazz into a singular sound. She will be taking the stage for Pop Montréal, where she and her band will weave out the emotional core of this new material. As one of Canada’s most promising musicians amid the rising popularity of folk, this is a show not to miss. In this interview, Bobbitt talks to us about her influences, her memories of her grandfather, and the trust she shares with her band.

PAN M 360: After seven years in Toronto, how do you now remember growing up in Nova Scotia?

Rachel Bobbitt: I remember it very fondly. I think especially because all of my extended family is also in Nova Scotia, a lot of my memories of being young there are at my grandparents’ house, or at the lake, or swimming in the ocean. I would eat dulse, which is essentially seaweed that you dry on rocks. It doesn’t sound very good, but when I was eight it was the best thing ever.

PAN M 360: Speaking about family, you mentioned that your grandparents are an important influence in your music, and that your grandfather was also a musician. Are there any songs or melodies that you still carry from his memory?

Rachel Bobbitt: Yeah, there is. I mean, he was the kind of musician that never took a lesson in his life but could just pick up any instrument and play it. He would play “You Are My Sunshine” all the time, and he knew that one on accordion, on piano, and on guitar. He loved Hank Snow—who I believe is also from Nova Scotia—and other old country artists like Hank Williams and the Carter Family. So that type of music will always kind of take me back to his playing, his singing, and his musicality in general. It was very casual, very off the cuff. It’s funny because I’m not sure if he would even consider himself a musician. I think music for him was just a natural form of expression. He didn’t see it as, “I am a musician”; it was just like, “well, there’s people gathered and we might as well have music.” But yeah, a lot of those older country artists remind me of him.

PAN M 360: Did you ever have a chance, apart from singing along, to maybe play some of the instruments with him, even if you were very young?

Rachel Bobbitt: Yeah, totally. I remember… well, he was also the type of musician that would just bang on anything he was playing. He was a very loud musician. When my sister and I were both kind of learning how to play the guitar, we would play with him. He was so proud and supportive, but I just remember his advice was always like, “really giver ‘er.” So I think whenever we played with him, that was the wisdom he imparted onto us: to just really get in there and give it all of your energy and all of your attention. I have not learned the accordion, but I really want to. So that’s kind of on the docket for the next year or so.

PAN M 360: So let’s talk about production, because your album is right now being released. It’s a really beautiful album; I was listening to it all morning, and it was very pleasant, very touching. What I noticed is your songs carry this feeling of intimacy. It’s very personal, talking about your family, for example. How does it work out in the studio when you’re working with producers and bandmates? How do you manage the delegation and trust while still protecting that sensitive integrity?

Rachel Bobbitt: Yeah, I think honestly, for me, it’s just being really particular about who I work with and who I record with. The core band that I’ve worked with, it’s been that band since I was in second year of university, so it’s been six years now. They’re the people that I trust so deeply, and I trust them as human beings. So it’s like a perfect mix. With them, I can give them a song and say, “make it your own and play how you would hear your own parts to be sounding,” and they will create something I love because I love them as musicians, and I trust their instincts. Also, anytime there’s a song, or maybe a part of a song that’s a little more personal or intimate, I just know them so deeply. We’ve toured together, we’ve spent weeks on end with each other, and I think we just know each other so well that they know how to navigate that really respectfully. They’re very adept at asking questions if needed, and kind of just stepping back if needed, as well. They’re all very humble and amazing. I’m lucky that I work with the people I do, that I don’t have to think about that too much. I also think, you know, Justice, who plays guitar, and Isaac, who plays bass and triggers certain samples—they are so much better at their instruments than I am. So to me, I’m like: “whatever you come up with for the live context will be better than what I could imagine.”

PAN M 360: So you’ll be working with your band when you’re preparing a live show, and when you’re writing your songs, it’s just by yourself?

Rachel Bobbitt: Yes.

PAN M 360: When you’re writing on your own, how do you decide if a song is finished?

Rachel Bobbitt: I’m the type of songwriter where I produce as I go in terms of demos. So I use Ableton, and I try to make it sound as much like the finalized version of what I envision it may sound like down the line, with proper mixing and proper recording and all that stuff. I try to get it as close to that as possible. So I’m adding a bunch of different parts: drum loops, recording all the layers, doing all the overdubs. I’m really spending a lot of time in the recording world because sometimes I feel like I can get a little bit free about just throwing stuff out if I don’t love it immediately. So I think it’s been important to me to see a song through as much as I can and really give it a chance, and take it to the natural end zone where I’ve created the world I want it to live in. If at that point it’s still not grabbing me, and it’s still not something that I feel drawn to, then maybe I either toss it out, or I keep poking at it and try to adapt it with different instrumentation. But at a certain point, just for my peace of mind, I have to see it as, this isn’t me saying it’s done and it’s perfect. This is just where I feel I have naturally ended my relationship with the song, and I’m releasing this version of it. Maybe in another world, there would be 10 different versions of it, but right now in this world, this is what I’m releasing.

