Interviews – Page 85

Photo credit: Valtteri Hirvonen

PAN M 360: Tuomas, how are you?

Tuomas Saukkonen: Complicated time! It changes every hour. The whole world is getting kind of fucked up at the moment. It’s weird.

PAN M 360: You were about to start the Devastation of the Nation Tour when all concerts were shut down. What are the consequences for the band?

Tuomas Saukkonen: Yes, it was quite a big thing for us. We had all the visas supplied and paid, the bus was booked, we had 500 t-shirts for the tour, lots of rehearsals. Everybody set their schedules, took holidays from work, so it was a huge thing. But I think it’s easier to process because everybody is in the same situation. I would be so much more bumped if only our tour got cancelled and everybody else would be touring. The whole world is shut down, so it’s easier to understand. At the same time, we kind of got lucky because the tour was cancelled four days before our flights. So it was easier to do the damage control at home in Finland than coming to North America, play one or two shows, then getting everything cancelled and try to figure out what to do next and how to get home. It could have been so much worse!

PAN M 360: Lucky us, we already know when the tour is coming back. The Montreal concert will be February 24, 2021.

Tuomas Saukkonen: Yeah, that’s also what is very cool about our agency and management. I think that tour was the only one that was instantly rebooked with all the same bands, basically the same thing but ten months later. So we still have something to look forward to.

PAN M 360: You just announced that your session guitarist Vagelis Karzis (ex-Rotting Christ) is now a full-time member. When did you make that decision?

Tuomas Saukkonen: We made it last September. He played a six-week summer tour with us, it was a good test to see if it could work. Like two or three gigs wouldn’t say anything, a set of rehearsals wouldn’t say anything, but when you are stuck with the person for six weeks in a bus, you will know if you want to continue with this person or not! It was a really good test. Vagelis is an amazing guy, an amazing guitar player, and we already confirmed with him some time ago, but we wanted to wait for the album promo to make it public.

PAN M 360: Vagelis left Rotting Christ to play with Wolfheart.

Tuomas Saukkonen: Probably there wouldn’t be any issues at all, I know the guys from Rotting Christ also, but since the tour would have been with Rotting Christ, I don’t know if there would have been any tensions between bands? Probably not. Vagelis played for seven years with Rotting Christ, then he joined us. I’m not aware exactly what they thought about that.

PAN M 360: Why did you choose to talk about the Winter War on Wolves of Karelia?

Tuomas Saukkonen: There are probably two reasons why this album is about that war and that area of Finland. On the album Constellation of the Black Light (2018), we played about 140 gigs in ten months, so I was constantly travelling. We did two American tours, two European tours, South America, Asia, we were even in Dubai. We were in so many different countries and places, and what I know is the more you travel and more you are away from home, you see your home and your home country differently. Because of that, I started thinking more and more of my own childhood and the area where I was born and spent my childhood and the Karelian area, the small village where I was born and where my father’s family still lives. And also, it was when I started writing the lyrics for the album it was near the Independance Day of Findland. So, it was quite big in all the media in Findland and I kind of summed it up. For a Finnish person, the whole Winter War is very inspiring. It’s not that far in the history and it’s very present in the media around the Independance Day. I was listening to interviews of the veterans on the radio, I was reading all the veterans stories, and the lyrics are based on those stories. At least for a Finnish person it’s very inspiring.

PAN M 360: It’s important to share that history to the younger generation of metalheads! Even if it’s in the past, it’s still relevant.

Tuomas Saukkonen: Yes. The best way to learn how to deal with the future better is to learn about history. See the mistakes the people already made, see how they solve the issues. The most remarkable thing about the Winter War was how outnumbered the Finnish army was, and still able to stop the invasion. We didn’t basically win the war, but we did stop the Russians and they were unable to invade Finland. That became a big part of this whole mentality and attitude in Finland. There is a word – sisu – which means courage, tenacity of purpose, that underlines this mentality that I think at least our generation is losing. So, going back to the history is a really good reminder of what our grandparents and their parents had to go through, so people would not be complaining nowadays about smaller issues… be less whiny because it could be a lot worse. The sacrifices that we do could be a lot bigger. Now if you have a bad Internet connection or the store don’t have your favourite candy bar or soda, your whole day is completely ruined! You have a different perspective when you read about a family who had to burn their whole farm so that the Russians can’t use it as a base, or you’re just sitting in the snow for weeks when it was -40ºC outside with no actual army equipment. This story was told to me by an American reporter. It’s very inspiring to hear about other people also knowing facts about this war.

PAN M 360: What comes first when you compose: music or lyrics?

Tuomas Saukkonen: Music always comes first. Technically, I could write the lyrics before the music, but there are no connections and it just feels ridiculous to me. I always need to hear the song pretty much ready. So, most of the time, I write the lyrics in the studio. I never have anything written down before the songs are recorded. The way I write the lyrics is when I get the song ready, I always get this kind of still image in my head. Like a movie poster. I think it would be the best way to explain. It’s like a movie scene, and then I write the lyrics of the image.

PAN M 360: It must be stressful.

Tuomas Saukkonen: Not really, because I know exactly this scene that I’m writing about. The image is really clear, so I don’t need to think about what I’m writing. I’m just deciding the best wording and rythm. I really know the story that I want to tell. It’s basically just a technical thing when it comes to writing. Finding the best rhymes and the words and the phrases, but I don’t need to think at all what I’m writing about. I think that’s usually the biggest writer’s block, to not be able to come up with the ideas to write about. It’s more stressful for other members of the band. For example, our bass player Lauri Silvonen, who does backing vocals. He would like to rehearse the vocals and get prepared. It’s more stressful for him because, when he comes to the studio, I have nothing ready and I write everything on the spot, and he has to sing everything as a completely new thing for him. I’ve done more than 20 albums this way, so it’s not stressful at all for me.

PAN M 360: You are the main composer in the band, but are you open to suggestions from your bandmates?

Tuomas Saukkonen: Yes, I always ask about their ideas. I’m always open for any kind of new ideas. I also ask the opinions of my sound engineer and the guy that does the mixing. I think that it would be a wrong way to just decide that your way is the only way. When you keep your ears open for other ideas it makes the final result better. The only way you can learn about becoming a better or more versatile songwriter is to listen to the other opinions, otherwise you’ll be just stuck in your own head and stuck in your own vision, and not be able to open any new doors when it comes to being creative.

PAN M 360: You direct all the music videos for Wolfheart. Why?

Tuomas Saukkonen: I really, really enjoy making music. When I was a child, I was watching a lot of stuff like Headbangers Ball, and I was finding so many bands through music videos. I didn’t listen to radio, I wasn’t reading music magazines that much. To me, it’s very important to have that visual thing to support the music. I have done all the music videos with the same camera guy, and I think it’s the coolest thing ever. I get to burn a lot of stuff in the music-video shoots, I get to travel to cool places like with the previous album, Constellation of the Black Light. We went to Iceland for five days. Just running around with the car in Iceland, finding cool spots to shoot the music video. It’s a really inspiring and interesting creative outlet for me. I’ve done some music videos for other bands. I would like to do more videos but there’s only 24 hours in the day, so I need to focus on my band first.

PAN M 360: You made videos for which bands?

Tuomas Saukkonen: Ensiferum. I did the music video for the song “Way of the Warrior”, from the album Two Paths. The other videos I made were for the bands of friends of mine. Ensiferum is probably the biggest band that I’ve made a video for.

PAN M 360: Since the Devastation of the Nation tour is not happening this year, what are the next projects for the band?

Tuomas Saukkonen: That is an interesting question. Nobody really knows what’s going to happen, with the touring industry and the whole world. The next tour we have booked is the European tour in September and October. We are probably going to lose most of the festivals or even all of them. So it look like there’s gonna be a half a year of nothing when it comes to playing live. We need to find an interesting or creative way to keep the connection with the fans, using the tools of the Internet and social media.

PAN M 360: Ariane, you’re without a doubt the best-known personality in this collaborative project. What was your motivation in working with this new generation of Quebec musicians who are well-versed in hip hop and electro beatmaking?

