MAZ keeps perspective, heritage and their beliefs at the forefront of their music.
MAZ keeps perspective, heritage and their beliefs at the forefront of their music. The band believes too many people have a tendency to compare against genres, and they just want audiences to embrace the perspective of what life gives us to work with.
The band is the brainchild of Marc Maziade (electric guitar, banjo, foot percussion and programming), who brought in musicians Pierre-Olivier Dufresne (violin, mandolin), Gabriel Godbout-Castonguay (keys) and Benoit Coulombe (bass) to blend elements of traditional Quebec music with modal jazz and modern melody. Maziade first thought of the idea when he was working on his masters in music.
“I did study music, but I don't find that my education is any more considerable than somebody that would've done it themselves, ” Maziade said. “I try to bring direction to the band. Music is more like a turf that we get to discover. We're more into exploring by keeping somewhat of a balance between the music, the identity that it generates, that it's inspiring to people, and an openness to other genres. We look at what they have in common, what they have that can be expressed and try to get something more universal out of it. ”
MAZ plays the Canmore Folk Music Festival on Aug. 4. The band will share the evening's stage with Steve Dawson, Martyn Joseph, Madison Violet, Mike Farris and closer Rodney Crowell.
When Maziade founded the band, a direction had already been simmering as he thought of compositions for a first album of traditionally inspired compositions melding styles, genres and aesthetics.
“Pierre came in after the first album and I opened up the process to see his way of experiencing music, how it would resonate with different backgrounds. And that's where I got to go with Gabriel; how this music resonated for Gabriel and how these concepts resonate for him. He was more into the indie rock scene and studied jazz further than most of us, ” Maziade said.
“Pierre, with his world approach, was more into gypsy music and got interested in traditional music later on. How it resonated with Benoit was as a jazz and acoustic trio, he also plays with singer songwriters. It's different approaches, I think, and I hope it's what makes the project evolve and open up through the different perspectives.
“Instrumental music is a trip people make inside of themselves and each and every one has different perspectives, so we're going to invite people to jump into this venture and try and think of modern day through the lens of tradition. That's how we got inspired for a second album, by thinking about one of Quebec's most well known legends; La Chasse-galerie, also known as “The Bewitched Canoe. ” It's about a pack of guys that made a pact with the devil to be able to travel a far distance in a flying canoe. That legend is well known, but it hasn't necessarily had all of the attention that it can get. ”
MAZ wants to take the audience on a journey through the legend in modern day.
“How do we see this pact with the devil? It's not in a flying canoe anymore, but it's still in fashion to pay for plane tickets with a credit card, ” Maziade used as a modern day example. “You may not be able to get reimbursed -- there's a pact there that happens when you try and get things that you are not meant to have at the time. Society surely gives us a lot to reflect on when we think of these concepts and try to apply them to modern day life. ”
Maziade wants listeners to look at present times through these kinds of lenses with the band. “That's what we're trying to do, cue people's thoughts through the music and think of concepts like the devil, what does it imply, what does it suggest, what can it bring in vigilance, what can it bring to us reflecting on modern times?
“The modern world needs to have more roots in its values and when we start to talk about values it's not as profitable as immediate needs. ”
Maziade stressed that even though they are tackling philosophical and metaphysical subjects they still bring a performance everyone can enjoy. “Children, people of every age, we just want to give a few tips as to what we thought in the process and the parallels between the legend and what we lived while doing this album, ” Maziade said.
“There's a lot of horrific stories of collaborative creativity, but ours went well, we avoided some of the pitfalls and traps on the project and we're looking forward to reflecting on this again outside of Quebec. That's going to be a treat for us. ”
