Interviews – Page 59

Evoking power-pop fills my music geek’s heart with joy. Alex Chilton and Big Star, Cheap Trick, The Smithereens, Weezer’s first three albums, Mathew Sweet, The New Pornographers, and so many other bands. Uplifting stuff that makes you want to hop around and sing along, Thus The Beths, a relatively young band from Auckland, New Zealand, are a true blessing. I would go so far as to say that The Beths are making some of the best power-pop of the Anglosphere, these days. Elizabeth Stokes (vocals and rhythm guitar), Tristan Deck (drums), Jonathan Pearce (lead guitar and vocals) and Benjamin Sinclair (bass and vocals) are creating songs that are as addictive as they are memorable. Moreover, they play really tight and smile a lot. Pan M 360 got caught singer-guitarist Liz Stokes somewhere on the Eastern Seaboard, a few days before The Beths’ Montréal gig.

Pan M 360: Hello Liz, if my sources are correct, you must be somewhere between North Carolina and Virginia.

Liz Stokes: Yeah, so we are in North Carolina we played in Durham last night, and we’re in Raleigh Today.

Pan M 360: 2022 has been but an extensive tour for you, so far.

Liz Stokes: Yes, it’s been nice. We’re playing maybe seven or eight more shows in North America. Then 10 days later we have some dates in Australia and New Zealand.

Pan M 360: Will this be your first visit to Montréal?

Liz Stokes: We actually played there in 2019, the year before the pandemics, at Pop something?

Pan M 360: Pop Montreal? (Writer’s note: the venue was Casa del Popolo) Your third album, Expert in A Dying Field, will be released in about three weeks. I’ve heard the singles (“Expert in a Dying Field”, Silence Is Golden”, “A Real Thing”, “Knees Deep”). Can the listeners expect a ratio of tender and rocking songs similar to Future Me Hates Me and Jump Rope Gazers?

Liz Stokes: Yeah, certainly; it’s gonna be like a 50-50 mix of Future Me and Jump. Also, it does feel like a bit Jump Rope Gazers tour I guess because we never got to play those songs live. And then we’ll come back and keep touring once the new album comes out!

Pan M 360: Given its melodic and energetic rock approach, your music is generally uplifting, even when the lyrics tackle anxiety-inducing questions like the rising sea level on “A Real Thing,” for instance. It seems to me like a conscious choice for the band, to gently move or raise awareness without causing dread?

Liz Stokes: We experience a lot of dread and that’s why I don’t necessarily like to write and sing about these things. I like to write about what I’m feeling, but I don’t like to play songs that make you feel dread and make you feel really anxious. That’s not what I like to do. I like the songs to feel hopeful and exciting. And I feel like you can still write whatever you want, you know, in a way that’s very “word painting”, about those feelings that you’re trying to get across.

Pan M 360: Since we’re talking about anxiety-inducing topics, watching your “Knees Deep” video made me realize I haven’t gotten over my fear of heights. Is the sequence of events we’re witnessing real? The band members leaving one at a time to bungee jump over the river and coming back to the rehearsal space?

Liz Stokes: Well, it’s a fictional video! But the bungee jumps are real; we went in the morning, and everybody could jump one at a time. And then we went to the studio and shot the scenes there. We’re definitely not actors! It was a very silly video, but we had a lot of fun making it.

Pan M 360: But it works somehow! Even though you’re using props like algae stuck in one of the musician’s hair. Where is that bridge exactly? Is it in Auckland?

Liz Stokes: Yes, that’s the Auckland Harbour bridge, up because I think a lot of bungee jumps. It’s very picturesque, yet we didn’t want it to feel like a tourism study. For us, it’s just a functional bridge over the harbour. On a beautiful day, the view is great. But at the end of the day, you’re just jumping from a commuter bridge!

Pan M 360: Was it your first time jumping?

Liz Stokes: Ben (Writer’s note: bass-player Benjamin Sinclair) and I had done it before as kids, on a family holiday. But this time it was scarier, I think. When you’re a kid, you’re like ”Well, even if I fall, I’ll bounce”, but as an adult, you’re like “I will shatter into a million pieces”!

Pan M 360: I read in the press release that your new album would be an “incandescent collision of power-pop and skuzz”. For those, like me, who are not familiar with “skuzz,” how would you define it?

Liz Stokes: I’m not that familiar with it either, to be honest! We have somebody that writes a bio, and he or she is much better with words than we are. We like distortion, you know, fuzzing out! I like writing pop songs, within the pop format. But we still like distortion and power-pop.

Pan M 360: The Beths are quickly becoming the new power-pop heroes of the 2020s. But who are your own power-pop heroes?

Liz Stokes: I love Alvvays, a Canadian band. I’m also a big fan of the Buzzcocks, I listened a lot to their compilation Singles Going Steady. I like just how simple it is, the ideas, the melodies. They really pop out, they’re really memorable. I’m not like a “deep cut” listener. I listen to that in my car a lot, the Buzzcocks, going into the city.

Pan M 360: Well I am really looking forward to your Sunday concert in Montréal. Thanks so much for this interview, be safe!

Photo by Frances Carter.

THE BETHS PLAY LE BAR RITZ PDB ON SUNDAY AUGUST 28^TH AT 8 P.M. YOU CAN BUY YOUR TICKETS HERE!

A figure of the Toronto electronic scene for over ten years, Korea Town Acid cultivates a musical identity that draws largely from downtempo, broken beat and alternative hip-hop. Producer – her last album Elephant In The Room was just released – live performer and DJ, Jessica Cho does not hesitate to push the boundaries of music genres, and the scene is very grateful to her, as proven by the nomination of her track Sobriety for a Juno in the category of underground dance single of the year in 2022. For her second appearance at MUTEK, the Korean artist offers a live performance guided by improvisation, creating unique soundscapes.

PAN M 360 : How would you describe your relationship with Montreal ?

KOREA TOWN ACID : I feel like Montreal treats me really well. Obviously, Montreal has very prestigious festivals like MUTEK, Pop Montreal and Osheaga. I’ve played at Pop Montreal, as well as MUTEK, I’ve done a Boiler Room at Piknic Electronik. I’ve had ones of my best showcases in Montreal, I feel very connected to the city. The intention behind an event is very important to me and I feel that there is no festival like MUTEK that focuses on digital and creative arts and that is really about the audio interactive experience.

PAN M 360 : What does a festival like MUTEK mean to you ?

KOREA TOWN ACID : You know, l was working for a long time to be on stage like MUTEK. A part of me wanted to play hardware and live. I was so inspired by a lot of artists that played there that I wanted to be a part of it. I actually debuted in MUTEK 2018, so I’m really excited to go back because it was pandemic and during pandemic I haven’t like really focused on playing live PA stuff because the way I interact with my live PA has to do with reading the vibe at that moment in the room and everything. So yeah, like I’m really looking forward to having that connection with the people. I feel that the type of audience that MUTEK brings is the people who really care about this kind of underground and original music. It’s really exciting when people are there to see you and they’re just receptive about what you do.

PAN M 360 : What can we expect from your performance at MUTEK ?

KOREA TOWN ACID : Basically no computer. It’s very hardware focused and I’m using drum machines, samplers, FM synthesis and modular synthesis, bringing stuff in and out. I already have pre programmed stuff but I’m orchestrating it live. Let’s say like I have a song already, but then I’m mixing it and I bring things live. It’s kind of like a DJ approach because I want it to be cleaner and have a smoother transition. I want it to be more dancefloor oriented. I’m playing a Saturday outdoor stage at 7:00 PM so it’s going to be a sunset kind of vibe. I’m picturing this kind of energy.

PAN M 360 : I know some people use the word hybrid for a performance mixing DJing and live, would you say your proposition is hybrid ?

KOREA TOWN ACID : I wouldn’t, I would say it’s absolutely not hybrid because I’m playing original live music, but just the way I’m approaching bringing in and out of tracks is a DJ approach. But it’s completely original so I wouldn’t call it a hybrid.

