Since her album debut in 2019 with Première apparition—which made the Polaris long list—the Kamouraska-Montreal-based artist, Laurence-Anne, has been expanding her musical horizon with every release. She’s dabbled in dream pop, shoegaze, Franophone indie, art rock, and now, with her upcoming album Oniromancie (out Sept. 15 via Bonsound) a bit of dark pop or darkwave.
Oniromancie concerns the thematic glue of dreaming, or the experience of visions and landscapes when asleep, a big inspiration for Laurence-Anne’s songwriting style. She will present some of these new songs during her performance at the Festival Musique Emergente (FME) in Rouyn-Noranda. But before that, we had the opportunity to discuss some of the inspirations behind the upcoming album, her love of experimentation, and some teasers of what to expect at FME.
PAN M 360: The upcoming album is called Oniromancie. Where did the idea to dive into this theme come from? Are you a huge dreamer?
Laurence-Anne: Dreams have always been a big source of inspiration for my songwritting, among other themes such as nature, space, and the body. I just felt that these new songs were going deeper into the subject. I do dream a lot, and I often see a hidden signification through them. Dreams are a door to your subconcious, it really amazes me the way I can see so clearly in them, showing me the causes of my anxieties, my desires, my ideals.
PAN M 360: Do you write down your dreams or hear music in them that you make for your songs?
Laurence-Anne: None of both. It’s more about the feeling that comes from them. I can remember the vibe and the landscapes of a dream for days. It’s there in my mind when it comes to writing music.
PAN M 360:The song “Flores,” where did the Spanish vocals come from? Do you usually write in French or Spanish?
Laurence-Anne: Spanish feels so lyrical to me, with a whole new level of sensuality to it. Singing in another language is like discovering new tones in my vocal instrument. It feels different. “Flores” is my seocnd spanish song, after “Pajaros.” It helps to be able to switch languages when you are stuck on a melody. For both songs, I had previously tried everything in French, but it wasn’t a fit. Spanish was the solution. I’ll probably write more.
PAN M 360:I know you practice automatic writing when writing lyrics sometimes, can you tell me about that process and how it works?
Laurence-Anne: It all happens when you play this new riff in a loop and then you go on trying to find the perfect melody to it. So I start humming, and then sometimes a few words pop. I go on looping it again and the lyrics appear without having to think about it too much, just as you would do some free style in hip-hop. Afterwards, I understand what I just wrote and it makes so much sense. I somehow feel that this content comes from the same connection to your subconcious that you have when you are dreaming.
PAN M 360:Based on the first three singles, it seems you’re going for a darker take on dream pop, maybe even a bit darkwave. Was this an organic shift for you?
Laurence-Anne: From my experience so far with composing albums, I would say that every begining brings you somewhere different. In mean, in my case, I feel like each album is really different from the other, crossing some similar paths, but going in a complete other direction. My approach to music has always been about experimentation. I started playing guitar to compose, I don’t know anything theorical or technical. In the last years, I dived into the synth universe, and it’s infinite. Exploring multiple genres does feel organic to me, because it’s about discovering new things.
PAN M 360:Did you have a completed musical vision when working on the music, or was there some jamming with the other musicians?
Laurence-Anne: The process behind this album is different from what I have done before. There was no big jam. I started alone, producing demos remotely. Then when I had all the songs, I went to my fellow musician friend François Zaidan. We’ve worked on this project as a team for about two years, which is the longest process for me so far. François helped me build this musical vision I had for Oniromancie. We would see each other almost every week, working bit by bit on finding the coolest tones, the perfect synths and bass lines, while keeping the essence and many tracks from the demos. When it felt ready, we went to the Wild Studio at Saint-Zénon with Pete Petelle (drums), David Marchand (guitar/bass), Ariel Comtois (Saxophone) and Rami Reno (Sound engineer) to complete the whole picture.
PAN M 360: What is the live show like with this new album and what can we expect at FME? Some lights, crazy costumes?
Laurence-Anne: The thing is that the album launch is at the end of the month, (on Sept. 28th at La Sala Rossa for POP Montreal) and I don’t want to reveal everything at the FME, and want to keep some surprises for the big day. I see the FME as the occasion to present to new songs for the first time, since the album won’t be out yet, without too much crazy stuff, so you can really focus on the music, even close your eyes, to feel it deeper.
PAN M 360: What is your relationship with the FME? I know you’ve played a few times and are playing a few more times with your project and La Securite?
Laurence-Anne: I’ve been attending the festival for a few years now, it’s always fun. There’s a special vibe at every concert and you always leave Rouyn-Noranda with good stories and anectodes. For some reason, it gets wilder than any other festival. Maybe cause it’s so far away, you got to make a great moment of it, to be worth the hours of drive.
PAN M 360:Do you feel pressure for this album to be “better” or more successful than the last two?
Laurence-Anne: Not really. I would say that the notion of success is getter more blurred in the last years, because of the social medias, the pressure is a more about the exposure. Anyways, success for me is to be proud of what I did in the end. Which I am!
Since 1994 (almost 30 years now!) Montreal’s Innovations en concert has provided a wide range of opportunities for music-lovers to discover some of the best new music available. It has given Montrealers and people from elsewhere visiting a particularly wide range of modern sounds to appreciate, ranging from the most experimental to some staples of Minimalist culture such as Gavin Bryars’ Titanic Sinking or Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet.
The organization was founded by guitarist and composer Tim Brady, who directed for 10 years, followed by Michel Frigon as director from 2004 to 2010. Cassandra Miller and Isak Goldschneider directed their first season in 2011, with Isak Goldschneider taking over the position of Artistic and General Director in 2014. Since 1994, more than 300 concerts have been presented in 27 artistic seasons.
This is a remarkable institution, maybe not as well-known in the general public as SMCQ, for example, but deserving to be put in the spotlight, especially Isak Goldschneider, whom I have met to talk about next season, a bit about himself and other things.
Here it is.
Pan M 360 : There are some well-known figures in Montreal representing contemporary music, like Walter Boudreau or Lorraine Vaillancourt. The name Isak Goldschneider should be there also, for what you are doing with Innovations en concert is really important and constructive. Tell us about yourself and what brought you to be that organisation’s director?
Isak Goldschneider :
I’m originally from the United States, but I lived in Amsterdam for about 16 years. That is where I met my partner trumpeter Amy Horvey, she’s Canadian. Then we moved back to Canada, and settled in Montreal, in 2007. At the time I was working on a completely underground level, doing experimental concerts, commercial gigs, busking in the metro, all these kinds of things. I also worked for a music program for a synagogue, Shaar Hashomayim. They have a wonderful program. We later did the background vocals for Leonard Cohen’s, last album.
Then, you know, I started working with composer Cassandra Miller. We co-directed Innovations for a year, taking over Michel Frigon, but then she moved to the UK, where she became very successful as a composer. I took over her job as Director of Innovations en concert. It was a wonderful opportunity, because I got to be in Montreal at a point where things were changing in a very exciting way. Lots of new voices in contemporary music, a lot of representation of artists who hadn’t really had access to the stage until this period around, you know, 2008 2010.
I had the opportunity to do magnificent things with organisations like Suoni per il popolo, SMCQ, and so on. And we explored new possibilities in contemporary art music by stimulating collaborations between American experimental hip hop artist cum poet cum writer cum etc. Saul Williams, and Montreal’s Kaie Kellough, with saxophonist Jason Sharp. That was amazing and very innovative. That is just one example. There are so many opportunities. I think Montreal is just an absolutely amazing city on an artistic front. Already, when I first came to Montreal in 2007, there were New York Times articles about how Montreal was this secret mecca for music. And it’s remained just as interesting! We did a lot of exciting stuff but I’m thinking next season, it’s going to be even more exciting.
