Marilyne Lacombe (Mothland, Taverne Tour, DISTORSION, FME) Talks Music Industry Beginnings and Montreal's Alternative Music Scene

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Image courtesy of Marilyne Lacombe

Live music is back with a vengeance, thanks to hardworking folks like Marilyne Lacombe. If you haven’t met Lacombe at L’Ésco already, you’ve definitely attended one of her brainchild events. For over a decade, Lacombe and her entourage have cultivated pillar projects at the core of Montreal’s alternative music scene, including Taverne Tour and DISTORSION psych-fest, as well as booking agency and indie label Mothland. We had the chance to meet Lacombe IRL at this year’s edition of FME, and catch her in action as a festival programmer and producer. Between sets, Lacombe graciously took the time to chat with us about her career beginnings, starting a label during a pandemic and her must-have essentials for any festival go-er. Check out our conversation with Lacombe below! 

Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter for Also Cool: Hi Marilyne! Thanks so much for chatting with Also Cool. To start, you've been around the block when it comes to the music biz. Tell us about your intro to this career path.

Marilyne Lacombe: I started to book shows in Montreal in 2008 when I was in charge of the music programming at Chez Baptiste sur Masson. Back then, the bar presented shows every week!  I had this idea of doing an alternative “St-Jean” that would celebrate the contemporary Montreal indie scene, in opposition to the nostalgia medley traditionally presented at Parc Maisonneuve. Then, “L’Autre St-Jean” was born. It created a whole media and political circus, as we were criticized for adding anglophone bands to the lineup. In the end, it really helped put the event on the map, and during the course of  five editions, we had close to 10,000 visitors coming every year at Parc du Pelican in Rosemont. We sadly had to end it because of the lack of funding; we were honestly taking huge financial risks for a one-day event.

A couple years later, I founded a multi-venue festival called Taverne Tour with my partner from “feu” L’Autre St-Jean, Pierre Thibault. Initially, it was just about creating a fun festival in the middle of winter that doesn’t take itself too seriously and trying to cure that January depression, all the while supporting small local businesses. The response was so great that it quickly became a staple in Montreal’s festival circuit. Over the years, we’ve presented some of my favorite bands, including: Deerhoof, METZ, A Place To Bury Strangers, Föllakzoid and Guerilla Toss, just to name a few.  

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Image via Taverne Tour

Also Cool: When did Mothland come into the mix?

Marilyne Lacombe: Around the time of Tavern Tour, I joined some like-minded people —gravitating around L’Esco— and together we founded DISTORSION. We wanted to present a well-organized, independent, underground psych festival with modern and diversified art direction.  We quickly gathered a community around the festival and eventually, we decided to start Mothland to help further the bands that we were working with, as no other booking agency would work with them.  Back then, I was pretty adamant of not transforming this into a label… But when COVID-19 hit the music industry, we weren’t all that keen on organizing livestream events, as we felt they would not really connect with our audience… So. starting a label was a great way to move forward with our mission.  I’m not sure how we got here so quickly, but we’re currently working on our 17th release!

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Image via Mothland

Also Cool: That’s amazing! Segwaying off of that, let’s talk about this year’s edition of FME, which was a long-awaited return to live music. Seeing as music festivals are certainly you're thing; what makes FME stand-out and what was your involvement with the festival? 

Marilyne Lacombe: I started programming for FME four years ago. At the time, I would book a handful of weirdo and wild card bands on the lineup. As of 2020, I've been directing the programming with the support of my Mothland colleagues. Since the festival is mainly focusing on new acts and music discoveries, we have almost infinite artistic leeway and are able to put forth cutting edge programming. The festival has been running for almost 20 years now and over the time, has built a solid and trustful relationship with the artistic community across Europe and North America. It’s truly an honour to take on curation duties for such a great event!

I think there is something very magical about FME. Doing the annual 8-hour pilgrimage to a remote mining town, up in northern Quebec, for 4 days of music, is always a highlight of the year. If you compare it to similar festivals in Montreal, I feel like there are so many other distractions. During FME, people really have one thing to focus on; going to concerts to discover new music. There is also something exciting about bringing international acts and inviting them to this northern region of Quebec, as they would never end up there otherwise. I also love that the local community is deeply involved in the festival, making it a communal event where everybody chips in! 

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Image via FME

 AC: What was it like programming the festival this year and what acts were your favourite?

ML: There is something really weird and exciting about programming a festival in COVID times. Usually, you’d see pretty much all the bands live before booking them. This year, we programmed many artists that we’d never seen live!  Though it was a bit risky, I was really pleased with taking the leap overall. I loved seeing Toronto’s kulintang ensemble, Pantayo, for the first time; ‘’mockasin-gaze’’ outfit Zoon; Quebec-Atikamekw grungy indie-folk artist Laura Niquay; Jangle-pop duo Ducks Ltd.; and canadian shoegaze veteran No Joy.

AC: What are your music festival essentials that you can't live without during festival season? 

ML: Well, since we’re talking about FME here, I could not survive without my fall clothing essentials: a lot of sweaters, jackets, mittens, hats, and scarves! Fortunately this year wasn’t too bad, but I always come prepared because it has literally snowed during FME weekends in the past.

Other than that, I always have an iconic Taverne Tour flask in my bag, which also helps with the cold weather!

AC: In closing, are there any other current projects that you're working on that you'd like to shout out? 

ML: Definitely check out Mothland’s upcoming releases! I can’t tell you too much about them, but we really have some badass releases coming down the pipeline! Also, we’re preparing for the return of live music events in Montreal… Stay tuned! 

Taverne Tour

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DISTORSION

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Mothland

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FME

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Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter (she/her) is the co-founder and managing editor of Also Cool Mag. Aside from the mag, she is a music promoter & booker, and a radio host & DJ.

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PREMIERE: Pascale Project's Tonight My Dance (Dir. Antoine93, Released via La Rama Records)

via Pascale Project

It's been a summer of asking, "Where's the party?" From party-hopping from the skatepark DJ set to the secret outdoor rave and then back to the spontaneous park party. The pure bliss of running into your friends on the way to the gig and then finding each other again on the clandestine dancefloor is unmatched. If you know, you know, and if you don't, someone will probably post an Instagram story about it later that night.

Either way, if you like the sound of the end-of-summer dream I'm describing, then you'll love Pascale Project's latest music video for Tonight My Dance. Soaked in the tradition of summer fun in the city, elements of Freestyle and Electro weave into the House beat and are made for having a good time. These sounds evoked by our beloved corner of the world (Montreal) are now broadcast to the global network of party purveyors. The track is one of three off of her latest release, "Where's The Party" (La Rama Records).

via Pascale Project

Tonight My Dance brings the glam of club culture, calling back to glossy Y2K aesthetics and 90s high-fashion commercials. Directed by Antoine93 (another great musician and party-goer extraordinaire who we have previously covered), the video was created on a $0 budget in the true DIY spirit.

Watch Tonight My Dance below

Pascale Project

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Tracklisting:

A1 - Tonight My Dance

A2 - Welcome (Dust-e-1 Remix)

B1 - Welcome

B2 - Go Home

All cut at 45rpm for diverse playing styles!

Music by Pascale Mercier.

Mastered by Nik Kozub.

Artwork & design by Kris Guilty.

Manufactured & distributed by La Rama Records.

Malaika Astorga is the co-founder of Also Cool. She is a Mexican-Canadian visual artist, writer, and social media strategist currently based in Montreal.

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Sometimes Alienating, But Always Fascinating: Suuns' Joe Yarmush Reflects on New Album "The Witness" (Secret City Records)

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Suuns, shot by Will-Lew May

Montreal’s Suuns opened their first show in nearly two years at l’Impérial Bell in Quebec City, a setting which guitarist Joe Yarmush describes as “an old-timey nightclub, where a crooner would play.” Yarmush highlighted the experience as something the avant-garde trio isn’t used to, but went on to liken it to riding a bike: “It’s weird at first, but it’s also very familiar on a lot of levels,” he says. “And it’s more familiar than I would have thought.”

The band’s ongoing tour supports their newest offering The Witness, which was released on September 3rd, 2021. The LP’s 38-minute runtime opens and closes with the sounds of swarming cicadas, and contains elements of dark techno, contemplative multi-interpretive lyricism and colourful synthesizers all-throughout. The result is something that is sometimes alienating, but always fascinating.

During our phone call, Yarmush clarified the meaning of their album’s title, explaining that their music focuses much more on the act of witnessing in and of itself, rather than witnessing any specific thing or event.

“Now, in our civilization and society, we witness stuff that even 50 years ago we wouldn’t have seen,” Yarmush says. “When anything happens in the world, we see it immediately. Everything’s filmed, everything is being shown… How do we choose to react to things in these circumstances? Do we lose our capability to react to things that would have been appalling to us a mere few decades ago?” Yarmush and fellow Suuns members are echoing a sentiment that is all too prevalent in the 21st century: That we are becoming desensitized to the world and losing interest in major global events as soon as the next shocking headline pops-up on our newsfeed.

Exploring themes of desensitization is not new for Suuns, who have been channeling existential philosophy through free-form rock compositions since their formation in 2007. Still, Yarmush believes that “there’s something pointedly different about The Witness,” saying that all three band members could sense this difference from the moment it was being recorded to the time of its September release. 

Yarmush and company are not the only ones picking up on this shift. Pitchfork describes The Witness as the band’s “most cohesive album yet,” and Cult MTL praises the album’s “fresh, offbeat sound and poetic insight.” This might be attributed to the band feeding into a desire to explore; which becomes more restless with each new year.

When asked to what extent the genre of science fiction informs their work, Yarmush explains: “While it might not necessarily be dystopian, the concept of the future is definitely a recurring theme in a lot of our music.” In a purely musical sense, Yarmush describes his band as constantly trying to propel themselves towards the future, doing something new and unimaginable each time they enter the studio for a recording session. “We never do throwbacks or purposely try to recreate a genre in a new way, even though we might put older, more traditional elements into our music from time to time.”

