Mesdames et Messieurs,

Après 5 mois de Q&A sur le blogue Piknic avec presque tous les DJs/artistes qui sont venus jouer cette saison, voici une collection des meilleurs/plus étranges/plus drôles réponses que nous avons reçues et partagées avec vous.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

After 5 months of Q&As on the Piknic blog with almost every DJ/artist that came to play this season, here’s a collection of some of the best/strangest/funniest answers we’ve had the pleasure to receive and share with you all.

Profitez!/ Enjoy!

In addition to all the Pop Montreal festival events and the last Piknic of the season - not to be missed - this is an amazing weekend for music lovers.

I've picked three things that you should definitely check out this week.

Read on my friends!

C’est après une performance de Richie Hawtin/Plastikman au Medialounge, en 1998, que Jean-Patrice adopte le nom de Pheek. Ce nom, ne signifiant rien d’autre qu’un son, aura pour objectif d’être principalement un projet de recherche alignant sons nouveaux, voir étranges, à des rythmiques contagieuses.

Ne manquez pas son set à 15:00h sur la scène STM ce weekend pour le dernier Piknic de la saison.

Voici son Q&A :

Emerging from Montreal’s Peer Pressure party crew, Matt Morien (aka DJ Hatchmatik) is a well-known DJ and producer in the Montreal scene. Initially a B-boy turned professional dance and visual artist, the success of Peer Pressure has led to Morien’s focus on music full-time. As Peer Pressure parties have grown in size and reputation, Hatchmatik has drawn strong media attention and a slew of remixes for artists such as Thunderheist, MIA, Adam Kesher, and Chromeo. In 2009, Hatchmatik was selected to URB magazine’s Next 100 list.

Check him out rocking the main stage this Sunday October 3^rd at 16:00 for Pop @ Piknic, the last one of the season.

Read on for his Q&A:

Dividing his time between Tokyo and Toronto, Terence Kissner has been part of the Canadian invasion that has permeated the hearts of the international dance community. Between landing residencies at some of Tokyo's most coveted nightclubs and touring Japan on numerous occasions, he continues to make his mark both in front of the turntables, and behind the scenes working as a DJ, promoter and graphic designer with Toronto’s AFE SOCIETY events and clothing brand. His most recent endeavours find him in the studio with his production partner Brian Johnson, working on music under the moniker DUGDIG, as well as his own solo project.

Catch him on the main stage this Sunday, October 3^rd at 14:00 for the last Piknic of the season.

And get to know him better with this Q&A.

Owner of the popular Ovum Recordings label, Josh Wink has always run ahead of the pack, as a DJ, label owner, producer, remixer, and artist. Getting going in the late 1980s, by 1995 Wink had become one of the first DJ-producers to find mainstream success, when he unleashed a string of classics that topped charts worldwide and made him a bona fide pop star in Europe. In the past year Wink has released two dancefloor anthems, “How’s your evening so far” and “Superfreak”.

He will be doing his thing on the main stage this Sunday September 26^th at 17:30 for what will surely be one of the highlights of the season.

Check out his Q&A!

X-Cube, excelle dans l'art de faire voyager un éventail de foules dans un amalgame de musiques de type électronique que ce soit à saveur tech-House, techno, minimal-tech ou progressif. X-Cube, avec les années, a toujours su bien s'entourer afin d'améliorer ses techniques, son écoute, sa fluidité et cette façon d'aller rejoindre un public des plus assidus. Si vous n'avez jamais participé à l'expérience, qu'attendez vous?

Ce dimanche 26 Septembre à16h sur la scène principale. A ne pas manquer.

Voici son Q&A:

Almost too old to even be qualified as old school, this Basement Boy no longer counts the years that separate the present moment from the time he first began making mixtapes for the extended Basement family. Already the most popular kid on the block, the parties, chips and lemonade he organizes for his friends were simply the essentials of a time and place. And despite all the success and notoriety he’s experienced over the years, That Basement Guy has always remained the same ole guy, humble, soft, supple, and fragile. Underneath it all and always before all else, he’s a lover of good beats.

He will be playing the STM stage this Sunday September 26^th at 16:15.

Q&A after the jump. Read on.

Maudite Machine vient de faire son entrée sur la scène musicale montréalaise. Originaire du sud de la France, ce passionné d'électro minimal est tombé dedans lorsqu'il était tout petit. Perpétuellement en quête de nouveauté, Maudite Machine aime explorer les mélanges entre des sons froids et secs ainsi que des basslines percutantes. Lors de ses sets, il n'a qu'une chose en tête : vous partager son amour de l'électro et vous faire danser le plus possible au son de sa Maudite Machine.

Il jouera au Piknic ce dimanche 19 Septembre a 14h.

Lisez son Q&A!

