Montreal's Fattal Fest Is Kinda Like If 'Mad Max' and 'Waterworld' Had a Punk Baby

Photo By Melissa Myers

Freshly dyed hair and shaved heads seem to signify the impending celebration that is the sixth annual Fattal Fest within Montreal’s punk community. In preparation for the two-day event beginning on Friday, the yard had the feel of a family field party with people and their dogs arriving from all directions to either hang out in the parking lot or watch last-minute tweaks to the stage. In the midst of it all sits festival organizer Jennifer Bobette, a punk queen on her throne, leaning her chin on a cane topped with a golden mallard head as its handle while she watches everything come together. Her efforts have brought in the bands who’ve performed over the past six years here and have also kept the show free of entry fees and without commercial sponsorship. “It’s always about money and for once, I have access to that place where it’s a community and we’re all central in the parking lot and for me, it’s just–we’re building the stage and it’s cool,” says Bobette. “It’s just a party.”

When Fattal Fest began, longevity was not its original goal. Those living at Fattal placed bets on how long the fest would run, most of them giving it no longer than five or six hours before the cops would show up and shut ‘er down. With the parking lot stage being insulated by the surrounding loft buildings, the fest has played a key part in keeping the sound of the city localized. The structure itself was built in 1907 as an industrial space, but has transformed over the past 20 years into loft spaces rented out to a variety of Montreal artists and home to many of those within the punk community. In 2012, the city tried to evict Fattal’s residents, due to incorrect zoning, but they fought back and remain in-house today. It’s like living in a space that marries the worlds of Mad Max and Water World, but is free from the conflict inherent in the narratives of both films, save the city’s unsuccessful attempt to boot out renters. The chaotic harmony that exists in this place is unlike any real or fictional setting. “They fucking worked super hard to make it come together and it came together,” says musician Michael Coda, who’s lived in the lofts for the past three years. He speaks of the experience living with tenants who are allowed free range as “fucked up, but awesome.”

Photo By Jackie Hong

Nowadays, the festival brings punk, thrash and folk music together with more than 22 bands playing and raging on for hour-long set times. Some reside in the lofts and play different instruments in a number of bands, while others feel an undeniable bond, bringing a duty and an honour to performing in front of old and new friends alike. With many of the musicians using the lofts as their jam space, bands were greeted by a kumbaya-esque comfort when those in the crowd started singing along. And on a late Friday night, performing to a room of thrashing onlookers while dripping with sweat, that band was Big Brother.

“It’s almost like, every time we arrive here there’s this initiative to feel like we’re welcome on arrival,” says Jason Nagy guitarist and vocalist of Big Brother. “The quality of friendship is limitless here.” Currently, in the middle of their East Coast tour along with tour mates the Hot Dog Kids, the four-piece band stopped by for a set. Unsurprisingly, many of them had visited or played at the Fattal lofts before, referring to the space as an “anarchists’ commune,”—a place containing a ton of mutual respect. Local band Hard Up was one of the first bands on stage Saturday morning while many of the folks, butts glued to the asphalt, were either exhausted or still awake from the night before. The band also has close ties to the Fattal lofts, having formed their roster—which includes Alex Charbonneau, Bobby Gibson, Maxim Savage and Wawa *—through meeting at the festival or practicing at the lofts. Describing their sounds as a cross between Slayer and Johnny Cash, they’ve already recorded two demos thus far and plan to partner with Emery Street Records to produce some high-quality recordings and videos before next summer.

The Barrel Heads, Photo By Jackie Hong

By Saturday evening and with the full moon shining its authority across the sky, no more than a few steps could be made without kicking or stepping on an empty beer can or water bottle. At least two people could be found with blood running down their face, those assisting them assessing the need for stitches. The sight of road rash became more prominent with fresh scrapes on faces and limbs, all, presumably, damage from the righteous mosh pits raving throughout the day and night. “The cops didn’t show up, they didn’t piss us off, there was no fight[ing] and it went really, really, really fucking smooth,” says Bobette proudly. “Because [Fattal] was free it just got bigger and bigger towards the years and it’s fucking awesome; I love it!” I don’t want to mainstream the thing but for me, I like it the way it’s going."

Melissa Myers is a writer and journalist based in Toronto. Follow her on Twitter