JEAN-MICHEL BLAIS TO RELEASE SOUNDTRACK TO XAVIER DOLAN’S MATTHIAS & MAXIME

MATTHIAS & MAXIME SOUNDTRACK OUT OCTOBER 25 VIA ARTS & CRAFTS

WATCH AND SHARE “LE SOUPER” LIVE PERFORMANCE HERE

BUY / STREAM “LE SOUPER” HERE

“There is such tenderness and gentleness in this film” – The Guardian ★★★★ 

Matthias & Maxime Soundtrack Print Cover // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES

French-Canadian composer and pianist Jean-Michel Blais will release the soundtrack to Canadian director Xavier Dolan’s upcoming film release, Matthias & Maxime, on Arts & Crafts on October 25. The Montreal-based composer was chosen by the acclaimed actor and film-maker to write the music for the film, which received its world premiere on  May 22 at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. There is a long love story between Cannes and Dolan has he is in fact the youngest director to ever receive the Jury Prize. 

The music for the Matthias & Maxime Official Soundtrack was developed in close collaboration between Blais and Dolan in the studio, using techniques derived from improvisation, with the music of Franz Schubert serving as a point of inspiration. Unusually for a feature film, certain tracks were developed first, the scene was shot to the music, and then edited to fit it, rather than the other way around. 

Today, Jean-Michel Blais shares a performance of “Le souper”. Swiftly written in just a few minutes, “Le souper” was born from Xavier's desire to add mandolin over the piano. Although cut from the final film edit, this simple and sensitive piece, tinged with a sweet melancholy, convinced us that it should remain on the album.

WATCH AND SHARE “LE SOUPER” LIVE PERFORMANCE HERE

BUY / STREAM “LE SOUPER” HERE

Directly approached by Dolan, Blais was eager to take on the project: “I was touched, moved, incredulous... without reading the script, I accepted right away. Growing up with every single movie [Dolan] has made, it was a simple choice for me cancel my vacations and get to work. Following a fairly unorthodox process, we ended up keeping the demos, improvised in the studio - variations on a Schubert theme - creating a cohesive musical soundscape that Xavier used during the shoot and the editing period.” 

MORE ABOUT XAVIER DOLAN

Xavier Dolan was born in Montréal, Canada, and is known for his work as actor, screenwriter and director. He won the Jury Prize at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival for his film Mommy and went on to direct the music video for Adele’s chart-topping “Hello”. In Matthias & Maxime, Dolan stars as Max alongside Harris Dickinson and Anne Dorval. 

Matthias & Maxime Soundtrack Digital Cover // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES

MATTHIAS & MAXIME SOUNDTRACK
1 L'amitié
2 Les feuilles mortes
3 Le lac
4 La blessure I (skit)
5 La blessure I
6 Le souper
7 La solitude (skit)
8 La solitude
9 La blessure II
10 La ferme
11 Un autre amour

Photo Credit : Jérémy Dionn // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES

TOUR DATES
Oct 11: Theatre Granada - Sherbrooke, QC
Oct 13 : Centre Culturel Notre-dame-de-grâce - Montréal, QC
Nov 10 : Theatre Roger Ferdinand - Saint-lo, France
Nov 12: Centquatre - Paris, France  
Nov 16: Auditorio del Conservatorio de Música Juan Crisóstomo de Arriaga - Bilbao, Spain  
Nov 20: Auditório Camões - Lisboa, Portugal 
Nov 22: CCCB, Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona - Barcelona, Spain  
Nov 24: Círculo de Bellas Artes - Madrid, Spain  
Nov 25: King’s Place - London, United Kingdom  
Nov 29: Brandbau - Erpeldange-les-wiltz, Luxembourg  
Nov 30: 30cc/Ticketbalie - Leuven, Belgium  
Dec 1: Tivolivredenburg - Utrecht, Netherlands  
Dec 3: Cultuurcentrum Hasselt - Hasselt, Belgium  
Dec 4: de Spil - Roeselare, Belgium  
Dec 5: Silent Green Kulturquartier - Berlin, Germany  
Dec 8: Gnessin Russian Academy of Music - Moskva, Russia  
Dec 10: National Library of Russia - Sanktpeterburg, Russia
Jan 15 : Place des arts - Montréal, QC
Jan 21 - Roy Thomson Hall - Toronto, ON

