Interviews – Page 48

Quebec fans of electronic music will know Odile Myrtil for her fiery DJ sets all over the underground scene and her long-standing collaboration with the Moonshine collective. A discreet presence on social networks, you won’t find much information about her, and yet there’s a lot going on in the life of this producer, lyricist and multidisciplinary artist. Whether it’s collaborating with local musicians, launching Paradis Artificiel, an experimental music group, or composing music for film and television – there seems to be no stopping the Montrealer.

A few days before her appearance at Piknic Electronik 2023, PAN M 360 spoke to this multi-talented artist, as she prepares to heat up the Sunday Scène du Boisé audience with a carefully selected set, blending timeless influences with contemporary discoveries.

PAN M 360 : What is the musical heritage you grew up with and cherish today?

Odile Myrtil : I grew up in a multicultural family with many different styles of music. My mother comes from Cambodia and my father from Haïti. We played a lot of traditional music from their countries, but these are also territories that were colonized by France, so I also have a big heritage of French music from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. I’ve got two brothers who are older than me, one of whom listened to a lot of ’90s rock, while my other brother and I listened to a lot more hip-hop and R&B. There was always music playing in our house. I feel really lucky to have grown up with such a wide range of musical styles.

PAN M 360 : Do you think it was being immersed in so much music that led you to a career as an artist?

Odile Myrtil : I think so, because for me, it’s also having grown up at a time when my parents brought their brothers and sisters from their respective countries, and there were important family gatherings. For me, music is a representation of that feeling of celebration, of being surrounded by family. I really associate it with time spent together and sharing.

PAN M 360 : What other memories do you associate with music?

Odile Myrtil : When I was very young, I developed a taste for researching music, for archiving, really for collecting music. My brothers and I used to record the music we liked on the radio and play it back in the car, and we did the same with the VHS connected to the television. When I was a teenager, we used to burn CDs, and then there were the piracy platforms, thanks to which I discovered a lot of mus

PAN M 360 : Did you also collect vinyl?

Odile Myrtil : After CDs, I started collecting vinyl, but at first it was thanks to the money I received from my parents, because, well, it’s an expensive hobby. It’s interesting because it was this interest in vinyl collecting that led me to DJ culture. That’s how I learned to mix. It came at a time of transition when things were becoming more accessible, burning CDs, playing in clubs… I think that’s what allowed me to move forward in my DJ career, because there was this specific moment.

PAN M 360 : You’ve also been involved with the Moonshine collective for several years.

Odile Myrtil : I think it was about 8 years ago. It came about after I’d been working as a party organizer and felt less attracted by the business and administrative side of things. I was in a moment of transition where I had to choose between setting up a company to continue organizing parties or going down the artist route. I really wanted more to be an artist, to play music. I met the people at Moonshine and really realized that I’d rather be part of a collective.

PAN M 360 : We’re familiar with the DJ side of your career, but perhaps a little less so with your work as a lyricist and multimedia artist. Can you tell us more about that?

Odile Myrtil : Through DJing, I’ve met several music producers with whom I’ve collaborated, and these work experiences allow me to say today that I compose music for advertising, cinema and television. I kind of fell into DJing by chance, at a time when there weren’t many girls DJing, especially not women or non-white people. I’d reached a plateau as a DJ, and above all I wanted to write and compose. That’s what I’m doing right now. I’m currently doing music for a friend’s film, and I really love the world of cinema.

PAN M 360 : How do you approach the exercise of composing music for film?

Odile Myrtil : I really like ambient and experimental music. Personally, when I compose instrumental music, I go for those sounds, not a lot of percussion or minimal. It’s what I do naturally, what I want to create, and it’s in line with TV and cinema. I’ve started working with an agency in Toronto to create music for TV shows that haven’t been released yet. In the last year there’s been a real sense of validation. Before that, I didn’t really feel in control. But now, getting recognition from a company outside Montreal, and at the same time having a little more stability in my creative projects, changes my state of mind and I’m able to project myself into the future.

PAN M 360 : In the very near future, you’ll be appearing at Piknic Electronik this year, alongside Ouri and Frankie Teardrop. Does the event have any particular significance for you, and musically, what can we expect on Sunday?

Odile Myrtil : Ouri and Frankie and I have worked together on different projects, so it’s really cool that we’re together. It’s also important to have a local girl headlining. When I was younger, I used to wonder why Piknic didn’t have this kind of “agenda”, and now that I’m a bit older, I understand that these are processes that take a bit longer, like the underground to reach the mainstream. Piknic is a really important platform for me. It was my first big opportunity and I really admire what they’ve done for the local scene. To have this angle that’s still very mainstream, but also to really make a reference to the underground every year, which is getting closer and closer to current events, I find that really inspiring.

I’m going to open the day, so I’m sure I’ll be playing appropriate music for the moment. I’ve already had my little collection of music specially for this purpose for a few months now. That’s why I love DJing, to be able to do that research, to touch things, to pick up CDs at Renaissance, listen to Mix Party CDs, go to Death of Vinyl to see what’s there. I also like being able to share this research with the public afterwards. Piknic is the kind of opportunity that gives me the freedom to do a set that’s really edgy, but also to do a lot of research to come up with a timeless set.

PIKNIC ÉLECTRONIK MTL #6: PLANET GIZA (DJ SET) / OURI (DJ SET)

Ratpiss is still quite new to Montreal’s power violence/grindcore scene. The music found on their debut EP, Misanthropy Now! sounds bloodthirsty with heavy riffs, banshee-like screams, and a drum section that feels like it’s on the warpath. This is the Suoni show to let your mosh flag fly. We chatted with the band a bit before their Suoni Per Il Popolo performance with Samurai and Plaga.

PAN M 360: For someone who has never heard of you, what can they expect?

Ratpiss: They can expect dumbfuck riffs in power violence and death metal-influenced variety.

PAN M 360: Can you make a Haiku for the band or the latest album, Misanthropy Now!

Ratpiss: Things keep going wrong, But my scene has riffs for days, Melt your face off die.

PAN M 360: How did you guys form?

Ratpiss: Erin and Greg conceptualized the project back in 2020, and released a rough demo called Do Not Return. Throughout the lifting and imposing of COVID restrictions, we jammed with several guitarists and spent a lot of time waiting around, and played two shows in late 2021 with our previous guitarist, Sami, before things locked down again. In early 2022 we started jamming with Tyler who Greg had jammed with another project, and things officially got on the go in March that year.

PAN M 360: Any influences within the scene?

Ratpiss: Plenty! Hakapik, Seum, S.F.D, Jetsam, Obelisk, Gutser, Hobo Death Cult, Xplicit Noize, Infeccion, Serpent Corpse, Collapsed, Doomsday Dementia, Maxxpower. There’s a lot of talent in Montreal that we are absolutely influenced by.

PAN M 360: I feel like moshing is kind of required at your shows?

Ratpiss: 100%. If we wanted to write music to stand around to, we could start an atmospheric black metal band or something.

PAN M 360: This music sounds cathartic as hell to play live. Are you guys unleashing some demons live?

Ratpiss: We are the demons.

PAN M 360: What do you know about Suoni Fest?

Ratpiss: To be honest, not much. This is the first time we’ve been made aware of it but it does seem to be a pretty expansive festival with a lot of different shows in a huge variety of genres. It’s cool to see live music so alive and well in Montreal.

PAN M 360: What about the bands you are playing with?

