Interviews

Founded in 2014 in Tokyo around the figure of Kyotaro Miula, the name Minami Deutsch evokes the image of a fantastical Germany that potentially existed in the past but that we would especially like to see grow in the future. While Germany was divided between East and West during the krautrock era of the 1970s, the term Minami Deutsch, which means “South Germany,” perhaps represents the timeless Kosmische utopia of those off-the-ground musicians who sought to shatter the walls. 

From one legacy to another, Minami Deutsch succeeds in resurrecting, fifty years later, the original essence and liberating spirit of this music. The well-kept secret of the German flying sauerkraut seems to be alive and well, and even more relevant and needed than ever. During the Roadburn festival in 2018, Minami Deutsch notably performed a recorded live set with the legendary Damo Suzuki, known for his inimitable freeing improvisation, which overflows like a delirious and incomprehensible stream of consciousness. Kosmische musik is thus not only a musical genre, but above all an avant-garde, surrealist and universal state of mind.

In addition to his interest in the famous motorik rhythm, Kyotaro Miula also likes to draw on the repetitive electronic rhythms of minimal wave and minimal techno for his remixes and his solo project Fagus Fluvialis, creating a kind of minimal motorik that is well worth a listen. Just before the notable opening act of French duo Le goût acide des conservateurs, who seeks to rouse a gas-sleeping France from its deep sleep, PAN M 360 caught up with guitarists Kyotaro Miula and Taku Idemoto when they played at the Supersonic in Paris for their European tour. Even if the language barrier may have been felt during the interview, the cosmic language, both quiet and spontaneous, transcends artificial walls and cerebral borders.

PAN M 360: The band Minami Deutsch started in 2014. Where did you guys meet each other ?

Kyotaro Miula: We met in Tokyo at a party organized by Kikagaku Moyo. They hold those parties once a month. So, Taku and I went there once and the collective started like this. We practice every week now together.

PAN M 360: You call yourself “repetition freaks”. What do you mean by that ?

Kyotaro Miula: I like minimal techno a lot, from the Chilean-german DJ Ricardo Villalobos for example. I actually like going to clubs and dancing. When there are a lot of different rhythms and cadences in a song, I find it hard to concentrate on dancing. I have a lot of trouble with sentimental songs, like love songs or ballads. In minimal techno, it can be about one simple bass line. I like repetition and constancy.

PAN M 360: Your first two albums are specifically centered around the motorik rhythm. What made you like this beat and krautrock in general?

Kyotaro Miula: Because of the kosmische ! You can focus on yourself with this kind of music. Psychedelic rock from the UK and USA feels more pop to me. This special German psychedelic rock can be darker or more experimental.

Taku Idemoto: It helps to go inside (he points to his heart with both hands).

PAN M 360: “Everyone has their own imagination about outer space”. What do you mean by that?

Taku Idemoto: Music can help you have inner vision. You can focus on the light here when you play music or during meditation (he points the middle of his forehead). Or when you take psychedelic drugs (laugh).

Kyotaro Miula: The inner vision is actually like outer space. Inner and outer are the same.

PAN M 360: Have you ever seen a UFO ?

Kyotaro Miula : Yes !

Taku Idemoto : It was full of colors, like a rainbow. 

PAN M 360 : Kyotaro, you went to live in Berlin before recording the new album Fortune Goodies. Why did you decide to live there ? What was the purpose ?

Kyotaro Miula : I wanted to have an experience of this city because of my interest in German rock. I made contacts with some artists and musicians there. I don’t really like living in Japan as psychedelic rock is not very popular. There are too many businessmen, it’s so busy there. I don’t know what they are doing (laugh). There is no time to take it slow. Berlin feels more relaxed. I was in Neukölln district, which is more like a lower-class district. I wanted to avoid the posh areas and the suits men. I wanted to experience German life and the culture. I also like German movies, from the directors Michael Haneke and Rainer Werner Faussbinder. I saw the old movie Das Cabinet des Dr Caligari and I would like to watch Metropolis from Fritz Lang.

PAN M 360 : The artwork of this album was created by Noguchi Shimura. He’s going to have his solo exhibition “ありがto” (“thank you to”) presented at the Yorocobito Galery in Tokyo next month. What can you tell us about this artist ?

Kyotaro Miula : He’s very interesting. I simply found him on Instagram. As I was in Tokyo at the time, I contacted him and I managed to meet him. He’s older than me but at the same time, I feel we are the same age. He started his professional career when he was 30 years old. Before that, he never showed his artwork to anyone. He’s very talented but he’s also quite a strange guy, he spent nearly ten years on a particular drawing. In his art, I really like the symetrie, the motifs and the drawing structure. He usually put squares, circles and triangles. I like his collages.

Taku Idemoto : His work looks like religious paintings to me.

PAN M 360 : “I have never called the beat the Motorik myself. That sounds more like a machine and it was very much a human beat. It’s a feeling, like a picture, like driving down a long road or lane. It is essentially about life, how you have to keep moving, get on and stay in motion. To be driven by the drive, breaking on through”. This is a quote from the drummer Klaus Dinger, from the krautrock band NEU!. What’s your take on it ?

Kyotaro Miula : (he speaks japanese with the rest of the band for some time) We like what Klaus Dinger says. If you want the right rhythm, you can use the computer and do laptop music or something. A human drummer thinks about keeping the same rhythm but it’s clearly impossible. When you have slight variations, it’s a good feeling, we like it. It’s like being between a robot and a human. I like the motorik repetition but the slight changes make it more human.

If there was a chart of Canada’s biggest indie rock bands in the last decade, Hamilton’s Arkells would be closer to the top. Since their debut in 2007 with the Deadlines EP, and the 2008 Jackson Square album, Arkells have been consistently riding the indie music radio charts. During the pandemic, they released an acoustic album of old songs and a brand new album in 2021 called Blink Once.

This September they are dropping part two, entitled Blink Twice. Lead singer Max Kerman assures us that both Blink albums are meant to be listened to as one piece of work, a double LP if you will. We spoke with Max ahead of Arkells’ performance at Osheaga about the upcoming album, keeping the Arkells’ sound fresh, and collaborating more in alternative rock music.

PAN M 360: Your Hamilton show in June looked like one of your biggest and it was postponed a few times right?

Max Kerman: Yeah it’s been a lot of stopping and starting. We did some shows last summer in Toronto, on the Budweiser stage to kind of kick off live music again. And then, you know, things got ground to a halt again in the winter. And then we did some American tours in the spring and some Ontario dates. And our big Hamilton show happened at the end of June, and we did some Canada Day stuff out in British Columbia, but Yeah, feels like we’re, we’re back on solid ground. You know, we’re obviously coming to Montreal at the end of the month for Osheaga and have some European Touring after that. So it feels good to be working again.

PAN M 360: And what’s it like to tour again with that level of uncertainty as the pandemic rises and plateaus?

Max Kerman: Yeah, it’s hard to think too hard about it. You might drive yourself crazy. On a certain level, you sort of have to trust the experts and listen to their good advice. And sort of hope for the best that you can, you know, do your job which is going out and entertaining people.

PAN M 360: You guys have the Blink Once album out and Blink Twice coming out in September. Where did this idea of co-albums come from?

Max Kerman: Hmmm good question. I mean, I think we intended to kind of roll out Blink Once back in 2020. And then the pandemic happened, we looked around, and we noticed, that so many of our favorite artists and friend’s bands were putting up the music and without touring, it felt like all their efforts into it. It sort of like evaporated right, because touring is such an important part of expressing music. So we put Blink Once on hold and we made an acoustic record. And we continued to write new songs. So when we put up Blink Once in 2021, we always knew in the back of our minds that there’d be more music coming. And it would also help kind of like, seed the album cycle, and make the music feel like it’s fresh and new and exciting. And we actually did sort of like a Taylor Swift-style tease where the last song on Blink Once is an outerlude and it’s actually a bit of the first song from Blink Twice.

PAN M 360: So is the idea to kind of play them front to back as a double album?

Max Kerman: That’s the goal. I think it’ll feel like one body of work. There’s a lot of music being put out these days. And I think we’re of the mind that if you’re excited about the songs you don’t have to wait two and a half years between record cycles and if you got something you’re pumped on you can put it out.

PAN M 360: And you have many guest artists on the upcoming Blink Twice album; The Cold War Kids, Tegan and Sara, Lights, Aly & AJ, and Cœur de pirate. Was it the pandemic that kind of gave you the time to work with so many?