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JEREMY DUTCHER SHARES DEBUT MUSIC VIDEO FOR “MEHCINUT”

WATCH AND SHARE “MEHCINUT” HERE

CURRENTLY ON NATIONWIDE TOUR WITH CANADIAN ORCHESTRAS PERFORMING HIS POLARIS MUSIC PRIZE AND JUNO AWARD WINNING LP WOLASTOQIYIK LINTUWAKONAWA

Photo Credit : Peter Hadfield

BUY / STREAM WOLASTOQIYIK LINTUWAKONAWA HERE

WATCH AND SHARE JEREMY DUTCHER’S NPR TINY DESK PERFORMANCE

WATCH AND SHARE JEREMY DUTCHER’S CBC FIRST PLAY LIVE

Photo Credit : Peter Hadfield

"Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawais an unprecedented piece of cultural archivism, and its revival of a dying tongue is an example of what music can tangibly do for humanity." - NOISEY (Phil Witmer)

"It is said that music is the universal language, but Toronto-based First Nations tenor and pianist Jeremy Dutcher has created an accessible album in his native Wolastoq, or Maliseet, a language spoken today in Canada by an estimated 600 people." - BILLBOARD (Karen Bliss)

"The future meets the past as Dutcher's resonant operatic voice is paired with a recording made over 110 years ago of a speech by Wolastoqiyik ancestor Jim Paul, on death and what comes after. Layered with crystalline strings and booming horns, the result sounds grandiose yet intimate." - NOISEY (Veronica Zaretski)

Jeremy Dutcher, outside the Aga Khan Museum // Photo Credit : Peter Hadfield

Today, Jeremy Dutcher shares his debut music video with the world for "Mehcinut", which was also the first single he ever shared. The video is co-directed by Jeremy Dutcher, and filmmaker Chandler Levack, and it was filmed at Aga Khan Museum in Toronto, ON. 

The FADER says of the video, "One of Canada’s most exciting musicians doesn’t hold back for his first-ever music video," where "Dutcher becomes more prism than performer," adding that the album as a whole "was a work Canada needed, but could not have expected."

"Mehcinut" features an iconic dance performance, choreographed by two-spirit indigenous dancer and artist Brian Solomon, featuring an all indigenous dance group, and special guest dance performance by prolific award winning actress Tantoo Cardinal. Tantoo is a Member of the Order of Canada, and she has performed more than 100 film, television and theatre roles in Canada and the US, breaking barriers for onscreen representation of Indigenous peoples and has challenged negative stereotypes of Indigenous communities throughout her career, which has included roles in Dances With Wolves (1990), Black Robe (1991), Wind River (2017) and Through Black Spruce (2019). She has won a Gemini Award, a Canadian Screen Award for lifetime achievement, and a National Aboriginal Achievement Award.

WATCH AND SHARE “MEHCINUT” HERE

The video for Mehcinut also features Jeremy’s ‘Table of Indigenous Excellence’; who are Indigenous cultural leaders, artists, filmmakers, and activists from across Canada, who gather at an adapted installation by multi-disciplinary Montreal artist Emily Jan, called ‘After the Hunt’.

In his own words, and his careful choices of what to make bold, here's Jeremy Dutcher on the "Mehcinut" video:

“This song calls back  
and reaches forward across time.
Concerning indigenous continuation
and what it can mean.
For all those who have gone before
and all those who are yet to come.
‘ciw nihkanipasihtit naka weckuwapasihtit.

This video arises through collaborative processes,
and circulates 
between death and rebirth. 

