Interviews

On the eve of this year’s Concours musical international de Montréal, dedicated to voice, PAN M 360 talks to a member of the jury, the great soprano Adrienne Pieczonka. 

A native of New York State, Adrianne Pieczonka grew up in Burlington, Ontario. She studied at the University of Western Ontario at the Opera School of the University of Toronto in the 1980s.  She moved to Europe in 1988, where she won first prize at the International Vocal Competition in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands, and first prize at the International Singing Competition in La Plaine-sur-Mer, France, also in 1988. She became a member of the Vienna Volksoper in 1989.

She moved to London in 1995 and returned to Toronto ten years later to perform regularly with the Canadian Opera Company. She made her debut at the Salzburg Festival in 2001 and at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 2004 as Lisa in Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades. 

Over more than three decades, Adrianne Pieczonka has sung with some of the greatest companies in the opera world: Bavarian State Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Berlin State Opera, Hamburg State Opera, Zurich Opera, Teatro Real, Liceu, Teatro Arriaga, Opéra de Paris, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Los Angeles Opera, Teatro Colón, San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, etc.

She has worked with the world’s finest conductors in concert and opera, Kent Nagano, Claudio Abbado, Riccardo Muti, Zubin Mehta, Pierre Boulez, James Levine, Kent Nagano,   Daniel Barenboim, Donald Runnicles, Philippe Jordan, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Richard Bradshaw, to name a few.

In 2019, she was appointed as the first vocal chair of the Glenn Gould School, where she regularly teaches master classes and oversees the vocal department and their opera productions.

PAN M 360 : What motivates you being part of this jury in Montréal?

ADRIANNE PIECZONKA: It is a huge honour for me, a Canadian opera singer and educator, to be on the jury of this very prestigious International Competition in Montréal. In 1988, I competed in three international singing competitions in Europe (and won First Prize in two of them): s-Hertogenbosch in The Netherlands and La Plaine sur Mer in France. I have such wonderful memories of being a competitor and winning them helped me to immediately launch my career in Europe

PAN M 360 : How have you been selected?
ADRIANNE PIECZONKA: I was approached by Zarin Mehta, President of the Jury many months ago and I immediately said yes!

PAN M 360:  What is your perception of Montreal classical music family and Montreal Intarnational Music Competition?


ADRIANNE PIECZONKA: Montréal has a thriving classical music scene, one which is very rich and exciting. I wish I could come to Montréal more frequently to see many recitals and concerts featuring amazing artists. Québec produces wonderful musicians, including wonderful singers!

PAN M 360 : How do you consider this competition among the international classical major music competitions? 


ADRIANNE PIECZONKA: This competition is world renowned for its excellence and high standard. Many world class artists have competed in this competition and have gone on to enjoy world class careers.

PAN M 360 : Are those international competitions the front doors for an international career? Are the essential?

ADRIANNE PIECZONKA: : As someone who competed and won some competitions many years ago, I do think they can be extremely useful for global exposure – to agents, opera houses, orchestras etc. They are not essential of course but they can certainly be a way to advance one’s career and also make important connections.

PAN M 360 : Each member of a jury has a specific sensibility regarding the candidates, what is yours?

ADRIANNE PIECZONKA: I am interested in the artist as a whole. Many singers have amazing voices but I am also interested in a singers’ “inner life” and artistic his/her sensibility. Having an amazing voice is not everything. A great artist needs to touch our souls.

PAN M 360 : What are the objective criterias of your eventual choices ?

ADRIANNE PIECZONKA: Objective criteria are correct pronunciation, inflection, nuance. Singing correct rhythms and pitches are a necessity but heightened musicality can also enhance any given performance.

PAN M 360 : What are the subjective criterias that could make a difference between candidates of same value?
ADRIANNE PIECZONKA: This is where you have to trust your “gut” and be open to a singer  moving in unique ways.     As listeners, we want to be moved, we want to experience something magical. It’s hard to describe just exactly what this is but I can assure you, when it happens, you just “know”.

PAN M 360 : Are there some cultural differences in the singing aesthetic that could divide the jury?
Adrianne: No, in my opinion, I don’t think this will be the case.

ADRIANNE PIECZONKA: : Do you plan other activities in MTL during this process?
Adrianne: I’m afraid we will be very busy with the various rounds of the competitions! I am giving a masterclass and taking part in a Round Table discussion with a few other jurors. I hope to do some walking and perhaps visit the Musee de Beaux Arts while I am here.

Although Montreal multi-instrumentalist Marie-Hélène L. Delorme officially carries her experimental pop project Foxtrott solo, her latest independent release shows us that it is, in fact, an elegant and spontaneous dance that is not danced alone, but between her and the instruments.

A composer for film and TV, Foxtrott kicked off her career by singing about the power of liberating energy on A Taller Us in 2015, a Polaris-nominated album of R&B, soul, and electro-pop overtones, which she continued to explore in 2018 with her Meditation I-II-III series. Following the lyrics of her track “Intuition,” Foxtrott finally manages to permanently unite with her instruments in the form of loosely composed EPs in the traditional style of diptych paintings.

Just as Dirty Projectors took us on a journey through an exhibition of EP paintings in 2020, Foxtrott will take us on a year-long journey through a series of spontaneously composed songs in pairs. Made in collaboration with harp and cello artist Ouri, “The Motion” and “Looking for Your Love” are the first pair that reflects a return to softness and innovation for Foxtrott.

While Daniel Ek foolishly told artists to forget the necessary period of creation between two albums, Foxtrott finally demonstrates that artists cannot be reduced to simple products that are ordered and pressed at the factory, in the cadenced and automatic step of the industry.

PAN M 360: Your project reminds me a lot of the one realized in 2020 by Dirty Projectors. This kind of project can potentially create a new relationship to music or a new listening space, knowing that albums are less and less listened to in their entirety. How do you see it?

FOXTROTT: I wanted to do things a little differently. I’ve done two full-length albums in my time. I do most of my music on my own, producing, writing, etc. I can spend a lot of time on my work. I needed something lighter and more spontaneous. I wanted to do things differently. I didn’t want to stay two years in my bubble, make an album and then release it.

PAN M 360: How did the idea of the diptychs come about?

FOXTROTT: There’s not really a rule anymore, some artists release 25-piece projects, and some release singles. There’s no right or wrong way to do it, everything works. You have to follow what you want to do. I can’t be constrained in one given form. As an artist, you have to let the art itself guide you. I had no enthusiasm when I was thinking about making an album. When I thought about pairs, I could see the pieces breathing and growing better.

PAN M 360: You even talk about getting away from rigid forms. What do you mean by that?

FOXTROTT: You make the album, you mix it, then the promo… They’re like big cycles and there are times for that. But I don’t think there’s a rule. At the moment, I felt that musically speaking, it was not what I wanted. I wanted to build a project over time. That’s when I got the idea of doing a series. I was working on pieces that always came to me in pairs. I had the idea of bringing out these two pieces that tell a story together, there is a kind of resonance. It’s not the same as going into a bigger story with a 14-piece project.

PAN M 360: Do you know how many you plan to release?

FOXTROTT: Time will tell! (laughs)

PAN M 360: For this recording, the vocals are less sung in a pop style and are more processed and worked on than usual. It sounds like you let yourself go into your instruments. What were you trying to experiment with?

FOXTROTT: I’m not really someone who intellectualizes much about what I do. If my work sounds different, it’s because I feel different too. I just play the music that is expressed through me at any given time. I feel that I now have more freedom in using my voice. In this diptych, there are different tones of voice that respond to each other and interact together. It happened naturally, around the textures in particular. There are inner voices and outer voices that respond to each other.

PAN M 360: For you, the creative process starts from the inside out and not the other way around. What do you mean by that?

FOXTROTT: With other musician friends, we notice that a lot of people start from the outside by trying to sound like one style of music or by trying to mix the influence of this artist with that of another artist. I can’t approach music in that way at all. What interests me is to be at one with an emotion that I want to express. Music is used to say things that are impossible to express in words or images. I have an instinctive approach, I just want to let what comes to me rise. For example, “Looking for Your Love” is a love song. I wanted to create a warm, enveloping feeling, like a warm caress. That’s what I was trying to capture and translate with this piece. Something natural that radiates.

PAN M 360: How do you think the two pieces complement each other?FOXTROTT: If I presented only one of them, it wouldn’t work. The two together create a little world. I hadn’t released music in three years and “The Motion” is like my comeback piece. I was working on film music but for the Foxtrott project, I wanted to rework things, and also rest a little bit after the fast pace of the two albums (laughs). I wanted to wait for the music to make me want to share. It came back to me in full force with “The Motion,” it’s a heralding piece for me. I feel like I’m coming back in a new way with a new chapter and a new sound that leads to “Looking For Your Love.” It’s a real love song, which I’ve never done before. I used to talk about love sometimes but always with some doubt or insecurity. I let go of a lot of things, I feel freer. These two pieces express the authentic freedom of who I am musically.

Photo Credit: Hamza Abouelouafaa

On April 8, November Ultra released Bedroom Walls, her first album. Between this wave of sweetness (I mention it in this review) and today, the singer has been so solicited (French media, concerts in France and in the United Kingdom and display of her album in Times Square) that setting the day of our meeting has taken some time. She explained to me afterward that this time is necessary for everything. To let things come and to give oneself the space to exist, that’s what this album tells us. Having just recovered from COVID, November Ultra took the time to speak to PAN M 360. I was greeted by a person with pastel colors, a straightforward line of liner, and a warm and familiar tone.

NOVEMBER ULTRA: Here we are, I’m so happy and I hope you’re doing well. It’s my dream to come to Canada!

PAN M 360: For this first album, in an interview, you talked about provoking the break-up when you are in depression. How did you live this passage?

