Annie Sama

It was my first time seeing APigeon, an arty R&B/synth-pop act whose recorded material is alluring enough as it is, but her sound got a big boost live. Then there’s the visual presentation: APigeon herself was draped in shimmering silver, clad in what looked like a wrestling champ belt, wearing steam punk spectacles, dropping some smooth choreography (with her bud Sabine, in a finale that the guys in the crowd should remember for a while) and the right amount of drama, hype and tribal whooping to get her point across within the limits of a 25-minute showcase. And it wasn’t a dry industry-dominated affair; it was a packed Saturday 5à7 during a messy snowfall. But if there was an industry presence in the room, I’m pretty sure she passed that audition. (LC) -

See more at: http://cultmontreal.com/2014/11/m-for-montreal-2014-3/#sthash.gCtc11ue.dpuf - Cult Montreal

Annie Sama a une passion contagieuse. Impossible de ne pas l’écouter lorsqu’elle parle de son projet, APigeon, dont l’album APigeon is Born vient tout juste de sortir.

Cet album est le résultat de plus d’un an et demi de travail, qui a débuté par une recherche d’indépendance à la suite d’études en musique jazz. Annie Sama a alors réalisé que, malgré qu’elle soit auteure et compositrice, elle devait toujours demander à des musiciens de l’accompagner. «Je suis partie dans une quête de musique électronique, une quête d’indépendance», explique-t-elle.

Pendant un an et demi, elle a donc appris à créer cette musique électronique seule, afin de créer un style qui serait propre à elle, et afin d’avoir une liberté totale de création. C’est en studio que les éléments organiques, comme le synthétiseur, les percussions, le piano, et la batterie, entre autres, ont été ajoutés. Cela, grâce aux talents de différents musiciens «afin d’avoir un côté plus chaleureux », explique Annie Sama. «Beaucoup d’albums atmosphériques m’ont fait triper, comme ceux de Radiohead ou Bon Iver.» Elle aime ce côté de la musique électronique qui a, selon elle, «une belle douceur».

Au cours du processus créatif, la chanteuse a également eu recours à une campagne participative sur le site web Indiegogo, afin d’inviter les internautes à participer au financement de l’album. D’ailleurs, au moment d’écrire ces lignes, Annie Sama était sur le point d’envoyer des albums aux supporteurs d’un peu partout sur la planète.

D’ailleurs, «l’ailleurs» est une grande partie du projet APigeon. Annie Sama a débuté l’écriture de Moon 5 alors qu’elle était en voyage au Brésil, et a enregistré Bring Me Back à peine revenue. Elle mentionne qu’elle s’est sentie bien dans ce pays d’Amérique latine, «très loin de la neige et du froid!» Elle a entre autres eu un déclic rythmique, dans ce pays. Si on ajoute ceci à ses origines congolaises, via son père, on comprend rapidement la présence des percussions et du rythme qui caractérisent et complémentent l’aspect atmosphérique de ce premier album. « J’ai été surprise par ce côté tribal qui est sorti», mentionne-t-elle, en ajoutant qu’elle s’est découvert un amour pour les percussions.

Malgré son statut d’artiste indépendante, Annie Sama espère mener le projet APigeon loin devant. Après le Canada, elle espère rejoindre l’Europe et faire le circuit des festivals, et quelques marchés américains.

Décidément, un beau voyage qui débute pour ce pigeon… - MAtv Blogue

Montreal electronic soundscapist and singer APigeon has been seducing audiences from the stage and the sound systems (the record APigeon Is Born was released in March) for much of 2014. The band is playing POP Montreal next Wednesday, Sept. 17 (show details here). For the fans and the uninitiated alike, here’s a treat for your eyes and ears, a video for the very cool tune “Moon 5,” directed by Charles Sama:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYDaxZs4d44 - CultMontréal

“We had all these crazy ideas, many of which we brainstormed right here where we’re sitting. Ideas, visual ideas, how to tell you guys a story and bring this special universe that I have around me.” Annie Sama, the voice and creative force behind Montreal music project APigeon, gestures around her. The “universe” she surrounds herself with could be the lower plateau apartment we are currently seated in or it could refer to the multimedia world she recreates at every show; more than likely it’s a bit of both. Everywhere you turn you see vintage trinkets, art objects, travel souvenirs. Candelabras and lamps dangle from every available bit of ceiling space while antique toys crowd the shelves. Like her music, it’s an amalgam of different styles, blended together to make something beautiful. APigeon is Born is her first full length album, but Sama began APigeon as her first solo project in 2011. She has played at the POP Montreal music festival and M for Montreal and her visuals and performance style are just as integral to the project as her music, which hauntingly layers her poetic vocals with expansive rhythmic soundscapes. “I don’t necessarily want people to think I’m all over the place, it is very structured, but I wanted to start with this album to give an accessible door to people so they can see my creative world and get into that… following your guts makes magic.”


LARSCENIC What were your musical beginnings?