PAN M 360 : A big part of the live will be improvised. Is this approach for improvisation coming from your background in jazz ? Are you trying to recreate a dialogue between the machines ?

KOREA TOWN ACID : Yeah, basically my approach for the music is really about capturing that moment. It cycles through the moment and the improvisation aspect is that when there’s a sort of happy mistake comes in within my set. I try to navigate, if there’s something good, I stay there, and then it evolves. Definitely, the energy sort of goes out and shifts. That’s when it comes where I can feel the audience is digging in more than others sometimes. Improvisational aspect is where I could bring up different stuff, depending on what people are digging. I have pre programmed stuff in the machine but what I would actually perform will depend on the mood, the situation and the day.

KOREA TOWN ACID IS PERFORMING ON SATURDAY AT L’ESPLANADE TRANQUILLE, EXPERIENCE SERIES/ MUTEK MONTREAL – FREE CONCERT

The Trois-Rivières-born Québécois living in Berlin previewed his new album “Begin Within”, his first release at Mutek 2022, at MTELUS last Friday for the Nocturne 3 program, which also featured the fantastic Cora Novoa and the genius Luke Slater.

At the crossroads of contemporary music, dark techno and hypnotic ambient, Nicolas Bougaïeff is a multi-talented composer with a wide range of production techniques and, what’s more, an individual always looking to share his erudition.

He is invited by the biggest European techno clubs such as the Berghain or the KitKatClub. He performs in Israel, Poland, England. He shares the stage with Richie Hawtin, Daniel Miller, Anna, FJAAK, Ben Clock, Blawan. He creates software and applications. He teaches electronic music in his own school. You will have understood that Nicolas is a music scholar.

Best known for his techno made of darkness, decadent and monolithic rhythms, he multiplies breathtaking dance atmospheres. In the context of MUTEK 2022, he came back to Montreal, at home in Quebec, with a new concept: the album Begin Within, which will be released in November. The album is as dark as ever, but this time with a different approach.

For him, “it’s a new take-off” that consists in revealing a part of his intimacy. Terrified of having to share a closeness with others because it brings him to his own vulnerability, Nicolas nevertheless talks about it with PAN M 360.

PAN M 360: Nicolas Bougaïeff is known for his dark and dancing techno, but for your first performance at MUTEK, you chose to present a preview of your new album Begin Within, due out in November, which is more electro-experimental and sung. Tell us about the genesis of this new project.

NICOLAS BOUGAÏEFF: I composed this new album as a reaction to states of mind, very vague sensations…very strong…that followed me and overwhelmed me for years, in fact. I felt trapped in frames. This album is the fruit of something that was growing inside me for a long time. I have many fears to exorcise…

PAN M 360: When you talk about fears, can you tell me what they are precisely? What did you want to externalize?

NICOLAS BOUGAÏEFF: I really have a lot of fears! (laughs) The ones that prevent me from functioning are those of intimacy, honesty and vulnerability. There’s nothing innovative in what you’re saying, maybe, because it’s a human experience that is common to all of us, I think. For me, it’s the fear of the other and the intimacy that could come from it, as well as exposing oneself honestly.

PAN M 360: Do you think this album is the most personal or intimate you have done so far?

NICOLAS BOUGAÏEFF: All my musical compositions are very personal. I put a lot of myself into it, but with Begin Within, it’s definitely intimate. Intimate, both in the musical composition and the choice of titles as well as the lyrics.

PAN M 360: If we compare your album Deckalog, dark, dancing, monolithic techno, released very recently, and the upcoming album Begin Within, the musical contrast is very strong. However, knowing your formation and your career, it seems to me rather coherent. In any case, definitely, the darkness remains present but under another musical angle. The novelty is the contribution of your voice on all the titles. For me, to put your voice is to give a part of your humanity. How did you live this experience of singing?

NICOLAS BOUGAÏEFF: I never worked on my voice and never took singing lessons. I worked with a new instrument that I didn’t master at all and that helped me to make it even more intimate because I went into it naturally, without thinking. So I focused on intimacy and emotionality. I totally exposed myself. Not being able to hide behind professional singing skills made me feel very free, more free than when I compose.

PAN M 360: How do you think the public will receive this new performance?

NICOLAS BOUGAÏEFF: For me, it’s a new take-off. I know that people know me more for club or rave music, but I don’t want to anticipate the public’s feeling. I let people do what they want with my music. However, deep down, I hope people will be transcended by my music and touched by the intimacy I want to share with them.

PAN M 360: Originally from Trois-Rivières, you studied classical music at McGill University and at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal, then you obtained a doctorate in minimal techno. Not finding enough space in Montreal to evolve in your field, you moved to Berlin in 2005. Your first apartment was right next to the mythical Berghain. From there your revelation was born and your career blossomed naturally. Your music, I think, reflects all this long and rich experience. “Saccades et Paroxysmes”, a recording released in March 2022 on your label Denkfabrik, is an experimentation between electronic texture and the improvisation of a French pianist, Justine Ekhaut. Definitely techno, your acclaimed first album, The Upward Spiral, was released on the Mute label in 2020. My feeling is that your eclecticism is a logical consequence of mature reflections and a process of intellectualization of your practice. Your techno is hyper refined, hyper efficient. What do you think about it?

NICOLAS BOUGAÏEFF: Thank you very much. It touches me…My journey into techno has been an exercise in integration, actually. I have a range of techniques that allow me to apply different methods of music composition in a broad way. I experienced it as a way to fully immerse myself in the Berlin techno culture. Berlin was naturally welcoming to me. I had the chance to release my music on different labels, to play in many clubs and to meet artists who trusted me. I fed off all this atmosphere to work on my music. I like to push my limits as far as possible and I juggle with the rules.

PAN M 360: You have been fortunate being able to collaborate with Richie Hawtin by founding the software creation company Liine in 2010 and the MIDI/OSC app Lemur. Then you founded the Berlin Academy of Electronic Music. When I said earlier that you intellectualize your music, it’s also in connection with these projects. We are in a virtuous circle: artist, developer of production tools and teaching. I would like to know what led you to develop these tools that you have successfully commercialized and this idea of a music school.

NICOLAS BOUGAÏEFF: For me, these are great themes! I wanted to learn music from A to Z, to be as erudite as possible on all aspects of music. I know that it is difficult to be an expert in all fields, but I was thirsty for knowledge. I’ve never done jazz harmony and that will be my next challenge. But, I’ve gathered as much knowledge as possible about the concepts of music, its history, its practice, the different styles etc.. The tools developed with Liine are the result of a coincidence because they were tools that I had created for my own musical practice. Then a colleague discovered what I was doing and put me in touch with Richie (Hawtin) who was won over by the tool. At that time, I didn’t have many gigs under my belt. And that was indeed a big door opener for the next thing. As far as my music school is concerned, it is the fruit of a natural process for me. I have been a teacher for more than 15 years. My desire was to make up for the lack of teaching and training in electronic music. When I was young, it was very rare to have courses on this musical domain contrary to other styles of music. I also come from a family of teachers, so I’ve always been immersed in this field. For me, it’s part of the game. You give and take.

After more than 30 years of a prolific career, Luke Slater belongs in the heavyweight category of techno. Pioneer of the genre in Great Britain, he has developed many aliases over the years, allowing him to explore the corners of his creativity. MUTEK invited him as LB Dub Corp (yesterday, August 25) at the Esplanade Tranquille and he will play live tonight at the SAT under his best known alias, Planetary Assault Systems. Expect a masterclass of dark, cold, and atmospheric techno.

PAN M 360 : Do you remember the first time you came to Montreal?