MadKids est un duo de jeunes DJs et producteurs faisant tourner beaucoup de têtes depuis environ un an. Durant cette période, ils ont lancé deux maxis ayant reçu l'aval de poids lourds de l'industrie comme Mowgli, Round Table Knights, Camel et Brodinski, pour ne nommer que ceux-là. Ils ont fait connaître leur talent dans de nombreux clubs et événements, dont l’Igloofest. Ils ont aussi été invités à prendre part au festival Nuits Sonores, à Lyon, en France. 2010 s'annonce pour Madkids une année riche en rebondissements, avec plusieurs parutions originales et remixes sur des labels tels que Discobelle Records, Young Gunz Entertainment et bien d'autres.

Ils joueront au Piknic ce dimanche 19 Septembre à 16h30. Voyez vous même pourquoi tout ce buzz et en attendant, lisez leur Q&A pour en savoir plus!

« Une collection de disques, c'est fait pour piger dedans! »

Djendless [jean-sébastien roux, dj, musicien, producteur, sound designer] et dj slap [Sébastien Lapointe, dj, artiste multidisciplinaire] collaborent à différents projets musicaux depuis une dizaine d'années. Pour eux, le mixage à quatre mains est apparu naturellement en 1999, l'année de leur rencontre. Ils ont développé au fil du temps des sets éclectiques bien ficelés à la fin desquels ils finissent invariablement submergés par des piles de disques qui défient toute tentative de catégorisation.

Ils joueront la scène STM à 16h ce dimanche 19 Septembre.

Voici leur Q&A:

Au coeur du projet F.AN se trouve Florian. En 2008, il décide de s'établir à Madrid. C'est à ce moment que se cristallise son style musical et que voit le jour le projet F.AN. Concept tout en contradictions, il est à la fois intense et doux, liquide et solide, minimal et subtil ; F.AN est un espace où tout peut arriver aux sons. L'année 2009 marque le début d'une nouvelle ère: après avoir lancé deux maxis, Florian rentre à Montréal, mu par sa quête incessante de nouvelles sonorités, de nouveaux endroits et de nouvelles sources d'inspiration.

Le voici maintenant a quelques jours de sa premiere au Piknic ou il jouera la scène STM ce dimanche à 15h.

Lisez son Q&A pour mieux le connaitre.

Le style novateur et la diversité rythmique qu’utilise Christian Pronovost en font l'un des leaders les plus respectés, un réel vétéran et un parrain de la scène émergente de musique danceà Montréal. Derrière les contrôles depuis maintenant 30 ans, il est connu pour ses mix impeccables, ses manipulations sonores aventureuses et sa programmation de pointe. De 1987 à 2010, Christian a maintenu une notoriété certaine en dirigeant l’une des institutions de Montréal, INBEAT, un magasin de disques offrant les sélections de sons les plus nouvelles. Les DJs locaux et internationaux en visite en ont fait leur QG non officiel.

Christian Pronovost est actuellement résident au Stereo et au Velvet, directeur musical de la Semaine de Mode de Montréal et est cours de lancer une nouvelle étiquette: Lost Heroes Recordings.

Lisez son Q&A et ne manquez surtout pas son set ce Dimanche 5 Septembre a 14h00.

Nimalan Yoganathan's beat soundscapes bridge the gap between academic and urban approaches to sound art. He re-appropriates the technical and conceptual aesthetics of hip-hop and dub idioms. Nimalan creates dense textures blending meditative drones, blunted beats, and field recordings of bustling cities, desolate landscapes, and spiritual sites. He has released albums on labels including Le Son 666 and Panospria (NoType). His works have been disseminated at festivals and venues including MUTEK, Suoni per il Popolo, Pop Montreal, OBORO, Darling Foundry, and Oscar Peterson Concert Hall.

He’ll be playing the STM stage this Saturday, September 4^th at 16:30. Don’t miss it!

Check out his Q&A:

En première (et dernière) mondiale, vous assisterez à un set groovy-funky-jazzy-techy-housy – mais pas cheezy – du duo de DJs le plus « engagé » à l’ouest du Rio Grande ! Inconnu du public montréalais, ils le demeureront sûrement, mais ils vont donner leur 110%, vont travailler fort dans les coins et patiner dans les 2 sens de la patinoire afin de vous inciter à venir vous déhancher sur la piste de danse !

Profitez en pour en savoir plus sur eux avec leur Q&A Piknic et ne manquez par le set ce lundi 6 Septembre à 14h00. Ca sera peut etre votre seule chance!

A kind of techno that sways between the polarity of emotional overload and concrete rationale – hence immediacy, which is what Sascha Funke is all about.

Short and concise description for a man that lets the music do the talking. But he still kindely filled out our Q&A. Read on.

He will be playing the closing set on monday, September 6^th at 20h00.

Nicolas Rouleau, alias dj Dorobo, fut introduit aux rythmes électroniques il y a environ une quinzaine d'années par l'entremise de la musique industrielle. Skinny Puppy, Pop Will Eat Itself peuvent être cités comme étant les premiers éléments subversifs auxquels il fit face. Il était donc naturel pour lui d'assister à son premier événement techno quelques années plus tard et y découvrir une passion inconditionnelle pour ces flux sonores hypnotiques. Après quelque temps passé dans le monde de la transe psychédélique, Nicolas entama un changement de cap musical pour se diriger vers des sonorités plus lentes et technoïdes. Son arme de choix à ce jour s'avère donc être un fin mélange de techno, de garage, de techno-dub et de breakbeat.