NOVEMBER ULTRA: It’s a long process. You have to realize that you are going through something that is not obvious. The first step is to accept that you are not well. Very quickly, when you have accepted it, the next step is to take action, to ask yourself how to cope. I know that these are, unfortunately, little creatures that we live with all our lives. I realize, as I grow up, that I’m able to deal with it in a much quicker and healthier way. Depression is saying to myself, “What’s the point of getting up in the morning? I don’t know where I’m going, what I’m doing…” I have learned to provoke the break, that is to say to go out of my comfort zone. It’s not easy, but once you’ve done it, your experience speaks to you and says, “See, it’s going to be okay.” Even if it doesn’t work out, it will have taken you a step forward to something. Making an album is a step towards that. The first track on the album, “Over & Over & Over,” is definitely a step. It’s acceptance. After that, the next step was the creation of this total state of brokenness.

PAN M 360: This album took almost four years to complete. In a pivotal time, that’s a lot of emotion. What did you learn in all of this?

NOVEMBER ULTRA: I made the first track in 2018. “Soft & Tender” was April 2019. For six months I did other pieces that I didn’t keep, but they were necessary to get to “Soft & Tender”. When I met my friend Guillaume Ferran, we were in the studio, I made him listen to the album. He started listening to it from the track “Le Manège,” then to the end. He wanted to come back to “Over & Over.” At that point, I told him “No, please don’t listen to this one”. When he asked me why, I realized how uncomfortable I was with that first song, and that it was over, I wasn’t that person anymore. So I knew the album was over at that point.

I realized that I had gained a lot of confidence and peace, which you can hear on “Open Arms,” the last track. It’s not insignificant, there was the passage of the thirties in the middle of the album. I also started seeing a shrink in the meantime, so there is something correlated with who I was and who I have become. The beginning of the album is really about coming to terms with everything that’s wrong, for example in the track “Monomania,” which is almost short-circuiting, and then there’s a peace that comes with “Nostalgia/Ultra,” with “September,” and with “Incantation.” It was long, and at the same time, I needed it. We are in a world where we do not allow ourselves to live anymore. I still had things to live for before I could finish.

PAN M 360: When it was over, how did you feel?

NOVEMBER ULTRA: I couldn’t wait! I couldn’t wait for it to come out, I felt like a pregnant woman! (laughs) It was a celebration. I was ready. Music is about sharing, it’s about singing in front of people, with them. A song exists in a different way, once it’s heard. It becomes bigger than what you’ve done. It’s so nice to see how people received it. All of this is a new stage that I’m very interested in.

PAN M 360: You are very good at conveying emotions.

NOVEMBER ULTRA: Thank you very much. That was my compass. Emotion takes precedence over technicality. There are fragile vocal takes. All the backups of “Soft & Tender” at the end are very “blue.” It didn’t work when I tried to redo the vocals and it was right. It’s a choice to put emotion above technicality. I didn’t want people to hear my album and say “What a voice!” I’m not Celine Dion, I love Celine Dion, my God, but that’s not what I wanted! I wanted my voice to convey emotions and my technique to serve that, not just me going “AAAAH!” (operatic singing voice) for 45 minutes! (laughs) And at the same time, I sing because it calms me down. I think these are things that I can crystallize in audio.

PAN M 360: You talk about your voice. Live, it is powerful and captivating. In concert at the Trianon, I saw your sensitivity and your intensity. Can you deal with all that?

NOVEMBER ULTRA: It’s true, I cried at the Trianon, and I seldom cry in concert. I am often very moved. The interpretation is important. With “Nostalgia/Ultra,” all of a sudden I was taken. There were a lot of people, my parents, and I realized what was happening. At the same time, afterward I sang and it was square. Since it’s something I’ve been doing since I could speak, it became like breathing, it’s visceral. It’s funny, you’re not the first person to tell me that. In the Spanish parts too, my voice becomes different. It takes another space in me. It can be surprising, but that’s the beauty of listening to an album and going to see the live show.

PAN M 360: I’m glad you said that because it resonates with the album review. Languages allow for exploration, indeed.

NOVEMBER ULTRA: Yeah, I learned Italian too… Not! (laughs) I learned a song in Italian. It’s something else, it’s funny. It’s interesting, the language channel, what it’s going to look for. It’s also our relationship to the language, and how we learned it. For me, there are two intrinsic things, the languages and the voice. I never asked myself if it would be weird to go from one language to another. They are tools for my voice to change. My voice on “Nostalgia/Ultra” is very different from everything else. At the end of “Soft & Tender,” in the Spanish part, people asked me who it was. We have multifaceted personalities. The music is beautiful in that, to wonder where you find that.

I saw a documentary yesterday about Simon & Garfunkel. Until the end, they were looking for what they can find that will take them out of their comfort zone. They tap their jeans and make all this rhythm that will become Cecilia‘s drums. I thought, that’s what making music is all about. There’s something about excitement and brokenness. It comes from all the tools that you bring. I want that on stage too. The difference is that the third tool is the people. You realize that the people will make the concert different. There is this thing of alchemy, my relationship to life, to people, what more can I become. What magic power I can hang up on my belt. Look I’m excited just talking about it! (laughs)

PAN M 360: It’s so intense these concerts, how do you manage them?

NOVEMBER ULTRA: (big sigh) Like everybody, I think. Sometimes you are full of energy, you link two weeks, and then it is a little harder. I am learning to verbalize better when I need time. I am well surrounded by people I love. I don’t drag my feet. I love my sound engineer, Percival. Everything is funny, all the concerts, I try to make people laugh. My stage manager, the same, my manager, everybody. Every morning I tell myself that I’m lucky to do what I do, with these people. Verbalize especially.

There was this stress when I got sick and I knew that I would have to cancel a date, that people would be sad and me too. That was my first thought, without allowing myself to be sick. I said to myself, “Be careful.” We are performing entities in this society. Be careful to allow ourselves to rest. My manager and I say “Chi va piano, va sano e va lontano.”  I want to do this until I’m a hundred, I want to do it until the day that I die! (laughs)

It’s also the way we consume music that makes us feel like we’re always behind on everything. I release a lot of covers and it will take me a long time to release my own songs. I like this double speed, it must always be in the idea of pleasure.

PAN M 360: Concerning the fact of being a woman, and producing alone on a computer, you were talking about it lately in your stories on Instagram.

NOVEMBER ULTRA: Yeah, I think there are plenty of female musicians, non-binary people, and transgender people who do it, but we don’t allow ourselves to. We make a big deal out of it, but there’s a learning curve, like learning a lot of things. The nerve of the war consists in putting a status on these people. If at some point you co-produced your piece, you should have that credit, if you directed, or wrote. When I did those stories, it was to say, I did it on my album, and a lot of people do it, but look at how unvalued it is. I think it is changing. More and more dare to say and ask.

A friend of mine who was producing with Ableton explained automation to me. It was that simple, actually. I did “Soft & Tender” as an incredible beginner. It’s good too, not knowing how to use the software. Not having gone to conservatory, I don’t think it’s a big deal. I went to the conservatory and I have a lot of trouble playing without reading sheet music. I would like to be freer. On the contrary, we have to embrace all that. I learned the guitar by ear, and I make chords that don’t sound like anything! (laughs) The way I compose is my own, because I’m a beginner, and that’s OK.

You have to give yourself the space to do it, not to wait to be an expert, it has to be done now, right now. It’s going to be a picture of our life, of our career, at some point. That’s the only thing I could say: do it, get out there, don’t be ashamed of anything, get your statuses. Go get your fucking money! (laughs) Because money is about being able to live, to be steady, and do this job for a long time. That’s the only reason I say it.

When they first started out back in 2008-2009, Copenhagen post-punks, Iceage, were just “lashing out,” throwing sounds at a wall to see what felt right and stuck. Vocalist Elias Rønnenfelt can’t even recall some of the phrases he came up with and where their inspirations lay. For that period he calls them “blindfolded,” like a crooked bird with no eyes, flying aimlessly. This could be why they became known as a band that took sonic risks and always wanted to journey deeper and deeper into the musical fray—when in fact, they had no real idea what they were doing.

Flash forward to now and Iceage’s fifth album, Seek Shelter, has been out for exactly a year and has received critical acclaim for toeing the line between post-punk and straight Britpop and being the band’s most “accessible” album. As a band born out of strangeness and finding influences wherever they venture, Iceage relies yes on the melodic janglings of guitar and bombastic drums, but also Rønnenfelt’s approach to lyricism. He leaves an intentional vague cloud over the meanings behind his songs, using them as a form of therapy for himself that he sometimes completely forgets.

We spoke with the messy-haired Rønnenfelt—before the Iceage show this Sunday at Ausgang Plaza—while he was in Copenhagen drinking wine and smoking (at what we assume was a house party) about his evolving lyrical strategy, people’s interpretations of his lyrics, and using music as a vessel to document his own insanity.

PAN M 360: Would you call Copenhagen an inspiring city for an artist such as yourself?

Elias Rønnenfelt: I mean, if I feel like any city might be, but it’s home. And then it’s the surroundings I grew up in as an artist. So yeah, I think it’s inspiring. And it puts me in a good mindset, but there’s also a lot of like village mentality and part of the culture that’s quite a bit behind. So it’s also inspiring in the ways that there are things to dislike.

PAN M 360: I know you write your lyrics kind of all in one go for the records. Do you have to retreat from home to do that?

Elias Rønnenfelt: That’s what I’ve been doing for the past few albums. When I know the date that we’re going into the studio, I will usually retreat somewhere and work on all the lyrics all together to try and create some sort of not narrative, but just so it isn’t too scattered, that it’s coming out of one mindset. I never really found a formula that permanently works. So you always have to find a new angle to attack from no matter what. But, I mean, sometimes you’re in a place where you have a certain kind of lucidity, and things just come to you other times, you have to work for it.