Ratpiss: Samurai are new so we don’t really know anything about them. We’ve been led to believe they’re sort of an old-school heavy metal band which our drummer Greg is thrilled about so he’s excited to see them. Plaga doesn’t seem to have much music online but we did come across a video of them on YouTube and from the one song we heard it sounds like some seriously ripping, riffy old school death metal of the variety that we are all influenced by in Ratpiss.

Ratpiss Live

PAN M 360: What’s the story behind Big T for being “the Jeffrey Dahmer-looking motherfucker?”

Ratpiss: That’s for us, the drunk guy who we got the recording of, and the Jeffrey Dahmer-looking motherfucker himself to know.

PAN M 360: Erin, do you have any vocal training for the growls? Those sound utterly and physically painful? Especially on “Acetylene Drunk.“

Erin: I have no proper vocal training, it’s been a long process of trial and error to find what I can do consistently without pain. It’s a lot of goofy-looking faces.

PAN M 360: Erin, the album cover for Misanthropy Now! was developed by you. Where did the collage idea come from?

Erin: I like the aesthetics of vaguely gory imagery in general. We’ve been known to use a lot of pictures of roadkill, and I think the cigarette packs that most of the images on the Misanthropy Now! cover relay the same feeling with the health warnings. Whenever I meet Americans it’s one of the first things they seem to notice. I thought it’d be nice to also have a specific way to reflect on where we’re from as well. At the end of the day, it doesn’t really go much deeper than I thought it would look cool, but I do think there is also something to be said about the socially acceptable slow suicide of smoking and a grimey music scene that doesn’t care to look too far ahead regarding our current state of the world, and how they relate to the themes on the EP.

PAN M 360: Is Montreal a supportive place for “grimecore” or just Ratpiss as a whole?

Ratpiss: Absolutely. We play amongst some of the most talented artists and wildest crowds and absolute top-tier homies. Wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

Opening photo by Rose Cormier (https://velourssouterrain.squarespace.com)

Ratpiss plays at La Sotterenea w/ Samurai, and Plaga on June 22 for Suono Per Il Popolo Tickets Here

Released in 2021, her bilingual album, Ma délire / Songs of love, lost & found“, was a real hit on the folk circuit and in the music media far beyond Canadian shores. The quality of her writing and the melodic singularity of her voice led this bookseller, proofreader, and mother to embark on a new career as a prolific songwriter, touring with prestigious names.

Hailing from the Ottawa / Gatineau region, the Montreal artist gives us a glimpse of her recent creative activities and what’s to come: a new album in the spring, tours between now and then and, in our case, a Suoni concert this Thursday at the Sala Rossa.

Clearly, Myriam Gendron has carved out a place on the Montreal independent scene. Which more than justifies this conversation with PAN M 360.

PAN M 360: Your background is obviously folk, your love of literature is also obvious, and you have a deep knowledge of both English and French, which is quite rare. Was it a decision to express yourself in both French and English in your songs?

MYRIAM GENDRON: I don’t know how much of a decision it was on my part. I think it came about quite naturally because my first album was a musical setting of poems by Dorothy Parker, so it was necessary in English. But when I did this project, I didn’t really know I was going to make an album. I had no musical career, not even as a beginner. I was just playing for fun at home with friends. But when I started making these songs, I had no idea that I was heading for a musical career. It wasn’t really a career choice, not at all.

PAN M 360: And finally…

MYRIAM GENDRON: Eventually, I ended up with a set of songs. It became an album. And then after that, I had two children, and there was the family. And when I came back with Ma délire, seven years later, I knew I wanted to work with traditional music. Originally, I thought I’d do my songs mainly around traditional Quebec music. Eventually, I opened up to my multiple influences. Inevitably, they’re more to be found in the English-speaking world, Bob Dylan whom I listened to a lot when I was younger, and all that. Traditional Anglo music is very much alive, whereas traditional Francophone Quebec music is more nested and less present in today’s popular culture.

PAN M 360: Do you feel that traditional music has been abandoned by popular culture?

MYRIAM GENDRON: In Quebec? It’s still very much in the margin compared to what we see in the English-speaking world, where it runs through all the styles inspired by traditional and folk music, from jazz to experimental music and even pop. Maybe I’m wrong, but I still get the impression that in Quebec, trad music is considered a separate genre. There aren’t enough artists outside trad music who draw on this repertoire.

PAN M 360: So what you’re saying is that the folk tradition is more deeply rooted in Anglo-American popular culture than in the French-speaking culture of America?

MYRIAM GENDRON: I think it’s approached with less suspicion.

PAN M 360: It can indeed be perceived as a withdrawal into one’s own identity, hence the disapproval of some.

MYRIAM GENDRON: Yes, exactly, it’s not forward-looking. What I mean is that there is a way of creating while talking about ourselves, talking about today, looking to the future, while drawing on this repertoire, which is what I’m trying to do. And that’s something we do a lot in the Anglo-Saxon world, but very little in the French-speaking world.

PAN M 360: So there must be some artists you really like in today’s folk scene, like Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy?

MYRIAM GENDRON: Yes, I love him. I’ll be touring South Texas with him soon.

PAN M 360: I fell right on the spot without knowing it haha!

MYRIAM GENDRON: Yes, artists like Bonnie Prince Billy or Bill Callahan, another one I really like in today’s folk scene.

PAN M 360: Now, of course, you’re playing… You’re no longer on the momentum of Ma délire, the second album you released in 2021 with the success we all know. We imagine you’ll have some new songs to offer.

MYRIAM GENDRON: Yes, I’m currently working on a new album, the writing is pretty much finished, and I’m starting to think about production. With the current deadlines for record production, however, it’s going to be a while before it comes out, hopefully, next spring.

PAN M 360: How do you work?

MYRIAM GENDRON: What I’ve done so far is record everything at home. And then afterward, I’ll see if I go into the studio to add other tracks by other musicians. It’s also possible that I’ll decide to re-record everything in the studio. We’ll be doing a few tests soon to see if I feel like it or if I’ll keep my homemade tracks. It’s not decided yet.

PAN M 360: You have young children, so we imagine that’s part of the reason for recording everything at home, isn’t it?

MYRIAM GENDRON: My children are five and nice. Yes, everything was done at home, a little less so today.

PAN M 360: On stage, do you perform alone?

MYRIAM GENDRON: Not always. Sometimes I ask one or two musicians to come and accompany me for a few songs, but it’s still a solo project, it’s not a band. For the moment, at least, that’s not where I’m heading. But sometimes, there are certain songs that would benefit from an extra melodic line, percussion, etc. So, when I can, I do it. On tour, however, it’s not easy. People have their diaries, and you also have to pay them. So for the time being, I’m touring solo. In Montreal, I sometimes invite artists.

PAN M 360: What about the Suoni?

MYRIAM GENDRON: At the Suoni it’ll just be me, but there will be artists from the same program with whom I could sing. Drummer Chris Corsano is playing the same night, and he’s playing on Ma délire, so … it’ll be the first time we can really play together on stage. There’s also Mamie Minch, a guitarist from New York who’s part of the same program. We’ll also be trying to do a song or two together.

PAN M 360: Will you be playing any of your new material?

MYRIAM GENDRON: Yes. I’ll be doing some songs from my next album and some from the previous two. It’ll be a mix of all three projects.

PAN M 360: Are there any recurring themes in your songs?

MYRIAM GENDRON: I’d say that if I had to pick a theme so far, it’s mostly love songs. In fact, it’s written in the subtitle of Ma délire: Songs of Love. Dorothy Parker’s poems, set to music, are also love songs. Desire and love are very much at the heart of Ma délire. I’d also say that loss and mourning have taken on more prominence.

