For the very first time, British composer Howard Skempton, one of the minimalists most appreciated by both specialists and the general public, is in Montreal. The veteran composer is visiting us for the Suoni per il popolo festival. Skempton is a specialist in small formats, but above all in a deceptive simplicity and an emphasis on melody and tonality (his music has been described as “the emancipation of consonance”, which was a form of avant-gardism in the 1960s, when the highly demanding and dissonant approaches of Stockhausen and company reigned supreme). He will be with the Quatuor Bozzini in a not-to-be-missed concert showcasing his sparing, highly accessible music, but beneath which lies a rich complexity. This is your chance to discover (if you haven’t already done so) a major contemporary composer who is above all very engaging.
Returning to the pleasure of active listening, settling into a room that’s totally conducive to immersive listening. At Centre Phi, we built Habitat Sonore, a 16-speaker room with a Dolby Atmos mixing system for optimal active listening to music. Several listening programs are put forward, including a recent sound documentary on Daft Punk’s Random Access Memory, an experimental re-reading of the band Wake Island’s Born To Leave album, and very soon the MOOD RING album by singer KALLITECHNIS, not to mention the main topic of this conversation, a summer playlist of 15 songs by Montreal artists, superbly remixed for the purposes of the exercise. For PAN M 360, our colleague Salima Bouaraour talks to Phi Centre’s creative sound supervisor, Philippe Rochefort, and Phi Centre programming director, Renelle Desjardins.
Pretty Privilege, aka Audrey Kaye, is a Montreal-based DJ and founder of microrave, a FLINTA* mix & party series. She is also a resident of LATEX, the city’s premiere kink rave. Known as a transgender artist and deeply involved in the electronic LBGTQ+ scene, she simply aims joy and sassiness for her next set at Piknic Electronik on June 16. Keithy Antoine had a lovely chat with her for PAN M 360.
Now based in California, Alberta-based composer Sarah Davachi has been breaking new ground in the world of experimental music for the past decade. Often described as drone or ambient, Davachi’s work is much more than that. A patient and attentive ear will quickly perceive the subtle movements of the sound mass at play, whether it comes from instrumental or electronic sources. His music is as soothing as it is complex, inviting contemplation. His piece, “Three Unisons for Four Voices”, which will be premiered in Montreal on June 13 by No Hay Banda in the context of Suoni Per Il Popolo.
Sarah Davachi competes in the creation of this 65-minute work commissioned from Davachi for violin, cello, bass clarinet, trombone, ondes Martenot and percussion. Three Unisons for Four Voices will be performed by Geneviève Liboiron, Audréanne Filion, Lori Freedman, Kalun Leung, Daniel Áñez and Noam Bierstone, and will be presented in parallel with a concert by Egyptian producer, vocalist and sound artist Nadah El Shazly, accompanied by Montreal harpist Sarah Pagé.
In all courtesy Sara Davachi took the time to talk about her recent work with Laurent Bellemare for PAN M 360.
PAN M 360: If we had to sum up your musical approach, we could say that you work with sound as your basic material and explore its parameters and potential variations. What exactly happens when you start composing a new piece? What comes first in the process and what tools or instruments do you use first?
Sarah Davachi: This can vary considerably depending on the work. In general, there’s already some kind of idea. I think at a certain point, when you’re working on pieces, it’s more about the concepts that guide things than the specifics of each piece. I have a Word document that just contains pages of ideas or concepts about certain types of pieces I want to write or certain musical ideas that interest me.When the opportunity to write a piece arises, I can choose according to the requirements of the commission. It’s also largely a question of logistics. In this case, for example, No Hay Banda was not in a position to ask for a longer piece.
Some ensembles need a 10-minute piece or something like that. That can radically change what I can do. Then there’s the instrumentation. Sometimes it depends on whether I’m working alone. In that case I have a lot of flexibility, but I’m also limited when it comes to playing myself. In that case I usually go for a keyboard instrument. Or I get several people together to play chamber music that I wouldn’t be able to play myself. On the other hand, in the case of commissions like Three Unisons for Four Voices, there is a specific instrumentation.
This piece features percussion, which is not something I have as much experience with as with other instruments. It was really a different way of thinking about the ideas I could incorporate, and also a reflection on how to incorporate percussion into the way I work. It usually starts with an idea, and then when the opportunity to write a piece arises, I might think “Oh, this would be a good way to try this idea, or this would be a good place to work on this kind of sound”. So it really depends on the context, I think, but in general, it starts with an idea.