LUKE SLATER: You know I do, and I’ll tell you why. As crazy as this is, yesterday morning I was up at like 6:00 o’clock in the morning because of jetlag, so I went for a walk. And I went over to la Place-des-Arts and on my way I spotted this place called Eggspectations… I think it was like 1995, I did a gig here and then after the gig it was like 6 or 7 in the morning they took me to Eggspectation and I was never really sure whether it was in Montreal or Toronto or somewhere else. I was just standing there, “it’s here ! Eggspectation is still here, I’m still here.” I didn’t go and eat any eggs, but I was pleased to see it was still here.

PAN M 360 : So you’ve been familiar with the city for quite a long time now. Is there anything special about it for you ?

LUKE SLATER: I think it’s quite unique from what I’ve experienced because of the French culture. This sort of mix where culturally I’ve always thought it’s really interesting, like I’ve never really managed to put my finger on it. For me, it’s never been like a straight sort of place to play, where you go and play and you know the crowd like “this is a rave crowd”, etc. Every time I come here it’s like “OK, what’s it going to be this time,” and it’s a good thing.

PANM360 : So is it an ‘expect the unexpected’ kind of thing ?

LUKE SLATER: In some way, yeah, you got to keep an open mind. MUTEK is a very good example of that. The festival itself has always, from what I’ve seen, been curating really culturally interesting music and that’s inspiring, to the point that, all over the world, people know the festival.

PAN M 360 : During MUTEK you are playing with two different monikers and you have quite a few others, it seems a lot !

LUKE SLATER: Yeah, I’m trying to strip them away slowly, it’s just a lot to manage. Last night I did an LB Dub Corp, more of a house set and tonight the live show with Planetary Assault Systems and I can switch between those two really easily. The 7th Plain, that gets a bit more complicated, it’s a different kind of mindset. I think the idea started because I was writing so much music and I needed to separate out everything. After a time, what happened was I started releasing on different labels, and then assigned each pseudonym to a label, and then it started to happen that these labels wanted more. So, I had to kind of think of writing in a way that was true to each one, which worked for a while, but ultimately ended not in disaster, but ended in just being ridiculous, trying to satisfy everyone.

PAN M 360: You are playing in two very different contexts during MUTEK : outdoor at Place-des-arts from 9-11pm and at MTELUS on Friday night. How each context is calling for one or the other moniker?

LUKE SLATER : With LB Dub Corp I don’t do that many DJ sets. It’s kind of like just the happy living with a side project really. I do look at where they want me to do it, because people don’t really know me that well as LB Dub Corp and some years ago there was a couple of instances where I did LB Dub Corp sets around techno warehouse events, the people were really confused why I was playing house. So I thought, LB Dub Corp got to be somewhere outdoor and mellow or a really small club, you know, very personal, dark, and that for me, that’s the two areas where LB Dub Corp work. I don’t like weaving out LB Dub Corp just like that because it’s got to be the right place. I’ve done a few nice sets in the Panorama Bar. But I think Planetary Assault Systems kind of just works. I mean, I’ve done sets in the day, during festivals… To be honest, it’s a nighttime thing for me. If it’s a very festive warm, I always want to block out the light. I like the dark better.

PAN M 360: As you may know, MUTEK is about electronic music but also digital arts in a wider sense. Have you experimented with any other digital arts besides music?

LUKE SLATER: I get acutely aware when I’m doing something that takes me away from music. I’m very sensitive to it and when I find myself looking at different paths I find it very difficult to kind of accept that at some point music has to be left behind for something. A lot of times when I explore different things I always come back to the music. I go out the door, have a look around and that’s it. It’s not just the throwaway thing, it’s a part of me and to sort of get excited in the same way by another process is really difficult even though. I’m very curious about AI lately, it’s threatening and that’s why I’m curious. I might feed all my tracks to see what it will spit out, is it going to be good? I don’t know.

PAN M 360 : Have you ever mobilized music as part of a bigger project including other art forms ?

LUKE SLATER: When everything was locked down last year, but some places were open, I did a few special dates in Holland under the name the 7th Plain, which is more of my ambient, more spiritual side. It was really cool trying out this idea of getting some modern dancers involved, originally from the Staatsballet in Berlin and whom I’ve worked with before. I was playing live and I wanted them to express what they do in front of me on the stage. And it’s just amazing, really, you know, and we did one show at the Muziekgebouw, which is a classical concert hall in Amsterdam so totally different thing. I like to push the boundaries, break the codes of what you should and shouldn’t do.

PAN M 360 : You are talking about the lockdown which makes me think about how the pandemic underlined the fragility of the structural techno music economy. I know there are initiatives like Aslice from DVS1 trying to make it more livable for producers. Have you any thoughts on how artists can build a more sustainable community ?

LUKE SLATER: I think the nature of the music business is just tough. It is not just about talent, it’s about getting involved. For my experience, being present around everything probably was more important than just the fact I write records. If you got talent and you’re making music, that’s something that can’t be touched. But there’s more than that. It’s never just been about the music business and never just been about music. If you’re just sitting in your bedroom making some tracks, you need to reach out. I was around clubs a lot, right from the very beginning I was so involved, I mean my life became the clubs, I was fully immersed in this world. That was a good escapism and I felt at home.

PAN M 360 : It’s probably easier now to make music and it’s easier to go online and put some stuff online thanks to the democratization of the tools, but it doesn’t mean it’s easier to reach to audiences and differentiate, there is so many competition

LUKE SLATER: It really is, that’s a real thing, not just a perception of old versus new. In the early days I think there probably were just as many musicians, but not that many people could actually release something. So people would have been creating stuff, but the bit where you can get it put on a record and then mail that record to someone, a DJ, and then that DJ would play the record; it was a very expensive and special route. And that’s the route I was involved in. So if you could get there, if you had a record coming out on the label, back then that was a big deal. And now it’s not, I mean there’s more kudos involved with labels. So people want to put stuff out in Mote-Evolver, but what Mote-Evolver does as a record label is absolutely no different from other labels. We go through the same process of releasing a raffle, the difference is that I run the label and I pick the music that goes out. Maybe there’s a shift in words like ‘release’ and uh, a lot of the old terminology of music I think sometimes can be dropped now because the chain is not the same. We don’t live in the past, you know? It’s not the 1980s anymore. Just use new words to describe what’s going on, slowly that’s happening.

PAN M 360 : Retrospectively, after so many years listening to music, creating music, would you say having such a long career, is more a blessing or a curse ?

LUKE SLATER: I think the first thing you have to do is accept that you’ve had a long career. There’s a point where your career is branded as a long old parade and you have to take that on. People are going to say you’ve had a long career and they’re going to look back at the history. Actually, I think this is an amazing thing, because if people are interested in my history and what I’ve done and why was one part of and everything that revolved around the culture, this means there’s a huge interest in the music and how it’s formed, where it’s going, what was going on there, what is going on now. You got to turn that into a positive, bring your history with you but you don’t live in the history. You can’t pretend that it didn’t happen and people will always ask you about this, you gotta own that. You gotta own that big time and. I think you can keep on pushing things and keep on testing different areas yourself. I think there’s an old saying that like if I went to see a band like let’s say the Clash was still playing, another band from my youth, and Strummer was still alive, If I went to see them play now and they didn’t do “London Calling”, I’d feel really pissed off about it. And to them, it’s probably the one track they don’t want to play. I think this is interesting, where Rock n’ Roll and dance music, some of the kind of lessons and ethos from bands, sometimes can crossover to electronic music because if you’ve written a lot of records and some people know of those records, I think you kind of owe them to do at least a couple when you’re going to play, you know? So I think the history things seems to inspire other people. People come up to me, brimming with enthusiasm, I’ve heard their perception of what happened, everything that came out and that’s a good thing.

Unlike the hardcore classical music lovers, some other fans consider that film music is the classical music of our times. For sure, Hollywood film music draws from the Romantic and Post-Romantic period, and has more success than contemporary music composers for obvious reasons. Since a few years, many experiences of symphonic music performances with film projections in real time is

From conducting small ensembles to symphony orchestras, he built his strong reputation, and one of his trademarks is leading orchestras in Live to Projection film concerts. Erik Ochsner is definitely one of the leading film-orchestra conductors in the world.