PAN M 360: Have you lost a loved one?

MYRIAM GENDRON: Yes.

PAN M 360: Sad. We won’t go any further and listen to you instead.

AT THE SUONI, MYRIAM GENDRON PERFORMS THIS THURSDAY, 8PM, AT THE SALA ROSSA. THE PROGRAM IS SHARED BY MAMIE MINCH, CHRIS CORSANO AND ZOH AMBA. TICKETS HERE

A staple of the Montreal music scene, singer-songwriter Joe Grass has just released his third album, Falcon’s Heart, via Simone Records. I sat with Joe to learn more about the artistry behind this record and to discuss his performance at this year’s Montreal Jazz Festival.

PAN M 360: Thanks for taking the time Joe! Congratulations on the new record. Not to start on too pessimistic a note, but the album tradition seems to be more and more in decline. I’m wondering has it become somewhat underwhelming to release an album these days?

Joe: Well right now is sort of a good time. I haven’t released one of my own records in, you know, seven years, but at the same time I’ve been a part of many releases. It’s kind of the fun part for me since there’s shows coming up and we’re talking about it and everything. But, you know, it’s a different moment right now for sure, where everything is more about quantity and not necessarily quality, it seems like you always have to be releasing something, videos, EP’s, shorter singles, everything like that. But I like the tradition of records, because it is its own challenge to have to put a whole piece together. Even though they’re individual songs, they have to live and work as one, like different movements of a larger piece, and conceptually or just sonically or there has to be a thread linking them up. It’s rewarding being able to do that.

PAN M 360: Perhaps we could talk about the threads running in Falcon’s Heart then. I know you mentioned country music as a big inspiration for this record.

Joe: Hopefully it’s not misleading, because I do talk about country music a lot in the press release, because these songs were kind of born from that place, but it doesn’t feel like I’ve made country music. It would be quite courageous of me to make an actual straight on country record, you know, because I really love that music but I’m interested by a lot of different sounds at the same time. I find it interesting to try and bring textures from jazz or other more contemporary genres, synths or like electroacoustic sounds into that world and see what happens.

I can talk a bit about how the songs were written too. They were conceived sort of quickly, each one like in three hour periods of just sitting down to write. And if the song wasn’t complete in three hours, it was not going to be completed, you know. There were changes made after, but they basically lived as three or four chord songs that you could sing the melody with. Once I had this collection of tunes that stood on their own just like that, you know, which, they pretty much were country songs. Not in terms of singing about pickup trucks and whatnot but I like the directness, the simple language, and the honesty to express complex, large emotions with very simple tools.

From there, the songs were stripped of those simple accompaniments and reharmonized, found either an atmosphere, a colour, a new set of chords, a new mood, a new ostinato, and then superimposed the melodies over them. The rest was just like a balancing act to make them sort of conceptually work together. But at the root, they were very simple songs. They’re not anymore, you know? And I know that because I’ve, you know, been learning to play them live these days and they’re not necessarily easy to play!

PAN M 360: Well I wanted to ask about how you’re preparing for your show at the Montreal Jazz Festival this year.

Joe: For that show there’s going to be a lot of the band that played on the record. Robbie Kuster is going to be there, the drummer, François Lafontaine, the keyboard and synth player. My friend Morgan Moore is going to be there. Mishka Stein and Erika Angell who plays in a really great band called Thus Owls, she’s going to be singing and doing some other stuff too. So we’re going to have a nice palette at that show.

But you know for other shows it’ll have to be more stripped down. We’ve been doing trio or I’ve been doing some solo performances too, which have been probably the scariest ones to do. Especially when you’re used to being able to pull all this energy out of the songs, it takes some courage to let the songs live simply and not feel like I have to do anything to them. But fortunately, the couple of times that I’ve done them, it’s gone really well.

So it seems these songs are still evolving, the forms have even changed a little bit and like we’re always rediscovering them, seeing where we can open up the energy and where we can, you know, make them even quieter, where we can go deeper into the dynamics. It would be fun to do a record after playing the songs live for like half a year and then record.

PAN M 360: Where were you coming from when you wrote these songs?

Joe: There were certain things that were happening in my life, during a certain major world event, that made you contemplate your sense of security. That security is not necessarily as easily sustained as we might think, you know, it’s like as a species, we’re pretty vulnerable sometimes, and we’re vulnerable all together in these crazy societal systems that we’ve created, be it, you know, banking, government, all this stuff. These kinds of thoughts were definitely running through my mind at the time, but I tried to take it song by song.

After that, you see what you’ve got and you see the lines going through it and then it’s pasting the artwork, the title, and putting it all together. Hopefully the things I was feeling, or even if it isn’t exactly the things I was feeling, is a coherent trip for someone else. But who am I to dictate what that trip is?

PAN M 360: I found the album artwork really evocative. It fits the vibe of the album really well. It’s interesting to hear you say you chose it after the music had all been written.

Joe: I’ve been a part of projects where we’ve had the artwork kind of early on but this record was finished before I found that image. I was just looking through some different galleries in Canada and I was going to Winnipeg and it was in a gallery there that I discovered this work by Sean William Randall. I invited him to the show that I was playing and we met and actually it was a bit intimidating approaching an artist who has a work that already, you know, stands on its own. But he was really cool and totally down for it. I found it worked really well, the juxtaposition of like an idyllic landscape with this burning machine going to the sky. It felt like it was made the way the record was made, it kind of had a sense of humour and that balance between old forms and new forms together in a sort of funny way.

PAN M 360: And so what’s next Joe?

Joe: That’s the great thing about music, you know, it never stops. I want to make a solo pedal steel record. I think that’s one of the next things on the list to do, I’ve been talking about doing it for like seven years now. It might be about time to do it. François and I are going to do another project in the Klaus name. I’m a part of a bunch of other records coming out so there’s a lot going on. But I’m looking forward to having the time just to like, you know, get back to, focussed learning and practising because I love that. I love working on my instrument and getting better as an improviser, expanding my language as a musician. I really think that’s my favourite thing to do.

At the Francos, French rapper Jok’Air set Club Soda alight on Friday night. A few minutes before he took to the stage, Pan M 360 spoke to the Parisian star about his visit to Montreal and his latest album, Melvin de Paris.

Born in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, Melvin Félix Aka aka Jok’Air is far from being a rookie in the rap world. For the record, the rapper spent several years in the MZ collective alongside Hache-P, Dehmo and Loka. In 2017, he went solo and unveiled his artistic identity with his first project Big Daddy Jok. Jok’Air’s music is melodic, honeyed and incorporates some r&b elements with a rap base. But make no mistake, the eternal romantic shines with his versatility and is also capable of delivering hard-hitting tracks.

Last May, the 31-year-old released Melvin de Paris, the most coherent and accomplished project of his career. The 18-track album features contributions from Damso, Laylow, So La Lune, Soprano and others. One of the best tracks on this opus, Tu m’as eu avec Linema, pays tribute to the hit You got me by the legendary hip-hop group The Roots and Erykah Badu.

photo copyright : Frédérique Ménard-Aubin

PAN M 360 : First of all, welcome to Montreal. How long have you been in town?

JOK’AIR : I’ve been in the city for about a week now. I have friends who live in Montreal. They show me around the city every time I come.

PAN M 360 : What do you know about the Quebec rap scene?