“In many ways [Suuns] has stayed the same, but we’ve also evolved drastically,” says Yarmush, reflecting on how the band has developed over time. “We were four members for twelve years, with very distinct musical voices. We really felt the change after Max Henry, our former bassist, left… and the band has certainly been heading in a new direction.” Yarmush fondly recalls forming the band with vocalist Ben Shemie in his mid-20s, saying: “It’s crazy to believe that I’m now in my 40s… I feel like Suuns is only starting out now in a lot of ways, even though that’s not the case, and we are very different from when we first started out.” He elaborates by saying that when he listens to their 2016 album Hold/Still, he feels as though he is observing a previous version of the band from a distance. “There are distinct contrasts between the band that made that album, and the band that just released The Witness,” he says.

For Yarmush, the process of creating, recording and subsequently performing music can be best described as a spiritual experience. When asked about whether he feels more validation during the creation or the performance of his music, he replies: “The two feed off of each other,” and are thus inseparable. “Both can speak volumes regarding an individual or a group’s musical legacy,” he adds. “Records will live on longer than performances, but there’s something really cool about playing a show. Because as soon as it ends, it just disappears.”

Suuns, shot by Will-Lew May

Suuns has existed for more than a decade now, blending experimentation with indie-rock, and method with madness. There is a thread which weaves through the experimental post-rock chaos of their works, and though The Witness marks their fifth studio album, the band shows no signs of slowing down any time soon. “People are starting to get us more,” says Yarmush. “And we’re starting to get us more. On our latest album, we’ve begun to understand something about our band, which was always elusive before. I think people are reacting positively to that.”

Luckily for Suuns listeners in Quebec and Europe, the band will be spending the next two months touring across the globe. They will be ending the French-Canadian portion of their tour later this week in Gatineau, and will proceed to spend October and November visiting Belgium, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and beyond. For more information on tour dates, visit their website.

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Suuns

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Spencer Nafekh is a tireless reader, writer, editor, and advocate for the written word. With an undergraduate degree in Concordia's English and Creative Writing program imminent, he plans to pursue a Master's specialization in journalism so that he can fully realize his career path. When Spencer is not working away, he is probably listening to experimental music while lost in the world of a science fiction novel.

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Brother. Finds Love Through the Nostalgic Haze of “Goodnight Girl” (Handwritten Records)

Single art via Handwritten Records

Maybe this fall’s got you cozied up under flannel covers with the one you love. Maybe you’re ruminating on how distance from family and friends makes the heart grow fonder. Whoever we love, however we love, we love nonetheless – it feels so good to show it.

That’s the guiding philosophy of “Goodnight Girl”, the latest single from Brother. out now on Handwritten Records. These Utah indie-dreamers have built a reputation for their charismatic sound, and “Goodnight Girl” is no exception. Brother. continues to make their mark with this nostalgic soundscape, featuring classic pop synths and a crying lead guitar that complements the lyrical adoration.

Band member Chuck Emery penned and produced this track as an encapsulation of the bond that he and his wife share. “I wanted this song to not only be for my wife, but for everyone in love or in the process of searching for it,” he shares. “Love comes in many shapes and forms, but when you feel it you know it’s love. I hope everyone finds that person who they never have to say goodbye to.” We’re not crying, you’re crying.

Inspired by the sincere vulnerability of “Goodnight Girl”, we caught up with Brother. to chat more about the comfort of love – and a good sandwich.

Rebecca L. Judd for Also Cool Mag: Hey Brother.! Thanks so much for taking the time to chat with me today. Tell our readers a bit more about your band, and how you all came together.

Chuck Emery of Brother.: Thank you! We are an indie alt band based out of Salt Lake City, Utah. We have been playing together for the last 5 years. Brother. originally started as a solo indie folk project but has evolved since then to become more full-band. Myself, Erika and Nathan basically all started together at the beginning, Scott joined in late 2018, and Elias has been with us for the last year or so.

Also Cool: Your latest track 'Goodnight Girl' is a warm, romantic tribute to other-halves and the light that they bring into our lives. Its hazy earnestness feels very comforting – perfect vibes for the end-of-summer. Chuck, take us through the process of penning this track for your wife. 

Brother.: I originally wrote the guitar chords using a chorus pedal stack. The stack of chorus pedals gave it this really warm, 90s-esque-feeling guitar that felt new and nostalgic at the same time. I added the instrumentation to accent this guitar and make it shine. 

I wanted the lyrics to not only be about my wife but to stay general enough for everyone with that special someone, or someone looking for that special someone. I feel like most love songs rely heavily on the physical attributes of someone. I wanted to steer away from this and highlight the things my wife does for me that keep me healthy and happy.

Chuck Emery, Nathan Standage, Erika Goodwin, Scott Knutson and Elias Pratt of Brother. Photo courtesy of Savannah Mckenzie

AC: The 'Goodnight Girl' music video is out now, and it perfectly accompanies the tender emotions of the track. Can you explain the creative vision behind this video, and what it was like to watch it all come together?

B: The music video was a fun one to be a part of! We wanted the song and video to resonate with others who are in love, or in the process of searching for it. We featured local talent from the LGBTQ community and wanted to portray a love that felt comfortable to someone as a person. The vintage, hazy look pairs perfectly with the vintage, 90s-sound guitar – again giving that feeling of nostalgia and something fresh and new.

AC: Fresh off the release of 'Goodnight Girl', you folks are spending September touring the West Coast. How does it feel to be back on the road? Which parts of touring did you miss the most?

B: It feels awesome! All the shows we have played so far have been amazing. It has been so great connecting with people from different cities who enjoy our music. Some parts that we’ve missed are just heading to different cities and trying different local foods. Collectively, we all love sandwiches. We try our best to hit up the best local sandwich places in the cities we travel to.

AC: 'Goodnight Girl' is described as Brother.'s first official love song – hopefully it's not the last. Which direction are you all hoping to take Brother.'s music in next? What can we expect from you folks towards the end of 2021?

B: Hopefully it is not the last! We have a brand-new album coming out October 15th through Handwritten Records. It is something we’ve put a lot of heart into and are excited to get it out into the world. We have released about half of the songs on the album as singles, but will have 5 new songs with the release. Excited to show the world what we have been working on, and hope to do more touring after the release!

Watch “Goodnight Girl” below!

Brother.

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Rebecca L. Judd (she/they) is the features editor of Also Cool Mag. She writes and creates out of her studio apartment in Ottawa, kept company by vivid dreams and a cuddly grey kitty named Dora.

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Danish Post-Punk Trio KONVOJ Release Debut Album "Basher"

There's nothing I love more than a high-energy post-punk show. It's one of the few genres where I actually see people dance a bit, even if they're just subtlely bouncing up and down, trying not to spill their beer.

KONVOJ, the Danish post-punk trio, is the perfect band for this kind of setting. The word 'post-punk' is often thrown around in music writing, usually referring to the cold, angular guitars and monotone vocals found on the East Coast. KONVOJ breaks out of these stereotypes and abides by their own strict rules. Their vocals are joyful, their music still structured but less harsh than others in the genre, allowing space for elements of grunge, psych and garage rock to seep in.

For fans of IDLES, Parquet Courts, and shame, you’re sure to find a song for your daily Spotify rotation off of KONVOJ’s debut album “Basher.”

The trio met in high school in Gladsaxe over ten years ago. They're the kind of band you'd be pleasantly surprised by, playing at the local bar with your friends' band. The members have played together in different bands over the years, eventually forming KONVOJ as it exists today.

Upon creation, KONVOJ was based on the following dogmas:

• The band should ONLY consist of the three.

• It should be alive and dangerous.

• No focus on the commercial for the sake of the commercial!

• Everything had to be recorded in one-takes – mistakes / the rawness has a clear justification as an expression.

• Don't go down the same path as everyone else.

• The music needs to be liberating.

Six months after their first show, KONVOJ recorded their album "Basher" in two days, with one take for each song.

Listen to "Basher" below.

KONVOJ

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Meggie Lennon's Debut LP "Sounds from Your Lips" is a Psychedelic Dream Pop Wonderland

Album art via Mothland

Are you in need of a 60s-inspired psychedelic soundtrack for your cottagecore botanical gardens date? Yeah, we thought so. 

Meggie Lennon's self-described "make-out-dream-pop" album “Sounds from Your Lips” is the perfect mélange of shimmering psychedelia and sensual chamber indie-pop. Released on one of our favourite local labels, Mothland, the record was produced by Samuel Gemme (Corridor, Anemone, The Brooks). It features the guitar-playing of The Besnard Lakes and Elephant Stones' Gabriel Lambert and additional contributions from her longtime friend and collaborator, Jules Henry (Super Plage). 

If you're a fan of Weyes Blood, Charlotte Gainsbourg, or Melody's Echo Chamber, we can guarantee you'll fall in love with Meggie. We got to know a bit more about the singer's world over email, and after meeting IRL at FME earlier this month, we can guarantee that the singer radiates as much sunshine and kindness in person as she does on her record.

Dive into Meggie's world below

Meggie Lennon by Mélissa Gamache

Also Cool Mag: From the mellow sparkle of 'Night Shift' to the unapologetic seduction of 'Long Time,' this album is wrapped up in a sense of pleasure and hedonism. How did this thematic inspiration come to the surface, and what does it mean to you to create with indulgence? 

Meggie Lennon: I am very easy to please. Simple pleasures are the best, from a nice warm espresso to a gentle kiss on the neck. My songs are inspired by my own life. I like to have fun, eat well, and listen to vinyl. I am very fortunate to have the life I have and am very thankful.