PAN M 360: Do you believe songs evolve based on world events? Like the interpretation of them that is?

Elias Rønnenfelt: Like in hindsight or as you’re writing them?

PAN M 360: Hmm I guess in hindsight for everyone else? I mean Seek Shelter is regarded as a pandemic album, but it was written before any of that happened.

Elias Rønnenfelt: I think that album ended up being a pandemic album because it came out within it and I’ve heard from a lot of people that they thought it was freakishly close to the newfound reality they were sitting in and the title itself is a little … the needle on the nose. But that was completely unintentional. But I think the context is always tailored by the individual to fit … if you’re feeling a certain kind of way or if you’re heartbroken or something like that. The song is yours and now about you and your specific condition, and that’s kind of the beauty of it.

PAN M 360: Right. When you release a song to the world it’s not really yours anymore and people can interpret it any way they want. Does that excite you at all?

Elias Rønnenfelt: I’ve had people coming up to me at concerts or people writing in, and they will cry gracefully, and generously explain that a certain song is attached to the loss of a friend, or a house cat, or even a period that was a transition, or that song became attached to that period of their lives. And that’s, like, the biggest compliment you can get. That the song had the ability to sort of mutate into the individual’s situation.

PAN M 360: And you can never expect that when writing a song.

Elias Rønnenfelt: No I would never write something that is intentionally or universally vague and be like ‘Oh many the people are going to get this one (laughs).

PAN M 360: So why do you write? I mean obviously, you’re a musician and it’s your job but is it a cathartic release for you. Is your mind always racing?

Elias Rønnenfelt: Yeah, the mind is always racing, and it’s become a sort of vessel. And one of the few ways that I have at my disposal to make sense of things. And if I don’t distill my emotions—and my emotions are usually quite hard to do defer. I have never seen a psychologist or anything like that, you know, so I’m not too smart but I would say songwriting is one way to try and make this whirlwind of feelings or things you live through have a way to narrow it down and make it tangible. So, yeah, I know, if I didn’t do it, I think it would go mad.

PAN M 360: There are many little references to religion in Iceage songs, almost from a sort of … omniscient point of view. Are you a religious guy or do they just sort of creep in?

Elias Rønnenfelt: I wouldn’t be defined myself as religious, but neither specifically nonreligious either. I come from a Catholic background and I went to Christian School. So from an early point in life, that imagery was just kind of something that was used to make sense of things and, you know, in that kind of religious upbringing, those stories from day one
brought to make sense of the little things that we go through here and in mundane normal life. So it’s just kind of something that happens. That imagery is something that I find natural to apply, but sometimes I get tired of it like I’ll be writing and then like, ‘Oh no. Here I go on about this Catholic-sounding shit again. But I guess it’s part of my
process.

PAN M 360: Was it nice to have a break from touring due to the pandemic. You guys were hitting it pretty hard for like, quite a few years. It seemed you were touring forever?

Elias Rønnenfelt: We’ve been road-dogging it since we were like 17 and 18, playing usually between 100 and 150 shows a year. I think it was ultimately good. I think it might have saved this in a way. I’ve always been quite addicted to running away and having a very hard time sitting still anywhere. As soon as I had some time in my life that could actually be used for some peace and quiet, I would immediately seek elsewhere and try and be on unsteady ground. But we were forced to be steady and it wasn’t as bad as I thought. But you know, then after a year, whatever, then you’re like, ‘Okay, I think I’ve learned my lesson. Now. I’m ready to get back at it.

He is one of the true successors to the great saxophonist Peter Brötzmann but…  in 2022, we can’t really qualify him successor at 57 years old ?! In fact, he is a true international leader of free improvisation and avant-garde composition beyond free jazz. Mats Olof Gustafsson is a Swedish saxophonist, born in 1964 in Umeå, Sweden. Since the beginning of his international career in the mid-80’s, he added clarinet, keyboards and electronics in his tool box. 

Mats Gustafsson is known for his explosive style, we could witness his talent in many contexts, witch so many artists as Gunter Christmann, Peter Brötzmann, Joe McPhee, Paul Lovens, Barry Guy, Derek Bailey, Hamid Drake, Michael Zerang, Ken Vandermark, Magnus Broo, Otomo Yoshihide, Jim O’Rourke, Thomas Lehn, Evan Parker, Misha Mengelberg, Zu, The Ex, Sonic Youth, Merzbow, Fire! orThe Thing.

Mats Gustaffson is also an excellent speaker about his craft, PAN M 360 shares his comments before his performances at FIMAV this week-end. On Saturday, he will share the stage with Rob Mazurek and David Grubbs, and he will be involved in a power duet with Colin Stetson.

First, some questions about the trio concert :

« All three drove Chicago’s experimental music scene forward in the 1990s: MATS GUSTAFSSON with several free jazz bands and as a member of Peter Brötzmann’s Tentet, while he was staying in the US; DAVID GRUBBS at the onset of the post-rock movement in Gastr del Sol, his duo with Jim O’Rourke; ROB MAZUREK in a multi-stylistic approach under various iterations of his Chicago Underground project. »

PAN M 360  : Can you remind us what led you to David Grubbs, whom with you recorded the duet Off Road? How have you built this musical relationship?

MATS GUSTAFFSON : We met in Chicago in the mid 90s through my good friends John Corbett and Jim O `Rourke and we immediately started to work and hang out together. I played w Gast and I played other things together with David, on his solo records until we decided to record Apertura, our first duo.. followed up by a Swedish tour and recordings of Off Road. It ain’t over yet…

PAN M 360 : About Rob Mazurek, the 3rd playor of this Victoriaville concert, same question, how did you meet? How did you play together? What has been built yet or what is gonna be?

MATS GUSTAFFSON :  Also the Chicago connection. That is important. Chicago was BEAMING of energy and creativity in the mid / end of 90s… and still is. But that period in particular stands out. We played a few ad hoc things and we kept on meeting in all kind of places internationally. And when this chance occurred to play a trio we jumped at it….  The pandemic stopped all the plans… but  we will reboot now. All is open!

« They worked many times together, but never all three at the same time, surprisingly. That is, until May 2019. They jumped on journalist John Corbett’s proposition to play as a trio for a two-day engagement at The Underflow in Athens, Greece. »

PAN M 360: Is this trio an important step for 3 of you? How could you describe with words what happened in Greece ?

MATS GUSTAFFSON : No words can describe those things enough. It was pure creativity and pure SHARING. As simple as that. When chemistry works, both musically and socially…. What can you do ?  just go with the flow. This trio is super important to me, hell yeah!

« The Underflow » : present-tense music exploring a wide range of dynamics, at the crossroads of acoustics, electrics, and electronics

PAN M 360 : Above that, what can you add to make us understand the language elaborated between you guys?

MATS GUSTAFFSON :  Listen openly and you will get rewarded. All and nothing is in there. As it always should be. All possibilities. All rules. All non-rules. All perspectives. We bring in all our experiences to the mix… and when people are willing to share…. The audience will feel it. Listen freely. Think freely. Act freely – as simple as that.

« They made the venue’s name their own, and their debut album, culled from these concerts, came out in early 2020, followed by a second one recorded just before the first wave of lockdowns. These albums showcase the rich history between these three masters. »

PAN M 360 : Can you see the progression from the first live sessions and the 2 following recording sessions?

MATS GUSTAFFSON :  I can hear something. What is it ?  I have no idea ?  Progression ?  I have no idea….

Development ?  i Have no idea. We move on. We deal with the past, with our experiences, individually and as a collective. And we SHARE . when this is true… SOMETHING happens. We can call it whatever we want. But we want to SHARE it. On stage. And with the audience. New things will happen. And again. And again. And again.

PAN M 360 : Will the Victoriaville concert offer new things  after what has been achieved ? What would it be, roughly or even more?

MATS GUSTAFSSON :  ;))

Yeah – let’s hope some new things will POP out! I’m pretty sure, since we have waited 2 years now to play together… it will be an EXPLOSION never ever heard of before. Followed by some bad- ass IMPLOSIONS – and if we survive that, we will try to play something entirely different  at the end of the concert. Watch out for THAT!

Second, a few questions about your duet with Colin Stetson

« Two giants of the saxophone will be sharing the stage, combining their diametrically opposed yet fully complementary approaches.

« COLIN STETSON has developed a highly original technique on bass saxophone where he subvocalizes while playing his instrument (his voice being amplified by a transducer). In solo settings, he favors long, multiphonic, loop-like notes that weave incredible ambiences. With other musicians, he can turn feverish and hard-hitting, as our audience heard in 2017 with the performance of his band Ex Eye.

PAN M 360 : With Colin Stetson, that we know quite well in Montréal, what are you looking for?

MATS GUSTAFFSON :  It is all about SHARING, in the trio as well as with this duo. I can’t wait. It is all open. Saxophones and electronics. Wham- bam – thank- you – mam! I’m looking forward to the moment that will happen. The moment that might happen. And I’m looking forward to the next moment. In every moment.

STETSON and GUSTAFSSON played as a duo for the first time in Vancouver in 2011, a performance chronicled on their sole album, 2012’s Stones. They’ve locked horns a handful of times since, moving deeper into their musical relationship each time. 

PAN M 360  : Let’s keep this question in the program : « Where does that relationship stand 11 years later? You’ll have to be there to find out. »

MATS GUSTAFFSON :  Exactly – you have to be there to understand. We will use everything that has happened since 11 years , on stage. Together – in a sharing experience. The only real difference  this time is that we will use electronics as well. The « stones » album is solely acoustic. This will be different.

PAN M 360  : The 2 approaches are distinctives, can you see where and how they meet as a duet?

MATS GUSTAFSSON : SHARING!!! And SHARING. 