Max Kerman: I think the pandemic allowed a lot of time to sort of reflecting and think about what we wanted to do moving forward and how we wanted to evolve and try new things. And I think when we look around at other genres, whether it’s hip hop or electronic music or pop music, there’s so much more collaboration. It feels like rock music doesn’t get to do that as much, right? So why can’t we do it? So we started reaching out to friends. And we had certain songs in mind that we thought could fit certain voices. And yeah, it was really fun. And I think for us, it’s like being able to like to make music, which is not just my voice singing on it. At least for us, it’s amazing to listen back to the music that we’ve made and, and hear another voice on it. Like I was tired of my voice. I was just singing everything.

PAN M 360: We obviously love Cœur de pirate here, what was it like working with her on “Dance With You”? And also, singing in French?

Max Kerman: Yeah, well, I’d say that my French accent is not great and I worked really hard on trying to make it passable. People in Quebec and France can tell me if I did it or not. And yeah that one was quite different from most of our other material. And I think it’s, to me, that’s why it’s really exciting. And we wanted some female vocals that sound good together for the course. And then having some sisters sing on it, Aly & AJ, did the trick. I listened to a lot of French music during the pandemic. It was kind of fun in the morning to listen to like old French folk music while I was reading the paper. And I was like, ‘Well, why don’t we try to do something where it’s, you know, one verse in French one verse in English. And we reached out to Béatrice [Cœur de pirate] with the idea. And she came up with some amazing lyrics in short order, and we got her to sing with us. And again, it’s all about a sort of personal discovery, evolving and not doing the same thing you did before.

PAN M 360: And you guys went like full Motown funk for that song. The first time I listened to it I wasn’t even sure it was Arkells.

Max Kerman: That was the goal! We wanted people to listen to it and go ‘Oh this is Arkells? This is crazy.’ That was truly what we were going for. And yeah, we wanted some kind of disco vibes, you know, something that kind of felt electronic and dancey as well. You know, we were referencing, Daft Punk or Justice, you know, in some of the production moves. But also, yeah, that sort of ’60s, ’70s Like, dance vibe as well.

PAN M 360: There’s one lyric I picked out where you sing about meeting someone in an airport I think? It’s “you were working in Japan.” Was that just random or an actual encounter you had?

Max Kerman: I would say that was a random thing. The idea was like meeting people out and about, especially, you know, from different places. I’ve never been to Paris. But I was like, you know, what, if you’re in Paris and met someone who’s traveling in Japan, there’s sort of a bit of a fantasy world.

PAN M 360: I guess that is something people are reaching toward during this pandemic.

Max Kerman: Exactly. I think there’s a bit of fantasy happening in our lives as we dream about not being stuck.

King Hannah is a relatively new duo project from Liverpool, UK that formed a bit before the pandemic reared its ugly head. A bit ’90s shoegaze ala Mazzy Star and Lush, mixed with some Bruce Springsteen and The War on Drugs, King Hannah have a spectral way of pulling you into the heart of their songs.

Led by Hannah Merrick’s alluring and vulnerable lyrics about everyday situations and stories and Craig Whittle’s layered guitar soundscapes, King Hannah’s latest album I’m Not Sorry, I Was Just Being Me could be considered a sleeper hit of 2022. With humble beginnings, the duo is gaining more and more recognition across the pond, since being discovered and endorsed by the likes of Sharon Van Etten way back in 2019.

Before their performance at Osheaga, we spoke with Merrick and Whittle about their beginnings and putting honest sentimentality into everything they do.

PAN M 360: How did King Hannah form and where did the name come from?

Craig Whittle: We met when I started working in a bar that Hannah was already working in, and I recognized her from seeing her perform at a university band night a few years earlier when she blew me away with her voice. From there we just became really good friends and started making music together. 

Hannah Merrick: I had the name in my head long before I met Craig. And he loved it and thought it fitted so well, so we kept it. I love the idea of being this strong female presence but with a male status, I just think it’s quite memorable, possibly controversial and a good conversation starter, like now.

PAN M 360: The lyrics in many of the songs on I’m Not Sorry, I Was Just Being Me are so vivid and personal. Like “Go-Kart Kid (Hell No)” and “A Well-Made Woman,” I feel like I’m watching fragmented clips of a person’s life. Actually, Go-Kart Kid (Hell No) really reminded me of the South London band, Dry Cleaning. Have you got that comparison before? 

Hannah Merrick: Oooh no we haven’t, that’s a first for us!

PAN M 360: Hannah are you ever afraid of being too personal in your songwriting?

Hannah Merrick: No, not at all. I’ve been doing it too long to care what others think, plus writing real stories is where the love and drive comes from. I wouldn’t do it otherwise. 

PAN M 360: It’s really a fantastic album, a perfect blend of 90s shoegaze and moody Americana. Did you guys talk about what mix of genre or feelings you wanted? 

Hannah Merrick: Thank you so much. No, not really. We made the album song-by-song, so while we were recording and mixing one song, I’d be writing the next at home in my bedroom. So we never discussed feelings or genre or what the songs should be about. Thankfully, we knew exactly how we wanted the album to sound, simply from listening to our favourite bands, so we drew ideas from them. Life’s a million times easier making an album when you want the same outcome.

Craig Whittle: I think we are naturally very sentimental and emotional people so I think that warmth really came through in the album, which I love. As Hannah said, we both know we are striving for the same sound and emotion in music, so that makes it a lot simpler when making big decisions.

PAN M 360: I’m a huge listener of instrumental shoegaze or post-rock, so the fuzz guitar freakouts really do it for me. Do you believe they have just as much power to convey a feeling as say, lyrics?

Hannah Merrick: Absolutely! 

Craig Whittle: Yeah definitely. I hate the idea of doing a ‘guitar solo’ because that seems so self-indulgent and I’m not like kind of person at all. But I love long instrumentals and try to think of the guitar parts as little moments that help to bring out certain emotions and tensions in the music, almost providing a location or a setting for Hannah’s lyrics to exist in.

PAN M 360: “The Moods That I Get In,” has so many layers to it, do you ever experiment with them live for some improv or with any song?

Hannah Merrick & Craig Whittle: We don’t improvise as such, we generally stick to the same thing, but we definitely lengthen ends when we want to. We’ve completely mixed up the “Big Big Baby” arrangement, it’s completely different live to what it is on the album. 

Hannah Merrick: I love playing around with a vocal melody too, mainly in “Moods” and “Go-Kart Kid” as there’s so much space to do so in those songs.

Craig Whittle: Sometimes we will drag songs on longer if we’re really feeling them, and I definitely try to mix the lead guitar parts up live to keep a feeling of wildness or spontaneity in the set, because that’s what I like to see when I watch live music

PAN M 360: There is no direct theme on the album, but there are quite a few references to nostalgia for an older time. Do you guys still get nostalgic for older times? 

Hannah Merrick & Craig Whittle: Of course, definitely. We can’t wait to see you all and play at Osheaga.

Men I Trust is a local indie group made up of friends Jessy Caron, Dragos Chiriac, and Emma Proulx. Since their self-titled debut in 2014, the group has released three studio albums, the most recent being Untourable Album almost a year ago, and has found great independent success for their indie rock meets airy jazz-pop sound. They are also famously without a PR team and label, taking care of all of the touring, media, and releasing duties themselves. Perhaps this independence has helped shape their success.

Men I Trust just released the “Hard To Let Go” single before their performance at Osheaga so we spoke with Emma a bit before their show on Sat. July 30.

PAN M 360: How did Men I Trust form and is there a story behind the name?

Emma Proulx: Jessy and Dragos started the band in 2014 and I joined it in 2015. In high school, they used to produce hip-hop and dance songs for fun and decided to turn their hobby into a full-time project while studying at the university. They were looking for a positive-sounding name and came up with “Men I Trust”, “Men” referring to mankind, after seeing that the “Trust” name was already taken.

PAN M 360: Could you tell us the story behind “Hard To Let Go?” It sounds very ’80s funk-jazz inspired? 

Emma Proulx: Jessy always had strong jazz influences in his songwriting, having studied Jazz-Guitar in college. His guitar tones for this one are definitely funk-jazz inspired. We reached out to Gabriel Desjardins, an incredibly talented jazz pianist, for the recording of the piano solo. He improvised about 5 minutes of music in one take, and we etched the final solo together afterward. His style of playing is incredibly “airy” and we’re super happy with the end result. The song is about a friend who took a break after burning the candle from both ends.

PAN M 360: How do the songs translate to a live setting? Some of them on Untourable Album are very soundscapey. 