JOK’AIR : I know a bit about Quebec rap. I’m mostly familiar with Montreal beatmakers. I was lucky enough to go and see Loud’s show and meet him at the Festival. I also know Enima and Lost. I come to Quebec quite often.

PAN M 360 : How would you describe your music?

JOK’AIR : It’s simply Jok’Air. It doesn’t necessarily fit into any particular musical style. It’s different from anything else on the French rap scene at the moment.

PAN M 360 : Last May, you released Melvin de Paris. Tell me about the creation of this project.

JOK’AIR : It’s the album I’ve been working on the longest in my career. In general, I release one or two projects a year, and this time I took a year off to put the finishing touches to the album. I really had to work in depth on each track. What’s more, I recorded several of Melvin’s tracks from Paris to Montreal. For people who want to discover me, this is definitely the perfect album to do so.

PAN M 360 : Looking back over your career, it’s clear that the pace at which you create is breathtaking. What is the key to your work ethic?

JOK’AIR : It’s definitely being passionate. Passion pushes you to always give more. It makes you always want to give your best. It allows you to progress every day. Without that, I’d never have been able to get there and keep up the pace.

PAN M 360 : The album features “Quoi de neuf bébé”, a collaboration with Belgian rapper Damso. How did this track come about?

JOK’AIR : One day I was in the studio with Damso in Brussels and we were listening to some tracks I’d recorded. As soon as “Quoi de neuf bébé” came on, he listened to it several times and he really got hooked on the track. It was he who decided to add his verse to the song and I was really flattered that he liked it so much. I’m really proud to have such a renowned artist on my project. It’s crazy to be able to share one of these tracks with such a talented person. It’s a real honour to have him on my project.

PAN M 360 : Let’s talk about a project that’s close to your heart, your comic book and its distribution in many schools in France. What is the aim of this project?

JOK’AIR : It’s a collaborative project we’ve been running for two years with the association La Mélodie des Quartiers to combat illiteracy and encourage young people to read. It’s quite simple, the aim is to distribute comic strips I’ve made to schools in disadvantaged areas of France. It’s a project I’ve wanted to do for a long time, I’ve always wanted to do a comic strip à la Titeuf. So we created a book called Melvin de Paris, like my last album. It’s a great human adventure, we’re putting smiles on children’s faces and that’s great.

PAN M 360 : Clearly, comic strips were very important in your childhood. Do you have any other projects of this kind in the pipeline?

JOK’AIR : Absolutely, they had a huge impact on me when I was younger. In fact, I’ve got a tattoo of Titeuf on my left arm. It just goes to show how deeply it’s ingrained in me. I’d definitely like to explore this avenue further, either by doing another comic strip or even a cartoon. There are no plans for the moment, but I’d certainly like to.

PAN M 360 : With a ten-year career as part of a collective and seven years as a solo artist, you’re definitely one of the big names in French rap. What’s next for Jok’Air?

JOK’AIR : It’s simple: we want to do even better. It’s impossible to reach the top, but it’s always possible to surpass yourself. At the moment, I’m doing the festival tour and a number of shows in Europe. Then I’ll be back in the studio to do even better and offer my fans even more.

Nearly three years after its most recent release, Montreal rap-jazz collective Original Gros Bonnet is more ready than ever to unveil the fruits of its new creations. For the occasion, the septet will close the Tous les jours printemps era and open a new one, this Saturday 17 June at 8pm, on the Scène Desjardins des Francos.

PAM M 360 caught up with François Marceau aka Franky Fade and Vincent Favreau to find out more about OGB’s future projects, their creative process, their time at the festival and more.

Winners of Les Francouvertes showcase competition in 2019, Original Gros Bonnet is made up of Louis René, Vincent B. Boulianne, John Henry Angrignon Atkins, Samuel Brais-Germain (production, sound design), Franky Fade, Vincent Favreau and Arnaud Castonguay. In August 2020, the seven men released their excellent Tous les jours printemps, a project that caught the attention of Quebec hip-hop fans. From the outset, the band stood out thanks to their unique sound identity and carefully crafted lyrics. Even today, it’s hard to find a similar, high-quality offering like the septet’s in Quebec.

Over the past three years, the men have been busy concocting what they describe as their “best material to date”. So rest assured, Original Gros Bonnet is still alive and kicking!

PAN M 360 : Your last release was in 2020 with your project Tous les jours printemps. How has Original Gros Bonnet fared over the last three years?

FRANKY FADE & VINCENT FAVREAU : In the summer of 2021, we started making music again and we haven’t stopped since. We were looking for new sounds and we created a lot of songs. The last few years have really been a development phase for us. Now we’ve got a huge amount of material and we’re getting ready to release it soon. We’ve also done a few shows together. We’ve always tried to get together once or twice a week to create together. In short, we haven’t really taken a break!

PAN M 360 : What’s your new sound like? Is it in the same vein as your first album?

FRANKY FADE & VINCENT FAVREAU : Clearly, Original Gros Bonnet’s signature sound is going to be there. We’ve always floated in hip-hop, whether it’s boom-bap or trap, so that’s definitely going to continue to manifest itself in our music. We don’t put any limits on ourselves and we like to explore different avenues. We love jazz as much as progressive rock. You could hear that on Tous les jours printemps, where some tracks were hard-hitting and others softer. Over the last three years, we’ve really let ourselves go and let our creativity express itself. There’s a maturity that you can hear in this project and it’s really dark. We really want our fans to discover it. They really are the best tracks we’ve done to date. We could have done it quicker, but we’d never have got the result we’ve got today.

PAN M 360 : Has your creative process changed over time? It can’t always be easy to create with seven people.

FRANKY FADE & VINCENT FAVREAU : Over the years, we’ve realised that there can’t always be seven of us composing at the same time. So we’ve learned to trust each other. Often, one of us will come up with a song that’s almost finished and we’ll put it together as a band. When we’re creating, each person brings his or her grain of salt to the songs. It certainly makes the process take longer because there’s a lot of discussion between us and small changes that one day lead to a finished track. On the other hand, we think the final sound is very interesting and offers something new. Now our workflow works really well. Before, quite a lot of our material ended up in our projects, even if some tracks weren’t very popular. For the next project, we’ve created so much that only a third of it will make it into the project. We’ve really practised creating. Creativity is a bit like a muscle and you have to practise it.

PAN M 360 : You’ll be performing at the Francos on Saturday 17 June. What does this evening mean to you?

FRANKY FADE & VINCENT FAVREAU : We see this show as a bit of a redemption. When the pandemic started, there was a big gap in our calendar. The year before, we’d won a bunch of awards and played a lot of festivals like the Francos. Everything was going well and then overnight we had none of that. Playing at the Francos again, it’s a huge showcase to put us back on the map in a way. We want to give a show bursting with energy to show that Original Gros Bonnet is there. We’re convinced that we’re putting on one of the best shows in Quebec right now and that we’ve got something special. This show marks the end of one era and the start of another. In our minds, it’s the last show of Tous les jours printemps. After that, we’ll be putting together a new set. It’s perfect to finish it off at home. Our biggest show ever was the Francos in 2019, so we’re really looking forward to being back.

PAN M 360 : Do you feel that the pandemic has slowed your progress?

FRANKY FADE & VINCENT FAVREAU : In a way, yes. We’re not going to lie, our second album was a bit of a flop. We’d invested an enormous amount of time in the creation of Tous les jours printemps, and that was certainly discouraging. But we kept our heads up and concentrated on our own mental health. It was important to keep our band healthy. During the pandemic, we still made sure we had creative sessions via Zoom. We stuck together and believed in the value of our project. We continued to work hard and we really improved.