If we do share…. The audience will know.

PAN M 360  : Do you have plans for a recording project? Other concerts?

MATS GUSTAFFSON : Oh , yes. Recordings HAS to be. And it will. It is all being planned.

The next step is me inviting Colin to be a soloist in my next big compositional work « Hidros 9 « , which be premiered october 1st 2022 in Warsaw, poland. Colin is featured soloist together with Hedvid Mollestad, Anders Nyqvist and per åke holmlander — in an interaction with Dieb13 and Jerome Noetinger and a 18 piece chamber ensemble. It will be WILD!!

Exceptional composer, guitar heroine of avant-jazz and its peripheral zones, formidable improviser, the American Mary Halvorson has acquired the reputation of one of today’s leading musicians in the post-genre fields of the so called “musique actuelle”.

Her discography, which includes more than fifty collaborations and a dozen albums as a leader, bears witness to this. She has received numerous accolades and honors with the Thumbscrew Trio and her other ensembles, and has been awarded the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship. One of her recent projects includes a rare collaboration with the mythical Robert Wyatt. Tour de force !

She has been known at FIMAV since her first concert in the ensemble of Anthony Braxton (circa 2007), who was her professor at Wesleyan University (Connecticut). She has subsequently given several performances in the Bois-Francs and the current one is devoted to her two most recent projects, Amaryllis & Belladonna (Nonesuch), which have already delighted international critics.

Although she was first associated with contemporary jazz, even if her guitar sound is in the jazz tradition, her music is now post-genre as it includes a wide range of styles, from consonant indie folk to atonal contemporary music. 

At the height of her possibilities, the 41-year-old musician generously offers us this diptych, which she will defend in the Bois-Francs, this Saturday, May 21, 10 pm, at the Colisée in Victoriaville.

« Amaryllis & Belladonna » is her most ambitious project yet, and it showcases her composing skills.

PAN M 360  : Do you agree with those notes in the Victoriaville festival program? 

MARY HALVORSON : In terms of scope, it’s true that it’s the largest project I’ve written for, with ten musicians when Amaryllis and Belladonna are combined. It was a new and intense challenge for me, writing for string quartet plus a brand new sextet, and it’s definitely composition-heavy, although there’s plenty of improvisation woven in as well. I feel so fortunate to be playing with all these wonderful musicians, and to be able to perform at Victoriaville Festival this year.

PAN M 360  : You have been heading so many projects… Do you have son favorite achievements? What made you really proud as a leader / composer ? Maybe you don’t think in those terms.

MARY HALVORSON : I don’t really think in those terms. I enjoy challenging myself to explore new musical worlds, and to not make the same record over and over again. Each project is unique and I try to fully immerse myself in whatever is happening currently– in this case, Amaryllis and Belladonna.

PAN M 360 : The paintings on your double project web pages are quite beautiful. Can you comment on their choice?

MARY HALVORSON : The paintings were done by the musician and artist DM Stith, someone who I respect and admire greatly. His concept for the paintings was based on the idea of the poisonous flower, Amaryllis Belladonna. I wanted the paintings to express that duality: something both beautiful and poisonous. I had high hopes for the designs and he managed to exceed them!

« The concert will be split into two parts. « Belladonna » is a set of six compositions for electric guitar and string quartet. She will be teaming up with a highly regarded American ensemble, the MIVOS QUARTET. »

PAN M 360 : Could you explain the crucial aspects of those compositions for guitar + string 4tet? What were you mainly seeking in that specific area ?

MARY HALVORSON : I’ve always loved the sound of string quartet music. When done well, it sounds like one enormous instrument, a force. I considered writing for string quartet alone (with no guitar), but in the end I wanted to be a part of that sound so ended up writing myself into it. Plus, I feel guitar with string quartet is a beautiful sound, and one that is underexplored.

PAN M 360 : How is the marriage between an amplified guitar and an acoustic quartet? How did you develop this relationship with Mivos Quartet, excellent ensemble without a doubt?

MARY HALVORSON : I’ve been an admirer of The Mivos Quartet for a long while now, and have heard them perform in many different contexts. One of the things that drew me to them, in addition to their musical excellence, is their open-mindedness and ability to play seamlessly through so many different styles of modern music. I felt they understood what I was trying to do from the first minute of the first rehearsal– they really nailed it right away.

PAN M 360 : From your perspective, is there a narrative from the 1st to the 6th piece? What are the links between them?

MARY HALVORSON : In theory the order of compositions could be shuffled; in other words the pieces don’t have to be performed in the album order, and they may not be tonight, I’m actually not sure yet. The pieces do add up to create a narrative, and when I composed the music I was certainly thinking about how the pieces contrast and complement each other to create a larger whole. Still, the order may change slightly from performance to performance. I do have certain pieces I enjoy starting and ending with, though.

PAN M 360 : How would you comment your own evolution as a guitar player in the recent years ?  Also as a soloist/ improviser? How did you work on the textural aspect of it, I mean tone, pedals, etc.

MARY HALVORSON : It’s a lifelong goal to get better at the guitar, to improve my technique, ear, and facility on the instrument, and to expand the scope of what I can express and communicate. I once heard Bill Frisell describe that process as chipping away at a block of wood, and I really related to that. It’s hard to pinpoint one’s own evolution as it’s almost always gradual, but I do work consistently on improving, and during the pandemic I had more time than usual to really sit with the instrument, think about my weaknesses and what I want to improve upon. This type of nuts and bolts practice is probably what I work on most, and developing textural stuff, pedals, improvising happens more during gigs, sessions, etc.

« Amaryllis » is her new sextet of improvisers, here performing her compositions, some of which also include the MIVOS QUARTET. Which means there will be ten musicians on stage at some point. HALVORSON’s music has never reached that scope before ! »

PAN M 360 :  Patricia Brennan (vibraphone), Nick Dunston (bass), Tomas Fujiwara (drums), Jacob Garchik (trombone), and Adam O’Farrill (trumpet) are also playing on the record and will be performing at FIMAV.  So there is a specific approach with this line-up. Can you explain what led you to this ensemble?

MARY HALVORSON : I had a weekend booked in the summer of 2020 at the (now kaput) Brooklyn Stone. I wanted to do something completely new for those performances, and thought about musicians in the sextet, curious what that grouping of players would sound like. This sextet is a combination of old and new friends: all incredible musicians and improvisers who I admire greatly, and who I knew would execute the music with both precision and recklessness. I wrote a bunch of music for those Brooklyn Stone performances, and like most events that year, they ended up getting canceled. But at that point I was so excited about the music and the band that I kept going with it, figuring I’d make it happen eventually. 

PAN M 360 : Of course, the rhythmic aspect of Amaryllis is more about jazz, the whole aesthetic of this record is chamber jazz. Can you please describe briefly the core of those compositions?

MARY HALVORSON : I wasn’t thinking about jazz specifically when I wrote it– or any genre for that matter– really just hearing the sounds of the individual musicians in my head and trying to envision music that would work for this combination, regardless of style. I often write in an intuitive/ improvisational manner, going train-of-thought and just seeing what comes out, trying to express whatever mood or energy I’m feeling in the moment. There were no gigs happening when I wrote this music, so part of what kept me going during that time period was the joy of writing compositions for these bands, and imagining what the music might sound like. It gave me something to look forward to.

PAN M 360 : Do you plan to record again with this ensemble?

MARY HALVORSON: I haven’t thought that far ahead or come up with any specific plans yet, but I have already written some new music for the sextet, and I’d say it’s likely I’ll record again.

PAN M 360 : Where is the duality of Amaryllis & Belladonna? 

MARY HALVORSON: I liked the idea of having two projects which can exist separately or together. The music is different but there are points where it overlaps. It’s not always possible logistically and financially to perform with a ten piece band, and I’m grateful for the opportunity whenever it happens. There will also be times when I perform with the sextet alone, or just with Mivos Quartet. But when possible, the tentet can come together for a large-scale performance.

PAN M 360 : Regarding your Artlessly Falling previous project with Code Girl, how could you convince Robert Wyatt to perform on a few songs ? Tour de force ! 

MARY HALVORSON : Having Robert Wyatt sing on Artlessly Falling was a dream come true. I have been a Robert Wyatt fanatic since my mid twenties and he is one of my musical heroes. I have also been in touch with him for many years, exchanging music and emails periodically. So quite simply, I asked if he would be interested. I still can’t believe he said yes! Working with him was an incredible experience, as was getting the chance to compose music especially for him. Not only is he one of my favorite musicians of all time, but he’s a wonderful person, a joy to work with, and he really brought those songs to life.

MARY HALVORSON IS PERFORMING AT FIMAV , ON SATURDY MAY 21TH, COLISÉE DES BOIS-FRANCS

Back in 2018, a trio of musicians who had played next to each other in different bands from South London, UK—Tom Dowse (guitar), Lewis Maynard (bass), and Nick Buxton (drums)—set out to create a heavier noise-punk/post-hardcore sound like At The Drive-In or Deftones. After months of honing in their sound, which turned out to be a more melodic post-punk vibe, the trio needed a front person. Tom suggested Florence Shaw, a visual arts student he attended school with, even though she had no prior music performing experience. After some much-needed convincing, Flo arrived with notebooks of cut-up poems, grocery lists, writings on her old drawings, and random thoughts she wrote down after watching tv advertisements, and began piecing them together in a spoken word tone as the guys played. It was very on the spot and unplanned but would become a crucial part of Dry Cleaning’s sound, leading to a few EPs and their acclaimed debut album New Long Leg in 2021.

“I was on the bus to Lewis’ house where we were going to do the rehearsal and I still hadn’t decided what I was going to do,” she says of the memory. “I think I ended up speaking because it just felt very accessible. And it just felt like a good way. I was quite attached to the writing that I had with me at the time. And I thought like, ‘Well, this is a really direct way of kind of showing off this writing.'”