PAN M 360: Well, that brings up a bunch of new questions, but going back to playing this music live. Because I didn’t know that you actually did the production beforehand and worked on the drums and everything—it’s impressive. I’m sure there was a lot of work done with Chris in LA, but the production of the latest album is grand, precise, dynamic, and rich. So how do you go about arranging the songs with your band when you’re going to play live? Are you aiming for the same preciseness as you do in the studio?

Rachel Bobbitt: I think about that question a lot, and I’ve definitely found that to be something I labor over. The way that I’m approaching it now with the band is trying to find the emotional core of every song and letting that spread outward. So, there are some songs where I feel like there are synth lines that really carry a lot of the emotion, and so that will be important to add to the live show. Or maybe there are samples that come in at a certain point that carry the emotional center of the song, so we’ll add those to be triggered. But then maybe there are certain elements that are less important or can be adapted differently; maybe synth parts can be played by the guitar or vice versa. I think just returning to the emotional message and using that as the guiding light is the only way I can maintain a sense of direction.

PAN M 360: So I’m curious to know about some of your influences. You mentioned in an interview that Leonard Cohen was a big influence for the airy backup vocals, and there’s a bit of that feeling in the album. But there are also hints of Americana, and vocals that remind me of Jessica Pratt, Lomelda, and Big Thief. So, were there any influences that you intentionally brought to the studio with you?

Rachel Bobbitt: You mentioned Jessica Pratt; she was definitely an influence. Actually, at the time we were recording the album, maybe a month or two prior, she had come out with Here in the Pitch. With Justice, who came with me to LA to record the instruments, we would just drive around and listen to that album constantly. So that was a huge influence; I love the way that album is mixed, and I love her voice—it’s so haunting and beautiful. That was definitely a big influence. Beach House is a big influence on the record, especially with Chris having worked on some of my favorite albums of theirs. That was a common touchstone for both of us. Yola Tango was a big influence for some of the percussion and dreamier aspects. I was also listening to a lot of Sharon Van Etten at the time; her vocals are very forward and powerful in a way I loved. Also, Imogen Heap—her harmonies are just really beautiful, and how expressive her voice is, is really beautiful. So yeah, kind of a bunch of different influences running the gamut.

PAN M 360: It’s great hearing all of this after listening to the album. Super inspiring. I hope that people will also be just as excited to listen. As a final question: if you could play on the same bill with an artist that’s alive today, who would it be?

Rachel Bobbitt: Oh, it’s so hard. It would probably be The National. I just love their music so much, and I feel like it’s kind of selfish because I want to see their live show so bad—I’ve never seen them live. It’s been on my bucket list for a long time; next time they come to Toronto, I’m going to be there. But yeah, I just feel like their music is so completely beautiful, in the same way that Bon Iver’s music really moves me. So honestly, either of those two would be on my bucket list of people to open for.

PAN M 360: Well, it’s great music and I have no doubt we’ll be hearing more from you. Thank you for taking the time to do this interview. I’m looking forward to seeing the show!

As Rachel Bobbitt prepares to share her complete musical vision, the anticipation for Swimming Towards the Sand continues to build. The album’s themes of home, memory, and trusted collaboration are sure to resonate deeply in a live setting. If you missed POP Montréal, Toronto fans can witness this convergence on October 17th at the Monarch Tavern.

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The American singer-songwriter and producer cultivates dense atmospheres and a changeable mood that has led her to collaborate with Dean Hurley (David Lynch’s collaborator), J.G Thirlwell (pioneer of experimental industrial music), M83, and Former Ghosts. Invoking electro-gothic spirits for nearly 20 years, she draws inspiration from pop, lo-fi, and cold wave, in a perpetual desire for renewal and artistic curiosity. To learn more about her journey, I spoke briefly with this unconventional artist, who wants to bring her own universe to life.

Zola Jesus is on stage Thursday September 25, Sala Rossa, 8PM

PAN M 360 : Coming from classical training, you started crafting a musical journey of avant-garde pop. What draws you to these unconventional and often dark soundscapes?