He has been Principal Touring Conductor of La La Land Live in Concert, he has conducted 50 performances of Justin Hurwitz’s Academy Award and Grammy Award winning score. He conducted the world premiere of Mary Poppins in Concert at the Sydney Opera House, Love Actually with the San Francisco Symphony, Beauty and the Beast in Concert in Taiwan and Poland, Back to the Future, Bugs Bunny at the Symphony, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring, Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Trek (2009), and Star Trek Into Darkness. Ochsner premiered The Music of Star Wars with the National Arts Center Orchestra in Ottawa, he has been Music Director and conductor of the 2017 Opera America New Works Showcase and was a Guest Conductor at the Nanjing (China) Forest Music Festival.

More recently, he led performances of Star Wars in Concert: Episode 4: A New Hope with the Montreal FILMharmonique. Upcoming performances in Montreal will involve him as the conducter of Star Wars in Concert, Episode 5: The Empire Strikes Back, presented 3 times at the Place des Arts (Wilfrid-Pelletier), next Friday and Saturday.

Ochsner is also Founder and Music Director of SONOS Chamber Orchestra. Highly educated in music, he attended The Pierre Monteux School, he is also a graduate of the Ivy League Dartmouth College. He is Finnish-American dual citizen. From New York City where he lives, he talks about his next challenge in Montreal.

PAN M 360: We observe that live film music for symphony orchestras attracts more attention from an audience that would not come to symphony houses to hear classical repertoire. What is your own perception of this phenomenon?

ERIK OCHSNER: You know, I’m fully classically trained, my goal in life was to become an opera conductor, which is not the case today. But, in a way, I’m conducting works for a different kind of total performance. And we always have new audiences coming to see these films with orchestras. And we always hear comments from amazed viewers like, “Oh, I didn’t know an orchestra was that big, or I didn’t know how it worked.”

PAN M 360: How are you perceived by the classical community?

ERIK OCHSNER: Some purists on the classical side still think it’s a bad idea to play film music. I think that we artists need an audience. And by offering these concerts, we continue to serve our community. There are people who only come to the concert to hear Beethoven and the great repertoire, and that’s fine. Now we also have people who come to hear film music performed by great orchestras. So I don’t think it’s a loss or a setback for anyone.

PAN M 360: One could argue that the audience for symphonic film music does not systematically migrate to the large repertoire after having had a concert experience. Why is that?

ERIK OCHSNER: Yes, many people will not return to a symphonic concert other than a film score. People recognize symphonic music from their everyday lives. They identify that music that was in a commercial, when in fact it was Vivaldi. That’s why: parents today are not really interested in classical music because their parents didn’t introduce them to it. My own parents introduced me to it, and I loved it. So our duty is to inform and educate. Invite the public to conferences, encourage them to read the program notes. We must not ignore the phenomenon while being aware that we cannot force anyone to take the step towards the great repertoire.

PAN M 360: We can also guess that you find real qualities in the musical works composed for the cinema.

ERIK OCHSNER: Yes. I can’t speak about all film composers but I know, for example, that John Williams is a genuine post-romantic and also modern composer but you will also find more contemporary passages in his work, even if they are not dominant. Yes, film music is often a tribute to composers of the past but… also can have elements of atonal contemporary music. That said, Williams keeps returning to his favorite post-romanticism, that of Richard Strauss, Gustav Holst, etc. Otherwise, you know, it wouldn’t work. In 50 years it might be very different, but not now, because people have not been educated to feel comfortable with the “serious” repertoire of the last 75 years.

PAN M 360: Have you ever met John Williams to discuss your symphonic performances?

ERIK OCHSNER: No, I’ve never met him, although I’ve had discussions with other composers like Shameer Tandon, Howard Shore, Justin Hurwitz or Michael Giacchino, but I’ve never met John Williams, of whom I’ve conducted several scores. Of course, I’ve been told what his expectations are: he wants to get a great sound on stage, a great quality of execution. But he doesn’t plan anything. A local orchestra decides, hey, we want to play music from a filler and has to negotiate with the rights company for that music. In the case of Star Wars, the John Williams music is owned by Walt Disney, so if you want to do concerts with the Star Wars music, you need the agreement of the license managers of all those movies around the world. A team will then have to go to the concert venue, make sure the screen size is right, that the projector is powerful enough, and that the orchestra is serious. For the conducting, John Williams approved a list of potential conductors and I’m on that list. Apparently, he and Disney like what I do.

PAN M 360: Have you ever conducted in Montreal?

ERIK OCHSNER: Yes I conducted the music from the La La Land soundtrack as part of the Montreal Jazz Festival, I think it was in 2017. With GFN Productions in Montreal, we were supposed to do The Empire Strikes Back in 2020 and then 2021 but the pandemic decided otherwise and we are finally back in 2022.

PAN M 360: How do you approach the soundtrack of The Empire Strikes Back? Is there a Disney recipe to follow?

ERIK OCHSNER: Disney and John Williams have established a protocol. So if a producer is interested in a particular track, each track has its own technical specification, which specifies the size of the screens, the quality of the projectors, the orchestra instrumentation, the number of flutes for example. This way, Disney can figure out how much money the company will make from each show. It’s still a business, whereas the classical world operates as a non-profit enterprise. It is fair to say that these film projects are considered profit-making enterprises.

PAN M 360: You often deal with freelance orchestras. How can you ensure quality in performance? How do you make sure that freelancers can be a cohesive whole?ERIK OCHSNER: I don’t audition players. Instead, I’ll talk to musicians I trust and ask them for their recommendations. When all the musicians in each section get together, many of them know each other because they’ve played together a lot. I want it to be friendly, I want it to be fun for the musicians I hire. Anyway, they work well together in general, it seems to be nice. And that’s exactly the feeling I had working with the musicians that were brought together for the FILMharmonique Orchestra. They are very good players. And yes, I observe that there are many excellent musicians in Montreal and Quebec. Obviously, they all know each other and the chemistry works in that context.

FILMharmonique ORCHESTRA IS PERFORMING AT PLACE DES ARTS ON FRIDAY AUGUST 26, 7H30 PM AND SATURDAY AUGUST 27TH, 2Hpm AND 7H30 PM. TICKETS HERE

Through “Spillover’, American audiovisual artist Pierce Warnecke—based in France— and multidisciplinary artist Matthew Biederman – born in Chicago and based in Montreal – explore the divide between nature and culture through sound and image. Pierce and Matthew have been working together for many years, drawing on their respective backgrounds to bring together their vision of the art world. Pierce has regularly presented his work at Mutek, Elektra, CTM or ZKM, while Matthew has participated in the Lyon Contemporary Art Biennial, Istanbul Design Biennial, Montreal Digital Art Biennial, Artissima in Italy, SCAPE in New Zealand, and Moscow. In order for us to enjoy this sensory work that will be presented this Saturday, Pierce and Matthew contextualize their work.

PAN M 360: Given your background, your performances, and your installations, I would like to know more about Spillover. How did you come up with it?

PIERCE WARNECKE: It is an in situ creation that follows a residency at the Index Biennial last May in Portugal. The curator, Louis Fernandez, wanted to highlight the media art biennial whose theme was The Surface. We have been working with Matthew for about 9 years on several projects. We took advantage of this theme to explore the different forms of boundaries that exist between the human and natural environment. By a combination of circumstances, we realized that our project was totally linked to the environmental issues in the north of Portugal, in the Montalegre region. The issue is linked to various open-pit lithium mining projects that would degrade the landscape, destroy the ecosystem and endanger the socio-professional balance of the inhabitants.

PAN M 360: Did you conceive this creation with a militant environmentalist commitment in mind? Or did it come out of a creative phase?

PIERCE WARNECKE: Yes, we felt touched by the environmental and social context of the situation. We had the chance to talk to the people in the affected places and their distress touched us.