Pan M 360 : Ok, let’s talk about next season!
Isak Goldschneider : Right ! It’s gonna be a wild ride. For Opening concert, I’ll be playing Morton Feldman’s mammoth piano work Triadic Memories. It’s a 90-minute piano work, and Feldman called it “the biggest butterfly in captivity”. It combines deep contemplation and rhythmic grace, and it’s a listening experience on an epic scale. That will be at Centre de musique canadienne au Québec on Crescent street, on September 12. They’ve got a really beautiful little concert space that’s getting launched at the same time.
Then, we will have Peruvian-Canadian and Montreal composer Mirko Sablich’s newest work Uno, a dialogue between mathematics and music, on November 7. Then on March 13, 2024: we will have an exciting new collaboration between Afghan-Canadian writer/actor Shaista Latif from Ontario and Montreal’s Egyptian-Canadian well-known composer Osama (Sam) Shalabi that will explore the history of Afghanistan’s cinema and culture in a very original way. It will be followed by an out-of-this-world Montreal premiere of Vincent Ho’s Juno Award-nominated Supervillain Etudes, by pianists Vicky Chow and Megumi Masaki. The concept is amazing : take six famous villains from comic book culture, make a psychological profile of each of them, and compose music that would describe these profiles! So, we’ll have on a metaphorical musical ‘’couch’’ The Riddler, 2-Face, Penguin, Catwoman, Poison Ivy and the Joker. The concert will also be mediated by Quebec science journalist Michel Rochon. It will be a complete artistic/scientific/sociologic experience! That will be on April 27.
Finally, we’re going to close the season on May 28 2023 with the premiere of a brand new work by Nicole Lizée, with Amy (Horvey) as soloist. Nicole and Amy are both from Saskatchewan, originally, one from anglo community, the other from francophone minority there. Saskbient is the title, and it promises to plunge the listeners in a kind of ambient Ode to Saskatchewan, a sonic experience of what it means to these artists.
My dream has always been to facilitate a new kind of music that really transcends these high art and low art categories, and I hope I reach that goal with those projects.
Creation of a concert work by Nicole Lizée in 2022 :
Pan M 360 : This sounds very exciting! You mentioned earlier how Montreal is a good place for arts, and contemporary avant-garde music in particular, whether from the classical, improv-jazz or chamber rock perspective. Can you elaborate why?
Isak Goldschneider : Montreal has first been a divided city, between French en English, and then immigration, lots of it, has made it one of the most cosmopolitan cities on the continent, maybe in the world. For some that could be a source of problems, or social issues. But, especially now in 2023, Montreal has succeeded in making it an extraordinary positive and stimulating aspect of its personality. I don’t know if there’s another city in North America where you’ll find it’s also possible to live as an artist and build practice. And the amazing diversity of practices here (ancient music, pop, rock, avant-garde, improv, world) have led to situations where it’s not really clear what’s high art and what’s low art. This is one of the most creative areas of contemporary art right now in the world, that mix of high and low, ancient and experimental. And Montreal is ‘’genetically’’ just right for this!
I don’t know if there’s other cities in North America that have this kind of diversity of approach, you know, groups that are blurring the lines between contemporary music and so called World Music, for example (that is what Sam Shalabi does). And then, of course, there’s the entire theater and dance scene, circus, all kinds of things. It’s amazing considering Montreal is not as big as, say, LA, Chicago or New York.
Pan M 360 : Is that what you want to base the personality of Innovations en concert on? I mean compared to other important organisations ike the SMCQ (Société de musique contemporaine du Québec) or the NEM (Nouvel Ensemble Moderne) ?
Isak Goldschneider : I don’t want to do that kind of comparison. I mean, we do our stuff and they do theirs. Sometimes we cross paths, and this is good also! I cannot overestimate, for example, the importance of what the NEM does. Contemporary music isn’t always about what’s new. There’s been a century of the kind of discourse of the classical avant garde, and it’s very important that some ensembles address historical models of ‘’experimental’’ and ‘’innovative’’ endeavours. When you look at the riches of what was produced in European art music from the 1960s 1970s, works like Berio’s Sinfonia, works that are not played by North American orchestras, when you think about that, you know we absolutely need guys like the NEM. What we do at Innovations en concert is different but, I think, complementary. And that complementarity is good, and essential.
Pan M 360 : Are you optimistic about the future of avant-garde music in general?
Isak Goldschneider : I’m very optimistic about the creativity that’s here in Montreal and the potential for it to incubate. I hope that the powers that be in our environment will create conditions that foster and sustain this kind of bubbling creativity, because it’s really those basic things that make it possible. For example, the fact that Montreal has been a more affordable place for artists to live has been really, really important and I think we shouldn’t understate the importance of material conditions in creating fantastic art. I’m hoping that kind of support will continue to be there and maintain Montreal on the map as an important hub for culture worldwide.
Pan M 360 : Thank you so much Isak, for being a part of this bubbling of creativity in our city. We hope the message will be heard, because there are certainly issues right now about affordability. Have a wonderful 2023-2024 season, it sounds exciting. I will be there, and our readers as well, I hope! Especially if they fancy creativity, originality and purpose in arts.
Isak Goldschneider : Thank you for this opportunity, it means a lot.
Hailing from Berlin, Cinthie is a prominent figure in the house music scene. Her story is striking demonstration of her passion for music and her dedication to the craft. While she is a local favorite, having played at venues like Panorama Bar or Robert Johnson, Cinthie is no stranger to the international stage. As she graced the MUTEK festival twice (one live during Metropolis 2 and one DJ set at Experience 6), we sat down with her to discuss her musical journey, her approach to curation and her exciting venture into live performances.
Crédits photo : Nina Gibelin Souchon
PAN M 360: What can you tell us about the relationship you have with house music and electronic music in general?
Cinthie: I have a long history with house music or electronic music in general. I think I was into all kinds of music until I was 14 and then I got a tape from my cousin from a DJ who’s name was Sven (Väth). It totally blew my mind cause he played stuff I never heard before. I was obviously more into pop music or well at least that’s what the radio told me I was into. But honestly I didn’t even like it that much, it was too cheesy, too generic and too annoying for me. After receiving that tape from my cousin, I dug deeper into electronic music and discovered all kinds of stuff but US house music resonated the most with me. That must have been around 1995 when I just turned 15 and when it was the heydays of house music. One year later I got a job at a record store called Humpty Records and the rest is history.
PAN M 360 : And you became a DJ…
Cinthie: I just loved music and I collected the tracks I liked most and recorded tapes for my friend, not mixed though cause that was so far away from me. But when I worked in the record store and met other like minded people from the scene, I discovered the fun of blending two records together and it quickly turned into a fascinating hobby and passion. But I never ever planned to be a DJ. That all came naturally to me as well as the producing which I started around 1999 after I played in clubs for a few years and thought: “huh, would it be great if I had a record that goes like this or that”. Because this record did not exist yet, I tried to make it myself.
PAN M 360: What are the hot spots to listen to house music in Germany, where you come from?
Cinthie: We have a lot of good house music spots in Germany. The most famous is probably Panorama Bar, the upstairs floor of well known club Berghain. In Berlin I also love Heideglühen. That club is a vibe. Unfortunately I’m mostly out of town, so I haven’t been for ages. Other than that I can recommend Offenbach’s Robert Johnson, Darmstadt Galerie Kurzweil or Munich’s Blitz Club.
PAN M 360: You opened a record store a few years back in Berlin, what decided you to take this path?