PAN M 360: On the subject of the relationship between instrumental and electronic music in your work: is there one of these worlds that predominates in your music, whether in practice or in the way you think about music? How do you handle the combination of the two?
Sarah Davachi: I’m glad you make that distinction. For me, acoustic and electronic sound sources are pretty much equivalent. I don’t make any distinction between them.are just sounds, whether they come out of an instrument or a loudspeaker,and I work with those sounds in pretty much the same way.
I started composing electroacoustically and I think it still dominates the way I think about music. When I’m thinking about a piece or even writing it, it’s very important to be able to go back and forth when I’m writing for an ensemble. Or to be able to hear myself when I’m working solo. For me, it’s a very electroacoustic way of thinking about sound;Sara Davachi: I’m glad you make that distinction. For me, acoustic and electronic sound sources are pretty much equivalent. They’re just sounds, whether they’re coming out of an instrument or a loudspeaker, and I work with those sounds in pretty much the same way.
I started composing electroacoustically, and I think it still dominates the way I think about music. When I’m thinking about a piece or even writing it, it’s very important to be able to go back and forth if I’m writing for an ensemble. Or to be able to hear myself when I’m working solo. For me it’s a very electroacoustic way of thinking about sound.
Work from the sound, then work backwards from the sound, saying “I like this part where the sound does this” or “I don’t think this part works. Let’s change it this way”. This perspective is the same as if you were working in a digital audio workstation with sound samples.
You’re always working through listening. However, I think that some composers are perhaps more interested in ideas than in the actual sound. For them, the concept of the ideas is more important and the final sound is just a by-product. For me it’s the other way round: it’s always the sound at the end of the idea that counts.
Sometimes the collaborators will record recorded sounds on their instruments, and then I go back to my studio and cut them into little fragments and make a piece out of them, composing them in reverse. So I will compose an electroacoustic piece and then go back and think: “OK, how can I notate this piece so that it can be played acoustically? “I have a lot of pieces that are designed that way.
On the other hand, when I write for ensembles, I’m very keen to leave plenty of room for manoeuvre. In this sense, it’s the opposite of what electroacoustic music is, as in the case of an acousmatic piece that exists only by itself and in its single iteration. When I write for an ensemble, I like to leave a lot of space for the musicians to listen while they play live and make decisions, make choices and have the piece vary according to these elements.
PAN M 360: You will be presenting for the first time Three Unisons for Four Voices at Suoni Per Il Popolo, a work commissioned by No Hay Banda. What can you tell us about the genesis and overall process of your latest piece?
Sarah Davachi: Lately, I’ve been very interested in unisons. I’m always interested in ideas that seem very simple, but can actually be very complex when you focus on them. I think unison is one of those ideas. Several instruments play the same thing, but it doesn’t feel like one thing. The complexity increases a little when several people are doing the same thing. So I started with this idea. I think you can extend unison to the idea that it’s not just a repeated note, but a repeated phrase or segment. What does it mean to hear the same thing, and how can it be used? I’ve been thinking a lot about the use of tape delay, the idea of having something recorded that comes back and repeats itself at address.You can really stretch it so it doesn’t feel like it’s repeating itself. The idea is to build a kind of polyphonic music from the idea of repetition. That was the idea behind this piece.
When you have a large instrumentation, it can be very tempting to do everything at once. I think it’s actually more difficult to divide it into two parts. You need some things to happen and some things not to happen at the same time, not for everyone to play everything at once. So I wanted to explore this possibility and divide the piece into three parts, each with different pairs of instruments playing the same melodies. Of course, the musicians play the piece at their own pace. I might give them 10 minutes to play a long series of notes, but they choose their rhythm in terms of specific articulations. So they can listen to the other person, but I also suggest that they repeat certain bars so that there’s a shift. For me, it’s an interesting way of thinking about how these notes, which occur in unison towards the beginning, start to drift apart and then come back together at different times.
PAN M 360: You recently collaborated with the Bozzini String Quartet on ” Long Gradius”, a four-movement piece, also published with alternative instrumental versions. Did this work present you with any particular challenges or new working methods?