PAN M 360: Your works are often presented at large-scale, internationally renowned events such as Mutek, Elektra, CTM, Artissima (Italy), the SCAPE Biennial in New Zealand, or the Moscow Biennial. Could you give us some details about your creation and production process, as well as the tools you use to achieve such results?

PIERCE WARNECKE: We have a number of software programs that we use regularly. I use Max MSP a lot and Matthew uses TouchDesigner. We’re always looking for a simultaneous interaction between sound and visuals where we can really play live with the construction of the landscape. Matthew uses maps that represent the region of Montalegre in 3D. We play with the landscape as if it were an instrument in its own right. I’m turning that terrain into sound in real-time.

PAN M 360: What are your work habits when creating? Do you create together in real-time or is there a particular pattern of working and thinking?

MATTHEW BIEDERMAN: In my opinion, sound and visual creation are done simultaneously. However, sometimes the visuals are inspired by the sound and vice versa. We exchange a lot of files to inspire each other, before we end up with a complete sound and visual work. The visual composition is just as important as the sound composition. It’s real cooperation. Our artistic complicity has been forged over the years.

PAN M 360: There is still a huge amount of work to be done in terms of educating the public to see visual art as an art form in its own right, especially when combined with sound. Matthew, how do you think that can be remedied?

MATTHEW BIEDERMAN: I think it depends mostly on the context in which visual creations are exhibited. With our work, Spillover, we are in a three-dimensional setting: the map, the visual and the sound. That’s what makes the audience feel.

PAN M 360: Since you are dealing with a subject concerning the risks of environmental destruction with the aim of developing green energies, don’t you think that your work has a dramatic appeal?

PIERCE WARNECKE: Yes, there is a dramatic side, that’s for sure. At the same time, we couldn’t afford to be too moralistic, because in order to create, we use technological objects containing lithium. We live in a totally paradoxical society, we try to adapt while having the least negative impact on the environment. Our desire was not to be too moralistic but to question our lifestyle and our choices.

MATTHEW BIEDERMAN: My activism goes through my works to sensitize individuals, hoping to make society more alert on these issues. I want to raise awareness, rather than be judgmental. As a Canadian, I also feel close to what is happening here in my country, where Aboriginal people are often the victims of our energy development projects.

PAN M 360: Do you have other projects in the works? Together or solo?

PIERCE WARNECKE: We would like to continue to develop the Spillover project and adapt it to different contexts and locations around the world.

MATTHEW BIEDERMAN: It would be great to delve deeper into the intricacies of map work.

Artists’ websites :
https://piercewarnecke.com/
https://www.mbiederman.com/

SPILLOVER WILL BE PRESENTED ON SATURDAY AUGUST 27TH AT 7PM, AT THE MAISONNEUVE THEATER OF THE PLACE DES ARTS. INFO AND TICKETS HERE.

Tarta Relena, a Catalan duo made up of contralto Marta Torrella and soprano Helena Ross, was initially dedicated to a cappella singing. And then…

Fascinated by European sacred songs, baroque and early music, they also became interested in the superimpositions of traditional styles collected all around the Mediterranean: Arabo-Andalusian, flamenco, rebetiko, Bulgarian, Cretan, Corsican, Sardinian, Sephardic and more. What’s more, they perform their songs in several languages, modern or ancient, Catalan, Spanish, Greek, Latin, English, Ladino, etc.

Tarta Relena stands out even more from the folk movement with elegant electronic juxtapositions that brought them to MUTEK Montreal, this Thursday alongside singer, instrumentalist and composer Marina Herlop, and this Friday under the Tarta Relena banner.

Their discography includes the EPs Ora Pro Nobis (2019) and Intercede Pro Nobis (2020), as well as the album Fiat lux (2021). The artistic direction of MUTEK (thank you Marie-Laure Saidani!), took the slap, especially for the striking impact of these Catalan voices before an audience. It’s our turn!

This totally justifies this detour to the lobby of their hotel, shortly after their arrival in Montreal.

PAN M 360: Tarta Relena has perfectly understood that ancient, baroque, and traditional music work very well with contemporary aesthetics. How did you make the connection?

MARTA TORELLA + HELENA ROSS: Good point! We agree. We actually started singing in a choir when we were teenagers in Barcelona.

PAN M 360: Baroque and early music are rooted in the city of Barcelona, you can attend concerts parties, chamber orchestras, and choirs.

MARTA TORELLA + HELENA ROSS: That’s right, there’s a lot of that in this city, it’s a kind of cultural dynamic for us, an important part of our culture. A lot of young people sing in choirs and we were part of that movement. So we became friends, and we started to sing more seriously.

PAN M 360: We also perceive several vocal cultures in your singing.

MARTA TORELLA + HELENA ROSS: Yes, we also like to mix vocal techniques related to choral or individual singing from different cultures and periods of music. It can be very lyrical but also rough!

PAN M 360: How did you envision mixing singing with electronics?

MARTA TORELLA + HELENA ROSS: You know, it wasn’t very planned, it was something… natural, instinctive, just like our vocal work. We use the voices in a very natural, organic way. And then we tried to stick to synthetic instrumentation to the voice, in order to create a contrast. We look for this contrast.

PAN M 360: You work on different vocal strategies: unison, two-voice harmonization, canons, rhythmic shifts, etc.

MARTA TORELLA + HELENA ROSS: Yes, we like our voices to travel. The vocal melodies can be independent and meet in different ways. For this, we have studied the techniques used.

PAN M 360: And the languages!

MARTA TORELLA + HELENA ROSS: We do sing in Catalan and Spanish, but also in Latin, ancient Greek, etc.

PAN M 360: You’re not looking for cultural purity, it goes far beyond the Catalan culture.

MARTA TORELLA + HELENA ROSS: Nothing is pure! We keep finding the cultural origins of the expressions as if they were hidden in the old songs, whose authors we do not know. It’s very inspiring for us to add our research to this fascinating ancient music, or to use it as inspiration for our original songs.

PAN M 360: What kind of musical education did you have?

HELENA ROSS: I did classical and baroque singing, and Marta followed other paths. Of course, we also learned choral singing.

PAN M 360: What is your accompanying equipment?

MARTA TORELLA + HELENA ROSS: We use Ableton Live and two MIDI controllers. We trigger the accompaniments. These sounds do not move once triggered, however, we can improvise vocally by adding new variations to our song in real-time.

PAN M 360: Your album was released less than a year ago. Do you have another one in the works?

MARTA TORELLA + HELENA ROSS: No, we are in a concert phase that will last several months. Then there will be another phase. Most likely, this phase will be very different from what we do and have done. We are always ready to look, to experiment, to start something else. But… at the moment, we have no clear idea!

TARTA RELENA PERFORMS WITH MARINA HERLOP AUGUST 25 AT MTELUS, NOCTURNE 3 SERIES / MUTEK MONTREAL. INFOS + TICKETS HERE

TARTA RELENA PERFORMS ON FRIDAY AUGUST 26, AT SAT. PLAY 2 SERIES /MUTEK MONTREAL. INFOS + TICKETS HERE

Music-loving parents, a brother who sings in Montreal , uprising star under the name Clerel: for Ellxandra, music is a family affair. After learning the piano and some music theory, the Cameroonian explored jazz, funk and rock fusion sounds with her voice in her teenage years. It was in 2015, during an outing to Stereo – the last afterhour in Montreal – that she discovered electronic music. Upset by this encounter, it didn’t take her long to appropriate the codes of house music, to start mixing, producing and making excellent live performances, as proven by her first EP released in 2021 (Hushlamb) or her participation to MUTEK 22. Meeting with the future of the Montreal house scene.

PAN M 360: Your latest track “Life Direction,” released on Kizi Garden’s label, reminds us of the original Chicago house music of artists like Frankie Knuckles and Jamie Principle. Do these sounds come from unconscious reminiscences or from an assumed direction?

