Well, it's finally the big week! Montreal's Pouzza Fest is kicking off with a diverse group of bands from across punk's expansive history and wide spectrum! A large part of this cross-cultural collection is due to Festival Organizer Hugo Mudie. A native Québécois, Mudie personally selected the bands across the three day event. The result is a festival with the old and the new, the local and the international, and music from ska to hardcore to folk to music for the whippersnappers.
In order to learn about how the festival came together, staff writer John Gentile brushed up on his français and rang up Mudie to talk about his own history with punk, why he chose the bands that he did, and also what exactly a "Pouzza" is.
[Phone ringing⦠receiver clicks] Oui, oui!
Pardon? !
Um⦠oui? oui?
Who is this?
Oh, hi, this is John Gentile from Punknews! Is this Hugo?
Yesâ¦
Oh great! Say, how do you pronounce "Hugo"?
I don't know how to pronounce it in English.
Well how do you pronounce it?
"Hugo." [phonetically- Oogo.]
Wow! That's a great name! It sounds like the name of a tortured painter or perhaps a renaissance military genius!
Pardon?
So you're the organizer behind Pouzza fest!
Yes, I am.
So why did you choose the name "Pouzza Fest," which is a portmanteau of the words "Poutine" and "Pizza"?
I wanted a Montreal Flavor. Touring bands always ask for Poutine. Montreal is also well known for 99 cent pizza slices and bands always want that. I wanted a buffet of punk and fast food. Fast music and fast food.
I notice that Pouzza Fest has a wide range of punk acts, from some early originators such as The Dwarves and the Meatmen to some brand new acts like Sundowner. Did you purposefully try to schedule bands from across the punk pantheon? [Interviewer pauses to pat self on the back for coining the term "Punk Pantheon."]
Yes, that's what we're all about. As people, we all played in bands and it was always neat for us to respect the old scene and be aware of what's going on. We're not really into dividing the whole thing into new and old. We're into getting more people interested in the music. Personally, it doesn't make any different between subdivisions⦠crust punk, pop punk, hardcore⦠There are bands that I like and bands that I don't like. Here, there are a lot of ska bands and metal bands and folk bands. If a song is good, it is good.
So, you feel that people devote too much time and effort to labels in the punk rock community?
Of course. A lot of people pay too much attention to labels and of what people wear, of how people cut their hair, of how they present themselves to locals.
Then, is the mission of Pouzzafest to break down these punk subdivisions? To correct these arbitrary boundaries?
Well, no, not really. It's just that I'm doing a festival they way I think it should be done. I'm not trying to correct anything.
Along the lines of the older bands at Pouzza fest, first wave Montreal punk act The Nils are playing! How did that come about?
They've been starting to play [more]. They did some shows last year and I've been doing events with them. We're all fans of the Nils and I like to pay respect to the old bands that were some of the first popular punk bands in Montreal. When they started playing again, it was important to work with them, They are a great band and still have great songs.
When people think of hubs of punk rock, they usually name New York, London and LA⦠maybe San Francisco. Do you feel as though Montreal has been unfairly over looked?
No, I think it's kind of normal that it is like that. We're far from the action in a way. I think bands really like Montreal. They know it's a good punk scene. Montreal never had an infrastructure like other markets. There are not many legendary labels. The border doesn't help with getting a response from other areas. So, I don't think we deserve more attention. I think people from everywhere like to come to Montreal to play. It's getting better and it should be better.
Montreal has quite an interesting cultural background, from the French and English influence, to other cultures, too. Do you think that is reflective in Montreal's punk bands?
I would like to say yes. But, I don't think it reflects on the punk bands as much. Maybe the fact that we have some bands that sound American, but sing in French. That is probably the only way we could tell. Everything else, I think, it is kind of hard to tell. I don't think that Montreal has one particular sound.
What acts are you looking forward to seeing personally?
There's a lot. I would say Classics of Love. [Note: Interviewer did NOT prompt Hugo to say this, but they did high five across the phone line afterwards.] Just the fact that Jesse Michaels is in it is exciting for me. I was listening to Operation Ivy when I was a teenager. I was super happy that he came here and I'm super excited. I put him in a smaller venue, and the punkest venue we have, which is where most of the crust punk shows are. It's the last band playing on the last night. I'm probably going to be able to make that show and I am excited.
Are there any local bands that you are really looking forward to seeing?
One of them is called The Hunters who are from Quebec City. They just released a record and they are like 20 years old. They remind me of a mix of At The Drive In and popular music. I hope I can see them.
Pouzza Fest Also has some interesting activities that are not solely concerts. What are some of the neat things happening?
We are doing a screening of The Other F Word, a movie about punk bands who have parents in them, and Montreal Punk which is about the first wave of punk in Montreal. We are doing what's called "Pouzza Bambino" which will be for kids. It will have Mike Park and Kepi Ghoulie doing a show for the kids. There will be all kinds of stuff with musical instruments for kids. Also, there were be skateboarding contests between bands. Skaters from Montreal have a contest where you can win a bottle of rum and beer.
In an interview a few weeks ago, Blag Dahlia of the Dwarves told me that he is looking forward to the nude-bottomless pancake house in Montreal. Is that restaurant still there?
[Pauses} Um⦠I don't know⦠I hope not?