Interviews Archive - Page 24 of 114

Since last year, the FLUX Festival has been presenting its artistic program on the Montreal experimental music scene. Until October 11, 2025, Flux offers a unique mix of concerts, workshops, round tables, presentations, conferences, and launches, all focused on performance, landscape, and politics.

Several local and international artists will bring this program to life, kicking off on October 2 with Gabo Champagne, followed by a rapid-fire lineup until the 11th, featuring Navajo artist Raven Chacon, African-American percussionist Andrew Cyrille, Thai composer Liew Niyomkarn, Argentine saxophonist Camilla Nebbia, and more.

Arts in the Margins oversees FLUX, an event based on partnerships with other players in the field: daphne, EAF, Innovations en Concert, International Institute forCritical Studies in Improvisation, Interzone, Urban Culture Laboratory, Le Vivier, Mardi Spaghetti, No Hay Banda, Québec Musiques Parallèles, Canadian Network for New Music , Small Scale Music.

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Depuis l’an dernier le Festival FLUX soumet sa proposition artistique dans le paysage montréalais des musiques expérimentales. Jusqu’au au 11 octobre 2025, Flux souhaite offrir un mélange unique de concerts, d’ateliers, de tables rondes, de présentations, de causeries et de lancements, le tout axé sur la performance, le paysage et la politique.

Plusieurs artistes locaux et internationaux feront vivre cette programmation et ça commence vraiment le 2 octobre avec Gabo Champagne, et ce sera un feu roulant jusqu’au 11, avec l’artiste Navajos Raven Chacon, le percussionniste afro-américain Andrew Cyrille, la compositrice thaïlandaise Liew Niyomkarn, la saxophoniste argentine Camilla Nebbia et plus encore.

L’organisme Arts in the Margins chapeaute FLUX, un événement fondé sur des partenariats avec d’autres joueurs du milieu : daphne, EAF, Innovations en Concert, Institut international pour les études critiques en improvisation, Interzone, Laboratoire de culture urbaine, Le Vivier, Mardi Spaghetti, No Hay Banda, Québec Musiques Parallèles, Réseau canadien pour les musiques nouvelles , Small Scale Music.

INFOS ET BILLETS / INFOS & TICKETS HERE

Originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kizaba performs on stages both nationally and internationally. Named Radio-Canada’s Revelation of the Year for 2024-2025, he has had a very busy summer and is already preparing to hit the road again, heading for WOMEX. The show he will present at Studio TD will be a preview of what he will be doing at WOMEX, so we will have an exclusive in a way. The man known as the ‘pioneer of Congolese electro music’ spoke with Keithy Antoine of PAN M 360 about his dizzying career evolution.

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Lavanya is an artist who needs no introduction. She is often seen at Vision Diversité events, but also elsewhere in the city and province. She is accompanied by musicians from Brazil, Mali, Bangladesh and Haiti, and her music incorporates all these influences. With her background in classical Indian singing taught by her father, she has added Quebec and North American music with her own unique touch. Keithy Antoine spoke with her to learn more about her career, and she will be at Studio TD on Sunday, 5 October to close the 15th edition.

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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 28th. As is the case every year, PAN M 360 asked him to identify the 5 daily must-haves of his artistic direction. Here are the priority choices for the 5th and final day of POP MTL 2025!

Do Make Say Think

“Do Make Say Think is, in my opinion, Sunday’s top pick, the biggest deal. I’ve been a huge fan of this band on the Constellation label since 1997; the last time I tried to invite them, the concert unfortunately had to be canceled. Experimental, post-jazz, improvisational, both jammy and constructed, defies all categories. I haven’t seen them in a long time; they’ve been working since 1995. POP’s bio tells us that Do Make Say Think established themselves as one of the pioneers of post-rock, then migrated to other hybrids.”

Mellonella

“Mellonella is the band of Neptune Lightburn, daughter of Natalia and Murray of the Dears. It’s one of the very good emerging bands in Montreal, very proggy, punk too. There’s currently a whole emerging scene of artists in their early twenties. My 16-year-old daughter keeps me informed because she’s very involved in this scene. The lineup at Le P’tit Ours today is a testament to that.”

