Shoeclack News

Imagine Toronto being destroyed by a horde of 300,000 raccoons. If that’s not enough, throw in some demons and muzzled members of Canada’s Parliament for good measure. Those are just some of the crazy ideas brought forth by Canadian novelist Will McClelland in his new book The Minted – and the backstory of its creation is just as intriguing.

Mixing blues, desert rock and refined melodies with no shortage of soul and swagger, Jesse Mac Cormack will be coming through POP Montreal with a big show at the Rialto Hall on Friday September 22. More importantly, the concert will be on the back of his newly-released EP After the Glow, just ahead of a European tour this fall. Here’s our quick chat with Jesse ahead of the show in this instalment of 5 POP questions.

Amélie Beyries knows a thing or two about bouncing back in style from extreme adversity: after surviving breast cancer, she’s signed with big-name Montreal label Bonsound, and is set to release her debut album in early 2017. With that in mind, she’ll be playing two unconventional but very anticipated shows at POP Montreal: first with Socalled at the Musée Pointe-à-Callière, and again at the rooftop of the Ubisoft building in the Mile End. Here’s our conversation with her in this instalment of our 5 POP questions series.

As a duo claiming they were born “out of a discontent with the same old shit,” I Shot Samo have proven to be capable of making music as cool as the art of the guy whose tag they named their band after – Jean-Michel Basquiat. Comprised of duo David Massé and Melissa Zappitelli, they’ve heard their music played on local rock station CHOM in addition to releasing their EP It’s Alright to See Black last November, and they'll be hitting up POP Montreal with a set at the smallish but very cozy Mile End cafe/venue Le Cagibi. We spoke to Melissa about her favourite shows in Montreal, as well as her disbelief in the idea of guilty pleasures.

Originally from Quebec City, this currently Montreal-based singer-songwriter has a songwriting palette that can extend from emotional to breezy to hypnotizing and everything in between, as she’s proven on her EP Drawing Room, released in August. She’ll be keeping herself occupied at POP Montreal this year: playing shows first at the opening BBQ on Wednesday September 21, and again at the Rialto the next night opening for John Cale, topped off by an afternoon set at Divan Orange on September 24. Here’s what she had to say to us about her favourite small venue in Montreal, as well as her newfound love of Whitney Houston.

Named after the song of another artist playing POP Montreal this year – Wally Badarou, that is, who they’re also opening for – this Montreal band has plenty of solid hooks and songwriting to match the ‘70s-meets-‘80s vibe of their tunes. Set to release their sophomore album Don't Leave Me in the Dark this month, they’ll be looking to get people’s feet working and their brains thinking at POP this year, and they’ll aim to do just that at their show on September 21 at Sala Rossa. Founding member Cam MacLean spoke to us about why he loves Italian cafes, Alanis Morissette, and Bruce Cockburn covers.