RedFox: More than just a folk band

Discover the genre-bending band based out of Montreal

By: Nganji Kimonyo

RedFox (Courtesy of RedFox)

There's a quote by author E.L. Doctorow that compares writing to driving at night in the fog. “You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” It speaks to the uncertainty of the writing process, but this can apply to all forms of creativity and art, especially music. 

For many, making music means stepping into the unknown and making something creative out of it. This sentiment perfectly describes RedFox, the five member indie folk band based in Montreal. They describe their sound as a “folky, ambient, high-energy experience” — a mixture of different influences that come together to create a unique sound rarely heard before.

The band was formed when the folk music pair of guitarist Jono Townsend and banjo player Tim Loten moved to Montreal, where they met and eventually teamed up with vocalist and violinist Daphnee Vandal. The three of them spent months honing their craft but at some point, felt as though something was missing. 

The trio decided to add two more members in order to broaden and energize their sound. This is when metal drummer Samuel Neumann and bassist Sam Robinson joined the band. It’s at this point that the band found the balance between their acoustic and electric sound; the balance between where their sound originated and where they wanted to take it.

Their song “Takes One to Know One,” from their debut album Stranger Love, perfectly encapsulates their sound and journey as a band. The song begins as a more conventional folk song with the banjo, guitar and violin taking center stage, along with Daphnee Vandal’s soulful yet measured vocals. You may think you know where this song is going, but only until we approach the three-minute mark. The song then kicks into another gear and turns into the “ambient, high-energy experience,” reminiscent of Riot! era Paramore. The band comes as advertised.

Their song “Shiver,” also accurately represents the band’s sound but this time, they mix up the folk and electric influences throughout the track. It’s fast-paced, with the drums and electric guitar leading the way, but you can also hear the violin and the banjo. Once again, it makes for a very interesting and original sound, as their creative risks take centre stage.

RedFox credits their hard work and the city of Montreal for helping them get to where they are. 

“Montreal is such a young, hip city, and it can be intimidating sometimes trying to keep up,” says Loten. “But even if the kids here may not always know what you’re going for, they really understand when you’re taking a risk, and when they see that, they throw their support behind you with surprising enthusiasm.” 

RedFox have released two EPs and one album to date — the aforementioned Stranger Love — and in October they toured in both Ontario and Quebec for its release.

Review: Polytechnique - In memory and reflection on International Women's Day

By Federico Sierra

On March 8, women and their stories are celebrated worldwide to remind us to constantly strive towards equality in our communities. Women have come a long way to gain rights and equality; however, as Denis Villeneuve’s 2009 film Polytechnique shows us, women in modern society are still victims of misogyny.

On a cold, snowy night of December 1989, a young man stepped into an engineering college in Montreal, Canada, wielding a rifle where he shot 14 women before shooting himself. The shooter wrote a confession letter declaring a personal vendetta against feminists because he felt like they had ruined his life. This incident became known as the Montreal Massacre, the deadliest mass shooting in Canadian history.

Denis Villeneuve’s breathtaking directorial debut Polytechnique examines the gruesome incident without sentimentality. The black and white cinematography creates a detached sensation between the viewer and the film allowing us to absorb this disturbing catastrophe. It also subtracts any trace of blood from the colour palette and thus avoids transforming the hate crime into a sensationalist piece. With the glacial cold atmosphere created by the winter weather, combined with Villeneuve’s realistic approach to craft the scenes, Polytechnique plays like a horror documentary but often feels like a nightmare in which an evil presence is out to hunt us.

Polytechnique casts no judgements, nor aims to open traumatic wounds for commercial purposes. It’s a bitter and icy document which challenges viewers to confront this horrific event with factual accuracy.

The film opens with the shooter (Maxim Gaudette) alone in his bedroom, with his rifle pointed at his own head. Right from the start, Villeneuve paints the image of the shooter as an isolated, deprecating misogynist incapable to integrate into the community. One of the key factors of this film is that it never once mentions the name of the shooter. By doing so, it rips away any power or memory of who this person was and instead asks us to judge the characters of the film solely on their actions.

Polytechnique’s eye-opening reenactment of the painful memory of the Montreal Massacre at first may come across as insensible and unnecessary. Even at a 77 minute runtime, Polytechnique is definitely not an easy film to digest, but thanks to Villeneuve’s uncompromising storytelling, this cold film invites us to meditate about the ways we confront and overcome traumatic experiences.

 Villeneuve enhances these tragic events by lending multiple perspectives. The story follows two engineering students, Jean-Francois (Sebastian Huberdeau) and Valerie (Karine Vanasse), as they prepare to write their midterm exams. They are both part of the class where the shooter opens fire. They are both survivors of this monstrous act, and in the aftermath of the attack we continue to follow them to observe how their lives are impacted and forever changed. Polytechnique serves as an alarming reminder of the senseless, violent evil that exists in this world, but the moral of the story goes beyond reminding us that we must continue to hope and love, despite the horrors events such as this instill in our collective memory. 