Sarah Davachi: As I said earlier, I come from this tradition of electroacoustic writing. Before this piece, I was working with ensembles and writing music for small ensembles, but for the most part, it was for ensembles that I was part of. I was also working on a piece in the studio, and it was in the studio that I made the decisions about how the piece was going to unfold. As I said, there’s a kind of dichotomy between the way I conceive music. The electroacoustic method is more fixed, whereas when I work with ensembles, it’s almost the opposite.
The result of “Long Gradius” is something I incorporate into almost every chamber piece I write now. It comes from my live performances, where I’d write a score for myself and say “okay, five minutes into the performance, I must have done this”. Then I’d go to the next group and say “here’s what you need to do and we’ll give you 10 minutes to do it”. But then, in those 10 minutes, you can decide how much time you’re going to spend on each of those specific things. It’s this way of thinking about manipulating time in a concert and how it can completely change the composition, when it’s not just one person making these decisions, but rather a group of people who can each say to each other “ok, I’ve got a minute to change a note here”.So you listen to what’s going on around you and say to yourself “ok, this harmony we’re having right now sounds nice. So maybe I’ll wait a bit before changing the note. Or you might say ‘the next note I play is going to sound a bit different, so maybe we’ll change it sooner. “And that will change depending on the space where the piece is played.
I also wrote the piece by asking the performers to make decisions, both in terms of timing and flexibility of timing, but also in terms of the notes they play. Indeed, in most of “Long Gradius”, the musicians have to choose between two or three notes they can play at any one time. I find it really interesting that it’s the same piece every time and you recognize it as such, but that each time it’s a little different and there are different harmonies and things like that. I’d worked with that in previous pieces, but I think this is the first time I’ve formalized it as a compositional style.
PAN M 360: I’ve read your music described as “experimental ambient music that almost anyone can enjoy”. Do you agree with that, and if so, is that part of your intention?
Sarah Davachi: I don’t know if I agree with that or not. There are two things that frustrate me about these kinds of sentiments, I suppose. First of all, I really don’t like to think of my music as ambient. I find it really weird that people call it ambient because for me, ambient music is music that’s easy to ignore, a kind of background. Maybe it’s me putting my ego into it, but I don’t see my music as wallpaper at all. I see it as… I don’t really like the term “deep listening”, I think you have to listen very carefully. And even though they’re long pieces, there’s a structure in most of them. And that’s just the way I compose. I’m not saying that this kind of music always has to have a structure, but the pieces I write have a beginning and an end. It’s not the kind of thing where you go in and out of a piece and it will always be the same. I think of my music more as minimalist music. But it’s still music you’re supposed to listen to in a certain way.
As for my music being easy to appreciate, I don’t know. I guess I can’t really comment on that because I enjoy it, but it’s funny to think that it’s music that everyone can enjoy because it actually seems pretty inaccessible to me in a lot of ways. Especially the longer tracks, like “Long Gradius” for example. I definitely wouldn’t classify it as music that everyone can enjoy. I think if you like that sort of thing, then you’ll like it. But I think there are a lot of people for whom that’s not the case. And that’s fine. You can’t please everybody. It’s not necessarily music that’s going to appeal to everyone. So yes, I don’t know about that, but if it’s true that it’s accessible, so much the better!
Regarding the No Hay Banda concert and the piece “Three Unisons for Four Voices”, I think you have to have an open mind. It’s a long piece and it’s not necessarily easy to listen to, but once you realize that you’re going to give yourself to it in a certain sense, it’s easier to enjoy it. I’d also say that you can sit back and close your eyes if you like, which will probably help. It’s a different way of engaging with a concert, and that’s what I’d say to anyone planning to attend.
PAN M 360: Thank you so much for your time! Sarah Davachi: Yes and thank you for yours!
La 24e édition des Suoni Per Il Popolo s’est déroulée cette semaine avec le Jellicle Kiki Ball comme événement d’ouverture, présenté par la marraine Phoenix Sankofa, le prince Noam Louboutin et Mags Old Navy. Les participants pouvaient concourir dans un total de 14 catégories, allant du défilé au lip-synching et même à la performance des mains. Nous avons pris le temps de discuter de cet événement avec Mags Old Navy et de ce qu’est exactement Kiki Ballroom.
PAN M 360 : Pour ceux qui ne connaissent pas l’événement, qu’est-ce que le Jellicle Kiki Ball exactement et quand cet événement a-t-il commencé ?