Cinthie: Like everything in my life, it just came to me naturally. I worked in a record store in the 1990’s but never ever planned to open one myself. I just had the idea to combine forces with other friend’s labels when I had my Best Modus label. I wanted to create a big platform where we all support each other. When I looked for a storage room, I got offered to now well known rooms of Elevate.
PAN M 360: How do you envision the work of curation in the context of a record store?
Cinthie: Curating the store is easy. I simply order more of the records I also order for myself. That’s why it’s also called “Elevate Berlin – Selected Records“. It means we don’t have everything in and it’s very pre-selected. I always loved the personal taste of a record store owner when I bought records in other stores. Getting a good recommendation of a secret weapon is class.
PAN M 360: How is curation in the context of DJing different (or not)?
Cinthie: It’s pretty much the same as I would order records for the store. Everything that moves my hips goes straight into my bag.
PAN M 360: How big of a digger and collector are you? Which pieces from your records collections are the ones you cherish the most?
Cinthie: On a scale from 1 to 10, I would say I’m an 8. I love digging but I’m not desperate about it. For example, I don’t have lists of items I wanna get, but I love discovering record stores when I’m traveling and usually try to pay them a visit. It is always great to find new treasures. My most loved records are the ones I bought back in the 1990’s. Some good old Dance Mania, Nu Groove, Downtown to name a few.
PAN M 360: We know you well as a DJ and as a producer. You are now experimenting with live, was it a natural route to follow for you and how do you feel about taking this leap?
Cinthie: Yes, as I said before, everything came absolutely natural to me. Playing live is just like bringing my studio on tour with me. I’m there almost every day, jamming and making new tracks. I thought why not doing it live? To be honest, the first three shows were mostly about getting the sound right and getting familiar with the new situation in general but I love the journey so far ! From starting it a bit basic and more on the save side, I am now more confident and I am always trying to add more gear to be able to edit and tweak sounds more and make it more “live” and interesting. It’s still a long way to go but the journey is fun.
PAN M 360: Can you remember live music shows or artists that profoundly touched you as a listener? And maybe inspired you for the creation of your live?
Cinthie: Yes absolutely. I am a big fan of Octave One, Aux 88, Cosmic Baby, 3. Raum, Kink, Leo Pol, Orbital… there were so many. Everyone has his own approach of doing a live show but it is so interesting to see how they convert their studio work to the stage.
PAN M 360: For the ones who won’t be able to attend your live, can you describe how you approach it ?
Cinthie : It is a mixture of everything. Some new material, some remixes I recently did, some old classics. I’m adding more and more gear to the live and for MUTEK I bring a little bass synth to be able to tweak the bass sounds a bit more. A drum machine was my latest addition. Unfortunately I have to travel light in planes so I can’t bring too much. I think my next addition will be a midi keyboard. I’m taking piano lessons since the beginning of the year and I guess it would be nice to play a few “riffs” live.
Tiana McLaughlan has been immersed in Montreal’s musical ecosystem for several years now, and her Honeydrip project was selected for a dub/dancehall/jungle/drum’n’bass-influenced evening presented Saturday at the SAT as part of the Nocturne series. And since a Honeydrip album is due in October, PAN M 360 caught up with Tiana (for a second time since her emergence) to talk about her live set and the forthcoming recording, Psychotropical.
PAN M 360: How long has the Honeydrip project been in existence?
Tiana McLaughlan: About 8 years. It was originally my aka as a radio host at Concordia University. My show was called Waves of Honey, hence the Honeydrip moniker.
PAN M 360: What were your musical tastes then?
Tiana McLaughlan: I’ve always loved music. In high school, I listened to a lot of psychedelic rock – Warpaint, Tame Impala and so on. At university, I also listened to a lot of ’90s lo-fi hip-hop and chill electronic music, so I wanted to get myself an SP-404 sampler. I then thought that choosing this kind of music would be a wiser choice for making electronic music. And it was in this direction that I made my radio show.
PAN M 360: And then you became a producer. Obviously, it wasn’t a plan, but what were the steps?
Tiana McLaughlan: Before I became a producer, I used to DJ all kinds of music. I was very eclectic then, and I still consider myself so today. So that perspective remained: mixing and linking genres in a context of electroacoustic studies. Right from the start, I had a chill, ethereal music side in me, and that always stayed with me when I started producing. I’ve also always worked with percussion, and I love rhythmic sequences. Having danced as a teenager, I designed my music around movement and dance.
PAN M 360: You have Caribbean origins, hasn’t that also influenced your work?
Tiana McLaughlan: Yes, my father is from Barbados, so it’s somewhere in the sound of my work.
PAN M 360: That justifies the invitations you make in some of your sets, notably the one at MUTEK with King Shadrock, which also delves into dub and dancehall.
Tiana McLaughlan: Yes, this music is at the origin of so much of today’s electronic music. So King Shadrock, whom I knew when I worked at Blizzarts (now Barbossa), can sing dub and dancehall very well. While my beats and electronic music can also navigate dub and dancehall, but also other genres. It’s hard to put a label on it all!
PAN M 360: We don’t have to!
Tiana McLaughlan: Exactly. To create new sounds and push back musical boundaries, we don’t have to aim for just one style.
PAN M 360: The show is just as important to you.
Tiana McLaughlan: Yes of course, movement and stage clothing are linked to images and music. With visual artist Emma Forgues, we made sure that sound and projected images were connected in real time.
PAN M 360: A permanent trio could emerge from this experiment!
Tiana McLaughlan: I hope so! I like the idea of not being alone in this project, and I’ve got some good allies right now. It’s heartwarming, and I hope to tour the world with a team.
PAN M 360: All this work is also leading up to a new recording scheduled for October. How did that go?
Tiana McLaughlan: We go into the studio, have a chat, record the vocals, mostly freestyle, after which I create an arrangement and come back with the singers to finalize the whole thing. In fact, we’ve been rehearsing several songs for some time now, in order to finish the album.
PAN M 360: Like you, more and more artists on the electronic scene are educated in electroacoustics. What do you learn from your upbringing?
Tiana McLaughlan: I really benefited from the program at Concordia. Not only for the training, but also for the contact with other student producers and access to electroacoustic equipment.
Torino composer and sound designer Sara Berts is using Buchla synthesizer to complement and process field recordings done in the natural landscape. After having studied sound engineering at SAE Institute in Milan, she has been involved in multiple artistic projects, organizations and festivals, Club2Club Festival, Primavera Sound and Elementi to name a few. Sara Berts combines field recordings and synthesis, looking for a sonic in-between space between naturally generated sounds and the famous Buchla semi-modular synthesizer.
PAN M 360 : Is it your first time at MUTEK?
Sara Berts : Yes, it’s my first time at MUTEK and my second in Montreal – I just came as a tourist to visit to visit friends.
PAN M 360 : Your creative process is quite interesting. It starts from electroacoustic studies and it leads to field recordings. Can you explain?
Sara Berts : My creative process is strongly influenced by nature. I spent time in isolation in nature, somehow it’s a practice to me, similar to meditation or yoga. This happened the first time when I was in Peru, in the Amazonian rainforest. And that experience led to the composition of my first EP, which was released in 2021, which is composition of field recordings coming from the Amazon and Buchla semi-modular synthesizer, which is the main instrument I use.
And the second EP, that was released last September 2022, was also influenced by a long period spent in isolation in the surrounding forest, next to my house in Torino, in northern Italy. It happened because it was during the pandemic when the city lost all its attractive power (no concerts, no theater, no cinema, no restaurants. So I spent a lot of time in the woods near my house in Torino. And every time that I spent time in, in nature, it’s like, the quality of my presence gets better. And I feel like plants, insects and birds are somehow inviting me to join in with my music. So it’s a kind of an invitation coming from the sound of nature but not only from the sound also from the animals but also the movements of the animals and vegetation. I love to transpose this into sound.
