Constantin Blondy apologizes. At the appointed time of the interview, the drummer of his group, Rémi Jacques, had not yet returned from his excursion to the convenience store. “He went to get some Kool-Aid,” explains the General Chaos frontman, while he glances worriedly at his cell and we try to reassure him: drummers late, and for really less good reasons than this one, the journalist saw others.
General Chaos is made up of three 14-year-old teenagers and yet their star on the Montreal punk scene already shines very brightly, their two participations in the important Pouzza Fest (in 2022 and 2023) proving this.
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
Constantin Blondy
Rémi ends up appearing on the horizon, on his bike, but without his loot. “There was no Kool-Aid. » Instead of overly sweet juice: a two-liter bottle of brown liqueur and a chocolate bar. “Give me my clothes back,” Constantin told him. After searching his pockets, the friend materialized three 25 cent coins.
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
Rémi Jacques
That Saturday afternoon, as he prepared to play in the evening on the outdoor stage of Entrepôt 77, at the corner of Saint-Laurent and Bernard, Constantin wore a shirt from the Californian group Social Distortion ( the cancer diagnosis of singer Mike Ness shook him a lot). Rémi, himself, a t-shirt of General Fools, this local group from the early 1990s for which they recently opened at the legendary Casa del Popolo.
As for Zoë Chapman, the bassist, her polo shirt from the artistic school FACE, which all three of them attend, seems to have passed into the hands of Vivienne Westwood.
On the back, a patch homemade screams: Kill General Chaos. She learned to play the four strings in a few weeks last fall, especially to join General Chaos, says the redhead who has been playing since she was 4, thanks to the insistence of her dad, Owen Chapman, composer and teacher. at Concordia.
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
Zoë Chapman
A good ten meters from the small piece of park where we settled to hear ourselves chatting during the shattering sound test of the group Têtaards Strippers, Karim, Constantin’s father, keeps an eye on his son and his friends.
“I try to be there for them, to teach them to be responsible, but I don’t want to talk to you too much, because I don’t want to shame them,” kindly warns the man who was the drummer of the Karlof Orchestra for a long time. . “It’s their project. »
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
General Chaos on stage
Thanks Ramones
The father was nevertheless surprised the day he was shown a video of his son jamming with Rémi to songs by the founders of New York punk, the Ramones, in the cafeteria of their high school. Surprised, because the graft had obviously taken well and his offspring, who were reluctant to play Ramones with their father and sister at home, were now playing it of their own free will, during their dinner hour.
What do they admire about the Ramones? “Well… that’s the Ramones,” Rémi replies laconically, which is perhaps the best possible answer to this question. The love of punk was also passed on to him by his father, Fred Jacques, guitarist of The Sainte Catherines.
Constantin ventures to clarify his thoughts: “In my opinion, the Ramones define what punk is. It’s very simple, but the energy makes you want to throw yourself on the floor or do a mosh pit. »
Move the old people
Until a few months ago, General Chaos had mainly performed in front of audiences of moist-eyed adults, moved that the musical genre that saved their lives continued to influence others. “There is hope for humanity,” proclaims an Instagram story captured during their first official show, in May 2022 at Pouzza Fest.
But that Saturday, at Entrepôt 77, the crowd was teeming with ecstatic young people, pogo-ing while Rémi hammered the drums with fascinating solidity and Constantin struggled to hide his joy behind his studiously casual expression.
Zoë lets herself be completely overwhelmed by euphoria. Beyond anger, punk has always been the soundtrack of those who finally find their peers.
Constantin and Rémi confirm it: their classmates don’t listen to Operation Ivy or the Dead Kennedys. “They listen to Drake…” says the drummer without managing to hide his disdain.
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
General Chaos on stage
The usefulness of big poutine
What are their songs about? Titles like High School, Wasting My Time And Boredom immediately give us an idea. “Constantin’s theme is the things that bother him at school,” summarizes Zoë. This is because, you understand, he has to wake up every morning at 6 a.m. in order to arrive at FACE on time, at 8 a.m. The supplice.
What about those written by Zoë? “They talk about love and feelings,” observes Constantin. “And once, it didn’t end well,” confides the main interested party, who learned the hard way a lesson that all songwriters go through sooner or later. “I wrote a song [Adoring You] for a person I really loved and who I no longer love at all. It’s a little awkward to sing it. »
General Chaos kicked off 2023 by posting on Bandcamp a four-song demo recorded in seven hours with Ryan Battistuzzi (Malajube, Les Breastfeeders, Gazoline), the benchmark director and mixer in terms of rock. The trio intends to do it again, for a real album, by the end of the year.
The secret of their stage energy? “We drink Kool-Aid or anything that has sugar in it,” explains Constantin. “Fruity is even better,” explains Zoë. And on the day of a show, after jamming at Constantin, we always go to eat a big poutine at Lafleur. »