ARIANE MOFFATT: It started after Petites mains précieuses, my last solo album. Having bet mainly on a neo-’70s approach, I had the feeling that I didn’t go all the way to what this album could have been. I felt a sense of urgency, and I went to Étienne to try something else, to make up for the part I hadn’t achieved. In the end, I took something else all the way.

PAN M 360: What was the spirit of the concept of the SOMMM project?

ARIANE: We didn’t have a plan, it was a studio project at the outset. With one guest artist per song, the idea was to carry out a project more in line with today’s ways of doing things, rather than working for two years on a $100,000 album. The idea was to release one song at a time and… we got caught up in the game – we’re releasing a full album.

ÉTIENNE DUPUIS-CLOUTIER: You start from scratch and you put a song together the same day, you do the beats, the arrangements, the hooks. For our first session, we worked like that and it really clicked. For Ariane, as for me, this was a new creative approach, a mix of the modern and the old-school, an ideal balance. Instead of introspection, alone in her corner, it was possible to do it together. We were able to take it further by creating an album, it became a real project.

ARIANE: We both come from a classic form of songwriting. So either it leads us to be more conformist in our structures, or it allows us to make not just beats, textures or samples, but real songs with these practices. It’s a mix. With that in mind, we wanted to do chanson with rap features, we wanted the songs to be more aerial, de-compartmentalized. The 12 bars of a rapper who steps in, they have to be coherent, you have to manipulate the structure so that it becomes a song.

PAN M 360: More concretely, what was the way to do it?

ARIANE: We were always together in creating, really together. Everyone in their own studio, but our two computers open at the same time. My piano was always there… We would send each other tracks by AirDrop and… The fine-tuning of the production, it’s a dance that can last for long hours. This work is also songwriting. Nowadays we can consider the computer a musical instrument in its own right.

ÉTIENNE: I love working in the studio with people who have ideas for recording the vocals. Ariane keeps throwing ideas at me, it’s really inspiring creative material. It allows me in turn to develop the idea and produce those vocals. As a producer and creator, there’s nothing I love more than getting ideas from artists, and then going back to my studio to deal with it all.

PAN M 360: You are by turns musicians, arrangers, beatmakers and producers on this project. Tell us about that.

ÉTIENNE: Previously, I’d toured with Ariane, Coeur de pirate and other artists. I played drums, percussion, and synthesizers. In 2016, I decided to focus on production and composition. I had to think about the production method, which led me to DRMS. It allowed me to do many collaborations as a producer, and to do SOMMM with Ariane. I had to explore more in depth, both rap and pop. I had to observe how others work and collaborate, which is super enriching. Collaborative work is in vogue – more and more, producers want to work together, share their knowledge, share different visions of voice processing, for example.

ARIANE: I’m pinching myself! I can talk about my voice tuning and production! I worked with DRMS, I don’t call myself a producer but I am interested in production as a writer, composer and performer. This way, I push my producer side and it feeds the creativity.

PAN M 360: Tell us about this diversity of artists involved with this project.

ARIANE: We ended up with the new hip hop vanguard, and also with some girl musicians that I like a lot. I wanted to go and see how they create, how they work, what drives them. I was playing the cool girl who invites young kids into her studio. We laughed a lot at the age difference!

ÉTIENNE: When we invite an artist to join us, they need room to breathe, a bit of freedom. We do sessions, we build a shape together, we complete the preliminary songwriting. We can say, hey! Maybe it could use some real instruments – bass, drums, guitar… One thing leading to another, the song becomes more precise. It’s a playground. After that, Ariane and I have to make sure it’s what we want.

PAN M 360: Examples?

ARIANE: On one or two tunes where we wanted more liveness, we added François Plante’s bass and Max Ballavance’s drums, a pretty potent rhythm section! They are notably to be found in the song “Le ciel s’est renversé”, which also involves Rosie Valland. Rosie came into the studio to do a session with her own proposal, this chorus that’s nested in the lyrics I’d started writing. That’s exactly what we were looking for. “Get Well Soon” involved rapper Maky Lavender. He came with his tracks ready to insert into the song. He called me Madame Ariane, ha ha! I played the bass on that song, I didn’t mind because you can process, edit, take it somewhere else.

ÉTIENNE: For the song “Essence”, La F arrived in the studio, two producers, three MCs with Ariane, everyone composing together, a raw song was conceived by the end of the day, followed by long sessions of fine-tuning in the studio, going back and forth on the lyrics, etc. It was a nice balance between spontaneity and structured work. We had to be attentive, every little corner of each song had to be taken into account.

ARIANE: Although kind of introverted, the beatmaker Ruffsound is very important to the careers of Quebec rappers, starting with Loud. With him, we started the song “Finir seule”… and then some jerk chicken, a couple of beers and whoop! “Sunshine” was in the workshop! I then had the idea of a chorus in English, Clay and Friends came to mind, and so on and so forth. Same when I included “zay” [French rap slang meaning “cool”] in the song “Danger”… I was sure FouKi would appear in it. I also thought of Marie-Pierre Arthur for “Chérie”. I couldn’t imagine someone so close to me playing in this intimate atmosphere, our spoken voices blending together, and it ends the album smoothly.

PAN M 360: To summarize… where did this project take you?

ARIANE: I’ve had a lot of questions throughout this work. I wanted it to be emotionally credible without sounding like I was trying too hard. It was the risk of making songs that way, that was my biggest challenge.

ÉTIENNE: Nothing was forced. I’ve wanted to do something like this for several years, but it took context, it took an Ariane in front. It took an artist with a strong enough identity to tie it all together, and one who was very careful to maintain her identity through this process. And it took young people, this new guard of millennials who were open enough to make their work evolve through these encounters. They felt valued through this project, it was very enriching for all of us. And if it can build bridges, so much the better.

Photo credit: George Dutil

At the time of posting, the program of this concert was not quite complete, but it will include:

Entre chien et loup, by André Hamel…
For baritone saxophone and real-time digital processing
…su Innocente X…, by Donald J. Stewart…
For saxophone quartet
La Ballade de Mon’onc Ovide II, an original by Quasar and guests
For saxophone quartet, electric bass and Babel Table.

At the risk of repeating ourselves, let us specify that everything will be played live, with all the risks that this entails.

Marie-Chantal Leclair and Jean-Marc Bouchard will be at the Réserve phonique, the band’s rehearsal space in the Ahuntsic neighbourhood, André Leroux will be at home in La Petite Patrie and Mathieu Leclair will also be at home in Ahuntsic.

Guest musicians Jean-François Laporte, on the Babel Table, and Éric Normand, on electric bass, will also be live from the Saint-Michel and Rimouski neighbourhoods respectively.

Quasar (ˈkwāˌzär): noun – Astronomy. A massive and extremely remote celestial object, emitting exceptionally large amounts of energy, and typically having a starlike image in a telescope. It has been suggested that quasars contain massive black holes and may represent a stage in the evolution of some galaxies. Origin: 1964 contraction of quasi-stellar radio source. – Oxford Dictionary

Since 1994, the name also designates a Montreal saxophone quartet dedicated to the creation and promotion of contemporary music.

It is worth noting that its members have remained the same since its founding: Marie-Chantal Leclair, soprano saxophone, and artistic and general director; Jean-Marc Bouchard, baritone saxophone and director of operations; Mathieu Leclair, alto saxophone and administrative director; and last but not least, André Leroux, tenor saxophone, also very active on the Montreal jazz scene, notably with François Bourassa as a regular member of his quartet, with the Orchestre national de jazz de Montréal, Michel Cusson, James Gelfand, and the late Vic Vogel.

Although the group has been in existence for more than 25 years, winning six Opus Awards, premiering more than 150 works with composers from here and elsewhere, and performing across Canada, the U.S., Mexico, Asia, and in a dozen European countries, it remains little-known in Quebec.

Meeting with Marie-Chantal Leclair and Jean-Marc Bouchard, partners on stage and off

How did it all begin? What were their first musical emotions?