PAN M 360 : There are a few electronic producers or electroacoustic composers that are recording sounds in the nature. So do you feel being part of a community?
Sara Berts : Of course, there is a community of creative people embracing this same inspiration. So many musicians believe in that beauty and in its musicality. For example I heard this Korean artist called Kohui. So yes, there is definitely a huge movement for recording the natural soundscape.
PAN M 360 : Can you tell us why you use Buchla synthesizer?
Sara Berts : It’s a unique synthesizer and quite iconic because was designed by this physician Don Buchla who was the master of the West Coast sound synthesis. It’s a very unpredictable instrument, it has a range of random voltages. Somehow you need to spend time with the instrument and connect with it, I feel sometimes that it has its own will! So during the pandemic, I spent a lot of time on this instrument, it helped me very much coping the stress of isolation.
PAN M 360 : And what do you craft with your field recordings? What is the process after finding sounds in nature? How do you filter those sounds?
Sara Berts : I don’t really edit those sounds. I don’t filter very much those field recordings, I just equalize them, so I can take away the frequencies that are problematic or not aesthetically interesting. But mostly I leave the field recordings as they are. So I don’t modify it so much.
PAN M 360 : Those sounds are quotes from nature in a way.
Sara Berts : Yeah. When I hear a natural soundscape, I can already feel the musicality in the sound. Then I come back home, I start to listen to the field recordings, and I start to equalize it. Somehow it is an invitation from the soundscape and also after another invitation from the Buchla synthesizer. It’s like having a jam session with a natural soundscape !
PAN M 360 : And what do you add yourself with the synthesizer ?
Sara Berts : I can add the layers from the Buchla synth, I also can mix and play with with the volume or the field recordings. Sometimes it’s louder, sometimes the synth becomes the main character or the main voice. So it’s more of a mixing process than an editing process.
PAN M 360 : And then when you perform this music, is your live set a sort of reproduction of what you’ve recorded?
Sara Berts : There are some clips that I will launch with Ableton Live, and then I will play live some layers from the Buchla synth on those field recordings.
PAN M 360 : So what is the next soundscape you’re going to explore?
Sara Berts : For the next project, for sure there will be some natural elements in the next record, which I am working on right now. But I will experiment and this time I find it very interesting to work with voice and with my singing. I started to explore singing one year ago, this will be a new element that wasn’t present before in the previous EPS. And I will also be experimenting with some rhythmics. So it won’t be just melodic and downtempo, I will also have some drums and more rhythmic tracks.
PAN M 360 : Will you use human voice and new beats in the Montreal concert ?
Sara Berts : No, I will perform my previous projects.
PAN M 360 : And then you will come back with the now material !
Rosina, a drag show blended with a high level electronic music beatmaking, was born out of our apocalyptic world, and looking for joy and kindness. « Rosina is about releasing our spirits into the universe and connecting to the divine » says the bio profile. The 3 members of Rosina are also seeking natural landscapes, through technology, « honoring the living and non living, human and non-human ancestors, and yet born out of the city. »
This is a collaboration between producer Murr, drag performer and multi-disciplinary artist Franny Galore-Wngz, and producer, vocalist, shit disturber, and poet Rosina. Basic Income is the first album from this collective emerging from marginalized communities.
« ROSINA is a celebration, where part drag and performance art meets dance music hype show. It’s sensuous, fun, ridiculous, tricksterish, punk and addresses important issues their communities face! »
That’s exactly why PAN M 360 wanted to meet those guys before their first MUTEK performance.
PAN M 360 : Rosina, you have a british accent.
Rosina : Yes. We pretend to be British because we figured Montreal doesn’t like Torontonians. So we might change our accent.
PAN M & Rosina : Hahaha !
PAN M 360 : What is your approach together?
Rosina : It’s kind of like performance art and we make fun of everything!
PAN M 360 : Is it a new setup for you?
Rosina : Yes. We performed it in Toronto, in small venues and small festivals. The album came out three years ago but we didn’t tell anybody. So who cares anymore?
PAN M 360 : Yes indeed. So many excellent productions happen all the time now, so it’s quite impossible to identify all of them.
Rosina : Exactly. We’re just we’re just taking our time. We’re launching an album, and then we have a website and a video coming out.
PAN M 360 : Did you guys met in Toronto?
Franny Galore-Wngz : Yeah, we’ve known each other for quite some time now. Rose was my mentor. She was my mentor years ago, when I was doing musical theater. But then during the pandemic is when we actually needed to find a way to cope. So we all kind of started just hanging around each other. And then the project was born.
Rosina : Yeah, we live in a warehouse in Toronto, Unit 2, and so during COVID We were lucky enough to be outside. It’s a great space but it’s disappearing because that whole area is being gentrified. But we’re still there. So, we still manage to have fun and we don’t get any sound complaints. So we’ve been there for a long time.
PAN M 360 : Please explain this setup.
Rosina : So it’s a trio, Murr is an electronic music producer. He started off in hip hop. He runs everything live and then the two of us, it’s a sort of drag performance. I start off in a particular way. We’re very masculine and friendly, we start off like that and, as the show progresses, we switch genres. And then we just talk a lot shit and dance haha!
PAN M 360 : And your music is a blend of many styles. There’s hip hop, there’s house, there’s dub to name a few. What else?
Rosina : There’s a little bit techno. Live, it gets a little bit harder. But then we also use lots of international rhythms like Brazilian.
Franny Galore-Wngz : Yeah there’s like a lot of Latin inspiration in some of the songs you know, but like, it’s a beautiful thing coming from such diverse backgrounds were able to implement those stories and the album, which I feel like people have been experiencing. But yeah, I feel like that’s the big blend of like, it’s just a blend of all of us.
PAN M 360 : Can we be more specific about the production?
Rosina : So the production side was mainly Nick. But then I also arranged and I used Ableton, and I did my vocals. We were very lucky on this record to have access to House of Balloons studio in Toronto, which is handled by Doc McKinney, who did a lot for The Weeknd stuff. So he’s like family to us. And so during the pandemic, we spent three months just writing this with Nick, exchanging tracks, going back and forth. So Nick (Murr) would send me beats, and I would change things. And then I would do vocals, and we just did it very organically. And that’s kind of how we work and then live, Nick just runs the beats and we run around and dance.
Franny Galore-Wngz: It’s a very random show, a really random project too but there’s also a lot of information about life. Because everything in life right now is so random and so chaotic. And we’re trying to take a little bit of that and turn it into joy.
Rosina : And we are quite critical, the album is called Basic Income. So we are critical, I come myself from the activist scene in Toronto, and sometimes I feel we take ourselves too seriously. So we’re trying to also have fun because activism can be too over the head. So we just wanted to do some work with more fun. It is a way for us to survive spiritually.
PAN M 360 : Are you exporting your album and show?
Rosina : Yes, for example, one of our record labels is based in East Havana in Cuba. So we just want to make music to travel to places and meet people that we really want to meet. We’re not so concerned about fame and money, but about travel, relationships, discoveries. And see the natural world before it’s gone because we’re killing it. And do shows in the forest or by the beach. We would be so happy to do this.
PAN M 360 : So art is for you a way to escape.
