More than Björk: this month-long event is changing the lives of Canadian music makers

As Piknic Electronik — a weekly EDM festival held on Montreal's Parc Jean-Drapeau — winds down for the 2016 season, its adherents gather to snap commemorative photos of the cityscape from across the St. Lawrence River. Like a superhero, Montreal assumes an alternate identity come nightfall. It's the same with this evening's DJ set. This send-off instalment of Piknic is the ushering-in of a force that has newly swooped down upon the city's arts scene from on high: the reputable and rowdy Red Bull Music Academy, which commenced in late September and will continue into the final week of October.
 

It seems only natural that the Academy series would eventually follow the northern star to Quebec. Ever since its 1998 inception, the five-week observance has materialized just thrice in North America (in New York, Seattle and Toronto). The event originated in Berlin — a metropolis that's often touted for having a kindred frequency to Montreal, from the DIY loft spaces to the cheap rent to the fringe arts communities. Montreal is also an apt backdrop because it's abounding with beatmakers who go unsung past city limits, and RBMA's mandate partially involves tapping into the authentic pulse of their destination's underground — while keeping some sights set higher, of course, because Red Bull gives you wings.

There are countless aspects that make this month an exhilarating one to be in Montreal. For starters, Iggy Pop came through to talk his idiosyncratic career.

The once-industrial, currently-gentrifying Griffintown neighbourhood was able to honour its roots with an all-Canadian lineup of the most instrumental Québécois noise and drone acts.
 

A Canadiana spin was brought to the classic pairing of roller skates and upbeat music by relocating to an indoor ice skating rink soundtracked by DâM FunK.

​Inuk throat singer Tanya Tagaq and Toronto hardcore group Fucked Up joined forces for the first time ever.

Astoundingly, these were merely highlights from Term One. The RBMA's upcoming weeks still boast solo Tiga and Sampha concerts, an exploratory audio showcase that employs underwater speakers within the Montreal Olympic Pool, and last but hardly least, two Björk DJ sets. The boundary-smashing Icelander will similarly be premiering a brand new virtual reality music video as part of a digital exhibition housed at DHC/ART.

While Montreal's nightlife circuit is being treated to a jolt of liquid energy, there is still work to be done by day.

The Phi Centre — a mutable, multipurpose arts Eden inside a restored heritage building — has been temporarily rendered into a palace of slick recording spaces. Local interior designer Zébulon Perron was commissioned to apply a unique visual outfit to every studio, with the hallways meanwhile lined by works from over 20 Montreal artists. This is the home away from home for the 70 up-and-coming musicians who comprise this year's Academy class of '16.

One afternoon, the RBMA swings open its doors to the public. Guests peer in upon fledgling producers at work behind studio windows, not unlike captivating zoo animals. In a soundproofed session room, rough copy lyrics lay scrawled against a music stand: "What goes around comes back around / It's like a circle spinning round and spinning round." The Academy's namesake beverage is stocked in glistening mini-fridges around every corner.

Hailing from all points on the globe, the class is assured but a few things: one month locked in the studio, a myriad of opportunities to rub shoulders with peers and receive coaching from the industry's greatest, and the chance to unveil their growth at any of the live events orchestrated throughout the city.

Canadian pupils of the Academy include Toronto-based Casey MQ, a Canadian Film Centre-approved composer who dabbles in groove-laden pop with his band Unbuttoned; Sayge, a chameleon of genre currently piqued by contemporary R&B; Marie Davidson, who makes up half of the Montreal synth duo Essaie Pas; and River Tiber, the Toronto-raised producer who's complemented Drake and Kaytranada on some of their biggest tracks and lent a hand to the upcoming Nelly Furtado album.

A lecture series, which is archived here, allows the participants to mine tidbits of wisdom from those who have made it in the business. Kaytranada was one of the keynote speakers, whose acclaimed 99.9% was recently awarded the Polaris Prize — the first for a black artist. His rendition of Janet Jackson's "If," which he reveals he remixed feeling inspired one 4 AM, garnered him phone calls from both Madonna and Jackson herself.

​Kaytra never finished high school, and carving your own path has proven to be a recurring theme amongst RBMA affiliates. To pursue a career in the arts is to inherently throw some caution to the wind, and a considerable amount of the young Academy participants strayed from more conventional avenues to be dropout music makers and dreamers of dreams.

In her address, Tanya Tagaq discussed serendipitous recording and touring with Björk — as well as the enduring PTSD faced by Native Canadians due to the painful history of government maltreatment. "Throat singing was a way to take some of my culture and have it in me," she empowers. "They didn't kill us. We're not dead."

"This next song...is a reminder that you are all going to die," opens French Canadian pianist Jean-Michel Blais, whose debut live collaboration with Grammy-nominated CFCF was met by a roaring standing ovation. It was, appropriately, one of the rare RBMA performances where the audience was even offered the chance to sit down. Their composition was a potent example of the meeting point between acoustic instrument and digital technology, of past tradition and future horizons.

The Red Bull Music Academy is fleeting, and before you know it will have packed up and left for another port of call. This is only the beginning, though, for the prodigies whose careers will forever have been jumpstarted by their days in Montreal. If you're willing to stay awake, just wait and see who they become at night.

Red Bull Music Academy. Until October 28, Montreal. mtl.redbullmusicacademy.com