Emma Proulx: Most of the songs sound extremely close to the originals in a live setting. We’re able to re-create most soundscapes with effects pedals. When we change the songs a bit from the originals, it’s usually for fun. After playing songs for a while, sometimes we come up with new ideas and re-interpret them differently live. For example, we added a few live solos that aren’t recorded on the released versions of the songs. Inferring from the crowd’s response, these new moments are usually high points in the live set.

PAN M 360: You’re known for not having a PR team or label and making all the decisions as a band. For example, you can write a song, record it, and release it the same day if you wanted to. What’s it like having that freedom and do you think it contributed to your DIY success?

Emma Proulx: It’s amazing to be able to be in sync with the audience for each release. When we release a song, it’s still new to our ears and thus we feel in sync with the audience, for whom the song is new as well. Time goes fast. When having to wait a few months to release something, an artist has time to move on and the material may feel old to them on the date of the release. I don’t know if that contributed to our success directly, but being able to own 100% of our royalties allowed us to quit our day jobs to focus solely on the band around 2018. Owning a fraction of that percentage might have delayed that move by a few years.

PAN M 360: What is the songwriting process like in the band? Do the guys write the music and you put lyrics to it? Or do you write it all together?

Emma Proulx: At the beginning of the band, we wrote the lyrics first more often than not. Nowadays, the music comes first most of the time. For us, the end result feels more musical that way. A few songs on the Untourable Album had some prior versions of the lyrics written first, but they were adapted to fit the music at some point. It’s a (fun) challenge to adapt lyrical ideas and stories to the song format without losing meaning or sacrificing content.

PAN M 360: Any new music on the way? More singles to follow up “Hard To Let Go?“

Emma Proulx: Yes and yes! We will probably release two new singles by the end of this year.

PAN M 360: I love the song “Tree Among Shrubs” on The Untourable Album. What was the inspiration behind the lyrics for that one?

Emma Proulx: It’s a concentrated version of the stories of two men I know. They both moved to West lands to become key, strong figures in their small community. People look up to them, but few know about their hardships.

Holy Fuck, an experimental synth-punk four-piece from Toronto, has always gone against the grain. It can be said that no one sounds like them. They use found objects, broken drum machines, toy instruments, and an array of other garbage to unleash electronica built for mayhem.

The Holy Fuck members have worked with other big-name bands like METZ, Alvvays, Lights, and some more obscure names like Obits, but always retreat back to Holy Fuck for a creative and cathartic release of smoking and scorched sounds. PAN M quickly spoke to Holy Fuck before their performance at Entrepôt 77 for Distorsion Psych Fest.

PAN M 360: Holy Fuck has always seemed to do the opposite of what is trendy in genres. Is this purposeful and thought about?

Holy Fuck: We aim to displease. Maybe why we went from ‘buzz band’ to ‘underground anomaly.’ I think there was a deliberate effort, in the beginning, to sound outside of any time period, especially the current one. It was more important for us to be ‘timeless’ than it even was to even be liked. Some people were into it, some weren’t. But the goal was to still sound fresh thirty years later. Who knows if it worked… I’ll ask you in another fifteen.

PAN M 360: Could you talk about the newer track “Ninety Five?” The drums sound like they were recorded in a shoe box or something.

Holy Fuck: There’s a really cool audio emulator with the recording software we use, called Shoebox. You can pick the model and size of shoebox you want your drums to sound like they’re in… we chose Nike ‘Clown-size’

PAN M 360: What was it like making music remotely? I assume Holy Fuck thrives more when you make music in person, together?

Holy Fuck: Yeah, we didn’t flourish under pandemic conditions. Making music on laptops in home studios isn’t the fun part of being in a band like ours. For us, it’s about an exchange of ideas and energy in real-time, in the same space. We did what we could and then said fuck it. Now we’re back together again… hooray!

PAN M 360: Are there plans for a follow-up EP or even album to Deleter in the near future?

Holy Fuck: It is the plan. But no, nothing recorded yet. Our first time getting back together as a band only happened earlier this year. We did a lot of writing and demo-ing as well as practicing for the tours that were postponed. That’s how we tend to work- sequester ourselves away to write and record when we aren’t touring. And it’s all just starting to happen now. So next break this year we’ll get back to it.

PAN M 360: How many speakers have you personally blown with all that heavy drone and bass?

Holy Fuck: There’s a familiar smell to a monitor melting on stage that we’ve all come to know very well. It’s nostalgic…. mmmmm…

PAN M 360: Can you talk about recreating these songs live, how do you keep that punk rock intensity?

Holy Fuck: I think because we write and record these songs live together, getting on stage to recreate them actually just further hones them in, makes them better, and brings a better energy every night. It’s part of the fun of a band like this. It never stops being new and exciting.

PAN M 360: What are some things that have made you think, ‘Holy Fuck’ this year?

Holy Fuck: Touring again, being in a sweaty basement filled with weirdos.

MManou Gallo is a woman, an African, and a bass player. As she herself says, it took a lot of hard work and overcoming the astonished looks (at best) of the essentially male and just a little bit black environment of the instrument (but that is changing quickly!). The former member of Zap Mama has been a solo rider for over 15 years now and is living out her childhood dream of holding a bass and playing it. 

Gallo will be performing at the new Esplanade Tranquille in the Quartier des Spectacles on July 20th at 7pm, her first time as a soloist in Montreal. This will be an opportunity to get to know this musician, acclaimed by her peers, who will be presenting her most recent album, Aliso vol.1, as well as an overview of her four previous albums. Pan M 360 spoke with her.

Pan M 360: What can we expect on July 20th in terms of musical choices?

Manou Gallo: There will be a bit of everything. It will be a journey into the present and the past. I love revisiting past experiences, especially the good ones! There will be some Aliso, of course, but also pieces from Afro Groove Queen, and some pieces from previous albums. I will pay tribute to Manu (Dibango), Fela (Kuti), among others. I think it will be a great meeting.

Pan M 360: It will also be an opportunity for the Montreal and Canadian public, in general, to know you better. You’re a fairly prominent figure in Europe, you’re based in Brussels and you tour regularly on the continent. But here, except for the years you played with Zap Mama, it is much less frequent.

Manou Gallo: Yes, that’s true. But I’m even happier that it’s happening now because I’ve evolved a lot in my musical game. In my early solo days, I did a bit of everything: percussion, vocals, bass. But now I’m more focused. The bass is the center of my action, my creativity and my language. It’s much clearer in my head, and it shows in my music. And I’m very happy that this is what people will see in me!

Pan M 360: If we want to summarize your musical evolution, is there a common thread? Would it be the focus more and more concentrated on the bass as the engine of your music and your creativity?Manou Gallo: Yes, quite. I am a musician who has struggled for a long time to be able to clearly assume what she wants to do. You may know that I stopped playing for about 8 years (between Lowlin in 2010 and Afro Groove Queen in 2018), during which time I essentially stayed in my basement working on my instrument, perfecting it and mastering it better! I questioned myself, I worked on harmony to be better at it (I was originally a percussionist and I still play bass with a percussive color) and I finally found my essence. I acquired the tools to be able to express myself adequately. But it took time and hard work. I feel like my early career was going in all directions, left, right, all over the place, then the path cleared, the sun came out and now I’m coming in with renewed confidence. I can’t wait to share this with Canadian audiences.

Pan M 360: What is the idea behind Aliso vol.1 (released in 2021)?

Manou Gallo: Freedom. It is priceless. Being a woman and an African in the world of bass, it was a journey of hardship. I had to prove myself, and even twice as hard! Now, I make the music I want to make, according to my desires. I felt like going to visit jazz a little more, so I threw a pitch to Christian McBride, who was kind enough to enthusiastically accept.

Pan M 360: What did you learn from him?

Manou Gallo: Humility. Here is a very great musician, very learned and very humble with me. He respects me totally, and I respect him in return. The difference is obvious with some of the pop stars we see more, who spout off, who are sometimes full of themselves. It’s completely different with the kind of musicians that Christian is a part of. We are in dialogue with each other’s spirit. It’s beautiful and inspiring.

Pan M 360: As a woman and a bass player, do you have any advice for young girls who’d want to start a career like you?

Manou Gallo: I don’t think young women today need advice. When I was young, you had to go out of your way to discover music and get to know bass players. All I had was a cassette player and I had never seen Marcus Miller or Victor Wooten. Today, it’s all there, just a phone touch away on the web! Young people can see Meshell (Ndegeocello) live at any time of the day. Inspiration is available. You just have to want it.

