Despite still being in its infancy, Montreal’s 8day Collective has caught the eye both far and wide through its in-depth, exhaustive and positive approach to sharing its art. The crew comprises simultaneously of friends and colleagues striving to the push their creative boundaries in the AV department with a unique stylistic blend of electronic music and visual stimulation.
The family are a testament to the mantra of strength in numbers with each member of the collective bringing their own standout set of skills to the table and with such talent on board their rise seems like an inevitability.
The group, which launched its initiative in April with an appearance from respected Herzblut chief Stephan Bodzin at Montréal’s Club Soda, continues its campaign this week welcoming Christian Löffler to the recently opened Newspeak.
We caught up with 8day ahead of its highly anticipated second international guest to see what makes the collective tick. What’s more, they’ve shared a beautiful exclusive recording from member artist Chiino to accompany the introduction. It’s all below!
CHRISTIAN LÖFFLER + VAN DID + DEBBIE DOE | WRONG WAY @ NEWSPEAK
WWD : Thanks for joining us guys! First off can you tell us a little bit about yourself as individuals?
8day : First of all, thank you for having us!
Esteban : I was born and raised in Mexico, I’ve been producing and releasing various styles of electronic music for last 5 years, started djing and playing music at parties, clubs and festivals since 2008. Founded a label called Grrreat Recordings about 3 years ago. And launched 8day, a collaborative project earlier this year, also launched a contemporary art website called Art-Facto.Today last year. I love to be creative in different ways!
Michael : I work in the computer field in Montreal and I’m a big fan of electronic music. I take care of two musical projects: Maudite Machine, performing alone an aggressive techno music trend, and Sinonim, a project in collaboration with my girlfriend Sony, we share the love of composition and live performance.
Rafa : Already 5 years since i flew up from Mexico to Montreal , where i was born and raised. My background was divided between playing professional soccer and djing electronic music. That funny mix defined my life ‘till i came here and start meeting many inspiring people, among them I found the ones I currently collaborate with.
Chiino : I divide my time between two of my great passions : i spend my weekdays in the morning cooking and my nights and weekends playing electronic music.
Mélanie : I grew up in Mexico and moved to Montreal to study cinema and a degree in management of cultural organisations. As I was working in different festivals and events, I discovered a true passion helping artists and organisations to achieve their goals. 8day, for me, is the perfect combination of two personal passions : electronic music and management.
WWD Can you give us an insight into the mission of 8day? What makes you guys different?
8day : We are dedicated to create new platforms where local and international artists can share their work, experiment and interact. We are an open community, therefore, we build partnerships to promote diversification and collaborations. Part of this mission is also to promote Montreal’s scene as a meeting point for local and international artists to perform and share memorable experiences with the audience.
Esteban : I think what makes 8day special is the essence behind this project : there’s a harmonic and friendly atmosphere within our community. First of all, we’re people that love music and art beyond anything else.
Michael : We are all artists that bring different expertise to every activity of the collective. In addition to our podcasts, events, booking activities and live streamings, we are also packed with new ideas and motivation!
WWD : Your launch party welcomed Stephan Bodzin. What was it like to a legend like Stephan kick it all off?
Esteban : Having Stephan Bodzin for our launch event was the best choice we could make. His music has a very intense emotional power and that’s what I love about his music.
Rafa : It was an awesome experience meeting him behind the scene, he is a really funny and friendly guy. Definitely a legend and also because of his personality and positive attitude.
Chiino : It was a huge experience for everyone, Stephan is a very talented and passionate artist and he has this amazing connection with the public, and that is definitely one of the qualities we look for when thinking about international names we want to work with.
WWD : Christian Löffler joins you June 4th as your latest international guest. Are you all set for the party?
We are excited to team up with Samourais des Jungles Urbaines (SJU), to bring such an amazing artist to play in Montreal for the first time. Having Debbie Doe and Van Did completing the line up, well, it is just a thrill! It’s gonna be a very special journey!
WWD : What aspects of Christian work as an artist impresses you?
We are impressed by his unique sound design and amazing details. We also love the deep yet groovy mood on most of his tracks ! His music is always full of emotions, beauty and melancholy.
WWD : Obviously the collective works in conjunction with Grrreat Recordings. What can you tell us about the label and its connection to the collective?
Chiino : Grrreat Recordings is a baby born from a single father, Esteban Lara, who was always able to show his support and trust in all the artists that passed through the label either as producer or as DJ. These relations ended up being a strong community with a wider vision.
Mélanie : Therefore, 8Day was born by the friendship and experiences created during the Grrreat Recording’s evolution. Our partnership with Grrreat Recordings is meant to help to build bridges for our local artists, within our international vision.
Esteban : At first I felt there was no room for this kind of music, only a few friends like G.O’Brien, Sinonim, Melodule, Chiino, Rafa, Groj and few others were playing this kind of music, so I decided to start organizing small parties on a small venue called, Inspecteur Epingle. I feel lucky to work with some of the brightest international rising names like Teho, Romulus, Aparde and Tool8.
(Photo Credit -Adrian Villagomez)
WWD : Talking releases, what can we expect from the label over the coming months?
Esteban : Coming out next week, there will be an EP with Teho. We released HOPE EP last year on Stephan Bodzin’s label, and this collaboration as a duo has definitely received a good response. I would love to build a live set with Teho, but we are both really busy at the moment. This new EP comes with two wonderful remixes : one by Daniel Zuur from Amsterdam, and the other one by We Need Cracks from Toulouse. I really love both remixes so I’m looking forward to share them!
WWD : Before we let you guys go! We understand 8day tries to push the audio/visual boundaries in music. – Have you got any other exciting/innovative projects in the works?
Esteban : Well there’s a lot of ideas flying around! We want to develop an educational side as I’ve been teaching for few years now, so we are putting together specialized workshops. On the other hand I work on Art-Facto.Today so I’m thinking about doing exhibitions, installations and different kind of events on art galleries. This is yet to come!
Michael : We have a lot of projects, I focus on streaming our shows and broadcast live to interact with more people around the world!
Mélanie : We also stay open to create new projects with visual artists and other creative people.
Rafa : We are also very grateful for all the ongoing support from the community and among all the projects, we are working on a good way to give them something back. Stay tuned for upcoming surprises!
Follow 8Day :
Soundcloud : https://soundcloud.com/8daymtl
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/8daymtl
Instagram : https://instagram.com/8day_mtl/
YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCui1M_oS_BYUDS2H9mc42QA
Grrreat Recordings : https://soundcloud.com/grrreat-recordings