These Two Montreal Entrepreneurs Want You to Stop Watching Events and Start Experiencing Them

Photo courtesy of La Bacchanale's official website

In a city that boasts hundreds of different concert venues, innumerable clubs—both legal and legal-ish—an increasing number of independent and big-box promoters, not to mention the proliferation of festivals dedicated to the electronic scene in Montreal, you’d be crazy to launch your career in this saturated market. Yet this is exactly what the team behind La Bacchanale and Philippe Durocher-McBrearty of MOTO Made have set out to do. Both companies rely on unorthodox techniques but have managed to stand out amongst the crowd. To find out how, we recently sat down with the people behind the logo in order to discuss the reasons behind their concepts, what they feel their competitive advantage is, and the struggles associated with jumping into this wide and competitive pool of electronic live event planning.

What became immediately clear is that both felt that the scene could use a much-needed sense of experience. Sure, clubs like New City Gas and legal after-hours such as Stereo and Circus book enviable weekly lineups of international electronic talent. But do they offer unique enough experiences to differentiate themselves from the mass of other electronic events, sometimes happening that exact same night? Both MOTO Made and La Bacchanale are attempting to offer this, albeit in very different ways. La Bacchanale is the brainchild of a group of French expats who wanted to emulate the vibrant European electronic scene and infuse it with a distinctive Montreal flavour. Organizing large-scale events every few months, they have a very clear philosophy and vision for the type of experience they hope to offer. “Basically, we want to construct an event that is not only about the music, but that builds an experience,” co-founder Victor Perchet explains. As such, they make sure that the attendee experience starts long before the actual event, and that it remains days after it has ended. This all starts with the booking: once they’ve found an artist, they set about creating a concept that fits with the artist’s style and image. For example, when they booked Jeff Mills in January, he mentioned being very inspired by Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. They used this information as the framework that would define the whole event. Whether it be the choice of venue, the pop-up tickets that turned into the famed monoliths, the construction of bars and installations, and the visuals employed, everything had a touch of Kubrick. They create film trailers in anticipation, produce high-definition pictures and videos of the actual event, and share the results with attendees and curious would-be attendees alike. “The dream, the experience, and the souvenir… those are the three elements we're trying to create,” they mention, explaining the enormous cost of production.

Photo courtesy of La Bacchanale's official website

Philippe Durocher-McBrearty’s Moto Made is a whole different beast. A one-man operation, the concept behind Moto Made can be resumed quite simply: “I wanted to bring out artists I wanted to see that no one was booking and wanted to work with artists I admire,” he explains. But this idea of experience pops back into the conversation regularly. When he talks about his future vision for Moto Made, he describes a small capacity venue, a mood, an interaction between music and visuals, creating something more visceral. In short, something not far off from what the guys at La Bacchanale are attempting to create as well.

But while the small French team go it alone, Durocher-McBrearty’s vision is made possible through extensive collaboration with existing players, such as Montreal crew Samouraïs des Jungles Urbaines. However both are quick to point out that this deeply saturated electronic market makes it not only difficult to differentiate oneself, but they’re also largely competing for the same audience. As such, they both believe the future of the scene lies in more widespread collaboration and communication between existing promoters, clubs, and electronic festivals such as Mutek, Piknic Électronik, and Igloofest. Not that the scene is necessarily competitive to the point where they’re stepping on each others toes yet, with Durocher-McBrearty quick to mention Montreal’s collaborative spirit as one of its strengths, noting that “artists and promoters from out of town are surprised by this.” The guys at La Bacchanale have yet to be fully embraced though, co-founder Martin Loutrel noting that they “didn't really know the scene when [they] first arrived,” which may have rubbed some existing promoters the wrong way. Their most recent event would seem to be a symptom of this: while they boasted Ben Klock as a headliner, they were inexplicably forced to abandon their initial venue, quickly finding an alternative in the Société des Arts Technologiques, going against their ethos of organizing shows in non-conventional venues. When attendees started asking questions on their Facebook wall as to the sudden change, they write that it’s “simple enough, but we can’t name names.” Whether this is endemic of the Montreal scene or the electronic movement as a whole is left to be seen, but this recalls the promotion wars that used to be prevalent in the Montreal nightlife scene.

Clearly, there are some common misconceptions regarding the business of event promotion, especially within the electronic sphere. When asked what are the biggest struggles they encounter in their day-to-day operations, the financial aspect is quickly brought up. Contrary to popular belief, neither La Bacchanale or Moto Made are turning a profit yet. And if there’s one thing the Montreal live concert scene is known for, it’s the significantly low price of admission. Combined with the entitlement of many scenesters who assume they’ll be given a spot on the guestlist, it becomes hard to even consider breaking even. Whereas Moto Made attempt to fall in line with this low cost of admission tradition, organizing smaller shows in smaller venues with the support of other promoters, La Bacchanale simply do not have that luxury. In wanting to deliver unique experiences, they’re forced to charge higher ticket prices than the market is accustomed to, and they’ve already faced the very real threat of bankruptcy as a result. Which begs the question: is Montreal ready and willing to consider paying more for these experiences? If house and techno aficionados chalk up hundreds of dollars for large-scale events like Île Soniq and Bal en Blanc, who benefit from significant corporate sponsorship, why won’t they support these grassroots movements? Are they not considered to be of the same calibre?

Photo via PartyWithSylvain

Regardless of these issues, both are positive about the future of both their brands and of the scene and seem scarcely undeterred. La Bacchanale have started to be finally embraced by part of the community, recently linking up with Montreal staple Salon Daomé, while promoting underground events by other independent promoters and local media, such as Eliptik Magazine. Moto Made, who’d mentioned hoping to maintain the frequency of booking one or two shows a month, have been quite busy lately, collaborating on no less than seven events in the last month alone. Meanwhile Durocher-McBrearty is slowly expanding his mission as a curation company, managing Noo-Bap and GrandBuda, two up and coming, Montreal artists. Whether their vision for the local electronic scene will be adopted by the masses is not yet clear, but judging by the response by their fervent following, it would seem to be only a matter of time before people embrace this new spirit and start demanding more. Now let’s just hope they’re willing to chalk up the necessary funds to guarantee its survival.

Scott Simpson is a writer living in Montreal. Follow him on Twitter - @imyourboombox