Marie-Chantal remembers her father playing the organ in the family living room, and that he loved the mambo. A little later, when the band was frequently on the radio, she liked the Supertramp pieces that featured saxophone solos. In grade 10, she remembers playing the Rocky theme on the saxophone, and experiencing a true epiphany. Also, by the age of 12, she knew she wanted to study music. And when she began her studies, her eagerness to learn was such that, “by the third week, I had gone through the year’s method manual,” she recalls.

In Jean-Marc’s case, it was Ian Anderson’s flute in Jethro Tull that first caught his attention. So much so that he quickly began taking lessons. Then, one day, his teacher, who also played the saxophone, gave him a demonstration of his know-how on this instrument. “Wow,” he recalls, “the sax sounded as loud as ten flutes!” Jean-Marc bought one soon after.

Although Jean-Marc and André met at CEGEP, and started playing together at that time, it was at Université de Montréal, in René Masino’s class, that the four members of Quasar met.

Since the repertoire of music for quartet was quite limited – apart from the great classics, of course – their teacher encouraged them to mingle with the students in the composition classes. Thus, as Marie-Chantal says, “it is not so much works as the musical practice of creative music that led us in this direction.”

PAN M 360: But why a saxophone quartet, why did you choose to be in a group?

Marie-Chantal: Because it’s more fun to be in a group than to be a soloist. As long as you put energy into a project, it’s more fun and stimulating to be in a group. At the same time, it’s not anonymous like in a big orchestra. When there are four of you, it’s a bit like being four soloists.

Like us, our goal is not to champion the saxophone, but to do interesting music projects, it remains a vehicle that offers a lot of possibilities. With the four saxes, the sound palette is really wide. There’s an amazing blend because it’s the same family of instruments.

PAN M 360: How was the name of the band chosen?

Jean-Marc: There’s still a dispute about who came up with the name, because we can’t remember, it’s been too long. But what we do remember is that we wanted a short, bilingual name.

Marie-Chantal: It doesn’t matter who came up with it, the important thing is that there was a consensus on the name. I can still remember sitting at the table with an open dictionary… There was also a joke about being the astronauts of the world of sound… the notion of the cosmos, of research, of exploration of a still unknown world…

Jean-Marc: There was also the question of the consonance between quasar and quartet.

At the time of Quasar’s arrival on the Quebec music scene in 1994, there were very few chamber music ensembles dedicated to creative music: the Ensemble contemporain de Montréal (now ECM+) was founded in 1988 and the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne (NEM) in 1989. It was only afterwards that the Quatuor Molinari (1997), the Trio Fibonacci (1998) and the Quatuor Bozzini (1999) were added.

PAN M 360: Were there any moments during these 25 years when you felt like going in musical directions other than contemporary music? Were there any temptations or proposals from outside?

Marie-Chantal: As we’re versatile – creation is a term that encompasses a lot – our project, us, it’s not just to make ‘contemporary music’ à la Boulez. It can also be improvisation. Sometimes we’ve done things a little more…

Jean-Marc: We played The Nutcracker, for example, because we had to make a living.

Marie-Chantal: Superb arrangements, mind you.

Jean-Marc: We take the gigs that come by. If someone wants us to play “Rhapsody in Blue”, we’ll play it. But the reason we’re still here is that we’ve always put the artistic project first. If you try to wear too many hats at the same time, at some point, what’s your identity? Our identity is clear: we’re a creative group, but if opportunities arise…

Marie-Chantal: The group has its integrity, but we’re not purists.

Jean-Marc: Our job as performers is to bear witness to what’s going on. It’s not just this composer or this school…

Marie-Chantal: We also have a kind of mission in relation to our community, that of musicians, listeners and creators, we have a duty to be open.

This responsibility to the community was apparent from the first concert, which included four premieres, and has never been questioned since. Indeed, collaborative projects have accrued over the years, both with composers from here (from Jean-François Laporte, Tim Brady, and Denis Gougeon to André Hamel and Michel Frigon, as well as Monique Jean and Simon Martin, to name but a few), and from abroad.

Marie-Chantal: Quasar is definitely more exploratory now than it was in its early days. There are things we do today that would not even have been conceivable 20 years ago. Through contact with composers, through exchanges with them and the sound research we’ve done together, our palette has broadened, the group has developed a language, its own language.

Jean-Marc: There’s also the fact that electronic music has had a growing influence on instrumental music, and in return, instrumental music has begun to influence electronic music.

Marie-Chantal: In the same way that improvised music began to influence written music through cross-pollination.

PAN M 360: With regard to the dissemination of creative music, have you noticed any changes over the past 25 years?

Jean-Marc: Yes, there has been a major change, it was the death of Radio-Canada radio. Hélène Prévost [who hosted the new-music program Le Navire Night, one of the many programs dropped during the “Lafrance-Rabinovitch reform” in 2004, which sounded the death knell for the CBC radio’s cultural channel] was one of the first to encourage us. If she knew, for example, that we were giving a concert in Jonquière, she would ask a team there to go and record it. At the time, it was common for Radio-Canada to travel and record two or three Quasar concerts every year.

Our first record was made thanks to Radio-Canada. We recorded it in Studio 12, for a whole week, in great conditions, especially for a young band like us who was just starting out.

This sudden change of direction by the state-owned company had a major impact on the dissemination of so-called creative music such as Quasar. All the more so as this rupture had a perverse effect: as it was suddenly no longer broadcast, this music was no longer as “visible”, and the coverage it had enjoyed until then in the print media also ceased.

Marie-Chantal: Except that we worked a lot on self-releasing. Quasar produces its own concerts. Our model is not unique in the world, that’s for sure, but in Europe it works much less like that. There’s more money to subsidize the work of artists, it’s true, but the structures are bigger.

If we decide to do such and such a concert next year, we don’t have to convince a producer-broadcaster to take our show. We can say, we believe in this project, and then we do it. It gives us a lot of artistic independence.

After that, we have to be accountable to the public, to the people who give us grants, of course, but we’re more independent. In fact, the quartet has been incorporated since 2000. We’ve also worked hard, establishing production partnerships, with the SMCQ, for example, with Code d’accès, with Sixtrum, with SuperMusique….

Things improved recently when the budgets allocated to culture and the Canada Council for the Arts were increased [with the arrival of a new government following Stephen Harper’s]. That too had an impact, and it’s not insignificant. But before, because the creative music community is quite poor, people who worked together were more cohesive. That’s how le Vivier [of which Marie-Chantal is the current Chair of the Board] came into being [in 2007], people were used to working together.

PAN M 360: About le Vivier, what do you think has changed since its arrival?

Jean-Marc: In fact, the positive impact of le Vivier is just beginning to be felt. The organization is now better structured, better organized. Concert attendance figures are on the rise. We’re on the right track.

Marie-Chantal: The idea is that groups like ours can focus on the artistic dimension of their work and that the presenter organizations are more concerned with publicizing the concerts and getting people in the venues, which is still a challenge. It takes time to get there. It takes sustained work, for audience development.

We’re aware that we’re not making music for the masses, they’re not going to invite us to do the half-time show at the Super Bowl, but there are still a lot of people who are curious.

We went to play at C2 Montréal, we did the opening number of the conference with Jean-François Laporte’s instruments, and people were tripping. Even when we were out in the regions, people liked it.

For the past three years, the quartet has finally had a place to rehearse on a regular basis, three days a week, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Initially, Marie-Chantal feared that this schedule would be too restrictive, but the group quickly realized that this measure was much simpler than organizing rehearsals on an ad hoc basis, which always raises the same age-old problems of availability.

Also, as Jean-Marc says, “it takes up space, but once it’s been sorted out…”

“It changed our lives!” Marie-Chantal concludes.

PAN M 360: What is the most difficult thing you find in your job?

Jean-Marc: It’s the organization, the logistics…

Marie-Chantal: Nothing’s ever taken for granted.

Jean-Marc: When you have to devote a lot of time to it, you don’t have enough time to rest, and in the long run, it’s exhausting. When we don’t have time to do our work in a calm and relaxed manner. And of course, on tour, with even more logistics?

PAN M 360: What gives you the most pleasure?

Marie-Chantal: Playing!

Jean-Marc: The first glass of wine after the concert.