AC: This album is the perfect fit for the heat of summer's haze, timing brilliantly with a reopening world and further avenues for exploration. If you could describe the perfect scene meant to be soundtracked by Sounds From Your Lips, what would it be? 

Meggie: It would be in a natural setting, where a couple would lay in the green grass and kiss passionately under the warm sun. Water would be nearby, ready to welcome these warm bodies in love.

AC: The music video for 'Night Shift' is such a dream, balancing kaleidoscopic sensations with coyness and intimacy. Tell us more about the process of creating this video. 

M: I am lucky enough to be surrounded by really creative friends. I had jotted down all my ideas and showed them to my friend Marielle Normandin Pageau. She really dug it and called her other friend Samuel to operate the cameras. We shot everything in two days. Four locations were needed: a parking lot, a lake, a bathtub and my basement. It was a lot of fun but was quite intense since it was in October and the water was crazy cold. Marielle is a real magician when it comes to editing. She really succeeded in conveying the psychedelic feel we wanted through her shot selections and image superpositions.

Meggie Lennon by Mélissa Gamache

AC: How do you nurture yourself creatively and inspire artistic reflection? 

M: As I said, what I see around me and do every day inspires me greatly: a walk in the park, a feeling of depression or happiness, my flowers and plants growing, a crazy bar hopping adventure with my friends, a live show, anything. I like to keep it simple and straightforward. I am not a poet though I enjoy poetry. Leonard Cohen is amongst those I enjoy. And the music, always more music, passionate musicians like Weyes Blood and Kevin Parker greatly influence my writing.

Catch Meggie Lennon live at POP Montreal & DISTORSION’s showcase with Hot Garbage and ALIAS on September 25th! RSVP on Facebook

Meggie Lennon

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Rebecca L. Judd (she/they) is the features editor of Also Cool Mag. She writes and creates out of a studio apartment in Ottawa, kept company by vivid dreams and a cuddly grey kitty named Dora.

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"Surrounded" - Motorists' Jangle Punk LP Explores Isolation, Community & DIY Spirit (We Are Time/Bobo Integral/Debt Offensive)

Surrounded by Motorists album art

Standing at the back of the show, holding your beer close, you're wondering if anyone is going to talk to you or if you'll have the courage to talk to that cool person that keeps walking by. This is the oddly specific yet nostalgic feeling that emerges while listening to Motorists' debut LP "Surrounded."

Comparable to various eras of punk, jangle rock, and mid-2000s Canadian indie rock, Motorists express their struggles with isolation by pairing a post-punk vocal tone with optimistic and upbeat melodies. The trio Craig Fahner, Jesse Locke, and Matt Learoyd have played music together since their early days in the Calgary DIY scene. They've since gone on to work together on various projects, including Chandra Oppenheim's release of her 1980s album EP Transportation.

Throughout their many years playing, touring, and community-organizing together, Motorists have maintained their values and ability to be vulnerable with each other, and through their music. We spoke with the band about all this and more a few months back, leaving us feeling cautiously optimistic for the future of DIY Canadian music scenes. 

Malaika Astorga for Also Cool: Tell us a bit about the band and who you are as people.

Jesse: My name is Jesse, but my DND name is Nox Arcana, inspired by a minimal wave artist who made DND-inspired music. Matt, Craig & I have been friends for a long time, have played in bands together almost ever since, and eventually formed Motorists.

Also Cool: I'm interested in hearing more about the scene you came up in and how you got into the scene.

Craig: Great question! It's particularly fitting because we've been really close friends for the past 15 years. We met each other through the DIY music scene in Calgary. I met Matt when I was 16 and Jesse shortly afterwards. For me finding the Calgary DIY music scene felt like salvation. I was living a pretty sheltered suburban existence and was really thirsty for people with shared values. 

I think it's a testament to how valuable those kinds of communities are. We've been able to maintain friendships and keep those same values together moving forward, even when we've moved to different cities. We've tried to bring those inclusive anti-commercial values to the scene in Toronto, which is ostensibly not an anti-commercial music city. It's very much where people go to make money in music.

Jesse: The last show we played before the pandemic was in the basement of a comic book shop in Toronto, where we were carving out our own little DIY scene. It was all ages, PWYC, which was really similar to many shows I went to growing up in Calgary.

Matt: I also think there was sort of a heyday in the mid-2000s. Maybe from 2007-2011, during the Weird Canada era, there really felt like there was a camaraderie across Canada of various DIY scenes having the opportunity to connect. It might have just been coincidental with us being in our early 20s at that time, but there was definitely an affinity of the Calgary DIY scene with Ottawa, Victoria, and Halifax. 

It's always felt like there's been a sharing of values and perspectives. Canada also has so few major cities, so when you did get on the road to tour, there was definitely a crew of this DIY community. Obviously, these things have shifted and changed over time. Some of these people are stars, some have dropped off, and others are keeping the spirit alive… But there's just something about keeping things DIY and grassroots and trying to resist the industry machine. 

Jesse: We're now tentatively booking release shows, and a lot of those contacts are from the Weird Canada days. Those connections that we forged back then in 2009… Just the fact that Weird Canada had a map icon and you could search by place, it helped build a DIY touring circuit across Canada and connected me to all kinds of different communities.

Photo by Michelle Lemay

AC: In my own experience growing up in Ottawa, I would be so happy that any show at all was happening. Regardless of what show was on that night, everyone went because it was the only thing happening that night. Now, as I interview more bands, they all bring up this same sort of spirit of how making an effort in their own communities was what really brought them a long way.

That being said, it seems like friendships and community-oriented things are really important to you. What have you learned about friendship in your experience as a band and being friends with each other for such a long time?

Matt: What a nice question! I think being in a band is a special kind of intersection of relationship where you're buds, creative partners, sometimes roommates, and sometimes travel buddies. There's a lot of joy and intimacy due because you end up going through so much together. It's something you might not get from someone who you just see out on the weekends. 

There was also nothing about our friendship where we were once friends and had to cross the threshold into bandmates. That was just sort of the cauldron that we were forged in, so there was nothing more natural than being in a band together. We had all been in bands before, and together it almost felt like muscle memory. Even the songs came together really fast. There's a song on the record that came together three months after we got together. Regardless of if we're in each other's bands, lives or even in the same city, there's always been a cumulative effect of quickly being able to get on the same page creatively. 

Craig: We got to know each other by playing music together, which for me personally, shaped what it means to be in this sort of ideal friendship. And like Matt said, it's one where you have to depend on each other, be accountable, and work through problems together. 

You have this really rich constant negotiation and intimacy, which I think set a foundation for me personally of how powerful a friendship could be. It's more than just having a good time and chatting; it's creating a really rich and meaningful dialogue while being able to rely on each other. When we recorded this record, we were the only people we saw other than the people we live with. This record is sort of a product of that intimacy.

Jesse: I never would want to be like the Pixies, where everyone has their own tour bus. I think we all challenge and hold each other accountable. We raise each other to a height that we know that we can all achieve.

AC: The album carries a theme of reconnecting with people. What has that process been like for you? It feels like an awkwardness that we're all going through together.

Craig: One observation I've made is that COVID has forced us to acknowledge that we all have different boundaries and comfort levels. When re-entering the social world, I think it's a really good thing to approach it with this awareness of others and be considerate of what they need and what they're comfortable with. This is also why we haven't rushed into playing shows again; we're just waiting for what feels like is the right time to do so. 

Matt: Well, it's difficult for sure; a lot has changed as we start to reconnect again. A lot of the venues are gone, the musicians who work in the service industry are struggling, and those who used to tour all the time now have to look for alternative sources of income. We have less time for leisure activities and less time for practicing music. In the most optimistic version of the future, DIY will become a necessity because there just won't be that many places to play. 

In Toronto, we have Rehearsal Factory, where 90% of bands rehearse, but they're all being sold, which is probably 1000 rehearsal spaces gone. We got really lucky because Craig has a basement we can use, but almost everyone I know uses these spaces to rehearse. 

The barrier for entry is definitely a lot higher. I think the landscape is going to change in general. Still, I hope that it makes it so that when shows do happen, people will think of them as really valuable and won't just treat them like a party opportunity. Instead, it will make them more inclined to build community. 

Motorists

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Malaika Astorga is the co-founder of Also Cool. She is a Mexican-Canadian visual artist, writer, and social media strategist currently based in Montreal.

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Alicia Clara Shares Surrealist "Stones Like Eyes" Music Video (Hot Tramp Records)

Alicia Clara by Tess Roby

Are you in need of some escapism? Perhaps a trip across space and time would do the trick. Enter the world of Alicia Clara's Stones Like Eyes, her latest music video from her EP Outsider/Unusual. Alicia takes us along for the ride as she travels between dreamscapes and surreal liminal spaces until she finds herself in an alien-like landscape that may be familiar to fellow Montrealers.

What's even cooler is that part of the video was filmed at the Also Cool HQ. Alicia enlisted the help of local creatives Roxane Loumède (writer & director), Matthew Sperdakos Clark (editor & VFX), Tishanna Carnevale (costume design) and Malaika Astorga (DOP) to make the Stones Like Eyes vision come to life.

"I made this music video with a bunch of friends, so it was a really easygoing and fun collaboration – we had a great time shooting. Roxane's surrealist vision matched the oddness of my lyrics, putting the track into a new world of its own," says Alicia. 

Watch the video below

Catch Alicia Clara live at POP Montreal this year on September 25th, and keep an eye out for new music very soon.

Alicia Clara

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Digital Sleepover 2 Interview: Magi Merlin, Mags, and Naïka Champaïgne on Hip-Hop Culture, Soul, RnB and more

Have you heard? We're having a sleepover, and you're invited! Digital Sleepover 2, is our latest upcoming collaboration  Hip Hop You Don't Stop and Strange Froots. On September 19th at 8pm EST we'll be livestreaming a roundtable panel disucssion from the Also Cool HQ with JU!CE, Khadijah, Faneva, and Magi Merlin, followerd by an online dance party.

