Category: Interview

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Interview Music

Shonk plays Across The Room 

Gabrielle Shonk just released her sophomore album Across The Room

Artist Gabrielle Shonk wearing her heart on her sleeve 

It has been three weeks since Quebec City native Gabrielle Shonk released her sophomore album Across The Room, and six years since she debuted her self-titled album. 

 Across The Room features 11 tracks, spanning a total of 40 minutes, and oh what a wonderful 40 minutes they are. Every song on the LP starts with an emotion, each one different from the other.

She started off playing the piano at a young age but quickly switched to guitar as the keys didn’t stick. Since then she released her 10-track debut which gained her a lot of traction with CBC and Stingray. Shonk has grown into her songwriting style after her last album and it shows in her R&B tinges and her ability to emit feelings of hiraeth through songs like “How We Used To Be” and “5AM.” 

Shonk had the opportunity to play her new album while opening for the Barr Brothers at Théâtre Gilles Vigneault last month.

The Concordian spoke with Gabrielle Shonk about her album.

TC: What’s the meaning of the album’s title, Across The Room?

GS: Finding the title came pretty late in the album process, it was probably at the end of the summer of 2022 when I had all of the songs recorded. I actually had a talk with my manager and he said to go through some of the lyrics and pull out some of your favourites, something might pop out. It is the first lyric of the first track  “How We Used To Be.” I basically finished writing all of these songs during the pandemic, being confined in my home office, so it was the image of me sitting in an enclosed space with all these songs and emotions. That’s kind of what had me choose that title.    

TC: Take me through your songwriting process, what comes first?

GS: For me it will be either melody or chord progression. So, like melody and chords underneath it almost simultaneously. Sometimes lyrics will come quickly to back it up as well. I am more of a musician than a writer so the lyrics take more time to come up with.  

TC: What was your favourite song to write, and what was the hardest? 

GS: I think my favourite changed every day. I love all the songs equally. Each of the songs has its own universe, its own thing. I couldn’t really pick one in particular. But the lyrics I am most proud of are the ones from “Let’s Shine Into The Night.” In terms of challenging, for the music it would have to be “Out Of The Blue” and for the lyrics it was “People Pleaser.”

TC: You said in your promo for the album that you had written the last song of the album “Quand le calme reviendra” while on a retreat to Gaspésie. What was it like and did you write other songs during your stay?

GS: Not ones that are on this album, so yeah I co-wrote a lot of stuff with my artist friends that were there with me. Everyone had songs and at the end of the day, we would each show each other what we had worked on in the group sessions. I have started songs that are a work-in-progress that I haven’t gotten back to that might be on the next album! Maybe?

TC: Have you ever thought of collaborating with anyone? I was thinking you and rapper “Noname” would make a cool track together.

GS: Yes I love her, I remember seeing her live at Field Trip a few years ago. I’d be super open. I’ve done it before too. My first hip hop track collaboration was with an artist from Montreal called Naya Ali. We did a SOCAN writing camp a few years back and basically, you get paired with a bunch of different artists from different genres. It puts you out of your comfort zone and it was extremely fulfilling. I worked with her on a song of hers that she released called “Time.”

TC: What was your favourite moment of your show with The Barr BrothersGS: I really liked going to the merch table at the end. It was really memorable because I got to meet new faces and interact with people who saw the show, especially from the fans of The Barr Brothers who discovered me through my opening act. That was really nice.

TC: What’s next for Gabrielle Shonk?

GS: Playing this album live for as many people and as many places as possible, that’s what I’m aiming for this next year, alongside writing new songs! I’m opening for an artist called Charlie Winston in Canada and the U.S. during April and May, and I will announce my fall tour soon.

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Interview Music

Upon releasing her fourth studio album, The Rodeo wants people to stay curious

Picture courtesy of the artist

Parisian artist The Rodeo explores solitude and uncertainty in her fourth studio album Arlequine

The COVID-19 pandemic hit the music industry hard. With live shows and concerts being canceled, many small performing artists were struggling to make a living. This was the case for French indie musician Dorothée Hannequin, who goes by The Rodeo onstage. Despite the pandemic’s challenges, she has continued to create and release music, and her dedication and passion have kept her going through these difficult times.

Hannequin began her musical career at the age of 15 while she was still in high school. Growing up in Paris, she was influenced at a young age by her uncle, who gave her her first-ever guitar. She credits her Vietnamese and French heritage helping her discover a diverse plethora of music, influencing her love for the indie genre.

