Additional Information
POP Montréal is celebrating 25 years of DIY and artistic vision. The festival remains an international beacon of indie music culture; spending several evenings there is invariably enlightening, enriching, exciting, and even liberating! It’s truly an event that celebrates the intercultural and welcoming nature of Montreal life. That’s why we’ve selected three daily recommendations from Pop MTL’s head programmer and founder, Dan Seligman. Here are his Thursday September 24th three picks.
Chad Van Gaalen Théâtre Rialto, Salle Exclaim! 8PM
Dan: Chad Van Gaalen is my first pick. Why? This year being the 25th, we wanted to shine a spotlight on some of the artists that have been part of the scene for the last 25 years. They are still making good music. I think Chad Van Gaalen is a true indie generation artist. He has been around for a while. He is really talented. If he was from a different generation, the seventies for example, he would have had more commercial success. It’s kind of experimental. He really makes interesting folk rock music that is DIY. He has become more underground. I think he peaked about 10 years ago; he was on SubPop at that time, he had a bigger industry behind him. Now he is doing everything on his own. He does his music videos and artwork. He is an interesting character. He has played Pop Montreal before a couple of times. He played at the Ukrainian Federation, I think it was 2008. Overall, he is a talented artist.
Plants and Animals, Divan Orange 8PM 2 shows Sold Out
Dan : Plants and Animals is my second choice, but the show is sold out at Divan Orange. It is crazy packed, but I think it is pretty cool. One of the things we tried to do for the festival was to lean a little bit into nostalgia. So we had the idea of bringing back Divan Orange, such an important institution, a fabric of the underground music scene in Montreal. Plants and Animals didn’t officially break up, but they haven’t been an active band for a while. They have their other projects that are doing well. They were one of those bands that are synonymous with Divan. I think Warren Spicer, the singer, was a bartender there at some point. When I asked them about playing, they were like, this is the perfect scenario for us to come back. We present two shows, they are sold out.
Dan : CFCF aka Mike Silver is an electronic producer. He did some recording with Jean-Michel Blais, when he was beginning. Before being back here, he lived in Los Angeles for a while, he had one foot in film production. He grew up in Montreal, he is a NDG kid. He went to LA a few years ago, like many others. They want to have a career in film and composing. Now he is back in Montreal, he has a new album. His new album L.U.V. is very cool. Disco, kitschy, from balearic disco to drum’n’bass. In this same program, we’re doing Peer Pressure DJ’S reunion. From the mid 2000’s, they’re back. Mike Silver was not one of Peer Pressure DJs, but he frequently performs alongside the collective. He would play their parties. It’s part of the same team. or someone who remembers it and to see the younger kids gravitate towards that style is pretty interesting. We thought we would bring back a few of the artists from that generation.