Marie-Chantal: It’s when you feel the current is flowing with the audience, that’s the fun.

PAN M 360: Are there countries where the audiences are particularly receptive, where the current flows more easily?

Marie-Chantal: We did a concert in St. Petersburg, I wailed so loud…

Jean-Marc: On that tour [Russia and Estonia in 2014], it was sold out every night.

Marie-Chantal: So we were in St. Petersburg and we were playing a piece by Glazunov – we always have interpreters on those trips – I was talking to the audience, but in English, I was explaining that for us Quebecois, coming to play like that in their own country, in a country with a great musical tradition… and people were listening, I felt them so present, I became super moved…

In Estonia too, it was special.

Jean-Marc: Yes, it’s the place with the most choirs in the world. There’s a choir festival in the spring, I think there are 10,000 of them, a huge choir.

There was a time when this was the only context in which citizens had the right to speak their language, because under the Soviet regime, they were obliged to speak Russian at all times, but when the time came to sing – and they are a nation of singers – they could express themselves in their language.

On that tour, we went to nine cities, some of which were not very populous, but it was always full, the mayor was there, the children in the front row….

Marie-Chantal: When there’s a concert, it’s important for these people. Sometimes there were even people standing because they’d sold too many tickets.

Jean-Marc: Often in the central squares in those cities, the statue you see is not a politician, but a musician, with his accordion for example.

Marie-Chantal: Yeah, in Eastern European countries, music is important. It was touching.

PANM 360: What are your plans for the 26th season?

Marie-Chantal: We have international exchanges planned, that’s interesting. One with the Basque countries, musicians and composers, and another with the city of Hanover. We go there and they come here, and we work together on pieces.

Jean-Marc: Commissions for Quebecois, commissions for Germans…

Marie-Chantal: There’s also the return of Je ne suis pas un robot at the Gesù in December [the revival of the “tragicomic experimental technopera-ballet” that in addition to Quasar brought together Jérôme Minière (music, texts and dramaturgy), Jean-François Laporte (music, instrumental design) and Marie-Pierre Normand (set and costume design), presented at the Éthel parking lot in Verdun in the summer of 2019].

Jean-Marc: In October there’s a play by Thierry Tidrow, a Franco-Ontarian who lives in Dortmund, Germany. It’s musical theatre, but more musical than theatrical.

As part of the MNM festival, there is also a one-hour work by Walter Boudreau, a saxophone quartet. It’s a revival of a work called Chaleurs, which was composed [in 1985-86] for a ballet by Paul-André Fortier, but this time without dance.

Marie-Chantal: We’re going to be hot regardless.

And this Saturday, April 25 at 4 pm, don’t forget, there will be the live concert – the third broadcast on the group’s Facebook page.

PAN M 360: You live in Shanghai, but are originally from Shenzhen. Are those cities good creative environments? Are you involved in the arts community in Shanghai?

lisalyz: Shanghai definitely has one of the best music scenes in China. People are incredibly nice and supportive, and I don’t really think I would make music if I weren’t here. I’m not actually involved in the community, but more like a fan going to events on weekends, listening to some great club music that I couldn’t make, and chilling.

Shenzhen is a new city. It’s more like a cultural desert but luckily, OIL Club turned up in time. People are struggling to make the scene better there – it’s harder than it seems. Hopefully they made it now. Both cities are great for producers to live in, in my opinion.

PAN M 360: The raw material for Still is what I’d call “antique” Chinese traditional and popular music. How did the music on Still come to exist? What was the original idea?

lisalyz: As I get older, I’m more obsessed with Chinese traditional music, which I totally resisted when I was a kid. The obsession came to a peak earlier this year when I was stuck quarantined with my parents back home. I listened to probably 10 times more traditional music than I used to. I found myself extremely peaceful while listening, and got inspired a lot. Chinese traditional music has five tones – gong, shang, jue, zhi, and yu – and they even have specific recommended times based on the five tones, corresponding to different internal organs, and insane stuff like that, for musical therapy. It’s incredible.

PAN M 360: What were your resources? Old records, or new recordings of the instruments?

lisalyz: Both. I normally sampled a bit of old records as a base, and added new instruments on the top of that.

PAN M 360: Each individual track has a particular spirit. For instance, “Da Nian San Sher” is very playful and festive, while “Sunfalling” feels more formal and dignified, like music for an important parade or procession. “Moon Shines Over the Western Chamber” and “Hermit Descend on a Sandbank” are more serene and contemplative. What do you feel the tracks express?

lisalyz: “Da Nian San Sher” refers to Chinese New Year’s Eve in Chinese. It’s my favourite festival of all time, and I made that one in a CNY mood right before I went back home for the holidays. The original record I sampled on “Moon Shines Over the Western Chamber”, titled “Romance of the Western Chamber”, is a type of Cantonese music called hanyue. It’s also a well-known play about a love story.

“Hermit Descend on a Sandbank” was sampled from a really famous guqin [plucked Chinese zither] track called “Wild Geese Descend on the Sandbank”, showing the attitude of not caring much about fame and wealth, but focusing more on inner tranquility, just like a hermit.

I didn’t really have a lot of particular thoughts in mind while making these tracks, to be honest. But in general, I guess the thing I’m trying to tell is, we’re living in this crazy world. Be “still”, find your inner peace, and everything will be a whole lot easier.

PAN M 360: There’s a lot of light trap style in your production, especially on “Waterflowing”. What kind of modern music, or even particular artists, inspire you?

lisalyz: There’s this anti-depression track I played a lot in recent years – Young Peach, “u already know”, produced by Swimful/Damacha. It’s a cheesy one. I love it a lot and have a good laugh every single time I play it. For “Waterflowing”, I guess I just got influenced by the way they made that beat, without noticing myself. I love wave music as well. I think trap is one of the elements that it contains. Artists like Kareful, Downstate, Haven, Pholo, LJC, and Khemist are inspiring.

PAN M 360: Do you have any other music projects in the works? After Still, it will be very interesting to hear what comes next.

lisalyz: Yeah, I keep making stuff, but I would love to make something more creative and exciting that I’m not capable of at the moment.

The Orb recently released Abolition of the Royal Familia, their 16th album. Known for its space flights that often furnished the chill-out rooms of yesterday’s raves – who doesn’t remember the ambient anthem “Little Fluffy Clouds” – The Orb also dipped into house and quite a bit of electronic dub, notably in the company of the mythical Lee Scratch Perry. On this new effort, conceived in the company of the young British producer Michael Rendall and a handful of collaborators, The Orb offers an amalgamation of all the styles tackled over a 30-year career, with a denunciation of imperialism and the British royal family as a backdrop. PAN M 360 spoke with the legendary and somewhat eccentric Dr. Alex Paterson, who has guided – more or less alone – the destiny of The Orb since its beginnings in 1988.

PAN M 360: It seems the album is intended in part as a protest against the British royal family’s historical endorsement of the East India Company’s role in the opium trade. Can you elaborate on that?

Alex Paterson: It is indeed, in a small way. History repeats itself because the royal bloodlines of Europe want it to repeat itself. The East India company was set up under the guise of trade, like tea and sugar. But in many ways, it was like a secret operation of the royal Government, run by freemasons. And there’s a story of Jesus settling in the south of France to raise a family. Was this the Knights Templar’s secret? But back to the opulent Boxers Rebellion – i.e., opium wars. Sending opium to the Chinese and getting their nation hooked on it, and then stealing Hong Kong for the empire. Listen to “Empire Song” by Killing Joke. They got it. History is always written by the victor. New France is a perfect example, it’s now Canada. How old is the queen on your bank notes? And how do you feel about a royal couple settling in B.C.? One per cent own the world. Do you see the queen giving up any of her many estates to the common folk to help with Coronavirus? Shit no.

PAN M 360: What’s your take on the royal family?

Alex Paterson: Not much. The English revolution was fixed. Locally they’re called ‘the firm’. That sums it up.

PAN M 360: Can you explain how the album was conceived?