Zola Jesus : That’s a good question because I would like to know as well! (haha). It’s a question I’ve been asking myself for a long time. It’s not on purpose, that’s for sure! I’m just drowning in the depths of the darkness in a sense, it’s always been that way.I think there is just a need in me to understand the unseen parts of myself, and that comes through my music. Sometimes I try to be “not so interested” in these things, because they can be isolating or alienating, but I just can’t help myself, so I always come back to it.

PAN M 360: You appeared with lo-fi quality vibe albums (The Spoils, etc), showcasing your powerful voice, with time evolving toward a more polished sound (Taiga, etc). You can go everywhere and anywhere with your production, from opera to electro, you are always seeking something different it seems. What fuels you to go in a new direction?

Zola Jesus : Maybe I get bored very easily! (haha). When I make an album, I really mind the caves of that experience, of that sound, that atmosphere. And so, when I make a new record, I almost want to do the opposite. I did the darkness… What if I make things very clear and clean? And then I get bored of that also so I’m like : “OK, I want to play with textures now!.” It’s basically just evolving from one extreme to the next.
PAN M 360 : What are you wanting to experiment, musically within these everchanging directions?How does this exploration of the extremes impact your art?

Zola Jesus : Well it keeps me really hungry because if I keep on making the same things over and over it starts to feel kind of stale…then I go, “this is easy for me, I can do this.” When I go in another direction, it’s a challenge for me as I have to learn a whole new way of making music and a whole new way of expressing myself, a whole new palette that I am unfamiliar with. It’s keeping me on my toes, keeping me curious. I like to challenge myself and go out of my comfort zone.

PAN M 360 : You are very passionate about visual arts and their imbrication within your pieces, what binds the two together for you?

Zola Jesus : For me, I always feel like I’m creating sound for a space, so sound can not exist in a vacuum. And especially my training in opera, which is an acoustic way of singing, you need space to be heard so for me the space is very important. What does that space look like, sounds like, smells like? How do you feel when you are inside of it? And so when I create music I’m creating music for a space, whether it’s just an atmosphere or an image or even a building (haha). It could be anything. There’s always something visual, immersive attached to the sound. For example on Arkhon, it felt very much like being in a cave, in an ancient prehistoric cave. Each of the songs kind of explored their landscapes in their own way.
PAN M 360 : You are particularly engaged with societal, spiritual and emotional topics, particularly on Arkhon. Is it part of your journey to try to help/heal listeners?
Zola Jesus : Yeah it’s strange because this was never an intention originally but I think that by nature, my music is very soulful, it’s about feelings. There’s also this feeling of wanting to connect with others. I’m a really big introvert so I always feel like connecting with people, while it also comes very naturally to me can also be a challenge. So to me, it is also my way to connect to the universe, to this humanity who connects us all, even to total strangers. That’s why I love music, you get to have a conversation with the world, with humanity and I do feel there’s also this “empathic” quality to my music. I wanna hold space that I am going through but also connect that to universal struggles and experiences.
PAN M 360 : What are your main artistic inspirations ? Do you find other artists who you resonate with, on a similar path ?
Zola Jesus : I love Maria Callas, she’s one of my greatest idols. Just her dedication to her art is really inspiring to me. Marina Abromovitch, a performance artist, and the way she distills her own experiences and her culture as well as pushing up against her comfort zone makes her art very inspiring to me as well. Musically, I would say one of my heroes is Diamanda Galas, who was very uncompromising and who has created her own universe with her music : there’s no one else like her.
PAN M 360 : What are you looking for in your collaborations? I know the Canadian Joanne Pollock is someone you like to go back to?
Zola Jesus : I like to work with people who I respect, like Joanne, and who can challenge me and put me in different contexts. That’s really fun for me because I create in a vacuum, my process is so solitary that collaborations are a way for me to grow and to try on other people’s processes and creative ideas, to find myself in these ideas.
PAN M 360 : What would you like to accomplish, within your life as a creator?
Zola Jesus : My ultimate goal is to do something like writing an opera, to be able to express all the different emotions and musical ideas that do not really fit into a pop or a rock album. I would also like to have a show that is very audio-visual, because so far in my career I have never been able to have a big visual show, it’s always been very conservative because that’s what I can afford.
PAN M 360 : A little word for Montreal’s fans before passing by this week?

Zola Jesus : I can not wait to come back to Montreal! I actually was living there for a little bit because my husband was living there for a very long time, so I have a lot of friends in Montreal. I love it so much, if I could move there I would! Je parle un peu français…mais pas bien! (haha)

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Dan Seligman is the founder and creative director of Pop Montreal, Montreal’s premier fall music festival. He leads the team that booked the artists and bands scheduled to perform from Wednesday, September 24 to Sunday, September 29. As it does every year, PAN M 360 asked him to identify the five daily must-sees from his artistic direction. Here they are!

