Montag Archipel

About

While working on Phase 11 last month, Montag was asked by a friend to assist in teaching a theater class at the National Theatre School of Canada in Montreal. The class project, titled Achipelegos, involved students creating an island where they had one prop, one light source, and had to incorporate a personal experience combined with a myth or legend to tell a story. Montag’s role was to teach students how to create sound cues in their performances from music they had a personal connection to.  His teaching experience and relationship with the students had a profound impact on him and more than inspired Phase 11. The lyrics on “Archipel / Légende “ are of Montag speaking directly to the students themselves and alternate between French and English reflecting the separation of French and English programs of the school.  Musically Montag aimed for a new wave track but the result is decidedly in the vein of synthpop which suits the lyrical content perfectly.

The b-side is a remix by French duo Trésors who Montag had previously remixed. Trésors describe their sound “deliver(ing) a synthetic and melancoly-driven music, fragile even, on the verge of dance and inspired by dark and retro images” which is very much at play with their remix of Phase 10 single “Memori” featuring Erika Spring.

After four years spent busying himself with various other musical projects, Antoine Bédard AKA Montag has turned his attention back to his own unique brand of dreamy, ambient electronic.  Eschewing the traditional album format, Montag has conceived Phases: a new single released via Carpark records at the end of each and every month in 2012, each with its own distinct sonic and visual world, each to be devoured away from the context of a parent album.

Artist Bio

Montreal’s Montag, otherwise known as DJ Antoine Bédard, launched his first record, Are You a Friend?, in 2002. The record was released on electronic music record label, Gooom Disques, which is also home to M83. Are You a Friend?’s dreamy and minimalistic sounds were soon noticed by France’s Les Inrocks. His extensive discography, which consists of two EPs and five records, demonstrates his composing abilities.  Bédard’s talent has sent him on major tours across the world.

The 2005 release of Alone, Not Alone (his first release on Carpark Records), received international praise, including a 7.8/10 rating from Pitchfork. His third release, Going Places (2007), was well-received in Japan where he toured with Au Revoir Simone and YACHT.

Through the years, Montag has performed live at a number of music festivals such as Mutek (Montréal), SXSW (Austin, TX), Sonorama (Guadalajara), Canadian Music Week (Toronto) and CMJ (New York).  He has shared the stage with Caribou, Broadcast, Feist, The Junior Boys, Lali Puna, Xiu Xiu and Stars among others. Montag regularly collaborates on visual art installations, theatre plays, art videos and other audio art projects.

In 2012, he conceived Audiosphere, an award-winning iPhone application that allows transit users to discover local artists with use of geolocalisation. In early 2013, he worked on the original score and sound design for Pascal Grandmaison’s Le jour des 8 soleils, presented as part of the event Luminothérapie in Montreal.

In parallel to his work in musical composition, Bédard has been producing various soundwalks that explore the relationship among sound, urban environment and history. He also co-hosts and spins at some of Montreal’s highly attended gay nights, Mec Plus Ultra and Audioporn Club.