Mellonella’s bio reads: “We are inspired by King Crimson, ELP, Genesis, and Yes, but also by modern experimentalists like Black Midi and Geordie Greep. Our music features many odd time signatures, complicated song structures, and long-form compositions.”

Fanfargenign

“The parade kicks off at 1 p.m. from the Social Club. Performers include Josh Dolgin’s (Socalled) marching band. Fanfargenign is the name of a Yiddish folk music project, a klezmer marching band experience rooted in Yiddish traditions. With Josh as ringmaster, this is the main band of the Mile End Parade, also featuring Hawt Dawg, Avery Jane, Fraud Perry, and guests.”

Sound Bath

“Sunday PM, the Sound Bath is led by Lisa Iwanycki (Creature), Robbie Kuster (Pat Watson, René Lussier, etc.), Laurel Sprengelmeyer (Little Scream), and promises to be a calming and healing event. We take off our shoes, close our eyes…”

Unessential Oils

“Unessential Oils is the new project from Warren Spicer, lead singer of the Montreal band Plants and Animals. The project draws inspiration from jazz, folk, Tropicália, Jorge Ben, Daniel Lanois, Miles Davis, and more. In a way, it manages to recreate the original magic of Plants and Animals: that open, experimental, folkie side that’s also prone to improvisation.”

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Before their show at Théâtre Fairmount to open the POP Montréal festival last Wednesday, Siggi invited me to talk with two of the core members of múm, Gunnar Örn Tynes and Sigurlaug Gísladóttir. They greeted me warmly and generously answered my questions about their creative practice. Their album History of Silence, released just a couple of days prior, gives a unique twist to their hybrid instrumentation of strings and electronics. In orchestral fashion, the two worlds meet in long swells reminiscent of the collaboration between Floating Points and the London Symphony Orchestra—a soothing wave that calms the mind.

In this interview, Gunnar and Sigurlaug discuss the album’s production, the role of live electronics, and their approach to performance.

PAN M 360: I think where we could start is the most obvious announcement from múm, which is that you released an album on September 19th, just a couple days ago. First of all, just talking about the title, History of Silence. It’s very evocative. How did you get to this title?

Gunnar: Well, we love having names of songs and albums that kind of invoke thoughts in the listener or people that perceive it. So we like not to have a strict definition of things. It’s more up to the listener. But I mean, there were a couple of titles floating around, but this somehow won. I mean, it is intriguing. The album also has moments of silence in it. And obviously, we haven’t released an album for 13 years or something. So maybe it’s referring to that silence as well.

Sigurlaug: There’s definitely a correlation between negative space in music, where you allow for silence to be a part of the composition, like the absence of something. So the title sort of hints at it, but nothing is literal in our way of doing stuff. There’s many ways to interpret the title. And the most fun is to hear what other people take from it. If someone listens and then puts it together, and they come up with a context that might be new to us, which is always part of the journey of releasing art. It’s never complete until there’s someone else involved also—an audience.

Gunnar: Our second album is called Finally We’re No One, which is a really hard thing to explain as well. But somehow people get it. It has a meaning, but the meaning is a little bit abstract and open to interpretation. And once it’s interpreted, I think that someone has their own emotional attachment to it.

PAN M 360: You mentioned negative spaces. I want to develop on that a bit, because I think one thing that’s very particular about your band is that there are a lot of you. So I guess in order for that to work, everybody has to be very aware of these negative spaces. You’d figure that with that many people, there’d always be a sound going on. But in your music, there’s actually this very quiet sensitivity. So how did this come about? Is it because of the people you choose? Is there an orchestration happening when you’re playing?

Gunnar: No, we’re very democratic and liberal.

Sigurlaug: I have to say, there’s a benefit in the two main composers. There are two people for whom it is your project, and people come and collaborate. There’s not so many cooks in the kitchen, so to speak. There’s not too many cooks. There are two cooks in the kitchen, and then a bunch of sous-chefs. So that also really helps the direction. It would be a lot if we had to be democratic about every decision in the minutia of it. And for us, the other people, it’s so fun to be in this project led by them. I would say there are two people that have the power to edit it down to where you do have space. So that’s super helpful in this specific process. But then when we do play live, it’s a different animal because then it feels more like a band, and we all contribute. It’s not like they are so much the boss when we’re playing live. Then we have a better democracy there. But in the recording process, it’s really helpful to have people there.