Shaw’s songs feel very stream of consciousness, almost a form of beat poetry, as walls of dark and sometimes cheery sound radiate through the speakers. It could be compared to a band like Wire or a female-fronted The Fall, but with her lyrics of dissociation, escapism, daydreaming, complicated feelings of love, anger, etc., Shaw has essentially become the glue holding Dry Cleaning and their success, something she both cherishes and is still terrified of.

We spoke to Florence Shaw before Dry Cleaning’s Montreal debut show at Theatre Fairmount this Friday, May 13 about her droll lyrical approach, obsession with collecting random tiny objects, her emo phase (which she admits hasn’t left), and why she sometimes scares people live.

PAN M 360: It’s funny when I first heard New Long Leg I thought ‘I won’t be able to see this band for many years because of the pandemic,’ but you’re here in a week.

Florence Shaw: Yeah I know! That all kind of changed quite quickly right? It’s still a very strange feeling and we definitely thought we were going to be stuck in the UK for ages. But it was only a year and a half.

PAN M 360: And I saw a quote somewhere that joked you will probably be touring until 2025 or something?

Florence Shaw: Yeah, I think that is sort of how things are looking. It’s going to be quite intense. We sort of want to make up for the lost time you know? There are so many places we’ve never played. It’s like, this European tour we’ve just finished, It’s the first time we played in almost all of those countries, even though they’re sort of right next door. It’s all weird.

PAN M 360: And you being the frontwoman of the band and people singing along to these, I’d say very personal songs, is it strange to you? Especially still being quite new to it?

Florence Shaw: It’s always an incredible feeling! I didn’t really know if that would happen necessarily. Because there’s not often a melody to the words. So they’re quite hard to learn. Because of that, because there’s no melody to guide, you know, but we always have hundreds of people singing the words every night. And that’s always just a mad feeling. It’s a crazy sort of feeling of connection with people that I didn’t really expect to have (laughs). It sounds kind of cheesy, but it really is. I don’t know how else to describe that you feel very connected to people you’ve never met.

PAN M 360: How do you get into the zone of playing live?

Florence Shaw: That’s a good question. I’m sort of still learning all about that really. I’m often quite quiet before we play. I’m not really one for like hanging out and telling jokes and stuff like right before. I always need about half an hour to myself, to think about what I want to do. And I guess set a bit of an intention for the show, even if it’s something quite small, or kind of think about what you might want to think about whilst you’re on stage or have a think about where you are, and kind of where the people who’ve come to see you might be coming from and stuff like that. I do like to think about those things I find if I don’t do that I find it too hard to be present. It feels like an out-of-body kind of experience. And I do like to feel present when we play.

PAN M 360: And with some of these songs I feel like you might go into a sort of trance playing them live?

Florence Shaw: I do like to do like to connect with the audience if I can. Even if it’s quite a sort of a temporary relationship, I do like to have a bit of a relationship with the crowd. And like, yeah, it’s strange when you don’t. And so I do tend to look at the crowd for most of the show, which sometimes freaks people out.

PAN M 360: Freaks people out? People have said that?

Florence Shaw: Yeah I’ve read that before. I think I’ve been described as staring people down. Which sounds quite intense. But it’s really just like a sort of looking for some sort of connection with people, I guess, rather than trying to freak people out. I think I can be more intense than I realize sometimes. There’s very little sort of barrier because it’s just your speaking voice. It’s a monologue, I guess. And there’s not that sense of like a melody or something to be like a vessel. It’s just, that it’s very bold and I think that is part of what people find quite intense about it. I try to bring some humour to what I do as well. It’s kind of seriousness, but it’s tempered with a bit of childlike glee or a bit of fun. I think of myself as a bit of a clown sometimes. Like one of those clowns, that’s maybe not like, tripping over buckets of water, but it’s a comedy of seriousness.

PAN M 360: Your New Long Leg album is much more nuanced and polished than your previous EPs. Would you say that this is partly due to the work of producer John Parish? Why did you choose to work with him?

Florence Shaw: We approached a few different people just to kind of start conversations about who would produce the album because, again, it was like a completely new experience for us. We’d all recorded before but not at that kind of level. And so we were all a bit sort of, we were sort of fumbling around in the dark a bit wondering who we should work with. And we contacted lots of different people. But his response was immediate. He just replied, like, straight away, saying that he was really keen and that he really loved EPs, and that he had all these notes on the demos that we’ve made, just like straight away. And we always tried to go with kind of gut feelings. And that just felt very positive. That he just was immediately like, ‘Yeah.” He wasn’t thinking about it. He didn’t want to meet and then maybe something would happen but just immediately was like, ‘Yes, I really want to do this.’

PAN M 360: Wow. So no pussyfooting around with him at all?

Florence Shaw: Yes exactly. We were fans of his work, particularly with Aldous Harding’s albums she’s done with him. I don’t know, with his music, I feel like you can always hear the room. It’s kind of at the forefront and it doesn’t sound glossy. It sounds intimate. He’s also very patient. We’d do several takes of a vocal phrase to get the right delivery. He had the patience for every syllable.

PAN M 360: There’s one lyric in the song “Strong Feelings” that I just love. It’s the opening “Just an emo dead stuff collector, things come to the brain.” It perfectly summarizes a part of my life. That whole emo phase I’m sure everyone went through. Did you ever go through that emo, dressing in all-black goth phase?

Florence Shaw: 100 % (laughs). I used to hang out in attics and listen to The Cure and I very much went through all of that really intensely actually. When I was a teen at least. I mean I’m still a bit emo, to be frank. I think it didn’t totally leave me. What I was thinking about at the time is almost like little collections of things that are like dead pieces of wood or bone fragments or things that you kind of sometimes end up collecting, especially when you’re a teenager. It’s like a little something that you sort of … a little habit that people sometimes pick up —holding onto stuff from the natural world or something like that. Yeah, I’ve kind of thinking about that.

PAN M 360: Do you still have little bone fragments or collections around your house?

Florence Shaw: What I’m much more into recently, as I collect, I collect loads of things—I have lots and lots of like collections of little things—and often it’s just like miniature stuff. I have lots of collections of like little plastic animals or little glass animals, things like that, like anything miniature anything on a really tiny scale, kind of almost no matter what it is; if it’s a little table, or like a little like a model of a mouse or something just really small, or even just like seeds or things like that are really tiny, really tiny things.

PAN M 360: Do you arrange them in such a way creating little scenes or are they kind of just scattered about?

Florence Shaw: I do like to like set them out, you know, quite carefully. I can be a real homebody, you know. Yeah, man (laughs) I like really like organizing stuff. And moving little things around and creating little dioramas and stuff around the house with like, little objects. That is a real passion of mine. Objects have a bit of a dialogue between them, don’t they? And that’s what I enjoy. Like, like creating little pairings of things, a little group of things that then means something new because they’re together. I sound totally nuts right now, don’t I?

PAN M 360: No I think you’re just being yourself.

Florence Shaw: Absolutely.

PAN M 360: You’ve often been compared to The Fall for your use of spoken-word in your songs, but are there any other artists who you think have been as influential for Dry Cleaning? What about John Cooper Clarke? Baxter Dury? Sleaford Mods? “The Gift” by the Velvet Underground? 

Florence Shaw: It’s funny I used to think ‘Oh no I haven’t listened to much spoken word music,’ but actually growing up I remember this Death In Vegas tune called “Hands Around My Throat,” which is basically just a woman speaking over what I thought was this really menacing music. And I was obsessed with it when I was like 12. And then there’s like Grace Jones and my mom would listen to The Last Poets quite a lot when I was a kid. She had all of their LPs and that definitely seeped into my consciousness, that speaking was an option for making music. I guess it was just very clear to me that the spoken word can be used as a musical instrument.

PAN M 360: Were your parents very musical when you were growing up too?

Florence Shaw: My dad used to play in a band and he sang. He’s also played drums in other bands sometimes. He’s a really good guitarist and plays harmonica. He had lots of instruments in the house. So he would sometimes like enlist me and my brother to do like backing vocals on like, recording and things like that. Just very fun stuff. Not like putting us to work. But like, yeah, he would teach us little keyboard parts and things like that. So yeah, it’s something I spent time doing when I was a kid, but it always felt like it was just sort of for fun. I never thought of it as a career. Drawing and art was always the thing that I wanted to do as my job.

PAN M 360: Do you think that background in visual arts gives you a more abstract way of looking at the world, maybe in terms of your lyrics?

Florence Shaw: I certainly think art school, no matter what your experience of art school is, it certainly teaches you to be observant, or at least kind of exercise your sort of skills of observation. Whether it’s through just something really direct like drawing, listening, being a better listener, or just photography. Maybe just kind of recording things around you and taking notice of things around you, in the world as they happen. I think it certainly exercised my ability to do that, kind of just as a daily practice. I love to people watch, it’s like a big thing for me … I’d quite happily just walk around the part of town I’d ever been to, or something like that all day, just taking photos or writing things down. And that’s what I find most inspiring, really. And I think definitely, visual arts is something if you’re sort of interested in that kind of thing, it really brings it out of you, even more, I think.

PAN M 360: Dry Cleaning … not the ideal name to make it easy to find info on you guys on the internet, why did you choose this band name?

Florence Shaw: Yeah it’s totally ungoogleable or whatever (laughs). The guys came up with it before I joined when they were just jamming, but I remember the name was something that made me think it would be a good idea to join because I always really liked it. And I think we got to the bottom of it being possibly Tom, who came up with it. You know how these things are, these origin stories. It’s one of those completely impossible to remember how it happened or to trace it back. But we think it was Tom. And I think basically, they were just wanting to go for something that was kind of ubiquitous. In the UK, at least, possibly, maybe all over the world, or in some parts of the world there are so many dry cleaners, they’re absolutely everywhere. The sign always just says dry cleaning, and never really called anything else. So it’s kind of written everywhere. And you see it all the time. And it’s kind of really mundane.

