Quebec artists shine in large numbers on the electronic scene around the world. If they ignite the public in clubs in Europe and Asia, we hear little about them here, where this genre is still considered marginal.
“I only have 30 minutes before boarding for Australia, will that be enough? asks Francis Latreille, better known as the artist Priori. It is at the Bangkok airport, in Thailand, that the Quebec musician, producer and DJ is at the time of the interview.
Although he is used to playing abroad, this is the first time he has worked in Asia. He has four agents who organize his international tours, one per geographical area: Asia, Australia, Europe and the United States.
If Quebec hip-hop today has its titles of nobility, electronic music remains a less popular genre. “It’s music that has its stigmata. It is associated with a certain type of people. She has an image that can be negative. For some, it’s music that has no merit, because it is seen as repetitive,” says the artist. For him, these are received ideas, which must be gradually defeated.
Create to travel
It was in Sweden, in the city of Gothenburg, that the artists France Jobin and Myriam Boucher were at the time of the call for To have to, end of October. Leaving from Montreal, they were preparing to present each their performance at the GAS festival. Founded in 1999, this event is held every year. It is considered the biggest festival dedicated to electronic sound art in Sweden.
“Working abroad confronts us with other realities. This makes us meet other artists and sometimes leads to collaborations”, says France Jobin with enthusiasm. “It takes us out of our comfort zone, adds Myriam Boucher, and I, as an artist, need it. For them, traveling for work is essential. France Jobin exported for the first time in 2002, Myriam Boucher, in 2008. They haven’t stopped since.
France Jobin is a sound artist, who also works visuals in digital art and who recently tried her hand at creating in virtual reality. Myriam Boucher is a sound and video artist, assistant professor at the Faculty of Music of the University of Montreal. They admit that making a living from your art in Quebec is not always easy given the size of the market. Working abroad allows them to support their career in Quebec by taking advantage of international opportunities.
Necessary support
The Quebec government has a mandate to support its artists and promote them internationally. This is reflected in particular by the assistance of the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ).
“In Quebec, we have a flourishing artistic production, explains André Racette, director of support for dissemination and international outreach at the CALQ. This is what Quebecers are asking for, a culture that resembles them and that conveys an identity. »
But he also recognizes that the market has its limits: “The productions must also meet a market outside that of Quebec, which is flourishing economically. One of the pillars of the CALQ’s international intervention framework is reciprocity: “If we want Quebec to be welcomed, we must welcome foreign artists in return. We don’t want to dodumping” cultural. We have more of a desire to work in collaboration, in exchange. It may be due to the fact that there are fewer of us. »
The CALQ is not the only one to support the export of artists outside Quebec. “Supporting Quebec electronic music internationally is definitely one of SODEC’s objectives,” says Johanne Morissette, Communications Director of the Société de développement des entreprises culturelle (SODEC). The Company organized from September 2021 to April 2022 the SODEC_LAB eXeX, a series of three webinars in connection with the electronic music community of Morocco, Japan and South Africa. She also participated in the Amsterdam Dance Event, one of the biggest electronic music festivals and markets in the world, in order to connect to this global network.
Seung Hyun Kim previously worked on the programming of B39, an arts center located in the city of Bucheon, South Korea. He regularly presented Quebec artists there. According to him, talent abounds in the field of digital art in Quebec.
Now based in Seoul, where he founded the Prectxe festival, he continues to have an interest in local artists. “It’s almost a sociopolitical interest. »
It was in 2019, during a networking activity in Montreal, during the 20e edition of the international electronic music festival MUTEK, that Myriam Boucher and France Jobin met the festival programmer GAS. “He came to see me saying that he was apologizing, that he had to take his plane, that he had to leave. He gave me his card and told me that he wanted to invite me to play at his festival,” says France Jobin. Three years later, she is part of the program of the Göteborg Art Sounds festival.
export yourself
“I was supposed to stay three weeks in Europe, and I decided to stay two more weeks,” says artist Pascale Project, who is in Berlin, where she has a few dates planned to play in clubs. “I’ve been here too long, and I have bookings which have since been added. »
Producer, DJ, Pascale Mercier, whose real name is, usually plays in Europe at least once a year. After three years without being able to go there because of the pandemic, she had to update her contacts.
When she travels, she plans on her own, takes care of logistics, manages contracts, promotes. Pascale Project has been playing abroad for about ten years. During her trip this fall, she will be scheduled in several European countries — Greece, Germany, France and Italy — before returning to Montreal, where she co-manages digital radio Shift Radio, which broadcasts artists from the electronic scene.
During a tour like this, without an invitation to a festival, without an agent on site, the benefits are not financial: “I’m not going to make a profit, admits the artist, but this tour is an excellent way to reconnect with the industry. Which will undoubtedly open up new possibilities.