Mags Old Navy : Le Jellicle Kiki Ball est un bal Kiki qui a eu lieu le 12 juin et qui est présenté par Suoni Per Il Popolo à La Sala Rossa au coeur de Montréal. Ceux qui se sont inscrits dans les différentes catégories peuvent montrer ce qu’ils ont préparé et concourir.
PAN M 360 : Pouvez-vous nous en dire plus sur ce qu’est la culture du ballon/de la salle de bal et à qui elle s’adresse principalement ?
Mags Old Navy : Les salles de bal ont vu le jour dans les années 1970 à New York. Il s’agit d’une sous-culture souterraine fondée par des personnes queer, trans et noires et qui leur est également destinée. Elle se spécialise dans l’art de la performance et principalement dans les concours de dragsters.
PAN M 360 : Le thème de cette année tourne autour des chats, est-ce que le thème change chaque année ?
Mags Old Navy : Il y a différents bals à Montréal, et chacun d’entre eux a un thème spécifique. Pour le Jellicle Kiki Ball, c’est la première fois que cela se produit, mais nous répétons des thèmes de temps en temps. Nous avons organisé le Ultimate Crossover sur le thème des dessins animés plus tôt cette année, ainsi qu’un autre au Club Soda l’an dernier pour la fierté, qui tournait autour de la famille et de l’amour.
PAN M 360 : J’aimerais en savoir plus sur vous en tant qu’artiste et quelles sont vos implications dans cet événement?
Mags Old Navy : Sûr, j’ai d’abord commencé ma carrière en tant que producteur. J’ai déménagé à Montréal en 2010 pour l’école, où je dessinais principalement des bandes dessinées. J’ai ensuite fait partie d’un duo musical où l’on faisait du rap et du chant. Pour ce qui est de la danse de salon, j’ai fait mon entrée sur la scène l’an dernier, en août, à l’occasion du Kiki Ball qui se déroulait au Club Soda. Si vous n’êtes pas familier avec le Ballroom et le Kiki, vous rejoignez généralement une maison, qui est une sorte de famille choisie, et vous concourez pour elle sous son nom. Personnellement, j’ai rejoint le club de la Old Navy House, une maison Kiki qui a vu le jour aux États-Unis.
Pour votre information, il y a actuellement huit maisons actives à Montréal et beaucoup plus en Amérique ! Cette année, je suis l’hôte aux côtés de la marraine Phoenix Sankofa, le prince Noam Louboutin.
PAN M 360 : Vous avez souvent mentionné le terme “Kiki”. Quelle est la différence avec la danse de salon traditionnelle ?
Mags Old Navy : Les salles de bal du courant principal organisent des événements plus importants et ont des maisons plus grandes. Ce sont également les salles les plus anciennes et les salles fondatrices. La salle de bal Kiki, à l’autre extrémité, s’adresse aux jeunes membres de la communauté queer et est axée sur la sensibilisation et la fourniture de ressources en matière de santé sexuelle et de violence domestique. Il s’agit vraiment d’une approche communautaire. Les événements Kiki servent généralement à collecter des fonds pour des causes humanitaires et sont également axés sur des questions sociales locales.
PAN M 360 : Quelle est la chose qui vous vient à l’esprit quand vous pensez à la culture du ballon ?
Mags Old Navy : Cela me permet de mettre à profit différents atouts. Je peux participer à différentes étapes en produisant pour ces événements ou même en animant sur scène. J’ai l’impression de pouvoir faire toutes sortes de choses différentes dans une seule forme d’art. Je suis très reconnaissante à cette communauté de m’avoir acceptée pour ce que je suis et ce que j’ai à offrir au quotidien.
PAN M 360 : Merci beaucoup pour votre temps et bonne chance pour l’avenir. Mags Old Navy : Merci, ce fut un plaisir. A bientôt.
Born Cassandra Kouremenos, Kallitechnis is a highly sensual and introspective singer, songwriter, dancer, and visual artist born and raised in Park Ex, an well known immigrant neighborhood in Montreal. Since 2016, she has released singles and EPs, much influenced by soul, R&B and ethereal pop. Now based in California, she released the album MOOD RING on May 31, and she’s about to perform this new material in a North American tour where she will stop in her hometown, more precisely at Phi Center on June 16. And this is exactly why she answers PAN M 360 questions.
