Sludge puppy

Montreal’s Meta Gruau like it messy

GO FOR BROKE: Meta Gruau

By LORRAINE CARPENTER

“The term I like is like ‘synth sludge,’” says Julien Bakvis, singer and drummer for Meta Gruau. In practice, the band’s punk muscle and electronic edge grapple together and grip audiences from the get-go, but when it comes to theory, Bakvis prefers a little mystery.

“The goal of this band is just to have fun playing. With Melissa [Di Menna] playing keyboards and Julien [Michalak] on guitar and synth, and me playing my drums, it always ends up sounding like Meta Gruau, whatever we do.”

Launched in 2006 as a side project to his other band, Jacquemort (currently “on ice”), Meta Gruau was just Bakvis and his computer until he was asked to play a show. After deciding against a one-man karaoke set-up, he recruited Di Menna and Michalak (the latter a Jacquemort bandmate), and the first gig went so well that they decided to stay together.

“They transformed my compositions,” says Bakvis. “Melissa has a very catchy electropop style in her keyboard playing and Julien is more noisy with his synth plugged into his guitar—he’s kind of an equipment freak.”

For a band of artists as well as musicians, and ones enamoured with punk rock to boot, making their own recordings, sleeves and posters is par for the course. But getting signed to a label of any kind isn’t a priority at this stage, so they’re getting the word out by releasing a single on their own.

“The goal of playing music is, you want people to know about you and to come see your show,” says Bakvis. “But this way, it’s still a dream come true for all the DIY people.”

Meta Gruau has built up a small fanbase after playing a series of sweaty sets last year, but a show that’s good for the audience isn’t necessarily good for the band.

“For us, a good show, something bad has to happen,” says Bakvis. “We need to get electrocuted or a piece of equipment needs to break. Maybe the worst was when my drums broke and Julien broke his guitar. We’re trying to be more careful about trashing the equipment. It’s kind of expensive.”

With Pédo Pedro et ses enfants at l’Escogriffe
tonight, Thursday, Aug. 7, 9:30 p.m.