Mùm

The Icelandic band is definitely a must-see this Wednesday. Post-rock in the vein of Sigur Rós, but also ambient and glitchy. It should calm things down during this heated period.

Michel Pagliaro et invité.e.s

“Pag is a must-see. I’ve been interested in his more acoustic shows in recent years, where he does something more intimate. But… all his songs are hits, he’s an excellent performer, and he embodies a part of Montreal’s musical history.””Pag is a must-see. I’ve been interested in his more acoustic shows in recent years, where he does something more intimate. But… all his songs are hits, he’s an excellent performer, and he embodies a part of Montreal’s musical history.”

Anas & Itran

“A Montrealer of Moroccan origin, Anas Jellouf had applied to the festival under his stage name at the time, Sidi Blue Moon. He was supposed to open for another artist who did not show up. The group then reworked their set and played more traditional Gnawa music. The experiment continues under the name Anas & Itran, which also blends other influences such as chaabi and rai, as well as more modern sounds such as Afrobeat, funk, and trance. It’s a fusion.”

Nora Kelly

“The Nora Kelly Band hails from Mile End. The frontwoman is a talented singer, I think. She plays alt-country, with slow burners, foot stompers, but also space rock and more. She’s playing at our opening party and later at Quai des brumes.”

Thanya Iyer

I saw the launch concert for her album Tide/Tied. Indian music, Western pop, jazz, experimental pop, ethereal chamber music. Magnificent! She never stops reinventing herself, the bar keeps getting higher, Thanya Iyer is set to become a major artist on the Montreal scene.

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Honeydrip is one of Montreal’s most prominent electronic music artists and has been for many years. While her DJ sets cover a broad selection of genres and influences, her style is uniquely kinetic and translates in her own musical creations as tracks you’d like to hear between 5 and 7 am. She has been a part of the underground culture for years since her debut 10 years ago, and still makes time for this scene despite her growing international demand.

In this way, Honeydrip has made a name for herself not only by crafting a sound unique to her identity but by nurturing a community with her audience and peers. She has evolved into a powerhouse DJ and innovative live musician, but also a pioneer speaker builder as part of the woman and queer sound system MORPH, which she founded. In this interview, Honeydrip talks to us about her upcoming live performance at Making Time XXV, the importance of DIY venues and her latest musical project.

PAN M 360: You’re currently in Philadelphia at the Making Time festival. How would you describe the overall energy at Fort Mifflin right now? Were there any sets that stood out?

Honeydrip: The energy was eager! I think we were all very happy to be there and be a part of this experience. I have rarely experienced a festival like this, where I do not know where to go because the music is so good everywhere at all times. I did not get to make it to all of the sets I wanted to see, but my standouts were Aya, Conducta, and Al Wooton.

PAN M 360: For Making Time XXV at the S.A.T., you’ll be playing live, is that correct?

Honeydrip: Yes! It is fun to have had the opportunity to DJ at the Making Time festival in Philadelphia and now do a live set here in Montreal.

PAN M 360: In your last live performance at MUTEK, you dubbed the tracks, meaning you sent out the stems to effects pedals in real time. What kind of musical devices are you bringing on stage this time, and can you briefly describe what they will be doing?

Honeydrip: My live setup for this show is pretty much the same as the one I used at MUTEK: Ableton Push, a Venice mixer, and a set of pedals. I’ve been gradually integrating new material into the set, but I haven’t built an entirely new one from scratch just yet. That said, I really enjoy evolving the tracks over time as it is a way for me to reflect where I’m at musically in the moment, and share that ongoing growth with the audience.

PAN M 360: In March 2025, you posted on Instagram celebrating your 10th year as a DJ. You’ve journeyed from smooth lo-fi beats to bass music, dub, and left-field techno. Where are you now?

Honeydrip: Lately, I’ve been exploring vocals and I’m releasing a single next month that marks the beginning of this new direction. I used to sing and perform when I was younger, so revisiting that part of myself feels like reconnecting with my inner child. Even with this shift, my sound remains rooted in Caribbean sonorities.

PAN M 360: Is the music you play live and as a DJ the same music you listen to daily? What is your favourite context to listen to this music?

Honeydrip: I like many styles of music, so I alternate depending on what I feel like hearing. My favourite context to listen to the kind of music I play is either on the dancefloor or alone at home, where I can move freely. It definitely inspires movement in me.

PAN M 360: You’ve been part of Montreal’s DIY scene since the very beginning of your DJ career and are still very involved today, playing at the Parquette space on October 11. What, to you, is the importance of DIY spaces in the musical ecosystem, and do you have any ideas to ensure the scene’s longevity?