Il jouera la scène STM ce samedi 4 Septembre a 17:15.

Apprenez a mieux le connaitre avec ce Q&A:

With partner Double Dee (Douglas DiFranco), in the mid-80s Brooklyn’s Steinski co-produced the series of records known as The Lessons: The Payoff Mix, Lesson 2 (The James Brown Mix), Lesson 3 (The History Of Hiphop) for the Tommy Boy label. Cited as definitive releases by DJ Shadow, Cut Chemist, Fatboy Slim, and Coldcut, these analog tape cut-and-paste collages, still widely bootlegged (and wildly illegal), are generally acknowledged as three of the most influential works in the world of hip-hop and dance music production.

As part of the Ninja Tune @ Piknic, Steinski will be rocking the decks at 17:30 this Saturday September 4^th.

Read on for his Q&A:

A party-rap aficionado on par with Spank Rock and Diplo, new Ninja Tune-signing Shuttle was introduced to the electronic sounds of Baltimore club while growing up in DC, where he now runs all-night parties with his Basstown crew. His critically acclaimed debut “Tunnel” was named the number 1 song of 2009 by the New Yorker’s Sasha Frere Jones. His remix credits include Phoenix, Micachu, and The Death Set. Shuttle also plays drums and co-produces indie-scene darlings Passion Pit.

Go see and hear what all the fuss is about this Saturday Sept. 4^th- he’ll be playing at 19h00.

Read on for a formal introduction…

Previously known as W.I.G, The Notorious W.I.G, and various other monikers throughout the years, 2007 saw the latest and hopefully last rebranding of one Jeff Wayne into the man called Ghostbeard. Despite basing a name around facial hair, which guarantees that he can no longer shave, he has no regrets. When not DJing around Montreal, Waye runs the North American offices of seminal label Ninja Tune, meaning that he’s always got the latest and best tunes at his disposal, ready to hit the turntables.

Ghostbeard is kicking off the Ninja Tune Piknic this Saturday September 4^th at 14h00.

Come early to catch his set and read on for his Q&A, one of the funniest thus far:

Dans un cockpit d'astronef russe, deux fœtus épileptiques furent attaqués par des micro-ondes extraterrestres. Recueillis ensuite par Albator, ils apprirent l'art des termites et la mélodie des lasers. Ils errent depuis à Montréal au rythme déjanté des engrenages rouillés. Alexis Langevin-Tétrault et Maxime Corbeil-Perron s’associent de nouveau pour créer un univers éclectique et hypnotique, suspendu quelque part entre le trip hop, l’IDM, la vieille science fiction, les documentaires animaliers et l’electro-garage.

Avec une description pareil, c’est dur de ne pas vouloir en savoir plus.

Voici leur Q&A ci-dessous. Ils joueront le scene STM ce dimanche a 15h00.

With his DJing roots firmly planted in early nineties hip-hop, Scott C’s love of beats and rhymes leads to musical awakenings in jazz, funk, beats, boogie, broken and the Brazilian spectrum. The GOODS, a monthly party started in August of 2002 by Scott C and Andy Williams, was created to provide a warm alternative to the average Montreal night out. Some guests have included Mr. Scruff, DJ Spinna, and Bugz in the Attic. Scott and Andy can be found on Montreal’s CKUT 90.3 FM every Sunday afternoon from 2-4pm for The Goods Radio Show.

Catch him on the STM stage this sunday Septembre 5th at 16:30.

Read on and get to him a bit better.

Hakim Guelmi n'a eu besoin que de deux années pour passer de jeune raver amateur de musique électronique à DJ. Ses principales influences sur le circuit international sont James Holden, Sven Vath, Ritchie Hawtin et Danny Howells. Son style très personnel est une version sombre et froide où s'entrechoquent techno, tech house et minimal. Depuis 2007, il organise des événements au Velvet Club, ce qui lui a permis de jouer en compagnie de Desyn Masiello, Nic Fanciulli, Tom Pooks et Preach.

Il jouera ce samedi 5 septembre a 16h00.

Apprenez a mieux le connaitre avec ce Q&A.

Misstress Barbara est une figure incontournable de la scène de musique éléctronique montréalaise. Elle est célèbre pour son « hard beat », mais sa musique a évolué du point de vue stylistique, passant d’une atmosphère « funky pumpin’ techno » à une plus « groovy, techy et minimal », selon elle-même. Cependant, l’art de Misstress Barbara est en perpétuel mouvement, car elle repousse continuellement ses propres limites artistiques en quête du prochain son unique.

Elle jouera la scène principale du Piknic ce dimanche a 18h00. Ne la manquez pas!