Pan M 360: Still, do you feel that you have a role to play as a female model?

Manou Gallo: Wow! That’s a lot of responsibility! I know many women who are much brighter than me. I’m just a musician. But if anyone ever asks me for advice, I’ll be happy to answer, of course. And I’m always happy to meet a girl who wants to talk to me after a concert, that’s for sure.

Pan M 360: I heard that your grandmother was a cousin of Myriam Makeba? You have rubbed shoulders with her?

Manou Gallo: That’s an urban legend! I don’t know where this story comes from and why it is on the web. It’s even listed on Wikipedia. It’s not true. My grandmother was from West Africa, and Myriam was from South Africa. There was no connection. But anyway, I accept the reference, and it’s not unpleasant at all to be associated with this very great artist, but it’s just not true.

Pan M 360: There, the truth is set straight thanks to Pan M 360! Do you have any musical idols?

Manou Gallo: Difficult question, of course, but I would say three. Marcus Miller for the sound, the melodies. Victor Wooten for the fabulous technique, and Richard Bona for the ease of playing. If I can bring these three personalities together one day in my music-making, that will be wonderful!


Manou Gallo will perform on Loto-Québec stage, Wednesday, July 20th at 7 p.m. It’s a FREE CONCERT!

Yourcenar, une île de passions is the next Quebec opera to be created. On July 28 and 30 in Quebec City, and on August 4 and 6 in Montréal, local audiences will have the chance to experience an intimate view of the life of the great writer Marguerite Yourcenar (1903-1987), author of, among other things, the masterpiece Mémoires d’Hadrien, one of the great novels of the 20th century. With a libretto by Hélène Dorion and the late Marie-Claire Blais, composer Éric Champagne has set out to breathe musical life and psycho-emotional transcendence into the respectful, yet very intimate look at the unique life of this extraordinary woman. Pan M 360 spoke with Éric Champagne to better anticipate what the audience will see and hear.

Éric Champagne

Pan M 360: With just a few days to go before the opera’s premiere, how do you feel about it?

Éric Champagne: I was calmer at the beginning of the week, but as the days go by, a little anxiety comes up, I must say. But nothing threatening. I am surrounded by an extraordinary team. I am particularly excited about the work of director Angela Konrad. She fascinates me! She was very discreet at the beginning of the process, but now she is the absolute master of the project and I feel that she will bring it to a successful conclusion. And what pleases me most is that she knows how to read music. She is able to say to the singers ‘here, at bar no. such and such, on the D major chord, you should do this…’. Wow! How many directors can do that in opera? What it also means is that she understands my intentions, and the singers feel confident because she speaks their language. Honestly, it’s great.

Pan M 360: How well did you know Marguerite Yourcenar before you started writing?

Éric Champagne: I knew Mémoires d’Hadrien quite well, which I had read several times. It’s one of my favorite books. But when it came to her personal biography, with the exception of the main points such as her entry into the Académie française as the first woman accepted, I knew almost nothing. Obviously, the project forced me to delve into her intimate world and her personal dramas.

Pan M 360: Were you touched by any specific points?

Éric Champagne: Yes, I found great resonance with some of my own concerns, that is, the difficulty of reconciling creative and sentimental life. For her, it was a daily struggle, rarely won. She either immersed herself in her creation and neglected her love life, or on the contrary, she tried to nourish her love life but her work suffered. I also find this reconciliation difficult.

Pan M 360: What do you think was wrong? Why couldn’t she do it?

Éric Champagne: As we sometimes say, she wanted it all. When she had a creative impulse, she plunged into it completely, without half measures, at the risk of major collateral damage. She lived life to the full, always in extremes, unable to sit somewhere in the middle and balance things out.

Pan M 360: How is the opera cut up? On which focal point is it concentrated?

Éric Champagne: The opera is divided into two parts that deal with the fundamental intimate relationships she had in her life: the one with Grace Frick, the main one, the one that occupied most of her life, and the one at the end of her life with Jerry Wilson. There are therefore two acts, the first beginning at the time of Grace’s death and during which numerous flashbacks will be used to illustrate the evolution of this relationship, echoes of Marguerite’s youth, her European wanderings, etc. Then the second act, in linear temporality, deals with Yourcenar’s last years, spent at the side of her young assistant, also her companion. A tumultuous relationship, that one.

Pan M 360: What guided you in finding the musical voice of the work? What thematic, ideological or other pivot did you base the score on?

Éric Champagne: What got me started was an anecdote from her biography. Yourcenar’s real name is Crayencour. From her birth name, she created an almost perfect anagram with Yourcenar (the C is missing). It amused me to think that she had played with her name to create a personality of her own, an ‘other’ identity. From there, I had the idea of playing with the notes as with the anagram. A bit like the composers of the Second Viennese School who inserted hidden dedications thanks to a system of notes associated with letters, I created a scale-alphabet that allowed me to develop motifs associated with Yourcenar, or Crayencour, and then others linked to the other characters of the opera. I felt a link with Marguerite because she liked to play with letters and words, a bit like I did with notes.

Pan M 360: Is the final score more tonal or atonal?

Éric Champagne: It’s particular because it’s ultimately a consonant opera but with few tonal episodes. There is consonance and dissonance, but not in a fixed tonal structure. I also find that it works well because the universe of the work is, in my opinion, very Proustian. We dive into very fine psychology, which allows for a lot of introspection and musical subtleties. In the end, it’s quite hushed and melancholic.

Pan M 360: The ensemble Les Violons du Roy will be in the orchestra pit. What orchestration challenges did this present to you?

Éric Champagne: The main advantage is that I could use the entire orchestra, in tuttis, without fear of overwhelming the singers! With a chamber orchestra like Les Violons, I was able to use the entire palette without fear. The disadvantage is that I have a symphonic mindset in general. There were times when I thought ”here, I’d like to have four horns! ”. So I had to limit myself but without too much difficulty. I felt a bit like Benjamin Britten when writing his fabulous chamber operas. The template is more or less the same, and so is the duration (about 2 hours). Besides, the subject matter was perfectly suited to this reduced format, as I said earlier. Maybe with another subject, it would have been problematic, but not here.

Pan M 360: Were there any particular difficulties in creating the connection with the booklet?Éric Champagne: No, not really. There was a bit of evolution of course, and some adjustments, but otherwise, everything went very well. I discovered that Marie-Claire had a great opera culture! I wasn’t expecting it, I must admit. With her leather look, I imagined that she listened to Marjo or Gerry Boulet (maybe she did too), but I discovered a woman who could tell me about such and such a production of La Traviata in 1979 in Paris, with such and such a director! We connected well. For Hélène, it was not a surprise because I already know her and I know that she likes opera. I would say that at one point when I suggested doing a trio, I saw the reflex of the women of the theatre coming out. They started by saying “three characters speaking at the same time? But how will we understand?’’ To which the composer obviously replied, “In opera, it’s not a problem. The music does the job!’’ But, in general, it was easy and pleasant.

Hélène Dorion cr. Maxyme G. Delisle
Marie-Claire Blais (Wikipédia)

Pan M 360: What are your impressions of the cast?

Éric Champagne: Oh, the singers are fantastic! Everyone is hyper-involved. Stéphanie Pothier, who plays Marguerite, is immersed in the character. She read and reread biographies, and immersed herself in everything she could to understand her psychology perfectly. She knows the role by heart, and works tirelessly because it is an athletic role that she is about to create on stage. She is called upon for almost the entire two hours of the programme. Kimy McLaren as Grace is equally admirable. She dug up a biography of this lady (I didn’t even know it existed!) and drank from it too. It’s heartwarming to see this kind of involvement and to work with artists of this caliber.

Pan M 360: We can feel your enthusiasm. Are you thinking of writing other operas now? What subjects would interest you?

Éric Champagne: It’s funny because I recently made a list of opera subjects that I would like to do one day. Of course, the first thing I realized was that I won’t have enough time in my life to do everything! But the thing that also came out was the fact that I would like to bring to the opera stage subjects that are rarely treated in this medium. For example, fantasy, or detective stories. I sometimes wonder why there is no opera that does science fiction or horror? Why is there no opera based on an Agatha Christie story? It is said that cinema replaced opera in the early 20th century. But films have dealt with all these subjects, and opera has not. Maybe it’s time to take that step, to dare to tackle these kinds of subjects. I’m a Hitchcock fan and I can think of two or three titles that would make excellent operas. I would also like to see our Quebec literary and theatrical works explored more deeply so that they can also be made into operas. There’s a ton of good material.

Pan M 360: May the opera gods hear you and be with you!

