An Interview with Philippe Larocque of Mothland
Words by Sarah Morrison
Mothland, the product of successful local underground music festivals, is now a full-time booking agency and label. “Les Mottés,” have found small ways to keep busy during a troubling year, including their new project, “Sounds from Mothland, Vol. 1;” a compilation album showcasing are reflection of the wonderful DIY music scene. With the cancelation of Distorsion and Taverne Tour, on top of the handfuls of tours, there’s never been a better time to delve further into new areas and keep passion alive.
Mothland came two years after the start of Distorsion Festival. What took the vision from the festival to label/booking?
Well, it came naturally. We were already really close friends with a lot of bands gravitating around the festival. Starting Mothland with these bands felt natural; I feel like we were already doing Mothland before we gave it a name. I was already booking shows for Paul Jacobs and Marilyne was working with Yonatan Gat, Atsuko Chiba, and Teke : Teke, who made their first show at the second edition of Distorsion.
The label came after as a fun side project but it’s growing really fast. I guess our vision was to push freaks and left-field acts into the scene. Distorsion is really a psych fest but we are more open with the direction with Mothland, we have folk, punk, art-pop bands on our roster and I’m even looking for an experimental hip hop act to work with.
Has the Montreal psych scene always been so lively or did it grow as more community support became available?
The psychedelic movement has been big in Quebec since the 60s bands like The Haunted, Les Sinners, and Les Lutins. Le Festival d’été de Québec started in the 60s w(another another name at the time) as big hippy festivals around the world.
Prog rock in the 70s was huge here and a lot of the new-wave/synth punk acts of the 80s were really psychedelic & experimental.
We had Voivod in the 80s & 90s that became one of the biggest metal band in the world, they added prog/psychedelic and sci-fi elements to trash metal.
The punk/psych/garage scene from the 90s and early 00s had artists like King Khan, Demon’s Claws, Les Georges Leningrad or CPC Gangbangs are linked to psychedelic culture.
There is also the post-rock & experimental scene around Casa & Constellation Records, I highly recommend going to see Godspeed on mushrooms. It's a fantastic experience.
It has always been there, I think we just put it more up front and linked artists and scenes together. We made an event to celebrate just that.
Psych scenes around the globe each have their own charm, what makes Montreal’s so unique?
The fact we have four seasons has a big impact on the scene. It reflects within the sound of the bands as well as the mood of the people. Montreal is a gloomy city during the winter; the cold-wave/synth punk bands or the moody folk songs of Leonard Cohen are a reflection of that.
I’d say we are closer to the dark clothes & sunglasses esthetic of The Velvet Underground than the flower power of San Francisco. During the summer, it’s a whole other thing. There are like ten festivals every day and the city blooms! Everybody is on acid and the parks are filled with kids having fun. That duality is really interesting.
We wanted to host Distorsion at the beginning to the spring when life comes back, the flowers grow and people can take off their winter coats. When everyone is in a good mood basically.
The fact that we are the only French speaking metropole in America makes it really unique. A lot of American bands told us that they feel like in another country when they visit Montreal, unlike Toronto or Vancouver.
All “psych” scenes have expanded into new territories since its revolution, to include more post-punk, noise, no-wave, synth-pop, and garage. Has the term “psych” become less relevant? Has it become the umbrella word for something much larger?
Personally, I try to not use it too much or try to put it in places where it’s not expected. I love that goth kids get annoyed when I call Pornography by The Cure a psychedelic record or say that a hip hop act like De La Soul is more psychedelic than half the garage ‘’psych’’ punk bands touring now.
The psychedelic movement is still relevant but it needs to go forward. Language evolves and I think the word ‘’psych’’ is still chained to the 60s. That’s why some people are not comfortable with it.
I hate tie-dye shirts and I think that the pink tinted glasses ‘’flower power’’ side of the culture is not relevant today but the idea of social changes and revolution is still more relevant than ever. The 60s were important and had an impact on everything that came but it’s done and I don’t feel it’s important to go back there. I hate people who want to get in a time machine and go back to the 70s... if you think your world sucks, change it.
We actually had a meeting about the word ‘’Psychedelic’’ with the Distorsion team, each of us said what it meant for us and we kinda made our own definition. For us, it was like this umbrella of mind-blowing and enlightening experiences.
Was it hard to get Mothland off the ground? What sort of support did the city/government provide? Had you already established relationships with artists who were interested in signing on for booking?
Distorsion was hard to start, we had no money except our own. I once stole bags of ice from a big chain for a show. Marilyne, the queen of moths, used her magic and always made it happen in the end. We had a lot of support from the Distorsion community when we started Mothland so it was really easy to find the bands, it took us two minutes and everyone said yes, we had no contracts and it was all DIY.
What was harder was being accepted and taken seriously in the show business boy club. To work with bands who are presenting art without compromise to a scene that can be pretty boring and beige. There is a lot of gatekeeping in this industry and we had to work hard to be where we are now.
I had a little bit of support with Jeune Volontaire. It paid my rent when we started. I think any punk under 30 who has a good idea can get it! Go apply! Max who works at Mothland is also really good at getting grants for us and our bands. We are lucky to live in a place where we have access to that.