“I was really shy as a teenager and I met a bunch of people in high school playing music. It really helped me a lot to get out of my shell. I’m a self taught musician so we started a band playing with all these friends. I wrote a lot of songs and I proposed them to the band,” said Hannequin.

After nine years with her first band Hopper, Hannequin released her debut solo album Tale of Woe under the name The Rodeo in 2014.   

When speaking with The Concordian, Hannequin revealed that the indie music scene in France is much smaller than Montreal’s. 

In France the main genres of music people listen to are Rap and a lot of techno. According to Hannequin, there are around three bars where you can listen to indie music in Paris.

 “Everyone knows each other here. So maybe a good thing is that there’s maybe less competition than in bigger cities.”

In June, Hannequin will be on tour in Vietnam, where she will be working on songs with local artists. 

Her fourth and latest album, Arlequine, focuses on Hannequin’s struggles throughout the pandemic, isolation and a recent breakup. When asked if hard times helps artists be more creative, she jokingly replied: “I’d almost recommend that to other artists.” 

The pandemic gave her a lot of time to create. Her newest album represents not just Hannequin’s experiences, but also stories, phrases and ideas from things she’s read, watched or observed. 

It’s a mix of loose facts and her own life. “There’s a song on the album about a jealous woman, which I’m not. But it was interesting to have this character on this album. It’s a fictional character, but it’s interesting to be in that skin.” 

Hannequin says that she wanted different portraits of different women. “It’s like a harlequin, with different faces of humans or different humans in one outfit.”

She insists that the main driving force for her new album was the feeling of isolation. During the pandemic, artists had a lot of time to create, but could not play live in front of audiences. That was the main joy in Hannequin’s artistic experience: going to concerts and singing in front of a crowd. It’s also why the first song on her new album “Courir Courir Courir” is her favourite. 

”It’s my favourite because of the vocals. I feel the words are really powerful and I love the solo part. And I have to admit, it was one take for the solo. There’s no trick,” she said.

During the pandemic, she tried to do what other big artists had done: play a small concert remotely in front of her computer. But the feeling wasn’t the same. “It was a nightmare!” Hannequin said. 

“I think now, due to the pandemic people just want to get out and feel the music. The sweat, the heat, the energy. Maybe for techno or folk music, you can be at home. But when you want to have a live show, you have to be there in person.” 

Hannequin says that her new album is about feeling better. She loves the uncertainty the future represents and says listening to her new songs should feel like 

“Imagine taking a ride on a horse to who knows where,” she said. 

Go check out Arlequine down below.

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Interview Music

It’s jev.’S world, and we’re all living in it

the color gray. by jev.

 If jev. was a stock, now would be the time to invest

Since the beginning of the year,  jev. has been a name on the lips of most underground rap fanatics . From having one of his songs at the number one spot of the Top 50 US Viral Songs to now having over 700,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, it’s safe to say that Jephté Kweto, A.K.A. jev., has been blowing up over the past few  weeks.

The African-born rapper spent the majority of his life in Africa, growing up in the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Africa before moving to Canada with his family in late 2019. jev. has been making music since 2009, but it’s only in 2015 that the moniker jev.  took form. Despite the colder weather, the move to Canada was actually beneficial for the young rapper

“You find yourself a lot in the house so it gives you time to be creative and come up with ideas, so for me it worked out well especially during the pandemic,” he said.

For those who don’t know jev. (yet) the 22-year-old rapper is an up-and-coming figure in the new generation of young rappers influenced by both old school hip hop and the rap scene from the 2010s. In this era where the boom bap drums and chopped-up soul samples are making a comeback, jev. thrives on this type of instrumental with his varied flows, brilliant wordplay and energetic delivery. You can hear the influence of some of the greats in his music: artists ranging from the likes of Nas to Joey Bada$$ and Kendrick Lamar are only a few inspirations that can be heard on his tracks. 

Even before coming to Canada, jev. had already started to work on his last project the color grey. which released in late December 2022. While most of the songs came together over the pandemic, he first started mastering his craft in 2018, recording “aitd – demo,” the final track, on his phone.

jev. has been turning a lot of heads recently, which can mostly be attributed to all the love his song “where’s the confetti?” is receiving. As of now, the song has been streamed nearly 2.8 million times on Spotify since its release in July 2022. 

“From 0 to 100,000 was probably the hardest, but from the 100,000 to a million was easy as I think it was two weeks[…] But 0 to 100,000 was like three or four months. It’s exponential growth,” he said.