Cast and crew :

MARGUERITE: Stéphanie Pothier

GRACE: Kimy McLaren

JERRY: Hugo Laporte

DANIEL: Jean-Michel Richer

A CAPTAIN: Pierre Rancourt

A SINGER: Suzanne Taffot

CONDUCTOR: Dina Gilbert

DIRECTOR: Angela Konrad

COMPOSER: Éric Champagne

LIBRETTISTS: Hélène Dorion & Marie-Claire Blais

SETTINGS: Anick La Bissonnière

COSTUMES: Pierre-Guy Lapointe

LIGHTING: Sonoyo Nischikawa

VIDEO: Alexandre Desjardins

COPRODUCTION: Opéra de Montréal / Festival d’opéra de Québec / Les Violons du Roy

In French with French and English surtitles

Running time:

Part 1: 1 hour

Intermission: 20 minutes

Part 2: 55 minutes

Wesli Louissaint needs no introduction. After several prestigious awards since the end of the 2000s, the singer-guitarist has had one success after another. The producer of multiple Afrobeat hits can count on a Juno award and a Félix, in addition to a multitude of other accolades in the French-speaking world. The Montreal-Haitian artist has been working hard for over ten years to celebrate the enormous diversity of African rhythms. Continuing on his path, he is launching Tradisyon these days, in early July 2022. The album, released on the Cumbancha label, is a love letter to the vast Haitian culture that has nurtured the artist since childhood. Nineteen songs allow the listener to immerse themselves in Wesli’s fantastic world of voodoo and roots rhythms. A great album obviously deserves a great celebration: this one will take place at the Nuits d’Afrique festival on Tuesday, July 19. In the heat of the action, at the Place des Festivals, one will be able to fully appreciate the depth and diversity so important to this ambassador of Haitian culture.

In Wesli’s studio, rain and bad weather seem like non-existent ideas. With contagious happiness, he welcomes PAN M 360 to talk about festivals, music and culture.

PAN M 360: Can you summarize the path that brought you to Nuits d’Afrique?

WESLI: My career was propelled around 2009-2010. Despite the ups and downs, I made a place for myself on the national scene. One could even say on the international scene. But, before this radiation, I already collaborated with several musical groups. I was a producer, arranger, guitarist and so many other things. In 2006, I founded my own label and collaborated with a multitude of artists from all over America. This period in the background of the Montreal industry really shaped me. By learning from multiple experiences, I picked up all the baggage I needed to get where I am today.

PAN M 360: So you’re getting ready for a second appearance at Nuits d’Afrique… Excited?

WESLI: Yes, this is my second visit as a household name… but this is my third time participating. Nuits d’Afrique is where I feel most authentic. I can be a member of the large Quebec community, but also get closer to the other nation that I grew up in. By being at this festival, I feel that I can do one more step for the Haitian community. It’s rewarding to advance this cause. This event always makes me feel like I’m home and that I belong in the world.

It’s pretty exciting to be back in the festival world. With the deconfinement, this will be my second, because a few days ago I was at the Jazz Festival. But since the release of Tradisyon, this will be my first public appearance on a large scale. If you want to compare the two, the Jazz Festival is one of the biggest events in Quebec culture. It’s a gathering moment that really gives us an impressive overview of the music that can be heard in Montreal. Even if I like it a lot, it remains less personal than Nuits d’Afrique.

There, I feel better represented. I feel like I’m in Haiti as much as I am in Canada. It’s much more motivating for me. It’s as if everyone came to listen to me play at home, in my living room! It makes me want to prepare and improve much better.

PAN M 360: So, do you feel a little pressure?

WESLI: Not normally, I never put much pressure on myself. I’ve been doing my job for so long that playing music becomes second nature. I feel calm and ready to get my message out. This art is part of my life, so much so that it has become an inherent and indisputable facet of it.

PAN M 360: For this first Nuits d’Afriquede confirmed since the beginning of the pandemic, you have to prepare yourself differently?

WESLI: Oh absolutely! All post-pandemic music events have to be approached differently! You see how people need more energy. This time has taken so much of the joy out of life. With my show, I want to bring some compensation. If we have lost a lot of energy, I want to give as much as possible! I want the audience to remember the connections they made during the show. With sounds coming purely from my roots, I will work to present a personal and authentic show that reminds us of where I come from.

Musical artists may come from totally disparate cultures, but they are all united by the soul of the music. It’s instinctive and hard to explain, but it’s there. If you will, it’s the ability to know when it’s time to play louder and faster, or to have a quieter performance. With COVID, all musicians notice that the world has a need for music that moves. A need for energy and movement. So I’m preparing for a performance that will fill that need, all with a great Haitian root sound.

PAN M 360: So you will be playing a lot of your new album, Tradisyon. Why this title?

WESLI: Because this new project is rooted in Haitian and African customs that have existed since the slaves crossed over. I wanted to root these practices in song form. At Nuits d’Afrique, we’ll be hearing a lot of tradition! At the moment, I suppose the world needs a little authenticity. That’s exactly what I was looking for with this title!

In any case, it is my authenticity that I want to present on July 19th. Of course, I might make one or two forays into my other projects. I still have to give a little nostalgia to those who supported me for a long time!

PAN M 360: How long did you spend on this album? What did you want to make felt with this project?

WESLI: Tradisyon is a long pandemic project. It is the fruit of several years of work. What came out this summer is only the first part. There is a second volume that I will release in September. In addition to talking about my origins, these two offerings are an exploration of what I experienced during this period. Everything I lived, felt and observed, I put in there.

My previous album, Rapadou Kreyol, is kind of the reason why I went on this adventure. It was an exploration of many of the African rhythms that I feel are a little too neglected by Haitian youth. While I was doing my research, I made many discoveries about the richness of my culture. I realized that I needed more than an album to present the rich immensity within Haitian culture. I said to myself: OK! Rapadou Kreyol is over, but now I need to go even deeper into the authenticity of Haitian culture. I wanted to show the depth of this universe born at the arrival of the slaves. It’s an exploration of rhythms that have been forgotten for generations and also of uncharted voodoo rituals.

I always like to say that I have two hearts. One of them is dedicated to Canada; it is the society that welcomed me, sheltered me and integrated me. If I wasn’t here, I would never have had the career I have had. But I don’t forget Haiti. I have spent so much time there. I go there at least three or four times a year. I am still very much involved in the affairs of that country. Tradisyon is a celebration of those two hearts.

PAN M 360: You are generally an artist who collaborates a lot for his songs. Yet, we don’t find many guest artists on Tradisyon. Why is that?

WESLI: Well, for the first volume, I wanted a product that was more raw or authentic. For that, you have to go and find it yourself. It’s something that had to be experienced by me alone. Since the album had a more personal touch, I chose to do tributes instead of collaborations. There are great Haitian artists who have passed away recently. I wanted to remind the youth of their place in our culture. We must remember Azor Rasin Mapou and Wawa Rasin Ganga. These are people who have had careers of more than forty years. They have enriched the roots of our culture with their rhythms and songs. I should also mention the tribute I made to Eric Charles. He is one of the greatest singers of the “twoubadou” style. He made this genre known throughout the world.

PAN M 360: And will this process change for the second volume?

WESLI: Absolutely, Tradisyon II, I see it as the arrival at the victory line! There will be a lot more collaborations and featurings. You’ll see it all in September! I’m not going to go on too long to keep it a mystery. However, I can say that if the first part touches more the roots of the Haitian music, the second will go in a more modern style.

PAN M 360: And after this second album, are there any plans for a vacation?

WESLI: No, not really. I am already preparing several shows and tours throughout America and Europe. I want to share my music with the rest of the world. In the meantime, Quebec will be able to enjoy Tradisyon for a little while. I’m not the only musician who will say that. We live from recognition and work. When you produce a work, you feel accomplished and valued by society. In busy times, you don’t feel as tired. I don’t need a prize or money. I need an instrument and an audience. The connections that are made through music, that’s what matters.

Wesli will be performing on the TD – CBC stage on Tuesday, July 19th at 8pm. FREE!

In Europe, the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin (AKAMUS) is undoubtedly a major force in the interpretation of the baroque and classical repertoires. This is evidenced by their impressive discography and the many important prizes they have won. 

In the perfect environment of the Lanaudière Festival and its exceptional amphitheatre, AKAMUS invites us to explore the “continents” of Ludwig van Beethoven. 