PAN M 360 : Since 2016 you have released singles and EPs. This year, 11 new songs on the album WOUND UP, preceded by 2 micro-albums with quite the same material. Big achievement! Where do you see yourself after at least 7 years as a professional singer?
KALLITECHNIS : I released one project called Mood Ring. The micro-albums that preceded the project were singles. It’s a type of release strategy called the waterfall method. Right now, I’m in an emotional and spiritual space I’ve never been in before. I’m looking to make some transformations and adjustments to the way I show up in music. I don’t know what that is yet but I know it’s necessary if I’m going to continue to try to have a sustainable career in this industry as an independent artist. What’s worked for me up until now won’t continue to work. The industry just moves too quickly and it’s becoming even harder for independent artists to support themselves.
PAN M 360 : How do you see the artistic direction of this new material, if you compare it to your previous work?
KALLITECHNIS : : The artistic direction for this new project is both grounded and ethereal. It’s colorful, very sensual, and centered around the cyclical nature of love.
PAN M 360: What is for you the artistic identity of this new achievement ?
Kallitechnis : This new project marks a progression in the quality of music I’m capable of. It’s a reflection of my growth as an artist and more particularly, as a songwriter.
PAN M 360 : Can you comment on your conceptual collaborators? Beatmakers, producers? What were you looking for with them?
KALLITECHNIS : I’m looking for someone to care about the collaboration just as I am. I expect collaborators to leave part of themselves in the work just as I always do. It’s always more gratifying when we’re both investing the same amount of care and energy into the work. I don’t like the idea of hiring collaborators to perform a service. The final product should be a reflection of you just as much as it is of me. We should both want the best for it.
PAN M 360 : Do you work with a steady nucleus of musicians? In the studio? Live?
KALLITECHNIS : I work with a group of musicians/producers that I have great chemistry with and who are equally motivated as I am.
PAN M 360 : Obviously, you love soul/R&B and pop. As a true singer-songwriter and a gifted singer in that style, what do you think that makes you different from other female soul/ R&B singers? What is your own angle? How did you break free from your role models? And who were those models?
KALLITECHNIS : I think my choice of subject matter, my songwriting style and my vocal tone separate me from some of my role models and contemporaries. Some of my inspirations include Sade, Destiny’s Child, Ne-Yo, Justin Timberlake and more recently, Victoria Monet.
PAN M 360 : What image of yourself do you want to promote as a pop artist?
KALLITECHNIS : I want people to listen to my music and feel less alone. I want them to feel love. I want them to feel connected.
PAN M 360 : Of course, what you are doing can reach the international market. What is your goal in that sense? Where are you in this quest?
KALLITECHNIS : I’m taking things one step at a time. Right now my goal is to play a lot more shows internationally and to continue refining my craft.
PAN M 360 : Montréal is the city where you grew up in a Greek-Canadian-Québécois family. How do you belong to Montreal at this stage of your career?
KALLITECHNIS : I live in Los Angeles currently. Montreal is my anchor. It’ll always be home. It’s a very big part of my identity. I don’t think I belong to it, and it doesn’t belong to me. We’re like great collaborators. We leave lasting impressions on each other’s lives.
PAN M 360 : What can we expect at Phi Centre next week? Band? Projections? Scenic lighting?
KALLITECHNIS : Moods. Colours. Lights.
PAN M 360 : This Montreal concert be followed by a North-American tour : New York, Chicago, Vancouver, LA. Could it mean a turning point for your career?
KALLITECHNIS : This tour marks a new experience for me to help me improve my recipe as an artist.
The Montréal baroque 2024 festival takes place from June 13 to 16, as usual, all over the Old-Montreal area (plus an excursion into the Quartier des spectacles). Vincent Lauzer, the festival’s co-artistic director and an excellent flautist, agreed to talk to us about this edition, whose theme is the encounter between styles and artists from different, yet complementary, horizons. Parallel Universes – Improbable Musical Meetings aptly bears its title: gospel and South Africa meet Baroque, 17th-century Europe dances with Persia and India, and the age-old tales of China, the Maghreb and sub-Saharan Africa come to life with music by Dieupart, Scarlatti and Jacquet de la Guerre. In short, an abundance of musical dialectics that will result in original moments of artistic communion.