Ellxandra: Oh sure, I’m a house girl, very old school, everything 90’s is really a reference for me, so I’m glad you could recognize that. I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily intentional, to make house music like that, that sounds like that, it’s something that just flows from me. It’s a natural sound for me.

PAN M 360: I also noticed that you use your voice in a very different way depending on the track, sometimes as a rhythmic element that almost disappears in the instrumental, sometimes as melodic lines put forward. How do you approach this part of the creation?

Ellxandra: 100% intuitive!

PAN M 360: Listening to a track like this, we notice that there is a big work of spatialization of the sound, is it something that we will be able to find during your performance at MUTEK?

Ellxandra : I integrated this aspect into my work when I met minimal music, specifically. It’s something that struck me a lot when I started listening to this kind of music, the way all the elements were well balanced. Like a perfect soup, a loop soup. What makes a loop interesting? A driving element but also things that go around, and that’s why I started to integrate the modular in my productions and in my live. For MUTEK I don’t bring the modulars, but I made recordings that I come and play, to keep this spatialized aspect.

PAN M 360: About your live show, can you tell us a little bit more about your home setup? What are your favourite machines?

Ellxandra: After that, I have a modular, a mixer, some pedal effects. I actually have the melodic base of this live show with melodic elements from the past live show. It’s a machine called RS7000, from Yamaha. I love it, it’s a bit of a replica of the Akai MPC, I can relate to it a lot. For live performance specifically, I know I’m going to have the TR8 because it’s very jammable. And my sample module, that’s a very important product in my set-up because it’s like a Swiss army knife. A sample player allows me to transition from some tracks to others, but I don’t really exploit the concept of tracks in my live set-up. It’s just several loops that I’ll iterate through.

PAN M 360: You talk about a more intuitive use of your voice, about liking imperfections, is it an approach that you keep for the live, do you go with the flow or on the contrary it’s very framed, meticulous?

Ellxandra: Yes to both, in fact, because for me, improvisation needs a structure, otherwise it’s just “anything goes.” I’m also quite structured mentally in some cases so especially the instrumental elements. I’ll make a soft, flexible structure for the voices I’m going to use and what I’m going to sing. But this is getting out of hand, you know. It’s really to help me on stage, to have a direction. The live show I did for MUTEK last year sounded really different from the rehearsals. Every time it’s different. That’s another aspect that’s very interesting that I like, a form of instability.

PAN M 360: Did you have the opportunity to visit house scenes outside Canada? What did you learn from them?

Ellxandra: I went to the Movement festival in Detroit, oh my God, it was so full of energy and history, I really loved that city. I’ve been to Chicago before, I loved it too. I was in Berlin this summer, a bit dangerous as a city because wow, it never stops! Special mention to Mexico, especially Guadalajara. I spent five months there recently, the scenes are growing, it’s a country of abundance.

PAN M 360: To conclude, a few words about the local electronic scene?

Ellxandra: I would say that it is changing and very diverse. There is so much to say about it. I find that the happiness of this city, it is the comings and goings in fact, it is a city of immigrants, it moves and it feels. We have a very particular scene here, where we are going to be the precursors of scenes that will work later elsewhere. I think we are very innovative.

Ecuadorian Nicola Cruz has built his reputation as one of the pioneers of cutting-edge electronic music in Latin America, notably by integrating fragments of local, Andean, indigenous, Afro-Latin, and tropicalist folk music into his creations with the most refined electronic aesthetics.

He is known for several recordings, including “Sentimientos Encotrados”(fall 2021) and the new EP “Self Oscillation” (July 2022). A regular at MUTEK, Nicola Cruz returns with new material the day after a partially rainy DJ set at the Esplanade tranquille. This too wet moment of the Experience series is now a thing of the past, let’s make way for the main course! Nicola Cruz performs this Wednesday at SAT, he is the central artist of this first program of the Nocturne series.

PAN M 360: We know that Nicola Cruz is close to her Latin American roots and has her eye on the future. Of course, this description is reductive and doesn’t tell us where you are at. How far have you come since your time at MUTEK in the summer of 2019?

NICOLA CRUZ: I’m always trying new concepts, trying to evolve my sound and my curiosities, and not always sticking to one thing. So exploring traditional instrumentation and other aspects of Ecuadorian culture is an earlier phase of my work. Today I think I’m moving towards a synthesis of what I’ve learned, towards exploring the sound at a deeper level, while keeping this idea of ritualizing my work in the studio and, therefore, ritualizing my composition.

PAN M 360: And how is this ritualization embodied?

NICOLA CRUZ: I’m trying to find a specific example, but Wednesday’s set will be a little more explanatory than the words coming out of my mouth right now. There are composed structures and there is also improvisation as there is always in my live sets.

PAN M 360: If we try to understand, you draw from your whole bank of sounds and you propose new ones among this collection, to suggest new ways to express your art.

NICOLA CRUZ: Exactly. When you make electronic music, it’s not like picking up a guitar, you have to draw from a whole bunch of stuff. That’s true. That’s the creative and interesting part of presenting electronic music, right? So of course I always leave room for improvisation, whether it’s with the modular, with a drum machine, with a synthesizer or other instrument. But there is also that part of the music that results from studio work and programming, about choosing the direction of a piece.

Right now, for example, I’m planning to start a new album that will be released next year. So I don’t present a certain concept and I don’t shoot the music for the album. In fact, I never tour to present the material of an album, because I am always transforming my show in real time.

PAN M 360: Yes indeed, you change your sound often and that’s what makes your music interesting and creative. We’ve heard your integrations of indigenous music from Central or South America, especially, but as you suggest, that’s not a goal in itself. Sometimes this component is present, sometimes it is not.

NICOLA CRUZ: Yes. Avoiding clichés about the cultural/stylistic elements of my music as an objective or concept is very important to me. You can’t overuse concepts, nothing should be obvious or redundant.

PAN M 360: Yes, only the result matters. Defining it on the basis of cultural origins and intellectualizing it too much can be a trap. You can look for roots where they are not…

NICOLA CRUZ: Exactly. You know, I think it’s also the fault of the Western media in search of exoticism, which too often seeks to illustrate this cliché of Latin roots in my work. That’s a colonialist approach as far as I’m concerned. Even though I have included a lot of traditional music and instruments in my music, I have never felt identified with this idea of consciously displaying my roots.

PAN M 360: It comes naturally, it often comes from the unconscious and you don’t have to make more of it, build up false theories.

NICOLA CRUZ: I totally agree. Personally, I’ve always done techno and house music before I even started composing and getting interested in breakbeats and really exploiting electronic music in its technological subtleties. So I feel like life is leading me somewhere along there, as I explore my music and its roots while leveraging the power of technology. Also, I’ve never been afraid to use melodies, my latest compositions are very melodic and I’m also interested in psychedelia to add a new flavor and go further.

PAN M 360: And this Wednesday?

NICOLA CRUZ: I’m performing with a video artist from New York. There is no specific concept, I’m here to present my new creative flow, I can’t say more than that. Of course there will be lots of new sounds, some of which will be created live. I think in terms of sounds, my work has become very detailed and expressive. I actually like who I am musically now. I feel like I’m conveying a lot, it’s quite emotional and also very danceable.

PAN M 360: Is the duty to make people dance a problem?

NICOLA CRUZ: It varies but it’s still voluntary when I do it. I still want to make dance music, I was a DJ and I still am. So what I’m doing now is danceable. It’s also a kind of reconnection with what I started with electronic music which was techno and house, which is still very interesting territory.

NICOLA CRUZ PERFORMS THIS WEDNESDAY AT SAT, NIGHT SERIES 1 / MUTEK MONTREAL.

After a barely noticed appearance at Casa Del Popolo a few years ago, Bodega is coming this time to perform a few songs from their latest album, Broken Equipment, as well as the brand new EP XTRA EQUIPMENT and several other songs from their repertoire. The Brooklyn-based art-(post)-punk band has also seen three of its members leave the ship since the start of the pandemic. This will be the occasion to discover the new version of Bodega and its groovier sound.

