The Stoned Poet

 It was a cold Friday night. Only option was to get in the car with friends and drive to Montreal. There, lay all hopes of finding twindling and fiddling to do. There'd be no beauties nor druggies outside with the cold weather, only option was to find a venue to scuffle in and drink and fade in the crown. That meant money would be needed, and I had all but money honestly. But nonetheless we went, drove, stopped at Atomic Cafe, gave a guitar back to a friend, bought a Pink Floyd Echoes 1965-2025 Magazine reviewing the band's entire career. I couldn't help but start reading it and sure it inspired more psyched lsd induced ideas to my brain. Possibilities seemed infinite. Thus, an idea came, I could try and bargain a ticket for the gang to go to a show. The show in question I wanted to see was, Sunday Riot Club, Street Panther and The Space Wizards @ L'Escogriffe. My friends Antoine and Jordan seemed unbothered of the uncome, but I was determined to get in, whatever the co...

"Come to me now and rest your head for just five minutes, everything is good Such a cozy room, The windows are illuminated by the evening sunshine through them Fiery gems for you, only for you Our house is a very, very, very fine house with two cats in the yard Life used to be so hard Now everything is easy 'cause of you and our [house]" Those lyrics from the song Our House by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young are the exact representation of what the project called Mai/Son was. A place where I could hang my problems, have a drink or two (as it was a Bring Your Own Beer, there was no pressure to drink at the bar) and simply enjoy the music whenever and whatever music it was. On many week-ends about to end up with no place to go, I would walk up Saint-Joseph Ouest and arrive at the mythic establishment. Compared to say Van Horne, Mai/Son was really a place to embrace, it was a venue we, the youth, had the possibilities of making ours and limitless were the possibilities towa...

 19th December, show at La Sottorenea with Violence City, Snatchers, Caniche 666 and No Waves. I arrived there around 19h45, I see julian at the entrace. He's there early, hopes to leave not too late, having more plans to come. We smoke, talk about Gun's N' Roses, local scene controversies and bands. Controversies are everywhere in this scene, everyone wants a name, no matter how dirty or how insane you have to act to have a tail waggin behind you. Rumors spread like wildfire, the music is the wind that keeps hailing the fire. Truly, I believe the scene is not at it's best, because politics, drugs and the social media have been injected in it. People demand from the artists certain standards, lyrics not too controversial, a certain dress code, a way to act and speak. The kids want to be represented, but I state that they don't even fucking know what they want or what they should resemble. Whatever. Cigarettes are done, inside we are, no one. Dead. Silence. Almost. I...

 "Lastly, as I believed the night couldn't get any better, Lezart came on stage to blow the place up with  Thomas Simard  on keys and voice/guitar at times,  Odilon  on drums,  Kéo  on sax and traversial flute,  Jean-Alexis Lessard  bending notes on guitar and finally  Nicolas Péladeau  on bass . With their soul clothed through jazz pop formula, Sade-like atmospheric music with close intimite reminders to Jeff Beck's first album Truth where guitar, sax, piano and sweet ear candies  come and warm our soul; their music really transcendented the imaginary. [...] Their songs were rich yet unknown, to me, having been on stage for now only a year max, but it surely made an impact, a big one, as big as those who saw The Beatles on Ed Sullivan Show, as big as the first man landing on the moon, and many more. Every song was like a firework, Boom and then everybody cheered! By the end, Back To the Old House by the Smiths is played and th...

Et du coup, je me suis dis, on est loin de l'époque où le standard règne, ou si tu ne t'imprègnes pas des standards bebop, swing ou autre, tu te fais virer du stage! Photo par Léa Fourniol! Le Saint-Graal , lundi le 8 décembre, 21h. La soirée commence, moi je suis en route, la musique coule à flot, Miles Davis, Kind Of Blue, l'odeur de Ashish me monte au narine, mes nerfs se tendent, la trompette embarque, mes sens s'aiguisent, le rythme embarque, et puis la lumière tourne rouge. Je m'arrête, les notes défilent, ainsi que le temps file. On va souper avec le père de mon amie. Pâtes au fruit de mer gratiné. Quel régal, un avant goût d'une soirée qui sera la débandade total musicalement parlant. Le souper est fini, on part, Amélie ma bonne amie et moi vers le Saint-Graal. Arrivé là-bas, c'est une cohorte de jeune, assoiffé de vivre toute en ayant une touche de modernité alors on se réserve une politesse, un savoir vivre, et un beau sourire pour l...

     Carter Kane, aka MOC has done much in the local scene of Montreal. From writing bars at the age of 10, playing shows all year long to hosting a weekly radio show called Fluid Mosaic where he interviews local artists of all genres to help promote their music and push the boundaries of a community in the music industry, allowing people to share their ideas, their creative plots and hopefully help build connections between people who delve in muisc through their earphones or during shows. Summer 2025 he hosted  FM Fest  supported by  Les Insoumises  ,  Infamy   CJLO  and  Non-Binary Twins . Artist such as  Parallel ,  Ryan Brio ,  Dievanse ,  Resonance , and more have had the opportunity to perform and showcase their talents through three neighboring venues, Casa del Popolo, Sala Rossa and La Sotterenea. This fest was really great because all kind of artist from various genres were playing, allowing for audienc...