As we did with our previous Digital Sleepover, we're raising funds for our communities: half of the proceeds will be donated to Maison d'Haiti to help with relief efforts in recovering from the earthquake, and half will go to sustaining the ongoing work of Also Cool (staff, web maintenance, etc.), at the very kind request of the Strange Froots crew. You can donate to the fundraiser here.

In anticipation of the event, we caught up with Mags, Naïka Champaïgne, and Magi Merlin to chat about Hip-Hop culture, different genres, and more. 

Mags & Naïka Champaïgne of Strange Froots

Malaika Astorga for Also Cool: Can you tell us a bit about your relationship with Hip-Hop, R&B & Soul music? 

Magi Merlin: Growing up, my parents mostly played classical music when I was around. I also heard some old-school R&B from my dad and some pop stuff from my mom, but my parents were never that music-oriented. So, as I grew up, and after realizing that I wanted to pursue music, I made sure to listen to all genres of music in an attempt to find what resonated with me the most. I naturally found myself drawn to Neo-Soul, alternative R&B, and Hip-Hop; the voices in these genres really spoke to me. Being a blank slate and not having much outside influence in what I was listening to at a young age almost made my connection to these genres stronger because it felt like we chose each other.

Naïka Champaïgne: My relationship with Hip-Hop, R&B and Soul has been through the sounds being played in my house. My mom had numerous R&B CDs, Hip Hop CDs and was a HUGE fan of Prince. Hearing soul and R&B specifically on Sundays meant my mom was cleaning. It just always has been part of my life. I can’t tell you when, where or how it was brought to my life because it’s just always been there. 

I have a really intimate relationship when it comes to those genres because I always wanted to know more; who sang this? Who wrote this? Who sampled this? Who composed this? What are the different ways they performed it? My mom sometimes would be surprised that I knew this artist, because I was not born during their time, but I was just a kid (and always am to this day) that searched for the artist. I started their discography from the beginning to the end, with the artist’s bio, with the album bio, creative process, writing process and lyrics all open next to me while I listen to the songs, in order to fully grasp the music. My relationship with Hip-Hop, Soul and R&B differs in terms of what/who I’m composing for.

With Strange Froots I focus a lot more on Hip Hop ways of writing and flowing and the more 2000s girl group R&B vocals harmony, and as a solo artist I focus more on the Soul vocalization and melody composition.

Mags: All of the Hip-Hop and RnB I grew up listening to I got from my older siblings, mostly when they would pick me up from school or when I had to tag along with them and their friends hanging out in the 90s, if not simply from having MTV or VH1 on the tube. My family also was really REALLY big on CDs and cassette tapes; my earliest memories of those include TLC’s CrazySexyCool, Michael Jackson’s Dangerous, Brandy’s debut eponymous album, Whitney Houston’s My Love Is Your Love, and the soundtrack to the 1995 film Waiting to Exhale (which included a lot of the aforementioned artists on top of introducing me to some of RnB’s staples like Toni Braxton and SWV). My dad was a huge part of my musical upbringing, in many genres, but he bought me my first CDs when I was in elementary school: Nelly’s Nellyville (which is all Hip-Hop with a few Cedric the Entertainer skits), and the soundtrack to the Will Smith 1999 film Wild Wild West (which was mostly Hip-Hop, with a bit of RnB and Latin-infused music). 

Within Strange Froots I’d say a lot of my artistry as an MC is heavily influenced by Missy Elliott, as a singer I might say Brandy, Nelly Furtado and Destiny’s Child (especially for harmonies), and as a group member overall influenced by TLC who often merge genres.

via Magi Merlin

Also Cool Mag: Have you found that RnB & soul music are often considered hip hop? Why do you think people want to expand the definition of hip hop?

Magi Merlin: I have not personally considered these genres a part of Hip-Hop at all. When people lump genres like these together, it is partially because a large portion of the R&B and Soul community collaborates with the Hip-Hop community. There is a reoccurrence in the names associated with each other, so people may make a subconscious combination of all the people they've seen together, regardless of genre. However, I also feel like it also might be rooted in an assumption that because most people participating in these communities are BIPOC, there is an assumption that they all participate in the same space.

NC: I find that R&B and Soul have been considered to be Hip-Hop because they are Black music. Hip-Hop, R&B and Soul are Black music. Hip-Hop beats sample a lot of R&B and Soul music. And I think the reason why people want to expand the definition of Hip-Hop, it recreates familiar Black sounds into an entire culture of being more vocal, direct about what is on their mind. Hip Hop is a way for Black people to express so much. There is something very ancestral about Hip-Hop while also very much grabbing the old to create something new, to redirect something to a new lens but honoring what came before us, what is now and what could be and that is why Hip-Hop is always expanding and people want to expand it.

Mags: I think there is a double-edged sword to bunching soul and R&B music in with Hip-Hop. On the one hand, it makes complete sense that so many of our diasporic rituals, social cues, cultural references, schoolyard antics and the like all come from these genres, and especially so from the 1970s to the early 2000s; on the other, this expansion allows for non-Black entities to further homogenize us and place labels on us that may not even apply. 

Strange Froots in our early days (before we started regularly rapping) would often get booked on lineups that didn’t make sense for us at the time, simply because we were three Black kids from a youth center in Cote-des-Neiges performing over beats, regardless of whether we were singing or doing a form of poetry. There is a correlation between Hip-Hop, Soul and R&B to the point that they often are categorized under the “urban music” genre, for obvious reasons; that doesn’t make them the same, and folks would be wise to know the difference. It’s also worth noting just how much overlap and collaboration there is between R&B artists and rappers, such as Ja Rule and Ashanti. RnB hooks and interludes over rap songs were all the rage in the 90s and early aughts.

Mags & Naïka Champaïgne of Strange Froots

AC: Do you think that the different genres have been gendered at all? Or hold any specific perceptions? What has your experience with that been like?

Magi Merlin: For sure, I think that Hip-Hop is predominantly occupied by men. Obviously, this is changing, and there is a visible shift, but I think that both Rnb and Hip hop were very gendered. I personally am very lucky to not have any negative experiences in the genre that I occupy space in. I am not a rapper, but I do feel like female rappers might have a harder time and may feel like they need to "prove" themselves in order to be respected by their male peers. Of course, this is usually the case in any career field dominated by men so Hip-Hop, producing, songwriting is no different!

NC: I do think they are extremely gendered– and if we are moving away from being extremely gendered we are still holding heavily onto the binaries of gender expression (feminine and masculine). And that also ties into colorism. Light-skin Black folks who are R&B and/or Soul artists will get more recognition, more clout, more opportunities because R&B and Soul are perceived to be more soft, more palatable to popular culture, and more feminine. That is highly linked to skin colour; colonialism and white supremacy see anything that is closer in proximity to whiteness to be more soft, good, gentle and dark skin to be aggressive, hypermasculinized, harsh (and that is also why dark-skinned femme and the standards of beauty and desirability do not favour them at all). You will not see as many dark-skinned Black folks in the R&B and Soul genre at the top.

Mags: I think the gendering of the genres also extends to the audience on top of the artists. There’s this idea that rap music is known for expressing a lot of bravado, material wealth and is more explicitly sexual, which not only reaches mostly men in terms of aspirations and relatability, it can be often paralleled to the dehumanization of dark-skinned folks, whereas many R&B songs are made up of more romantic or melancholic content, that feminine audiences find appealing. All of this typically applies, even if the RnB singer is on the darker end of the spectrum (eg. Omarion, Mario, Joe...), or the rapper on the lighter end (Ludacris, Nelly, etc). As I mentioned before, many R&B artists would be featured guests on rap songs, and more often than not, if the genders were different, it was a light-skin female RnB singer over a dark-skin male rapper’s song, furthering the image of near-subordination from the former. 

In my experience, while Strange Froots was in its infancy, many of the girls that came through to NBS Studio (where the group was born) were asked to simply sing while the boys did their raps. Even now, I’m not sure I can think of a Froots song where I sang more than the others rapped (lol); maybe that’s something I need to work out in my subconscious.

via Magi Merlin

AC: Who are you most excited about in Montreal's hip hop, RnB & soul scenes?

Magi Merlin: I love FERNIE!! They are super fantastic RnB such a sweet ass VOICE! I've been super into Skiifall lately as well. Not sure if Kayahoax falls under hiphop, maybe experimental rap but she's sick too! Also always listening to jamvvis and DO, The Outcast.

NC: OOOOH okay so Backxwash, Malika Tirolien, Shem G, Elle Barbara (‘Délice Créole’, love the Disco Soul vibes), and Elena Stoodley.

M: I think Janette King is someone who tows the Hip-hop/R&B line so beautifully, Shah Frank is another RnB artist people ought to look out for. A lot of people know Basics for his rap career but did y’all know this man can sing??

Tune in to Digital Sleepover 2 on September 19th at 8pm EST.

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Montreal's FHANG Makes Lynchian Synth-Punk on Self-Titled Debut

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FHANG by _apacalda

Whether you’re a student getting ready for your fall term, an artist unwillingly accepting the end of summer, or a tired individual simply craving something new; we could all use an electronic-ambient-krautrock journey to lift us on our feet and replenish our energy levels. If you found yourself nodding while reading the last sentence, then FHANG’s eponymous debut album might just be the thing for you.

FHANG is an up-and-coming duo from revered Montreal bassist Mishka Stein and avant-garde producer Sam Woywitka. Being a rich artistic encounter between a bass player for Leonard Cohen’s final studio album and a—producer who recently garnered a JUNO award for their work on Half Moon Run’s 2019 album A Blemish in the Great Light— listeners should expect nothing less than musical magic. And rest assured, FHANG delivers: The album seamlessly transitions from peaceful ambience to moments that are sometimes ominous and tense, and other times blissfully psychedelic.