Voici son Q&A Piknic:

Green & LaTeez est un duo tech-house montréalais composé de Steve Dupont et de Hugo Trépanier. Chargée d'une énergie contagieuse, la paire a développée une sonorité groovy, percussive et funky, largement inspirée des DJs avec qui ils ont déjà partagés la scène, dont Lee Burridge, Dusty Kid et Oxia. Ils tiennent résidence aux soirées FLEX du Circus Afterhours, en plus d'être aux commandes d'une toute nouvelle soirée intitulée LA PALMA au Salon Daomé. Tout est donc en place pour que ce dynamique duo poursuive son évolution musicale.

Ils joueront la scene principale des 14h ce dimanche 22 aout. Voici leur Q&A. Enjoy!

"Performance hybride d'un duo qui promet de captiver la foule en mélangeant subtilement envolées mélodiques et soudaines pluies de rythmes." Description courte mais efficace pour ces deux poids lourds de la scène électronique montréalaise, comme leur set à ne pas manquer.

Ils joueront sur la scène principale à 18h30 ce dimanche, 8 août.

Voici leur Q&A!

Mary Anne Hobbs' 'Dubstep Warz' show for BBC Radio1 in January 2006 is widely regarded as the show that broke the dubstep sound globally. She followed this in August 2008 with the 'Generation Bass' special curated at her invitation by the original Dubstep Warz DJs. Her mission in January 2009 to LA and San Francisco generated the 'West Coast Rock' special, which set the world buzzing about the fast emerging Pacific Coast beat scene. She is set to release a 3rd compilation album 'Wild Angels' in September 2009 on the Planet Mu label.

From all her great work as a music journalist to her cult BBC show (ending in September…we’re still in shock), and her active role in many bass music landmark events, Mary Anne Hobbs is still able to impress and keep moving forward. Seeing her drop heavy dubstep bombs and shoot her guns in the air is truly awesome. It instantly made me wish she was my aunt.

She will be playing the zone Piknic @ Osheaga tomorrow, July 31 at 17:30.

She also kindly filled out the Piknic Q&A and I learned what a gingham is in the process. Read on.

“Round Table Knights have impressed me loads this year, not only playing the best house sets of 2009 but coming with sum really original productions as well,” says Jesse Rose, owner of Made to Play Records, where the group has begun to release their singles. Also releasing on Mowgli’s Deadfish label, the Swiss producers describe themselves as “having the wind at their backs on a ten year journey from the Swiss province to the high plateaus of contemporary dance music.”

Check out the Piknic Q&A they did with us.

Discovered by Marcus Nasty and Supa D via the jacking, minimal riddim known as “Feline”, UK funky producer Roska fashioned a fusion of house, dubstep and afro-beat that has taken UK clubs by storm. Ever since, London has been raving to a new energy, and Roska riddims are essential items in the record boxes of Geeneus, Kode 9 and Cooly G. Since 2009, he’s had his own show on Rinse FM, making Roska one of the most influential names in UK funky.

He came to Montreal a few months ago for his first time. Thanks to the Icelandic volcano situation, he was grounded for a week and him and I hung out one Sunday afternoon. This was before the beginning of the Piknic season so we went to Tam Tams and he was telling me how much he was looking forward to coming back to Montreal and playing at Piknic. Summer flew by and here we are now, one day away from Roska’s return.

Please believe people, you do not wanna miss his set. Roska is playing the zone Piknic @ Osheaga tomorrow, July 31 at 15:30.

Here’s his Q&A, fresh out the oven.

English as a Second Language consists of Jennifer Wade (Promotions, Booking, Event-Coordinating) BUS (Founder, DJ), Skinny Bones (DJ, Producer, Graphic Design) and Bowly aka DJ Sharivari (DJ, Producer) a crew dedicated to popularizing UK sub-genres; Garage, Grime, Dubstep, Bassline, Jungle and UK Funky. Conceptually the team works together to create unique events including MTL FUNKY. Outside of pushing new UK genres, the focus of the clique is to create positive vibes and a sense of community. With two producers, rare dubs, and UK style mixing, the E.S.L. crew takes it, every time.

E.S.L. will be rocking the zone Piknic at Osheaga this Saturday July, 31 from 13:00 to 15:30 and DJ Bus will be closing the festivities with a solo set starting at 21:00. Don’t miss one of the most highly-anticipated Piknic event of the year.

Read on and check out the Q&As we did with Sharivari, Skinny Bones, and Bus.

Connu de plusieurs après s’être fait un nom lors des désormais célèbres soirées Turbo Crunk, Hovatron (Philippe Aubin-Dionne) fait partie de cette nouvelle génération d’artiste/producteur pour qui le hip-hop instrumental se déconstruit à grands coups de rythmes électroniques. Actif comme performeur, DJ et remixeur, Hovatron a déjà partagé la scène avec des artistes allant de Lil Jon à Busy P en passant par Poirier et Nosaj Thing. Parions que ce n’est que le début.

Hovatron prend la scène du Piknic @ Osheaga le samedi 31 juillet a 19h. A ne surtout pas manquer!

Apprenez à mieux le connaitre avec ce Q&A.