For the third time in six years, the previous of which was celebrated with an Opus Prize, the Orchestre de l’Agora and its conductor Nicolas will present the Gala de la Terre. The event takes place on June 12, 8pm, at the Maison symphonique. This time, the program is built around Richard Strauss’s Alpine Symphony and also the premiere of a composition both orchestral and electroacoustic, composed by Claudie Bertounesque.
For this creation, the Orchestre de l’Agora will be reinforced by 75 choristers from the Petits Chanteurs du Mont-Royal, an electro-acoustic framework and the songs of belugas collected near Tadoussac using hydrophones from the Group for Research and Education on Marine Mammals (GREMM).The Gala de la Terre is an environmental initiative: it aims to raise public awareness of environmental issues, by supporting the efforts of local organizations dedicated to protecting our planet: GREMM, WWF Canada and Sierra Club Canada.
Plus de 100 musiciens se trouveront scène pour le pat principal de la soirée, soit la Symphonie alpestre de Strauss, choisie pour ses évocations de la splendeur des Alpes, tout en abordant de facto la beauté universelle de nos environnements naturels planétaires et aussi de leur inquiétante fragilité dans le contexte des changements climatiques.
In addition, Innu poet and event ambassador Natasha Kanapé Fontaine will declaim her own writings, created especially for the Gala de la Terre. Last but not least, Innu soprano Elisabeth St-Gelais, recently named Révélation Classique Radio-Canada and winner of the prestigious Prix d’Europe 2023, will perform Richard Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder .
Contacted a few days ago on a train bound for Quebec City, Nicolas Ellis tells Alain Brunet how excited he is to be directing the next Gala de la Terre.
You enter the exhibition area and recognize modified versions of pieces from the album Sound House, recorded in Vermont in the home of violinist Sarah Neufeld and released on the Erased Tapes label in March 2021. Bell Orchestre breathes new life into this document by reshaping the tracks for interactive use with the AATOAA concert.
In this way, you walk through different stations in the exhibition, at the foot of which objects are placed. Each object can trigger a track on the master tape, modifying the mix in real time. Authentic audiovisual immersion!
Produced by Envision Management and realized by AATOAA, Vincent Morisset and Caroline Robert, Sound House is an interactive audiovisual installation. Sound House transforms itself according to the interactions generated by visitors. “A spatialized score is co-composed in real time from the original recording, while the time of day, seasons and places scroll by through the window.
Bell Orchestre Sound House is on view from June 7 to July 27 at the Society for Arts and Technology (SAT). For PAN M 360, Alain Brunet met up with Vincent Morriset and Caroline Robert, designers of the installation, this time alongside two members of Bell Orchestre: horn player Pietro Amato, responsible for the installation’s sonic remodeling, and bassist and multi-instrumentalist – also co-founder of the band Arcade Fire, as we all know.
Real deal Montreal punk-dub-ska-east-European-trad-Ukrainian-balkans band Dumai Dunai have been raising the roof on every stage and audience they’ve visited since their first show in 2022. We’ve seen them a lot and everywhere in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and Europe, so much so that we were under the impression they’d already released at least one album. Not so. Sometime Between Now and Never, the band’s first opus, will be released on June 14, 2024. The launch will take place at the Ukrainian Federation of Montreal, during an evening featuring other explosive groups such as Dusty Brass and Sumak Brass Band, as well as an essential complement of booze and food! An evening that will end very late, according to Eli Camilo, co-frontperson (with Natalia Telentso) of Dumai Dunai. Here’s an interview with Camilo about the album.
After reading her bio profiles (more specifically the one on Futura Artists website) and having a few listening sessions of her great stuff, we ask a few questions to Elena Colombi before her coming at SAT Domesicle series, on Saturday June 8, late evening.
Born in Italy, Elena Colombi relocated to London in 2008 and got involved in parties that made her popular in that circle of friends and young emerging artists. Then she became a talented DJ and radio host on NTS, while she was experiencing her broad influences and inspirations: industrial, techno, ambient, synth pop, disco, house, non occidental music and conceptual sets well above average. Since 2019, she has also collaborated as a key member with the record label Osàre! Editions’ – the namesake derives from the Italian word for “daring” or “bold” – seeking experimentation and idiosyncratic ways of making electronic music.
