Bio
Hi, I’m Lou. I’m from Montreal and am currently a graduate student at Concordia University working on a podcast thesis project. Academically, my interests are piqued by questions involving sound production, affect theory, and soundscape recording as a form of ecosystem knowledges. I’m lucky to be researching in an area that I have been fascinated by all my life. Outside the university, I’ve performed, mixed and produced music with my band the Day Dreamers as well as for my own solo work under the name Lou. I have had fun in other sound-related projects like scoring short films, mixing live audio and hosting a weekly soul music radio show on CJLO 1690 AM. There’s more to me than just sound, believe it or not! I’ll always enjoy travelling, learning about eastern philosophy, cooking, camping and jamming out to funky music.
Questionaire
Why did you get involved in this project?
I got involved due to a recommendation from another contributor, Matt Soar, who generously suggested to Midi that I do some sound compositions for EXC-19. I was especially intrigued by the fact that I had no context for the projects I would be working on
Did the one week turn-around for the work help or hinder your creativity?
I generally think that constraints in creative projects generate robust results. Doing this project in one week enabled me to think spontaneously and not overthink any creative hunches or ideas I was working towards. The speediness of these projects also helped me in streamlining my audio production techniques, thereby teaching me overall the ways in which I can “trim the fat” in other productions I make.
How did you feel about working on a project where you didn’t know who you were collaborating with?
As much as I would’ve loved to discuss or have some kind of back-and-forth with the other collaborators, I think the idea of keeping them unknown mixes very well with the previous point about time constraints. I attempted to grasp what the editors and filmmakers meant to communicate through certain choices in their videos but was ultimately glad that I will never be entirely sure. Hopefully this means that my interpretation of the quote central to the video’s themes and the interpretation of the filmmakers I collaborated with may combine to form even more nuanced art. It reminds me of that old quote by Segei Eisenstein claiming how montage has the effect of 1 +1 = 3 or that the combination of two elements generates a fresh new meaning. Keeping things anonymous and decontextualized in this project allowed for this to happen.
Has being involved in the project changed your thoughts on creativity?
Especially during this age of covid, I certainly wasn’t sure how I would proceed with my usual collaborative projects that would otherwise happen face to face. This project soothed me by showing how even the deficiencies in virtual collaborations vs live interactions can be turned into assets. Of course the dynamic is different. But remote creative projects like this invite a wealth of new creative techniques, affects and constraints that make for challenging and rewarding experiences. Overall, I could say the EXC-19 project instilled some creative optimism in me as I now feel that even if my usual creative processes are not what I was once used to, there are plenty of opportunities and ideas that will arise through the remote process.
If you worked on several videos, what kept you coming back for more and how many did you do?
I only worked on two videos. I was excited to explore how my different interests as a music maker / producer could play off different videos. More than anything, I was ready to have fun experimenting and not worrying too much about the final product, but simply following my intuition and process.