Honeydrip: I am a part of a collective called MORPH Sound System which was born out of a desire to see more women and queer folks embedded in sound system culture and through our workshops, give them the power to reclaim the technical spaces they deserve. October 11th is our first fundraiser, where we have programmed workshops, talks, music, and more. I will be performing but also presenting an interactive workshop with my friend Rían Adamian on “How to build a Speaker.”

I think Parquette is the perfect example of the power of the underground and how it is a representation of our community’s wants, needs, desires, and dreams. Through surveying and being active parts of the DIY culture, they established what Montreal needed most and created it so we are honoured to be hosting our event there. DIY and Sound System culture go hand in hand. Many people work together to achieve and the same amount of people benefit, not just those at the top. You find love, friendship, purpose, and magic (not to sound cheesy). I have no idea what the future looks like but it is worth it to keep living the special, real, and inspiring moments the DIY scene brings me.

PAN M 360: I loved reading your definition of a sound system, with the sound being the speakers and the system being the community of engineers, selectors, and audiences around the sound. With this definition in mind, what is your vision of a perfect sound system?

Honeydrip: I’ll answer this one in keywords: diverse, open source, boundary-pushing.

PAN M 360: For those who don’t know, Making Time XXV at the S.A.T. is a condensed version of the festival happening in Philadelphia, where Honeydrip played on Saturday. How did it go?

Honeydrip: It went great! I was playing at the Lot Radio Stage so my set was live streamed and will be posted soon for those who would like to rewatch it. I was invited by House of Paurro and she bought a bunch of bunny ears and distributed them to friends and people in the crowd so during my set I was wearing some bunny ears too which was fun and cute. The crowd was packed and receptive!

Photo by Felix Bonnevie

An untouchable figure in contemporary Canadian culture, renowned worldwide for four decades, Daniel Lanois could be satisfied, sticking to managing his immense reputation. That would be misunderstanding him: he prefers to continually pursue the quest for innovation and transmission that he has always followed.

A multi-instrumentalist and master producer (U2, Emmylou Harris, Peter Gabriel, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, The Neville Brothers, etc.), he is now focusing on his art. And his art is back with us to showcase his recent progress. Released in 2021, the songs from the album Heavy Sun could provide the platform for the launch of concerts that promise to be inspired in Quebec, starting with the one presented at the Palais Montcalm, this Friday, October 3, at 7:30 p.m.

Given his gigantic status, Dan Lanois could have avoided interviews, but it was quite different because the friendly conversation that follows reminds us of his humility and good nature.

Daniel Lanois : Bonjour Alain (in French)

PAN M 360 : Bonjour Daniel, ça va ?

Daniel Lanois : Oui, tout va bien. Je suis à Toronto. (in French)

PAN M 360: Do you live in Toronto now?

Daniel Lanois: It’s a little complicated. I have a studio in Toronto, a house in Jamaica and another location in the USA.

PAN M 360: Are you in the USA a lot these days?

Daniel Lanois: I have one agenda, wherever I am: to try to reach the highest level through my music and my songs. I always hope that the content and emotion of this music can touch hearts and maybe change people’s lives a little. That’s my contribution to the world. Otherwise, I could just stay on the patio talking… But I don’t have time for the patio, I’m still trying to do the best I can.

PAN M 360: For your return to Quebec, you will be with Jim Wilson and Jermaine Holmes, a trio that excels in harmonized singing and in the execution of your excellent blend of gospel, blues, folk-rock, Americana in the Lanois style, with a touch of reggae. All in the spirit of the album Heavy Sun (2021) with a touch of Rockets (2021)?

Daniel Lanois: You took the words right out of my mouth! I’m going to drink my coffee then (laughs). There will be all that and also, I’m bringing a whole electronic set on stage that I’ll use in addition to this music played with my musicians. I’m very excited, because we do things in the studio that are fascinating but that are not usually presented on stage, not in the same way anyway. It’s more expensive to produce on tour, but I still made the decision to do it, because I want to evolve my show by spreading some of my electronic experiments.

PAN M 360: Can we find out more?

Daniel Lanois: Yes, absolutely! This gear on stage is a bit like the Jamaican dub artist Mad Professor who can work with an 8-track on stage; you have the bass, you have the beat and you add things. With my gear I can mix on the spot, but more than that, I dub I have my pre-recorded echoes, the groove is for example classic Jamaican groove, I have effects and samples to add to it in real time. I organize the echoes myself, the samples and the dubs are mine.

