Me Mom & Morgentaler • Deja Voodoo • Mado Lamotte • Ellen Gabriel • Francine Pelletier • Ivan • Michael Pintard and amuna baraka-clarke • Mark Achbar and Peter Wintonick • Pascale Bussières • Steve Galluccio • Michel Tremblay • James DiSalvio • Nicole Brossard • Édouard Lock • Mack Mackenzie • David Fennario • John Kastner • GrimSkunk • Cecil Seaskull • Gros Michel • Ian Stephens • Great Antonio • Harry Mayerovitch • Robin Spry • François Gourd • The Gruesomes • Tiga • Five poor neighbourhoods

The Grateful Dead, or possibly KISS, of ska

Members of Me Mom & Morgentaler recall the days robots, spaceships and shooting feet already in mouths

by RUPERT BOTTENBERG

While widescale success consistently eluded them, here at home in Montreal during the early ’90s, Me Mom & Morgentaler were the biggest thing going. Their hyperactive mish-mash of ska, punk, pop and polka, and shows that were equal parts the Clash, Dr. Seuss and P.T. Barnum, earned MM&M near-deity status, never to mention three Mirror covers. The Mirror managed to locate all but two members—original accordionist Kasia Hering and replacement drummer Andrew Rishikoff—for a little reminiscing.

Mirror: In May of 1992, Me Mom & Morgentaler were voted Best Montreal Group and Best Local Show in the Mirror’s Best of Montreal issue—the first MM&M Mirror cover appearance. What do you recall about that period in the band’s career?

Kim Bingham (vocals): We were untouchable, kings and queens of our domain—which was the bubble of the Montreal music scene. Our first ambition was basically to be as big as Sons of the Desert, who would pack Foufounes in their heyday, so once we surpassed that, everything else was a bonus to milk the shit out of.

Gus “Van Go” Coriandoli (guitar/vocals): The certainty that we were doing something unique and cool. We felt strongly about things and weren’t afraid to make big statements. We were always sticking our necks out—we called it “putting our foot in our mouths then shooting it off”—but we didn’t give a shit, as long as we were raising a stink and engaging a debate.

John Jordan (saxophone): 1992 was the year our album Shiva Space Machine languished in post-production for seemingly an eternity while our management looked for a record label willing to sign us. We couldn’t understand for the life of us how we could be—according to Mirror readers, anyway—Montreal’s best band and not have someone interested in releasing what we thought was a great album. So in the meantime, we just kept on doing what we were best at doing—putting on outrageous spectacles and entertaining the masses.

Adam “Bix” Berger (trumpet): We were at our peak and trying to top ourselves with every show. I remember selling out the Spectrum a bunch of times but never making a dime. We spent all our money on props—cannons, Velcro spacesuits, robots, unicycles, you name it. Also, while we were thrilled to be on the cover of the Mirror, we were also wary of issues of “selling out” and “playing the game”—how Montreal! What was the line? We shot ourselves in the feet and put them in our mouths?

Matt Lipscombe (bass): I don’t really remember 1992. I think it had something to do with firing off cannons, chopping down wooden crosses with chainsaws and surfing over the audience in a spaceship. I found out much later that getting intoxicated on various psychedelic substances and going to a Morgentaler show was the thing to do at that time—sort of like the Grateful Dead of ska.

Sid Zanforlin (drums): We actually did put all of ourselves into those Vaudeville shows and our music. We wanted to be the Kiss of ska.

Noah Green (accordion): I was 19 when I joined Me Mom, supposedly just for the summer. We played a couple of shows in Quebec and southern Ontario, and then I was going back to school in the fall. But the end of the little tour felt more like a beginning than an ending, and I spent the next three years with them.

Organized chaos

M: Me Mom & Morgentaler were again on the cover in June of 1999, for the story I wrote about your reunion shows at the Jazz Fest. What stands out for you about that reunion?