Rosina : Yes. So we just try to create our own world. We don’t have time to dismantle the one we have, but I can make a new one. And we’re trying to also develop a community of queer and trans and, and more folks of color, brown and black people and other friendships. So we reach all kinds of people but with an emphasis to support marginalized communities. You know I don’t think we’re marginalized, but they keep telling us we are. So we’re trying to create that world and pull up our communities together, so we all can survive.
Atamone is an experienced Montréal-born Inuk music producer, multi-instrumentalist and multimedia artist involved in 3D animation, sound design and interactive media. He’s been crafting breezy, uplifting beats, incorporating elements of jazz, soul, hip hop, house and techno. His gear includes analog instruments and digital technologies but also instrumental music. He released music on labels Tour De Manege and Inner Ocean Records.
PAN M 360: After listening to your music, we observe that you are interested in boom-bap, instrumental hip-hop, jazz hip hop and other electronic influences.
Atamone: Yeah you can say that..And I’m also dabbling a little bit into house. More precisely, what I do is an exploration of underground culture and hip hop and dance music. Much of my influence comes from exploring different aspects of the underground culture as well as visual arts. When I was younger, I was really interested in graffiti street art, but I’ve fallen out of it. I mean, it’s still part of my background of course.
PAN M 360: So you were diving in the whole hip hop culture.
Atamone: Yeah. And collecting records as well, I’m also a jazz fan, it’s part of my identity.
PAN M 360: Do you create your own images for your live sets or DJ sets ?
Atamone: It could happen but I’m not performing a visual set this year.
PAN M 360: Is your live set performed with a VJ ?
Atamone: No It’s not. I’m not working with a VJ this year. I’m not sure if this stage where I play is set up for that.
PAN M 360: Okay, so it’s mainly music. That’s it?
Atamone: Yeah, it’s gonna be a live music performance with my gear.
PAN M 360: And then what is your gear?
Atamone: I’m using a hybrid between software and hardware, mainly using Ableton and my SP404 sampler drum machine.
PAN M 360: This your music fits very well with a live band too. We can also imagine instruments performing your music. So it would be possible.
Atamone: Yes, I’ve worked with bands before. And this time I will be accompanied by a bass player as well – his name is Jesse Manzini. Through my recordings, I can add instruments, guitar, bass, percussion. It’s driven humanistically and I also like to include it live.
Atamone: So will you perform on a digital pad at Mutek ?
Atamone: Yeah, exactly. I tap the pads to drums and pre-recorded rhythms. So it always gives a different result. It’s about interacting with the machine
PAN M 360: Your bio profile says that you were born and raised in Montreal and that you also have an Inuk background. Can you explain your family path ?
Atamone: For the most part of my life I lived in Montreal. But I also lived partly in Nunavut, in the Yellowknife area. But my community is actually from Northern Quebec, in Kuujjuaq.
PAN M 360: Maybe it’s not relevant but do you relate to your indigenous roots in your music craft ? Would it be important for you ?
Atamone: I mean, it’s not something I really thought about.
PAN M 360: It’s definitely not an obligation. Any human being can do artistically whatever he wants. An international artist doesn’t have to quote his traditional music in his original compositions.
Atamone: Yeah, exactly. I’m not I’m not bound to any style or tradition.
PAN M 360: Of course, we don’t expect you to bring some traditional songs into your electronic hip-hop. Where the artist comes from doesn’t mean what he does now.
Atamone: Yeah, exactly. What I do is mostly coming from an isolated place and struggling with finding other musicians to play with. So that’s how I got into composing with drum machines and samplers and software.
PAN M 360: You are among those producers that lead us to think that jazz hip hop is definitely back.You must enjoy the 90’s hip hop, from the late J Dilla to A Tribe Called Quest, Diggable Planets, Pharcyde and Jurassic Five.
Atamone: Yeah, absolutely. J Dilla is one of my biggest influences for sure. And I’ve been very fortunate to collaborate with my good friend Illa J, who is J Dilla brother.
PAN M 360: Wow ! So you’ve worked with him?
Atamone: Yeah I was fortunate to connect with him when he was living briefly in Montreal. Before he went back to Detroit, and now he’s in Las Vegas. But yeah, we’re still working together. I just recorded some instruments on his latest record.
PAN M 360: So you’re a producer and a multi instrumentalist aren’t you ?
Atamone: Yeah. What I do is pretty broad, it ranges from live beat making to DJing to multi instrumentalism to even doing acoustic performances. I’ve done some acoustic performances, accompanying singers as well. And even as far as ambient music, so like, musically, my musical interests are pretty wide. I’m pretty adaptable to the situation.
PAN M : When did you start to perform professionally ?
Atamone: I started my Atamone project in 2011, actually, so it’s gonna be 12 years in September. And that will be my second time at MUTEK; the first was 10 years ago.
PAN M 360: After all those years, do you make a living with your music ?
Atamone: It’s been really hard actually since the pandemic. But like before the pandemic I was, we’re playing events pretty regularly. Weekly. I was part of Tour de Manege crew in Montreal as well and played weekly in a pub, so it was manageable. And then, since the pandemic, it wasn’t happening so I decided to return back to school in visual arts and 3D animation. I’m looking forward to slowing down a little bit during the autumn and winter seasons to really focus on applying that practice into my performance. That’s my next project.
PAN M 360: And musically, what is the next step ? Atamone: There will be a 7 tracks album, that’s ready to go and I’ve just released a single, early August from that album, and I’ll be releasing another single. And then the album will come up pretty soon. Right now I try to expand my music catalog, sonically, exploring different genres and bpm, more into techno and house.
Hatis Noit, a multi-talented Japanese singer from a small island off of Hokkaido shocked the electronic and electro-acoustic world last year with the release of Aura, an experimental album with a focus on the voice that was released on Erased Tapes, the home of the ambient electronic wonderboy Nils Frahm. The result is a meditative, sometimes ambient affair that feels more like a listening of Buddhist or spiritual prayers than a full album.
There’s really nothing like it, and live, Hatis Noit is another kind of beast entirely. It’s moving and begs to be experienced in person. Luckily Hatis Noit is playing her debut Montreal performance at this year’s MUTEK. Of course, there is another aspect to look forward to, a real-time AI response, programmed by Yuma Kishi, to Hatis Noit’s looped vocals. We had a brief chat with Hatis Noit before her performance to learn a bit more.
PAN M 360: Did you grow up in a musical upbringing? Was singing encouraged during your childhood?
Hatis Noit: No. There was not a single musician in my family. Although I loved to sing since I was a child, according to my family, I was a quite bad singer. They told me that when I came home from school singing, they knew that I had come home just by the sound of my voice. I am glad I didn’t listen to my family’s complaints and kept singing (haha).
PAN M 360: The song “Himbrimi,” always makes me sombre and I can’t explain why because I don’t understand the language, but there is something that resides within your vocal style. What is that song about, and going off that, do you believe music to be a universal language?
Hatis Noit: Interestingly, you are not the first person to tell me that you feel ‘sad’ when you listen to “Himbrimi.” It’s actually a very playful and fun song for me. There are no lyrics to that song and there is actually no specific storyline. Music is for me a language that is so much more eloquent than words and contains all kinds of memories, sensations, and information that is too rich to be described in words. I think that when such symbolism of music is translated back into its meaning again, people somehow connect with their memories and sensations. It is very therapeutic and I like that aspect of music very much.
PAN M 360: The great William Basinski created a rework of your song “Inori” a few months back. Was that more of a collaboration and how did you get willed into existence?
Hatis Noit: I was really touched that William understood the song “Inori” so deeply and that he embraces its grief so gently by the sound. The sound of the piano, which means home to him, gently embraces the memories of the homes that the people of Fukushima lost by the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear power plant disaster. It has become a very special collaboration for me.