Ce duo français est à l'avant-garde de la nouvelle école de la musique électronique française. Nôze, c'est Nicolas Sfintescu, cofondateur de la populaire étiquette Circus Company, et Ezechiel Pailhès, un pianiste de formation classique. Ensemble, ils ont créé une fusion unique de genres qui défie toute catégorisation, alliant jazz, hip-hop, electronica et techno et utilisant tout ce qui leur tombe sous la main, du marteau au duct-tape! Leurs prestations sont légendaires en ce qu'elles sont d'une exubérance où tout est permis. Les deux constantes? Des chapeaux de paille et un striptease!

Voyez pour vous même cet après-midi au Jardin des Floralies à 17:00.

Ezechiel a gentiment répondu a notre Q&A. Lisez donc!

Having caught the attention of Jesse Rose and Claude Vonstroke, Zombie Disco Squad’s Lucas Hunter and Nat Self fuse house music with Baile Funk, African rhythms, Baltimore, Hip-Hop, and the so-called fidget sound. Influenced by African percussion, foreign languages and jacking music Lucas & Nat were soon traveling around the world touring the states and across Europe. They’ve touched down in clubs such as Fabric in London, Panorama Bar in Berlin and Hive in Zurich all on the back of their popular online mixtapes.

If this short bio doesn't tell you enough, bring your butt down to Piknic this sunday July 25th and get converted by their live set, which starts at 18:30.

And read on for the weekly artist Q&A.

In addition to being one of the most versatile and open-minded DJs in the city, DJ Lexis is also the founder and editor of MusicIsMySanctuary.com, an internationally-followed forum for musical discoveries. In the past year alone, he’s been rocking parties with Mary Anne Hobbs, Roska, 45 King, Onra, Take and Kris Wadsworth, among many.

Be sure to catch his opening set at 14h this Sunday July 18^th, at Piknic.

Read on and find out more about this nice fella.

You should check out this Q&A we did with the two fellas from DIG-IT-AL, Living~Stone and Vipond. But first, get familiar with this short bio :

Dig iT aL was born out of the anonymous illegitimate loins of Bassnectar. From two respective trips to the magical lands of Shambhala, where the Nectar did pour fourth in thick abundance, young Vipond & Living~Stone resolved to bring the juicy thwompy goodness home to Montreal. Through the gritty depths of the dirtiest Dubstep to the fullest extent of funking out... Dig iT aL truly Dig's iT aLL...and so will you!

They will be rocking the decks from 18 :00 to 19 :30 so don’t miss out.

Q&A below. Read on.

Grime and Future Garage producer, MC, promoter and DJ, Intoccabile is the owner of Fyutchaflex, a record label and events production company established in 2001 to promote Dark Garage and Grime sounds. For years, he has been pushing a mature, original and homegrown Grime sound, which creatively fuses elements of Birmingham instrumental Grime, neurofunk and minimal techno. Intoccabile releases material exclusively on his label, but there has been a few exceptions, such as a few pieces written under various aliases.

Check out his Q&A and get schooled to the game!

Vilify and Construct are two huge pillars of the local drum n bass scene and it's not a far stretch to even say the Canadian bass music scene in general. These two are committed, dedicated, devoted and maybe even fanatical about it and truth be told, we need a lot more people like that. They've also been running the weekly Bass Drive Wednesdays at Koi bar, which you should definitely check out.

They will be holding it down at Jardin des Floralies from 16:00 to 18:00 this Sunday, July 18th.

Read on to get familiar with these folks.

Yankat a découvert la musique électronique en participant aux nombreux « free parties » un peu partout en Europe. Très rapidement, il s'est intéressé au DJing puis à la production. Ses compositions amalgament techno, electro et dubstep, et sont construites autour de lignes de basses bien graves, de pointes acid, et de rythmes bondissants. Yankat est également un membre actif du collectif audiovisuel montréalais Cruz Control.

Mais saviez vous qui l'aime le saucisson? Pour en savoir plus sur ses goûts musicaux et culinaires, lisez plus. Il jouera la scene principale ce dimanche 4 juillet a 17h.

Qui aurait cru que Mat_Moebius deviendrait une véritable machine à mixer après s'être fait expulser de trois différentes écoles de musique dans sa jeunesse? C'est en 2000 qu'il fait l'acquisition de ses premières tables tournantes et, pendant dix années, il terrorisera les raves avec ses mixes techno et hardcore, ainsi que ses parutions sur des labels tels que Krysalide, Diable au corps, Tekita, Infrabass et NKD. Depuis 2007, il se concentre principalement sur les sonorités breakbeat, fidget house et electro, en plus de peaufiner ses compositions et d'enregistrer de nouveaux DJ mixes pour ses fans.

Il jouera sur la scène principale de 14h à 17h ce dimanche 4 juillet. Apprenez à mieux le connaître en lisant ce questionnaire ci-dessous.

