DATE WITH DESTINY: Plastik Patrik

by Lorraine Carpenter

You may know Plastik Patrik as a DJ at Saphir’s Friday-night Panic party, as an emcee at Halloween screenings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, as a part-time member of Québécois rock band Porn Flakes, as the curator of Divers/Cité’s Sex Garage concert series, or even as a receptionist at Coupe Bizarre. But many of us still know him as a punk rock frontman, even though One976, once a staple of the Best of Montreal’s Most Outrageous Band category, has been defunct since 2004. “I felt that we had reached a plateau in terms of where we’d play and the crowds that we’d play to,” says Patrik.

Though they earned a sizeable fanbase locally, toured regionally and up and down the East Coast and eventually caught the attention of major labels, the democratically organized band reached a creative impasse. “Our shows needed to be refreshed, they needed new songs, and they just weren’t coming. It wasn’t clicking, so we amicably parted ways.”

The good news is that Plastik Patrik et les Brutes are ready to rock. Last winter, Patrik sought out the skills of Ryan Battistuzzi, producer of prominent local bands such as the Stills and Malajube. The pair let the songs evolve in the studio, sometimes for months, before bringing in the band: Breastfeeders guitarist Sunny Duval, rhythm guitarist Steve Nadeau, bassist Philippe Duong, drummer Francis Fugère and keyboardist/vocalist Vicky Martel. The latter four were already a unit, all members of the bands Young Souls and Killing Venus.

Although Patrik initially collaborated on songwriting with members of One976, the tunes blossomed during the time he took to experiment with different styles, and find his voice again.

“I enjoyed the punk rock screaming and the whole attitude, the whole wham-bang-thank-you-ma’am kind of songs,” he says, “but I wanted to try other things too, so I really went all out, had no barriers, tried country, reggae, disco, rock opera, blah blah blah, and ended up with a nice little set of 13 songs.”

He’s currently shopping for a label, so don’t look for that record just yet. There are four songs on the band’s MySpace page, however, all French-language rockers coated with hard candy, apart from the long, cool disco track “À Minuit.” And yes, Patrik plays the accordion on the record, a little piece of One976 that he’s happy to retain.

“It was really a stand-out, it always did really well in the show. I love that image of me standing up there with the accordion, playing a torch song.”

And it won’t be long before he’s standing up there again. Prior to planning the mass production of their record, the band is preparing for what Patrik thought would be a low-key first concert at this weekend’s Sex Garage after-party. He says he’s surprised by the media’s interest in his nascent project, but he’s hardly sweating it.

“I’m thinking it’s just destiny, and I’m ready. The band is tight and I don’t feel too much pressure. I like working with the chaos. I’m kind of digging it.”

With DJs Pat Dynamite
and Jordan Dare at
le National on Saturday,
Aug. 4, 10 p.m., $15

LIFE OF THE PARTY: Vive la Fête

by Andrea Zanin

The live performance program at this week’s Divers/Cité festival is nothing if not, well, diverse. Here’s the lowdown on the hoedown.

Tonight, Thursday, Aug. 2, catch the annual installment of 1, Boulevard des rêves at the Loto-Québec Stage in Émilie-Gamelin park. After an hour-long set by DJ Mister Smith at 6 p.m., you’ll be treated to three and a half hours of song from a cornucopia of Quebec voices spanning the range from blues to jazz to pop. If you were disappointed when a surprise storm cut the show short last year, take heart—a number of the rained-out artists are back to make up for it! Among many others, the line-up includes well-known mother-daughter duo Johanne Blouin and Élizabeth Blouin-Brathwaite.

If you’re a longtime festivalgoer, you already know where to find all the cool alterna-queers on Saturday. Where else but Sex Garage? At the corner of Berri and René-Lévesque (note the new location), beloved Montreal gender-bender Plastik Patrik brings you a new instalment of the city’s favourite wickedly trashy glam-electro-rock event, from 5–11 p.m. Interspersed with various DJ sets, catch post-punk dandies the Mission District at 6:30 p.m., Frigid at 8 p.m. with tracks from his 2006 release Bedroom Sessions, and Belgian electro band Vive la Fête at 9:30 p.m. with material from their fifth album, Jour de Chance.

VAMP CAMP: Las Hermanas Vampiro

But where is Divers/Cité’s much-anticipated Latin night? Well, it’s become a Latin afternoon and evening instead—Cachondo, la Fiesta Latina, with hours more music to keep your salsa hips wiggling. Instead of occupying the usual Thursday-night slot, this year the rhythms begin at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 5, at the Berri/René-Lévesque stage. DJ Fernando “Loco” Baldeon warms up the audience for the energetic Afro-beat, reggae and Latin rhythms of homegrown band Psychotropical Orchestra. Following that, samba dance troupe Viva Brazil performs with 10 Brazilian percussionists, and choreographer José Navarro’s piece Kongal brings the sultry ambience of bygone-era Latin nightclubs to the stage. The trio Las Hermanas Vampiro does Latin-style drag, and to crown the event, Academy Award-winning Mexican singer Lila Downs graces the stage with her intensely powerful voice.

For full info, go to
www.diverscite.org