PAN M 360: You shocked the world with Aura, but have you already begun working on your next project?
Hatis Noit: Having done so many live shows since I released Aura paradoxically has motivated me to make another album. I feel like making myself vulnerable again on stage performing new songs.
PAN M 360: Since you use a looper for your voice, there must be a lot of spontaneity in your performances. More improvisation with yourself?
Hatis Noit: Yes, as you imagined, my songwriting process starts with improvisation, together with my only instrument other than my voice, the looper.
PAN M 360: Your music seems very meditative, not only to listen to but to make on the spot. So going off that, how important is the audience to your performance? Or do you view it more as a personal trance?
Hatis Noit: Audiences are very important in my performance. When I sing, I try to connect musically and energetically to the space and the people there. I get inspired so much from them, and in a way, my performances change every time. I think that the physical spaces in which I sing, and the people who are with me there, are the second and third members of my performance.
PAN M 360: For MUTEK, you will be performing with Yuma Kishi and he will be using AI to create some sort of multimedia experience. What can you tell us about this planned show and are you already aware of Yuma in the art world?
Hatis Noit: For the song, “Angelus Novus,” I will perform with visual art by Yuma. An AI programmed by Yuma will generate images in real-time in response to my singing voice on stage. Fed by my voice, the AI will show three moving Asian figures including myself, showing their individual identities, genetic similarities and differences, merging and moving apart again across the both physical and spiritual boundaries of us. By that, I want to show the certainty and ambiguity of “self,” and the potentiality of both.
Airhaert is a multi-instrumentalist, DJ, producer and visual artist. Last February, she released I. I. (Intuitive Intelligence), an electro-ambient-techno album with granular textures that aims at grounding, meditation, and the discovery of things buried deep within oneself. The album is inspired by the new sciences of intuition, Taoist philosophy and various healing theories. PAN M 360 enjoyed a few moments of conversation after her performance at Experience 2 of the MUTEK festival.
Photo credits : Frédérique Ménard-Aubin
PAN M 360: First off, can you quickly take us through your musical journey? How did you become Airhaert?
Airhaert: In elementary school, my program was very focused on music, as an afterschool thing. I remember I didn’t like recess that much, I liked music more. So I participated in choir, concert band, jazz band. I would participate in almost anything music-related. Participating in all these things, and playing all these instruments, flute, alto saxophone, and using my voice, it really embedded that into my being as a child, and now, going back to music really makes me feel like home.
I stopped music when I went into high school. I wanted to do visual art. I went to university to get a bachelor’s degree in fine arts, and at the end of it all I still wasn’t sure of what I wanted to do, I dabbled in all of the mediums and professions, I worked as a videographer, photographer, graphic designer, even as a technician, and these are all things that I thought I wanted to pursue. But all of those things encompassed being an artist. In the last years of my undergrad, I started to incorporate sound into my installations. Once I discovered DJing, like 8 or 9 years ago, it really opened up my ear, and it propelled me into a deep understanding of electronic music and other different genres. I’ve also been trying to produce in tangent to DJing, but it’s only been for the last 3 or so years where I feel confident enough in the studio to produce solid tracks. Obviously, there’s always more to learn. And then, also, moving to Montreal around 8 years ago was inspiring, because there’s a huge community of artists that I can relate to, artists that pursue international passions like myself.
PAN M 360: You recently released an album titled I. I., which stands for Intuitive Intelligence. Can you tell us what this means for you?
Airhaert: I got really inspired by this book, Body of Health, by Francesca McCartney. She wrote her PhD thesis about this energetic intuitive intelligence. It means that you can heal yourself and use sound as well as your mind and auric energy to heal places within yourself and train your mental and physical space. It’s pretty complex, so I’m trying to summarize it.
PAN M 360: And how do these notions translate in your work?
Airhaert: I had a whole year to work on my album, because I got a grant through the Jeunes volontaires program from Emploi-Québec, which were inspired by the fact that I wanted to fuse healing music with electronic music, and enjoyed the idea of disseminating those ideas into the world. So, how I used these notions: I started with the chakras, because the author of the book talks about them, and how they each have different frequencies. When you tap into the sound and meditate on it, it changes things in your interior world. In my work, I was trying to use each song of the album as a different chakra point. So, for each song, I would fine tune all of the instruments to the corresponding key of the corresponding chakra point I was focusing on. Also, I used instruments from the sound healing realm, like a singing bowl. I didn’t bring it on stage and instead used the recordings of it, because it’s very fragile.
PAN M 360: What sounds do you like using the most? Are there any sounds you obsess over?
Airhaert: It’s hard to say, because it’s so easy to loop something, which then becomes so repetitive and obsessive. But I try to always use voice. I really love the voice as an element, whether it turns into a pad or an actual vocal.
PAN M 360: What does your music make you feel, when you make it?
Airhaert: That’s really challenging to say! I made it, so I know all the details and hard work that went into it. And I’ve listened to it so many times, especially in the mixing and mastering stages, that I put it away for a long time. I stopped listening to it altogether. So, back then, it made me feel like « Oh my god, I’m happy it’s over! », and now, listening back to it, I feel like it’s more meditative for me.
PAN M 360: The themes that your music explores can be seen as both very academic and very instinctive. Which one are you most between the two?
Airhaert: I’m in more of a « feel things as they come » and intuitive way of doing things. I think this whole year of making the album really made me use that intuitive intelligence muscle. I’m more of an intuition-based person in my work, even if there are a lot of technicalities to it, which I do keep in mind. But the big point was using that intuitive muscle and training it throughout the year. And now I have it!
PAN M 360: Great! Thank you Airhaert!
Husa & Zeyada constitutes both an audiovisual project and an Egyptian-Canadian electronic group. They characterize their work as a fusion between Zeyada’s synth-soaked bedroom pop with electric guitars and the mystical deep house style of Montreal-based DJ and producer Adam Husa. Husa is also recognized for his music released on labels like Sol Selectas, Seven Villas, Magician On Duty, and his own entity, Husa Sounds. Collaboratively, Husa & Zeyada traverse a path of sensuous and enigmatic electronic indie-rock, enveloped in lyrics that blend both English and Arabic languages. The duo, whose partnership was formed shortly before the onset of the pandemic, has established themselves in Dahab, located in the southern Sinai region.
They have released multiple tracks and videos, each highlighting their artistic vision and impressive execution skills. Husa & Zeyada’s inventive approach to music production and their ability to seamlessly blend a diverse range of electronic sounds has led to numerous remixes by artists such as Hernan Cattaneo, Mustafa Ismaeel, Madmotormiquel, and Artphormque. In 2022, the duo unveiled their debut album, Long Way Home, crafted after just a week of jam sessions and exploration. This album encompasses a significant portion of their previously released singles.
On the eve of their first-ever appearance at MUTEK, Adam Husa and Rola Zeyada talked about how they met, their chemistry that unites them in art and love, the nuances and difficulties of singing in Arabic, their new project, and the explosion of electronic music in the Middle East and North Africa.
PAN M 360: Tell us a little bit about your individual backgrounds
Zeyada: I’m Egyptian. I was born and raised in Egypt. I went to college in New York for undergrad, and then for master’s and this is when I started doing music. I was more into indie and rock, and kind of had a band and then a duo in New York. And then I went solo, and went back to Egypt before the pandemic, and yeah, this is where we met a few months after.
Husa: I left Montreal, maybe six months before Corona time, about three or four years ago. I was doing a lot of events here and I went to Egypt just to focus on music. And then when the pandemic hit, the airports closed. This is when I decided to go move to Dahab. And Dahab is where we build a studio and everything. And then we met over there, and this is where is our studio and home, this is where we got married and started our creation hub.