Alex Paterson: On tour last year with Michael Rendall, we seemed to agree on many things. We seem to work very fast in the studio. We trust our ears, hearts and instant fun, as nothing is a mistake, just a happy accidental ripple. We applied the landscaping and the artists planted seeds in the garden of The Orb. We waited six months and the album was born! Basically we started last year in August, and it was all done and dusted by Halloween.

PAN M 360 : Youth, Roger Eno, Steve Hillage, Jah Wobble and the other guests… What wastheir input in the creation or recording of the music?

Alex Paterson: So many friends, romans and countrymen! Gaudi on synth and Violeta on strings, as well as the usuals. Wobble couldn’t make it on this album, but he will appear on the next one (which we are planning at the moment).

PAN M 360: Would you say this album could be like a coherent overview of what The Orb has done in the last 30 years? A word on that?

Alex Paterson: LESS DRINK MORE SMOKE! It’s the first time since The Orb’s Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld that I produced an album with such huge help from someone. This time, it was from young Michael [Rendall].

PAN M 360: Tell us a bit about the pacing of the album.

Alex Paterson: It was put together as you would buy a double vinyl. Sides 1 and 3, dance and reggae, sides 2 and 4, ambient. As a DJ, it’s a good tool… disc jockey, a thing from the distant past. Look them up in museums near you. Anyways, it’s an easy pace, easy to keep up with and a bit poetic on the last tune.

PAN M 360: I read somewhere that Stephen Hawking liked your music. Is the track “Hawk Kings” a tribute to the late physicist?

Alex Paterson: I’ve become friends with Stepen Hawking’s son, Tim. He managed for myself and my partner to go to see Stephen at a lecture in the ’00s, in London. We were even invited to meet him and the rest of his family after his lecture. This moment, and being in Berlin when the wall came down, are probably the two most amazing moments of my life. I found out that Stephen listened to the first two albums while travelling between tours he was doing in Europe in the mid ’90s. It seemed natural to do a heads-up to a brilliant man.

PAN M 360 : Is “Slave Till U Die No Matter What U Buy (L’Anse Aux Meadows Mix)” a remake of, or a nod to, Jello Biafra’s “Message From Our Sponsors”? How punk or anti-establishment are you?

Alex Paterson: Original punk! This is a version of “Bodies”, a Sex Pistols song, with myself on vocals! How punk are you? I hate capitalism, by the way.

[EDITOR’S NOTE: Paterson was a roadie for Killing Joke for a long time, and continues to work with bassist Youth]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=25&v=iFJoqKo08Q8&feature=emb_logo.

PAN M 360 : The album is overflowing with absurd tracks titles. What place does humor or nonsense have in your music?

Alex Paterson: Inside your mind, someone’s always laughing. Are they laughing with you? Or at you? With nonsense humour, it’s a magical gate to another track.

PAN M 360: Abolition Of The Royal Familia was made many months before this pandemic, but it still closes with this: “Stay in your homes… no more than two people may gather anywhere without permission”. What do you have to say about that? You must have been stunned when you realized…?

Alex Paterson: Poetic justice. Indeed, the future is today. Have you seen Years And Years? It’s set in the near future and they have shut [influential conspiracy theorist] David Icke down now, for telling the truth. Welcome to the open prison Earth, locked up.

PAN M 360 : Does this pandemic crisis and lockdown inspire you?

Alex Paterson: No, not really. It’s anxiety time and there’s a load of shit going down we know nothing about, other than our freedom is not so free right now.

PAN M 360: What is the music you enjoy listening in times like these?

Alex Paterson: Ambient and reggae. Try tuning into WNBC.london, it’s our own radio station without news, weather reports and adverts, 24/7. Meanwhile, wash your hands, don’t touch your face, and listen to the album before curfew!

PAN M 360 : How did [musician, DJ and producer] Andy Weatherall’s recent passing affect you? Were you guys close?

Alex Paterson: It was a real shock to all of us that were in his circle of friends. I was closer than most people. I just feel for his girlfriend and music partners, Nina and the Sabres of Paradise crew. RIP, Andrew.

Photo credit: Chris MacArthur

Like everyone else, NOBRO had plans. Plans for concerts with Pussy Riot at the CMW in Toronto, tours and festivals in Quebec and elsewhere… and like everyone else, those plans fell through, for obvious reasons. But there’s one project that hasn’t been cancelled, rather simply postponed for a few weeks, and that’s the release of the 4-track EP Sick Hustle, on the Toronto label Dine Alone, and the accompanying video clip. “The music video is for the song ‘Don’t Die…’ We were supposed to release all this stuff a few weeks ago, but with everything that’s happened, we thought it might not be the best idea to release it too soon,” explains drummer Sarah Dion, interviewed along with keyboard-percussionist Lisandre Bourdages, both of them in quarantine after a trip to Mexico. “We thought maybe the timing wasn’t right. I know it’s a cartoon, there’s nothing creepy or sinister about it, but we thought we’d wait a bit until the panic over the pandemic thing died down and our song wasn’t misinterpreted.”

Formed about six years ago by the fiery bassist and singer Kathryn McCaughey, NOBRO has seen many musicians pass through its ranks before arriving at the current configuration – a mutation that has transformed the sound and energy of the Montreal band. Today, the four musicians, with Karolane Carbonneau on the six-strings, play a furious mix of heavy rock – and a bit of pop – that would make L7 blush.

“When Kathryn started the band, her idea was to bring together the flashiest and most show-off musicians, put them on a stage and make fast and intense songs with them,” says the metronomic Sarah Dion. “It was really a statement, and the band’s name leaves no room for innuendo. No bro. A first EP was released in 2015, but only Kathryn from the current band was on it. Then Lisandre, Karolane and I all arrived at different times. I’d say it’s been about a year and a half since the four of us have been playing together, and this is our first record. It’s quite different from what the old band used to do. It’s like a new start.”

“It was a lot more punk before, more knockabout,” adds Lisandre Bourdages, who is also in the Shirley line-up with Sarah Dion, and Comment Debord with Karolane Carbonneau. “Now, I’d say that we’re putting more time and work into the search for tonalities, into the composition of the songs. It’s more complex and we have more confidence. The sound is much richer, less punk and more ’70s rock, stoner and even pop. We follow a lot of Kathryn’s influences – T-Rex, Betty Davis, Black Sabbath, MC5… As for me, I studied Latin percussion, Sarah had a reggae band, Karolane was in a free-jazz combo… So when you put it all together, you make sure that all these influences are coherent.”

F-Rock

Calling themselves a feminist rock band, the NOBRO girls point out, however, that this stance is not really reflected in the quartet’s lyrics. “I see myself more as a musician in a rock band,” Dion admits. “But the basic idea, the statement in fact, is that NOBRO is a group of girls who rock. To show that four women together are capable of mastering their instruments superbly, and tearing it up. But as the years go by, we’re finding that it’s becoming less and less rare to see bands made up entirely of women. The day it’s the norm, then I’ll say we’ve won our case.”

photo: Patrick O’Brien

PAN M 360: In your opinion, what’s changed with your new album?

Ishmael Butler: I don’t really think about the things done on this new album. The objective is not to achieve something specific, it’s more about relaying these unspeakable things, guided by the laws of nature. When you get high and make music, vibrations are generated, emotions are translated into music and words.

PAN M 360: Yes, but… deep down, what do you think you’ve accomplished with this new album?

Ishmael Butler: I hope that this is not a rehashing of what I did before. I always try to do something different. I try to grow artistically by incorporating new ideas, which is what I’ve been doing since I was a child. You know, artists have their own personality, I don’t really know what mine is and I think it’s better for me to see it that way. I wouldn’t necessarily describe my own music as ‘advanced’ hip hop, as some people say. For my part, I’m not in a position to analyze or define. I’m in a position to act. It’s about living and doing things, having the idea of a form and developing it.

PAN M 360: Specifically, how did you work on the concept of The Don of Diamond Dreams?

Ishmael Butler: I’m always creating songs – on my computer, in the studio, in people’s homes after a show, wherever possible. When I have free time, I compile the work I’ve done, then I distill it into smaller, more precise formats. Then there’s the lyrics, the instrumental supplements, the final reduction and the mixing. Some patterns emerge then, an overall sound, an atmosphere, an environment. The whole thing took place over a period of about a year.

