[FMC] Young Artists Panel-Friday Oct. 6th

Sarah’s coverage of the Young Artists Panel on Friday at the Future of Music Summit at McGill during Pop Montreal

Torquil Campbell – Musician, Stars
Win Butler – Musician, Arcade Fire
Brian Current – Composer
Bernadette Houde – Musician, Lesbians on Ecstasy
Moderated by Chris Taylor – Lawyer, Taylor Mitsopulos Burshtein, Entertainment Lawyers

Also in the audience was the CEO of FACTOR.

Of note, Chris Taylor represents Metric, Emily Haines, MSTRKRFT and Death from Above 1979

Torquil Campbell

Campbell spoke about FACTOR or the Foundation to Assist Canadian Talent On Record an organization with a 25 year history of supporting Canadian talent. He told of how the Stars have been largely funded by FACTOR grants (www.factor.ca), grants which are funded in part by the Canadian Gov’t and private radio. He spoke of how much was made possible by receiving these grants and how he wished there was even more money of this kind that could be made available to Canadian artists. More begrudgingly, he spoke of how one often starts to receive grant money after a band’s most intense period of struggle has already ended, and how he wished there had been more money available during these periods of rejection and obscurity.

Win Butler

Win spoke about how even though it’s sometimes even better to just set out on your own, it’s also nice to have the “magic money” of grants. He mentioned how all but one of Arcade Fire’s music videos have been funded by grants, notably from videofact (www.videofact.ca).

Brian Current

Brain spoke of how there are currently at least 500 writing classical composers in Canada. He then told of how classical composers get their money from a variety of grants from the Canada Council at both the municipal and federal level, as well as from universities. He talked about how this year’s touring money has been slashed by the gov’t funding that usually sponsers him and how much difficulty this has caused him. He explained that it usually takes between 8 and 12 months to compose a piece of classical music and how the provision of grant money allows composers to live modestly while writing a piece.

Bernadette Houde

Bernadette spoke about LOE’s limited experience with grants and the complications and time involved in applying for them. She told of how LOE is currently in the process of applying for their first FACTOR grant and how they’d already received a small showcase grant. She also spoke about the intricacies of trying to get a bank account for LOE and how because of Quebec law, they actually ended up having to put the account under the name of “Lesbians in Ecstasy”.

Torquil Campbell

Torquil spoke of how now more than ever is a time in which the media in Canada is interested in the music being made in Canada by Canadian artists. He told of his experience of Candians feeling a real sense of commuinity and ownership with the music made in Canada. He then stated his feeling that it is people’s personal experience with the music that will ultimately determine it’s success. He expressed the belief that people’s connection to the music has more
power than the media in contributing to the sucess of a particular artist or group.

Win Butler

Win spoke of how the Arcade Fire seriously considered joining Alien 8 and Arts and Crafts before finally signing with the U.S.’s Merge records. He also spoke of how even before signing a record deal, the band felt very supported in Montreal. He mentioned how it took “a good three years” before they were able to play in an actual club instead of in a friend’s loft and how, after having sold out Casa del Popolo, everything felt much easier. Lastly, he spoke about how the main goal of the band with the first record was actually just to record that record and that until
it was completed, talks of who to sign it to were not realy relevant.

Bernadette Houde

Bernie spoke about how due to the greater popularity of electro in Europe, LOE have been able to form a strong fanbase which has allowed them to tour and create more music in Canada. She expressed the wish for more support for people who do sample based music and the need for more help litigating laws around this.

Torquil Campbell

Torq finished his remarks by speaking of how in order to create he needs to distance himself from his success. “I have to be a loser to do things” was one of the remarks he made regarding how the mentality he held before sucess plays a large part in his creative proces. Lastly, he expressed the need for funding to be made available for all different types of artists in Canada. Roughly paraphrased, he seems to feel that if our gov’t stopped putting their money towards wars there could be even more money available for all the talented people in this country.

Win Butler

Win’s final comment came when someone asked about the importance of hiring an entertainment lawyer. Although he recognized the need for representation in certain contexts, he emphasized the need to focus on one’s music stating that the only thing you really have control over is “what you do in your room, your art”.