As part of the A Taste of Queer Montreal Exhibition, I commissioned Firuza Huseynova to compose a house mix, which brings together audio clips from the Montreal Lesbian, Queer Women, and Non-Binary Oral History Project, house tracks that were produced by either Montreal-based artists or by Canadian artists who recorded their work in Montreal, and Firuza's original compositions. The audio clips focus on Montreal's food and drink scene and extended versions of the oral histories are available here.
House music has played an important role in Montreal's 2SLGBTQIA+ communities. This 61 minute playlist will play at the vernissage for the physical exhibition, be available to listen to via headset during the duration of the physical exhibition, and be available online.
This idea for this mix was inspired by the music used at the Baltimore Ballroom Exhibition, curated by Joseph Plaster. Enrique Allure St. Laurent was a ballroom artist who initially proposed mixing oral history audio into music that visitors would hear as they entered the exhibition space. I hope that our mix also honors the legacy and creativity of Enrique Allure St. Laurent. Thank you also to Montreal music legend Butcher T, who met with Firuza, to discuss the audio.
Firuza has shared this reflection about her composition process "As a DJ who doesn’t usually spin house music, I listened to many hours of Montreal-made house and disco from the 1970s and 1980s in preparation for this mix. In consultation with a long-standing host at Montreal’s largest community radio station CKUT 90.3 FM, I included tracks like Gino Soccio’s “Try it Out” and Suzy Q’s “Tonight,” which stood out as distinctly queer. In choosing selected clips from interviews, I gravitated towards playful soundbytes; Charlie Boudreau’s “chock full of lesbians” snippet and Saz Zenetzis’ “for the freaks, punks, genderfuckers” line being among my favourites. After gathering the songs, testing the transitions, and editing the interview clips for clarity using Logic, I mixed everything together live using a Traktor S3 DJ board."
Downloadable file: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qgLCHZU3GptPGv1Pijwk2X042JQozsXb/view?usp=sharing
Tracklist
(along with original composition by Firuza Huseynova):
Gino Soccio, Try It Out [Montreal]
Nancy Martinez, For Tonight [Montreal]
Suzy Q, Tonight [Montreal]
Pluton & Humanoids, World Invaders [Montreal]
Suzy Q, Can’t Live Without Your Love [Montreal]
Claudja Barry, Heavy Makes You Happy [Toronto-based, but recorded in Montreal]
Suzy Q, Get on Up [Montreal]
Gino Soccio, (It’s Been) Too Long [Montreal]
Geraldine Hunt, Can’t Fake the Feeling [Montreal]
Gino Soccio, Remember [Montreal]
Karen Silver, Can’t Stop Dancing [Toronto-based, but recorded in Montreal]
Featuring soundbytes from:
Charlie Boudreau
Saz Zenetzis
Ross Higgins
Miriam Ginestier
France Desilets
Elana Wright
Richere Trudeau
Sarah Forbes
Marlyne Desir
Julie Podmore
Paryse Taillefer
Dominique M