PAN M 360 : Do you think being in a group helped you get through the pandemic better?

FRANKY FADE & VINCENT FAVREAU : It’s true that being a septet complicated things, because we couldn’t see each other as a group. So it’s hard to progress and move forward. As we said, we organised ourselves as best we could to create from a distance. We consider ourselves to be a live performance band, and at that level it was hard, because there were no more shows. It was also difficult to release music as a group compared to solo artists. If you look at it another way, knowing that we were all going to get together after the pandemic gave us hope. Above all, we’re a very close group of friends and we supported each other.

PAN M 360 : You’re up for the Prix Félix-Leclerc this year. What does this nomination mean to you?

FRANKY FADE & VINCENT FAVREAU : It feels fucking good. It’s a great honour to be shortlisted, whether you win or not. We have a lot of respect for the other artists who are up for the award. This nomination just goes to show that our project is worthwhile, despite the lull we went through with the pandemic. It’s a real pat on the back and it’s a huge motivation for us to come up with new songs. We’re living in an ultra-fast consumer music context and it’s incredible to see the name of our collective on the list of nominees, three years after our last release. For people, three years is an eternity and it’s crazy that Original Gros Bonnet should be considered for such an award. We’re extremely grateful.

AS PART OF THE FRANCOS, ORIGINAL GROS BONNET PERFORMS ON THE DESJARDINS STAGE, 8PM, SATURDAY 17 JUNE

Winner of a 2023 Juno Award, Canadian virtuoso pianist Philip Chiu will be performing on Saturday alongside the Quatuor Isidore, an ensemble that recently won the 2022 Banff International String Quartet Competition. Our colleague Frédéric Cardin spoke to Devon Moore, the group’s violist. PAN M 360 spoke to Philip Chiu on the sidelines of the Premier Prix concert, which was all about meeting new people and enjoying playing together.

PAN M 360 : This is the first time you’ll be playing with the Quatuor Isidore. Who came up with the idea for this collaboration and had you followed their performances in Banff before meeting them?

Philip Chiu : It will indeed be the first time and it was Denis Brott who paired us together. Of course, I listened to their performances during the Banff competition and I was already struck by their sensibilities, by this communication between them that is really natural. That’s what I liked: it wasn’t just a very high quality performance, it was really like a conversation between friends. I’m really impressed. I’m really looking forward to it and I feel really privileged to be playing with them.

PAN M 360 : You will be performing with them an emblematic work from the French chamber music repertoire, César Franck’s Quintet for Strings and Piano in F minor. Why did you choose this work and what are its characteristics?

Philip Chiu : That’s a very good question. Unfortunately, I didn’t choose it (laughs). It was Denis who suggested it for the programme. However, I can say that this is the first time I’ll be performing this piece, despite the fact that I’ve done quite a few pieces from the standard chamber repertoire. I’m really discovering this work. It’s an incredible work! Franck was a composer renowned as an organist and symphonist, so there’s this sensitivity in his writing with a sound that’s more imposing than just the use of strings and piano. That’s what he drew in the three movements of this work.

PAN M 360 : Are there any challenges or particularities that you envisage in this piece?

Philip Chiu : Franck’s music is very romantic. It’s music where there are a lot of contrasting elements in the structure. It’s really a whirlwind of emotions, so to keep the audience’s attention and commitment, you have to give them enough well-defined elements so that they don’t get caught up in all this melodic vagueness and in this very dense texture of great intensity.

PAN M 360 : You’ve been working as a concert performer for some years now, collaborating with many other musicians. It’s something that’s close to your heart. What do these collaborations bring you as a musician?

Philip Chiu : It’s always a privilege for me to learn things from other colleagues, to see elements through their perspective, to enter into musical conversations with others. That’s what allows me to grow, to bring my imagination and musical ideas to life, to explore a different way of looking at things like a phrase or a melody. That’s what I’m really looking forward to discovering with the Quatuor Isidore, because, as is increasingly the case with this new generation of musicians, they don’t act as if it’s all about competition. That’s not the aim at all. We’re really here to create something beautiful together, to share things. Yes, competitions are important because they give us goals and motivate us, but I’ve never believed in music as a competitive thing and I’ve always tried to avoid this idea of : “Me against everyone else; you against me, and that the second person is a loser.” The beauty of these collaborations is really saying, “We’re here together to create, to feel that resonance, that communication, to create something beautiful for ourselves and for others.”

PAN M 360 : That’s something that a lot of performers and young performers from new generations say, and it’s something that resonates very well, and rightly so. It’s certainly much more gratifying and relevant for personal and professional advancement to act in this way rather than to be in constant competition.

Philip Chiu : Exactly. There’s also the idea of saying, “We’re not just elite athletes living in our own world.” It’s also a way of bringing this art form, classical music, into everyday life.

Slash Need is a chaotic and experimental dark techno/post-hardcore group from Toronto. Their music is tense and feels like a machete hacking away at parts of your physical and mental body. There’s pain, resistance, and darkened joy with a live performance that looks part exorcism and part subjugation. The latest single from the group is a cover of “The Money Will Roll Right In,” by Fang and they hope to release an LP or EP soon. We chatted quickly with Dusty Lee and Alex Low ahead of their Suoni Per Il Popolo performance with Crasher and Laura Krieg.

PAN M 360: For our readers who don’t know of you, how did Slash Need form and who are the members?

Dusty Lee: Slash Need formed at a time when Alex and I were both helping run a venue in Toronto called Double Double Land. We were living, working there and basically spending all our time there. Currently, the band is made up of the two of us (Dusty Lee and Alex Low). That said, we have a steady roster of artists who we collaborate with and who dance with us such as Camille Jodoin-Eng and Tago Mago. We consider them members of the band too. Like Prodigy.

PAN M 360: How does the songwriting work within Slash Need?

Dusty Lee: We work separately on ideas and come together to build something that exists sonically between ourselves.

Alex Low: Even though I physically push most of the buttons live, the two of us write everything together.

Slash Need // Kirk Lisag

PAN M 360: Are the lyrics stream of consciousness?

Dusty Lee: Sometimes. Sometimes they’re poems, sometimes they happen on the spot, sometimes they take weeks.

PAN M 360: “The Money Will Roll Right In” cover, where did the idea to morph it into a dark techno banger come from? I remember the Nirvana cover from way back.

Dusty Lee: I was shown the original song by Fang a few years ago and became a bit obsessed. The Nirvana cover is cool too. Same with the Metallica cover. It’s inspiring that the simplicity of that song is what generates its timelessness. It’s been translated into so many different versions we thought we’d try our hand at it too. It was the first thing we worked on when we got back together after the time we spent apart during the height of the pandemic. We made it in one night.

PAN M 360: There’s this strange dichotomy in the music with this techno-electro and almost post-hardcore vocal style. Did it kind of just happen this way?

Dusty Lee: Fuck no. We started and we were like a drone noise band. Then we were kind of making music that was a little electro-dance/house influenced? I think it wasn’t until we wrote “Leather” and began pulling the thread of ideas written into that song that we really found ourselves. I was playing a lot of X-Ray Spex, Maria Minerva, Lucrecia Dalt, The Mo-dettes, Geneva Jacuzzi, Judy Nylon at that time. Just like, post-punk no-wave experimental and dance stuff but I was also listening to a lot of Deli Girls and became really inspired by them, I thought “How do I do that?” and just kind of figured it out in my own way.

