Montreal’s Mutek festival frames ‘electronic music as contemporary art’

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Marie-Laure Saidani compares Mutek to an act of faith. Montreal’s self-described “international festival of digital creativity and electronic music” is all about discovery, making reading the program more like a walk in the dark than a walk in the park.

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“It’s a festival where most people don’t know anything (who’s performing) but they have to trust us,” he said of the event, which is returning after two pandemic-spurred hybrid incarnations for its 23rd. edition, from August 23 to 28, in and around the Quartier des spectacles.

“People come to Mutek to discover amazing performances,” said Saidani, one-third of the festival’s programming team along with Vincent Lemieux and event founder, artistic and general director Alain Mongeau. “You have to trust the people who come in regularly and know (who’s who) to guide your journey, or what the staff recommends, or what you see on the internet. You’re like, ‘Oh, that looks weird,’ but you come in and you’re dealing with the music you’re listening to anyway.”

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Mutek is the diametric opposite of Montreal’s mainstream electronic music festival ÎleSoniq, which drew tens of thousands of revelers to Parc Jean-Drapeau a few weeks ago. Although Mutek maintains ties to DJ culture by hosting many house and techno artists, the sounds are more subtle, the aesthetics more refined, and the experience always leans towards the unexpected.

“When people think of Mutek, they think of electronic music, they think of DJs,” said Mongeau, “but almost 100 percent of the performances are live. … It may be pedantic, but it is as if we defend (the idea of) electronic music as contemporary art”.

“I don’t think it’s pedantic,” Lemieux chimed in. “That’s why we only feature artists who play live. We want artists with (artistic) process. There are all kinds of DJs, some make music, but that’s not something we want to focus on.”

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“Nothing against DJs,” Mongeau added.

Of the 77 performances at this year’s festival, 55 are Quebec premieres, 23 are world premieres and there are 16 artists performing in North America for the first time. There are even some artists performing live for the first time, at the behest of the festival, which continually pushes creators out of their comfort zone.

“Le côté fresh du festival est très important,” said Mongeau.

Mutek’s schedule is built like a journey, he noted, with a narrative arc that stretches throughout the week, from more highbrow, experimental or low-key offerings in the early days to exciting games on MTelus on Fridays and Saturdays.

Within all of that, and from one venue to another on any given night, there is a wide range of music.

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“We try not to be too defined by any one sound,” Lemieux said. “When you go to the jazz festival, it’s not just jazz bands; there are all kinds of artists who play jazz. We try to be as open as possible, to take off the blinders, to stay young and open-minded.”

Having first achieved its goal of gender parity in its programming in 2018, Mutek will hit the mark again in 2022, making it one of the rare Quebec music festivals to do so.

“It’s a core part of building our programming,” Mongeau said.

Among his top picks in this year’s lineup is veteran British deep techno DJ and geneticist (with a PhD in computational biology) Max Cooper, who presents Aether, a 3D audiovisual installation with UK multidisciplinary design studio Architecture Social Club, on Tuesday, August 23 at 9:00 p.m. on MTelus.

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“It will be one of the highlights of the festival, for sure,” Mongeau said.

It also points to Nicola Cruz, the favorite of the festival and the public. The Ecuadorian DJ-producer, who mixes traditional Afro-Latin sounds with techno rhythms, plays on Wednesday, August 24 at 9:00 p.m. at SAT as part of the Nocturno 1 program.

“He’s putting on a new live show for Montreal,” Mongeau said. “His music and his relationship with the crowd is always changing.”

Mongeau also recommends Italian modular synthesizer composer Caterina Barbieri, whose hypnotic compositions evoke altered states of consciousness. It offers an audiovisual on Thursday, August 25 at 9:00 p.m. on MTelus as part of the Nocturne 2 esoteric program.

“That night is a kind of electronic cabaret of artists experimenting with all kinds of forms,” ​​Mongeau said. “It’s a good display of Mutek’s left field.”

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Among the highlights of Lemieux’s program is Afriqua, a Berlin-based American pianist, DJ and producer who dabbles in hip-hop, funk, soul and techno, who takes the stage on Saturday night and Sunday morning from 2 to 3:30 am on MTelus as the closing set of the Nocturne 4 program (starting at 10 pm).

“He’s an artist I’ve been following for a long time, but he’s never played live,” Lemieux said. “He is very versatile; It’s interesting to see it evolve. And he’s probably a good performer, because he’s so entertaining.”

Lemieux also mentions Welsh minimal techno producer Koreless, also on Saturday’s Nocturne 4 lineup. “I really liked his (2021) album Agor,” he said. “It’s a kind of cold music, but very well constructed and super original in terms of composition.”

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Saidani highlights Tarta Relena, a female vocal duo from Catalonia, who will perform on Friday, August 26 at 10 pm on SAT as part of the Play 2 program.

“They make Catalan folk music that sounds like Gregorian chants,” he said. “They gave the best show I saw in 2021, at the Rewire Festival in the Netherlands. No one (in the crowd) moved for 20 minutes.”

His other must-see is Gabber Modus Operandi, an experimental duo from Bali, on Saturday, August 27 at 10:00 p.m. on SAT as part of the Play 3 program.

“They played probably the best show I’ve ever seen in my life,” Saidani said. “It’s ultra-punk. Some people may be afraid; it’s like fluid anarchy, a cross between hardcore punk, techno, metal and traditional Indonesian music. Prepare to be blown away.”

If you prefer your electro outdoors, Mutek’s Experience Series takes over the Esplanade Tranquille Free Outdoor Stage at Clark and Ste-Catherine Sts., August 23-28 from 5-11 p.m. (6:30-11 p.m. August 23), and the festival will command Piknic Électronik on August 28 from 2 to 9:30 p.m.

TAKE A LOOK

Mutek runs from August 23 to 28. For tickets and more information, visit montreal.mutek.org.

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