Eresys représente l’union de plusieurs artistes qui travaillent dans diverses disciplines artistiques (digitales/médiatiques) à Montréal et dans d’autres villes ou ils animent des soirées. Le regroupement de ce collectif s’unit par leur passion entièrement dédiée à la musique électronique, à son esthétique visuelle autant qu’à sa création, et leur contribution à la scène électronique locale s’agrandit chaque année depuis sa fondation en 2006.

Ce dimanche 4 juillet, nous aurons la chance de les voir assurer la scène STM avec comme représentant Le Boucher, Mono-poly, Kasteniede, et Sequential Factory.

Voici le Q&A Piknic avec les trois premiers. Bonne lecture!

From his early days as Cajmere and the release of the massive “Coffee Pot (It’s Time for the Perculator)” to the Green Velvet transformation and the live act he sported which included him playing the keytar (how awesome is that!?), Curtis Jones as been a pioneer on all fronts. His contributions to electronic music are kind of monumental and calling him one of Chicago house’s ultimate heroes is almost an understatement. This guy is what they call an OG.

He’s also known as an elusive figure who rarely does interviews so when we got the answers back from the Q&A in our mailbox this week, we were like “Yoooooo!”

He’ll be playing the main stage this Sunday June 27^th at 7:30pm.

Read on.

Touche-à-tout stylistique, FU Ancko manie de main de maître la techno, la tech-house, l'électrohouse et les breakbeats avec une nette tendance pour les sonorités acid.

Lisez plus bas et voyez bien à qui nous allons avoir à faire ce dimanche 27 Juin a 14h a l’entame de ce Piknic qui s’annonce être l’un des meilleurs de la saison sans aucun doute.

Voici un autre petit Q&A Piknic de la semaine avec Chainsawtooth, un expert du breakcore et de l’industriel qui jouera ce dimanche 27 juin sur la scène STM. En s'éloignant du concept de DJ et en donnant une énergie live qui se voit et qui s'entend pendant ses sets, ce gars la va sûrement en surprendre plus d’un.

Ton nom:

Chainsawtooth : Frédéric Lavigne

Le déclic qui a tout déclenché pour toi?
Un piton play pis un volume

L’ingrédient essentiel pour mettre le feu à la place?
Une allumette si y a pas trop de vent

Synthamesk, alias Alain Savoie, est un artiste de la mouvance experimental bass. Né à Québec, il a grandi à Fredericton, au Nouveau-Brunswick. Ses pièces ont été mises en vedette lors d'influentes émissions comme le Breezeblock de Mary Anne Hobbs, l'Electronic Explorations de Rob Booth et le Wrong Music Show d'Ebola, Autobee et Shitmat. Il se produit maintenant en concert un peu partout dans le monde.

Vous pouvez le voir jouer ce dimanche 27 Juin sur la scene STM a partir de 16h30.

Voici un petit questionnaire avec DJ NOYL qui jouera au Piknic ce dimanche 20 juin entre 14:00 et 17:00. Un disciple du scratch et de l'esprit DMC, NOYL nous offrira sans doute de bonnes surprises ce week-end.

Apprenons ensemble a le connaitre...

Le déclic qui a tout déclenché pour toi?

Le jour ou le grand frère d'un ami m'a invité chez lui et m'a fait une démo de scratch, je devais avoir 16 ans et première fois que je voyais des tables de près et un dj avec un gros niveau.

L’ingrédient essentiel pour mettre le feu à la place?

Me mettre tout nu sur le stage...une grosse session scratch sur un gros beat en regardant la crowd le plus possible jamais rester la tete baissée sur les tables.

Ce que tu n’oublies jamais pour un pique nique?

Je n'oublie jamais de prendre un coup de soleil mais à défaut des chips. Je suis un gros chips addict.

La première pièce qui t’ait fait perdre la tête?
Le remix de "Everybody Come On" de dj skribble feat flipmode squad. La pièce qui t’obsède en ce moment?

Je peux juste dire que je vais la jouer dimanche.

La pièce que tu ne joueras jamais?

N'importe quelle toune de la discographie de David Guetta.

La demande la plus étrange qu’on t’ait jamais faite?

Un redneck qui avait du se perdre monte sur le stage pendant que je jouais du gros hiphop et me demande si j'ai du Johnny Halliday ou le gars qui est venu me demander des tounes toute la soirée en me les chantant. Les deux étaient freaky.

Ton plus beau souvenir de DJ? La soirée que j'ai passé avec dj qbert chez un dj fly le world dmc champion 2008. Trois heures de techniques en privé et un grand moment. Un gars génial.

Ta pire raclée?

Quand un ami à moi est monté sur le stage pendant mon set pour me dire qu'une voiture avait raté le virage et explosé mon char. Une longue histoire et une TRES MAUVAISE SOIREE.

Si je dis Piknic, tu dis...

...electronik...Bonne réponse??

Flosstradamus is J2K (Josh Young) and Autobot (Curt Cameruci), two nice fellas from the midwest who really enjoy making people dance. They've been touring for the past five years non-stop, which means they've pretty much seen it all in terms of parties but probably nothing quite like Piknic.

