The MUTEK festival kicks off this Tuesday in an eclectic atmosphere where electronic music meets and goes hand in hand with digital creativity. On the menu: something to explore, discover, marvel at and, of course, dance. Overview.
“MUTEK has a particularity and that is that it mainly presents live performances, unlike DJ sets. The festival community knows it, but the public doesn’t necessarily know it. Marie-Laure Saidani, from the MUTEK programming team, knows that the event is a niche one, which the curious discover with pleasure, but which some may find more intimidating to approach.
The Montreal electronic music scene knows the reputation of the festival and understands that there is plenty to be satisfied with when the genre appeals to us.
But perhaps MUTEK still needs to be demystified a bit for the general public, despite the festival celebrating its 24th anniversary this year. So we have live electronic music performances. For the programming team, this often means convincing artists to take the plunge and take the risk of presenting their music by playing it live, putting their creativity at the service of the present moment.
“There is only one indoor DJ set this year and it will be that of Jennifer Cardini, says Marie-Laure Saidani. She is an artist who has done a lot for the stage and for the development and opening of electronic music, from my point of view. I’m so glad she’s doing our closing show. »
Many of the performances presented at MUTEK combine music and digital creation, which allows for multidisciplinary and multisensory shows. Thus, it is rarely only a question of enjoying the set live.
The MUTEK festival unfolds in different thematic series, within which we often find a heterogeneous program. For the “signature” series A/Visions, where sensory audiovisual works merge image, sound and technology, Théâtre Maisonneuve will welcome four artists “completely opposed to each other”.
At the Society for Arts and Technology (SAT), a program of immersive works and performances will be on the schedule all week in the Satosphere series.
And for those who want to meet artists they appreciate, as well as for those who want to test the waters of MUTEK, the festival presents for the second year free performances on the Esplanade Tranquille of Place des Arts. “It’s free, open to everyone, starting at 5 p.m. These are also lives that will be presented there and from 5 p.m., there will be DJ sets, ”explains Marie-Laure Saidani.
“It’s really the gateway to MUTEK,” she adds. You can meet people there who will tell you that you absolutely have to go see this or that artist in theaters. »
The programming welcomes many international artists, while making room for local talent, with a half-Canadian and half-Quebec line-up. “Even though the reality of the music industry means that some artists can become financially inaccessible, we manage to bring in a lot of interesting artists and we also have a lot of people approaching us to say that they want to present their projects. to MUTEK. »
“For me, it’s going to be a highlight of the festival. Hatis Noit, who is an artist from Japan, uses her voice in a rather special way because she masters overtone singing to create multiple sounds simultaneously. She makes vocal loops and accompanies them with electronics. In show, it’s completely mind-blowing. And she comes with a visual artist [Yuma Kishi], who uses artificial intelligence to generate her visuals. »
“It’s one of my favorites. It is a Montreal artist who will present for the first time live her album which will be released on an English label. The performance is called Psycho Tropical and it will be with singer King Shadrock and digital artist Emma Forgues. It’s going to be dub, reggae, dancehall. She has an ultra-interesting artistic approach. »
“Animistic Beliefs is a live duo from Rotterdam and it’s really very Dutch. They’re really going to tap into their personal Vietnamese background in there, their heritage and their culture. It’s going to be amazing. »
