THE ARTISTS

La Sécurité (Montreal / Tiohtià:ke) is a punk art collective that combines equal parts bouncy rhythms, a rugged harmonic spectrum, and minimalist melodic phrasing. Their music, perfectly at home blasting on a dance floor, preaches living dangerously; the lyrics, meanwhile, echo the Riot Grrrl movement and celebrate, among other things, female empowerment, friends (good and bad), and kindness. The five once-scattered and now intrinsic entities also offer a whole arsenal of DIY: music videos, visuals, screenprints, patented dance moves, etcetera! At once frenetic and laid-back, Stay Safe! (June 16, 2023 via Mothland) painted a first sonic graffiti, evoking a polymorphic reality. Bill Pearis at BrooklynVegan describes the long game as "a tantalizing batch of party-friendly jams, yelled in sneering Franglais and akin to Le Tigre, Neu! or Kleenex/Liliput (not to mention Montreal band Duchess Says)." On the eve of US dates in winter 2025, La Sécurité shares a second single to be released via the British label Bella Union. The French-language firebrand “Ketchup” (January 28, 2025) is also available across the pond via the boutique label Mothland (CA/US).

Get ready for a dose of psyche-punk from the moody minds behind Montreal's CPC Gangbangs, Red Mass, and Duchess Says. This band is called PYPY (π π) with a mix of wah-wah, fuzz, distortion, and necromantic screams from co-vocalist Annie-Claude Deschênes. Super disco breaks reminiscent of the dance punk of NY's legendary 99 Records (ESG / Liquid Liquid) and the scorching pop of "She's Gone," featured in a Saint Laurent Paris haute couture show. After touring twice with Hot Snakes and returning from a few festival dates in Europe, the band released their second album, Sacred Times, on legendary punk label GONER Records.

A true legend of post-punk in Quebec, the multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter, Cafeïne is not a newcomer to the musical landscape. A mythical figure if ever there was one of the indie scene of the mid-1990s, from the time when he was already scouring the taverns of the metropolis with his band, this tumultuous period left him with many anecdotes, a few images, but above all two albums full of spontaneity: Mal éduqué mon amour (1998) and Pornstar (2000). After an escapade into the language of Shakespeare with the album Artificial pleasures (2004) under the name Poxy, Xavier returned to his roots for Gisèle (2006), then Bushido (2009) three years later.

VioleTT Pi is a one-man band from Quebec, playing electromagnet AC music, and was born in Granby (45° 24' 0.0072” N, 72° 43' 59.9880” W). The band formed in 2010 when a collection of beautiful hair met a dance party that couldn't get enough of Nirvana, Mr. Bungle, and Gilles Deleuze. Their unique style of entertainment fuses hard-hitting grooves and elfin vocals with a flashy neurosis that makes you want to think while you eat. Hailed as Montreal's best foam drinker by Montreal itself, VioleTT Pi has sold an impressive n albums and n show tickets. I like it a lot, but I don't understand what it's about. In the spring of 2023 of the future, the band will release a new album. In the spring of 2023, the band released Baloney Suicide on the LA Be label – Let Artists Be.

An emblematic figure of contemporary Quebec music, René Lussier today eludes any label. A 50-year career. 25 independent albums. A local and international career punctuated by collaborations with exceptional musicians. An extraordinary and unconventional composer, a formidable improviser and performer, he explores multiple playing fields where freedom is a must.

Robbie Kuster, a highly versatile musician, accompanies the greatest names in jazz and Quebec song. With exceptional technical fluidity, this formidable drummer, both sensitive and fiery, proves to be an improviser and creator in his own right. Alternating between compositions and improvisations, this duo deliberately pushes the boundaries. Each performance is unique.

Multidisciplinarity is inseparable from Annie-Claude Deschênes's creative process, as she continues her perpetual personal quest to unite music and artistic performance by distorting the pre-established conventions of the show. A key figure in Montreal's independent music scene for almost twenty years, she has distinguished herself as a singer, musician, singer-songwriter, and visual artist within Duchess Says and PyPy, two groups recognized as much for their electrifying performances as their artistic sensitivity. Her exploratory approach to staging and sound design now takes a new direction with the genesis of this solo project: the urgency that characterizes her work remains, but frustration and aggression give way to introspection and vulnerability. It is under her own name that Annie-Claude Deschênes intends to explore and reinvent herself, driven by a constant need to create outside her comfort zone.