“Elena Colombi’s sets are geared toward the unexpected. From cosmic psychedelia and pounding jungle to obscure post-punk and spoken word, they swirl through a cerebral world of noise.”
PAN M 360 : Can you describe briefly your musical path, from your teenage years to your first professional engagements?
Elena Colombi: As a young child, my introduction to music that wasn’t accessible via standard means was a mixed cassette tape a friend of the family made. This guy had an incredible knowledge of music! I’m grateful for those discoveries.
My parents didn’t own any records.. I don’t come from a musical background. As a kid I played only two instruments: the recorder and the bass (both badly!). As a teenager, I spent late nights recording videos from MTV on VHS tapes. The kinda stuff that wasn’t on rotation during the day. And at weekends I would travel by bus to Milan with my best friends to check out gigs in “centri sociali”. One night we missed the last bus and unexpectedly ended up at an afterparty. That was my first introduction to a club. We were so naive!
A few years later I did an internship at a booking agency and my spreadsheet skills were so bad that the owners gave me a chance as an assistant promoter instead. I was a natural! So I promoted nights for a while. Then I felt the music scene in Milan was too limited so I took a chance and moved to London. From there, the parties I ran for several years (Abattoir and BREED), as well as the slot on NTS radio and a DJ set at Rye Wax that many people ended up talking about, all contributed to the beginning of the regular touring.
PAN M 360 : How did your musical tastes evolved through your professional career ?
Elena Colombi : I’m not sure the music taste changes really. It expands, for sure! Often, fans/listeners make associations with one set or one recorded show in particular—especially if the set becomes very popular. The “label” or “genre” most prominent in that show sticks to the artist and it’s hard to untangle from that. I want to fight this as hard as I can! I love to be able to play completely different sets and wouldn’t want my way of performing to be any different.
“ A longstanding resident of NTS, an interest in theory and literature, aesthetics and film, inspire their avant-garde selections. Spiritually, they’re most at home in the club serving up a concoction of pulsating polyrhythms, industrial groove and flexed techno.”
PAN M 360: Your interests in other art forms and the intellectual world is clearly impacting your musical choices, which is a great thing. Can you give some examples of this very interesting relationship between your craft and your own intellectual universe?
Elena Colombi: Yes, it all intersects! I think it would be impossible to separate interests, personal life experiences, discoveries, as well as events happening in the world from creating.
PAN M 360: : Are you involved in different art events that combine all your interests
Elena Colombi: No, not all of them—that would be dreamy—but definitely more of them! I love wearing the curator hat more often, for instance. In fact, I might be working right now on creating a series of experimental music-centered events for next year.
PAN M 360 : What is your gear? How do you build your pieces with this gear?
Elena Colombi : What I use at the moment in my studio in Hastings is: SOMA Pulsar 23, Roland SH01A Boutique, Elektron Model Samples, Meris Polymoon pedal, Roland 303 Boutique. I’m experimenting with the connectibility and dialogue between some of these instruments, and I’m working on a series of improvised live sets, some of them premiering this year and continuing in 2025.
PAN M 360: And now you are coming in Montréal. What kind of set are you preparing for us?
Elena Colombi : I never fully know what I will play until I enter the club. It’s my first time performing in Canada so this applies even more. Right now I am thinking of a more trippy set maybe?! But this could be because I only landed last night and feel pretty jet-lagged, hehe. Once I arrive at the space and feel the energy, feel the crowd I’ll be able to decide on the spot what direction to take. I can’t wait!
PAN M 360 : How do you see the link between improvisation and composition?
Elena Colombi: I see the link between improvisation and composition as a continual, promiscuous exchange between spontaneity and structure, chaos and order, innovation and form. A beautiful, dynamic marriage, nurturing and challenging in equal parts.
Publicité panam
Vancouver singer Jill Barber has already released two albums of songs in French, which have been immensely popular with the public, particularly in Quebec. Now the beautiful Francophile is at it again with her third album, Encore! on all platforms on 14 June. Jill will also be at the Francos de Montréal two days later to present it to the public. It’s a mutual love affair that’s still going strong, and one that continues to nurture some very fine musical offerings, beautifully reworked for the singer’s gentle, warm personality. We rediscover Piaf, Trenet, Josephine Baker, Blossom Dearie and Charlebois through readings dressed in surprising and seductive finery. I met Jill Barber who told me all about this new album.
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