Zeyada: Dahab is a little town on the coast of Egypt, it’s like a Bedouin/hippie town, like a kite surfing community… A very small rural place. Just very, very raw, with just small bedroom houses. We built our studio there and we based ourselves there. This is our home.
Husa: We’re coming back to Canada. So we’re gonna start building a world on this side.
PAN M 360: What made you decide to work together?
Zeyada: Well I was visiting Dahab and a friend of mine connected me with Adam and his, at the time, roommates. They were both musicians and were sharing a studio. I actually went to record with this other person, we were gonna jam and make something but it actually didn’t flow very well with that person. I mean, we’re friends, but I left. And then Adam messaged me, I think he was sleeping in the other room and he heard what I was trying to do and I think he liked it. Our styles kind of matched. Maybe we were both influenced by each other, by being from Montreal and New York and also just like me being into rock and him being into dance music and bringing these two things together. I think we saw more similarities there than with other people we worked with who are more into the oriental sounds.
Husa: We just really connected on the sound. Even though she was more from the rock scene I felt it connected with where I wanted to go with electronic music. So this is where we saw a really cool space to build a bridge for these sounds a little.
PAN M 360: So is it the music that led to love or the love that led to music?
Zeyada: Music led to love … I mean, it almost all happened at the same time. I mean, for a good week there we were talking about how music is all that matters, and we got to make it, you know, and then everything kind of merged and happened quickly. And this is the core of everything, like this is why everything else can be great. But also we recognized that our sound together was really special.
Husa: And really in the beginning, we were together almost every day, and we finished the first album probably in the first week, so everything was happening so fast on the music side. And it was really a point where we didn’t want to focus on anything else but music.
Zeyada: For me, as someone who was working more with bands, the format of writing with a band, or even when I write alone with just a guitar or with a ukulele sometimes, it’s so different than electronic music production. And when we got together, I think I saw how fast I could be working when we have this flow, rather than just the slow flow of a band. Just kind of working, working, working, keep working until things come out not just wait for things to happen. And that, for me, was really exciting. That’s why we made so much in the first week together. PAN M 360: Is the result mostly what we can hear onyour first album Long Way Home?
Zeyada:Long Way Home was basically all made within the first two weeks we met. So it was very heavy. And also we were very influenced by the times we were living in. We were eight or 10 months into Corona. We couldn’t travel, we weren’t seeing too many people, we were in this in-between place, surrounded by the desert and the sea, and you kind of have all the fears of society but at the same time, you kind of forget about it…
Husa: So basically after this last year, we started touring and then we also started seeing which position we wanted to put ourselves in a club format. So everything you hear on Spotify is technically older things but what you hear live is stuff that we’ve made right before leaving the studio, which is a lot different but a lot more…
Zeyada: Groovy?
Husa: A lot more rock and roll in an electronic way.
PAN M 360: Were you inspired by other artists? I hear a bit of Gudrun Gut and Seelenluft in your music.
Zeyada: We don’t know any of those artists! Honestly, I have to say I’ve been loving the different things that we remind people of. It’s like things from the ’70s, or some punk bands, or alternative stuff from the ’90s … It makes me happy that you’re just telling us about these artists. I’m very curious to hear them. I’d say some of our biggest inspiration has been Darkside for sure. I also like Dope Lemon, like a bit more on the indie side. Personally, I like rock things like The Strokes and Timber Timbre, I’m a little bit more on the rock and punk side.
Husa: I mean, I’ve always really liked what Darkside was doing. And I felt there’s a whole world of sound in this type of realm of just electric guitars with electronic music. I guess this was kind of an influence that’s been in my head for a long time.
PAN M 360: On your first album you only sing in English but I read that you were also sometimes singing in Arabic.
Zeyada: Actually, we’re a little bit behind on releases. Like most of the things we play at our live sets are not even released. We play a little of Long Way Home, especially the songs we connect with the most. But again, that album was produced very early in our life together. So we are also a bit about just making things in the studio and then performing them. We like this aspect of always having new stuff. So there are a lot of tracks that made it in and then out and so on. So usually at least 30% of the set is sung in Arabic. But I think we only have one released Arabic track, which we don’t even play live … I’m trying to write in Arabic the way I do in English and not go for this oriental sound, which I personally don’t connect with.
Husa: In Arabic, there’s so much more you could say within the same timeframe because there are more vowels you can put, so you can go a lot deeper in a way, even if you don’t understand the language, you can understand the meaning of it, which for me is really interesting. I’m also starting to record her in Arabic because I am still learning the language. So I’m still a bit slow on picking up conversation and stuff like this. But sometimes I understand before she even tells me what the lyrics actually mean. I just feel it. So this is why singing in Arabic really became super interesting for us, because it just goes a lot deeper if you do it properly, which she does.
Zeyada: It’s a lot harder to write in Arabic, especially in this context. At some point, we were going to stop trying to write in Arabic because we were so fast at making music in English. We can do a whole song in just one day in English whereas it can take three or four days to do something in Arabic. I think this is the third most popular language in the world and yet it is so limited musically. It is mostly stuck in this commercial oriental place. Within Egypt itself, the pop scene sucks. Rock came so late here that now we’re doing it in the way that it was done 30 years ago. So if we’re gonna keep catching up to genres, 20-something years later, we’re never really gonna make anything new. But at the same time, electronic music is rising in the Middle East. So I feel we are finally closing the gap a little bit over here.
PAN M 360: I see a lot of electro stuff coming out of Tunisia, Morocco, Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt… I feel it’s starting to really blow up in a lot of Arabic countries.
Zeyada: It’s so so big. It’s happening now. Like in just the past couple of years, the scene has grown so much, there are so many events taking place, and more artists also. And the more electronic events you have, the more likely you’ll get people interested in it and wanting to create music themselves.
Husa: In the past three, or four years I’ve been there. I’ve seen things accelerate so fast. There are so many new opportunities, there are so many new sounds, it’s massive.
PAN M 360: Anything new coming up? Like another record maybe?
Husa: We’re working on this concept album and it is a little complex. We have this fictional story that kind of merges with reality. There are so many ideas.
Zeyada: We have the music for the album ready and now we’re building the visual for the story. The music is already kind of developed with the idea of this visual concept in mind. So it’s the first time we’re actually fully able to make a project 100% audio and visual.
Husa: The idea is that these characters are from another timeline and keep crossing over to this reality. So that’s kind of how we want to position our next album, which is a full-out audio-visual merge between reality and fiction concepts.
Zeyada: So we’re actually performing this music at MUTEK.
Husa: I’m excited. I think we’ve been picking up on a lot of things that are working and orchestrating something unique for this one. But this project is still developing; the core concept of it is we’re really trying to bring this idea of just bringing more rock and roll into electronic music sideways. So I think this one will show a little bit more of that than the past album.
PAN M 360: And on stage, is it only both of you?
Husa: Rola plays guitar and sings and I have Ableton with controllers and the MS 20 semi-modular synth. It’s cool because all the sets are kind of freestyling, so it’s always different.
You may know the name Rich Aucoin more so in the alternative indie pop world, known for his explosive, high-energy shows where he crowd surfs (on a literal surfboard) and his hilarious multimedia meme antics, but lately, he’s been focusing on a more synthesized sound.
He’s released two parts of his Synthetic album series, where he plays more than 37 synths, probably the most on an album in the history of music, using some historic synths like Supertramp-owned Elka Rhapsody 610 String Machine. Now he’s taking a live performance of this electronic ‘Air meets Daft Punk’ show to MUTEK and he had some time with PAN M 360 to chat about it.