Slash Need Live // Philip Monahan

PAN M 360: I feel like this music would serve to be live in some unconventional venues like an abandoned swimming pool or something. Have you played some more DIY venues?

Slash Need: We’ve almost exclusively played DIY venues and shows for the majority of our time together up until more recently. We haven’t played in an abandoned swimming pool yet but we’re open to it.

PAN M 360: Any plans for more music down the road, an EP or LP?

Slash Need: We’ve been working on an LP but maybe it will be an EP so we can release it faster and move on.

Slash Need plays Suoni Per iL Popolo on June 17 w/ Crasher, and Laura Krieg TICKETS HERE

Since 1995, the Festival de musique de chambre de Montréal has presented a series of programmes in June featuring a fine blend of classical and jazz repertoire. Cellist Denis Brott was the driving force behind the Festival, and continues to be its artistic director. The FMCM concludes on Sunday with a concert highlighting the relationship between Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and his patron Nadezhda von Meck.

The concert will be accompanied by a novel experience at the Maison symphonique: the musicians and audience will be brought together on stage, and the programme will be accompanied by a theatrical performance, with the composer and his muse played by actors Jean Marchand and Anne-Julie Proulx. Contacted by PAN M 360, Denis Brott explains the ins and outs of this closing concert.

PAN M 360 : And so we enter the private life of the famous Russian composer.

DENIS BROTT : Tchaikovsky had a troubled life, at least unusual for his time. Yes, he was homosexual, he was obviously discriminated against, and he got married even though it wasn’t what he wanted.

PAN M 360 : You wanted to reflect this through this programme?

DENIS BROTT : With the help of Michèle Marchand, we selected 2,000 letters exchanged between Tchaikovsky and Nadezhda von Meck. She was a very wealthy woman, the widow of a railway magnate. Money was not a problem for her. She loved music. She heard Tchaikovsky’s music and fell in love. For 12 years, she supported him 100% financially. She allowed him to leave his position at the Moscow Conservatoire and she financed his entire career. They exchanged more than 2,000 letters, many of them intimate and I would even say love letters. Since Tchaikovsky was gay, they never met.

PAN M 360 : It was a platonic relationship, you might say.

DENIS BROTT : Platonic, yes. They communicated intensely and there was a kind of codependent relationship. And it’s very unusual that the relationship lasted so long in the context of that time. And there are tragic elements in this: a few months after Tchaikovsky’s death (some think he committed suicide), Madame Von Meck died.

PAN M 360: As for the choice of works?

DENIS BROTT : I have programmed two great works. The first part is the Trio for violin, cello and piano, which is a masterpiece despite the fact that Tchaikovsky once considered that these three instruments were a bad combination.

In the second half, we play Le Souvenir de Florence, which is a sextet that I have arranged for 17 strings including the double bass. So this will be a first in this version.

Between the movements, we have Jean Marchand, who will play the role of Piotr Ilić Tchaikovsky, and Anne-Julie Proulx, who will play the role of Nadezhda von Meck. The script is really moving: listening to the content of these letters and then listening to the music produces a totally astonishing symbiosis.

PAN M 360 : And so it was you who wrote this adaptation of the sextet for 17 strings.

DENIS BROTT : Exactly. It’s the first time in my life, in fact. We’ll see whether it succeeds or not, but you have to take risks in life. You have to be adventurous!

PAN M 360 : Did you have the support of other professionals to achieve this?

DENIS BROTT : No, but I showed my work to fellow musicians whom I respect, to get their opinion. I have to say that every single person who looked at the score was very enthusiastic.

PAN M 360 : For the closing of the FMCM, we’re moving from Bourgie Hall to the Maison symphonique.

DENIS BROTT : You might think that this is not a space for chamber music, which requires a more intimate space. But what I’ve decided to do, and I think this is the first time at Maison symphonique, is to place the musicians on stage with their backs to the seats in the hall, and we’ll put the audience on stage, facing the musicians and also in the choir seats. So we have a capacity of 360 people. In a way, it’s a living room in a hall.

PAN M 360 : We’ve seen a concept like this at Théâtre Maisonneuve during the OSM’s Virée classique, but not at the Maison symphonique.

DENIS BROTT : It’s never been done, and I’m doing it because the acoustics in this hall are among the best. It’s just for the intimacy of chamber music, this space is too big. And there isn’t really a chamber music hall with good acoustics at Place des Arts.

PAN M 360 : So why not present this programme in a chamber music venue like Salle Bourgie?

DENIS BROTT : Because I wanted to experiment. After 28 years of programming the festival, I’m always looking for new experiences, both in the musical content for the performers and in the way it’s presented to the public. And Place des Arts is very well known to the general public!

PAN M 360 : So the Maison symphonique was the only venue at PdA with acoustics suitable for music without amplification.

DENIS BROTT : Yes, you need an echo that lasts longer than a second, 1.5 or 1.6 seconds, to get the resonance you need. We have that at the Maison symphonique and we don’t have it elsewhere at PdA. Anyway, we’re going to try it, and I think that for the audience it will be a truly immersive experience; the audience will be very close to the performers and they’ll also be able to hear a story that’s never been told before!

PAN M 360 : It’s true that little or nothing is known about the correspondence between Tchaikovsky and his patron.

DENIS BROTT : Exactly. This loving, non-physical relationship is an interesting fact to relate artistically.

PAN M 360 : So there will be 17 musicians on stage and two actors to take us through this experience.

DENIS BROTT : To be precise, 8 violins, 4 violas, 4 cellos and a double bass.

PAN M 360 : You always have to try new things.

DENIS BROTT : Even at my age! I’m lucky enough to still be awake and enriched by everything I discover in music. It’s fascinating. And the need to keep fit by playing an instrument is very physiological, I’d even say athletic.

PAN M 360 : Why stop doing what you love? There’s no reason to stop.

DENIS BROTT : It’s the same in any profession, I think. If you don’t love what you do, it’s work. If you love what you do, it’s not work.

AS PART OF THE MONTREAL CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL, THE CHAIKOVSKY OBSESSION PROGRAMME IS PRESENTED THIS SUNDAY, 18 JUNE, 3.30PM, AT LA MAISON SYMPHONIQUE. TICKETS HERE

New York’s Isidore Quartet, winners of the renowned Banff International String Quartet Competition 2022 and the Avery Fisher Grant 2023, arrive in Montreal for the first time this weekend. As part of the Montreal Chamber Music Festival, the ensemble founded in 2019 will play three times: Friday the 16th at noon in Salle Bourgie in a short concert lasting less than an hour, Saturday the 17th evening in piano quintet format, where they will be accompanied by the excellent, and Montreal local, Philip Chiu, and Sunday afternoon at the Maison symphonique with an entire string ensemble featuring Tchaikovsky!

Made up of Phoenix Avalon and Adrian Steele on violins, Devon Moore on viola and Joshua McClendon on cello, the ensemble has developed a reputation for exciting, clear and sincere playing. They’re also said to make classical music sound totally fresh with a relaxed approach to concert-going.

Why Isidore? Firstly, in recognition of Isidore Cohen, violinist of the famous Juilliard Quartet, an ensemble that inspires them, and secondly, humbly confessed, as a tribute to the Greek monk Isidore, who is said to have concocted the first real vodka in the Grand Duchy of Russia. The pleasure of music doesn’t have to come alone!

A chat with Devon Moore.

Pan M 360: Hello! It’s a pleasure to know you’ll soon be in Montreal!

