Montreal music scene uneasy in spotlight

Even without big financial success, people give back to the community in other ways. Andre Guerette, member of the psychedelic noise rock outfit AIDS Wolf, teamed with friend Matt Miller to form Mandatory Moustache, a music promotions company that launched a popular biweekly Tuesday night music series at restaurant/club Le Divan Orange.

The bands that play these nights are always local but not necessarily known, a strong reason why Mandatory Moustache picks them for the bill. The evening has built a reputation for showcasing emerging talent across many genres including country, folk, pop and electro.

"A lot of times people won't know who the bands are, but will go just because it's a Mandatory Moustache night," Cummins said. "They're young and they think it's wicked and the place to be."

Nights like this have been able to thrive for several reasons, including government subsidies for some bands, Montreal's low rent — Besnard Lakes member and Breakglass Studio founder Jace Lasek pays about $1,800 per month for his 5,000-square-foot studio, and his four-bedroom apartment costs $720 — and an attitude of "if you want to do something, do it."

Strong experimental scene
There's a strong experimental music scene, lead by the likes of AIDS Wolf, The Besnard Lakes and Sam Shalabi, who all play music in disparate genres: noise rock, avant garde ambient and psychedelic experimental with Middle Eastern influences, respectively. Even alt-country artists like The Adam Brown and neo-folkies like John Lennox have filled particular musical voids.

But Montreal wouldn't be Montreal without its majority French community. While much of the spotlight is currently on English-speaking bands, Montreal has a thriving Francophone scene — and many musicians in Anglo bands are of French descent, like Arcade Fire's Regine Chassagne and all the members of the cartoonish post-punk rock outfit Les Georges Leningrad.

But Montreal music always seems to come back to the notion of community.

After Wolf Parade — which had never worked with a producer — returned from troubled recording sessions in Portland, Ore., for "Apologies to the Queen Mary," singer Dan Boeckner turned to his friend Lasek to remix the songs, resulting in a solid alt-rock effort.

When asked about the demise of Unicorns, no one felt comfortable discussing the situation — because it was their friends' business. But whatever happened behind closed doors must have caused a creative spark because Nick Diamonds and Jamie Thompson are now working on not one, but two new projects together: Th' Corn Gangg, a hip-hop outfit with Los Angeles underground rappers Bus Driver and Subtitle; and Islands, a straight-up pop group.

So whenever the press attention fades away, it's likely the buzz will pick up somewhere else.

"(The spotlight) isn't going to be here forever," said Alien8's Worsley. "There's another scene ready to explode around the corner."

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