First, I want to state for the record that I LOVE the city of Montreal.  And the two times that Papermaps played Montreal (March 8, 2012 at Sala Rossa and August 11, 2012 at Divan Orange) were great experiences. Notice that I’m not counting our Pop Montreal appearance on September 20, 2012 at 3 Minots – although we did have a great time…Let me explain…

You see, way back in the 2000’s,  I was plugging away releasing music independently under the (awkward) moniker EX~PO. I had heard about this great festival based in Montreal (POP MTL) and wanted desperately to play it.  At the time I was knee deep in a very involving project (I think it was the Elephant Shell album by Tokyo Police Club) working non-stop in my studio, Chemical Sound and it was getting dangerously close to the application deadline. It really got down to the wire – to the point where I couldn’t even courier my application without it arriving late – that day I decided to bite the bullet and drive to Montreal to deliver my application by hand.  I was that desperate (this is before they started using Sonicbids).  Anyway, in addition to the usual stuff my application package included a beautiful hand-drawn jigsaw puzzle depicting a surreal landscape not unlike the cover of the 2008 EX~PO album, Central Meaner Street. I wish I took a photo of it before I dropped it off at the POP MTL offices –  handing it off, sweat dripping from my furrowed brow, to a very perplexed, possibly frightened intern…

I didn’t get in that year.  But that didn’t stop me from applying year after year.  Finally, in 2012 Papermaps was accepted into the festival. Great! But there was a problem…We couldn’t do it – not as Papermaps, anyway.  September of 2012 happened to be an awkward time for us.  The previous month we had just released and toured the Inferior Ghost EP,  our half-abandoned, nearly orphaned sophomore release meant to follow up our eponymous 2011 debut.  Don’t get me wrong.  I love and stand by Inferior Ghost – but a wrench got thrown into the project when I found myself in the position of having to shut down my recording studio right in the middle of its creation.  We had to stop writing, finish up what we had and mix the album in other studios. So what was slated to be a full-length album instead became a 6-song EP.  Then, a few weeks after the release and tour for Inferior Ghost, both Todd Harrison and Wendy Leung decided it was best they leave the band.  In retrospect, it was the right thing for both their personal lives and Papermaps but at the time it left Bobby, Betty and I unable to play most of the material from both our albums.   So when our record label expressed the opinion that we ought to put in an appearance at the festival despite our personnel problems we just felt, well not ready. Then I had an epiphany. A crazy idea…

Let me state for the record I despise irony in music.  The smell of irony, especially parody, sends me to the back of the room or to the bar every time. Pastiche can do the same thing too if not done well or interestingly. I pride myself on the fact that there is 0% irony in our music.   So when I decided that I and a hastily formed pick-up band would perform no original material at the official Papermaps POP MTL showcase at 3 Minots at the ungodly and unforgiving hour of 2AM  it seemed, in my deranged and fragile state, to make perfect sense at the time. I chose the material that best reflected my mood.  We decided to play one of my all-time favorite albums: Iggy Pop‘s, The Idiot. We played every track off that album except “Sister Midnight” and “Mass Production.”   We had a blast but it was certainly not a Papermaps show. We played it earnestly, loud and violently and in our own way – as a cathartic tribute.  BTW, the pick up band included our very own Bobby Lee on drums.  Brandon Lim (of HUSSY) on bass and Henry Shi on lead guitar (thanks for a great time, guys).  We ended up doing a second performance back home a few weeks later, just for “old times sake.”

Anyway, I’m sure the organizers over at POP MTL are either oblivious to or have forgotten about our blatant abuse of their festival last year.  Maybe not.  Either way, for whatever reason Papermaps are not in the festival this year but we would love to come to Montreal and play some original Papermaps material from our new full-length album, Darker Lights (out October 8 on Sparks/Universal Music Canada).   Any Montreal promoters out there? On September 28th we begin an East Coast tour in St. John NB.  We’d love to drop in the night of 27th or maybe do something, say, in early October.  Drop us a line!

-dean