La Sécurité and Hot Garbage Talk Influences, Experimentation, and DISTORSION PSYCH FEST (Mothland)
DISTORSION PSYCH FEST poster by Tiny Little Hammers
Before plugging in the synths and warming up the fog machines, we were able to chat with two bands on the bill at this year’s DISTORSION PSYCH FEST leading up to their rollicking sets in July.
La Sécurité by Marc-Antoine Barbier
The first group we had our eyes on was La Sécurité, a newly formed art-punk supergroup featuring members from iconic Montreal bands such as Choses Sauvages and Jesuslesfilles. In the spring, they treated audiences to a delightfully frantic and groovy dual single release – “Suspens/Try Again” via Mothland. DISTORSION was the band’s first live show together, and it was a gig for the books.
Sofie Milito of Also Cool: I'd love to hear a bit about your group's beginnings. How did La Sécurité come together?
Éliane Viens-Synnott of La Sécurité: The band initially started with Félix [Bélisle] and I noodling around during the pandemic to pass the time. We had fun mixing up all our influences — him having more of an electro/disco background, whereas I'm more into punk and new wave myself. We then invited three friends to join. I met Melissa [Di Menna] in Vanille, this other band we played in together. We realized quite quickly that we were very compatible creatively. Laurence-Anne [last name unknown] is a good friend and has collaborated with Félix a couple times on other projects, so it kind of seemed like a no-brainer. We met Kenny [Smith] in the past couple years in and around the music scene, and we clicked really quickly as well. He has lots of natural taste and talent. Long story short, we all came together in a pretty organic way.
Also Cool: With members from a multitude of different bands and musical projects, is there anything you were (or still are) curious about experimenting with as a group?
Éliane: It's fun to switch up who is composing which part and to take in everyone's ideas. The first few songs were mostly written by Félix and I, but the more we go along, it's more of a collaborative effort. I guess that's the direction we are interested in experimenting with. It's kind of fun to be kept on our toes and it's a good project for that purpose.
AC: What was inspiring the band in the making of your first pair of singles (“Suspens / Try Again”)?
Éliane: I wrote those singles during the pandemic, so there are allusions to that for sure. We found our groove arranging the musical aspects of the songs together and they helped us to figure out our work dynamic.
AC: There's a voltaic energy to those songs that seems like great fun for a live setting. What's most exciting to you about playing this first live show at Distortion?
Éliane: I'm excited to break in our live performance in general, and to present news songs that were composed in a more collaborative way. You can't really know what it's going tobe like until you do it!
AC: If La Sécurité were stranded on a desert island, what would be your top media picks?
Éliane: See The Whirl by Delta 5, [Miyazaki's] Howl's Moving Castle, and Please Kill Me [by Gillian McCain and Legs McNeil].
AC: On the heels of your first studio recording, is there anything on the horizon for the band that you can tell us about?
Éliane: We’ve got a couple more shows planned before the end of the year. An album is in the works as well…
Hot Garbage by Alex Carre
Combining krautrock and psychedelia, Hot Garbage has been releasing spell-binding tunes since 2017, coming out with their first full-length album RIDE via Mothland in 2021. Hailing from Toronto, they trekked over to play DISTORSION amid a series of US gigs. Catch them on their fall tour this November!
Sofie Milito of Also Cool: How did Hot Garbage come to be?
Julianna Carkevaris of Hot Garbage: Alex [Carlevaris] and Mark [Henein] had been playing in bands together since their early high school days. I joined in on bass when this project was getting going—around 2014—then Dylan [Gamble] joined on keys shortly after.
Also Cool: What are you experimenting with these days?
Julianna: We're currently working on a new record, and for the past couple of years we've been exploring new approaches to the songwriting process. The pandemic forced us to work on things while being apart from each other, which had advantages and disadvantages. I think now, we're finding a new balance between that and the synergy and spontaneity of getting ideas out by playing together in an improvised way.
AC: RIDE takes us on a scorching, swirling journey from minute one to its trippy finish. Can you tell us a little about the album’s world and what was inspiring you in the making-of?
Julianna: I think the inspiration is quite varied throughout the record, but generally, we draw a lot of ideas and moods from imagery and photos, cinema, books, mysterious phenomena — both worldly and otherworldly ["RIDE is all at once dread, beauty, wonder, horror and mystery"].
AC: As a band, what’s your favourite part about a live gig?
Julianna: The give and take, and the exchanging of energy.
AC: If Hot Garbage were stranded on a desert island, what would be your top media picks?
Julianna: [The film] Goodfellas. It is a marvel of cinema with a great soundtrack. RIP, Ray Liotta.
AC: What’s the hottest garbage you’ve come across?
Julianna: It's pretty hot right now actually, so I probably walked by some today… and it will probably just keep getting hotter. Enjoy it while you can.
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