When I ask FHANG whether they knew their collaboration was fate from the moment they first met up, they both answer yes without hesitation. “The way I came across Mishka is definitely funny,” says Woywitka. “I drove out from Vancouver Island with a little tow-behind Uhaul and I didn’t really know what I was doing.” Woywitka describes arriving in Montreal and unloading his Uhaul to stay at his childhood friend’s house before being coaxed into attending a Black Legare concert (a Montreal band which Mishka plays bass for). “Being from a super small town on the West Coast, it was crazy to be downtown in a big city,” explains Woywitka. “The show blew my mind, and I couldn’t stop thinking, Woah, I definitely want to work with these dudes. I had a friend that knew Mishka, and soon enough we were going to concerts together and forming a friendship.”

Sam and Mishka go on to emphasize the belief that their ten-year age gap and respective lived experiences contribute greatly to their collaborative chemistry as well. “I’m the old guy,” Stein jokes, “almost like a parasite with Sam over here keeping me young.” Woywitka laughs, saying, “I feel like we have different lenses that compliment each other. Our differences round everything out in a nice way.”

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FHANG, photo edited by Mishka Stein

These differences are pronounced on Stein and Woywitka’s first collaborative LP: The calming moments feeling nearly blissful, and the ominously tense moments feeling stark and visceral. While chatting with the pair, I make a remark about FHANG seeming like the soundtrack to a surreal film, due to its volatility and extensive grandiose moments. When I inquire whether Sam and Mishka’s work is informed by movie soundtracks, I am pleasantly surprised by their response. “This album actually came from some sessions doing music for a film script that I was writing,” Woywitka says. “It was about the soundtrack at first, and when that idea was abandoned, it became about the album. Afterwards, it became about the band. Before too long, we begin to descend the rabbit hole discussing our favourite movie soundtracks,” he elaborates. 

“Soundtracks are a huge influence for both of us,” Stein says, “And as far as influences go, I [used to] listen to the original Blade Runner soundtrack almost religiously for many years. The movie is a masterpiece, in my opinion, because there’s so little dialogue that you get most of the story from the music. [Greek electronic composer] Vangelis just killed it. So did Ridley Scott.” 

As our conversation veers towards the topic of film, I ask what kinds of movies, music, and books Mishka and Sam have engaged with to keep busy during the pandemic. Soon I learn, however, that FHANG was very much a pandemic activity, taking all the time, passion, and effort out of the duo’s daily lives. Mishka describes quarantining in a hotel room upon hearing the news of a canceled tour, and feeling “a sense of staring right into the gaping mouth of the most fearsome aspects of a strange, changed new world.” FHANG was their way of coping with the surges of fear, confusion and tragedy which were all too prevalent for the duo during this unprecedented time.

 This included not only the creation of music, but also their accompanying videos. In the music video for “King Blame,” a man in a rabbit mask follows an alienated protagonist on his late-night voyage through a strange and psychedelic urban realm. “Vaudevillian” alternates between visuals of a strange masked individual and a disturbed Sam Woywitka being painted in colourful makeup. The Lynchian video for “Something Real,” features Woywitka and Stein at a tea party, staring deadpan into the camera with mysteriously grave facial expressions.

All of these visual pleasures were produced with Woywitka behind the camera, and Stein giving his creative input from time to time. Stein expresses his initial reluctance with the filming, much to his amazement later on: “When [Sam] talked about buying a crazy camera and learning video editing software, I was thinking that’s not something you can just pick up and do… but apparently for Sam, it is. When Sam sent me the [video] edits, I literally had no comments. It was great.” Woywitka’s adeptness for video creation clearly shines through in the band’s mesmerising visuals, all of which are strangely beautiful.

Yet video editing was not the only new obstacle that FHANG needed to overcome when creating their album: Stein and Woywitka decided to take up adding their own vocals to their music mixes for the first time as well. “Having to make sounds with your face all of the sudden to complete the picture… it’s a very fragile thing. It could very easily ruin the piece as well,” explains Stein. Woywitka describes the struggle and elation of adding his vocals, saying: “I feel like it has birthed a new part of me. I sang in a punk band when I was fourteen, but that was short-lived. As of lately, I couldn’t stop thinking this would be so much easier if I just sang. It has really opened up a new door.”

Whether it’s the creative and multi-interpretational lyricism, the haunting vocals or the surreal music videos, every listener will have something to take away from their experience with FHANG. Add a sublime album cover from Montreal-based miniature artist Louisa Schabas, and the uncanny bundle that is FHANG is complete.

FHANG’s self-titled debut was released last Friday, August 27th, but listeners can expect more weird and wonderful content from The Hidden Ship, Sam Woywitka’s newly-created record label and outlet for pandemic projects, otherworldly earworms and so much more. FHANG will be performing at this year’s FME festival in Rouyn-Noranda on September 5th at 10:00 PM EST.

FHANG

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Spencer Nafekh is a tireless reader, writer, editor, and advocate for the written word. With an undergraduate degree in Concordia's English and Creative Writing program imminent, he plans to pursue a Master's specialization in journalism so that he can fully realize his career path. When Spencer is not working away, he is probably listening to experimental music while lost in the world of a science fiction novel.

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Neo-Psych Rockers Hot Garbage Share Spooky Video for "Sometimes I Go Down" (Mothland)

Artwork by Derek McKeon

Are you in need of some brain-melting psychedelic rock? Well, you've come to the right place. Toronto-based psych outfit Hot Garbage, who are newly signed to Mothland, meld their shiny metallic melodies with gritty krautrock and post-punk rhythms to bring us along on a gaseous neo-psychedelic trip. 

Their latest single, “Sometimes I Go Down,” takes inspiration from the sounds of Sonic Youth, and gives us a taste of their upcoming album Ride. The track is accompanied by a spooky music video featuring mysterious calls in parallel universes, tarot cards, and more

We caught up with the band in anticipation of their set at FME on September 3rd to chat about their music and what's to come in for Hot Garbage in 2021.

Photo by Alex Carre

Malaika Astorga for Also Cool: Hi! It's nice to meet e-meet you. I'm interested to know how you all met and how that friendship turned into Hot Garbage.

J: You too. Alex is my brother, so I've known him since birth. He was putting a band together with Mark, who he had played with in bands throughout high school. I jumped in on bass, and Dylan, who I'd recently met through friends, joined shortly afterwards to fill things out on keys/synth.

A: Thanks for having us! That's pretty much it, yeah. We were hanging out and going to shows and listening to music together in Toronto. So we started experimenting with writing and playing together, and it was fun! We started doing little gigs and stuff around the city.

Also Cool: Your sound is unmistakably psychedelic. Can you give us some insight on where your inspirations are coming from and what those different genres' scenes are like?

J: Our musical inspirations are pretty varied. I think for this record we're putting out now, we delved into a lot of krauty / noisy territory - inspired by stuff like CAN, Gary Numan, Sonic Youth, Exploded View. We also draw a lot of inspiration from the local scene. There's a ton of quality music coming out of Toronto. Even without hanging with those people and seeing them at shows, I'm listening to amazing record after amazing record that people have been putting out during the pandemic.

A: Yeah, I think all of us really enjoy a lot of different types of music. From a writing standpoint, psychedelic is a great access point to play with musical ideas. The human experience can be so psychedelic, mysterious or strange at times, and those feelings are also so hard to put into words. So I often feel like psychedelic music is just music that is relatable in that way. We're extremely lucky to be a part of a great music community here in Toronto!

AC: Psych shows are often accompanied by crazy visuals that enhance the overall experience. Do you have any memorable/favourite psych shows that you've been to?

J: Definitely. Anything the Oscillitarium has done visuals for is memorable. They have this magical way of transforming any space. A Place To Bury Strangers at the last Crystal Lake was pretty amazing and intense. I've seen Black Angels a bunch, and they always have great visuals by the Mustachio Light Show. There are also a lot of sets that stick with me from Levitation and Desert Daze over the years, like Iggy Pop, 13th Floor Elevators, Jesus and Mary Chain, John Cale. The installation art and visuals are always really well done at those fests; it's clearly factored into the experience.

A: Yeah, it's interesting to see this live collaboration between visual artists and musicians! Oscillitarioum light shows in Toronto rule. With buds like Possum, Kali Horse, Vypers, Mother Tongues, and so many more. I also remember having a pretty profound experience seeing John Cale at Desert Daze a few years back. The visuals and music hit me so hard. It was such an expression.

AC: I'm curious about the mysterious phone calls in your most recent music video. Can you give us any hints of who the mystery caller might've been? I'd also love to know a bit more about the tarot symbolism in the video.

A: Good question... We were playing with the idea of these kinds of gross dudes (Dylan, Mark and myself) talking on the phone and maybe being warned about something and not taking it seriously. While we're being gross, we meet our demise. Juliana maybe heeds the warning and challenges fate by pulling the right card (mystical tarot magic). She's "in touch" with the caller.

Also for the record, we made this video like a year before the pandemic, so any parallels there were not planned… Last year, when the band could only talk on zoom, we were joking about how it looked just like our music video!

AC: We're very excited to see you play IRL at FME. What are you most looking forward to at the festival?

J: Thanks, we're really stoked to play. I'm looking forward to seeing Paul Jacobs and OBGM's for sure. There are a bunch of friends going who I haven't seen in a while, so I'm excited to just hang out and see some shows. I am going to try and catch Cadence Weapon on Thursday if we get in in time. 

A: Thanks! Yeah, I know Paul Jacobs and the OBGMs have such great energies, and I can't wait to soak that up! Also just to be able to play again and be at a show feels so good. This will be our first indoor gig since the pandemic started.

AC: Lastly, what are your plans for the next year, now that shows are happening again?

J: We will be playing shows around the release of our new record - fall/winter will be mostly local-ish but hoping to make it back down into the US to do some touring in the spring. There is also new material being passed around, so we're going to be working on putting that together for the next thing. 

