Read Montag's bio here
AUDIO-DOCUMENTARY ABOUT PHASES
THE APPROACH BEHIND PHASES, IN A FEW WORDS
- one single a month for a year / the idea is to write music that is not destined to an album, each release being self-sufficient.
- each single has to be written and recorded within a month
- each release comes with a video, allowing a collaboration with a different visual artist each month. As with the music, each video is done within 4 weeks,
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THE LONG STORY BEHIND PHASES...
So it's been 4 years already. Well, not exactly. Montag was around but certainly somewhere in the background for me: remixes for different bands (Stars, Au Revoir Simone, I'm From Barcelona, etc.), lots of sound for theatre and dance, tons of other artistic collaborations, including soundwalks in both Montreal and Ottawa that explores the relationship between architecture and music, etc. But things are different with NEW DESIGN, the first Montag release on Carpark since 2007, and the launch of PHASES, a singles project with a new song released in each month in 2012.
It's exciting. It's 12 songs only it's not an album. I have to say that I'm happy and relieved that I found the idea. I really didn't feel like making an album, I couldn't find a direction for it. So PHASES is the best solution to that: each song will have its own direction, meant to be listened to separately. Each single will also be written and arranged within a month, a completely different approach than writing tracks for an album... I wanted the song to come out very soon after their completion. It's ambitious, but the challenge is fun and I'm hoping will generate some great surprises. Finding different collaborators for each release, a different production style, etc. We'll see where we'll end up in December!
The origin of PHASES.
The idea that shaped PHASES goes back to a conversation I had with songwriter Leah Abramson sometime in 2010. Leah's super talented, a dear friend, and we've sang on each others songs before. We were talking about writing music and I was explaining her that my contract music work –I was doing, and am still doing a lot of sound design for theatre and contemporary dance – was keeping me from writing new material, or to fully complete new songs. So she tried to motivate me and said: "try writing a song every month, that shouldn't be too hard... send them to me after". I absolutely loved the idea and replied "ok, ok I'll do that for sure. Expect a song soon". Only... it never happened. I was caught with a million things to do for other projects. But the words resonated in my head, with a slight feeling of guilt...
Over a year later, I was with my good friend and music producer Dominic Vanchesteing and we were having a similar conversation. He said: "get back to it, you really can't quit Montag, I can help you if you want". It was really the words "help you" that provoked a huge wave of motivation. Montag was always a really lonely project, for the most part. It's one of the reasons that I wanted to involve so many collaborators in Going Places back in 2007, and why I've enjoyed making music for theatre and dance where the work happens in a group of people. All of a sudden, the simple thought that I could work with someone else on some new music of my own made me feel much lighter and gave me the drive to get back to writing music again.
And I forget to mention that each PHASES single will come with a video. You can watch the videos here. They'll also be accompanied by a short audio documentary that will explain how the songs were written and recorded, available exclusively on SPOTIFY.
Also, each single will have its own cover designed by Guadalajara-based graphic artist Curious Flux.
The entire PHASES project can be followed exclusively on SPOTIFY and on this website, where music videos and other PHASES tunes will be available... all on Carpark Records, of course!
Enjoy!
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NOT HIBERNATING AFTER ALL
Montag is back after what could seem like a long absence. But there hasn’t been one minute of silence from Antoine Bédard since his 2007 Carpark release, Going Places. There were in fact a few self-released mini-albums, including Hibernation (2008) coinciding with his return to Montréal and Des cassettes et un walkman jaune (2009),a covers EP, as well as a dozen remixes for the likes of M83, Au Revoir Simone and I'm From Barcelona and Stars. But it was his work as a sound designer that demanded most of his time: within the past five years, Bedard has written the scores to twenty theatre works presented throughout Canada, as well as original music for five contemporary dance pieces. In addition, he narrated and edited two audio guides and curated two soundwalks - installations exploring the relationship between music and architecture. In 2008, Bédard also co-founded, with two friends, a hugely successful bi-monthly electro-pop club night in Montréal called Mec Plus Ultra, hosting guest live bands like Miami Horror and Diamond Rings and exclusive DJ sets by The XX and Two Door Cinema Club. Not only the host, Montag was a resident DJ of the event, allowing him to share his favorite pop gems, including tunes by current labelmates Class Actress and Toro y Moi.
PHASES
After four years of making music on a variety of different projects, it is time for Bédard to get back to his own creation. But making an album seems too restrictive, so Antoine comes up with Phases, opting for a singularly different approach: releasing one single a month over the course of the whole year, with each song creating its own sonic world, meant to be enjoyed one at a time. To add to the challenge, Montag will assign himself style restrictions to every month, keeping each single distinct and allowing him to explore new musical territory in the process.
Phases will have Montag following a few basic rules: each single must be created within a month and be accompanied by a b-side (either an original song, a cover or a remix) and a video. He will blog about the creative process in detail on his website, with extra information on how the tracks were recorded, their origins, the type of instruments used, etc. Each single will also have its own cover designed by Guadaljara-based graphic artist Curious Flux. As Going Places proved, Bédard enjoys collaborations and Phases should be no exception: most singles will be recorded with the help of special guests. Discover who each month on SPOTIFY and Montag's website. Each release will be accompanied by an audio documentary produced and narrated by Montag, explaining how the songs were written and produced.
Phases' first single, New Design, will be released on January 31st. The b-side is called Nova Heart, a cover of 80's Canadian band The Spoons, featuring actor Liane Balaban on vocals. The following singles will be released the last Tuesday of each month during 2012.