PAN M 360 caught up with one of the new members, bassist Adam See, who talked to us about all the personnel changes and what they entail, his job as a philosophy teacher… and Heidegger.

PAN M 360: There has been a pretty considerable change of musicians in the band since the previous album Endless Scroll, released in 2018. First percussionist Montana Simone, who left shortly after the record’s release and was replaced by Tai Lee, then guitarist Madison Velding-VanDam and bassist Heather Elle. What happened, and how were you recruited?

Adam See: About the time the pandemic started, Madison and Heather left the band to start another project, the band Wants. Madison is still very much involved in that project but Heather has since left and started her own band, Flossing. I’ve been friends with Ben (Hozie, aka Bodega Ben, guitar, vocals) and Nikki (Belfiglio, aka Nik E Iki, vocals, percussion) for a while, our bands have shared the same stage a few times since 2017. So, around that time, Ben, Tai Lee (percussion) and I had a book club and since I played bass, they quickly recruited me. As for Dan Ryan, he was already a guitarist for the band on tour, so he was the natural person to call on when Madison left. It all happened pretty much at the same time. And since the beginning of this tour, we have had a new percussionist. His name is Adam Shumski and he replaces Tai Lee who had to leave to pursue a musical project for Netflix. I don’t really know much about it but it sounds pretty cool.

PAN M 360: Would you say that this new version of Bodega has changed the sound and dynamics of the band?

Adam See: That’s a good question… I think if you asked other band members you’d get a different answer. As far as I’m concerned, my style of playing bass is quite different from Heather’s. For one thing, we don’t play on the same bass as Heather. First of all, we don’t play the same brand of bass and Heather is more subdued, her tones are softer than mine, less raging. I think I’m a funkier bass player than Heather, my previous band (Otro Lado) was more danceable. But there’s also the direction Ben and Nikki chose to take the band; no matter who played on our last album, the sound and style would still be what it is. But having said that, I’m quite happy with my bass sound on this record. Of course, the work of guitarist Dan Ryan must also be mentioned. His playing is quite different from Madison’s. Madison’s playing is quite incisive and angular. Dan is more technically proficient, and funkier, in my opinion. He’s more creative too.

PAN M 360: And on stage, compared to the old line-up, what has changed?

Adam See: Having seen Bodega live a few times, I would say that the band is more groovy. Ben, Nikki and Tai Lee were commenting on our recent European tour that the audience was dancing more at our shows. I’m not saying that people didn’t participate before, but with this new line-up, we’re stretching out the songs, giving them a little more of a driving feel. We are more rhythm oriented, it’s more aggressive and funky.

PAN M 360: Are you playing the new album mostly on this tour?

Adam See: No, not really. We’re playing a lot of everything, even songs from Bodega Bay, Ben and Nikki’s old band. We have about 50 songs and Ben always picks different ones for each show.

PAN M 360: How do you reconcile your job as a teacher and your life as a musician on the road?

Adam See: That’s another good question. I had to quit my job before going on this long tour in Europe… and I got it back anyway! But during this tour, I’m still teaching my Environmental Ethics class at the New Jersey Institute Of Technology when I’m on the road, and I have to say it’s pretty demanding. In the band, they call me “the teacher.”

PAN M 360: Tell us a little bit about this book club you created with part of the band. What is it about? Did it influence the lyrics to a certain extent?

Adam See: Ben is pretty insistent on this, and he’s not entirely wrong. The title of the record, Broken Equipment, comes from the early work of Martin Heidegger, which we, of course, read in our little book club. We started this club a little after I got my PhD in philosophy. I had lost the taste for philosophy after a decade of being immersed in it. Then it became a job for me and I no longer saw philosophy as a source of pleasure. Ben had also taken philosophy classes and we decided to start a philosophy reading club. So Ben and I got together with a rapper friend from Brooklyn, another friend who was an ancient Greek and Roman scholar, and Tai Lee. During the pandemic, our little get-togethers quickly became our favorite time of the week, and it was during this time that Ben began writing some of the songs that appear on Broken Equipment. One of these songs, “Art And Advertising,” didn’t make it onto the album, but was instead released on the XTRA EQUIPMENT EP (released on July 15th). This track includes the words ‘broken equipment,’ which became the title of the album. The song “Thrown,” which starts the Broken Equipment album, is a direct allusion to the work of Martin Heidegger. So yes, there’s a bit of philosophy in our recent albums.

The year 2020 was one of the hardest and most chaotic that DJ/producer, Liliane Chlela, had ever experienced. Beirut, Lebanon, where she was living, was constantly subject to anti-regime protests, eventually leading to a port explosion that has still not been investigated. “You were constantly thinking ‘Is this the day I’m going to die,” Chlela says over a computer screen.

Liliane Chlela eventually moved to Montreal and released her Safala album last year. This dark and dystopian piece of industrial, droney, and experimental electronic work has all the passion and chaos that was heard and felt through the streets of Lebanon from 2019 until now and takes the listener on an unforgettable ride.

Chlela is now performing at MUTEK on Aug 27, during the PLAY 3, at the SAT, and had a bit of time to talk about “Safala”, the differences between making music in Montreal and Lebanon, and adapting her album to be an A/Visual experience.

PAN M 360: How important is the context of an album for you as a musician? For example, the first time I heard Safala, I didn’t know it was directly inspired by the Lebanon protests and now I do.

Liliane Chlela: I guess context is definitely big, and has a big role in it. I mean, to me and the way I’m presenting it, of course, especially with the live performance, because I have assigned a bunch of friends from a studio in Beirut to create accompanying visual, digital art. But yes, it’s very important. Especially you know, given the story of the tracks and where the album comes from and the names of the tracks and all of that.

PAN M 360: So going off of that, where does the name “Safala” come from?

Liliane Chlela: In Arabic … actually it has two meanings. The noun with a different autograph can mean “you bastards” or like you’re insulting someone. And safala as a verb can also mean, “you’re failing.” The names of the tracks, individually, all come from an incantation my grandma used to say to us as a prayer to ward off the evil eye.

PAN M 360: Oh so she would say this prayer whenever you were feeling anxious or something?

Liliane Chlela: Yes 100 %. It was that kind of bond where, you know you’re feeling helpless, and there’s absolutely nothing for you to do. So, it was just a little morale booster.

PAN M 360: It’s funny you say warding off the evil eye because many of the tracks on Safala seem very angry and coming from a place of frustration but then there are moments of tranquility. Was this your goal? Blending the evil with the good?

Liliane Chlela: Well when I work on the productions, I don’t have an actual plan and, the concept sort of shapes itself after. Sometimes I look back at a track or passage and realize ‘Oh shit this is where this is coming from.’ Because back then, I had just moved here. So the production part was done in Beirut right before I ran off to here, and you know, things were and still are still going incredibly…

PAN M 360: Bleak?

Liliane Chlela: Yeah that’s a good word to describe it. So yes, in retrospect, it basically has, it’s an illustration of, good versus evil, and you in the middle, knowing that sometimes good has to become evil in order to try to figure out a way around all of that turmoil.

PAN M 360: Is playing MUTEK a big deal for you as an electronic producer/DJ?

Liliane Chlela: Playing MUTEK has always been in the back of my head. Especially when you don’t have many opportunities to play big festivals when you’re coming from my region. I’m also an independent artist. So I don’t have an agent. I don’t have a manager, booking agent, and all of that. So it’s always been this great thing to be a part of. but now since moving here, it’s no longer this unattainable festival, and I realize how significant it is that I’m able to play it. And playing this specific album, from a specific context, for this specific context, because we don’t have much representation in a normal MUTEK lineup, I think it’s pretty cool.

PAN M 360: So when you say not much opportunity, is that just being an artist in Beirut or being a woman artist in Beirut within the electronic music scene?