PAN M 360: Yes they are everywhere here too. Here in Montreal, it’s just “nettoyeur.”

Florence Shaw: Yes that must be the equivalent (laughs).

Entitled “Planet Happiness”, this micro-festival will explore the electric guitar in a contemporary music context. On Monday, May 9, 7:30 p.m., in the Wilder Building, the first program will feature Belgian guitarist and composer François Couvreur, the teotwawki quartet and Montreal composer Kevin O’Neil. On Tuesday, May 10, also at 7:30 p.m., a second program will feature the Instruments of Happiness guitar quartet led by Tim Brady. Three new works will be performed.

PAN M 360: So the Instruments of Happiness are about to conquer an exoplanet?

TIM BRADY: We’ll try…

PAN M 360 : You celebrate the electric guitar as a vehicle for contemporary music. We are seeing more and more musicians and ensembles doing so. How would you assess this impact in the musicosphere?

TIM BRADY : The electric guitar is a young instrument – it was only officially invented in 1932. And it is a distinctly North American instrument, it is quite different than the European classical guitar, in technique, repertoire and culture.  So it is still growing – it started in jazz, then blues, rock n’ roll, country, progressive rock, then experimental music, and now composers from the notated music tradition are finding out what amazing sonic resources it can offer.  With a few pedals and a good amp, it’s a mini-orchestra.

This transformation and evolution seems to prove the point: in art, nothing is static. The classical European orchestra (which I love) is a victim of narrow traditions and a very limited repertoire.  It can’t really grow and adapt with the times. They try, but it is a bit of a “square peg in a round hole” – the orchestra is mostly about the past, not about the future…  I hope the electric guitar can avoid that problem of getting “stuck in time”, and that we stop trying to find new artistic ideas.  For the past 90 years at least, the instrument and its music has kept evolving, and chamber music for the electric guitar is just one more area to discover with the instrument.

PAN M 360: Will this micro-festival be repeated? What is the context of its foundation?

TIM BRADY: This is a somewhat of an informal project. Yes, it took several months to put together, but it was a combination of Covid necessity (some cancelled shows earlier in the year) and a chance meeting with two young international guitarists – François Couvreur (Belgium) and Felipe Alarcon (Chili) – that brought this together.  It was a bit spontaneous and unexpected. But for only 2 concerts, in packs in an amazing range of artistic ideas and new work. 

Instruments of Happiness is working on several other big projects – a concert at Salle Bourgie, another 100 guitars event, a site-specific opera – so there will always be new music for guitar lovers to hear in Montreal.  But we don’t want to tie ourselves to a festival format every year.  Montreal has enough festivals!!

This micro festival will feature Belgian guitarist and composer François Couvreur, the Teotwawki quartet and Montreal composer Kevin O’Neil.  In this first concert, Couvreur will survey the European creation for solo electric guitar, performing works by Fausto Romitelli, Michel Fourgon and Jean-Yves Colman, complemented by a work by Canadian composer Andrew Noseworthy. 

PAN M 360 : Can we know more about this work and its composer/performer?

TIM BRADY: Andrew Noseworthy is originally from a small town in Labradour and he somehow ended up studying contemporary music and guitar in New York and London (ON). I’ve known him for 10 years, from his student days.  He is very funny and chill, but totally serious about creating great music with the electric guitar. He’s become the “go-to”, first-call chamber guitar player in Toronto in the past few years,  An artist who is going to have an impact.

PAN M 360:  What is the gear involved ?

TIM BRADY: We could talk about gear for hours, in fact, sometimes we do!  But our show uses very modest setups: overdrive distortion, volume pedal, harmonizer, delay, maybe an expression pedal, and then a slide and e-bow to expand the sonic palette.  In the Amy Brandon piece, we use violin bows, cheese graters, and dessert bowls! – but that’s a bit of an exception.

PAN M 360: How did you choose François Couvreur?

TIM BRADY: Chilean guitarist and composer Felipe Alarcon put us in touch, through ZOOM. François had some interesting ideas, and he has his own ensemble in Liège (Ensemble Hopper), and he is VERY into chamber music.  He wanted to present a range of European music – which is a great balance because we almost never do European music (nothing against it just hasn’t happened). Plus he plays solo for his set – which is a nice contrast to the two quartets on the rest of the festival.

PAN M 360: What can we know about Kevin O’Neil ?

TIM BRADY: Kevin O’neil is an emerging composer guitarist who has worked with us in the 100 guitars project several times.  He loves the electric guitar, and wants to explore drone and ambient music.  The electric guitar is PERFECT for that!  So he has been working with his own, new quartet to create his own sound.  A great idea.

PAN M 360: What are the distinctive features of its electric guitar quartet? 

TIM BRADY:  We use an amplifier as an INHERENT part of the sound – this changes everything. ANY sound can be loud, ANY sound can be soft. This gives us a dynamic range and a choice of timbres that is truly unequalled. A min-orchestra. And our electric wire means we are intimately connected to electronics.  Electronics are not just something we add later, it is what we do. Culturally, we come from the aural tradition – jazz, blues, rock – which has little or no connection with to chamber music or the classical tradition.  Personal expression is critical – we don’t want to hear “an electric guitar being played” – we want to hear It played by Charlie Christian, BB King, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, John McGlaughlin, or any of the amazing young players on Youtube. So it is a weird and wonderful dance trying to take this highly idiosyncratic North American solo instrument from an improvisational background and pass it through the “filter” of notated chamber music.  It leads to some totally unexpected and remarkable results – which you can hear May 9 and 10!

PAN M 360: Who are the performers?

TIM BRADY: In the May 10 concert, the quartet formed by myself, Jonathan Barriault, Simon Duchesne and Francis Brunet-Turcotte will perform works by François Couvreur and Chilean composer Felipe Alarcon, as well as five other pieces (commissioned works) that will explore the diversity of styles and visions of contemporary music creation for electric guitars, visiting electroacoustic, minimalism, musique actuelle, improvisation, chamber music and micro tonality.

PAN M 360: This quartet configuration has matured. What do you think of this band today?

TIM BRADY: IoH has been around for 8 years now, so we know how to work together.  We know our strengths and weaknesses, and how to make the most of our rehearsal time. We always try to give the listener the most passionate and expressive performance possible – full of musical details and surprises.  Also, we tell silly jokes, I complain again about being so old compared to the other three, we laugh, talk about pedals for a minute, and then get back to work.

PAN M 360 : Can you tell us more about each of the works in the program?

TIM BRADY: Among these pieces will be those of the three Canadian composers Corie Rose Soumah (QC/NYC), Ida Toninato (QC) and Amy Brandon (NS) exploring the beauty and fragility of the sound of the instrument with their creations. There will be those of François Couvreur (Belgium) and Felipe Alarcon (Chile) immersing us in chamber music with transparent and vibrant timbres. Finally, we will discover those of Jose Segura (Quebec) and Robert Davidson (Australia) offering very idiomatic and robust works, full of energy and rhythm.

PAN M 360: What do these works imply for the performers?

TIM BRADY : There is a lot of work making sure the composer’s ideas are really well imagined and laid out for the instrument.  We have to work closely with composers, as it is a slightly odd instrument – that amp, all those pedals! Plus – music schools still spend all their time teaching composers how to write for violin and clarinet…so there is usually a steep learning curve, and lots of collaboration.  The 4 guitarists take a very “hands on” approach – both literally and figuratively! 

The Planet Happiness event will also be the occasion to celebrate the release of a new CD for Instruments of “Happiness: Slow, Quiet Music in Search of Electric Happiness” (Redshift Records).  This project, which brings together four Canadian composers around the theme of slow, quiet music, was originally presented in February 2020 at Église le Gesù in Montreal. The CD includes works by Louise Campbell, Rose Bolton, Andrew Noseworthy and Andrew Staniland.

PAN M 360: Remind us about the February 2020 event.

TIM BRADY: The CD is the music from our last big pre-Covid concert – Feb. 15, 20120.  It was a surround sound event et Église Le Gesù.  The public was surround by the 4 guitars, and we played slow quiet music designed for the 7 second reverb time of the church. It was quite magical.

PAN M 360: Tell us about each work in the program and its creators.

TIM BRADY: Each composer has a different path into music: Louise Campbell is a clarinetist and music educator, Rose Bolton plays Irish Fiddle music and does electronics and film scores.  Andrew Noseworthy is an emerging guitarist from Labradour/Toronto and Andrew Stanliand is an ex-jazz guitarist turned composition professor.  Each piece on the CD has a different “vibe” but they all help us create an project with “slow quiet music in search of electric happiness.”

PAN M 360: How do you see the studio qualities of these works?

TIM BRADY:  I’ve worked with the same sound engineer for 33 years -we’ve tried every mic in every position.  We now have a good idea of how to get a rich, detailed and expressive sound out of the solo electric guitar, and the quartet. I’ve always been interested in recorded sound – it seems a very natural extension of the electric guitar.  If you’re going to bother recording a sound, might as well make it sound good.

PAN M 360: Instruments of Happiness are here looking for quietness and a certain slowness… And what more?

TIM BRADY : What else do you need?