What makes an artist stand out when looking to expand your Moth family? What leads to working with artists from outside of Canada?
We started Mothland with bands from outside of Canada such as Moonwalks, Sunwatchers, Yonatan Gat & Spaceface. We felt like people from outside our country can bring something special to the scene. We are always looking to bring new people & ideas to our community.
We call ourselves and our friends ‘’Les Mottés’’ or “Mothies” which is a play off word with the moths but it’s a play off word but it’s like a term for slacker, a beautiful loser, or an underdog in French. It’s kinda pejorative but we kind of turned it upside down and we are proud to use it. They are underdogs that are making wonderful art and we just know when we find them and we invite them into our world.
We want to have a fun personal connection with the people we work with and feel that we are part of something greater than the sum of its parts.
During the first year of the pandemic, Mothland took a shift and put more effort/focus into the label portion. What has this time away from booking taught you about the shape of the industry? Will you continue to push the label once live shows come back? Do you see yourselves expanding when things become more sustainable?
Well it taught us that the DIY community is really resilient. A lot of bands and people in the industry are building amazing things even in these unideal conditions. The label is here to stay and it keeps on growing. We are always looking to expand our activities but we need to stay true to them. You’ll never see Distorsion turning into an outdoor festival with a car on the stage. It needs to stay a punk rave in a church basement filled with noise and colors. Maybe we’ll get a bigger church one day!
Where did the initial idea to start a compilation album come from?
I learned on my birthday,at the very beginning of the pandemic, that my grandma had caught the virus. I was really close to her so when we did loose her, my mother and I were in a really dark place and I needed to focus on something positive. The mixtape is dedicated to her.
I wanted to do something involving my friends and to celebrate our third anniversary because we are used to putting on big shows and inviting everyone.
I was also obsessed with making a release that was unique and I had tons of silly ideas that when looking back on were kinda dumb.
I wanted something like Wu Tang Clan’s “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin” mix with a bootleg tape your friend would duplicate from a punk show in his basement. A weird artefact that can end up in a shitty rock and roll museum.
“Sounds from Mothland, Vol. 1” happens to feature artists who are from outside the city & country. What does the title truly stand for?
It was meant to make Mothland an actual place that exists. I wanted it to be a place you can go to be free or to hide. Like if we’ve captured on tape some of its beautiful and frightening sounds to share, it would be here. Hoping that people would hear it and join us.
We first used the word ‘’Mothland’’ when the cops shut down the venue we were renting for Distorsion II. We had to announce the line-up but we didn’t have a back-up venue. So we release the event with ‘’Mothland’’ has the location of the festival.
Paul Jacobs’, an artist/musician who has become a recognizable face for Montreal music, was included in the compilation and created the cover artwork. Was it a natural choice to have Jacobs’ so involved?
Yes, it was natural. Paul is the first artist I started working with. I even got a tattoo of his silly character on my leg although it was kind of a dare. I had to get whatever he had come up with, no matter what. It ended up being a rocker with a pompadour calling someone a poser. His drawings are everywhere in Montreal. It’s fun that he is finally getting all this attention.
For the cover artwork, we just asked him to draw what was his version of ‘’Mothland.” For him, it was a guy playing guitar with a cute cat and some wine.
It was fun to see his version of it. We plan to try and have different artists each time, making their own versions of this place.
Each song on the album was inspired by pushing comfort zones. Did any of the artist’s struggle with the theme?
I wouldn’t say struggle but some of our bands restrained themselves by playing short songs because the space on the tape is limited and we wanted as many people as possible. It ended up with great results as an example, Atsuko Chiba did a really short song with a different approach and it became my favorite track they ever did. For others, it was freeing to go outside and make a song that would defy people’s expectations. For example the Yoo Doo Right single with Jasmine Trails; no one was expecting them to do a disco influenced song but it worked out so well.
For those not super familiar with Mothland or Montreal’s treasures, who are some of the first few acts they should be checking out?
Well I’d say Kristian North, Yoo Doo Right, and Paul Jacobs as far as Mothland bands. But there is a lot of amazing music coming from here like Backxwash, Blue Odeur, Big Brave, Saudade, Visibly Choked, Kee Avil, N NAO, Joni Void, No Joy, Priors, Pale Lips Maky Lavender, Jesse Osborne Lanthier, Laura Krieg, Johnny Couteau, Laurence-Anne, Duchess Says, Suuns, We Are Wolves, Beaver Sheppard, Fly Pan Am, No Negative, Essaie Pas, Chocolat, Population II, Vanille, Anna Arrobas, Alicia Clara, Jesuslesfilles, Corridor, TDA, Smokes, Sheenah Ko, Super Plage, Dish Pit. There is just so much more I could add to that list.
Taverne Tour and Distorsion have both been put on hold until 2022, if and when things get better. Have you been working on any new or big ideas that you hope to incorporate?
We might get a little Distorsion in 2021 if things get better but we are thinking of doing a social distancing event like last summer. Since we’ll have few tickets to sell we are thinking of doing a really crazy bill, something we never did.
2022 is a bit far but I'm hoping to book the Oasis reunion gig at Distorsion.