End of an era, beginning of a new one

Hey,

I hope you’re doing well. I’m actually in my Drummondville office as we’re Friday morning… Two more full rehearsal days to go in what has been such a memorable week on so many levels! But before getting too deep into the subject, I wanted to thank all of you who participated in the comeback of the Vinyl Vault, and of course, to congratulate the winners!!! 

If you missed the event, you can watch it here. 

Also, important news: if you’re attending this week’s concert soundchecks, here are the details regarding how this is going to work!  

Last week has been a crazy one where we’ve been mixing countless hours of rehearsals, final tour details, final merch preparation details, the ADISQ Gala, and so many deep entries from Alex’s Substack! 

Following all of what Alex shared on his Substack last week and all the joy we encounter now when it comes to us getting ready for a tour, I thought it could be great for me to share about things that made us and how we’re now entering a completely new era of our lives and journey, on both personal and collective levels. 

🎧 What I’m listening to

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - F# A# ∞ Album 

One of my favorite bands ever; pretty glad and proud they’re from Montreal! Their approach to life and music is in many ways very DIY and entrepreneurial as well as very artistic and driven by meaning and purpose. I never had the opportunity to meet them, as they’re a pretty closed and tight group of artists, but to me, this band is as real as it can get and as deeply rooted in their own values and moral compass as it also can get. What inspires me the most truly is their music! 

Montreal became a big deal in the early 2000s when Arcade Fire exploded…! So many incredible artists from coast to coast decided to move to Montreal after giving birth to so many great musical scenes all over town, bringing the city to vibrate and resonate on a worldwide scale. Amazing scenes, which, of course, just like Godspeed You, we’ve never been a part of, and where, for us, we played more often in Tokyo, London, and Paris than in Montreal itself…! 

The first thing you learn growing up in Quebec is resilience…! 

📖 Reading highlight I’m pondering

Leonard Cohen - I’m Your Man book   

I’ve been a massive Leonard Cohen fan for as long as I can remember, and for those who don’t really know him outside of his name, he was born in 1934 in Montreal to an upper-middle-class Jewish family. 

I read his book a few years ago as we were touring in Europe and I remember a part of it that still follows me on a daily basis, as this story is so familiar to us for now, it deeply resonates. And just like for Cohen, I also hope and wish this is happening to us as we’re only at the beginning of our journey! 

Leonard Cohen wrote a poetry book, his second artistic work, which he was very proud of because of its subversive and countercultural approach, especially growing up in a Jewish family driven by its core values in a quite tight Catholic society, which the Province of Quebec was hugely fond of except for some parts of Montreal, which, like ourselves and Leonard Cohen, has always been an outlaw, a countercultural force, with a huge back or side door mentality for those eager to live in the margins, especially at night! 

A few weeks or months after the release of this amazing poetry book, his editors contacted him at some point to share how disappointed they’ve been regarding the sales of the book in America, since they had only sold 4 of them. Leonard Cohen, being faithful to himself, couldn’t care less about that, still being very proud of what he gave life to, and decided to leave for New York City, where he’d go study at Columbia University. 

At some point during his days on campus, he ended up going to a popular bar where students, artists, and every misfit around loved to sip a drink or two while changing the world with counterparts! While Leonard was ordering drinks at the bar, a young man with bleached blond hair came to see him, saying, “Are you Leonard Cohen?” The Montreal poet turned around with loads of question marks in his eyes wondering who in the world knows me here before answering, "I am yes, who’s asking?!" The young man answered, “I’m a massive fan of your last book, and me and my friends over there all bought it, and would be delighted if you could join us for a drink. It’s on us!"

Leonard was like, "Yes, of course," and without knowing, he sat at the table and got introduced to the entire formation of The Velvet Underground, who all were sitting with Andy Warhol himself! The young guy with the blonde hair was Lou Reed. In the book Leonard says, “And just like that I was seated with my 4 US customers, all parts of the greatest minds of their generation!”

This, to me, what art is all about! This also happens to me more and more every time we’re going to Montreal for an event like the ADISQ Gala, younger artists mentioning, “Hey man, I started my band, my label, my management company or else because of you guys!”

I truly have a love/hate relationship with that phrase! Truly the end of an era…! #resilience 

🎧 Podcast I’ve Enjoyed The Most

How I Built This - VICE 

Here’s another example of resilience rooted in Montreal! Here’s someone who started something that completely changed the media landscape worldwide: Suroosh Alvu with Vice Media! 

10 years ago, as our former band Your Favorite Enemies started its decline, imploding on personal levels, I started to listen to this NPR podcast trying to find ways and ideas to get this resilience of ours to work since, clearly, we weren’t the only ones walking that path, and it’s more often than not through that path that great ideas are born! I must have been listening to pretty much every podcast of this show for a few years in a row, as it was so inspiring to me! 

I’ve never been a big fan of Vice Media, but when I listened to this podcast, it really inspired me! Montreal is home to very dark alleys and underground corners where I also sadly ended up hanging as a late teenager before I met what became my true family with Alex, Isabel, Sef, and Ben around 2002. I could truly relate to this junky who not only became an entrepreneur but also shook very well-established empires by sharing his views of the world. 

Those thoughts came back to mind as I was looking at all those artists running toward the stage to pick up their well-deserved trophy, hoping longevity would also be invited to the after-party, since in this industry of ours, that word ain’t sexy…! Sadly! 

But there we were, and our presence was a living testimony of how we built this and how we’ll build what is the beginning of a new era!   

📸 My Picture Of The Week 

ADISQ 2019 

This picture was taken at the same event, ADISQ, but back in 2019 when Alex’s album Windows in the Sky was nominated for Anglophone Album of the Year! Our very first time at this gala since we started as a band in 2006 and a label in 2009! 

Guess what happened? We didn’t win! 

💬 Shared in the Long Shadows Chat this week

"Many of the best things in life are endless. The important stuff has no finish line."

Of course last week’s chat was a hard one for me to choose from since so many great things have been shared in it all week long! Oli arrived on Sunday which enlightens greatness right away and also always brings us to share how incredible every rehearsal day has been and how much of a blessing it is for us to be working with him! 

Countless words have been sent to Alex following our presence at the Gala and leaving with empty hands… 

Alex’s Substack are obviously at the epicenter of our conversations as they always are so meaningful, filled with beautiful invitations to bring the conversation higher and to embrace freedom, friendship and love over anything else!  

But it’s that sentence that struck me the most…! Such a beautiful and powerful line! Not an easy task to figure out endless things from our mortal and material perspectives. But I think that aiming for what’s endless no matter if it’s from a project we do, our relationships, or the intentionality we inject into why we do things, in our conversations, gives life such a depth of reason. It’s almost scary how much beauty can be created by incorporating this idea into our daily lives! 

Let’s be great to one another! 

Your friend and Chief Operator, 
Jeff 

PS: I’m now finalizing this missive from my Cologne hotel room where we came for a pre-production day before starting the tour on Wednesday! As we were all united in the Air Canada lounge before leaving, Alex made a wonderful toast to a complete new era on every possible level…! Cheers to you all!

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