A: Exactly, finally tour this record! We'll go to the USA again and play some shows as soon as we can. But we've been writing tons during the pandemic, so we'll also be working on new material.

Watch Ride below

Hot Garbage

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Malaika Astorga is the co-founder of Also Cool. She is a Mexican-Canadian visual artist, writer, and social media strategist currently based in Montreal.

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ACM x HHYDS Presents Digital Sleepover 2 An Online Frootiversary Panel and Dance Party

We're having a sleepover, and you're invited. On September 19th at 8pm EST, Also Cool is partnering with Hip Hop You Don't Stop and Strange Froots to bring you the second edition of our Digital Sleepover event in celebration of the Froots' 7th anniversary of their debut album.

The event will take place online as a part of HHYDS's hybrid festival format this year, and will be streamed from the Also Cool HQ. We'll be hosting a round table discussion on what we learned about the music and entertainment business during the pandemic, RnB's place in hip-hop culture, towing that line, navigating being a guest in the culture, and what queer representation looks like in the Montreal hip-hop scene. Our wonderful panellists will be JU!CE, Khadijah, Faneva, and Magi Merlin. After the panel, we'll have an online dance party DJed by JU!CE and Faneva.

RSVP to the event here

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Also Cool's FME Top Picks: Round One

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Pierre Kwenders by Uproot Andy

If you haven’t already heard of Quebec’s FME (Festival de musique émergente), we’re thrilled to acquaint you. Founded in 2003, FME is an annual music festival held in the beautiful town of Rouyn-Noranda and exclusively highlights independent artists. Our team is grateful to be attending this year’s edition of FME, and leading up to the festival we will be rounding up our list of must-see (and hear!) acts from the 2021 lineup (which is top-tier all around, for the record). Take a peak at our first collection of FME Top Picks below, featuring Pierre Kwenders, Lido Pimienta, Pantayo and Crabe.

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Pierre Kwenders by Fanny Viguier

Pierre Kwenders 

Pierre Kwenders is the stage-name of Congolese-Canadian singer-songwriter José Louis Modabi, who is somewhat of a living legend as a Juno-nominated and Polaris-longlisted after-hours king. After immigrating to Canada as a teenager, Kwenders attracted widespread attention for his guest appearance on Radio Radio’s 2012 album Havre de Grace and began releasing his own music shortly thereafter. The Montreal-based musician is celebrated for his music that “is a response to a world that so often asks people who fit comfortably in multiple boxes to pick only one.” Known for rapping and singing in multiple languages (English, French, Lingala and Tshiluba), Kwenders is also recognized for his percussive rhythms that command undeniable danceability. If you find yourself in Montreal, check out Kwenders’ after-hours Moonshine soirées, held every Saturday after the full moon in a location only disclosed via text message the day of the event. 

Pierre Kwenders will be performing at FME on September 2nd, 2021 at 7:00PM EST

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Lido Pimienta by Daniela Murillo

Lido Pimienta 

Another trailblazer on our Top Picks list is Lido Pimienta, the Afro-Indigenous, Colombian-Canadian superstar who dazzles audiences with her artistry, while simultaneously confronting systemic toxicity that permeates society at large. With the 2016 Polaris-Prize win under her belt, Pimienta is known for her mesmerizing poetry, electronic soundscapes that embrace her Afro-Indigenous traditions, and a wholeheartedly punk stage-presence and outlook.  Now based in Toronto, Pimienta also works as a visual artist and curator who explores “the politics of gender, race, motherhood, identity and the construct of the Canadian landscape in the Latin American diaspora and vernacular.” To top it off, she has of the most eye-catching performance attire and visuals we have ever seen. 

Lido Pimienta will be performing at FME on September 2nd, 2021 at 7:00PM EST

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Pantayo by Sarah Bodri

Pantayo 

Pantayo’s 2020 self-titled debut is constantly spinning for us. This Canadian queer quintet based in Toronto is made up of members of the Filipino diaspora. Formed in 2012, Pantayo combines of kulintang —an ancient form of Southeast-Asian instrumental percussion using gongs, drums and chimes— with elements of synth-pop, punk and R&B to create infectious rhythms as a basis for their ethereal soundscapes. Named as one of NOW Magazine’s Toronto Indie Musicians to Watch in 2018, their debut LP was shortlisted for the 2020 Polaris Music Prize. The group is perhaps the first ever act to fuse the rippling effect of a gong with pop sensibilities; a feat made clear by their name, which is Tagalog for “for us.” 

Pantayo will be performing at FME on September 2nd, 2021 at 7:00PM EST

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Photo credit: Crabe

Crabe

Self-described “présent-punk” duo Crabe are constantly pushing the envelope with their aggressive, experimental sound and work ethic. Known for their energetic, chaotic live performances and a career that spans over the last 15 years, the band has played over 250 shows and are a staple in Quebec’s experimental music roster. Their most recent release Sentients is described by Mothland as “a tribute to out-of-date sounds [due to] the band offloading their traditional rock n’ roll instruments to pursue new avenues of ‘crabisme.’” Possibly making the most noise between two people, Crabe are sure to wake us up from the quarantine haze with their industrial, thrashing expansion on punk’s skeleton.

Crabe will be performing at FME on September 3rd, 2021 at 10:00PM EST

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For more information on FME, to review the festival schedule and purchase tickets, please visit their website.

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Evan Wright Shares Mellow Indie Psychedelic Album Sound From Out the Window (Solitaire Recordings)

I don't know about you, but I tend to have a soundtrack for each season, something to guide each mini-era of my life. The latest era has been defined by the way the sunlight filters through my windows in the afternoon, the cicadas chirping outside, and constant questioning of how the summer slipped away so fast. 

Evan Wright's latest album Sound From Out the Window (Solitaire Recordings) has been the perfect soundtrack for my end-of-summer-existentialism, with his twangy psychedelic melodies guiding the season's change. The New York-based musician's smooth vocals take us on a melancholic stroll through nostalgia, a pained longing for past times that can never come back, but one that doesn't wallow in self-pity. 

The album evokes warm and calming tones, bearing a likeness to the work of Andy Shauf, Kurt Vile, and early HOMESHAKE. Mellow guitars and gentle lyrics explore themes of friendships ending and relationships falling apart, yet leave the listener feeling comforted and almost uplifted by the coziness of Evan's sound.

Listen to Sound From Out the Window below

Evan Wright

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Malaika Astorga is the co-founder of Also Cool. She is a Mexican-Canadian visual artist, writer, and social media strategist currently based in Montreal.

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Ellyn Woods Releases Indie Dream Pop EP All At Once (House of Youth)

The heatwave has broken, and the cool, end-of-summer wind is slowly sweeping through the city. What better way to celebrate than to groove to some synthy dream pop tunes from Ellyn Woods?

Today Ellyn releases her indie-pop album All At Once on Montreal label House of Youth. This release follows her 2017 release Sound of Home, an EP inspired by her backpacking travels on the west coast of Canada. 

While her Sound of Home combined Ellyn's soft, haunting vocals and acoustic guitar arrangements to create an intimate, hypnotic vibe, All At Once leans more towards a breezy, jazzy electronic sound reminiscent of 2010s indie pop. For fans of early Santigold and Little Dragon, Ellyn's latest album may just be your new favourite find.

Listen to Sound of Home below

Ellyn Woods

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Malaika Astorga is the co-founder of Also Cool. She is a Mexican-Canadian visual artist, writer, and social media strategist currently based in Montreal.

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TikTok Queen Maryze Shares Hyper Pop Bop "FBP (Female Brad Pitt)" (Prod. Margo) Music Video

Credit to Exposures by Tay & Solomon Krause-Imlach

After a year of viral icicle reviews, connecting with queer community, and putting out nonstop bangers, Montreal TikTok queen Maryze has blessed us with yet another summer bop. "FBP (Female Brad Pitt)" is a glittery hyper pop anthem, expressing the pandemic malaise we've collectively been trying to overcome while simultaneously battling the sexist internet trolls who tried to take her down. The track was produced by Margo, another Also Cool friend and talented creator.

The FBP demo went viral earlier this year when Maryze posted a clip on TikTok and received hundreds of sexist and misogynistic comments from male "producers" saying how women can't write music and don't deserve equal pay. On the flip side, the queer community and women musicians celebrated the song as an iconic bop and demanded its release. A song first inspired by pandemic depression shopping sprees, chock-full of early aughts references, has become a defiant middle finger to the patriarchy.

Credit to Exposures by Tay

If that wasn't enough to lift you out of your end-of-summer-sadness, the track is accompanied by a Y2K-themed music video. The video has a nostalgic pizza-party-with-your-best-friends-vibe while still encapsulating a very queer, bratty, and bedazzled energy. It features a ton of Also Cool pals, including co-founder Malaika Astorga, NGL Flounce, and Janette King, Matante Alex, and Margo, to name a few.

Watch the video below

Maryze

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Malaika Astorga is the co-founder of Also Cool. She is a Mexican-Canadian visual artist, writer, and social media strategist currently based in Montreal.

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TikTok Star Aqyila Shares Viral Hit "Vibe for Me" Visualizer and Shares Her Creative Journey (Sony Music)

Aqyila by Zahra Siddiqui

Whether you're obsessed with it or are totally freaked out by it, the power of TikTok is undeniable. Ok, I know that sounds scary, but hear me out. The all-too-powerful algorithm has connected communities, raised awareness of different issues worldwide, and even launched careers. 

One of those careers being that of Aqyila, a Mississauga-based R&B singer and songwriter. Her TikTok hit "Vibe For Me (Bob For Me)" went viral, which went on to be covered by Lizzo, and eventually caught the ear of Sony Music, who has since signed her. 

We caught up with Aqyila about her TikTok journey, her musical beginnings and more. 