“where’s the confetti?” is a hookless song that sees jev. celebrate. Once he starts rapping, he never stops, laying clever one-liners after another over a simple drum beat and looped sample. In the past couple of weeks, this track has been circulating everywhere. Whether on TikTok, Instagram, or in various Spotify playlists, this massive exposure helped the song claim the number one spot of the Viral 50 – USA playlist on Spotify. 

“I didn’t know how to react at the time, I was kind of in shock, but I’m super grateful for everybody that has played it and added it to their playlists and everything. It’s crazy,” he said.

With all the success he’s having, you may think that jev. gets help from other people or works with a team, right? Well, you would be wrong. Aside from working with certain producers on his songs, everything else he does, he does it alone. From promoting his songs on his different social media accounts, to reaching out to brands, to creating his songs, he does it all by himself. 

jev. is his own team, so much so that he has started his own brand: LONER inc., a project that allows jev. to have full creative control of what he does, in every sphere.

“LONER inc. was gonna be this umbrella of me just being as creative as possible. Movies, music videos, TV, film, fashion, clothing, music, and music is the main thing right now, that’s where it was born from,” he said.

Despite being fully in charge of his music career, jev. is much busier than that. Not only is he a full-time student, currently studying marketing at Carleton University in Ottawa, but he works part-time at Staples.

With his combination of skill and a tremendous amount of talent, mixed with a balanced work ethic and a burning passion for music, be on the lookout for jev. as he might be the next big name in rap you wish you had discovered earlier.

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Concert Reviews Interview Music

Erin Marcellina and Hank’s Dream at Quai des Brumes

Erin Marcellina playing at Quai Des Brumes. Alexandra Blackie/The Concordian

The musician debuts their newest EP “Book of Open Tuning” in concert 

Erin Marcellina and the band Hank’s Dream came together last Friday, Jan. 27, to create an unforgettable experience for their fans at the bar Quai des Brumes located in the Plateau Mont-Royal.

Unlike most performers who stay backstage before their shows, Erin and the band were at the front of house. They were greeting guests and introducing themselves to their dedicated fans, who consisted primarily of supportive family and friends. If they were nervous, there was no indication of it. The group couldn’t have looked more in their element.

“I was super nervous before the show. Everything was racing. But the moment I started performing, it was so much easier,” said Marcellina.

Marcellina kicked off their performance with the important piece “I Should’ve Told Him” on their newest EP. Inspired by one of their close friend’s suppressed memories of being sexually assaulted, the acoustic guitar paired with Marcellina’s soft vocals made for a tear-jerking performance and the perfect way to start the show.

This was followed by a noteworthy rendition of Bruce Springsteen’s hit “I’m On Fire,” which created a feeling of nostalgia for the older demographic and revisited personal memories for Marcellina’s father since they listened to this song religiously during a family trip in Ireland.

“I’ve been playing this cover my whole life.  It’s a childhood song and very nostalgic to me. It was easy for me to place it in the set because I know I’m going to play it well,” Marcellina said.

They broke up their performance by entertaining fans with the song “Mommy” that has yet to be released. They expressed to the audience how the song stemmed from them being recently rejected.

Marcellina also sang a spectacular cover of “Suddenly I See” by KT Tunstall, which animated the crowd as they began to dance in groups on the compact dance floor.

“I chose this one because I had recently watched The Devil Wears Prada and this song was on the soundtrack,” said Marcellina.

Marcellina concluded their set by playing “Your Drug,” the last song on their latest EP, along with a special feature by Hank’s Dream who played accompanying instruments. The combination of Marcellina and the band created a unique take on one of their most popular pieces and demonstrated an undeniable connection between the band and themself.

“Hank’s Dream is made up of such talented musicians and they’re such nice guys,” Marcellina said. They added that this was their first experience performing one of their songs with a full band. “It felt like everything fit really well,” they said. 

As soon as Hank’s Dream walked on stage, the crowd gravitated towards the front rows to watch them perform some songs from their self-titled debut.

They delighted their fans with an exceptional performance of Miley Cyrus’ hit “Party in the U.S.A” which caused the audience to break out into song, almost making it hard to hear the band at all.

This was Marcellina’s third concert and second time at Quai des Brumes. By the end of this show, they had definitely left their mark that evening. 

With the hope of performing once again with Hank’s Dream and a single on its way, Marcellina is truly making a name for themself.

