This text is part of the MUTEK special edition
The annual event favored by fans of cutting-edge electronic music is also, for local creators, a gateway to reach an international audience. Behind the scenes, the MUTEK festival has been building a network of industry professionals for 25 years, which it then activates to give wings to Quebec artists, who can thus develop their projects and present them on every continent. France Jobin, Priori and Honeydrip testify.
These days, immersive works creator France Jobin is collaborating with the Quantum Institute of the University of Sherbrooke to further develop the project. Entanglement, developed with visual artist Markus Heckmann, presented two years ago at MUTEK. “After this performance, Alain [Mongeau, directeur et fondateur du festival] asked us if we wanted to transpose the work into virtual reality” to be able to enrich the young catalog of immersive XR Collection works, recently inaugurated by the festival.
“After presenting the first version ofEntanglementMUTEK has taken us on a journey, Jobin continues. We presented it at MUTEK Tokyo, at MUTEK Barcelona, and later this fall, the work, transposed into a short film at the suggestion of the festival team, will be presented at a German festival. The people at MUTEK are keeping an eye on new opportunities to make us shine internationally.
Renew yourself from year to year
The event has also equipped itself with tools that promote encounters between artists and industry decision-makers. For ten years, the MUTEK Forum has been held, an “international market of visionary ideas in digital creativity,” attracting more than 90 experts in their creative fields this year. Since 2020, the festival has also organized its “Market,” to which is added a program for the development of emerging artists (“Incubator”), providing opportunities for artists to forge new artistic or business connections. The initiative, developed to support creators during the pandemic, has benefited France Jobin as much as her colleagues Priori and Honeydrip.
Joined in Germany, where he is continuing his European tour, is the composer Francis Latreille (Priori), who launched last May the delicious album This But Moreassures that he also benefited from the support of the festival organization: “There were a few key performances that allowed me to become known internationally, starting with my premiere at MUTEK”, in 2019. This premiere revealed him as a composer here, and as a performer to the many international delegates who attend the festival.
“What’s happening is that MUTEK insists on presenting performances live. They manage to convince a lot of artists [qui se produisent généralement comme DJ] to mount a live setwhich was my case. I was able to prove that I was capable of doing that.” Since then, he has not missed a single Montreal edition of MUTEK, in addition to having been invited to play in Tokyo and Mexico. “The festival team took me under their wings. Having been invited so many also forced me to renew my proposal each year.”
I’ve worked hard to get to where I am today, but it’s largely thanks to the opportunities the festival has given me.
MUTEK Baby
Montreal composer and DJ Honeydrip (Tiara McLaughlan) even considers herself a “MUTEK baby.” As was the case with Priori, the festival team pushed her to put on a concert livewhich she first presented last year, during MUTEK.
“I will be forever grateful to the festival team for giving me my first chance,” rejoices Honeydrip, caught between flights to the UK. “That first performance then led to me being invited to a festival in Italy. MUTEK puts its structure, its international network, to guide us, the artists,” adds Honeydrip, who has been earning her living as a full-time musician since last year. “I worked hard to get where I am today, but it’s largely thanks to the opportunities the festival has given me.”
“I have always benefited from extraordinary support from the MUTEK team,” assures France Jobin. She was first invited to perform at the festival in 2001, in a duet with composer and DJ Martin Tétreault, and since then, each of her new explorations in the digital universe has been supported by the festival. “The festival has always been very important to me, both in terms of the development of my career and in terms of my creative and artistic direction. When we are invited to MUTEK, we are allowed to attend other performances. It allows us to discover what colleagues elsewhere are doing, it opens horizons, it is the fun ! »
This content was produced by the Special Publications Team of Dutyrelevant to marketing. The writing of the Duty did not take part in it.