Montreal-based Musique Nomade is accompanying its acclaimed stopover program’s first visit to the organization’s home city this year with Nikamotan MTL, a showcase concert featuring many of its standout artists that happened at Club Soda on June 11.
Conceived as Maison des Cultures Nomades in 2006 by Wapikoni Mobile founder Manon Barbeau, Musique Nomade similarly travels the territory to offer a mobile studio to Indigenous youth interested in the music industry.
In 2017, artistic director Joëlle Robillard helped Musique Nomade expand as a record label and booking agency. That year they presented the first Nikamotan MTL, an outdoor concert at the Présence Autochtone festival in Montreal.
“I’ve been with Musique Nomade for almost 10 years and the difference is outstanding how we’ve collectively opened space for Indigenous languages in the music industry,” Robillard told the Nation. “The heart of Musique Nomade is the community work, the recording services we offer.”
Its mobile studio visits three or four Indigenous communities each year with professional equipment, instruments and producers. Working with local coordinators, they provide a noise-free and accessible studio almost anywhere. Although stopovers last only two weeks, the production and marketing cycle typically lasts over a year.
The team is open to any project and can help flesh out compositions, perform backing music, beats and video production. Aspiring artists can record at least one song along with promotional video interviews. More songs are possible depending on the number of interested artists and simplicity of setup.
“If the artist has a vision in mind, it’s mostly possible,” said Robillard. “Traditional music is sometimes easier, if it’s only singing and drumming. It’s important for us to be there for transmitting traditional knowledge that hasn’t been recorded before.”
Aiming to work with every First Nation, they seek to return to communities just building their artistic scenes. Last year, they began joining Wapikoni for stopovers so artists can produce both a film and its soundtrack. Although Musique Nomade has yet to visit Eeyou Istchee, Robillard said they hope to build partnerships with Cree communities in coming years.
While Quebec remains its main focus, stopovers have expanded to Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. With the music industry increasingly interested in Indigenous artists, the Nikamowin streaming platform was introduced in 2018. Now featuring about 300 artists from across Canada, this “Indigenous Spotify” lets listeners choose from music genres, languages or nations.
Indigenous musicians are invited to send an mp3, picture and bio to create a profile on the platform. Weekly in-house promotional campaigns makes Nikamowin a valuable platform for film and television productions seeking Indigenous music.
Each stopover session culminates in digital promotion through Nikamowin and inclusion on the label’s On the Road series, which recently spotlighted the Atikamekw community of Wemotaci. It’s the hometown of singer-songwriter Laura Niquay, who Musique Nomade worked with long before she won the Félix award for Indigenous Artist of the Year.
“We went to Wemotaci last year for the studio project and could feel her shining. It was an example for other artists to work with us and try to do something out of their art,” Robillard asserted. “More young artists feel there is a space for them to build their own path into the music industry.”
The June 11 Nikamotan showcase featured an eclectic mix of emerging Indigenous artists. Innu multidisciplinary artist Soleil Launière, the first Indigenous person to win the Francouvertes competition following her acclaimed album Taueu, headlined the event.
“Musique Nomade is a family,” said Launière. “I feel very lucky I have this community around me, to be part of a label that supports who I am. I don’t have to explain myself and can just be myself.”
Already established as a performance artist and playwright, Launière volunteered as a last-minute substitute for an early Nikamotan show. After providing backing vocals for other artists and collaborating with Sami musicians for a hybrid creation, she was ready to make an album.
“I approached Joëlle [Robillard] with the full performance art-based project and she was excited to support everything it meant,” Launière said. “They’re very open and there’s a big freedom to make the artist shine in their own way of being.”
The June 11 show also featured Anachnid, who caught the attention of Musique Nomade through a collaboration with Mexican artists at the beloved but now-closed Montreal venue l’Escalier. Originally the show’s hostess, she took her mentor’s advice that she belonged on stage.
“Joëlle was like my big sister who believed in my magic,” Anachnid shared. “She would have to come get me or I was not arriving on time. She was very patient. I’m so grateful for her because I’m ready to work now.”
Speaking from Toronto at the Indigenous Music Summit, the award-winning electronic artist was planning her distinctive style for the next night’s show. Navigating culture clashes and content creation for the TikTok age, Anachnid looks forward to a role in Lara Kanso’s stage show and a gig at the Montreal Planetarium later this summer.
“I’m like a little spider, trying to get every string together so it’s all meticulous,” Anachnid said. “The dreamcatcher, Anachnid, represents the grandmother spider, who’s also linked to the sky and the spirit world. That’s how I get my songs – I reach to the invisible and share it with the world.”
Cree artist Siibii was also at the Toronto summit after reaching new audiences during an April tour with Elisapie. Inspired by the Inuk musician’s impressive show and supportive team, Siibii realized how far they’ve come since first releasing music at age 13 through the N’we Jinan mobile studio project.
“There’s such an imbalance to accessing those opportunities in the North,” said Siibii. “These initiatives are a great starting point to get your feet off the ground – definitely a career changer for me.”
With a new album coming in October, Siibii hopes to tour Eeyou Istchee while elevating local talent and hosting workshops. “I’ve been bringing my music around the world,” they said, “but I want to bring it home.”