Footprintz

Addy and Clarian tell the story of Footprintz, an enchanting duo from the heart of Montreal who, since their coming together as pirates in a past life many moons ago, have joined forces with the infamous production, DJ and label foursome of Visionquest, to release their debut EP; Utopia. Haunting yet soothing, the dreamy pop and warm, slow-mo sounds of Footprintz become more engaging as you encounter the combined imaginations of Addy and Clarian, who comfortably (and humorously) express themselves through story telling, fantasies, poetry and music. Casey van Reyk chats with Addy and Clarian about their debut performance in Miami a few months ago, the blossoming Canadian music scene, mythical creatures, secret studios and confidant shoes.

Download Pulse.033 - Footprintz

Pulse: Tell me about the history of Footprintz, how did the two of you meet and come to writing music together? Clarian: I was building a spaceship in high school when my chain-smoking headmaster tried to steal the blueprints to my designs. Whilst threatening me I managed to hypnotize him with my third eyeball all in a plan I had to borrow his fancy hat for a cool party I was going to that night to impress Tania. After meeting Addy at the party and telling him, and a group of calendar super models the story, he thought I was by far the most sophisticated kid there and requested my friendship. I accepted and then next thing we knew we were knee deep in sounds and stuff.
 
Addy: I was initially quite weary of Clarian; because when we did meet at Sona [Tiga's afterhours club in Montreal] he was wearing a very funny looking hat that appeared to be stolen. When I learnt that the hat was in fact stolen, and from the headmaster of his school, a headmaster whom everyone talked about, I was admittedly, quite impressed, and amused. A couple of years later we met again at an Adam Cohen concert which we were mutually disappointed with. We both loved Leonard but were not so impressed with his son. I think we started playing music together around that time. We were 18 years old.
 
Your emergence from Montreal comes at a time when we are seeing a wealth of talented artists from Canada come to rise. Do you think this can be attributed to a certain feeling or vibe within a cities artistic community? C:Nice question. People who come from the same or even opposite ends of the world and yet somehow seem inspired and propelled by similar invisible forces is a question for the ages. Sort of like in Star Wars, how Luke knows instinctively Leah is his sister even though they grew up so far away from each other, so that his affection is instantaneously brotherly. Not to mention she’s one of the most beautiful princesses in all the galaxies. Coincidence. I think not.
 
A: Very often incredible discoveries and advancements are made from different people in different places, but at the same time. Not positive I really know why or how this happens. I do believe in some form of telepathy and definitely in the presence of some kind of a higher being, though. Also, Montreal's a very charming city. 
 


On the contrary, your music is quite different to that of other artists from Canada such as My Favorite Robot and Art Department. What elements of your surroundings and community can we hear in your music, if any at all? C: Our music failingly attempts a captivation of smoked meat sandwiches, seedy strip clubs, Pretentious French Libraries, Igloos and our local mythical creature Fluckalis, the half homeless, half pigeon abomination that has terrorized our otherwise interpreted European streets since the dawn of French bakeries. Addy always says I put my life into my work and he puts his work into his life, or maybe the other way around. Actually maybe it’s something else entirely. In terms of music, I love the recent music that comes out of Canada like Turbo stuff, Caribou, Art Department, Dave K, Spaceman, The Unsettlers and My Favorite Robot to name a few. 
 
A: There are two places in Montreal that have an immense influence on my contribution to Footprintz. The first is a French bistro called L'express. The Second is a studio located in an alleyway in downtown Montreal that has no address and is completely untraceable. We refer to it as "The Lost Star". The Lost Star is owned and operated by a mysterious cousin of mine called Spaceman, who has amassed a collection of some of the rarest and most sought-after vintage synthesizers and gear in the entire world.


 
Your current EP, Utopia, has been released on Visionquest. You've managed to debut on a widely hyped label, a label that has only had one release prior to yours. What are your thoughts on something so new being so popular? Do you find it genuine? A: It's an honour to be part of something so forward thinking and exciting. Before I even sent them music I couldn't wait to hear what they were planning to release on the label. Now that I have heard the other releases I have no doubts that the hype will speak for itself.
 