Photo by Alexandra Blackie

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Interview Music

Jacob River Milnes and his Footprint to fame

Concordia student proves his talent once again with fresh new album

Concordia music student Jacob River Milnes has recently dropped his second album,  Footprints. With the songs falling under varying genres such as folk, rock and even country, this album is truly for anyone. Milnes sat down with The Concordian to talk about his work and his passion for music.

Given his proficient recording technique and obvious talent, it is clear that Milnes has been working at his music for a long time. Just last year, he released his debut album I’ll Be Waiting Here which was inspired by a past relationship while the message behind Footprints is left up to the listener. 

“There’s not really a message behind this one. My songs come from my own experiences with the world. The message is up to the listener. I’m sure if they listen to it, they’ll come up with something that is true to them and that’s what’s important to me.”

“Footprints,” Milnes’s favourite song on the album, differs from his other pieces as it is clearly more sentimental. The track stemmed from his experience of moving away from his hometown, Val -des-Monts, to come to Montreal to study music. The heartfelt lyrics of the track paired with his all-consuming relationship with the guitar provokes an undeniable feeling of nostalgia among listeners.

“I grew up in the country and for a long time I’ve been wanting to get out of there and move to the city. Finally, I’m in Montreal now and “Footprints” was written right before I left,” Milnes said.

But “Footprints” is not the only track with a story. “Theme From ‘Don’t Let The Bull Defeat You’” is the last song on the album, composed for a short film that Milnes and his friends created over the summer. The artist wrote and directed the entire soundtrack for the film. Considering it was Milnes’ first acoustic song, he definitely didn’t disappoint.

The rock and roll tone within the two tracks “I Won’t Do It” as well as “You Could Pretend” on Footprints were inspired by some of Milnes favourite artists.While his main inspirations are The Beatles and Bob Dylan, most recently he has started listening to Olivia Rodrigo and Billie Eilish.   

“I do listen to a lot of old music but I try to stay connected with modern music as well. So, I was inspired by those two artists [Rodrigo and Eilish] to write more modern sounding songs,” Milnes told The Concordian.

Milnes also has a number of family members that have been guiding him throughout his career.  

“One of the biggest inspirations for me is the man who introduced me to Bob Dylan and introduced me to all music which was my grandfather. He was the one who got me interested in music.”

Although the most notable instrument in Milnes’ songs is the guitar, he first started out on the drums when he was ten years old. He didn’t originally intend to be a singer-songwriter but starting off on the drums for a band, he quickly realised after playing a few shows, he wanted to be actively engaging with the audience.

“I would see the people in front of me on the stage and I was behind the stage playing drums and I realised that I wanted to be upfront playing guitar and engaging with the audience more. This side came out of me through showmanship. When I picked up the guitar, I slowly realised that I could write.”

Jacob River Milnes is definitely capable of becoming a known name in the music industry and Footprints is a clear indication of that. While letting fans enjoy the new album for the time being, he has some new projects to treat his fans with in the upcoming year.

“There’s definitely going to be a next album. I’m always writing and I have a few songs that will probably be on the next one.” 

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Interview Music

 Erin Marcellina drops powerful new EP

The Concordia student has treated fans with the incredible EP Book of Open Tuning

Erin Marcellina has treated fans with the incredible EP Book of Open Tuning that she just released at the beginning of November. After struggling with writer’s block and trying to perfect her sound, she has taken yet another step into the indie/folk world. Erin sat down with The Concordian to talk about the meaning behind her powerful lyrics.

While her 2020 album Wait for You is about a love story inspired from the relationship she was in at that time, Book of Open Tuning deals with deeper subject matter. The EP starts off with the song “I Should’ve Told Him.” This track may be mistaken for a breakup song but is actually inspired by a story dear to Erin’s heart. A close friend of hers had recently confided in her about some suppressed memories of being sexually assaulted by one of their close friends. Immediately, Erin was impacted and wanted to use her music in order to help her friend heal.

“She was telling me about this story and she had texted me these words which are the lyrics of the bridge; He was my best friend, how could he do this to me, it was a year ago, how could he? These words just hit me in a very powerful way and all I wanted to do was turn this into music to allow her to heal and have her story told,” said Marcellina.

Like all musicians, she wanted to create music that would touch people and that they could relate to. “I Should’ve Told Him” is not only a song that can help her friend heal from her experience, but can also help so many women who have been through the same trauma feel less alone.