I take songs and present them in a distinct context. Every night, different songs are played. Sometimes the dub will express itself in a certain way and I might think, wow, I’ve never had that before! So we’ll have a little fun with the electronics.

PAN M 360: We’ve seen it again since 2022 with the albums without sung lyrics (Player, Piano, Belladonna, Goodbye to Language, The Omni Series) You’ve always been interested in electronic and instrumental music, effects pedals, echo chambers, creative studio processes. In many of your productions, for other artists as well as for yourself, there’s often this dub / ambient attitude that colors the instrumentation and the Americana expression.

Daniel Lanois: Yes, it’s an area of expertise for me. It’s my devotion to this art form, so I’m very excited to bring these electronic elements to the stage. I think it will be entertaining for everyone.

And yes, it’s an important part of who I am, as you mentioned.

I dare to think of myself as an organic producer, and that goes back to the ambient production days with Eno. It’s very technological, but that doesn’t come to mind when you hear this music.

PAN M 360: Indeed, it is part of a whole. Holistic!

Daniel Lanois: I like your word “all” because we like things that fill the whole body. I like to perpetuate what I’ve done, while also leading new experiences. Exploration occupies a large part of what I do, but you have to be intelligent, that is, not just make sounds, noises. That is, find this useful posture where everyone benefits.

PAN M 360: You can count on a very large repertoire. Recent material as a priority? For example, if you take the electronic aspect, you recently made a beautiful album based on keyboards, perhaps you could also draw from the Heavy Sun album?

Daniel Lanois: I don’t know if we should expect anything specific. In any case, I’ll also have my pedal steel guitar with me, the same one I’ve had since I was young. I love playing it! There will surely be some beautiful vocal harmonies because my musicians are really capable of them – I’m thinking, among others, of Silverado, a song I wrote for my brother.

And since I’ll be in Quebec, I’ll possibly do Jolie Louise or O Marie, une chanson de tabac. You know, these bilingual songs have made their way to the southern United States, musicians from New Orleans have done their own version of Under A Stormy Sky, which delights me and encourages me to continue in this vein.

PAN M 360: No wonder the American Deep South likes it!

Daniel Lanois: I’m actually going to Nashville very soon to join Emmylou Harris. I plan to do a version of Jimi Hendrix’s May This Be Love with her. Emmylou Harris is celebrating the album Wrecking Ball with us. Malcolm Burn is also with us on stage. We’re doing a few dates there, including the Ryman Auditorium.

PAN M 360: The repertoire is vast, wherever you are: Jamaican roots and dub, electronica and North Americana.

Daniel Lanois: I can appreciate the Americana label because I come from this North American roots music. And I take responsibility for creating music of the future. It’s a bit like what you did with journalism by deciding to move away from what you were doing before.

PAN M 360: Exactly. Age is no excuse for ceasing to change. Today, for example, recommending music is becoming more difficult than criticizing it. You have to understand where you’re going, and you stop changing when you die. You’re 72 and you’re still searching, aren’t you?

Daniel Lanois: As you rightly say, criticism comes easily to mind, but… recommending and explaining music that you believe in and that can improve someone’s life, that’s journalism at its best for me. You always have to stay imaginative. You still have to explore and think about the possibilities that are open to you. That’s why I’m still here, I guess.

PAN M 360: And, I imagine, you have to do something else in life to nourish your music.

Daniel Lanois: Yes, I have other creative activities, such as photography. I am also involved in environmental issues, such as the plastic problem. I also work on multidisciplinary projects, notably with the writer Margaret Atwood.

PAN M 360: Can we talk about a major tour that will take you to Quebec and Montreal?

Daniel Lanois: As we speak, we’ve done about ten dates in Ontario, very nice little towns by the way. We drove rather than flew, because planes didn’t go where we were going. We saw the country, the rhythms of life, the farms, the speed of the cities… And soon, it will be Quebec and Montreal.

PAN M 360: Most artists your age and stature manage their own musical legacy until their death. That’s not exactly the case for you!

Daniel Lanois: We’ve already talked about the responsibility we have for both, our legacy and our explorations. You remain a researcher, and as long as that interest remains alive within you, every day is an opportunity for a new discovery. What can we do that’s new today?

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Codes d’accès, a Quebec organization dedicated to emerging composition since 1985, opens its 2025-2026 season on Monday, September 22 at the Sala Rossa with a program built around vocal music. In the first part, soprano and composer Rebecca Gray will offer a “recital of adventurous works” for solo voice, including pieces by renowned composers (Luciano Berio and Cathy Berberian) and two of her own compositions. More specifically, Rebecca Gray’s piece WTFJane Eyre is based on her connection with Charlotte Brontë and her fictional character Jane. The Montreal-based composer (originally from Ottawa) also worked with playwright Sarah Danielle Pitman, for whom this is her first opera experience.