Malaika for Also Cool: Hi! Let's start with a little intro, who are you, and how did you get into music?

Aqyila: Hi! My name is Aqyila, and I'm Jamaican-Canadian. My mom's from Kingston, and my dad is from St. Thomas, but I was born here. I started singing when I was in grade five. I actually wrote a song for my mom at a talent show called "Momma," which she loved, of course. From there, I continued to write more and more songs over the years, filling up songbooks as I went. I started doing covers on YouTube and slowly transitioned to all the other socials media, and now have been focusing on TikTok.

Also Cool: What's the music scene in Mississauga?

Aqyila: It's cool! The whole set is really into hip-hop and R&B, and the vibe is just amazing. There's a ton of talent; it feels like a hidden gem. Until I got signed, I was doing everything alone in my room, but lately, I've been doing sessions with so many talented people.

Also Cool: I'm also obsessed with TikTok and have found it a great tool to connect with community, and I'm really interested in your experience with that.

Tiktok matches you with anything you like, and I interacted with a lot of singers and people who are into music. 

Aqyila: It's funny because I never really took TikTok seriously; I had just downloaded it in quarantine, like everyone did. I tried to dance and stuff (laughs) initially, and then I said never again. I then tried makeup and lipsynching to random videos, but that didn't feel right either, so I decided to sing. 

The first video I made didn't really go anywhere, so I kind of doubted myself, but I tried again and sang "Here" by Alessia Cara, and that one went viral. I started getting song requests and gained a following for my singing. After that, I did an Ariana Grande song, and then I did "Bob for Me." I was in my room, late at night, searching for beats to sing to on YouTube when I came across PDub's channel. He collabed with Thomas Crager on that song, and then he said, "Oh baby, it's the vibe for me," which initially inspired me. I didn't take it too seriously, though and put the video in my drafts and eventually posted it, not thinking too much of it. I went to the kitchen to make food, and when I came back, my phone was blowing up, and I was scared people were dragging me because you never know how TikTok can go, but people loved it! They were using it as a sound, wearing wigs, and doing dances, and it went viral. 

Once it went viral, people were asking me to sing "vibe" instead of "bob" because they didn't own wigs, and once I did that, they asked me to write a whole song. It was December 26th, and I recorded the full song, asked the producers for permission to upload it on all the streaming platforms, and they were like, "Go for it!" After that, it hit 1 million streams in one month, with no ads or anything.

AC: It's crazy how fast things go viral! It's really 0-100.

Aqyila: For sure! I feel like it's great if you're a singer or a producer on the app, and you want to get yourself out there; you should just start posting! You never know what will happen.

AC: I think that's really great advice because people often get so in their heads about posting. I feel like Instagram has tried to make us perfect all the time, and TikTok feels so much better relaxed. You'll find people with who you connect, so it's easier just to be yourself.

What have you learned about yourself in this whole process? Whether it be in the context of the music industry or just on TikTok? 

Aqyila: Haha, well, I'd say sleep! (laughs) I'm a night owl, and I'm always up late working, but I've learned to I need to rest. I'd also say that I've learned that I really like working with people because, like I said, I've always just been alone in my room, making music. It's a very different experience to collaborate so much, but I really enjoy it. 

AC: So looking forward, what's next for you in 2021-22?

Aqyila: Well, for now, working with producers has been amazing, but I'm just going to be working really hard on my music in general! I have a music video coming out soon, and I'm hoping to come out with an EP as well.

Otherwise, I'm working hard on my brand LuxeBa; I'm going to start working on an inclusive and eco-friendly clothing line. I've been working on it on and off since 2018 but worked hard on my rebrand throughout 2020, and I'm just really excited for what's the come.

Stay tuned for her upcoming music video for “Vibe for Me (Bob for Me),” to be released on August 25th. 

Aqyila

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Malaika Astorga is the co-founder of Also Cool. She is a Mexican-Canadian visual artist, writer, and social media strategist currently based in Montreal.

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Bnny Reflects on Grief, Death & Moving On in Debut LP Everything (Fire Talk Records)

via Bnny

Drawing on the breathy charm of the Velvet Underground and Mazzy-Star, Chicago-based quartet Bnny gently guide us into the lone country of grief with their debut album Everything. Written in sessions that span several years by singer Jess Viscius as she processed the death of her partner, the album is a chronicle of love at its most complex and loss at its most persistent. 

Viscius mulls over her responsibilities, bites back at broken promises, and occasionally finds herself adrift. Standout tracks include "Sure," where she circles around the titular word, testing its meanings and applications as a positive affirmation, a guarantee, and as an exhausted acquiescence—and finding a weakness at the core of each meaning. "I'll change," she sings in a disassociated loop in "August," as if she's trying to enchant herself into doing so. But my favourite track by far is "Time Walk," a bouncy reflection into the past that feels like flipping through memories while still moving on with your life.

We caught up with Jess to chat about how she got her start in music, the Chicago scene, and more.

via Bnny

Malaika Astorga for Also Cool: Hi Jess! Let's start with a quick intro, where are you from, and what was the music/art scene like when you were growing up?

Jess for Bnny: I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago. In high school, it was a lot of dudes in emo bands playing shows in their parent's garages. At that point, it hadn't even occurred to me that I could play music myself; I was always just a listener. At 16, I got my driver's license and a forest green Toyota Camry that my sister and I named Rebecca. After that, I spent my weekends going to shows and trying to make friends in the city.

Also Cool: I read that you got your start in Bnny after picking up a guitar that a friend left behind. How do you think you've grown as an artist since then, and how has music re-shaped your life?

J: So much has changed since then. Back when I was just starting to hang out in the Chicago music scene, I was making lots of friends, and everything felt so exciting. I also remember feeling very intimidated. Today, I'm much more self-assured and feel a certain purpose within how I relate to music. The Chicago music scene has become such an integral part of my life; it's an incredible community to be a part of. 

AC: What have you learned about friendship through music? Whether it be negotiating with bandmates or documenting friendships and experiences through sound? 

J: I'm so grateful to my friends who make these songs come to life. My bandmates are all so funny; sometimes, we spend more time laughing and messing around than actually practicing at practice. Something I realized about myself through music is that I'm sort of a control freak. I typically associate myself with being a type B personality, so this was a surprising discovery. I've learned the importance of letting everyone explore their own ideas and trusting in the process. Allowing that space helps us grow and learn from one another. 

via Bnny

AC: I love the concept of clarity in motion. I find that I'm able to process whatever I feel when I'm in motion as well. Can you speak more to the concept of continuing to move forward while still honouring and acknowledging the past?

J: I think accepting your past allows you to be present in your future. Cherishing the journey that led you here, flaws and all. Learning from mistakes and just setting out to be the better version of yourself. 

AC: Switching gears a bit here, who are some creatives in your life who you think deserve more recognition?

J: My friend Alyx is an amazing artist/ fashion designer: ig: @_harch 

My friend Mina runs the best eCommerce store: ig: @maimoun

My friend Nicole makes the best visuals: ig: @nicole.ginelli

My bandmate adam just released his beautiful solo debut record: @ulnaband

AC: Lastly, what is your most optimistic vision of the future right now? 

J: Everything is so overwhelming right now, but checking in on your friends, finding different ways to get involved in the community, helps everyone feel less lonely. Whenever I get stressed, I remind myself to take things day by day or hour by hour (minute by minute if I'm feeling especially unhinged). I'm definitely looking forward to permanently retiring my mask... one day : )

Bnny

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Malaika Astorga is the co-founder of Also Cool. She is a Mexican-Canadian visual artist, writer, and social media strategist currently based in Montreal.

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Microtonal Punks Body Breaks Reflect on the Distance that Facilitated Their Sound

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Body Breaks, Julie Reich (left), Matt LeGroulx (right), by Natalie Logan

Before specific apps were developed to target long-distanced collaborators embracing unconventional music-making during a pandemic, DIY veterans Body Breaks were joining forces despite living in different cities. Comprised of Toronto’s Julie Reich (Bile Sister, Chandra) and Montreal’s Matt LeGroulx (EXPWY, Galaxius Mons), Body Breaks’ microtonal rock journey began in 2013 when LeGroulx meshed quarter tones (inspired by Balinese gamelan tuning) with post-punk fortitude to compose the drum-bass-guitar underpinning of what would eventually be the pair’s debut record Bad Trouble — out now on our new favourite indie label We Are Time. 

When speaking with the band, I was keen to find out how their creative processes informed each other while simultaneously working independently as Bad Trouble came together over the better part of six or so years.  

“It’s hard to recall exactly how it all came together (laughs). I know I wrote and recorded all the music and then sent it over to Julie about a year later, and that’s when she started working on her vocal parts. She did stuff that I would have never thought of! Things that would have never entered my mind; from the lyrics, to the harmonies, the vocal effects and her performance… I really loved everything she was doing. She sent me demos here and there, but for the most part I just let her take full control,” shares LeGroulx. 

“It was actually a treat to be handed these incredible songs on a platter and to be able to focus on songwriting, singing and vocal production,” responds Reich. “I took a lot of time with the lyrics, it was a conscious priority to make sure they were honest, sincere, meaningful and relatable. I knew I had the opportunity to have a message and speak from the heart. When Matt delivered the bones of Body Breaks, I was inspired to breathe life into them. I knew they were special right away and felt like I was meant to complete the missing piece of the puzzle.”

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Bad Trouble album cover by Roxanne Ignatius

From this comment, I ask Reich where she drew inspiration from when developing the narratives to compliment LeGroulx’s compositions. 