Rough, contrasting, and labyrinthine, the music of Alix Fernz (formerly known as Blood Skin Atopic) engages in the scalene enclave of post-punk while flirting with hypnagogic pop, creating a lo-fi hybrid between synthwave and alternative rock, onto which are grafted catchy but distorted melodies. Singing about bar life, psychosocial disorders, drugs, addiction, and fear, and drawing inspiration from high heels, lipstick, cross-dressing, fashion, and bugs, the singer-songwriter presents us with his verses masked with effects a certain coming-of-age in the cybernetic era of likes and memes. The Montrealer presents Bizou, a first opus under his new label, on April 19, 2024 via Mothland.

Eadsé, which means "my good friend" in Wendat, is a Wendat singer-songwriter based in Montreal. Heir to the traditions of her ancestors, she draws inspiration from her grandfather, who came from the Wolf Clan and the Raven family. In 2021, she released My Good Friend, her first EP, in collaboration with Emmanuel Alias. Her instrumental track Oné-Onti, a tribute to Max Gros-Louis, has accumulated more than six million streams online. In the summer of 2022, she recorded Stay with Trey Vittetoe (Selena Gomez, Miley Cyrus). After Owen II and I'll Keep Dreaming, Eadsé presents Healer, her debut album, expected on March 7, 2025. This pop-soul opus, tinged with R&B, explores healing, resilience, and letting go with a moving sincerity. Sung in French, English and Wendat, Healer is an invitation to an introspective and soothing journey.

Cure-Pipe is the project of singer-songwriter Thomas Dakin, who surrounds himself with talented collaborators to create a totally wild and captivating musical experience. Psychedelic rock and garage pop blend effortlessly with classic rock and hyperpop to create a surprising, slightly grimy, but above all, completely true recipe. Thomas doesn't do things by halves. With Cure-Pipe, he gives his all, without compromise. There are artists who force us to stop and take the time to listen. Thomas is one of them. The year 2023 marks a major turning point in Thomas's career, as the album J'avais quickly caught the attention of music lovers and industry professionals. Thus, Cure-Pipe now positions itself as an original and promising artist on the Quebec music scene. After a busy year marked by participation in the semi-finals of the Francouvertes, nominations at GAMIQ and a mini-European tour, Cure-Pipe is now pumped up and ready to feed music lovers with pure Saguenay fat with his new album: J'ai trouvé Jésus.

While inspired by the atmosphere of the seedy taverns of Quebec's lower town, the trio enjoys navigating its members' multiple influences while playing with punk codes with casualness and impetuosity. Reviewers, journalists, and podcasters have always had a certain difficulty in qualifying Dogo Suicide's musical genre. Here, finally, is an informed answer: post-everything, but pretty punk overall. Honorable mention to the kind reviewer who once said that "restricting them to a punk band would be the equivalent of saying Mr. Puffs are just a dessert."

With their Dada-Pythagorean-Cubist Mantra-rock, the mischievous brothers of Poitrine invite you to lose yourself in a vortex of hypnotic sound and visual motifs. At first glance asymmetrical and dissonant, the music of these two big-faced beings surprisingly encourages dancing. Once seated on solid drum grooves, the complex tangles of microtonal guitars take on a festive air, all in a typically rock 'n' roll exuberance.

Producer, DJ, and performer Liliane Chlela is known in the electronic and experimental music scene for her unique and bold approach to sound, often inspiring audiences to push the boundaries of their auditory experience. Using her own techniques, she explores the connections between improvisation and sonic manipulation across numerous musical genres. After three self-produced albums, her most recent, Safala, blends field recordings, memories, and incantations with innovative and unsettling sounds. Her penchant for transdisciplinarity has led Chlela to develop aural and visual skills to apply them to fields as diverse as fashion films, interactive installations, and performance art. With this diverse and adventurous sonic palette, the Montreal-based Lebanese artist has become one of the most versatile producers and musicians in the Middle East, West Asia, and North Africa.