In the second part of the program, new works by a collective of composers and performers draw inspiration from Barbara Strozzi’s (1619-1677) Baroque vocal work Lagrime mie to express their feelings about today’s reality, four centuries later. Dialogues avec Lagrime mie brings together four composers and seven emerging performers from the Montreal scene. Through the Baroque reference, these emerging artists seek “the translation of the poetic image, the reaction, the deconstruction, even the destruction of the piece,” thus exploring “the tension between hope and despair that runs through Barbara Strozzi’s work and still resonates strongly today.”

Monday September 22nd, SALA ROSSA, 7H30 PM, TICKETS AND INFS HERE

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PROGRAM

REBECCA GRAY

Rebecca Gray “WTF Jane Eyre” for solo voice, 2019 (8’)

Luciano Berio, Sequenza III for solo voice, 1966 (8 min.)

Cathy Berberian “Stripsody” for solo voice, 1966 (7 min)

Sarah Pitman and Rebecca Gray [title to be announced] for solo voice, 2025 (8 min)

LAGRIME MIE

Lily Koslow and Jules Bastin-Fontaine “Dialogues,” acousmatic piece, 2024 (18 min.)

Tom Lachance “Perché non isfogate il fier dolore” for flute, saxophone, synthesizer, violin, viola, and cello, 2025 (10 min.)

Audréanne Filion « and so i hold myself back and swallow the cry of a darkened sobbing » pour saxophone, synthétiseurs, flûte alto et électroniques, 2025 (10’)

Alex Huyghebaert, flute
Anne-Claude Hamel-Beauchamp, violin
Audréanne Filion, composition and cello
Felix Gauthier, trumpet
Jules Bastin-Fontaine, composition
Lily Koslow, composition and synthesizer
Magali Gavazzi-April, viola
Thomas Gauthier-Lang, saxophone
Tom Lachance, composition

On August 28, 2025, Joseph Edgar released The Songs of Parkton Miller Vol.1, his first English-language album after more than 20 years in the business. Having grown up speaking both languages, the Acadian artist has decided to share this other side of his culture with us today. It is also a return to his roots, with country-folk-blues tones reflecting his love of music, which was rekindled by a trip to Brazil. The heart is at the forefront! There are no bossa nova percussion or warm brass instruments here, but rather a desire to return to the essence of what makes playing music so enjoyable: simplicity and emotion. We spent a few moments with him to find out more about his vision, his inspirations, and the collaborations that led to this unique album. Joseph Edgar thus paves the way for his alter ego, Parkton Miller.

PAN M 360: Who is Parkton Miller and why did you immortalize him as the album title?

Joseph Edgar: I grew up in Moncton, in a neighborhood called Parkton, on Miller Street. And since there were maybe three French-speaking families out of about forty houses, when we played outside with the neighborhood kids, I started developing my English vocabulary very early on. And now, when I was releasing an entirely English-language album, I thought, “Okay, but what would my name be in English?” I even hesitated to put Joseph Edgar aside: I felt like I needed an alter ego to give me the right to make this album, solely in English. I finally decided to take that angle with the title.

PAN M 360: What did you want to share on this album?

Joseph Edgar: At first, everything happened very spontaneously. I mean, I went to Brazil for a few weeks (haha) and every night I went to see small local shows where there were these incredible singers and musicians who were overflowing with passion for their art. And who, purely and simply, far from the media and the spotlight, made music with their hearts. When I came back from my trip, the songs appeared and they came out in English, without necessarily being guided by a specific desire to say something, but rather by the feeling of pleasure I found in playing in Brazil. There’s also a synchronicity in that, for personal reasons, I’ve been spending a lot more time in New Brunswick lately, and I find myself launching this album, inspired by my roots in Moncton, while I’m back at my family home. At the end of the creative process, I realized that it was really an album about going back to my roots.

PAN M 360: I listened to it and I really like it! There’s a feeling of intimacy and closeness on the album that makes it all the more authentic. How did the recording go at home, where we sometimes hear sounds in the background?

Joseph Edgar: It came together really naively. I was recording in my living room, getting inspiration on my balcony, and tracking, sometimes in the middle of the night, haha, on a small guitar that didn’t sound too loud so as not to wake up my girlfriend (haha). It was a really intimate and quiet process, and we thought it would be interesting to let the listener experience that closeness.

PAN M 360: How did the album’s production go with your collaborators?