Be sure to catch them this Sunday May 30 where they will be playing the closing set (aka the sun-set) and in the meantime you can follow them on twitter @flosstradamus.

Read on.

Being from Chicago, what do you find most interesting about your city's music history?

Well, Chicago is the birthplace of house. And since electronic music has had a major resurgence in the last 5 years, it's great to hear a style of music I relate so personally to my childhood get such major exposure.

Your city has a notorious club culture but do you guys have events like Piknic where electronic music and DJ culture is an outdoor day-time event?

Nothing like it. The closest thing we would have is the DJ stage at Lollapalooza. But no festivals dedicated completely to electronic music. There used to be Summerdance, and Dancing in the Park, but those events have since gone by the wayside.


Does being from the Midwest affect your style of DJing?

Absolutely. As people as well as DJs. People from the Midwest are humble (for the most part). It's a blue-collar culture around here. We like to bring that approachability to our sets as well as our day-to-day lives. That and we have livestock on stage while we perform.


What is your favorite city and place to play?

Honestly, we love playing in Canada! Our first out of town show was in Vancouver. Montreal is incredible! Toronto! Obviously we love playing our hometown of Chicago, and last but not least Austin, TX! Great music city.


You guys have been steady touring for the past few years, what do you miss the most about home?

Having regular parties. Seeing all those familiar faces. We've been going for 5 years now, so we've seen so many people come and go throughout the last couple years. Girlfriends too.


Can you tell us about some new music you've been checking out?

We've really been feeling anything from Douster, Tony Senghore, DCUP, Carte Blanche, and Discovery. As far as Chicago goes, Kid Sister is steady killing it, Kid Color as well, Black Holes, and a group we're working with called The Dirty Diamonds.


What are your upcoming plans?

Releasing a single this summer called CTGD, and other than that, we're steady playing shows.

BONUS: PIKNIC Q&A

How did you get into this?

Some friends I skated with had 2 turntables and a vextax 06, and when we'd finish skating we'd go back to their house and scratch. Curt got into it through his older brother.

What’s your ideal setup to rock a crowd?

A big, dark, sweaty room, full of drunk people never hurts.

What do you usually bring to a picnic?

Wine, cheese, and a girl.

What’s the first song that made you go crazy?

Prince - Let's Go Crazy

What’s the last song that made you go crazy?

Prince - Let's Go Crazy

What song will you never drop?

Not sure that exists, but probably Yanni or something along those lines.

Funniest request you’ve ever gotten?

Anytime a girl who looks like an extra from the Jersey Shore cast requests a song by humming it or guessing the title by some random lyric of the song, usually provides a good laugh.

Most memorable DJ experience?

So many memorable experiences. I'd say our first Lollapalooza performance was pretty exceptional. We started by playing to about 50 people, and by the end there were a few thousand going nuts.

Biggest fail of your career?

I once introduced myself as Curt over the mic in front of a huge crowd at a Yo Gabba Gabba show. This would be totally acceptable, however my name is Josh.

I say Piknic, you say…SEE YOU THERE!

State your name:

STERN*

How did you get into this?

I got into this since 2000 in Madrid when I bought my first turntables and after listening to a Ritchie Hawtin Live set of 4 hours in front of 4500 people.

What’s your ideal setup to rock a crowd?

A laptop, MIDI controler and a pionner djm 800, next a vodka bottle of grey goose in the rocks.

What do you usually bring to a picnic?

Fruits and Weed

What’s the first song that made you go crazy?

Kruder and Dorfmeister – “K&D sessions”

What’s the last song that made you go crazy?

JFK St andrew – “Beehive”

What song will you never drop???

A Celine Dion track or whatever track remixed by Guetta

Funniest request you’ve ever gotten?

To play Calipso music or Jacques Brel's music

Most memorable DJ experience?

My last tour in Europe, Nouveau Casino in Paris was pretty crazy!

Biggest fail of your career?

A concert for an anarchist group in the mile end, was so boring....

I say Piknic, you say...Bounce

Meek is the 10-year old spawn of Mike Baugh. Trained in audio post-production and video game audio, the Calgary native and Montreal transplant also leaves a pretty chunky musical resume which includes 4 independent releases and spots on 6 compilations (FatCat, Worm Interface, Six Records, Meson Octet, NFB/Cocosolidciti and Mutek_rec).

He will be inaugurating Piknic's STM stage this sunday May 30 with an hour-long set from 3pm to 4pm.

Get Familiar...

State your name:
Meek/Mike

How did you get into this?

I started listening to electronic music when I was around 15 and fell in love with making music out of strange new sounds. I got my hands on a small synth and kept experimenting and making it do things it wasn't made for and gradually taught myself about synthesis and production.

What’s your ideal setup to rock a crowd?

I use Ableton Live and a Nord Modular. The Nord allows me to create my sounds from scratch, my sets wouldn't be the same without it.

What do you usually bring to a picnic?

"Beer, chicken and snacks"

What’s the first song that made you go crazy?

“Age of Love”, Jam & Spoon Mix

What’s the last song that made you go crazy?