A beautiful assemblage of people
committed to telling
stories of reclamation and resilience.

Make Indigenous excellence visible. 

To witness it in multitudes, is to know that we’ll be ok. Thrive. 

To see a full table, is to see a collective 
speaking of who we are. 
Indigenous people are not one thing
we come from many different backgrounds
speak many different languages and ways. 

Drawing our circles wide
we make our gathering places
radically inclusive
relying on all gifts and abilities
to make our presence and positions known. 

This project is a call to my community
let's show what we’ve done and can do
let’s send a dream into the future
for where we’ll go
Collectively
Amplifying diverse indigenous voices
past, present and future
of inspiring artistic visions”

This video was created thanks to the generous support of the MVP Project, a joint initiative of RBCxMusic and the Prism Prize (administered by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television), and with the support of the Ontario Media Development Corporation, FACTOR (The Foundation Assisting Canadian Talent on Recordings), and the Ontario Arts Council.

Tantoo Cardinal, joins the dance troupe // Photo Credit : Peter Hadfield

The Table of Indigenous Excellence guests include (see this hyperlink for more info):

1) Lido Pimienta: 2017 Winner of the Polaris Music Prize, of Afro-Colombian and Wayuu descent. 

2) Alanis Obomsawin: legendary 86 year old filmmaker who has made over 50 documentaries with the National Film Board of Canada that explore the lives and concerns of the First Nations Peoples of Canada. She has also been singing professionally since the 60s and has recorded many records. She is a member of the Abenaki Nation.

3) Leanne Betasamosake Simpson: Leanne is from Alderville First Nation, and is an award winning songwriter, poet, and activist, who has collaborated with A Tribe Called Red, Cris Derksen, and Sean Conway.

4) Tim ‘2oolman’ Hill: & Bear Witness: JUNO and MMVA award winning Indigenous DJ duo - A Tribe Called Red. 

5) Asinnajaq Weetaluktuk: Asinnajaq is a multimedia visual artist, filmmaker, and curator whose short-form documentary “3000” was made in partnership with the National Film Board of Canada. She is from Inukjuak, Nunavik. 

6) Arielle Twist: Arielle Twist is a Nehiyaw, Two-Spirit, trans woman, and works as a poet and sex educator, and released her first book of poetry, “Disintegrate/Disassociate” in 2019. 

7) Chief Lady Bird: Chief Lady Bird is a First Nations (Potawatomi and Chippewa) artist from Rama First Nation. Her Anishinaabe name is Ogimaakwebnes, which means Chief Lady Bird. Through her art practice, she strives to look to the past to navigate her Anishinaabe identity whilst living in an urban space as well as advocate for Indigenous representation as an integral aspect of Canada’s national identity. 

8) Emma Hassencahl-Perley: Emma is Wolastoqiyik, and shares the same first nation as Jeremy Dutcher (Tobique First Nation), Emma’s artwork explores themes of legislative identity, the truth about our shared history between Indigenous nations and the Settler state and society of Canada and her own identity as a Wolastoqiyik woman.

Dutcher’s Table of Indigenous Excellence // Photo Credit : Peter Hadfield

Earlier this year, Dutcher performed a Tiny Desk Concert at NPR and Bob Boilen said:

“There is no one making music like this 27-year-old, classically trained opera tenor and pianist. He's not only a member of the Tobique First Nation in New Brunswick, Canada, but one of fewer than 100 people who still speak — and in his case also sing — in Wolastoq. His Tiny Desk performance illustrates his deep respect for his heritage, even as he sings through vocal processors and looping devices of the very present. It's a dialog with the past that earned him a Polaris prize for his 2018 album Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa (one of NPR Music's top albums of that year)."

Dutcher has also paired up with Spotify to launch the official Indigenous playlist on the platform! Entitled "Indigenous. Music by us, for us", it is a guest curated playlist showcasing the large variety of indigenous talent from Canada and abroad. Jeremy's personal choices includes songs by Tanya Tagaq, Elisapie, nêhiyawak and Buffy St-Marie.

