Mulchulation II, a sort of Quebec indie supergroup uniting Population II and Mulch, is enjoying great success with the Mulchulation II EP, released last autumn and recently sold out at the Taverne Tour.
La rage rencontre le voyage dans un mélange entre le psychédélique et le hardcore !
Bordering on the experimental, taking paths both free and improvised, Mulchulation II’s first EP was designed to be played at high volume, and reveals the fused instrumental talent of the two bands. With her raw voice, the inexhaustible Rose Cormier breaks through a thick wall of sound, screaming out what one might imagine to be a manifesto.
It’s cathartic and impressive, soaping the ears as it sails along on virtuoso guitars and macabre, noise-textured melodies.
To better understand the mutant creature that is Mulchulation II, it’s worth recalling what these two bands represent on the Montreal scene:
Mulch, a recently formed band, is shaking up the punk scene, bringing honest lyrics and incomparable stage presence to the hardcore style. Population II, which has become a fixture on the local scene over the last few years, is the result of its three free electrons colliding muscularly to packed houses. It’s a dangerously exciting mix, and it’s easy to see why the hybrid band’s first concert was sold out as part of the Taverne Tour a few days ago at the Esco…
I sat down with Mulchulation II to better understand how this mutant so quickly took over the Montreal scene.
PAN M 360: With a sold-out show, it’s pretty obvious that the feedback has been positive. We’re all wondering when the next one will be, but more importantly, do you plan to continue working together?
Sébaste (Basse, Population II): We don’t know when we’ll work together again. When the mutant wants to come out, it will be there. It’s a truly unique project, and its idiosyncrasy demands to be treated with respect. Mulchulation II exists for the friendship and love of playing this music.
Rose (Vocals, Mulch): As Sébaste mentioned, we don’t currently have plans to do another show like last Friday. On the other hand, we’re certainly all keen to work together again in the future, when the time is right. Probably on an even more collaborative album than this one!
PAN M 360: Was there a moment when you knew you had to do this project together?
Rose: The story goes that me and the guys from Population II met up at the Fameux restaurant after their show at the Francos in the summer of 2024 and the idea came to us over pizzaghetti.
I was sure it was just an idea tossed in the air, as they often are, but 8 months later, it’s clear that it wasn’t!
At first, we thought we’d try to put together a toune with me on vocals, based on a bass line that Sébaste had hidden in his cell phone voice mails. That toune became Laisse-Faire.
After that, it was pretty obvious to both Mulch and Population II that a split was something we were really, really tempted to do! It’s impressive that we managed to write, record and release the split in just under 4 months!
PAN M 360: The approaches of Population II and Mulch come together on many levels, but there’s also something new in this mutation. Are there things you didn’t expect that have happened?
Timothy (guitar, Mulch): It was cool to write material that fit well with Population II without changing our sound too dramatically. We gave ourselves the freedom to explore sonic territories that we might not normally feel comfortable exploring, and that was a lot of fun! It was also really cool to hear Population II write some heavier tunes than usual!
Rose: From both sides I think we took the opportunity of the split to explore each other’s musical genres a bit, and get out of our own way, as Timothy says. The most surprising for me is certainly our Sans Sortie toune, an eight-minute-plus piece that is not only the longest toune Mulch has ever written, but also the one that is the most out of our usual genre. It’s a song I’m very fond of, and I think we’re really going to try and write more stuff like it!
PAN M 360: It’s not often you hear of two bands working together. How did you share roles in the creative process, or more generally, how did it go?
Timothy: Collaborative albums are quite common in the world of hardcore, noise and experimental music! We’re all pretty familiar with these types of projects, and we wanted to do something in that kind of tradition. What made the most sense to us, with the limited time we had, was to write the songs on our own and try to collaborate where it felt natural. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to work on songs with the 2 bands together, so a lot of the collaborative bits were limited to what was already in place, i.e. the Population II songs with Rose on them, and what came to us as ideas during the recording, like the twins guitars and Sébaste’s back vocals on Déclin Soudain.
PAN M 360: Listening to it, you get a deep sense of disobedience, but also of laissez-faire. In your own words, what are the desired themes in this project?
Rose: The themes are a bit scattered!
Cent Piasses, whose lyrics are written by Pierre-Luc (Population II), is essentially a song about snowbirds, or Quebecers who spend their winters in Florida, while the other 3 songs with lyrics written by me are rather heavy and existential. That’s what Mulch’s lyrics are all about, and I had to bring that to this project too. Screaming out loud is certainly a wonderful outlet for my thoughts, it frees the brain too!