Saints Martyrs is an iconoclastic and mystical art-punk quartet with brutal lyricism. Dissonant guitar, heavy synthesizers, authoritarian drums, prophetic howls. The concerts are secular ceremonies that engulf the audience in a transcendent primal chaos. The music exorcises the violence of modern life; impulses are freed, communion rediscovered. It's sometimes even beautiful.

Singer-songwriter from Bas-Saint-Laurent, Isabelle Charlot accompanies her lyrics with the accordion. In collaboration with an ensemble of six musicians, she creates pieces that feel like journeys, enjoying mixing musical styles and artistic disciplines. Jazz, chanson, post-rock, poetry, slam, storytelling, and classical music come together to form conceptual works that go beyond the traditional canvases of song. Her professional career is distinguished by a committed, interdisciplinary, feminist, and regional approach.

An instrumental duo, Dexit plays art music and/or nü metal. Bipolar guitar, sporty drums, shimmering grooves; as if 80s Rush (the only one that matters) had a punk child with DJ Shadow. It's the old sound of the young: that classic, fruity, and creamy blend of rock and hip-hop. Grooves so fresh, even Tupac's AI wants more. Live, it oscillates in an uninhibited atmosphere between 3-minute nuggets and transcendental free-noise jams, all catchy like Shania.

Shako Djungu-Sungu, known as Shako, is a French-speaking Afro-Quebecois artist born on January 14, 2004, in Montreal. He developed a passion for music at a young age, encouraged by his older brother, who played a key role in his artistic journey. Shako is distinguished by a rich musical universe, primarily mixing rap, hip-hop, and R&B, while also incorporating modern pop and Afro influences. His inspirations, such as Damso and The Weeknd, are reflected in refined sounds and introspective lyrics.

​

Mahéja is a concentrate of joie de vivre and raw emotions. Originally from Anse-Saint-Jean, she charms with her sincere lyrics, her natural charisma, and her contagious good humor. Since childhood, music has been a part of her life, and today, she makes it her own. She takes life as it comes, with authenticity and lightness.

Les Cornets Volants is composed of Jonathan Gauthier on vocals, Gabriel Brassard-Gaudreault on guitar, Stéphane Boivin on bass, and Alexis Bélanger on drums. The band pays homage to the Quebec yéyé and garage rock era with a proposal combining themes from a nearly forgotten provincial repertoire with contemporary, danceable riffs and rhythms. The quartet's adventure began in 2020, when Gabriel, driven by his passion for Quebec bands from the 60s, decided to bring together three friends to form a yéyé-inspired band. The band members' punk influences quickly became apparent, and the group developed a unique style: yéyé garage rock with a punk flavor. Since then, they have performed all over Quebec, spreading joy and good humor with colorful and energetic performances.

Since 2020, Maxym Bronsard has been captivating Quebec audiences with catchy pop-tinged folk music and a contagious energy that puts a smile on their faces. This lover of words, the environment, and his Quebec has created a unifying and fresh universe that invites us all to sing along! The Saguenay singer-songwriter first became known at the St-Ambroise Song Festival and the Objectif Scène grant, where he won numerous awards. He then had several radio hits, including Philosophie and Fleur fanée. Then, in 2023, after obtaining an interdisciplinary bachelor's degree in arts, he released Chanter ben fort, a first album with powerful and irresistible melodies that was very well received by the public and radio programmers. Maxym hasn't been idle since: not only has he traveled the roads of Quebec to present the tracks to us, but he also produced Un vent favorable, an EP produced by Roy Davis released in September 2024.

Of Laotian origin, Francis O'Shaughnessy is a Quebec artist-researcher who works in photography and performance. His work is rooted in the exploration of portraiture in the landscape. His body of work, in perpetual (re)questioning, speaks of humanity: its loves, its dreams, the search for meaning, and its adoptive identity. His works have been presented in 30 countries. He has exhibited at the Musée National des Beaux-Arts de Québec, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Krakow (Poland), the Cerveira International Art Biennial (Portugal), and the Museum of World Culture (Sweden). In 2021, he won the Luxembourg Art Prize. He holds a PhD in art studies and practices from UQAM.

Having grown up in an isolated part of Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, I always needed a large space of privacy. Since arriving in Quebec City, I have questioned the place of anonymity in social space, and the boundary between intimacy and surveillance. My practice develops from a personal, multidisciplinary approach, with painting as my preferred medium.