The film ends on a hopeful note with a letter Valerie writes after learning that she is pregnant, “If I have a boy, I will teach him to love. If I have a girl, I will tell her that the world is hers.” A baby, a new life with boundless opportunities, reminds us that love and forgiveness are lessons we pass on to each other and become the most powerful of tools. Polytechnique breezes by like a whisper in the dark that shows us why it’s OK to feel afraid but presses on the value of finding the courage within ourselves to create a better world and to cultivate a society where we can coexist in harmony.

In memory of the women who lost their lives in this harrowing attack: Genevieve Bergeron, Helene Colgan, Nathalie Croteau, Barbara Daigneault, Anne-Marie Edward, Maud Haviernick, Maryse Laganiere, Maryse Leclair, Anne-Marie Lemay, Sonia Pelletier, Michele Richard, Annie St-Arneault, Annie Turcotte, Barbara Maria Klucznik-Widajewicz, Sarto Blais.

Photos: Polytechnique Trailer

Patrik talks about Toronto inspirations in recent ‘Spadina’ EP

By Cole Brocksom

Canadian rapper Patrik talks about the Spadina EP, his experience in Toronto and his artistic message.

It was -14 C outside on January 25th but things were getting heated inside Lee’s Palace on Bloor Street. High energy performances from local artists on stage, and the bruised and sweaty audience members thrashing in the mosh pit fueled an atmosphere of frantic excitement.

The intensity coming from the crowd was matched when Toronto and Montreal-based rapper Patrik took the stage. But instead of the reckless, devil-may-care attitude in the pit, Patrik’s energy is drawn from his passion for the subjects of his music. He believes the most important thing he can do with his music is to deliver a message that’s important and relevant to the audience.

“I’m a person of the people,” he said on stage, inviting audience members to come talk to him backstage after he finished performing. His set was brief, but still brimming with passion for the people, and for the message he gives them through his art. Fans lined up in front of the back room at Lee’s Palace to be greeted by handshakes, hugs, and a big smile from Patrik.

“[At] a lot of my shows, I always ask, like, ‘who came here by themselves?’ And people will be like ‘yo, me.’ That’s what’s up.” Patrik explained in an interview that, despite growing up with five siblings, he has always had the personality of a loner. He often chooses to watch movies or read when his friends would rather go to parties.

“I just want to teach people that it’s ok to be you, you know?” Patrik said, “It’s ok to not be like your best friend, or not be like your girlfriend, or not be like what your parents want you be.”

Patrik grew up in Toronto but has spent the last year living in Montreal, where he began writing the Spadina EP released last November. Based on his experiences growing up downtown, Spadina was written to give “a universal perspective of a young black man’s experiences in the city of Toronto growing up in low income housing.” Patrik said moving to Montreal to write the album helped him focus on the most important things that happened to him in Toronto.

“It’s like, ok, you’re gonna write a song about Spadina. Like yeah, but you’re on Spadina every day. I could write so many things. But then it’s like, ok, I’m not on Spadina, what are the most important things that happened there? Boom, boom, boom, song.”

Patrik said that at the release party for Spadina, held at Brimz in Toronto, he was told that it was refreshing to have a Toronto artist who is actually from Toronto itself and not the GTA like many other artists.

“But because Toronto is becoming a Mecca for music, they all identify with Toronto. Which I think is amazing because Toronto’s going to build a very specific type of sound of music. And that’s what I like about this project because it doesn’t sound like anything else that a Toronto artist has put out, you know?”

The six-song track listing of Spadina includes songs with titles like “Bay St. Interlude”, “Speaker’s Corner”, and the titular opening track “Spadina Ave.” The entirety of the album is filled with references to Patrik’s family and friends, his Toronto lifestyle, and his faith. Patrik also touches on topics from the internet and social media, to crime and poverty, all packed into a 20-minute run time.

“I’m a huge fan of, small, compacted music. ‘Cause we live in a generation now where you can’t make a twelve-song album, or a fifteen-song album. No one has the attention span for it,” Patrik said, miming scrolling on a phone screen. He described it as a Tinder society, where everyone is so caught up in everything available on the internet and people are constantly looking for the next thing. He made reference to Pusha T’s Daytona from last year as an example of the compact, consistent project he wants to create.

“It’s like, do less, say more. You know? So that’s what I’m all about,” Patrik said. He said he wants his listeners to take realize his music is “more than just me putting words together, singing, rapping, or giving you a fresh beat to bump to.”

Patrik views his talent for writing songs as a gift from God, and sees it as an opportunity to address critical issues and get people to start meaningful conversations. “So, for me, it’s like own the craft, work at it, as if God himself said ‘hold this down, I’m coming back for it one day. If you didn’t do well with it, I’m gonna be disappointed’.” This motivates Patrik to address topics like abuse, violence, and heartbreak.

“All I can do is speak my truth and whoever rocks with it rocks with it,” he said, “I just want to uplift people, man. That’s all I want to do.”