PAN M 360: What is your creative equipment and how do you use it?

Ishmael Butler: Here is my gear: Ableton sequencer, guitars, keyboards, effect pedals, vocal filters, wind instruments, string instruments, bass, percussion. I always buy new material, it induces new ideas. Also, I’m looking to meet artists who have new approaches, new ideas. I also like to learn how to play popular songs and understand how they are made, that leads me to a thousand new ideas. It’s like a snowball that gets bigger when it goes down a slope.

PAN M 360: In front of an audience, do you perform with a group of musicians?

Ishmael Butler: Preferably yes, but… If you’re paid a certain amount of money for a tour, you can’t take ten people with you, because your budget doesn’t allow it. Often the restriction is directly related to your tour budget. There are also other considerations. Let’s take the example of Flying Lotus, with whom I’ve already toured. He’s chosen to offer a visual experience in line with his music, so he devotes a large part of his financial resources to this visual aspect, and therefore chooses to simplify his musical presentation. And you know, fans often want to see and hear one person. But things can change; we can see some hip hop or electronic artists on stage with the baddest cats.

PAN M 360: Who are the people who collaborated on this album?

Ishmael Butler: I first composed all the music, beats and preliminary arrangements. I then worked with Darrius Willrich, keyboards and guitars, Evan Flory-Barnes, bassist extraordinaire from Seattle, Otis Calvin on keyboards, Erik Blood, bass, Carlos Niño, percussion, Carlos Overall, saxophone. Purple Tate Nate, Stas THEE Boss, and Carlos Overall are each featured in one song. They all add their own interpretation of the original mood, taking my songs to different places. I then fine-tuned by grafting their sounds to my songs. Erik Blood and I then mixed the whole thing at Studio 4 Labs in Venice, with the help of Andy Kravitz. As a result, we have a quality of sound that we have never had on other Shabazz Palaces albums.

PAN M 360: Can you briefly describe the purpose of the three songs on The Don of Diamond Dreams?

Ishmael Butler: “Thanking the Girls” evokes all the beautiful women I have known, who have shared their experiences and generosity with me. “Ad Ventures” is dedicated to the people of Black Constellation, my artistic family in which I create and grow. “Reg Walks by the Looking Glasses” is dedicated to my father, who loves the saxophone.

PAN M 360: Looking at your lyrics, you’re a chronicler of both public and private life – neither sphere seems to prevail.

Ishmael Butler: I have the impression that all these things in life, public or private, flicker together. Heaps of layers overlap and make up our perception of reality. When you try to distance yourself from your emotions and your life experience, you find that there is no dividing line. In my mind, everything fits together. At first glance, I’m not hyper-strong in all the subjects I deal with, but rather I have a global approach. I’m guided first and foremost by my instincts.

PAN M 360 : Beyond hip hop, do you listen to other music?

Ishmael Butler: Yes, a lot. New alternative music, experimental music, weird music of all kinds. I like music in general, if a song is good, that’s what counts. What do I like at the moment? Jpeg Mafia, Kamasi Washington, Ariel Pink, Yves Tumor, a hundred others! I go through the playlists, podcasts and videos I get sent. I’m interested in young people, I don’t think the new hip hop is lame or weak. But I think a lot of young hip hop artists don’t have that sensitivity for what older people like me consider substantial, but that doesn’t make them any less substantial in my mind. The value of a work rests on the emotional responsibility and instinct of the artist observing reality. People my age might describe recent works as empty, repetitive or lacking in creativity and… none of these impressions are my concern.

PAN M 360: What is your general perception of hip hop in 2020?

Ishmael Butler: Hip hop is a form that is less easy to circumscribe than it was at its beginnings. Rather, hip hop has become a global, multi-genre phenomenon. The term hip hop cannot perfectly describe this phenomenon, this hip hop that has become global nevertheless remains a reflection of its time. We are going through a period that is at the same time materialistic, nihilistic, absurd, excessive… and hip hop creators are a reflection of this through their creative work. In the United States where I am, just look at our political situation, the crisis of the pandemic and the resulting stock market crash – hip hop will testify to this as it has done since its early beginnings.

“I must say, the hardest challenge for me is to not make the tracks too busy with all kinds of percussion layers,” says Nicola Mauskovic. “I really like creating new rhythms, but it’s not always beneficial for the song to completely squeeze it full of busy congas and guiras.”

Seems like a sensible approach, given that the group the Amsterdam-based musician and producer leads, The Mauskovic Dance Band, makes music that’s already packed to bursting with all kinds of stuff. Their first full album, an eponymous release on the Soundway label last year (after several EPs on Swiss imprint Bongo Joe), showcased their tangle of dizzy space disco, effervescent Afro-Colombian motifs, and outré NYC punk-funk, steeped in a stew of hallucinogenic howls and haunting chants, rubber-band basslines, eerie synth licks and enigmatic echoes.

Sounds like a lot of upbeat fun, and it is, but that’s a bit deceptive. Insinuated into the MDB’s sound is a subtle but certain streak of unease. “I think the hypnotic element in our music, from the repetitive rhythms, gives it kind of a darker atmosphere,” says Mauskovic.

“I have the feeling some people tend to see rhythmic music as happy music,” Mauskovic continues. “Or as soon if there is an upbeat groove, and congas or other percussion, the music is party music. Which for me isn’t the case.

“A lot of the ’70s and ’80s music from West Africa – which I listen to a lot – has, for me, a pretty dark or melancholy atmosphere. But definitely still danceable! I mean, I don’t consider techno, which is definitely made for the dancefloor, happy music.”

Let’s say, then, that MDB’s music isn’t so much gleeful as it is gregarious, in the zoological sense. A demonstration of human gathering as celebration – and in ordinary times, survival mechanism.

Mauskovic himself is a promiscuous player, with a resumé that includes Turk-psych revivalists Altin Gün, Zambian garage-rock elders W.I.T.C.H., and chamber-pop purveyor Jacco Gardner, with whom he formed the delirious duo Bruxas. Nonetheless, the MDB’s music begins in a solitary context.

“Working alone is for me the best way to really experiment and trying new things. Nobody is waiting for a result, or for when they can start to play their take. But in the end, we always finish the song with the full band, so it becomes more organic and live.”

The MDB took that principle one step further in their choice of where to record their album. Amsterdam’s Garage Noord might not match Abbey Road in its technical standards, but the atmosphere was perfect for Mauskovic and company.

“It’s a pretty smoky nightclub on the weekends, so the studio space is often used as an after-party place or the smoking room. But this also gives a good vibe to the place. It’s basically the storage room of the club, where they have a little recording set-up in the corner.

“The club and the band fit very well together. They program all kinds of music in the club but it always has a focus on the experimental, and percussive rhythms. A place where punk and techno come together.”

The approach was a bit different for MDB’s new Shadance Hall EP, due out April 17 on Dekmantel. It’s four whole new tracks, twice, and as Mauskovic puts it, “way more influenced by dub mixing and dancehall rhythms. The B-side is dub or riddim versions of the A-side.”

Working with producer Kasper Frenkel in his Electric Monkey studio, Mauskovic recalls, “We made many different versions of the tracks. Live-mixing to tape, we experimented with the reverbs and echoes he had in his studio – and used the studio more as an instrument.”

If you’re curious about the results, check out our review of the Shadance Hall EP, also here on PAN M 360.

Souldia is on the line from the greater Quebec City area. Originally from the Limoilou district where he came of age, Saint-Laurent has been living happily on the outskirts of the capital.

“My maturity as a man, my musical exploration, my choices of collaboration are the main indicators of my recent evolution. In my mid-thirties, I’m certainly not writing the same lyrics as I did ten years ago. My way of life has changed, I’m at an age (35) where one wonders if the choices made in the past were the right ones. I can’t change the past, but I could do better in the future.”

Souldia’s approach remains the same in spite of the experience gained, as the 18 songs on Backstage’s programme attest.

“What I’m still doing now is 360-degree reality rap. I’m inspired by life, my own life and the lives of the people around me. It can come from a simple phone conversation.”

Examples?