JJ: I had the (mis)fortune of producing the shows, and while it was a great learning experience, it isn’t something I’d ever consider doing again. Coordinating everyone’s schedules and demands was no picnic. But the actual experience of seeing everyone again, coming together as a musical entity, was nothing short of sublime. Gus and Kim especially had become such talented frontpersons that I was as entertained by them as the crowd was. And out of that, I also got to make a documentary, so we’ll all have something to show our kids one day.

KB: The reunion show was a sweatfest, literally. I could see steam hanging over the crowd up to the ceiling. Everyone was losing their minds. Pretty much nothing had changed, because we jumped right back into the familiarity of MM&M’s organized chaos. If someone wants to pay us enough money, I’m sure we’d do it again. Reunion 2010?

ML: The thing that impressed me most was how Kasia, she was involved in serious studies, was really a rock ’n’ roll chick at heart. Four years after the breakup of the band, she’d hardly touched the accordion the whole time, but man, could she play accordion the night of the show. You could always depend on her!

John Britton (percussion): We got paid more money than we ever got during any MM&M period. As much as I loved it, though, I’m glad it came to an end. At least we never let a good thing go bad. There were no floggings of dead horses.

SZ: We got along really well. So well, we actually considered recording another album, but at that point we realized we had all had closure from the band and decided to just enjoy the moment one last time. That, and get drunk together.

AB: It really was like a dysfunctional family reunion, wedding or wake. Lots of laughs and drama too. I remember making sure I enjoyed every moment on stage and dug into every note since it wasn’t likely I’d get to jump around like an idiot while playing trumpet like that again. I also remember thinking, “Hey, we don’t suck!”

Mondo Me Mom

M: What are you up to now? Are you playing music?

AB: Just around the house for fun. I now live vicariously through bands and have my own management company, Marathon Management, in New York. Among our bands are Montrealers the Stills and Priestess. Also, my wife and I are expecting a baby girl this January! There’s a Morgentaler joke in there somewhere, but I’m not going to touch it!

GC: I’m now a studio producer—the Stills, Priestess et al.—helping young bands out the way no one did for me back in the day!

KB: Since MM&M, I’ve put out two indie records, one as Mudgirl (First Book EP, 1996) and the other as the Kim Band (Girlology, 2001). My songs have been covered by bands in Europe and the States. I toured the world with my bands and as guitarist/vocalist for David Usher, and then for Nelly Furtado. Currently, I’m finishing up the score for the new Radio-Canada TV series Les Invincibles, and am putting together songs for my next record.

JB: Other than jamming with a few people and doing the odd live gig, I’m basically following my journalism dreams. I’ll be getting my journalism certificate at the end of the year. I’ve contributed to Word! and Chart, and I’m freelancing with MartiniBoys.com (Toronto edition) right now. I’m also going to be running a shop early in the new year, selling primarily shoes and fashion accessories.

JJ: Post-Morgentaler, I had the pleasure of sitting in with a few bands I really like—the Kingpins, the Planet Smashers, the Dears, the Undercovers and UVBC, among others. I cut an album with a group called the Atwood 9 when I lived in NYC for a few months, and that was a blast. Then, in 2001, I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and my world sort of fell apart. I lost a lot of friends, my apartment, my job and my ability to earn a living. Like the Morphine song goes—I lost everything I had... starting over from scratch. One day I’ll pick up a horn again and blow, but for now it’s just me, a guitar I can barely play and a few songs in my head.

ML: I’m writing songs for my first English-language record, under the name Matt Lipscombe. I’m also putting together a musical with some talented kids in St-Michel. It’s something we created together and it’s called Les fleurs du ghetto, a Broadway-style musical about juvenile prostitution, a phenomenon which really goes on in St-Michel and other places too. People need to know about it. We do it in an entertaining way, with lots of dark humour and music. Still, the message is there. Needless to say, it’s creating shock waves as we prepare to tour the high schools with it.

NG: Now I’m in Barcelona, helping spread the global dominance of the English language.

SZ: I left Montreal for six years and worked as a cameraman on Hollywood films. I came back two years ago and have since directed theatre, short films and TV, and started the band Creature. Damn, I love this friggin’ city!