LISTEN AND SHARE “INDIGENOUS. MUSIC BY US, FOR US” SPOTIFY PLAYLIST

Dutcher is currently on a nationwide tour, partnering with orchestras in cities across Canada to present Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa in a special symphony format. Arranged by Lucas Waldin, the performance premiered with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra at the Carlu Hall in Toronto in April. “This orchestra tour means so much to me,” says Dutcher. “It sews together two musical halves of myself. A tour like this would not have been possible just one generation ago, and I am honoured to bring our sounds into the concert hall and give them the treatment their beauty commands.” Dates and solo performances throughout Europe and North America, can be found below.

Photo Credit : Peter Hadfield

JEREMY DUTCHER 2019 TOUR DATES:

10/11: Detroit, MI – Detroit Institute of Arts 
10/12: Toronto, ON – The Danforth Music Hall 
10/17: Halifax, NS – Rebecca Cohn Auditorium *
10/19: Regina, SK – Conexus Arts Centre *
10/23: Vancouver, BC – Commodore Ballroom 
10/24: Victoria, BC – Alix Goolden Performance Hall
10/26: Edmonds, WA – Edmonds Center for the Arts
11/08: Calgary, AB – Jack Singer Concert Hall *
11/09: Saskatoon, SK – TCU Place *
11/14: Fredericton, NB – Fredericton Playhouse Inc. *
11/15: Moncton, NB – Capitol Theatre *
11/16: Saint John, NB – Imperial Theatre *
11/19 Bertrand, NB - Musique Saint-Joachim / Église de Saint-Joachim
11/20: Bristol, NB – Weldon Matthews Theatre
11/22: St. John’s, NL – Arts and Culture Centre
11/23: Corner Brook, NL – Arts & Culture Centre
11/25: Happy Valley-Goose Bay – Lawrence O’Brien Centre
11/27: Georgetown, ON – Kings Playhouse 
11/30: Sackville, NB – Mount Allison University
12/04: Chester, NS - Chester Playhouse Theatre

With Symphony Orchestra *

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WHOOP-SZO REMEMBER “GERRY” IN NEW VIDEO

WARRIOR DOWN OUT NOVEMBER 1 VIA YOU’VE CHANGED RECORDS

WATCH AND SHARE “GERRY” HERE

CANADIAN TOUR DATES BEGIN NOVEMBER 1

PRE-ORDER WARRIOR DOWN - PHYSICAL / DIGITAL

"There's an underlying gentleness to WHOOP-Szo's instrumental attack, and it keeps them grounded and connected with their communities as they righteously lash out against institutional inequalities, making their voices all the more powerful, literally and figuratively." - Exclaim! 

“A true psychedelic group ... For WHOOP-Szo, punk, DIY and psych principles go beyond music scene bubbles and fuse with Indigenous solidarity and healing through music.” - NOW 

“WHOOP-Szo has perfected their eclectic sounds, binding the paradox of indistinguishable familiarity with themes of Canadian history, language, and culture.” - VICE

Photo Credit : Rima Sater // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES

Today, WHOOP-Szo share the video for “Gerry”, a song about the murder of bandleader Adam Sturgeon’s cousin by a Saskatchewan RCMP officer.

“My cousin Gerry was shot by a cop,” says Sturgeon. “Murdered. In his own home. While the circumstances surrounding his death are unclear, there has only ever been one side to the story, that of the RCMP. No external investigations took place and our family is left without answers. 

It is my preference to discuss Gerry through the video. The footage is all 8mm family film recaptured and archived by Travis Welowszky and projectionist Sebastian Di Trolio. It’s interesting coming from a mixed background because these films are that of a privileged experience; family vacations, golf trips, happy go lucky parties from the 60s and 70s set to the backdrop of an emotional firestorm and intense subject matter that has only just begun to reveal itself in our cultural history. History innocently projects itself back on the modern era.