Being inspired by her friend’s courage to share her story, she created the last song on the album, “Your Drug.” 

“Your drug is pretty much about putting everything on the line and wanting to become something more. The two songs are basically affiliated with one another.”

Differing from the two other songs on the album, “Hot In Here,” Marcellina’s favourite song on the EP, is a transitional piece discussing the matter of seasonal depression. This track stemmed from a simple conversation with her roommate about the temperature in their apartment and the acceptance of change. Although present throughout the entire album, the acoustic guitar paired with the layering of Erin’s beautiful vocals resulted in the feeling of comforting loneliness.

“It was inspired by me and my roommate talking about the heating in our apartment. We were asking ourselves why it was so hot in our apartment yet so cold outside and why can’t people live with the fact that things change. We had this discussion and I thought that it was a good idea for a song.”

Although both of her albums were released just two years apart, they couldn’t be more different. Not only is the subject matter vastly unrelated, her recording skills have developed greatly over the past couple of years.

“I think I’m the most proud in the growth of my mixing and my recording. It’s still the same me that wrote Wait for You but I’m mature and I’m better at what I do. It’s still the same style, just better.”

Marcellina is completely independent when it comes to producing her music and does most of her recording from her bedroom. Although not the most conventional equipment, for optimal sound proofing, she records her songs underneath her duvet cover and recorded “I Should’ve Told Him” entirely in her bathtub.

There is no lack of talent within Marcellina’s family, her mom being a music teacher and her dad being a member of the Ontario metal band Shock. She began her musical career when she was three years old with classical piano and then eventually taught herself the guitar. When she performed at a school concert at the age of fourteen, she knew this was a path she wanted to continue on.

“I think my biggest inspiration would be my dad in his forties still going to rehearsals every week and practicing his guitar every day. It was no way in a professional way, it was just for the love of it.”

While giving Book of Open Tuning the appropriate amount of time to receive the appreciation it deserves, Erin is working on some new content for her fans with the possibility of features from other artists as well. If this new EP is any indication, this is just the beginning of her break into the music industry.

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Interview Music

A conversation with Sirintip about her latest album, Carbon

The New York-based artist sat down with The Concordian to talk about her new LP 

Oct. 14 saw the release of the long-awaited Carbon LP from Sirintip (AKA Sirintip Phasuk), and honestly, I am here for it. The New York-based artist took the time and effort to make this album into what it is: a means of communicating the “narrative of science” and implementing data from pollution to turn into musical sequences. She has used her Thai and Swedish influences and poured them into a melting pot with jazz, turning the project into a wonderful concept album.   

The Concordian sat down with the artist to talk about Carbon:

Tell me about your musical upbringing. What is the origin of Sirintip?

So I grew up in Bangkok, Thailand. I was always singing. I started playing Thai instruments in school but then I took private lessons for piano and violin but I was always singing. The music school I went to [in Sweden] had 1,000 kids and everyone could sing, and this happened at the same time that the Harry Potter movies came out so I felt very much like the other kids. We had seven hours of choir singing every week which was intense. Then in my teenage years, I was exposed to jazz and then I did my master’s in New York.

Tell me about your songwriting process, what comes first? What comes last?

So for this album, I started with the concept. There are 13 songs in the album and each song is a specific cause or effect of climate change. So what I did was research, among other topics, plastic pollution: what is it? How does it affect us? For the whole record, I decided that I didn’t want to put anything clearly in the lyrics, I wanted to build the message into the songs. So then people can listen and connect to the songs, and be curious enough to learn and research the concept. I don’t believe that forcing anyone to think or do anything is the way to go around this. I think it’s better to try and inspire conversation. So for “Plastic Bird,” I took plastic trash from my kitchen, recorded it with my ZOOM recorder and uploaded it into Ableton as a sample. When you put all the samples on a drum rack you can play the sounds on your keyboard. 

You all stayed at the Manifold Recording Studio in North Carolina for nine days with some of the artists who collaborated with you on this album. What was the day-to-day experience like for you?

It’s the most incredible experience. The studio is solar-powered which is really cool. That was an important piece for me, not just writing about climate change to sustainability but also to find ways to becoming more sustainable in my artistic practice and it’s so systemic that sometimes it’s just impossible like If we need to perform in Europe, we’re not going to be able to afford a ship to get us there but at least we were able to work in the studio for nine whole days. We’d work the whole day at the studio and then walk three minutes to the guest house, sleep, and then restart the procedure the next day. We were completely immersed without distraction. We were in the middle of nowhere and so there would be a lot of wildlife like deer roaming around right outside the studio.  