Devin Moore (Isidore 4t) : Thank you! It’s a great pleasure for us to go there for the first time as an ensemble. It’ll be a first for me, but not for Adrian (the violinist) as his brother lives there.

Pan M 360: Banff and Avery Fisher are two very prestigious prizes. You were founded very recently (2019). Did you anticipate such a rapid rise when you started?

Devin Moore (Isidore 4t): No, we didn’t. We simply wanted to play music together in an official way because we were already doing it as students. When we applied to take part in the Banff Competition, we had no expectations. Then, when we were accepted in the competition, we realized that ”Oh, heck, we’ve got to learn a lot of music all of a sudden!” We had maybe five or six months of serious work as an ensemble, no more. So we worked very, very, very hard. It was a fantastic experience, very exciting, but perhaps the most stressful of my life!

Pan M 360: What does this First prize in Banff mean to you?

Devin Moore (Isidore 4t): It’s a big deal. Right after we played our program for the finals, a guy came and offered to represent us as an agent. We hadn’t yet received the announcement of victory. It was an exceptional contest. I remember admiring several of the quartets that took part (the Schumann, the Dover, etc.). The mere fact of being admitted was a great validation of our work and vision.

Pan M 360: On your website, you state that your mission is to “revisit, rediscover and reinvigorate” the repertoire. How do you go about this?

Devin Moore (Isidore 4t) : We’re inspired by the vision of the Juilliard Quartet, one of the great ensembles of the 20th century. Collectively, the four of us have studied with eight or nine current or former members of this quartet! Their philosophy has always been to treat the new as if it were old, and the old as if it were new. We like to treat the repertoire as if it were an open playing field. Take Haydn, for example, which we love. We take a very sincere but passionate approach. We love the great repertoire and, even though I’m the oldest, at 24, and even though I sometimes think we have no idea what we’re doing (laughs), we dive right in and express what we feel for this music, without filter, without restraint.

Pan M 360: The benefit of youth… Since you’re so young, how do you think you can convince people of your generation to come to classical concerts?

Devin Moore (Isidore 4t) : What we want most is to connect and communicate closely with audiences, young and old. Although we love to play in traditional concert halls, we also don’t hesitate to play in art galleries, or in other contexts where people may well be lying down or sitting on sofas, talking a bit during the concert, having a glass of wine, etc. These are contexts in which we can adapt very well. I think it allows us to reach a different, often younger, audience. We’ve been to concerts, we’ve learned to sit up straight, to be quiet, not to applaud between movements, but for many people it’s intimidating. But it’s not the manners that count, it’s the appreciation of the music!

Pan M 360: You are socially committed. You’re involved in a project called Music Heals Us. What is this initiative and why are you involved?

Devin Moore (Isidore 4t) : It’s a non-profit organization that brings music to people who don’t have access to it for all sorts of reasons. We go into hospices, health care centers, prisons and so on. It’s a program run by Molly Carr, the Juilliard Quartet’s current violist. She was my teacher and shortly after we formed as a professional ensemble, she contacted us to participate. In all honesty, it’s one of our favorite activities. They are simply unforgettable human experiences. I remember clearly one time, we went to give a concert in a prison in the Bronx. We arrive there with our instruments, set up and start playing. A few people approached, then several more and more again. They start asking us questions, and we start talking and chatting. And then this man comes along and tells us he writes rap lyrics, and asks if he can sing them for us. We went along with him, underscoring him with rythms, and it lasted about twenty minutes! It was one of the best experiences we’ve ever had. Winning a competition like Banff is fantastic and very important, but the primary aim of our passion is to create sincere contact with other people, and Music Heals Us gives us the opportunity to make human encounters of a totally different and deeply sincere nature, in totally unexpected contexts. It’s very powerful.

Pan M 360: You’re active on the contemporary music scene. Do you focus on any particular type of new music?

Devin Moore (Isidore 4t) : For my part, I started a non-profit organization with a colleague with the goal of playing more music by composers from groups underrepresented in classical music. For example, black composers, female composers or also works by artists from other musical genres, such as the string quartets of Billy Childs, a great jazz musician who has won several Grammy awards, but whose work in classical music is not well known. It’s extraordinary music. Every time we play it, people fall in love with it.

Pan M 360: Thank you very much, and we can’t wait to hear you in Montreal!

Devin Moore (Isidore 4t): Thank you very much, and we’re looking forward to it too!

A guest at Piknic Electronik on May 22nd as an opener for Deborah de Luca, Alexa Borzyk continues her ascent on the Montreal techno scene, and soon on the international scene. Why soon? Because her appearance at Parc-Jean-Drapeau was her last date before moving to Europe, to Berlin to be precise, for a year. Before settling down in the German capital, the DJ will have the chance to perform at Tomorrowland (Boom, Belgium) this summer, one of the biggest EDM festivals on the old continent.

With just a few days to go, PAN M 360 caught up with the Montreal producer to discuss her time at Piknic and the different facets of her career as an artist.

Photograph copyright : Kevin Millet

PAN M 360 : What was your experience at Piknic this year?

Alexa Borzyk : It was different from other years because I played a style that’s not what I’m used to, to adapt to the sound identity of the artists I was playing with. It was melodic techno, whereas I’m more on the techno side.

PAN M 360 : Does Piknic Electronik have any special significance for you?

Alexa Borzyk : Not only is this my third time DJing at Piknic, it’s also one of the first events I attended when I discovered the Montreal electronic scene.

PAN M 360 : Speaking of discovering the Montreal scene, have you always lived in Montreal?

Alexa Borzyk : I grew up in Montreal, having moved here when I was twelve. Before that, I spent my whole life in Quebec City.

PAN M 360 : Tell me about your musical background.

Alexa Borzyk : I started learning the violin at the age of 8, then I also played a bit of guitar when I was a teenager, around 15. I discovered electronic music around the age of 17 thanks to one of my best friends, who was a promoter in this field.

PAN M 360 : What inspired you to take the plunge and become a DJ and producer?

Alexa Borzyk : My friend was a promoter, but she was also a DJ and organized parties that I attended. That’s when I decided to teach myself how to mix. Production came a bit later. Before that, I was more involved in promoting and organizing techno events in Montreal. I’ve been active in production for about 3 years now.

PAN M 360 : Can you tell us more about the events you organized?

Alexa Borzyk : I organized my first event in 2018. It was a small party at the Blue Dog bar. Then I organized another event in collaboration with several collectives, called “Reflection”, which was a different concept in Montreal, it was done at Entrepôts Dominions in 2019, we invited Stéphanie Sykes for the occasion. Then I organized my second event at the end of 2019, with VTSS, at Livart, then I stopped.

PAN M 360 : Why didn’t you continue organizing events?

Alexa Borzyk : When I started out, I didn’t have much experience and I put a lot of pressure on myself, which was sometimes difficult to manage. When the pandemic hit, it also affected my priorities and what I really wanted to do. I had to deal with burnout and financial problems. I preferred to concentrate on production.

PAN M 360 : What about your work as a producer ?

Alexa Borzych : I spend a lot of my time at home producing. I work mainly digitally, with VSTs and samples on Ableton Live. I mainly produce techno, sometimes a bit of pop or hip-hop. I feel that to be creative I need to take a step aside and try to do something other than techno, it really feeds my creativity.

PAN M 360 : This summer you’ll be playing at Tomorrowland in Boom, Belgium, one of the biggest EDM festivals in Europe.