I remember getting a call from Gerry shortly before he died. He was angry about a broken system, slurring his words through the distant telephone line from his home in Saskatchewan. He had taken to calling our house, connecting with my Mom for some much needed love and comfort, my Dad to address his issues with alcohol, and to converse with me about music and art... and to question my passions for my ‘Dad’s culture’. I’d change the subject, letting him know that the guitar he had given me, my first guitar in fact, was the passion and release that he had offered me and that I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I’d be late for work or some other engagement and have to let him know several times that I needed to hang up the phone. He’d get angry again and start ranting on and I’d have to remind him there were places to be. He called me a sell out and I’d tell him I loved him. I promised I’d visit on tour sometime. I’d tell him he could teach me some more chords.

I’ve driven through the town he died in, but Gerry isn’t there. Where are our protectors when we need them? Why did an officer force his way into Gerry’s home? Why was Gerry shot 4 times and why have these circumstances been justified by a system that leaves the vulnerable under fire?”

WATCH AND SHARE “GERRY” HERE

Out November 1 via You’ve Changed Records, WHOOP-Szo’s new LP Warrior Down presents a vast and barren landscape associated with the harsh truth of Canadian History, a post-colonial firestorm harbouring moments of doom and heavy introspection while remaining true to their psychedelic aesthetic. 

WHOOP-Szo is a force of nature, sprung from a mixed-blooded experience of Canadian history with deep Anishinaabek roots. Thunderous and ground-breaking, harmonious and generative—a WHOOP-Szo show envelops audiences in an emotional weather-storm that dances conscientiously between anger and discipline, frustration and hope. They tell us about colonial injustice loudly and punishingly, with haunting chord changes and monolithic distortion. They explore the possibility of wisdom and empowerment, with acoustic melodies that calmly find space within crushing layers of politics and sound. On stage and off, WHOOP-Szo engage communities with a powerful synchrony that invites people to feel and to heal. They are passionate storytellers who knock loudly on the door, and will reward you tenfold for letting them in. 

LISTEN AND SHARE “AMARUQ” HERE

Forthcoming album Warrior Down harnesses their power into a concise, focused 35 minutes on wax, calling out both specific instances of injustice in Canadian history — as we see in “Gerry”, or recalling Sturgeon’s grandfather’s experience at a Residential School (“Gerry”, “Cut Your Hair”) — and broader, wider-reaching ones such as the experience of having race and culture assigned to you by a government that doesn’t represent you (“6.1/6.2”). 

WHOOP-Szo is just wrapping up a string of tour dates this week and will head back out on the road in November. Full tour dates can be found below. 

PRE-ORDER WARRIOR DOWN - PHYSICAL / DIGITAL

TOUR DATES
Nov 01 – London, ON – Rec Room
Nov 02 – Toronto, ON – The Round House
Nov 06 – St. Catharines, ON – The Warehouse
Nov 07 – Guelph, ON - Ebar  
Nov 08 – Hamilton, ON – This Ain’t Hollywood
Nov 09 – Windsor, ON - Green Bean Cafe
Nov 21 – Peterborough, ON - Sadleir House
Nov 22 – Ottawa, ON - Cinqhole
Nov 23 – Montreal, QC – La Sala Rossa | M For Montreal
Nov 26 – Moncton, NB - Caveau
Nov 27 – Saint John, NB – Taco Pica
Nov 28 – Halifax, NS – The Seahorse
Nov 29 – Fredericton, NB - The Capital
Nov 30 – Quebec City, QC - Scanner

DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES

WARRIOR DOWN TRACKLIST
01 Amaruq
02 Gerry
03 Long Braided Hair
04 2CB
05 Naanan
06 6.1 / 6.2
07 Oda Man
08 Nshwaaswi
09 Homemade Candles
10 Cut Your Hair

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