PAN M 360: Talking about the live aspect, we’re going to see your show tonight, so it’s a bit relevant. This is a question that regularly comes up: when you’ve released an album and you’ve put a lot of time into production—it can be precise, it can be very dynamically contrasted—when you’re approaching playing a live show, like you were saying, now everyone is contributing a bit more, are you looking to reproduce as close as possible to what is on the album? Or do you have more of an improvisational approach?

Gunnar: We usually let our songs get their own life. So they’re kind of reborn when we start to play them live. And very often they change a lot after playing them live; especially for years, some songs we radically change. So they get a second life when we play them live. It sounds weird, but… There are obviously some parts we want to adhere to, but now we’re more free with it, I think. We kind of let them sail the direction they want to sail.

Sigurlaug: And it also depends on the line-up of the band, because it’s changed so much over the years. Some people are more improvisational, like Róberta, who is our amazing guitarist now—she almost never plays the same thing, which is a delight for everyone on stage because she’s so incredible.

PAN M 360: I had a question about electronic music instruments. You’ve been playing with electronic instruments for over a decade. What is your relationship to progress in this field of technology? How do you handle “obsolete” technology?

Gunnar: There are a few gears that you have to give up because you just can’t use them anymore. But, yeah, mainly samplers. I mean, analog stuff is just as relevant. I think, like any other instrument, it’s always fun to get a toy that excites you and gives you inspiration. Sometimes it’s new technology. Sometimes it’s just old technology that I haven’t experienced before. Sadly, a lot of new electronic instruments are geared towards a very specific type of music. So a lot of electronic instruments are kind of made to make a certain type of music; a lot of it is kind of geared towards dance music or clubbing music. So we usually kind of go on the other side. Weirder. The reason why we’re the band we are today, live performing at least, is that we started with a lot of electronic stuff and had like live MIDI sequencers on stage and we’re doing that. But then we ended up just kind of finding it a little bit boring just to stand behind electronic instruments and just push buttons. That’s why we kind of started playing instruments with the electronics, because sequencing is something you do at home anyway. You’re living a lie if you’re pretending that you’re doing it live. I mean, you could, but it’s sequencing. It’s a pattern that you pre-define.

Sigurlaug: It’s also just a crazy passion to have these huge tables of synthesizers. If you’re touring like that, it’s a bit nuts. And it’s also just so much more alive when you have these string instruments mostly. And there’s dynamics. We are listening to each other in a very different way. It’s a different way of communicating through the instruments. And that’s appealing to us in this context. Because it’s not like the electronic elements are not being presented; the actual instrument just doesn’t have to be on stage.

PAN M 360: Talking about how technology can shape the process, this album was made a lot over long distances. Is that correct?

Gunnar: We started it all together in one room. And then we kind of refined it over long distances. We spent time editing it down and kind of shaping the songs a little bit and then recording vocals.

Sigurlaug: My favorite part was we were sort of in a time crunch at the very end, and then I was doing backing vocals in Athens and Gyða was in Reykjavik, and we were trying to do it at the same time and sending it within a couple of hours. I was sending it over, she was over there doing her part, sending it back, and then back and forth. It was really quick ping-pong. Normally you’d do your vocal recordings, send them on, hear back after a while. But that was kind of an exciting little evening of shooting vocals back and forth across the ocean.

PAN M 360: A question for the chef: Talking about this process of sending tracks back and forth and this long bubbling process of almost 13 years of coming up with these songs and ideas, how do you decide when to turn off the stove? When do you decide that a song is done?

Gunnar: Very often, it’s just setting and booking a mastering studio. That’s the day you have to be done. It’s the same with visual artists. They just book a show and then you just have to put it on the wall at some point. Otherwise, you can just let it simmer forever. Sometimes, you know. It’s different. Some songs, you’re just like, this is done. You don’t need anything more. But some songs, you kind of twist them around until the last minute. It’s hard. Especially with your own stuff. I’ve done a lot of production and recording for other bands. Then you can kind of have a clear vision and help them to do that. But with your own stuff, you get a little bit cuckoo in the head.

Sigurlaug: You’re lost in the sauce.