“The song ‘Backstage’, performed with Eli Rose, embodies the concept of the album: behind the curtains of the stage, and behind the curtains of my life. I tell my vision of things, on tour, from town to town. I confide my concern about keeping my family together through all this. I like to take my family on tour with me, and make them live that experience. My wife is a real-estate agent by profession, but she still helps me a lot artistically. Her opinions count in my choices, she has a very good musical ear.”

According to the lyrics of “Magnifique”, Kevin’s father was no angel, but his wounded soul bore enough goodness and charm to spark filial admiration.

“My father was my best friend. He passed away in 2012, so I’ve been thinking about doing this song for eight years. Until recently, I hadn’t found the words or the music, I didn’t know where to start, I really had to think about how I could talk about him. It was tricky. We’ve got less than three minutes to make this work! In the end, I tell his story while giving the impression that I’m talking about myself. In the chorus, you realize that he’s the one I’m talking about.”

The biggest star of keb rap also lent a hand:

“I’d never done songs with Loud before, I’d wanted to do that for a long time. We knew that the day he and I would do a song together, it would be explosive. ‘Rêve de jeunesse’ will be useful for both of us over the next ten years!”

Other big shots participated, on which Saint-Laurent comments:

“‘Nouveau Soleil’ brings together Eman, from Alaclair, and FouKi, who are very talented artists, who can take us to their own planet. So I created a song with them to take my audience on a journey with them.”

Very often, hip hop albums involve guest appearances by established artists, but also choice recruits… and old buddies.

“‘Every Day’ was made with White-B, with whom I worked on my song ‘Le Bonheur des autres’. I still wanted to have a one-on-one with this artist I respect a lot, and who I think will become important in the years to come. ‘Mega Mulla’, with Tizzo, is one of my favourite songs on the album. Tizzo is also an artist to watch closely. Recorded with les Sozi – the Pelletier twins – with whom I learnt to rap, ‘Joyeux Noël’ marks my belonging to the Limoilou neighbourhood.”

Apart from all these appearances by keb rappers, there’s a significant dose of hexagonal rap in Backstage:

“‘Rouge Neige’ features Sinik and Seth Gueko from France, joined by Quebecer Rick Pagano. I’m proud to have Sinik as a partner, I’ve been working with him for three or four years, and he invited me to Paris for the launch of his album at La Cigale. In France, Sinik introduced me to Seth Gueko, who’s also a pillar of the rap scene over there. And then I got involved in the production myself. I was joined by Rick Pagano, a former contestant on La Voix, also a guy from Quebec City, and we became good friends. So I managed to create this mix of French and Quebecois, because our rap roots are the same.”

Souldia worked this time with a cohort of beatmakers – in addition to the main ones mentioned, there are Oni, Ajust, Realmind, Toosik, DJ Manifest, Major:

“I’ve been working with Farfadet and Christophe Martin for a long time now and they’re always by my side. Ruff Sound is back for the track with Loud, ‘Rêve de jeunesse’. Ruff Sound is a big name, he worked a lot with Loud, it wasn’t hard to unify all that on ‘Rêve de jeunesse’. Koudjo and Dfresh worked on SKRAB, they’re excellent Quebec beatmakers who’ve worked on French rap hits.”

Among the most prolific artists of the keb rap scene, Souldia wants to avoid any redundancy:

“I really don’t like to stay in the same niche, repeating the same flows from my previous albums. That’s why I also listen to music that’s different from hip hop… which is one of the only kinds of music that can be mixed with any other musical genre. Within hip hop, I also like mixing: hard rap, afro-trap, old-fashioned boom bap, scratches from my friend DJ Fade Wizard.

“In the end, it’s more than just rap.”

Beyond the global pandemic, the launch of It Is What It Is took place in a very particular context.

“It’s been a lot of growth and change, sometimes pain, actual real-life aspects. At this point, it’s not so easy to see what has been achieved. To be honest with you, as a songwriter, I’m very proud with the body of work that it is. I guess the best way to describe the process is that I’ve never taken a break composing. I was never feeling composing for a specific project, it was an ongoing process.”

Therefore…

“Things only changed recently, when major events happen in my life. In a different way, it kind of forced me to sit down. My best friend passed away, it led me to stop drinking alcohol, many things changed since. It’s also part of life, you know, we gotta come out of this and try to lead something. I’m not the first to go through that, its okay.”

In great demand, Thundercat evolves within an extended family, several eminent members of which came to lend him a hand in the recording sessions for his fourth album.

“Between me and guys like Ty Dolla $ign, Louis Cole, Donald Glover [Childish Gambino], Steve Arrington, Zach Fox, there is something familiar. I’ve been collaborating with those people since a while, we got closer together through this recent process of creation. It changed a few things in my music. All those guys are very close friends and I feel very fortunate to have them with me on the album. I think we spent intense moments – TyDolla $ign, Lil B and me were very close to Mac [Miller], we were very upset and shaken by this loss. At the same time, Mac has been a light for us during the recording sessions. He was a very much a musician first – seriously, his musical skills were very strong. That was also an occasion to share love and friendship.”

A seasoned stage vet, virtuoso to say the least, Thundercat defines himself first and foremost as a performing artist:

“Live, my music is a sort of a stretch, it is very similar in a way. Many ways lead to the final compositions, but the live trio is the same that tours with me since a few years – Justin Brown on drums. I feel blessed to have them on stage with me.”

Until further notice, due to the coronavirus crisis, the stage performer is in retreat…

“My tour was cut short, so I’m getting back into practicing. I have a chance to practice every day, I got to adjust because life has changed. Right now, I also try to sit down and reflect. It’s a bit difficult but it’s okay. Whatever happens, life is still moving forward like it always will.”

Along with musicians such as Flying Lotus, Kamasi Washington, Terrace Martin, Taylor McFerrin, Michael League, Makaya McCraven, Shabaka Hutchings and other leaders, Thundercat is one of the great reformers of jazz, hip hop, soul/R&B and electronic music.

“For me, the blend between jazz, hip, soul/R&B and electronic music is healthy balance. Where am I? I’m at both places at the same time: songwriting and instrumental music. I’ve never seen them as separate. My music is landing itself at its place, it’s a bit of a wild card.”

While still young, Thundercat points out that he is 35 years old and needs to be open to the next generation.

“I’m very inspired by young people bringing hip hop and rap somewhere else, they’re making something different, bringing an interesting perspective to the music. Among them, I think about guys like Guapdad 4000, 645 AR, Smino, Earth Gang, Phony Ppl. The doors are opened again for creative et innovative music.”

Older jazz hounds have noted that Stephen Lee Bruner‘s music doesn’t deny the golden age of jazz fusion.

“I think that my audience is aware that I’m also doing jazz music. Also, this music is really connected with instrumental R&B and jazz-funk from the ’70s, which was a very important period for this kind of music. I grew up with jazz-funk and jazz fusion, musicians like Herbie Hancock, George Duke and Stanley Clarke are major influences in my own creative evolution.

“I know, this music became boring and commercial for a long while before becoming creative again. The musical landscape is always changing, the forms and shapes go through mutations, this is what happened with hip hop. People were hungry for something different, and created it, and that was hip hop.”

Thundercat concludes on a rather optimistic note, despite the hard trials and tribulations:

“In a way, I’m a byproduct of my environment, it explains my interest to those different music styles. I try to gather different periods of the modern music history. I feel that every instrument, acoustic, analog or digital, can be a tool for composers. Whatever is coming next in music is very exciting, I’m ready to see what happens. People from the new generation and different parts of the world are diving into the creative universe and bring different breeds into it. It’s beautiful to see! And I’m happy and grateful to be part of that.”

And that, being what it is, is that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVOjKAOUPQQ

This is the story of four teens from relatively privileged backgrounds enrolled at the South Shore’s Collège Durocher. Like most pop, rock, or other experiments, this one began in a basement, at the home of Charles-Antoine Olivier, aka CAO, drummer of Zen Bamboo.