TO ETTEND THE FIRST PROGRAM PF PLANÈTE BONHEUR (MONDAY), IT’S HERE

TO ATTEND THE 2ND PROGRAM OF PLANET HAPPINESS, IT’S HERE

Sid Le Rock, aka pan/tone, aka Sidney Sheldon Thompson is discreet in the media but his importance in the electronic scene is not to be proved anymore. He released albums in prestigious independent stables: Mute, Kompakt, Shitkatapult, or My Favorite Robot Record and collaborated with producers like DJ Koze or Gui Boratto. He delivers Invisible Nation, his eighth studio album, on his label Beachcoma. The ten tracks take the form of a tribute to his ancestral Algonquin heritage that he hybridizes with his electronic palette, directly inspired by the DIY scene of the 1990s and that he has been cultivating for twenty years.


PAN M 360: You were born in Toronto and have been living in Germany for almost two decades. Today you release an electronic album inspired by your Algonquin heritage. It seems like a long journey, what can you tell me about your journey as an artist?

Sid Le Rock: It’s been 20 years almost since I’ve come to Germany, but really it just started as a fluke, thanks to a Canadian government program that allowed us to come to Europe and experienced a cultural exchange. I won this award and I always wanted to go to Germany, so I ended up going to Cologne about all the places because I had work relationships there. From this moment I fell in love with the culture, with being somewhere different other than Canada, where you know as a big country, little villages and towns, where I come from, are very far apart from the next big city. Here in Germany, it was a big population and a whole new set of different values and cultural expressions that was very profound for me, so I decided to move to Cologne, make my mark here and make the most out of it and see what happens and then. I managed to make a struggling living as an artist, not so much as if I was like living in Canada, where it would have been harder, you know.

PAN M 360: Why do you think it was easier to make a living as an artist in Germany?

Sid Le Rock: The options were there, there are more clubs, and more festivals, so I had more benefits as a musician to be here in Europe, especially with the proximity to all the other countries. At this time, it was called the mass movement to Berlin, which was kind of still very underpopulated, a lot of musicians chose to go there because it was cheaper for us to live. Nowadays, I kind of get that full feeling of Berlin, I start feeling a bit of my age. It’s a bit of a Peter pan kind of lifestyle for many of us, we’re all in our 40s now but we’re all acting like we’re in our 20s. Then there’s a point in time when you’re just like okay, I need to settle down, and so I like to stay within my area of comfort and less going out to clubs and things like that, especially with the covid and everything so.

PAN M 360: You go less in the clubs however we have the impression that the DJ dimension of your career takes more and more importance. Has it always had the same place in your career?

Sid Le Rock: From the beginning of my career, I really was more focused on live performance, DJing came after. I wish it would have come sooner because I enjoy it quite a lot! I was known as a live guy and that was a great way to express myself in the music, like the recorded music that I would put out. It would allow me to express it differently from a live perspective.

PAN M 360: Could you tell us more about the concept of the album and its creation process?

Sid Le Rock: Originally the concept of the album was an award I was given by the German Government, like the cultural music Council of Germany. In the original concept of the award I was stating that I wanted to go to Canada, go to pow-wow, get in touch with a lot of the artists that are in that field and basically incorporate that style, you know that sound and more of a live take and use those recordings and add what I do. But because we were on lockdown we couldn’t travel and then there were just too many limitations. I had to basically do it to the best of my ability, imagine myself, repurposing the style of music. This album could have been something completely different and I’m happy with the result.

PAN M 360: I understand that you had more time to work on this album than on your precedent work, which makes me wonder, since Berlin is so busy all the time and so many things are happening at the same time, did you sometimes feel the pressure to release stuff out?

Sid Le Rock: It has changed since the beginning of my career, where, in the past, I would release an album, would tour on this album for a year or two, and you know as a live performer, I would play the same songs all the time, so it would make me a bit sick. That’s why I told you earlier I wish I would have discovered DJing sooner, it would have been nice to go back and forth. Not that I hated what I did, it’s just that people just see it in your face when you’re playing the same song over and over. Today it seems like everything is so much faster, so much promotion, it doesn’t really matter how good is the music, it’s how well you can promote it. Streaming services like Spotify, when they’re saying to be relevant today as an artist, you have to release every week or every two weeks, it doesn’t give artists time to breathe. It feels like your hands are tied or you have like a ticking clock always concerned about how people will forget about me. I’ve gone through that stage, but I think the older you get, the more comfortable you are with the fact that what is important is being happy that 10 years later, when you listen to your music again you can say I’m glad I did it the way I did.

PAN M 360: Since you are known as a live guy, do you ever think about going live with Invisible Nation?

Sid Le Rock: You mean like from the like performing side? Yeah, can you imagine a drum circle, that would be fantastic! It would have to be within North America because it’s a big production to travel around, but playing a couple of shows here and there would be a really nice thought to do. From the aspect of traveling around Europe, it would be pretty much a one-man show, as usual. The next step is to make the recorded music more live functional for a live performance.

PANM 360: Given the political and socio-economic situation of the First Nations in Canada, the title of your album sounds like a political statement. What are your thoughts?

Sid Le Rock: I totally know where that’s coming from, it really wasn’t the impression I want to make. Of course, it’s added to the fact that Native American aboriginals are always going to have that message behind it about the misrepresented and the social inequalities that they’re going through. So when you’re putting out a record it does come off as if it’s kind of a political view but really it was more in a perspective of paying my respects to my heritage to the sound, to the culture, and something that I was always fascinated by, from my growing up North in Ontario where it was very common to have a pow-wow and things like that.

Pan M 360: Yes, and about that heritage, you’re talking about I was wondering what was your relationship with music before you decided to become an artist?

Sid Le Rock: Music was always a big part of our family, from my dad playing the fiddle or the harmonica to my mom being a music teacher. I was too busy playing with the neighborhood kids so I actually didn’t take advantage of those skills at an early age, but later. I even remember my dad used to do these vinyl parties, where he would invite neighborhood kids and we would have these games at the party where, if you won this contest, you would get vinyl from his record crate. I’m just reflecting on it down and like wow, giveaway record collection to kids who had no turntables probably. During my early teens I was hanging out with friends in a small town there was not much to do, and so we were all influenced by hip hop and excited to do our own little thing. It all came together, where I felt that spark not just as a listener, but as someone who wants to be more involved in the process of making music.

PAN M 360: Finally this album, by joining your roots, seems like it’s closing a loop.

Sid Le Rock: It’s almost like a reflection, or like homesickness that I have for Canada. I try to get back to Canada once a year to visit them, but you see a major difference, you see more gray hair, more wrinkles and I think it’s an album that speaks a lot of value like a return to Canada in a way, you know so yeah eventually I’ll get back home, and then I guess that’s my calling card to say that, with this music I’ve released, this is a promise that we’ll be back home soon.

The multilingual, Congolese-born, Montreal-based, Pierre Kwenders has established himself as a modern contemporary and architect of African and afro-fusion music over the years, and with his latest album José Louis and the Paradox of Love—an undertaking that took four years to complete across multiple cities featuring collaborations with Win Butler, King Britt, Ngabo, Sônge, anaiis, and more—he pushes the sonic envelope even further. The album title sounds like a psychedelic art house film and spliced up next to Kwneder’s music videos, it kind of is.

Blending a diverse collection of love stories and abstract romantic metaphors, Kwenders has released his most personal album to date, naming it after his birth name José Louis. Kwenders moved from Kinshasa to Montreal back in 2001 and has been a staple in the scene ever since, joining the Afrika Intshiyetu choir, and eventually starting the Moonshine party series in Montreal—slowly turning it into a globe-trotting event.

We spoke with Pierre ahead of his May 6 show at the Phi Centre about the impetus behind José Louis and the Paradox of Love, his inspirations (most notably the Congo’s Papa Wemba), and his future plans.

PAN M 360: There’s a lot of romance on this new album. Are all these stories derived from truth or personal experiences? Is a song better if it actually happened?

Pierre Kwenders: Definitely, all the stories told here are derived from the truth and only truth. Whether it was a personal experience or not, some of them have definitely helped me learn more about myself and my surroundings. I think a song is better when it can speak directly to the soul. That does not always depend on if the story happened or not. 

PAN M 360: How did you decide who would collaborate with you on this album. You’ve got Win Butler, Shabazz Palaces, and King Britt?

Pierre Kwenders: Tendai Maraire produced (Big shoutout to him) my previous record and together we were able to create a sound. I wanted to take that further and blend into my DJ world. On “L.E.S. Liberté Égalité Sagacité,” Tendai approached King Britt to join in the jam and when we linked in Nola to work on some music, Win added his magic. I believe everything just happened organically. Music brings people together!

PAN M 360: Your stage name comes from your grandfather correct? And your real name is Jose Louis, so why release an album now in reference to your real name?

Pierre Kwenders: Pierre Kwenders was my grandfather’s name. There would not be a Pierre Kwenders without José Louis or vice versa. To me, this being my most personal album, it’s the José Louis story I am telling here. 

PAN M 360: You sing in five different languages, is one easier to sing and write in than another?

Pierre Kwenders: Lingala, la plus belle langue du monde! Everything sounds easy and dreamy in Lingala!

PAN M 360: You wrote this album in different cities in the world, do you think of a specific place you used for inspiration?

Pierre Kwenders: I like to always be out of my comfort zone. Being able to travel and record in so many cities, helps me channel my inspiration in different ways every time. There is no specific place really!

PAN M 360: The whole album is multiple genres and very layered, but “Papa Wemba” is really an amazing single-track. What is that one about? A reference to the Papa Wemba film?

Pierre Kwenders: It’s simply my homage to one of the greatest that ever lived. Papa Wemba was the King of Rumba. He has opened so many doors for Congolese artists and has inspired generations. I believe there’s a bit of him in what I do.


PAN M 360: Yes you’re kind of embodying the Papa Wemba style now that I think about it.

Pierre Kwenders: I’m a kid who sometimes wishes that he was born in Village Molokaï!!!! (Village Molokaï is the name of Papa Wemba’s headquarters in Kinshasa)

PAN M 360: And “Church” has a full choir in the track, the “Afrika Intshiyetu,” choir you were a part of many years ago? What was it like to collaborate with them again?