PAN M 360: Speaking about the evolution of your live sets, what’s the energy that you’re bringing? Is there a message that you’re trying to bring through the live sets?

Gunnar: I think by default, we’re not cool. We’re not one of these bands that’s trying to be cool. If we’re cool, it’s by luck. We’re playing, we’re having fun, we’re just doing our thing. We’re not trying to put on a show. I don’t know, it doesn’t make sense. We’re not trying to pretend to be anything else than we are. Sometimes we come off as… playfulness, maybe. I don’t know. It’s hard to say.

Sigurlaug: I feel very grateful to be in this band that you’re in. I’m pretty happy to be spending time together. It’s basically just fun.

PAN M 360: I think that’s a good note to end it on. Your music is playful, you’re having fun, you’re not pretending to be anything. It definitely just shows; just being here, the band feels super close, like you’ve been friends forever.

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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 are the must-sees for Saturday, September 27!

Ribbon Skirt

“Ribbon Skirt is one of my favorite bands from Montreal, and I’ve been following them for three or four years. Every time I hear them and see them again, this band has gotten even better. It’s a great formula, post-punk rock and Indigenous music. Led by Anishinaabe musician Tashiina Buswa, they released Bite Down on Mint Records in April 2025. Against a rock backdrop, the singer raises themes of memory, Indigenous identity, and historical issues.”

Dilettante

I saw Dilettante at South by Southwest and loved her. She told me she had applied to Pop MTL. It was really cool. I don’t know if she’s coming alone or with her excellent band, but I know she plays the saxophone, which she also uses in loops. It’s pop, but it’s a strange, fun, arty, very rhythmic kind of pop. Dilettante is the pseudonym of multi-instrumentalist Francesca Pidgeon, based in Manchester, UK.”

Elle Barbara

I think her new album, Black Space, is one of the best of the year, but I think Elle Barbara is one of Montreal’s most special artists. She has her own thing, her own universe. I’ve been supporting her since she started her career, and she’s one of those artists who pushes the boundaries of pop. There are also elements of classical, punk, R&B, disco, synth-pop, glam rock, and other unexpected combinations. The Polaris in 2026? Maybe! Elle Barbara is a transgender artist who excels in art pop, is interested in experimental theater, has done community work, and remains a central figure in Montreal’s underground scene.

DAM

DAM is definitely a must-see on Saturday night. This Palestinian rap group, one of my favorites at POP this year, was one of the first hip-hop groups in Palestine and the Arab world, and they make excellent hip-hop. Today, the perspective of Palestinian citizens of Israel is based on a deeply meaningful identity that is of the utmost importance. And their music is really cool. DAM means “eternal” in Arabic. Formed in the late 1990s, Tamer Nafar, Suhell Nafar, and Mahmood Jrere wanted to tell their story through hip-hop.”

Soltera

“Soltera, from Los Angeles, will be playing for free this Saturday afternoon. I saw this band for the first time at the Slut Island festival in Montreal (held in October). Very cool, Latin, electronic, and punk. Soltera is made up of outsiders in synth music. Soltera was initially the project of American-Colombian artist Tania Ordoñez. Soltera became a dynamic duo with Pacoima Techno on co-production and vocals.”

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Sarah Rossy has cherished this project for eight years. Putting the pieces of the puzzle together, financing, finding support, refining the production, recruiting performers, arranging, producing, recording, mixing, and presenting the material for Lucid on the stage of the Ministère, on a Thursday, September 25th, in front of her extended community, her family, and her close friends.

Sarah Rossy is not ordinary.

A trained pianist and singer, passionate about modern classical and modern jazz, in tune with the orchestral pop of her time, the Montrealer performed most of the tracks from Lucid, an album released the same evening, surrounded by 10 musicians and choristers, among the most competent of their generation in Montreal.

Like her colleague and friend Thanya Iyer, who was also a backing singer for this magical evening, Sarah Rossy offers an ambitious, rich and invigorating chamber pop. She chooses her colors: contemporary jazz, free improvisation, prog, avant-pop, synth-pop, vocalizations from the Levant (given her Lebanese origins), Great American Songbook, soft noise, all melted into a melting pot of virtuosity and orchestral cohesion. Superb integration!

It’s hard to predict what will become of this hot recording project, so skillfully transcribed on stage. A singing teacher and artist, she happily pursues her two careers simultaneously and tries to take her art further.

