Hugo Mudieof Pouzza Fest: Commander and chief of the left field
By Gabriel Koury
Once again around the season of Montreal’s infamous Pouzza Fest, I get asked to interview bands or people in involved with the beer and poutine infused weekend. In 2014 I got asked to interview Hugo Mudie, the festivals fearless leader and 3 fests later I got asked to do the same once again. But this time was a bit different.
I am a born and bred Montrealer. Though I currently reside in Toronto, Montreal is my home. My old band’s roots were there and the Montreal punk scene was and will always be our home. Mudie was somewhat of a reason for that. We got to play shows that his old production company, L’ecurie, put on; opened for the Sainte Catherines; and play Pouzza Fest in 2011 and 2013. I’ve put on shows in Toronto for his latest bands, Powernap and The Beatdown Meets Hugo Mudie, at one of my current workplaces, Smiling Buddha. I’m also running the 2nd year of the comedy showcase at Pouzza Fest, where Anglophone and Francophone comics from all over Canada split spleens with their jokes and one-liners.
We’ve been very aware of each other for a number of years at this point. However, there’s something unique and aesthetically intriguing about what he does and how he does it.
“… I went to school for art. I went to UQAM for visual arts …it’s very important to me,” Said Mudie in response to my question about Pouzza’s long lasting branding and aesthetic. Pouzza has a unique look, an interesting genre and appeal, making the festival feared and loved in equal measure. Hugo stated “ I always loved the visual aspect of punk… like the Black Flag and Subhumans flyers from the 80’s…something real and relatable…”.Mudie always had a great digestible approach to the branding of what he does, maintaining a traditional punk rock vibe with a few contemporary flares.
“Pouzza is cool, it has a crusty punk font and letter styling but we put fun colors and keep it different and unique. Punk is angry and aggressive but we keep it diverse, give it a little change.” Mudie said while diving into the origins of the infamous Pouzza look. The look and brand reflects the festivals programming in terms of the genre diversity over the years with headlining bands like Ringworm, 88 Fingers Louie, The Hold Steady, The Front Bottoms, Municipal Waste, Poison Idea and Less Than Jake etc. “Punk gets too predictable within its sound and look. I wanted to do the opposite,” Hugo says proudly. The best example of this is his alt-country project Miracles on Stomp Records. “ With Miracles we went with a lot of black and white photos, photos of women – very fashion based.” The advent of the brand of his musical projects is frequently out of left field which is part of the reason punk and country fans keep eating up the material he and his bandmates produce.
Despite the growing status he has in the Canadian and international music scene, Mudie always lends a helping hand to bands he knows and likes. “It’s more for the people than the scene. I love it when I see bands live and follow their dreams.”
He is a credited producer on the wicked new Stomp Records release from Monreal’s Lost Love and Crushed. It’s a solid record that indirectly encapsulates that inner city sounding gruff pop punk. He knew most of the members of Lost Love from when they were teenagers in Rimouski, putting on all-ages punk shows for local and touring bands. Their integrity and humble love of punk rock is what intrigues Mudie. “I love that they’re young and serious and their passion and efforts for their music is great, reminds me of me at their age.” Mudie also worked with Quebec City’s The Hunters as a manager. “The Hunters love music, tour hard and love trying new things.” His objective is similar to Fucked Up/Career Suicides’s Jonah Falco who works with younger, Toronto punk rock bands that he digs.
“There’s way better bands now, more quality out there. It’s cheaper to make and so many avenues to get it out.” We spoke about the current change in the alt music community. I spoke about it with a coworker of mine. I figure my cronie’s opinion would be somewhat similar and relatable. He runs Toronto’s Buzz records so I transfer that theme of a chat with Hugo and his insight was what I expect but not the way I thought it’d be worded. Mudie voiced “The death of CDs is a great thing, we made NO MONEY and record stores didn’t help bands like us at all, opposite of what people thought.” Record sales are always a plaguing topic of conversation and a headache to most bands and labels. The quality and content of the is what keeps us all together, regardless of genre.
In our 2014 interview, I asked Mudie to compare his career to a movie of TV show — his answer was Ferris Bueller’s Day Off . There was constant chaos but they had a blast doing it the same way Ferris, Cameron and Sloan did. I reposed the question to Mudie this time around and he told me, “It’s kinda of the same but way more like Happy Gilmore, I STILL NEVER made it to the NHL (laughs)”
Hugo has a great head. With observations and opinions that aren’t just written on paper but communicated with experience and hands on know how. There’s also the aspect of having a good ear and helping out the underdogs who work hard and cut their teeth. It’s all very commendable and exemplary hearing these opinions from someone who has been through and to both sides of the spectrum. It’s humanizing and comforting. It gives me complete hope and faith that the Canadian alt music scene is alive and that punk is NOT dead. Hard work and playing your cards is key in this business and with that being said Mudie has a great hand of cards. We’ll all get there. We’ll all make the NHL someday.
Find out more about Pouzza Fest here: www.pouzzafest.com