APIGEON Ever since I was young, I’ve been just singing and making myself little tunes. Later I got introduced to cassette tapes, maybe around 5 or 6 years old, and I used to record myself. And I used to sing to get myself to sleep because I’m a night owl. My mom would go “Annie, sleep! Stop singing!” So that’s how it all started. I don’t know, for elementary school I was in the music club, in high school I was doing a few things, but I never had music training. It’s at a later age that I started that; I came here to Montreal – I’m from Sherbrooke – and I didn’t know anyone. So I started doing radio and following bands to get to know people in the industry. And at a certain point I was like, “Ok, let’s do this”. I went back to school at CEGEP St. Laurent for jazz singing. I had a few projects here and there, then I quit school and I just sat down and learned how to do electronic music on my own. Just tutorials online. Experimenting and forging the sound that is now APigeon.

LARSCENIC Where does the name APigeon come from?

APIGEON My mom’s name is Pigeon, so I was looking for an artist name – which was really, really hard. And then I though “A” for Annie, then Pigeon – Apigeon – that’s really cool. So I took the name and then since then everything went on.

LARSCENIC Apigeon is really an immersive universe. Are you involved in the visual aspect of your shows or do you focus exclusively on the musical side?

APIGEON My music for sure is me. I’m very secretive, though. I like to push myself to a certain extent. And then when I’m really happy about it, I’ll maybe have two/three people listen. But, when I’m ready it will come out. For the visual aspect of it, Thomas (her boyfriend and visual collaborator) is the best person that knows me, so he could really bring me out in a visual sense. Of course we spoke about it, but we work together and he’s had all the crazy visual ideas. And the planets you see around me [on the album cover] are actually superballs. Vintage, that we found in some thrift shop or garage sale.

LARSCENIC Do you draw a lot of your inspiration from vintage things?

APIGEON I would say more with traveling, that helps a lot. I tell stories, sometimes from friends, sometimes on my own, and sometimes with a lot of research that I’ve done with beautiful imagery. But I’m not in the past. I’m really in the future, but always remembering, always bringing it back to have some kind of cool foundation.

LARSCENIC Where have you traveled that’s really influenced you?

APIGEON My last trip was in Brazil. It was a month, but it was such a turning point for me. We were in the middle of nowhere and we were opening this art gallery with a bunch of friends and I would perform. We were a crew of professionals that were also friends, and we were three hours from the capital, so immersed in nature. We got to hang out with some tribe people, some artists, people that travel all around the world all the time. Also people who are used to doing productions and are in the artistic field. It was quite something, you go into some kind of waterfall and then you’re picking up crystals – just so surreal. Sometimes I’ll talk about it in my songs. But also just nature and reconnecting. I grew up on a farm. All of this is kind of a mix of me, of my life. My dad’s from Montreal, so every summer I would come to see him, go to the jazz fest, see a few shows.

LARSCENIC So do you find you draw more inspiration from nature or the city?

APIGEON I didn’t compose that much in Brazil but I brought a lot of images from that, traveling images. My music is really rhythmical and repetitive, but always in a progressive way. Seeing the nature there was so beautiful and you kind of sense some kind of organic force, like everything is all linked together. Being in the city is also very beautiful for me. I love graffiti and old buildings, I love the people in the city. And you get all these ethnicities in the city. It’s kind of like everything I’m bringing together – rock and folk, all those ideas blended together in one place.

LARSCENIC Who are your musical influences?

APIGEON I have so many, it’s really ridiculous. For APigeon, all of Radiohead, Sigur Ross. I remember a few of Moby’s songs were pretty new and interesting in the 90s and opened my wind to what music could be. I’m still very new to electronic music so I’m still deciding. I used to be all about Nirvana and Rage Against the Machine and rock and punk rock and underground bands. So it’s all together.

LARSCENIC How did you teach electronic music to yourself?

APIGEON When I was stuck I would ask someone. But really I wanted to be independent and do my own stuff. I wanted to bring my ideas. I do express myself to other musicians, but I never want to impose myself. This time I really knew I had something to bring to electronic music so I just looked at a bunch of tutorials online and spent hours and hours and hours practicing and trying stuff. Having fun and exploring. It was just all these moments but, while I was learning I was composing at the same time.


LARSCENIC What is your composition process?

APIGEONIt depends on what time of the day or night it is. Because sometimes I have some crazy ideas and I’m already in bed so I’ll record it vocally on my phone. Sometimes it’ll be the melody and sometimes it’s something new I’ve learned to do so I develop that first. It’s really different for every song. I took a lot of songs I did in a folk idea and brought it back to electronic. I do arrangements of my older stuff in different styles all the time. This new album is all new stuff, though, all from the past couple of years.

LARSCENIC Your album was just released on March 11th, but you’re already working on a mixtape. When can we expect to see that and what else is next for you?

APIGEON I am hoping this September. I’m going to be working on probably a five-piece mixtape too. I don’t see APigeon as one entity, though. I see it as being more. I want to bring the show APigeon and sell it as a show because I can be versatile. I also want to do projects that are more into art galleries and soundscapes. That will probably happen more with the mixtape. For me, it’s this kind of thing where it’s very structured and I want to play all the time, and have artistic residencies and go on tour. And I will be headlining one day at the Fringe Festival this summer, exact dates to come. /// - LARSENIC