Sagapool – Not your Father’s Folk Music

‘The guy in the hat. Call the guy in the hat…!’

That’s all I knew about Sagapool previous to their show Wednesday night at L’ Astral on Ste.Catherine Street in Montreal.

Now – much is known…

Guilliaume Bourque ( the guy with the hat), clarinet player and co-founder – explains the feeling when the band discovered they had won the Felix award for best instrumental group in the province of Quebec.

“It was such a nice feeling. We felt we won not just for ourselves but for our families, the former members and anyone who has helped us out over the years. Fourteen years is a long time and we could not have done it alone.”

Wednesday night, judging by the amount of people in attendance ( including a few babies), it was obvious the band‘s first show to promote the new album was a success. Each song concluded with ovations that could have deafened an otherwise perfect eardrum.

What Sagapool offers is a blend of folk, jazz, funk, punk and just about everything in between. Think Arcade Fire without lyrics and a few less members. Says Guilliaume;

“There are three of us left from the original line-up. Myself, Zoe Dumais (on fiddle) and Luzio Altobelli on the accordion. We were originally called Mamouche but we changed the name because the style of music had changed that we were playing. The name Sagapool came to be because a lot had changed in our lives. We had kids, got married and bought houses. All this altered the way we approached writing and the band now contained a story – hence the word Saga.” He continues. ” Pool – funny enough, is like a ‘hockey pool’ – meaning we are a pool of musicians. That’s how we got our new name – Sagapool!”

Guillaume was pleased with the way the show went. The group wanted to portray a more energetic performance than what comes across on the new disc. The CD reflects a ‘wintery’ feeling – according to Guillaume, and it is not accurate on the sort of band they are;

” It’s hard to write music without the feelings you have sometime. As I said earlier, our lives changed and we were in a cozy, comfortable place. That is how the album comes across …”

The show at L”astral – was exciting in other ways as well. It was the first time the group used advanced lighting techniques for a backdrop on stage. The work was done by Mathieu Denomcourt – a fellow whose talent appears endless.One effect which was simply mesmerizing, were red ‘leaves’ flowing from the ceiling to floor in an endless loop. The theater was black while pianist Alexis Dumais ( the brother of Zoe) played a beautiful song on piano. The song; Coeur D’Aiguille was magical and the ‘make believe’ leaves – like petals on a flowing river …

Dany Nicolas ( guitars, mandolin and banjo ) along with Marton Maderspach ( drums, percussion), are the remaining members of a group who are departing on a tour in February. Ontario then out west. Places they have been before with the exception of Perth, Ont. They were supposed to play the Montreal Jazz Festival last summer but things fell through. Instead, their Wednesday show was part of the Jazz All Year Long series.

” Arcade Fire really put Montreal on the map.” Explains Guillaume. ” When we were playing in Vermont and Maine, people thought it was cool we were from the same place as them ( Arcade Fire ). Even though at that time our English was not that great …”‘ He laughs.

Sagapool does have a couple of songs with words. On the albums under the name Mamouche. There may be some more in the future …

“All the members are so into writing music, we don’t want to write words! We have friends who have written stuff – maybe we will use them!” Says Guilliaume. ” Right now we are going to enjoy the holidays then hit the road. We will do more shows in Quebec in the future, after all – except for Marton, were are all Quebecers.”

Sagapool or rather – the members, all met at school. A music conservatory. A place where dreams became a reality for Guilliaume. There remains one question …

Will he continue to wear his hat during interviews?

Listen to one of the new songs here!