Around the famous composer, whose 250th birthday in 2020 means many postponed celebrations due to the pandemic, the German group has selected outstanding works from his repertoire, as well as works by his contemporaries, who were very well known in their time and less so today – Paul Wranitzky, Étienne Nicolas Méhul, Luigi Cherubini, Justin Heinrich Knecht. 

In an exclusive North American engagement, we will thus be treated to three programs, extremely rich in discoveries and new perspectives on Beethoven’s works performed in a very special configuration, for music lovers accustomed to hearing them in a symphonic context different from that offered by AKAMUS.

This is the reason for this chat with the violinist and maestro Bernhard Forck, leader of the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin. 

PAN M 360: Could you tell us briefly what is the challenge of presenting a huge triple program around Beethoven and some composers of his era.

BERNHARD FORCK: “Beethoven continents,” the title of our triple program, is a wonderful motto: we want to share with the audience a surprising and fascinating view of the musical panorama on the threshold of the 19th century. Beethoven is the central figure—his music shall be newly heard with the gripping sound of a period ensemble, but there’s plenty of fascinating music of his time that influenced him—great music that is unheard today and still needs to be explored.

PAN M 360: Of course, it is also a huge amount of work for the musicians of The Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin. Can you give us some information about your artistic relationship with your ensemble in this  Lanaudière context?

BERNHARD FORCK: We are very happy and feel honoured that Renaud Loranger, the artistic director of the Festival, invited us to play a series of Beethoven-related concerts at this wonderful venue. We have a strong artistic partnership with him since he is also the vice president of Pentatone, a label for which we recorded wonderful albums in the past years, among them a set of Handel’s Concerti Grossi or Haydn’s opera “L’isola disabitata”—a true rediscovery.

PAN M 360: How did you build this program? What are the intentions? 

BERNHARD FORCK : In this project, which was originally planned for the Beethoven anniversary in 2020, the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin aims to put Beethoven’s work into context of its time. Beethoven had a keen interest in many cultural developments of his time. In order to counter the widespread opinion that Beethoven was a musically self-sufficient genius, as was popularised from the 19th century onwards, our three programs aim to provide stunning examples of musical and intellectual influences in his music. It is not often that you can hear Beethoven combined with signature works by composers like Paul Wranitzky or Étienne-Nicolas Méhul, two of the most prominent and influential composers of his time. 

PAN M 360: Can we learn some elements about your conducting approach for those specific programs, of course as a violinist?

BERNHARD FORCK: As a Baroque orchestra, we are very familiar with playing without a conductor, as the orchestra sizes were usually quite small in the 18th century. And well into the 19th century, we have knowledge of orchestra sizes, which today we would rather call a chamber orchestra. At that time, it was still common that the konzertmeister led concerts from his stand. While performing without a conductor, listening to each other is as important as playing together. Imagine a piece of bigger-sized chamber music: there is a kind of increased attention and alertness throughout the ensemble.

PAN M 360: Also there is a great interest for listeners in Québec in discovering The Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin. What for you are the key elements of your impact on music lovers in those 3 different concerts in Lanaudière?

BERNHARD FORCK: Our goal is to captivate music lovers in a new way, by presenting “our” Beethoven embedded in a “historical” soundscape which owes its special vitality to different aspects: the smaller orchestra size (with a reduced complement of strings) and the use of period instruments (especially in the wind section) or copies of such makes for a very differentiated sound. We believe in characterful music-making, which never pushes mere beauty of sound into the foreground, but instead strives to be true to the rhetorical and emotional elements of the music. This direct approach shall grip the listener immediately. 

PAN M 360: Now let’s have an overview of those 3 programs presented in Lanaudière:

1st program :

Paul Wranitzky

Oberon, Overture

PAN M 360: This overture has been recorded recently by Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin. What motivated this choice from the classical period?  

BERNHARD FORCK: Wranitzky’s “Oberon” Overture shows the composer’s deep love to compose for the stage. This Singspiel was once so popular that it was to become a model for Mozart’s “Magic Flute.” Also, Goethe planned to ask Wranitzky to write the music for his own continuation of the “Magic Flute.”

PAN M 360: What is your spontaneous perception of Moravian/Austrian composer Paul Wranitzky (1756-1908) not so well known in our times? 

BERNHARD FORCK: I have great enthusiasm for him. Born in the same year as Mozart, Paul Wranitzky is truly still a composer to be rediscovered. When one thinks of the Classical Period, one thinks primarily of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert, but Vienna’s musical life of the time was much richer. Wranitzky was one of the most influential figures of Viennese Classicism – not only as a composer, but also as a conductor and violinist. A friend of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, he was held in such high regard to premiere Beethoven’s first symphony and his fifth symphony (from the violin), just as he conducted Haydn’s “Creation” at the composer’s request.  His own symphonies are the most colourful works, in which he often shows his rich practice as a theatre composer.

Paul Wranitzky

Grand Characteristic Symphony for the Peace with the French Republic in C minor, Op. 31

PAN M 360 : Can you comment on this choice, also recorded in the same album Paul Wranitzky : Symphonies, which is the main piece from this composer? 


BERNHARD FORCK: The symphony “La Paix,” is a captivating sound panorama of the French Revolution, an echo of the march and battle music of his time when troops of Napoleon Bonaparte and Emperor Franz II faced each other. Wranitzky almost illustrates the revolutionary events in the four movements of the symphony, including the fate and death of Louis XVI. which is reflected by an expressive funeral music. Interestingly, a public performance of the symphony was once forbidden by the Emperor, who could only grudgingly agree to the treaty of Campo Formio, while Wranitzky celebrates the treaty with a powerful and joyous music in the final movement of his symphony.

PAN M 360 : Can you tell us some elements of your strategy for the live execution?

BERNHARD FORCK : Regarding our Beethoven project, we discussed a lot about a suitable orchestral seating, which enables the most direct communication between the different instrument sections and which creates, at best, a spontaneity and energy in the sound, which is transmitted directly to the audience.

Ludwig van Beethoven

Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 55, “Eroica”

PAN M 360: How is the “Eroica Symphony No. 3”,  fitting so well with Wranitzky’s pieces in this program? Do you think that they are “Beethovenish” in a way?

BERNHARD FORCK: Beethoven is known to have been inspired to write his “Eroica” due to his fascination with Napoleon and the ideals of the French Revolution, a context that was also very important for Wranitzky. But Beethoven’s music is a kind of sublime counterpart to Wranitzky’s ; the audacity and passion of his work was not meant musically to portray an historical development but rather to depict the struggle of noble values. With his third Symphony, Beethoven managed to write a piece of unparalleled magnitude and emotional intensity that paved the way to the era of Romanticism.

2nd program :

Luigi Cherubini, Lodoiska, Overture

Étienne Nicolas Méhul,  Symphony No. 1 in G minor

Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67 (“Fate” Symphony)

PAN M 360: Now what can we say about the aesthetic links between Cherubini, Méhul and Beethoven in that specific program ?

BERNHARD FORCK : At Beethoven’s time, Méhul was one of the most successful composers in France. A new, more emotional, and heroic symphonic style started to spread from France to the rest of the musical world and also impressed Beethoven. Méhul’s first symphonic presents striking similarities with Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, which was written at the same time.  

Regarding Luigi Cherubini, Beethoven had a great admiration for the Italian composer. Cherubini’s highly expressive and dramatic “Lodoïska” overture comes from one of the first so-called “Rescue operas”, a genre popular at the time and in whose tradition also Beethoven’s “Fidelio” stands. 

PAN M 360:  Why is the “Fate” Symphony is for you the ideal conclusion for this program ? 

BERNHARD FORCK : Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony is deeply rooted in the music of the French Revolution. The joyous, marching character of its finale is directly inspired by the choruses of the Revolution, which were also repeatedly used by Méhul in his pieces.  Already at its premiere, Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony undoubtedly came across as a piece of hitherto unparalleled expressiveness. Out of the first four-note figure, Beethoven constructed a symphony of immense energy. His Fifth Symphony illustrated the path from the dark into the light, with a new approach as a composer: Beethoven is now addressing not only the concertgoer, but rather humanity as a whole. 

3rd program :

Ludwig van Beethoven,  Coriolan, Overture, Op. 62

Justin Heinrich Knecht,  Le portrait musical de la nature, ou Grande simfonie

Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68, “Pastorale“

PAN M 360: Once again, this program illustrates a very refine knowledge and appreciation of the musical forms of this musical period, Beethoven is being presented with another composer of the end of the 18th century and beginning of the 19th. So how are those 3 pieces linked from Beethoven and Knecht?