PAN M 360: You launched Synthetic Seasons 1 and 2, Is the vibe of three going to be much different and how do you plan on playing parts of these releases live? You must have a ton of synths you’re touring with.
Rich Aucoin: I plan to play these tracks very similarly to the album; mostly making adjustments for timing. While I’d love to tour with a bunch of synths, it’s very logistically difficult so I’ll be making the best I can on just a Moog and Juno and samples. Many of the synths on the album are giant and/or one-of-a-kind, like TONTO, and/or very expensive to own.
PAN M 360: I suppose you could play it as a DJ too?
Rich Aucoin: Yeah, I’m not DJing but I am performing with Ableton and samples from the album.
PAN M 360: Is there going to be as much energy at these MUTEK shows as say when you toured United States? – Running around, surfing in the crowd…
Rich Aucoin: I hope there’ll be some high-energy moments. While I am normally known to have shows like that, I thought this show might be better, a little more cerebral and less directed as my normal shows are led, so, I’ll just stay on stage and no crowd surfing on surfboards for this one.
PAN M 360: And what about the multimedia memes? Are we going to get a bit of that with the Synthetic performance?
Rich Aucoin: Yeah, I thought the MUTEK crowd might just want to stay in music and not be distracted by the normal multimedia memes I pepper throughout the show so I’ll be more relying on the lighting and vibes of the show than the normal projections I use.
PAN M 360: I got a huge Air influence on Season 1 and more of a Tangerine Dream and Daft Punk vibe on two. Do you think about the general musical themes for each season or is it more organic than that?
Rich Aucoin: Yeah, there isn’t an exact plan of genres on the 4 seasons, I just made a list of all the songs I wanted to make and have them written on some cardboard and pinned to my wall and I just look at how they can each all fit together. Definitely, some more Air and Daft Punk to come along with Gobin and Vangelis.
PAN M 360: Are you a guy who listens to a lot of electronic music? I have to admit I was kind of shocked by how hard you went into the synth world with these Synthetic seasons.
Rich Aucoin: Yes, I’ve loved synth music since I was a kid and have been wanting to make this record since the beginning of my music career. I visited the Cantos Museum in 2008 while recording my first album across Canada and decided I’d try to come back and make a record with all their keyboards one day. It has since turned into the National Music Centre and is where I did an Artist In Residence program and started recording this album in March 2020. I grew up listening to Air, Daft Punk, Justice, Cornelius, Aphex Twin, Brian Eno, Wendy Carlos and was a big fan of synth soundtracks like Vangelis’ Blade Runner. I studied Electro Acoustic Experimental Recording at Dal too and got into early synthesis pioneers like Pierre Schaeffer and Eliane Radigue and then since then have gotten into all sorts of synth music from Oneohtrix Point Never to Dan Deacon, Caribou, Todd Terje and Jon Hopkins.
PAN M 360: Would you say that when you were crafting these songs, it was more of an improvisation or play than “songwriting?” Like finding a loop or setting you love and exploring that?
@RILEYSMITHPHOTO
Rich Aucoin: Yeah, I’d say the power of the sounds synths creates really makes you alter your writing to it in a way that you’re surprised by something and pivot to accept that new turn in a way that you wouldn’t be as surprised by a chord on a piano for instance (though sometimes you still can be so it’s not completely different). So yes, there’s some songs that have a chord progression or a rhythm or a melody as a starting point and there are some that just start as the soundscape and timbres. For the tracks on historic synthesizers on the album, like TONTO, I just recorded myself playing it for about 3 hours and then, later in the studio, I went back over all the recordings and picked out my favourite moments and then began stacking and arranging them into a piece of music of about 5min in length down for 3hrs. Some songs have a great 4 bar riff or loop from a synth and that was all the time I had with that synth to create the basic structure of the song with.
PAN M 360: Do you already have plans for your next project after Synthetic? I feel a guy with your kind of creative mind is always three steps ahead.
Rich Aucoin: Yes, I am also looking at a piece of cardboard with my next 6 albums all planned on it. Lots more new directions to explore after this but I’d like to continue my synth writing on soundtracks hopefully.
PAN M 360: Are you going to be able to check out MUTEK at all? Any artists you’re excited to see?
Rich Aucoin: I have been so busy this summer that I’ve barely had the time to look ahead. I’m coming for the whole festival though and plan to go to shows every night. Hoping to find some good synth music and some progressive house DJs.
In a style truly their own, x/o seemlessly exploits both power and vulnerability to create electronic pieces that are intricate, heavy and soothing. In particular, the vocals lead to many contrasting territories, some vaguely familiar and some new. Based in Vancouver, x/o is about to perform at Mutek’s Nocturne 2, Thursday 24th. Let yourself dive ahead of time in their world.
Photograph credit : SKIBICKI
PAN M 360 : To the reader unaquainted with your music, how would you describe your sound and overall artistic approach?
x/o : My sound is a wide combination of different genres put together in a soundtrack like form. It’s like a film score to a movie that doesn’t exist. Some of the genres you might find include electronic, breakbeat, trip hop with elements of classical, metal and music box melodies. I’m also influenced by a lot of anime and video game media. Some of my favorites include Kaiba, Claymore, Nier Automata and the Final Fantasy series.
PAN M 360 : What is your musical or artistic background prior to starting x/o?
x/o : I’m a self-taught creative. Prior to doing electronic music, I did a lot of graphic design and I played in a band where I wrote songs with friends, sang and played around with guitar and keyboard.
PAN M 360 : Your music is both soothing and heavy and could spark a discussion about musical genres. Rather, I’d like to ask how you begin to create a piece from scratch. Does it stem from an electronic sound, a vocal idea, or a non-musical concept?
x/o : For me, it’s very intuitive. It’s very explorative. A lot of times, I will start to just play with the keyboard and see what comes out. I like to be inspired by sounds that I hear. When I hear a sound that I like, it influences me to write music in a certain way or mood. And then when I start to build on that, then I start to think about what sounds excite me, what kind of feelings I want to feel in a song that sounds like this. A lot of times, you’ll hear two very different styles put into one. I love to hear very opposing sounds come together, I find it quite satisfying, in a way. As a music listener, I listen to all sorts of different genres and I like these different genres for different reasons. But I find it especially interesting when they come together in different ways.
PAN M 360 : What can audiences expect from your appearance at Mutek? What will you be presenting?
x/o : I’m presenting in audiovisual performance of my album Chaos Butterfly. Overall, the audiovisual performance uses fantasy narratives as an allegory to transcending societal norms in regards to gender. And the illustrations are also Fantasy-influenced and drawn by this incredible artist and collaborator NicoSaba. You can expect a full evolution from cocoon egg to Chaos Butterfly.
PAN M 360 : Having heard your album and read the liner notes, I know that there is complex symbolism underlining your music. In your own words, what non-musical ideas push you to create?
x/o : In my music I like to explore duality through a non binary lens. When it comes to either sound, or visuals, I like to take hyper-feminine and hyper-masculine tropes and combine them together to create something unique that encompasses many versions of itself. When you have these two very different things come together… I think it’s both the wholeness and the moments in between that are really beautiful.
Nous utilisons des technologies telles que les cookies pour stocker et/ou accéder aux informations des appareils. Nous le faisons pour améliorer l’expérience de navigation et pour afficher des publicités (non-) personnalisées. Consentir à ces technologies nous permettra de traiter des données telles que le comportement de navigation ou les ID uniques sur ce site. Le fait de ne pas consentir ou de retirer son consentement peut avoir un effet négatif sur certaines fonctionnalités et fonctions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
