Day for night

>> François Fournier wants the rhythm to get you

by PENNY G

After years of underground infamy, the New York City Sunday afternoon, sweaty, soulful house celebration that is Body & Soul has come to Montreal--sort of. It's called Eclipse and it's at Groove Society, so François K and Joe Claussell might be conspicuously absent, but François Fournier just may be there. "François who?" you ask? Not being a DJ or a producer, it's unlikely you've heard of the chap. He's one of those behind-the-scenes types who make things happen in nightclubs. Besides the day-clubbing Eclipse thing, he's also been concocting a Sonic Showroom and a Thursday house happening over at Jingxi. When the Mirror got wind of what Fournier was up to, we rang him up and grilled him.



Mirror: So, with Eclipse, were you inspired by NYC's Body & Soul?

François Fournier: Yeah, that's for sure what inspired us to do it. We wanted to do a tea dance, more like 3-11 p.m., but now it's more like day clubbing: we go from 10 in the morning till 5 at night. We want to tell people, "You can go out during the day!" You don't have to go crazy on your weekend. When you stay out all night long, it's difficult to recover if you have to work on Monday. Some people just come for a drink, but still, the majority have come from partying.

M: And the atmosphere?

FF: Very open, very friendly. Sure, some people have been out all night long and some take drugs, but it's always peaceful, they've come for the music, to dance. Everything's peace, everything's okay. On Saturday, we're the only day clubbing, and we're doing really well.

M: And what about your Sonic Showroom?

FF: Well, I used to have a bar called Liquid and it's kind of an extension of that. The Showroom is in the ex-Unity Pub, and we're making it like a cabaret, a loungey showroom. We want to make a very warm atmosphere, not a big, huge party. It starts as a cinq-à-sept with Mightykat then it goes into Pink Feria with some really smooth, deep house, then it's Slap until the end. We have a good partnership with Haute Couture Records who are helping me bring in electronic bands every week and it's only three bucks, so, it's like, c'mon down!

M: So it's an electronic talent showcase?

FF: Yeah, but there's definitely some rhythm in there. It's very electronic, but it's not minimal.

M: And what about your Jingxi Thursdays?

FF: That's me and my DJ friend Gene D, a straight-up house night and it's ladies night, free drinks until 1 a.m. This week it's Luc Raymond. On the 22nd, it's the Ninja Tune Tour with DJ Food.

M: So, are you on some kind of nightlife mission?

FF: Eclipse is more of a mission. It's a product that hasn't been exploited here much, it's a new market. We're trying to push something different, a trend from New York. With Sonic, again, it's something different. I don't see an electronic night in Montreal with different live shows every week, and with Haute Couture, we're bringing high quality stuff in there. Sure, there are a lot of big DJs, but we've got a lot of smaller talents in this city too. Montreal is one of the greatest cities in the world for nightlife. People can't believe that we're such a small city where the nightlife is concentrated, but it's incredible!