Pierre Kwenders: Afrika Intshiyetu is the choir where I started singing. It was always a dream of mine to have them on one of my records. Having them on Church was a dream come true. It’s a full-circle moment!

PAN M 360: How are the Moonshine parties holding up with the pandemic?

Pierre Kwenders: Great! We travelled the world and touched new cities such as Kinshasa, Brussels, London and Lisbon. It’s great to be a great summer – Our latest mixtape SMS for Location Vol.4 is nominated for a JUNO. We have Vol. 5 in the making right now. Zaire Space Program our documentary is in editing. Look out for Club Sagacité, a multidisciplinary artistic and community space that will be launching soon. Let’s just say, we haven’t been sleeping.

What do Hell, a Hollywood dog named Mooch, and post-punk/ no-wave madness all have in common? Give up? They are all subjects on Celebrity Death Slot Machine’s debut EP, Hell Stairs. This band is from Atlanta, but on the local Mothland label, and made up of former and current members of Rose Hotel, Neighbor Lady, Material Girls, and Mothers. From the concrete skies, and an isolating synthy wilderness emerges CDSM in all its glory. They have a sound for mayhem, up there with Bauhaus, Iceage, Viagra Boys, or The Birthday Party, made up of a rag-tag group of talented musicians who find pleasure in pushing sonic language as far as it will go.

CDSM’s Hell Stairs is dark and twisted, the perfect album to scare your family with and then subsequently burn down a disco too. The group is playing their first Montreal show on May 7 at Théâtre Plaza during the festival, Distortion’s, Theatre Takeover three-day series, featuring Deerhoof, Fleece, Paul Jacobs—replacing Spaceface due to COVID—and more. CDSM will open for the UK’s psychedelic post-punk duo, The KVB. We caught up with CDSM ahead of their show.

PAN M 360: How did CDSM start and how did you land on the name Celebrity Death Slot Machine

CDSM: CDSM started after a long summer spent crafting walls of unintelligible noise in a room full of synthesizers. These songs were pulled from that abyss and formed the identity of Celebrity Death Slot Machine. The name is an amalgamation of a handful of names we had going around but seeing as we write all the songs as a three-piece and Celebrity Deaths come in threes … we felt it was an apt name for the project.

PAN M 360: Were the songs on Hell Stairs derived from jams or did someone bring almost-finished songs first?

CDSM: The songs were all crafted by Ben, Tyler, and myself, and then our synth player and percussionist Jack Blauvelt produced and engineered the songs. Jack really brought everything to life. 

PAN M 360: How did the theme of Hell Stairs arrive? Is it someone’s loose journey into Hell?

CDSM: The name of the record and maybe the overarching theme of Hell Stairs is ascension. As the pandemic took our jobs and our last musical project imploded, there were moments that felt like the bottom. The only thing to do from there is pick yourself up and climb back out of the shit. Look back into the eyes of the haters and say “Fuck Off.” 

PAN M 360: The lyrics on Hell Stairs feel very stream of consciousness or are they actually meticulously crafted? (I get a huge Nick Cave/Bauhaus vibe)

CDSM: The lyrics were sometimes written from a stream of consciousness, but were crafted more as the songs took on a life of their own. We were very inspired by the classic movie Mooch Goes to Hollywood.

PAN M 360: You haven’t been a band for too long, yet you’ve opened for Iceage, and at the upcoming Distortion takeover series, The KVB. Are you just getting lucky, or do you know something most don’t?

CDSM: It is nice to be recognized by other talented and successful artists and we’ve already gotten to share stages with some extremely fine talent, but all of us have been writing and performing in other outfits together and adjacently for many years, so we can walk the walk at this point. Our live show and our recorded songs speak for themselves. We have worked very very hard for the cherished opportunities we’ve had and will have to play with talented artists.

PAN M 360: How do the songs translate to a live setting?

CDSM: You will have to see for yourself! We are working on the follow-up to Hell Stairs currently and hope to be teasing new songs from it on this tour and other dates this fall.

Shaina Hayes is a newer name in the folk-country music realm, but she has a sound that incorporates some of the best aspects of the genre in the last few decades. Her debut album, To Coax a Waltz, is a bit Dolly Parton, Julie Doiron, and Joni Mitchell. Her lyrics offer a new perspective on the wild world of love while using a quaint country backdrop as cathartic inspiration. We spoke with Shaina Hayes from her country home in Shigawake, QC, to learn about her musical upbringing, farming practices, and dividing her farm work from a burgeoning music career.

PAN M 360: Hey Shaina. Our readers don’t know too much about you. Could you tell us a bit about your musical history, background, and how you got into music?

Shaina Hayes: I grew up in a tiny town on the Gaspé coast, called Shigawake, where I didn’t really have access to any kind of formal musical training, but my family always loved music. It was rare that the guitars wouldn’t make an appearance around the dinner table when folks came over. It was actually my family (along with others in the community) that brought to life the first Shigawake Music Festival, an event that still takes place every August.  

I moved away from the region after highschool to study jazz voice at Vanier College in Montreal.  After that, I had spent a few years performing in various groups, but academia and the competitiveness of the music scene ultimately left me confused and insecure about how to proceed with my music career.  It was at that point that I turned away from music and towards farming.  I hoped that the detailed planning, manual labor, and straightforwardness of farming would be a gratifying new, non-creative venture. So in truth, leading up to the making of this album, I hadn’t been actively making music for nearly 7 years.  During that time, I had indeed fallen in love with farming, but also came to realize that my deepest drive to farm is in fact an artistic one: a life where you get to craft a bustling Eden that produces veggies of all shapes, colors and flavours is undeniably one of creativity. As my growing seasons wound down and I tucked in the farm for the winter, I slowly found myself drawn back to writing music, because I now recognize my desire and believe in my ability to be creating beautiful things all the time. So in short, it was my love for farming that brought me back to music and stimulated the creation of ‘to coax a waltz’.

PAN M 360: So the village of Shigawake inspiring for your music?

Shaina Hayes: Yes, definitely.  It is an incredibly beautiful place – think towering red cliffs overlooking the ocean, and rolling agricultural fields.  Even when I’m not drawing direct inspiration from it, I like to think that Shigawake holds the place as my primary reference for what I find beautiful.  And in that sense, it will forever inspire and inform my creative decisions.   

PAN M 360: Is there a central theme to To Coax A Waltz? I definitely got a sense of nostalgia throughout many of the tracks?

Shaina Hayes: The title to coax a waltz is taken from the song “Honey Friend.”  “Honey Friend” was the first track recorded on the album and is perhaps its gooiest love song.  The title is from the line, “My stern heart beating a dutiful cue is learning to coax a waltz from all that I do”.  The line is meant to allude to the way that romantic love can spread and make you want to fall in love with everything you do.  Writing these songs and creating this album was an exercise in learning to fall in love with every emotion, step and moment along the way – learning to “coax a waltz”.  This, for me, was the central theme of the album, but grief, feminism and indeed, nostalgia do make several appearances as well.

PAN M 360: It’s nice to hear Thanya Iyer on this album. Has she kind of been a collaborator with you for quite some time?

Shaina Hayes: Yes, Thanya Iyer is one of my dearest friends.  She and I have been making music together since we were 17, and continue to collaborate on each other’s projects. I owe much of my sound and confidence as an artist to her influence.  She is as talented as she is kind. 

PAN M 360: You’re also a full-time farmer and horticulturist (seasonal I suppose?) How do you balance that with transitioning into making music full-time?

Shaina Hayes: Yes, as I touched on before, I grow vegetables for my CSA basket program.  This means that during the winter I find myself with a fair amount of free time and energy to dedicate to my music.  I’ve managed to build my farm schedule to allow for the odd festival here and there, but I try to do the bulk of my writing, recording and performance work into the fall, winter and spring, when the farm work eases up.

PAN M 360: Who are some of your influences?

Shaina Hayes: Blake Mills, Big Thief, Julia Jacklin, Andy Shauf (and of course Dolly and Shania)

PAN M 360: Is the farm life also inspiring for your lyrics?

Shaina Hayes: Definitely.  Many of the tasks I undertake at the farm can be pretty repetitive and mindless (weeding, harvesting, etc.), so I tend to have a lot of time to let my mind wander while I’m working.  This is often when the first stirrings of songs come about.  The happenings on the farm also tend to offer lots of fodder for metaphors (à la “you’re a soft slipping mud in my hands” from my song “Mud.”

PAN M 360: Do you have to be depressed to write a sad song or happy to write a happy song? Is the song better if it really happened?

Shaina Hayes: I really don’t think so.  Being willing and able to articulate how you are feeling, whether happy or sad, is a crucial part of understanding yourself, and therefore essential for building a balanced and happy life. I think offering a perspective that resonates with or touches someone is the key to a good song, and I think that’s possible whether or not it really happened to you. 

PAN M 360: “King” kind of changes the mood of the whole album for me. It feels very upbeat as opposed to ethereal folk I guess? Was that your intention for that song?

Shaina Hayes: Yes. The album was produced by Francis Ledoux and David Marchand – two of the members of Montreal noise rock band zouz (with whom I also sing on occasion) . Zouz is one of my favorite bands ever, and while, King isn’t quite as noisy or rocky as zouz, I made it clear that this was the one track that I hoped would venture the closest.  It’s certainly different from the rest, but I really enjoyed making it and hope to perhaps explore farther in that direction with future music.

PAN M 360: What is your favourite song on the album and why?

Shaina Hayes: It changes pretty regularly.  Though, I think “Mud” has always been a front-runner.  I feel that is the truest to my style and shows off David Marchand’s genius musicality.  

Subscribe to our newsletter