You said for your debut album Tribus that “The idea behind the album is to bridge the gap between pop and jazz by combining singable melodies with grooves, jazz harmonies and electronics.” Does this still resonate true with Carbon?

I think that is just something that is inherently me, so when it came to Carbon it was more like “How do we turn this air pollution data into music?” When I grew up in Thailand I would play Thai instruments and in Thailand, on mainstream media it’s just pop music. When I moved to Sweden their main musical export is pop, with people like Max Martin writing a lot of the hits of the 2000s [and even now]. So when I moved to the States I started studying jazz, but because it is an Afro-American tradition and being in New York studying it I realized it was better for me to add to the music by bringing in both my Thai and Swedish influences. I feel like the foundation of my writing is jazz: there’s a lot of complex harmonies, a lot of weird time signatures, as well as challenging concepts and improvisations when live. It’s just packaged in a more pop way, because I feel that it’s important for people like my parents who do not listen to jazz to sing along to it.

What is in store for the future of Sirintip? What do you have coming up?

I want to be working with scientists firsthand. Back in July, I went out on a research vessel with 25 scientists in the North Pacific. They were studying plankton so I was learning from them and working with them and writing music based on their research. Knock on wood I might be going in July to Greenland to study icebergs and glaciers, plus I want to do other research trips too. All this is to bring all that knowledge and write an interdisciplinary suite where I’m combining my electronic roots with an acoustic rhythm section and a small chamber orchestra to present this work so that it comes from science and the work that I’ve discovered with scientists, and to help tell the narrative of scientists

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Interview Music

Quebecois singer-songwriter Elliot Maginot is taking the province by storm with his indie music  

Elliot Maginot playing at Outremont theatre. Photo by Auréa Gamboa

The Concordian sat down for an interview with the musician between a sound check and his biggest headliner at Outremont Theatre

Elliot Maginot, whose real name is Gabriel Hélie-Harvey, has been slowly winning over the hearts of la belle province since his first EP was posted to MySpace in 2013.

He calls himself a “contemplative soul” and is always looking to explore new sounds and avenues with each album release. His songs combine different musical instruments, sometimes including a saxophone, a cello, two guitars, a keyboard, a drum-set and backing vocals all playing together.

After discovering the guitar early on, Maginot dipped his feet in the musical universe as a teenager and doesn’t plan on leaving it.

Although he writes and sings his songs entirely in English, the artist is a dedicated Québécois francophone through and through.

His album Young/Old/Everything.In.Between which released in 2014 propelled him into the spotlight. He quickly joined the lineups for important cultural scenes, like the Montreal Jazz Fest or the Festival d’été de Québec.

Staying in his comfort zone

Although he was not raised religious, Maginot often writes songs with Christian influences. “Holy Father,” “Holy Water” and “Dead Church” are only a few of the songs where the singer uses spiritual vocabulary.

“I guess I am fascinated by the symbolism because it’s so unknown to me. It’s cathartic to sing ‘hallelujah.’ When I sing ‘holy’ I just want to raise my hands,” he said.

One tradition he and his band members share is to dress up in Christmas sweaters in mid-July — right when the heatwave peaks — and write a yearly holiday song.

“I do like Christmas, but it started more as a running gag and now it’s become tradition. It’s a way to return to the studio mid-album. It’s a song we’ll never play live so it’s less pressure and the recording sessions are lighter.”

Future possibilities

Having two previous Gala GAMIQ nominations under his belt, Maginot certainly hopes to win an award in the near future “just to have it at home so [he] can use the statue as a paperweight.” He is currently nominated for two categories in the upcoming Gala de l’ADISQ.

He’s currently working on his next album, in which he hopes to include more collaborations with other artists. As he put it, “My creative bubble is very closed and airtight. I feel intimidated. I’d like to sit down and write something with another artist.”

With every new project comes the goal of exploring new sounds and ideas. Keeping a consistent aesthetic without repeating himself is a challenge Maginot takes on with each new creation.

The singer is currently touring across Quebec promoting his latest album, Easy Morning. On Sept. 16 he passed by Montreal, playing in the Outremont Theatre. It was his biggest show as a headliner.

With a full house, the show offered an intimate performance, with Elliot and eight accompanying musicians delivering a touching rendition of his work. 

Picture by Auréa Gamboa

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