PAN M 360: Such an ambitious project at the beginning of a career takes a long time to complete. If we go back to the origins of its production?

Sarah Rossy: Part of the album was produced in a more traditional way, in 2017. Over the following years, we really reworked it, we also did a lot of digital production. These many layers of studio time took us a lot of hours!

PAN M 360: So you worked on this album for several years, then you took it further with a director accomplice.

Sarah Rossy: At the end of the process, in 2023, I decided I really wanted to finish the album. So I went to New York, where I have a good friend there, guitarist Jack Broza, who became the co-producer of the album. We worked together in his small studio for four days, and we went over all the layers of this music together: vocals, guitar, percussion, electronics, etc. I can’t even count them!

PAN M 360: A whole community of musicians has supported you on this long journey. Tell us about it!

Sarah Rossy: Yes, the album features some of the musicians from the original lineup I had when I started working on it: Frédéric-Alexandre Michaud (violin), Victor De Coninck (viola), Natalie Yergatian (drums, percussion) and Jonathan Arsenault (bass). These are all musicians I met through McGill University (Schulich School of Music), incredible humans from all over Canada – Gaspé, Ottawa, Acadia, Vancouver, etc. A pan-Canadian group, in a way. Each one was involved with incredible influences. I really chose those I worked with based on their personality and their heart. And then this group stopped until Jack Broza (guitar, bass, co-production) helped me finally conclude.

PAN M 360: Listening to your music, we quickly understand that you have a background in jazz and modern classical music. This doesn’t stop you from making songs close to chamber pop, from being in tune with the times. So, how does an educated musician create songs that are somewhere between cutting-edge music and pop?

Sarah Rossy: That’s a really good question. I think this album was really challenging because the songs I wrote were pop songs. When I was studying at the time, I felt a lot of judgment about what I was creating. You know, the academic way can be very cerebral, it’s less from the heart.

PAN M 360: Yes, musicians who try to master the past perfectly do not necessarily create something new.

Sarah Rossy: Exactly. But I’ve been really grateful to have incredible mentors who have shown me this open-mindedness, despite being in an academic space. People like John Hollenbeck and Christine Jensen. I’m so grateful! Because they’ve shown me that, yes, you don’t have to recreate what’s already happened—which I also love doing, by the way. And yes, you can have your own voice. Having mentors has been key.

PAN M 360: Finding the balance between the emotion of a song and the depth of the composition is indeed not easy in this context. How do you achieve this balance?

Sarah Rossy: In this particular case, it took a lot of thought, concentration, a powerful connection to my heart and not just my brain.

PAN M 360: As a singer, did you receive a classical education?

Sarah Rossy: I never studied classical singing. I started out as a pianist. And I started singing while I was studying piano.

PAN M 360: And you became a teacher.

Sarah Rossy: I teach music, mostly voice, sometimes jazz history, sometimes. This semester, I’m teaching four voice classes. Sometimes I teach music history, music appreciation, music literature…

PAN M 360: How did you want to transcribe this recording for this concert at the Ministère?

Sarah Rossy: I decided to mirror the process of this album. It was a long, collaborative effort, so I invited the original lineup, partnering with my most recent collaborators – Tommy Crane (drums), Claire Devlin (saxophone), Thanya Iyer (vocals), Ruiqi Wang (vocals) and Corey Gulkin (vocals).

PAN M 360: Extended Family!

Sarah Rossy: It’s incredible! It’s a huge circle of sharing and creative support. So 10 people on stage. We worked hard all week to adapt the material. We left space in the songs to breathe better and improvise. The intention behind all of this is the expression of our love and dedication to music. I’m so grateful that these wonderful artists made the trip for me, for this evening.

PAN M 360: And here we are at the top of something.

Sarah Rossy: It’s like a ceremony. So far, this album is the main legacy of my career.

PAN M 360: This means you are ready for the next steps!

Sarah Rossy: I hope so, yes. It’s my baby!

PAN M 360: What makes you proud?

Sarah Rossy: To have followed through with my ideas, without compromise. And to have been part of this extraordinary community of artists, all so important to me. So I think I honored the process by bringing them together on stage.

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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.

Publicité panam

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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