Simon Larose, singer, guitarist and lyricist of the group, sums it up:

“In the beginning, it was really nothing more than spending the weekend jamming in the drummer’s basement. It was our main hobby as teenagers, which gradually became professional. Today, [bassist] Xavier Touikan and I are 24 years old, CAO and [guitarist] Léo are each 22. None of us studied music after high school; we all took programs in visual arts, literature, film and communications at CEGEP and university. CAO completed an undergraduate degree in film at UQAM, Léo was enrolled in visual arts, Xavier in digital arts, and I in comparative literature. We all took a break from university to do music full time.”

The music of Zen Bamboo is hard not notice, it is rich, shaggy, voluminous and ear-catching. Larose takes a new look at the stylistic side of the story:

“The indie rock and the emo of the 2000s are very important in the matter. Hip hop and R&B also permeate our musical culture, they are major influences even if they aren’t apparent. When we were working on this album, we were thinking about Frank Ocean, or even less tasteful rappers, like Lil Peep. We were also thinking about Grimes’ pop. As for the most crucial influences, I’m thinking of Nirvana, The Pixies, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Built to Spill, Elliott Smith, Frank Zappa, Jacques Brel, George Brassens, Jacques Dutronc, Richard Desjardins.”

Although they are of rock allegiance, the young guys from Zen Bamboo are this apparently now classic genre to the digital age. Larose explains how they do it.

“We offer rock songs based on simple structures. The arrangements are less simple, and it’s in the way we work that it happens. For example, you can take a drum pattern and adapt it in different ways; you can remove or inject elements from the original recording to generate new effects. Our songs were composed with guitars, bass, drums, and then we spent a lot of time on the computer. We tried a thousand things, transformed the sound recordings, imagined several collages. When something surprised us, we kept it.”

Zen Bamboo have been performing since 2015. To this day, the strength of the group is at its greatest in front of an audience. Larose says it loud and clear:

“It’s what we like to do the most, and that’s how we made our name. To this day, I find us even better on stage than on record. You know, we play together regularly for the simple pleasure of playing, it’s still our favourite hobby even after six years of existence. For the next show, by the way, we plan to adapt the songs by playing them without machines, which allows us to change the interpretation in real time.”

Julien Mineau, leader of the group Malajube (2006-2011) and the Fontarabie project (2014), produced GLU. Larose describes the connection they established:

“Our former manager frequented a bar in the Quartier Latin where Malajube’s bassist, Mathieu Cournoyer, was, and he put us in touch with Mineau. Of course, Malajube is a mythical band for all young Quebecers of my generation who play rock. In our specific case, the influence of Malajube and Julien Mineau is mainly felt in the layering of sounds. Also in the way their songs culminate. Having said that, we really didn’t want to sound like Malajube, while evoking their influence with care. What we did with him, in fact, doesn’t fit in with the Quebec rock thread. And if there’s anyone who wants to do something other than Malajube, it’s Julien Mineau! Nevertheless, I admit that musically, it’s in the same creative spirit. When it comes to writing lyrics, however, we’re not really in the same place.”

Indeed, Larose’s lyrics have little in common with those of his musical mentor. He attempts an explanation:

“When it’s confusing and sketchy in the writing, when I try to create an imbalance, a diagonal effect, it brings me immense aesthetic and symbolic satisfaction. To confuse, to say one thing to mean another, or to say pointless things, or exaggerate other things, it’s a big game for me.”

And the tone? Simon says he feels “enraged” when he writes and expresses his song lyrics. Why is this?

“I try to make sense of what I see all around me and… it’s all so strange, violent, chaotic, absurd. My references range from 9/11 to the prospect of making children in this world in disarray. So I see songwriting like a bull seeing red. I see our age as an absurd and threatening monster, and that’s why I try to create another monster to stand up to it.”

A third of a century ago, in 1985, four greasy, sneering, badly behaved Montreal teenagers (“with no previous musical experience”, as their Wikipedia page politely puts it) started out on their long journey to the pinnacle of the global garage-rock scene. With matching black turtlenecks and bowl cuts, and a band name borrowed from the creepy neighbours on The Flintstones, The Gruesomes howled in homage to the forgotten fuzz lords of the 1960s, bands that they would before long stand alongside as peers.

Back in the late ’80s, The Gruesomes were veritable trailblazers for the protean indie-rock tour circuit, crisscrossing Canada and rattling the roofbeams of countless sweaty little show bars. They broke up in 1990 and reformed a decade later, only to discover that they’d become global icons of the garage-rock revival. Live sets from these self-appointed “tyrants of teen trash” have become less frequent as the years have passed, and their rare reunions are a big deal to the Beatle-boot set.

New recordings are likewise rare. In fact, the band themselves had no reason to believe they’d ever do another. A bunch of superfans in Spain insisted otherwise, and the result is a super-cool combination comic book and seven-inch single – the ideal Gruesomes artifact.

PAN M 360 got in touch with Gruesomes guitarist and songwriter Bobby Beaton, to find out more.

PAN M 360: The Gruesomes recently returned from Spain. What were you guys doing there?

Bobby Beaton: Believe it or not, we were over there playing garage music. We had originally agreed to just play at a festival, but the promoters started offering more shows and it turned into a mini-tour of northern Spain. We didn’t know it, but Spain is crazy for rock ’n’ roll. Garage music in particular represents a larger niche than it does here. They have show-bars dedicated exclusively to the genre, and many more that feature it regularly. So everybody knew our songs and all the shows sold out and they had no problem filling opening slots with local garage bands. They even put us on Spanish national radio for an hour-long interview exploring our music and influences! I am not making any of this up. Spain has an appetite for garage that apparently cuts across all demographics.

PAN M 360: Apparently, you came back with something highly contagious… that’s right, your catchy new 45 single! What’s the scoop on that?

Bobby Beaton: The single was a suggestion from the Spanish promoters. It’s a collaborative effort from a new label called Calico Wally, a record company called KOTJ Records, a comic studio called Palmeras Y Puros, and the Wachina Wachina Festival in Zaragoza. The angle they went with was, “legendary garage band is back with a Spanish tour and new single!” People were genuinely happy to buy it and we signed tons of them at shows. We thought it was weird making a new record, but it seemed very important to these folks – they took it seriously and did a great job with the artwork, pressing and promotion.

PAN M 360: Spill the beans on the single’s two tracks. What gives?

Bobby Beaton: The A-side is a band original called “Someone Told a Lie”. I was listening to a lot of Swedish garage at the time and wrote a song in that style. The B-side is a cover of “Make Up Your Mind” by Los Mockers, the Rolling Stones of Uruguay in the ’60s, a band that we have always loved. The original version is just so crazy good that we had to change it up a bit, give it our own sound, to even justify recording it. We actually got to meet the songwriter, Esteban Hirshfield from Los Mockers, in Spain, and he liked our version.

PAN M 360: If roughly five and a half minutes of greasy Gruesomes garage rock weren’t enough, the single comes with a special bonus… a comic book! Better yet, an EC-style horror anthology comic book, in which the Gruesomes get the supernatural comeuppance they so richly deserve!

Bobby Beaton: Finally! In the first story, we’re portrayed as paranoid idiots who misinterpret the hospitality of the well-meaning Spanish locals as some sort of evil Scooby Doo plot. The second story pays homage to the Hammer horror film Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors, in which the band is cursed for playing a forbidden song. It’s an eight-page comic book by artists Furillo and Jorge Rueda. They have a company called Palmeras Y Puros and are both quite well known over there. They are big fans of the Gruesomes and quickly found the right tone for our band. They were as enthusiastic as we were about the project. We actually met the artists in Zaragoza and got a chance to hang out together. Very cool people.

PAN M 360: Where would you place this seven-inch, on your ranked list of The Gruesomes’ Greatest Contributions to Human Culture and History?

Bobby Beaton: We would compare it to a lost episode of Gilligan’s Island – of extreme cultural significance for some dedicated people, an interesting distraction for others. We are extremely proud of it. The cover art, the songs, the comic are all better than we could have hoped for. We had never thought that we would record again, so it’s just as surprising for us as anyone else.

The digital download of the “Someone Told a Lie” single can be purchased at the Bandcamp page at left. For the real-deal, vinyl version with comic book included can be ordered from Ricochet Sound.