Photo by Camille Gladu-Drouin, of/de Lou-Adriane Cassidy, récipiendaire du prix de l’Artiste de l’année/winner of the Artist of the Year Award

GAMIQ 2022: And the winners are…

Story by Eric Parazelli | Tuesday November 29th, 2022

The 2022 edition of the annual Gala alternatif de la musique indépendante du Québec (GAMIQ) was held both online and in person on Nov. 28, 2022, at Montréal’s Plaza Theater. All told, 37 Lucien Awards – the trophy named in honour of the lead singer of legendary band Aut’Chose, Lucien Francoeur – were given out during the event.

Among the most prestigious honours, Lou-Adriane Cassidy won the Artist of the Year Award while Tamara Weber won Breakthrough Artist of the Year, while Bibi Club won the 2023 Artist to Watch award. This year’s event was dedicated to the late Karim Ouellet, and paid tribute to René Lussier, a prolific and innovative musician, and creator of the cult album Le Trésor de la langue, among others.

Here’s the full list of award winners at the 17th annual GAMIQ:

  • ARTIST OF THE YEAR: Lou-Adriane Cassidy
  • ARTIST TO WATCH IN 2023: Bibi Club
  • BREAKTHROUGH: Tamara Weber
  • ROCK: Gros Mené – Pax et Bonum
  • POST-PUNK/POST-ROCK: Yoo Doo Right — A Murmur, Boundless to the East
  • ELECTRO: Super Plage – Électro-vacances
  • ROOTS: Les Tireux d’Roches – Tapiskwan Sipi
  • EXPERIMENTAL : Ping Pong Go – Ping Pong Go
  • PUNK : Fuck Toute – Coké Computer
  • METAL: BARF – Région Sauvage
  • INDIE ROCK EP: Allô Fantôme – Allô Fantôme
  • INDIE-ROCK ALBUM: Choses Sauvages – Choses Sauvages II
  • COUNTRY : Ben Claveau – La route est longue jusqu’au top
  • JAZZ: Jazz Street Boyz—JSB3
  • WORLD MUSIC: Le Winston Band – Enwèye à Lafayette
  • FOLK EP: Natasha Kanapé – Nui Pimuten
  • FOLK ALBUM : Mon Doux Saigneur – Fleur de l’Âge
  • NON-QUÉBEC-BASED: Les Hôtesses d’Hilaire – Pas l’temps d’niaiser
  • RAP/HIP HOP EP : Magi Merlin – Gone Girl
  • ROCK EP: Elephant Stone – Le voyage de M. Lonely dans la lune
  • RAP/HIP HOP ALBUM: Naya Ali – Godspeed: Elevated
  • POP EP : Clay and Friends – AGUÀ
  • POP ALBUM : Lydia Képinski – Depuis
  • VIDEO (ANIMATION+) : P’tit Belliveau – “RRSP/Grosse pièce”
  • VIDEO (PUBLIC’S CHOICE) : Laura Gagné – “ L’amour me va”
  • VIDEO (DIY): Cirrhose et Cendrier – “Ça sent l’brûlé”
  • VIDEO (BIG BUSINESS) : Lydia Képinski – “MTL me déteste”
  • VIDEO (SME): Barry Paquin Roberge – “Eyes on You”
  • VIDEO (WTF): P’tit Belliveau – “J’feel comme un alien”
  • COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION OR INITIATIVE: Le Phoque OFF PRO
  • FESTIVAL : La Noce
  • PRODUCER: Spectacles Bonzaï
  • PRESS RELATIONS AND PROMOTION: Larissa Relations Médias
  • VENUE: Le Pantoum
  • LABEL: Secret City Records
  • MANAGEMENT TEAM: Coop Les Faux-Monnayeurs
  • MEDIA: Le Canal Auditif

 

Photo by Marie-Michèle Bouchard

Video – ADISQ 2022: the Afrofuturist fusion of Afrikana Soul Sister

Story by Eric Parazelli | Tuesday November 29th, 2022

After winning the Global Music Album of the Year JUNO in May of 2022, Montréal’s Afrikana Soul Sister won the Félix for Album of the Year – World Music on Nov. 2, 2022, at the First ADISQ Gala, for their album Kalasö.

Led by seasoned Québec multi-instrumentalist, producer, and arranger Jean-François Lemieux (Jean Leloup, Daniel Bélanger, Ariane Moffatt), and complemented by Senegalese percussionist Fa Cissokho and Malian singer Djely Tapa, who comes from a long line of griots (named Révélation Radio-Canada 2019-2020 in the world music category), the trio embodies the unclassifiable meeting of West Africa and North America in a bubbling cauldron where tradition, and the thirst to create, far outweigh ego.

We spoke to the band following their victory, to learn how their Afrofuturist fusion came about.

Afrikana Soul Sister video thumbnail

Click here to watch the Afrikana Soul Sister interview

Photo by Marie-Michèle Bouchard

Photo Gallery: APEM-CSDEM Canada-France Songwriting Camp

Story by Éric Parazelli | Thursday November 24th, 2022

From Nov. 12 -15, 2022, the Association des professionnels de l’édition musicale (APEM), in collaboration with the Chambre Syndicale De l’Édition Musicale (CSDEM), hosted six songwriters from Canada and six from France for a songwriting camp at Planet Studio in Montréal. Groups of three were created each morning, and each group created one song every day. The camp concluded with a listening session of all the songs that were created during this collaborative effort. Meetings between music publishers also took place on the sidelines of the camp, just before the 2022 M for Montréal Festival kicked off. The SOCAN Foundation, as well as SODEC, Musicaction, and the Consulate General of France in Québec, participated financially to support the camp, which focused on pop and urban music. 

The participants from Québec were:
– Vanessa Roque (Bloc-Notes Music)
– Urhiel Madran-Cyr (Outloud)
– Shawn Jobin (1 2 3 Productions)
– Miro Belzil (Rosemarie Records)
– Étienne Dupuis-Cloutier (Bloc Notes Music)
– Antoine Poireau (Coop Faux-Monnayeurs) 

The participants from France were:
– Marion Aldebert (Essembe)
– Rémy Béesau (Balandras Éditions)
– Lister Haussman (Melmax Music)
– Yacine Mdarhri Alaoui (Musigamy)
– Sébastien Victoire (Sakifo Production)
– Louis Dureau (Universal Music Publishing France)