Joseph Edgar: Well, after the “all by myself at home” phase (no one knew I was doing this), I came out of my creative space and sent the demos to Ben Bouchard. And then to Jo, Jo Laf, and Sunny Duval, because I could see myself doing these songs with them. At first, I wanted us to go into the studio and redo it and apply for a grant and all the usual stuff, but everyone was like, “Wow, these demos are really effective, we should get together and polish them up as is right now because otherwise time will pass and you’ll start second-guessing yourself” (they know me well, haha!). Since the essence was already there and the emotion was already coming through, we didn’t want to make the mistake of overproducing and distorting the songs. In the end, this album was a translation of the vibe I had witnessed in Brazil: making music from the heart with a stripped-down approach, close to its original spirit.

PAN M 360: Tell us a little about your collaborators, Benoit Bouchard and Sunny Duval, Jocelyn Gagné, and Jonathan Lafrance.

Joseph Edgar: I met Jocelyn Gagné in Lafayette, Louisiana, in 2010 through the Breastfeeders, of which Sunny was also a member. Jocelyn and I really hit it off, and shortly after, he contacted me to say I should come to Montreal to make an album. I went, we made demos for what became the album Interstice—he was the producer—and that’s when we became best friends, brothers. I love him dearly, he’s become my #1 partner in crime in Montreal, both personally and musically. As for Sunny, we get together whenever we can, here and there, on projects when we have the chance. He’s another one of my go-to guys. Then there’s Benoit Bouchard. Since 2018, I think, he’s been mixing all my albums and helping with the arrangements. Finally, Jo is my boy, my drummer for the past 6-7 years and a true friend as well. These are all people I can count on, who have seen me crash, get back up, etc.! They are really the people I share the most with, the ones I confide in the most: my musical family!

PAN M 360: There’s a definite return to country-folk roots here. Was that something you wanted to do at this point in time, or did it develop over time?

Joseph Edgar: Seven songs came to me when I got back from my trip, and then I remembered that there were two songs I had recorded a few years ago and put away in a drawer, waiting for the right moment to release them. Sometimes songs come to you while you’re writing, and you flush them because it’s not the right time! I’d also had the experience of putting an English song on a French album in the past, and I didn’t think it fit, so this time I really wanted to group them together and present them as a collection.

PAN M 360: Does writing in English come as easily to you as writing in French?

Joseph Edgar: It’s important for me to work in French and to be one of those who defend the French language in a minority environment, but at some point, I’ve released eight albums and several EPs, all in French… I told myself that I now had the right to make an album in English, since English is also part of my identity and my expression. I gave myself a freedom that I hadn’t given myself before. In the end, it’s the song that decides which language it will use to express itself, and that’s really what guides me.

PAN M 360: This is your ninth album. Has the process evolved for you over time? Do you have a different perspective on it now?

Joseph Edgar: I think that sometimes you can end up feeling a bit “stuck” with the pressure from labels. The industry has changed a lot, network marketing… On a personal level, we try to do what we want anyway, but there are often constraints. And with this album, I’m really going back to why I started making music 20 years ago… if not 30 years ago with my first band, 0 Degrees Celsius, in the 90s. It’s directly related to the vibe of authenticity that I felt in Brazil, which brought me back to why I started making music. And so there’s a kind of resistance because I did it in exactly the opposite way to how you’re supposed to do it (haha): I did it independently through my production company Cris du Goéland. The cover is from my personal archive and I released the album without any fanfare, letting it gently sink into people’s ears.

PAN M 360: Where did the album artwork, which you mentioned earlier, come from?

Joseph Edgar: This is a photo that was taken of me spontaneously, on my way back from L’Espace Public in Hochelaga, in the middle of the night, by my friend Lili de Grâce. It was during the “blood red moon” in February when I had just arrived from Brazil and was walking back home, so it captures the precise moment of that contrast upon my return. It’s a real photo of me, where, once again, we are close to the essential.

PAN M 360: What are you cooking up next? Where can we catch you performing soon?

Joseph Edgar: In recent weeks, I’ve been playing a lot in the Moncton area, but I’m traveling around a bit this fall, to Rimouski, Edmundston, whether it’s with a band or in more intimate solo shows, which I really enjoy doing! As for new songs, well, there are two dormant songs that I put on this album, but I have plenty more (haha)! Also, naming this album Vol. 1 opens the door for me to develop in that direction. Now I have an avenue for those songs. I like to let things happen, I don’t “chase” songs… I’m always surprised and filled with gratitude when they appear, but it certainly won’t be long before I get back to it. Even if, for the moment, I’m letting this album settle and take its place.