BERNHARD FORCK: Beethoven’s “Coriolan” Overture shows the quick-tempered nature of the hero. It is a kind of anticipation of the literally quick-tempered nature expressed in music in the following two “Pastorales.” Beethoven’s famous comment on his 6th symphony, that it should be played with “more sensation than painting,” is the right advice: this music truly depicts also the weather of inner emotions. 

PAN M 360 : The celebration of nature is prominent in this program, super relevant for outdoor as in Lanaudière. So how did it come to mind? And what do you aim for your ensemble with those pieces?

BERNHARD FORCK: The images of nature ingeniously woven into Beethoven’s symphony mark a new aesthetic of symphonic composition. The roots of this symphony are, surprisingly, already found two decades earlier in Justin Heinrich Knecht’s  “Grande Symphonie.” His musical portrait of nature is to this day an almost unknown piece, despite its originality and strong resemblance to Beethoven’s symphony – already using the same topic and dramatical devices many years earlier. By presenting these two “Pastorales,” we again aim to emphasise the richness of the as yet unknown of the Viennese Classic. On the other hand, you will clearly hear: Beethoven was such a self-confident freethinker as he was as a composer!

François R. Cambuzat, Gianna Greco and two companions will perform this Thursday at Le Ministère, as part the Nuits d’Afrique festival. We can already confirm this to the music lovers who will be there: they might look hard, but they will not find anything similar elsewhere, this summer, this fall, this winter or next summer, unless Ifriqiyya Électrique comes back to town. Their musical proposal is that unusual. Cambuzat and his partner Gianna Greco have been taking their insatiable curiosity and anthropological awareness to various corners of the world, for many years. The Ifriqiyya Électrique project is the result of a singular approach that François explained to Pan M 360. It is a mixture of trance, ritual, western tribalism, sonic violence, catharsis, post-slavery and liberation, all with the necessary consistency.

Pan M 360: Hello François! Ifriqiyya Électrique was at the Festival d’été in Quebec City last night, in front of our Assemblée nationale. It went well?

François R. Cambuzat: Yes, the crowd was in the rain at the beginning, but it cleared up. It was really great!

Pan M 360: After the Assemblée nationale in Quebec, you will perform at Le Ministère in Montreal, a venue that has no governmental function despite its name. It will be more intimate.

François R. Cambuzat: Ah yes, we are very eager!

Pan M 360: Ifriqiyya Électrique’s music cannot be easily defined. If I summarize roughly, we hear sub-Saharan slave songs, then Sufi components, and finally the rhythmic patterns and post-industrial textures put forward by Front 242 and their heirs. Please rectify anything I didn’t get correctly.

François R. Cambuzat: Actually, it all started with a trip to the Djerid, the quasi desert of southwest Tunisia. With my colleague Gianna Greco (Editor’s note: the other half of the Putan Club duo, with François), we temporarily settled in a town called Tozeur to shoot a film. We met people from this community, who are descendants of slaves of sub-Saharan origin and still practice a ritual called “Banga”.

As far as the industrial or post-industrial aspect is concerned, it was obvious for us. Because this trance music we discovered in Djerid includes an unheard-of violence. We had pogo-punk in the West, but Banga is on another level. The post-industrial ornaments a la Front 242, Nine Inch Nails and so on, that was a given. It’s very tribal too. Gianna and I keep the baseline, the instrumental and electronic additions don’t change the original structure.

Then it all became a movie, which we put on the Internet. People noticed it, including representatives of festivals like WOMAD, Peter Gabriel’s festival. So we had to form a band without denying our initial objective, that of creating uplifting music. Then, “Ifriqiyya” was the name of the territory of North Africa which the Berbers formerly occupied, and which gave its name to Africa.

Pan M 360: In the West, little is said about the slave trade in the Maghreb. However, it went on for centuries. It is a kind of taboo.

François R. Cambuzat: They don’t talk about it in the Maghreb either, because people are ashamed of it. It lasted for centuries, indeed, and the number of victims of this traffic was far greater than in the West Indies and the Americas. So the Banga is a syncretism, that is, it combines the animism of the people of West Africa, especially Senegal, with the soufic elements. Then, it is a therapeutic ritual in which women participate a lot; it is their moment of total liberation, where the constraints of the sharia are lifted.

Pan M 360: It seems to me an easy parallel, but the Banga evokes Santeria or Voodoo in the West Indies: a mixture of animist and Christian beliefs.

François R. Cambuzat: Yes, it is quite that, this baggage brought by the slaves of West Africa. In Senegal, there is this cult, this therapeutic trance called “n’döp”. It is very similar to Banga and, at the same time, to Santeria or voodoo. These rituals are also similar to what has become techno or dub, in their essence.

Pan M 360: Your songs also take the form of adorcisms, that is to say the reception, rather than the expulsion, of spiritual entities. It’s nice to have music that transcends mere affect or the desire to tap our foot on the floor, and brings the listener back to the spiritual essence!

François R. Cambuzat: Adorcism is for those who participate in the Banga, it serves to bring a spirit into them and then to calm it down. This is always in a therapeutic perspective for these descendants of slaves. This ritual is above all cathartic.

Pan M 360: You launched Rûwâhîne in 2017 and Laylet El Booree in 2019. Can we expect a new album soon?

François R. Cambuzat: We take our time. We are no longer at the age where we are amazed to see our name on pieces of cardboard or plastic! We try to ignore the usual constraints of the music industry.

Pan M 360: I can only support you in this. Then, your two albums are like portable masses or celebrations that we can listen to at will! Thank you very much François and have a good concert at Nuits d’Afrique!

François R. Cambuzat: Thank you! If you’re ever in Europe or the Maghreb, come see us!

Ifriqiyya Électrique will play Le Ministère on Thursday, July 14 as part of Nuits d’Afrique. Buy your tickets here!

Singer-songwriter, producer, and “moccasin-gaze,” artist, Daniel Monkman, recently released his Big Pharma EP. The EP takes on some of the issues surrounding the pharmaceutical industry, mainly, according to Monkman, dolling out the most addicitive drugs to Indigenous people like himself. He learned this after getting sober and began doing his own research.

Big Pharma is about exposing the lies perpetuated by the pharmaceutical industry and Monkman has now made it his job to shed a light on the nefarious origins and manipulations within the system. Musically, Big Pharma sounds a lot like the atmospheric indie-folk of Beck’s Sea Change era or more recently, Morning Phase. He also worked with Cadence Weapon to produce a more hip-hop-focused track. We spoke with Daniel about the quick writing process of Big Pharma, his research on the pharmaceutical industry for an Indigenous perspective, and his love of Beck.

PAN M 360: I really didn’t expect a hip-hop track (“Oil Pastel / Dopesick” ft. Cadence Weapon) on the new Zoon EP, but it really works.

Daniel Monkman: Yeah, that’s that’s what I’m hoping for. Hip hop is a big influence in my life and after I switched schools, I met some punk rockers and kind of went on a different path.

PAN M 360: So you think you could have been a Hip hop artist in a different life?

Daniel Monkman: Oh, totally. And I still can be, you know, I am. I’m getting more into production and writing songs for people that since putting out an EP have done a lot of other kinds of hip hop stuff. Mostly writing music for people. It’s kind of my way to get in on the music stuff going around.

PAN M 360: Is that how you worked with Cadence Weapon on the “Oil Pastel / Dopesick” track?

Daniel Monkman: Yeah that song was totally different. Not totally different but it had more parts and then I kind of simplified it. I did all the music and Rollie did all the vocals. The main parts. I did like backups and melodies.

PAN M 360: Did you guys talk about what the song was about or did he kind of freestyle it?

Daniel Monkman: I gave him the working song title, a demo version of the song, and he just kind of ran with it. I was really interested to see the stuff that he’s talking about based on just this song title that I gave to him.

PAN M 360: And there’s a central theme to the new EP. It’s not in your face, but even just in the song names, it’s about your experience with the pharmaceutical industry?

Daniel Monkman: Yeah. So it was my understanding that back in the day when the treaties were being signed, and my ancestors realized that the newcomers were not going to be leaving, a lot of our ancestral leaders got together and were like, ‘Okay, we got to start thinking about the future of our people, securing our place and society, and making sure we don’t fall too far behind.’ So they devised these treaties and within the treaties, came these certain privileges that other Indigenous people would be able to have. Like we would get free schooling, dental would be taken care of, as well as medicines. And over time, a lot of these things have been changed and manipulated. What I noticed when I got sober, was I started to wake up from the illusion of Canada and all that other stuff, I started to notice that the stuff that they were giving to us for free, or the only stuff that they were offering was the most addictive.