Laisse-Faire is indeed pretty good on the laissez-faire theme, but not in the nonchalant way you might think. It’s more about the concept of letting go of situations or relationships that aren’t worth it because you or the other, or both, are lost. Hence the words “t’est mélée, t’est perdu, comment tu vas faire?” which apply as much to me as to other people.
Déclin Soudain follows the same kind of narrative, but in a more pessimistic way, saying that it’s too late to do anything about it, and that we’re going to be trapped forever in our vicious circles! Fun stuff!
Sans Sortie, it’s a really long existential monologue that I didn’t write in advance! I just knew that I wanted a wall of voices at the end, as a sort of climax to the song. We recorded this one live off the floor (like the full split) in one take, including the vocals. What came out of the lyrics is incredibly raw.
PAN M 360: Stylistically, the terms “noise rock” and “hardcore” are often used to describe your sound. What is your own definition?
Rose: I think the 2 terms are pretty accurate! Neither Mulch nor Population II are bands that like to fit into genres, clearly, and we’re happy with that!
For Mulch, the term noise rock comes up a lot, and I think it’s a fairly generic term, but one that encompasses everything we do! The term hardcore came up more often when we first started out, and when we released our first Nothing Grows Out Of Dried Flowers EP, but it quickly fell out of favor as we quickly included several other influences in our music! We’re still screaming, though.
PAN M 360: Apart from this project, how would you describe the rock scene in Quebec right now? Which bands inspire you?
Sébaste: In Montreal, the Holy Trinity of punk: Faze, Puffer, Béton Armé/Spleen! Everything Joe at Celluloid Lunch releases, from Laughing to Retail Simps. The songwriting of Hélène Barbier and Perma! Friends of One Track Mind, Solids through to Pnoom’s bleeding-edge noise rock.
And Mothland goodness: La Sécurité, Yoo Doo Right and Atsuko Chiba.
Montreal is just good right now!
Timothy: The scene seems pretty strong and sustainable… There was a wave of really boring bands right after covid and that seems to have cleared up a bit so we’re in a much better place. I think a lot of people started projects during Covid and to be honest, a lot of them should have stayed in their rooms.
Les meilleurs bands en ce moment: Pnoom, Psychic Armor, Show of Bedlam, A.T.E.R., Forensics, everything Ky Brooks does.
Rose: I’m not adding much that hasn’t already been said, but yes, rock is doing well at the moment! There’s more openness than ever to different musical horizons! Genres are coming together more and more, much to my delight. I think it’s a sign of a healthy scene!
Sébaste and Timothy have already mentioned all the good bands, but I’d like to add to their long lists 2 of my favorite Montreal bands at the moment: Zouz and Victime.
And on a completely non-rock note, N Nao’s new album Nouveau Langage and Klô Pelgag’s Abracadabra are probably two of the most important albums to come out of Montreal in recent years.
Other inspiring splits you should listen to: the splits between Full of Hell and The Body, the split between Full of Hell and Andrew Nolan or the already classic split between The Body and Big Brave.
PAN M 360: What would you like to see change over the next few years?
Timothy: I’d really like to continue seeing more mixed-bill shows, i.e. shows with more scattered lineups, with bands whose genres don’t resemble each other!
Also, not to sound like a grumpy old man, but I wish young people understood show etiquette more. When I started out in the scene, there was a mutual respect that has perhaps disappeared a little since covid. Of course, not all young people are like that, and those who aren’t are the ones who will stay in the scene the longest.
Rose: For me, not only would I like to continue to see more mixed bills as Timothy mentioned, but I’d really like to see more shows that mix the Anglo and Franco scenes. I’m very close to both scenes and it’s amazing how unaware one is of what’s going on in the other, when really cool and important stuff is happening in both the anglo and franco scenes.
A lot of my Anglo friends had no idea who Population II was before we released the split, just like a lot of Francos didn’t know about Mulch!
Everyone benefits if we all do more things together.
PAN M 360: What’s the main message you’d like to convey?
Rose: Mulchulation II is a project created for fun, without worrying about profits, record companies or public reception. I think that’s the important thing to remember. Make music with your friends because it’s fun and it’s rewarding.
I also hope we’ve inspired lots of people to make splits, because it’s really, really fun!
PAN M 360: Last question, what is pizzaghetti?
Well okay, that’s a polarizing question haha! Real pizzaghetti is a pizza with spaghetti in it! Fake pizzaghetti is a pizza cut in 2 with spaghetti in the middle. But the real ones know that’s not pizzaghetti, it’s just pizza and spaghetti.