YTHEBANDabout
Montreal, end of the nineties: three young hockey players discover that sports are not the only thing they share. Together, they find an even more liberating passion: music. Very soon, freezing cold outdoor skating rinks are replaced by the Brière brothers’ home studio.
At the time, Frank Julian (vocals), Alex Brière (guitarist), and Marc-Joseph Brière (bassist) are each working on their own respective demos. In the meantime, they are also doing music soundtracks for short and feature films. However, after a particularly long night of partying, they reach a turning point; they were all taking turns playing the DJ, when the concept of a union emerges. All solo project ideas are then put aside in order to give birth to one band: YTHEBAND, which quickly becomes their number one priority. Almost ten years later, the group signs to MP3 Disques and releases its debut album, featuring eleven songs, all entirely written, composed, produced and recorded by the three multi-instrumentalists. What The City Does To People is the title of the album and the pulse of the city, its inspiration. For their first single Believe, the group collaborated with renowned producer/engineer Tchad Blake (Peter Gabriel, Paul Simon, Sheryl Crow, Tom Waits, etc.).
YTHEBAND: three musicians, three men, one three-headed creature: Frank, who used to raise chameleons – and who is much like one himself – easily changes from one "costume" to another in his vocal performance. Marc-Joseph on the other hand, always intrigued by sound textures, keeps questioning himself about the various musical trends, through which he tries to carve out his own niche. As for Alex, well-disciplined rather than flashy, he’s the electric conductor, the one polishing the raw material, always making sure to deliver the goods.
Their music borrows as much from art rock as from ambient or from alternative pop, with a tinge of soul here and there. The band digs into the strange places where the worlds of mainstream and underground collide, soaking up musical styles from UK sources as well as from North American influences, and draws the best of both worlds.
Listening to their music is seeing ourselves differently. It’s witnessing the everyday in a whole other way, picturing things through a different lens. YTHEBAND, “why this band”, the question asks itself. Why not Motown, Brian Eno and Leonard Cohen, together. Once again, is Montreal about to see a mountain arise?
