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Montreal DIY music scene
Since the late 2000s, numerous musical artists from the neighborhood of Mile End, Montreal have recorded, released and performed what the press has considered to be weird, experimental, DIY music of
Background and early history#
In 2007, many artists including Sebastian Cowan, Alexander Cowan, Ezra Gray and Jeff Boyd, as well as video director Emily Kai Bock, formed the artist collective and venue space Lab Synthese in Mile End, Montreal, Quebec. In 2008, Sebastian Cowan was influenced by the concept of Constellation Records to form Arbutus Records as part of the Lab Synthese art collective; the intention of the label was to release music by artists that each had their own individual style of music instead of focusing on issuing records of only one type. In the words of Dazed, the music that has been distributed by Arbutus include the “luminous lullaby techno” works of Blue Hawaii, the “provocative cabaret confessionals” by singer-songwriter Sean Nicholas Savage, energetic sample-heavy music by Airick Woodhead’s project Doldrums, and indie group TOPS’ “hazy” dream pop; however, they all feel “enchantingly disparate.” Silly Kissers, a defunct group whose members included Savage and all the people who would later form TOPS, were labeled by Dazed as an inspiration for the Arbutus acts to experiment with pop music, as well as the ethos of the Montreal scene.
Recent years#
Claire Elise Boucher, known by her stage name as Grimes, was one of many artists who learned how to produce music from her acquaintances that were a part of the scene. was nominated for a 2012 Polaris Music Prize, only losing Feist’s Metals. and won Electronic Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2013. Also in 2012, Grimes co-hosted the MTV Video Music Awards and was a model for Vogue magazine. Tonstartssbandht, Mac DeMarco, Born Gold, Marie Davidson and Elise Barbara, are also considered contributors of the Montreal DIY subculture. In 2016, a group of musicians formed the collective Making Space: Reflecting on the Limits of Our Scenes, which intends to raise awareness that, according to Cult MTL, “Women, people of colour, disabled people and LGBT communities frequently experience obstacles and discomfort or even outright oppression and danger when navigating … the DIY scene .”
Characteristics#
In general, the music of the artists in the DIY scene consists of electronically-produced distortion, “wonky” reverb and a heavy of amount noise. Around 2012, the music that was a part of the subculture was beginning to also include “catchy hooks, slick melodies, and bouncing beats,” Spin magazine described.
See also#
*Netlabels in Japan, an article about a similar independent music scene in Japan
- Region
- Montreal