“With my other band, Bile Sister, I avoided literal writing or story telling because it was a stylistic choice. For Body Breaks, I felt I needed to speak my truth at the time, to penetrate and connect to anyone who would listen. For this album, I was channeling my inner glam. I was thinking about Lou Reed and David Bowie, Divine, Jayne County, The Fall, Pink Noise and so many others. I consciously was aware of the male presence in the inspiration as well, with the intention to create a place where I would see myself represented in this world. Bad Trouble is a very special example of this inspiration. Each song speaks my truth at the time, as a struggling artist filled with self doubt, as a woman outsider in her own generation, dealing with aging, insomnia, questioning the purpose of employment and how to be happy, thinking about my generation and the entitlement therein, words of advice to a younger me, making peace after betrayal from an ex, and stories of coping, being down and out. We've all been there. I wanted people to hear what I was saying, I wanted to not rely on a lot of effects, I wanted the voice to be clear and heard, flaws and all… After all, flaws are what make us beautiful and unique,” articulates Reich.

I then turn to LeGroulx to hear his thoughts on watching his songs transform from something he worked on alone, to with a friend, to a now fully realized project; recognizing the really interesting and unique relationship he has with the tracks that formed Bad Trouble. 

“I never take that much time to do anything (laughs)! I tend to rush things, generally. When I’m working on a project; after a month into working, I’m kind of sick of it and want to move on to the next thing. So, in comparison to everything else I’ve done music wise, I’ve had the chance to live with these songs and see them transform,” reflects LeGroulx. “Throughout the process of Julie recording her vocal parts, every new song she would send me would become my favourite one. Every year that passed as the project developed I saw it get stronger and stronger as a record.” 

Along with their striking sound, Body Breaks also have a noticeable visual identity as a band. I was especially curious about the band’s creation of worlds to accompany their album; particularly those depicted in their surreal “Eyes to Brightness” video, which spotlights animations by Reich. 

“I love to create worlds just like I love to create identities, it’s an escape and a means to have a sense of control in a chaotic world,” chimes in Reich. “When I created the music video for “Eyes to Brightness,” maybe in 2016 I think, I had just started working with 3D animation software and I have grown a lot since making that video. Aesthetically, in other videos I have created, I speak to the theme of nature versus technology and our environmental crisis. “Eyes to Brightness” is an early attempt to create a world with this focus. Visually, I tend to focus on creating a stark reality, a vision of a new planet in the future, with remnants of planet Earth intermingled with natural elements floating and defying laws of gravity.  Our norms can be flipped upside down to the point even gravity doesn't exist. Anything you can fathom is possible. Consider this for good but also as a warning.” 

While the band’s take on day-to-day existentialism makes them stand-out, their partnership has acted as a lifeline when it comes to confronting the future’s uncertainty, especially for musicians.

“So we've been separated for quite some time now, and I can't see it being a full band thing until, you know, obviously the world looks a little bit more normal than it does right now. You’ve got to hope things get better. While it’s hard to stay hopeful when you look at the news everyday, the whole experience of Body Breaks has been a huge bright spot,” says LeGroulx. “The team at We Are Time, our label, are wonderful to work with and Julie is a wonderful bandmate. So, these songs have come to mean so much more to me than the initial tinkering they once were.”

Body Breaks

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Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter (she/her) is the co-founder and managing editor of Also Cool Mag. Aside from the mag, she is a music promoter & booker, and a radio host & DJ.

This interview was conducted via Zoom and partially over email and has been condensed and edited for clarity.

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Toronto's Indie Jangle-Pop Duo Ducks Ltd. Release "How Lonely Are You?" (Carpark Records / Royal Mountain Records)

Album artwork via Ducks Ltd.

It's getting to that point of the summer where it feels like all you can do is contemplate your life with your friends over some wine on a rooftop, wondering if and when things will ever get better. Discussing what we can collectively do to help, wondering if anything we do will make a difference at all, staring into the sunset, all while listening to indie jangle-pop. 

Lucky for you, Toronto's Ducks Ltd.'s new single How Lonely Are You? is the perfect soundtrack for your mildly existential end-of-summer playlist. It's a follow-up to probably one of my favourite singles of the year, 18 Cigarettes. The single comes in anticipation of their debut album "Modern Fiction," which is set to release on Carpark Records / Royal Mountain Records on October 1st, 2021.

I had a chance to catch up with the band about Toronto's music scene, their upcoming album, and more.

via Ducks Ltd.

Malaika Astorga for Also Cool: Hi! Let's start at the beginning; you two met at a Dilly Dally show. How did you first get into that kind of music scene, and how do you think it's impacted your creative trajectory?

Ducks Ltd: I don't totally know to be honest! I was reaching back, trying to remember something that feels like an entry point of the first show or conversation. I think I first got into stuff in Toronto by going to what were mostly noise shows at a Senegalese restaurant in Kensington Market and playing in bands who played at that same Senegalese restaurant. It feels like it all happened very naturally once it started happening, though there were definitely a couple years when I first moved here where I was interested in playing music but couldn't really figure out what the "scene" was or how to get involved with it.

It's definitely been hugely impactful for me, though. In some not insignificant ways, getting involved in Toronto music completely changed the path of my life. I don't think I would still be seriously making music at all were it not for the people I have met in it. There's also something really helpful for my writing process in being in environments where people are doing and making interesting things. Not even directly picking anything up from them necessarily, but I'll often find the initial seed of something that becomes a song when I'm at a show watching another band. I don't really know how or why, but it will kinda knock something loose for me creatively. 

Also Cool: What's the Toronto music scene like now? I know that amidst the rampant gentrification, many venues and projects have suffered, but I'm hopeful that there's still some DIY spirit leftover. 

DL: It's sort of hard to say because there haven't been shows in so long, but I'm cautiously optimistic based on the way things were feeling in 2019 and the stuff I've been able to keep up with while everyone was apart. People tend to get all doom and gloom about it in ways that I often don't think really bear up to scrutiny (complaining about Toronto constantly is one of Toronto's more unfortunate cultural traits!), but the broader trajectory feels positive. 

When I started being involved in music stuff here, the scene felt very cliquey, separated quite sharply along micro-genre lines. It was almost like a series of small scenes bumping up against each other, but pretty homogenous despite those delineations. I don't want to sound utopian or triumphant, as many things could and should be better, but I think overall, the scene is way more diverse and varied now. People support each other and collaborate more than they used to and are generally kinder. I think the artists are also, on the whole, more successful, both artistically and in terms of finding their audiences in the world outside the city, which is probably at least partly related to them being kinder and supporting each other. 

I don't want to dismiss or minimize the problems of gentrification, which are obviously really significant issues with consequences that go way beyond music scene stuff. I guess I just don't really connect romantic notions about the Toronto scene of the recent past. It's definitely far from perfect now, but it feels like the music scene here is more inclusive than it used to be, and I think that can only be a good thing. 

AC: You speak about "the courage to go on," which I think everyone is in need of right now. How do you find that courage for yourself, and where do you see it in others?

DL: Oh, I lack it almost completely! It's very much in my nature to give up and collapse into hopelessness at the first sign of adversity, though obviously, this is something I try to curb. Maybe I admire it so much because I don't always see it in myself. Still, I think that hope, and a sort of stubbornness of purpose when things are bleak, are some of the most beautiful human qualities. 

I've been helping out a little with an organization in Toronto called the Encampment Support Network that formed over the pandemic. I think it's a quality that animates many of the people who are the driving force in that organization and also in many of the residents of the encampments. Any city or society, especially one as wealthy as this one, should be ashamed to have put unhoused people in this situation. Many of them spent the entire winter outside living in tents, and the governmental response to it has been to compound their initial callous indifference with intentional cruelty. It's such a bad and stupid situation that feels more or less intractable absent a complete change in the composition of the civic and provincial governments. But then the people involved in ESN work so hard for whatever little ways they can find to make the lives of their unhoused neighbours better, and the residents work so hard just to survive. They're so resourceful and brave and put up with so much bullshit that they meet with humour and optimism an amazing amount of the time. I mean, some of them are total assholes too, but you know, not as bad as John Tory!

AC: You're both big fans of niche 80s indie-pop labels. For those who may not be familiar, what are some of your favourite labels and bands of that era?

DL: I think the Go-Betweens are a big one for both of us. Evan introduced me to the band, and they're now one of my favourites. I really love The Verlaines a lot. It didn't end up working out, but we got in touch with Graeme Downes from that band to talk about him potentially arranging some strings for the album, which was really cool! He was super generous with his time and willing to discuss songwriting with me a bit which was wild as he's truly one of my favourite songwriters! I also really love McCarthy, a Marxist jangle-pop band whose members later went on to form Stereolab. Close Lobsters are another one who are a big deal for me. Foxheads Stalk This Land might be one of the two or three best jangle-pop records ever made, I think. 

AC: I've been asking a lot of people this question lately, maybe out of a need for optimism, but I'm curious what your idealist vision of the future might look like?

DL: Ah boy! That's a tough one to answer in this format. In the interest of concision, I'm just gonna go with full communism!

AC: I love the sound of the album because it makes me feel like I'm drinking wine with friends on a rooftop somewhere in the summertime, about to go out for the night. How do you hope that people will experience your music?

DL: That sounds like an excellent context! I'm not sure the context is something I've given much thought to, really. It's extremely cool and a little overwhelming that people are listening to it at all. I feel like it could maybe be good driving music? I don't know! Thanks for listening to it, though!

AC: Lastly, what are your plans for 2021?

DL: We've got a few shows coming up, which is exciting, and we just started rehearsing with the full band again, which has felt amazing after not doing it for so long. We're hoping to get on the road a little more next year too, and we're gonna do some UK shows. We've got a few more unreleased things recorded that we might put out, and we've been talking about doing a covers EP. I just really want to set myself up with an opportunity to sing "Head On." Hopefully, Evan will indulge me in this! 

If you love Ducks Ltd. as much as we do, be sure to catch them IRL at FME this year on September 3rd I Buy tickets

Ducks Ltd.

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Malaika Astorga is the co-founder of Also Cool. She is a Mexican-Canadian visual artist, writer, and social media strategist currently based in Montreal.

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