Eight years before the creation of Bonsound, Gourmet Délice releases his first album on his label Blow The Fuse Records. Fast forward to 2017: Now a Bonsound sublabel, it is relaunched with new releases from Ponctuation, Jesuslesfilles, Le Kraken and Les Breastfeeders. Proof that rock'n'roll is forever!
The band (made up of our current boss JC, our publisher MER, Joe Gagné, Karine Isabel et Marie-Eve Petit) makes their first apperance. The show was part of 2002's Off Coup de coeur francophone and they only played one song - their cover of Illégal by Corbeau. Later, they take over the radiowaves with the tracks off their hot garage-rock self-titled EP.
Just months before leaving his artistic ambitions behind and founding Bonsound, JC (aka AC/JC on keyboard) and his band Gwenwed release Le retour du bleu métallique, which earns a 4-star review in VOIR. Another band member, a certain Philippe B, decides instead to pursue his solo career.
This debut album of the band-with-15-drummers is at the heart of Bonsound's beginnings. Their manager Yanick wanted Blow the Fuse to put out the record, and after working with JC (who was running Proxenett Records and helping Yanick with grants) and Pierre Gourde (who was booking shows for Le Nombre, Gwenwed & Les Breastfeeders), they realized that they all worked pretty well together. They decided to create a space that could offer a variety of services (management, booking, PR, etc.) to artists who are in between the mainstream and the underground scenes.
Gourmet, JC, Yanick and Pierre B. Gourde create Bonsound with 435$ each in their pockets. This is a time of frozen pogos, 85-hour work weeks and the office's first rule: no smoking joints before noon. Pierre leaves to take up new challenges after a few months, and also leaves his shirt to Gourmet.
Malajube, the first band to be managed by Bonsound (pretty much around the same time the company was created), unveil their first album at Petit Campus. Two years later, the band explodes in popularity and we manage their Scandinavian and American tours.
She works for Bonsound off and on for 8 years. We still receive newsletters addressed to her every week. It's also thanks to her that we have so many archived photos & videos. We love you, Moon-Hee!
While also working as a booker, Eric regularly cooks lunch for all his co-workers using leftovers from his catering / restaurateur friends (whom we won't name here). He leaves Bonsound in 2009 to refine his skill set at Audiogram, and then returns to Bonsound eight years later.
Le Nombre scores a spot on a big FEQ line up along side Les Breastfeeders, New York Dolls and Les Secrétaires Volantes! Surprisignly, New York Dolls are not the headliners, leaving Gourmet & Lubrique extremely busy that night. To get from Montreal to Quebec City, all three local bands rent a 21 passenger van and embark on a real rock 'n' roll road trip.
Longtime friend Yann Perreau signs with Bonsound's record label in 2008. In 2009, he releases his iconic album Un serpent sous les fleurs and wins Songwriter of the year at the ADISQ Gala. Always the impressive, enthusiastic showman, we even saw him fly (just like an oiseau) into a Christmas tree at one of our more memorable x-mas parties!
Kim Ho, Sid Z and Cowbella are back for a few shows since 2018, but the Creature adventure truly peaked between 2008 and 2011. Signed to Universal Canada and France, their debut album, No Sleep At All, is also released by Universal Mexico (hola, Gourmet). The band performs many major shows in Mexico, including one at Estadio Azteca, the 2nd biggest stadium in the world with a capacity of 100k. For now, it's the "score" to beat!
AKA the time we went a little overboard with our animal logos (oops). This promoter set up some amazing Montreal shows, including Ubisoft's rooftop concert series that showcases a breathtaking view of Mount Royal, and a memorable performance by John Lydon's band PIL (aka Johnny Rotten of Sex Pistols fame) at La Tulipe in 2015. On November 1, 2019, Bonsound Concerts will take over the Bell Centre to produce French rap duo Bigflo & Oli's show.
In 2013, after attending FME in Rouyn-Noranda for 10 years, we finally decide to organize a Pool Party at our rented house. The place's lovely owners Nicole and Guy let us take over their backyard, where we host around 150 industry folks each year. Since 2015, artists like Safia Nolin, Les Deuxluxes, Duchess Says, Les Louanges and P'tit Belliveau have offered poolside performances, rain or shine.
Before performing (twice) at MTelus, before the Phi Center recording of Gesamtkunstwerk, and before the Polaris Music Prize nominations, Dead Obies launched their notorious debut album Montréal $ud at a super packed and extremely sweaty Cabaret Mile-End.
We announced BEYRIES' signature in June 2016. She came out of nowhere and charmed us with her poignant and personal songs, some of which were heard in several TV productions and others streamed millions of times. It’s only a few weeks later that we discovered her on stage, literally at one of her first shows.
A gorgeous festival in the forest, complete with camping sites along the Black River in Béthanie; this was the brainchild of Matt Pontbriand, Martin Bergeron, Enwar Outtas and Bonsound Concerts. The beauty gets a little dampened, one year, when a torrential downpour makes Lisa LeBlanc cut her set short. The festival's 4 editions are full of great memories, especially Malajube's return to the stage in 2015!
Safia Nolin meets her idol Céline Dion backstage at the ADISQ Gala the same year she wins Breakthrough Artist. A year later, in addition to receiving the Félix for Album of the Year - Reinterpretation, she beats the Canadian icon in the category for Female Artist of the Year category. Time for a duet!
Les Deuxluxes, who signed with Bonsound in 2015, have not stopped touring for the past five years, visiting Canada, the US, Europe and... Latin America! At the end of 2016, the duo travels to Chili, Argentina and Brazil, then to Mexico in 2017. As of today, they've racked up over 30 shows in Latin America. ¡Muy caliente!, eh?
VNCE Carter (of Dead Obies fame) introduces us to local producer Ouri, and we immediately fall in love. With Ouri's awesome talent, plus solo projects by Yes Mccan and Joe Rocca in the works, we decide to officially launch our sub-label Make it Rain Records.