Ryoichi Kurokawa's A/V performances

What song will you never drop???

If by "never drop" you mean love forever, then Autechre "Corc." If you mean never play, well I don't usually DJ other people's music so I don't have to worry about that!

Funniest request you’ve ever gotten?

"Can you play more like you were 10 minutes ago?"

Most memorable DJ experience?
Tie between Mutek 2005 at Musee Juste pour Rire and Festival Echos Sonores in Tunisia

Biggest fail of your career?

When the windows error sound played during a set in an ambient room

I say Piknic, you say...church

Monsieur Seb is what we call an OG. He's been a DJ for 25 years and knows the local electronic music scene front, back and side to side.

He will be playing from 4pm to 7pm on the STM stage this sunday May 30. Don't miss it.

Check out this Q&A we did with him, you might learn a thing or two.

State your name:

Monsieur Seb aka J. Sébastien Chicoine, formerly known as DJSC (switched monikers when I moved back to Mtl in 98)

How did you get into this?

I've been DJing for 25 years and I got into it first because music has been the central part of my life forever. So, when I started going out to clubs (WAY before I was of legal age), it was perfectly normal to me that I was drawn to the DJ booth where I would watch the DJ do his thing all night. So I equipped myself and started practicing and doing re-edits with a tape deck. Eventually, that DJ he asked me to step in for him one night and voilà...

What’s your ideal setup to rock a crowd?

After schlepping record crates around for years (my back still hates me for it) and later whole books of CDs, I now play with M-Audio's Torq Xponent, a MacBook Pro and an iPod as the track database. Other than that, just a good PA and proper monitoring.

What do you usually bring to a picnic?

Food, wine, my girl and my kids.

What’s the first song that made you go crazy?

“Careful with that Axe, Eugene” by Pink Floyd, but not a good crazy. I was about 2 and being babysat by my very young uncles who got high and played that very loud. I was so scared by that scream in the track...

What’s the last song that made you go crazy?

There's one every day, but today's was Jam Hot (Tensnake Remix) by Johnny Dynell

What song will you never drop???

Nothing. Everything has its place, if brought in properly, but there are some I'm totally sick of after playing commercial clubs for many years... First that comes to mind is ABBA's fucking “Dancing Queen.”

Funniest request you’ve ever gotten?

Same as every other DJ, I guess: "Hay! Do you have that track that goes *imitates a 4/4 beat*"...

Most memorable DJ experience?

Quite a few, but the standout is definitely a morning set at a rave in Quebec City, back in 1995. It was on the 10th floor of an empty office tower and while the sun rose, there was a very light snowfall. Riding up the elevator when you got there and hearing the music grow louder and louder was quite an experience in itself! Plus, as far as I remember (and was told afterwards), it was one of my best sets ever.

Biggest fail of your career?

Me, fail? :) I often stop the track that's playing because I'm distracted. And there's that time where I played a really shitty venue and had to play my monitor so loud that it caught on fire. I was almost totally deaf for about 24 hours after that...

I say Piknic, you say...Yay!!!

Here's a sweet mix by Lucie Lebel spotted on noerg.com.

She will be playing the closing set with Jeff Fontaine this sunday May 23 for the first Piknic of the season.

Enjoy.

We also did a short Q&A with Lucie. Check it out!

How did you get into this?

Amour inconditionnel... pour la musique.

What’s your ideal setup to rock a crowd?

Put on a smile and drop some hot tunes.

What do you usually bring to a picnic?

Best friends and family.

What’s the first song that made you go crazy?

Isolée - Beau mot plage.

What’s the last song that made you go crazy?

Lots of em make us go crazy! Hard to pick only one!!

What song will you never drop???

Celles que je n'ai pas dans mon sac!

Funniest request you’ve ever gotten?

Une fois la barmaid m'a demandé de mettre de la musique pour les vieux!

Most memorable DJ experience?

Jeff: Opening for Deep Dish GU 025 Launch party @ Cielo, NYC.

Lucie: Je le sais déjà que mon expérience va être de jouer au piknic!!!

I say Piknic, you say...

Of course.

On les veut tellement à Igloofest!!!

http://www.thefader.com/2010/05/20/video-premiere-buraka-som-sistema-buffalo-stance/

Here's a nice little video of Kevin Yost performing with his group at Nabilah Beach Club in Naples.

He will be on deck this sunday at Piknic to launch the season with a 2-hour DJ set.

Don't miss it!

Mary Anne Hobbes recently performed a great set here in Montreal after being stuck in North America for a week due to the Volcano drama we all heard about. If you're not familiar with Hobbes, she's an internationally-known British journalist and host of her BBC program which is widely recognized as one of the first platforms and springboards for the Dubstep movement. She's also a wicked DJ and a very humble person.

She spoke with Phillipe Renaud from La Presse about her experience with music. Great read. Check it out here. And remember, if you wanna give her music, use a USB not a CD ;)

She will be performing at Piknic @ Osheaga #1 alongside Lazer Sword, Roska, Hovatron, and E.S.L.