PAN M 360: Like pharmaceutical drugs?

Daniel Monkman: Yeah. And to me, that didn’t feel right. So I started to do my own research and started to uncover some kind of this ongoing genocide. We believe that because we don’t see a lot of it, this ongoing, contemporary, genocide is non-existent, but it’s very much alive. And I experienced that in my hometown of Southern Manitoba. And it was something that stuck with me, ever since I uncovered those truths.

PAN M 360: So you’ve kind of made it your mission as an artist with a platform to speak about these truths?

Daniel Monkman: Yeah to give out a piece of information where I can, and try to educate Indigenous people that may be going down the pill route is not best, and trying to go back to natural ways of healing your body and mind. The pharmaceutical company has such a tight grip on everyone thinking that pills are just the way to go. And there’s a lot of people that will argue be like, ‘Well, the pills work for me.’ And that might be true, but not in the long run. Not in the long run, because the actual healing that needs to happen is like so much more than just taking a pill.

PAN M 360: So why do you think that these subsidized drugs for Indigenous people are the most addictive?

Daniel Monkman: Well, it’s no secret that the Indian Act was to eliminate the Indian and make them part of society so that the government wouldn’t have to caretake for them anymore. But it’s not really caretaking, it’s more just like, paying your rent for a home that you invested in, they invested in Canada. And so the less they have to care take, the more profits they get to keep. What a lot of people don’t know is there’s been a huge trust fund that’s been put aside for Indigenous people. So a lot of this money doesn’t come from tax money, it’s actual money that the government has to come up with them themselves. Canada is a very wealthy country and when you go to a reserve, it’s like a third-world country.

PAN M 360: So were you a victim of this system? Before you got sober I mean.

Daniel Monkman: Partly. Addiction was just like the self-medication of being in the system, being in very racist schools, and being picked up by cops randomly just for walking late at night. And in that was post-traumatic stress and not having the right systems in place to help you. I mean, 12-15 years ago, mental health wasn’t a buzzword. So I found other ways to cope and that was substances. It’s amazing that alcohol is so easily accessible, but therapy is not.

PAN M 360: I wanted to talk about the song “Red River.” It kind of puts you in a trance of being awake and asleep at the same time. How did you find that atmosphere?

Daniel Monkman: I bought this old Casio digital guitar one day when I was with my friend. I took it home and I started playing around and I got into this trance of this like riff. And I took it to my close collaborator, Andrew McLeod, also known as Sunsetter. And we just like worked that out at his house. I did most of the instrumentations but he played drums and just like being in the studio is inspiring. It had vocal melodies and stuff like that and was a very pop song. It was like very, very pop. But I decided to take out all the vocals one afternoon and just hear how the instrument sounded. And I was like, well, this works better as an instrumental.

PAN M 360: So when did you write this Big Pharma EP? Was it right after Bleached Waves came out? You also had the OMBIIGIZI project [with Status / Non-Status come out after then.

Daniel Monkman: So this EP was finished very fast. I wrote it like three months ago. Bleached Waves was made in like 2017-18 and in that time, I’ve already recorded an LP Two, and three EPs. But this was the latest one in the batch. I was just sitting at home and recorded in a month. And it was a very fast process. I was feeling very inspired. It was just like Bleached Waves and the songs just kept coming out.

PAN M 360: That’s always nice when you don’t have to look for inspiration. It just comes to you. I get a very Beck Morning Phase, vibe from this EP. And I know you covered him once with “Round the Bend.”

Daniel Monkman: He kind of gave me the whole reason as to why I got into music professionally. Up until that point, it was my belief that I have to go to music school and become a classically trained musician, or I just didn’t even know … it just seemed so unattainable. Until I heard Mellow Gold. And I was like, Oh, well, I can just do whatever I want.


At the age of 18, a young woman from Lavaltrie moved to Montreal to launch her career. She quickly made a name for herself on the Montreal scene, opening for artists such as Milk & Bone, France D’Amour, and the late Karim Ouellet.

Léonie Gray’s voice is both atypical and rich in emotions. Some of her intonations remind us a little bit of Billie Holiday and Amy Winehouse. In her music, the 29-year-old artist navigates between pop, R&B, and jazz. For her, music is a necessary therapy, “It’s like breathing, my body needs it,” she says.

Under contract with La Maison Mère, she tackles various subjects through her songs: mental health, feminism, and interpersonal relationships. Last April, the Quebecer delivered Who?, her first album comprising 13 songs, including the already popular “Monster and Echoes.”

Pan M 360 talked with her about her presence at the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal, her first album, and her creative process.

LÉONIE GRAY: I’ve been immersed in music since I was young. When people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I always said I wanted to be a singer. I always had that goal in mind and made it happen. I started performing when I was seven years old. I did every musical audition I could get my hands on when I was in elementary and high school. My father is a musician, so that always helped me. My parents have always been supportive.

PAN M 360: What does creating music mean to you?

LÉONIE GRAY: It brings me a lot of good. It’s a form of therapy for me. Sometimes there are emotions in my life that I haven’t experienced that I can get through by writing songs. I love recording, composing, and getting feedback from people on my songs. Music is a part of me, it is an absolute necessity in my life. It’s like breathing, my body needs it. 

PAN M 360: The subjects you address are directly linked to current topics such as mental health. Has the way you approach them changed over time?

LÉONIE GRAY: I think so. First of all, I’ve gotten older and more mature. I’ve been able to apply that to my music. Over the last few years, I’ve realized what I really want to talk about in my songs. I need to have a subject in my songs and most of the time I talk about feminist issues. I talk about it because it is directly related to what I experience as a woman. When I was last at the FIJM, I dealt with lighter subjects than today.

PAN M 360: Other than current events, where does your inspiration come from?

LÉONIE GRAY: My inspiration comes from my own mental health as well as from my interpersonal relationships. I find that the relationship you have with others says a lot about who you are. This is an important aspect to communicate in my songs. I am also inspired by artists like Joy Crookes, from the UK. We deal with similar issues and I love her music. On the other hand, I also like Les Louanges. He has a different style than others and it’s exciting to see a local artist with so much potential to break through internationally. He has fun singing, you can tell.

PAN M 360: How have you evolved since your last participation in the FIJM?

LÉONIE GRAY: Between my last participation and today, there was the pandemic. Like everyone else, I’ve been in my head a lot. I have done a lot of personal work and I am more at peace with who I am and who I am becoming. I’m getting more and more comfortable making music that feels like me and that I want to hear. I don’t just make music to please anymore. I want to be proud of my accomplishments when I listen to myself. Also, I have made room for more vulnerability in my life, and this is reflected in my music. From now on, I give less importance to public opinion and I feel freer in my creation.

PAN M 360: What can we expect from your show this Thursday?

LÉONIE GRAY: People will be dancing and singing, that’s for sure. The show will be on a small stage. So there will also be more intimate moments. I want people to sit on the ground and enjoy those moments. I’ll be singing my entire album Who? as well as one unreleased song. I can’t wait to sing this new song in front of my family and friends. For several years I’ve done run-in shows and I’ve enjoyed seeing people’s reactions to my songs when they hear them for the first time. It gives me a sense of what the audience thinks and whether I like singing it on stage.

PAN M 360: Are there any artists you have seen or are looking forward to seeing at the FIJM?

LÉONIE GRAY: I really wanted to see Tash Sultana’s show. Unfortunately, I wasn’t available. Also, I saw Cécile McLorin Salvant and Kamasi Washington. I definitely want to go see Anomalie concert this Thursday. There are so many shows at FIJM and it seems like I want to go see them all!

PAN M 360: What is the influence of jazz in your songs?

LÉONIE GRAY: Naturally, there are certain chord progressions that attract me more than others. Very often it’s the soulful, jazz-like ones. I mix them into my pop musical structure. Also, using instruments like trumpet and violin brings me closer to jazz.  In fact, people often link my vocal tone to jazz. I am often told that I do “pop-jazz.”

PAN M 360: How do you feel since the release of your first album last April? Are you working on any new projects?

LÉONIE GRAY: I’ve been wanting to release this album for some time. When it came out, I was very relieved. The feedback we got from listeners and the media was incredible. It kind of alleviated some of my insecurities. I’m extremely happy with the result. We have a little tour planned until February. It feels good to get back into the pre-pandemic rhythm and do more shows. There are several other related projects that will come in connection with this album. For example, I have a music video coming out soon for one of my songs. Of course, I need to create and I have already started working on my next album. Many beautiful things are to come!

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