Alexa Borzych : Yes, it all started with the Coïncidence label, based in Belgium, to which I’m signed. I released my first EP, Under The Temple in 2022. I knew that Coïncidence had a stage at Tomorrowland, but I didn’t necessarily expect them to ask me to play there. It’s my first time playing outside Canada. I played Igloofest Québec and that’s the only time I’ve ever really left Montreal to play elsewhere.

PAN M 360 : You’re leaving Montreal to spend a year in Berlin. Do you think that leaving Montreal is a kind of obligatory step in developing a career?

Alexa Borzych : For me, honestly, I think it is. More generally, it’s also a way of encouraging people to realize their dreams. Elsewhere” is an asset, wherever you are in the world, in Montreal or not. For me, it’s a way of getting out of my bubble, of listening to what’s being done elsewhere, of discovering something else.

PAN M 360 : What are your plans for Europe?

Alexa Borzych : To look for a few more dates to play, but above all to take some time for myself and work on production.

PAN M 360 : Do you have any other releases in the pipeline?

Alexa Borzych : I’ve got a new EP called Fatale coming out on Coïncidence. It wasn’t planned, but it’s coming out on the day of my departure for Berlin, June 30th.

Shanta Nurullah has distinguished herself as a sitarist and bassist exploring African-American improvisational music throughout her career. A legendary Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) member, Shanta will be performing with her trio at this year’s Suoni Per Il Popolo.

PAN M 360: Hi Shanta, looking forward to your Suoni show! Can you tell us a little bit more about the performance?

SHANTA NURULLAH: Oh, I’m very much looking forward to it as well. We’ll be doing a trio thing. I’ll be playing the sitar and a little bit of small percussion. I might bring a sansula, it’s a type of mbira or kalimba, but this particular one was actually made in Germany. It’s like a kalimba that’s mounted on a little drum, mounted on a membrane and a frame. I might play a little electric bass as well.

Alex Wing is coming with me, he’ll be playing electric guitar and an oud, which is a Middle Eastern instrument. Fred Jackson Jr. plays alto saxophone and might be playing some percussion as well.

PAN M 360: That’s a lot of “might”. Sounds like a lot is going to be left to the moment.

SHANTA NURULLAH: Ha, yes. We’re going to improvise and perhaps play one or two compositions. And we might do some singing as well.

PAN M 360: Such is the nature of, of what shall we call this music exactly?

SHANTA NURULLAH: Creative music.

PAN M 360: Creative music, that’s it. I would love to know about your relationship with the sitar. I’m sure you’ve got a story to tell.

SHANTA NURULLAH: Well, when I was 19 years old, I went to India with a group of college students, and we each had a project that we were to research and study while we were there. And my project was to be about the untouchables. I had done all of my previous research on this group of people that had, in my mind, a plight that was very similar to that of my people, the African-Americans. But when we got to Pune, we were based at Deccan College, and we were being given all sorts of these cultural presentations. One of them was a concert, a sitar concert. And from the moment I first heard the instrument, I just fell in love with it. I told the director of the program, that is what I have to do. And he’s like, no, no, you came here to do this social science, political science project. And I’m like, no, no, no, this is what I have to do.

So I found a teacher and he got me an instrument. I studied for about five months before I left. I was able to get the basics of the instrument, you know, how to hold it, how to play it. I learned my Sa Re Ga Ma, you know, I learned the scale, and one raag, and he sent me on my way. But he also had a beautiful sitar made for me while I was there. Before I left he took me to the village of Marashkar to pick up that sitar, it’s the one that I’m still playing.

And I wasn’t able to find a teacher when I came back to Chicago to continue my studies. Before I left India, there were these guys that basically hung out in my teacher’s studio and they kind of brushed me off and told me that you’ll never really be able to play this instrument, because you need to study at least for five years and play every day for eight hours a day. I took that to heart and basically just sat in my room and played it. Now, when I was sitting in my room just playing like that, I discovered that I could play some of the songs that I had grown up hearing, singing like, you know, Negro spirituals. Motherless Child, Wade in the Water. And that’s what I did in my room. I also had a Ruth Brown blues record and I would often play along with it.

PAN M 360: Your music crosses so many boundaries and the sitar seems to be but a part of a much larger artistic vision. How did things begin to take shape?

SHANTA NURULLAH: At the same time I was a literature student, and I got so enamoured with the Black Arts Movement that when I finished my studies, I wanted to get involved. I wanted to be a part of the Black Arts Movement. That’s how I learned about the Kuumba workshop, which was headquartered at the Southside Community Arts Center, which was a hub that dated back to the 20s, 30s, 40s, and the years of the WPA and just had a long history of the arts in Chicago. The workshop met regularly and welcomed me into their theatre company. They had regular one-act plays they put on on Saturday night, after the play, they would have what they called a ritual. And the ritual was that every member of the company would come up and present something, a song or a poem or something, kind of like an open mic.

Well, one Monday evening after the rehearsal, I drove one of the company members home. I came into her house for a minute and noticed that in the corner of the room was a bass guitar. And I had never seen one before. I asked her if I could, if I could play it. I had never held a bass before let alone played one but once I began playing it, she was so amazed that she gave me the bass and the amp to take home.

So all week long, I’m practicing on this bass, And I took it on Saturday night to Kuumba and played it at the ritual. You know, I was arrogant enough to think that just after one week, I was ready to play this instrument in public. So Val Gray Ward, the director of the company, after the ritual, she said, well, that was nice, but you know, you really do need some lessons. She suggested I see Pete Cosey. I didn’t know who he was but I went to see him.

I later found out that Pete was the guitarist that put the electric in Muddy Waters’ Electric Mud album. He also played with Miles Davis, and was one of the regulars at Chess Records, so he was just a phenomenal musician.

Ater a couple of bass lessons from Pete Cosey, he said, you know, you really need to go see Phil Cohran. Phil was one of the founders of the AACM, the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, and I stayed with him for almost four or five years. He had this thing called Black Music Workshop on Saturday morning. I took my bass to Phil and he said you’re welcome to join the workshop, but what other instruments do you play? I said, well, I have this sitar at home, but I can’t really play it because the people in India said that I have to study for five years and practice eight hours a day, so I can’t bring it out. He said, sister, that instrument’s from Africa, so are you. Bring it on over here. And that gave me permission to just stretch out and express myself, express myself. on the sitar and that’s what I’ve been doing ever since.

He wrote music for me and he wrote this harp and sitar duet that was just really beautiful. He wrote me a sitar blues and you know, it was just a wonderful experience learning from him, and that just launched me into my career, basically.

PAN M 360: I can’t help but think of Alice Coltrane when I hear about your music. Was she one of your influences? Are you on the same kind of quest as her?

SHANTA NURULLAH: Oh, absolutely. Alice Coltrane is one of my greatest inspirations. I had the honour of actually spending an afternoon with her. That was just one of the highlights of my entire life, getting to meet her and talk to her. It continues to inspire me. When I listen to her music, I’m hearing new things even now that I’ve never heard before. Her music speaks to universality, to love, to freedom. I’m a spirit musician like that, musicians who are, how can I say it, open to the energy of the universe, of the moment. I play what I feel and I play what I hear and mostly I like to play with other people and explore communication with other musicians. It’s creating, collective creation.

PAN M 360: That’s creative music. Thanks a lot Shanta.

SHANTA NURULLAH IS PERFORMING AT SUONI PER IL POPOLO, SALA ROSSA, ON WEDNESDAY JUNE 14. INFOS & TICKETS HERE