Liliane Chlela: Beirut is pretty OK compared to the rest. It’s not like women are banned. It’s pretty open, but of course, you have an imbalance of representation in lineups. Since moving here, I’ve formed a little collective in Beirut, for female gender minorities and members of the LGBTQ2S+ society. It’s for musicians, producers, performers, and newcomers, and people a bit more established. So what we do is advocate for these people to be better represented in club shows and lineups and we have our own shows and parties.

PAN M 360: Do you ever go back to your old work to maybe get inspired or reflect on your trajectory as an artist? I only ask because I know many electronic artists don’t and it’s kind of on to the next project.

Liliane Chlela: I do go back to them occasionally just to see where my head was at during that particular time. And since moving here, I literally have the time and resources to do that. In Beirut, you’re always in troubleshoot mode and don’t really have time for personal reflection.

PAN M 360: Because the scene is so small and constantly have to be on to the next thing?

Liliane Chlela: It’s not so much that, but it’s just that the living conditions are terrible and have been degrading since 2019. So you have like one hour of electricity per day or and you’re like ‘What the fuck’ and you’re relying on generators that every block has installed. So you have to wait for when the power comes back on and then burn through what you have to do. Then you have to worry if you’re gonna die today because there’s going to be an explosion. I mean, I got injured on the first day of the big revolution during a protest, but I mean, OK, we get that over with. But yeah, you’re literally not … The last thing on your mind is worrying about your music and who’s gonna listen to it. Your priorities are elsewhere.

PAN M 360: So it’s the exact opposite of working here.

Liliane Chlela: Exactly. Now you’re worrying about where the next PC club will be (Laughs). I’m in better spirits.

PAN M 360: Has this given you time to work on new material or are you still in presenting Safala live mode?

Liliane Chlela: I’m waiting for the vinyl of “Safala” to be released which should be soon. I have some dates after MUTEK. Like I’m playing Piknic Electronik and some European dates. I have some other new stuff in mind, but I think I have to finish this chapter and move on.

Liliane Chlela plays MUTEK on Aug 27, during the PLAY 3, at the SAT – Tickets HERE

Since 2000, MUTEK has presented its audience with electronic music and audiovisual productions in real time. The rapid and dizzying evolution of the arts based on digital technologies has never ceased to inspire creators from all over the world, as we will see once again with a huge cohort of artists from all over the world.

Catarina Barbieri (Italy), Nicola Cruz (Ecuador), Luke Slater (United Kingdom), Marina Herlop (Catalonia/Spain), Korea Town Acid (South Korea) or Gabber Modus Operandi (Indonesia) are among the many foreigners who will be performing in Montreal from Tuesday, August 23 to Sunday, August 28.

MUTEK remains one of the main showcases of technological arts in North America, in Montreal and Mexico. Other festivals under the MUTEK banner are also presented around the world, notably in Tokyo. The pandemic having slowed down MUTEK’s activities for the past two years, we are finally back in full swing in Montreal.

PAN M 360: For this 2022 presentation, has MUTEK chosen a particular axis or a general theme?

ALAIN MONGEAU: There is no specific theme except, I would say, a general reset and a return to our normal programming. Last January and February, we were still in lockdown, it took quite a leap of faith to invite artists to a festival that would take place in August. This year, we’re finally back to the full formula. In the previous two years, we were missing pieces. We were mostly focused on local programming, including stopping the A/Visions series at Théâtre Maisonneuve. This time we’ve put all the pieces back, so we can present a much wider range of music. That’s what we’re trying to do, to go in different styles and directions to offer a kind of eclecticism. The way the programs are put together for the more nocturnal series is to build around an artist who is an anchor.

PAN M 360: It’s impossible to present MUTEK Montreal 2022 in its entirety, so let’s take examples each day.

ALAIN MONGEAU: On the first night of the festival, Tuesday the 23rd, a special event was added, with the Englishman Max Cooper, who we have presented in the past. The material of his Ether installation was being stored in Montreal. He wanted to relaunch it in the context of an augmented version where he could interact in real-time with his object. So we introduce Max Cooper to the M Telus and his relationship with this installation is placed halfway between the stage and the audience. A very MUTEK concept.

PAN M 360: What to choose on Wednesday?

ALAIN MONGEAU: Nicola Cruz, who likes Mutek, contacted us to say he wanted to come with new material. We had a dialogue with him and he introduced us to Machina, a South Korean artist who lives in Japan. It became a coherent program presented at the SAT.

PAN M 360: Thursday?

ALAIN MONGEAU: The Thursday night Nocturne program at MTELUS, in my own jargon, is built like an electronic cabaret. Most of the time, our programs are aimed at a continuous flow, but in this case they are more shows with an important scenic angle. Several artists are anchors, among them the Italian Catarina Barbieri, who I love and who I’ve seen in different MUTEK abroad and who I wanted to bring back to Montreal but it was never the right time until this time because she has a new show to offer. It’s sublime, it’s airy… I just listened to her new album on my bike and… it’s perfect! In the same context, we have the Catalan artist Marina Herlop, who suggests a kind of Mediterranean folklore with choir in an electronic context. We also welcome back Norwegian saxophonist Bendik Giske, who makes use of circular breathing, and whose stage presence is very strong. Again, this kind of program is close to performance art.

PAN M 360: Friday…

ALAIN MONGEAU: We have a typical techno night at MTELUS, built around the presence of Planetary Assault Systems, led by the British pioneer Luke Slater, who we have known for nearly thirty years. Here is a sure value around which we have embroidered. We have for example the very good Canadian artist Aquarian, who lives in Berlin and has presented his music in the context of other MUTEKs abroad.

PAN M 360: Saturday…

ALAIN MONGEAU: It’s our biggest night that ends in the wee hours of the morning, but this time MTELUS couldn’t get the exemption, so it ends at 3 am. The evening is centered around the British, Koreless, whose music reminds a bit of Oneohtrix Point Never, but more orchestral and choral I would say. Last year, his album was one of the best of the genre. In the same program, we also have Loraine James from the UK, we also have Afriqua from the US, an artist we like but who doesn’t usually present live productions.

PAN M 360: More intimate, Sunday night is at the SAT and there are obviously important series beyond those listed.

ALAIN MONGEAU: On Thursday and Friday, indeed, we present contrasts. On Thursday, while we are in electronic cabaret mode at MTELUS, we are in arty techno at the SAT, with Nik Colk Void who is half of the duo Factory Floor, who once worked with Chris & Cosey, so electro with a post-industrial angle, a performance of modular synths. So it’s a techno program but more artistic, closer to contemporary art, an evening requiring more listening, more attention. The next day, Friday, we are also in contrast with the MTELUS, this time with the duo Tarta Relena, who are the backup singers of Marina Herlop and who also offer a kind of Catalan folk in a technological context. On Saturday at the SAT, there is my secret pleasure, Gabber Modus Operandi, from Indonesia, a kind of neopunk electronic hardcore, with Indonesian sounds. I saw these artists in Poland in 2019, it blew me away. It doesn’t sound like anything!

PAN M 360: It’s also the return of the A/Visions series, dedicated to audio.

ALAIN MONGEAU: Yes, and we have some super interesting nights in this signature series where artists create specific tools for their performances. I’m thinking of Frenchmen Cyril Méroni and Olivier Vasseur who present Advienne in A/Visions 2 on Saturday, a project including laser, video projection, and percussion. The day before, we were treated to ScanAudience by SCHNITT & Gianluca Sibaldi who use sensor technology to capture data from the audience in real-time and reinject it into their performance in front of the same audience.

PAN M 360: And let’s not forget the important free component of MUTEK Montreal.

ALAIN MONGEAU: The Experience series is presented for the first time on the quiet Esplanade. It’s essentially local and national programming, but we also invite international indoor artists to come and do a DJ set. I’m thinking of Luke Slater and Machina, among others, who are presented as DJs. Anyone who doesn’t have a concert budget or doesn’t want to take the risk of buying indoor seats can attend this free, outdoor series. The Experience series is even more important because it is a focal point, starting at 5 pm.