C: From my understanding of what makes Visionquest so enchanting has to do with a South African shaman and some sort of secret journey the four of them took to retrieve some sort of Jewelled Egg with mysterious powers that takes you to strange places. But that's all here-say. A gathering of people creating cosmic vibes through amazing parties, showcasing new music, and just all around sweet people to be around and party with make for a delicious combo.   

How did you hook up with the Visionquest boys? A: My friend Alexis and I first met Seth five years ago in Detroit when they did their first 'Need I Say More' party. They were offering free breakfast and Seth was at the door ID-ing people. He let me in even though I was under age and I later found out that he was under age at the time too.  A couple of months later when he got booked to play in Montreal for the first time, we had a life changing experience together (well, I did at least) and we kept in touch from there, seeing each other at different parties in different places. Eventually I sent him some music that we'd been working on and he was into it.
 
C: In a past life we were all pirates. What probably happened was the Visionquest crew was cast away at sea after defeating a great sea monster and Benoit and Sergio picked them up in a flying balloon somewhere off the coast of the edge of the world. Meanwhile, Tale of Us was commandeering with Addy and I a luxury cruise boat filled of the finest imported wine and cheese in all existence. By chance we all crossed paths by the Sea of Souls where Niki Nakazawa was a mermaid. Instead of crossing swords and pilgrimaging each other, as most regular sea ruffians would, we all decided to key our minds together and create a super pirate interstellar force to search for the greatest treasure in all the lands... After many adventures together we promised we'd meet again in a future record label. 

Do you have more releases in the pipeline with them? C: That's a good idea. A: Yeah we do.
 
Are there releases with other labels we can look out for? A: No. C: Once you go Visionquest, you don‘t go back you go sideways through space and time.
  
Its pretty dope to have Ewan Pearson remix your tune, did that excite you? Did you have a say in that? A: We were pretty ecstatic when Seth told us that Ewan was down to do the remix. Ewan also mixed both of the songs, which was huge. He did an incredible job. I love the remix and I love the mixes that he did.
 
C: Mega dope for sure... I peed myself and I'm sorry to say so.
 


How would you translate Utopia and Golden Dreams (both on the Utopia EP) into words? A: When I think about those two songs I think about the magic of 40's music, escape, disaster, desire, and altered states of consciousness.

C: If I had a little money and didn't fantasize half as often as I do, she'd fall in love with me and not ignore my facebook friendship requests.

I like checking your facebook regularly as you often post interesting music from other artists and interesting words and / or poetry. Who’s behind this? A: Well actually a lot of the time its Clarian fulfilling his addiction to communicate and express his thoughts to the world. But yeah, we try and post things that we’re interested in, songs and videos that inspire us and that we think are cool.
 
C: Thanks. Yeah you know it's really fun. Its mostly Addy, though, fulfilling his addiction to post up videos and snippets of things he claims we both like. 

You recently played the Visionquest pool party in Miami, how was it? A: It was wonderfully otherworldly and surreal.
 
C: It was a wet dream. A little raw around the edges since it was the first official show for us but the taste has only compelled us to kick it up another notch for the next and I'm excited to gain the progression through these fun experiences.

What other gigs have you played recently? C: We played a secret show in an enchanted art gallery in Montreal under the projections of the beautiful imaginings of Sally Sherwood, some strange woodland creature who lives in the trees with a group of other Montrealites up in the mountain. We like to keep our shows secret to a point where sometimes we don't even know about them.

A: We played at a friend’s art gallery in between two beautiful sets by Leah Lazonick who was accompanied by a string quartet. 

Tell me about your performance, what’s involved in your show? C: I view our current show as an interpretive gypsy duo or live band style rather than a DJ act. We vary, sometimes acoustic but mainly with a Juno, electric guitar, vocals, drum machines, computer. Addy owns lots of fun gear, just tough to move everything around. Addy also eats a baseball bat on occasion, and on occasion, Addy also reads poetry. We both love Italo, painted faces, silver capes and confident shoes.

A: Well put Clarian, everything you said is absolutely true.

Casey van Reyk

Footprintz on Pulse