Seb Black

Le vidéoclip «Got no Twist» a été réalisé par Seb Black et Emery Street Records. L’histoire nous plonge au cœur de Montréal, où on explore la journée d’un sans-abri.

La voix agréable et sexy (avouons-le!) du chanteur accompagne le périple d’un vagabond entre cigarettes, rencontres et bières. Puis surprise, des images qui brassent: celles des manifestations qui ont eu lieu ces derniers mois au centre-ville, Black y mets le paquet!

Souvent comparé à Mike Ness (Social Distortion) ou encore à Tim Armstrong (Rancid), l’auteur, compositeur et interprète montréalais ajoute habilement une touche punk à son rock jazzé.

En attendant qu’il remonte sur scène, gâte-toi un peu! - NIGHTLIFE.CA

"This is one band that can only grow stronger with time" No Regrets No Apologies is a solid offering full of rock n’ roll goodness and I can’t help but give it a well-deserved 4.5/5 – Yes! Montreal is rockin’ again
- Barbara Pavone, MyMusicMontreal - - Barbara Pavone, MyMusicMontreal

"It is hard to put into words the special something these guys have and I don’t think anything I write can do justice to their talent."
- Uncharted Sounds Magazine - - Uncharted Sounds Magazine

"Emery Street: Dead Man’s Hand - This was a tough choice since I have several favorite tracks on this band’s debut album (No Regrets / No Apologies), but the prominent horns and lyrics that fuse anger and sweetness made this the winner. But really, you need the entire album – now. "
- #5 on Top 10 Songs - RockandRollReport.com - RockandRollReport.com

"Emery Street: Dead Man’s Hand - This was a tough choice since I have several favorite tracks on this band’s debut album (No Regrets / No Apologies), but the prominent horns and lyrics that fuse anger and sweetness made this the winner. But really, you need the entire album – now. "
- #5 on Top 10 Songs - RockandRollReport.com - RockandRollReport.com

It may be located on a sliver of a Montreal side street, far removed from midtown Manhattan, but Seb Black hopes his Emery Street Records home base will embody the spirit of New York's famed erstwhile artist hangout, Hotel Chelsea, nonetheless - albeit with a heavy dose of Quartier Latin grit.
But even lifelong Montrealers could be forgiven for not knowing where Emery St. is. It has a well-known tenant in the Quartier Latin cinema complex, but the tiny street could otherwise be traversed in under a minute.
The label's headquarters, just across from the movie theatre, look like an innocuous storefront from the out-side. But inside lies a two-floor party pad that Black has been renting for about four years, with a full recording studio, back patio for barbecuing, a basement packed with music gear, strewn beer bottles everyone keeps bumping into, and the coup de grâce (if you don't count the old Rickenbacker bass hanging from one of the walls): a blood-stained white carpet in the back recesses of the bottom floor.
"You can't do art if you don't live it," says Seb Black, with his pit bull, Lil Boomer Junior, at Emery Street Records.
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"You can't do art if you don't live it," says Seb Black, with his pit bull, Lil Boomer Junior, at Emery Street Records.
DAVE SIDAWAY, THE GAZETTE

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"It's beef and lamb blood, mixed with ketchup and soya sauce," Black says, adding that his purebred pit bull, Lil Boomer Junior - who adorns the label's logo and is usually the first Emery Street Records resident to greet visitors - caused the mess. "He was more interested in the ketchup."
The sanguinary scene was filmed for Black's upcoming music video, Go Out in Style, a song taken from his label-christening album, On Emery Street. In a few days, he gleefully points out, burlesque dancers will be passing through, also for the video.
"You can't do art if you don't live it," the 29-year-old says with a smoke-imbued rasp. Black actually speaks like he sings: He sounds like a more youthful Tom Waits, employs absurd wordplay and his cadence mimics the rappers he followed as a young troublemaker in the Laurentians. "In the end, that's what people respect - the decision to sacrifice your life to obsess on something abstract that has no true meaning or goal. I'm trying to create an atmosphere here."
Emery Street Records' music aims to do the messy locale justice. Black lives there, first door on the right. So do his keyboard player, bassist and guitarist, and there are about 30 bands who rent the four rehearsal rooms in the basement. "I don't necessarily know them all," Black admits. "But they all heard me working on my record at some point. I'd rather have that vibe of chaos; it's much more inspiring."
He doesn't leave the building much, except to perform on the front steps or to saunter down to nearby Bistro à Jojo when he's uninspired. Otherwise, he works 14-hour shifts until 7: 30 a.m., on his own music and with his two label signatories: Eddie Paul (also his guitarist) and franco folkies Les Tavarneux.
"Remember how with Mo-town Records, it was pretty much the Funk Brothers playing on every track?" he asks. "With us, we're always sharing and working together."
When his labelmates release their albums this year, Black predicts the distinctive Emery Street sound will fully reveal itself. Black's release is hard to pin down stylistically, as it combines his freestyle growling with grimy samples, along with elements of folk, vaudeville and punk rock. He compares his "abstract vibe" to the works of Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali."I see what I do as music for right now," he says. "I don't do s---from 1960. If art has one goal, it's to somehow represent a certain time. Ancient Greece had statues; Renaissance had paintings; I, in 2013, do music that's a little bit of everything without knowing it."
On Emery Street is available now. Seb Black performs Thursday at 9 p.m. at Katacombes, 1635 St-Laurent Blvd. Tickets cost $10 (album included), available at the door.
Published: Wednesday, May 29 2013 - Erik Leijon, Montreal Gazette

We are on Emery Street. Seb Black is seated on an old, Victorian-style couch like a King on his throne. The walls are painted metallic purple. At his feet, a small, black pit-bull is gnawing on a raw, bloody piece of meat that’s almost as big as she is, getting blood all over the snow-white faux-fur carpet. Black looks on, completely unconcerned, a cigarette in one hand and a tall-can of Pabst in the other.

Emery Street studiosThe scene is completely bizarre and surreal but there is an unmistakable air of refinement and class to it. For Black, it’s just your average Tuesday night. This is a small slice of life on Emery Street, the headquarters for the appropriately named Emery Street Records.

Emery Street HQ is Black’s kingdom, a world so real and raw that it crosses the line into fantasy. This place has to be seen to be believed. It’s much more than your average record label headquarters. A completely organic DIY space, Emery Street features a high-quality recording studio, several jam spaces, and is also where most of the musicians on the label eat, sleep, work, and play.

So what exactly happens when you put a bunch of people who are all musicians, singers, songwriters, and friends into one space? The resulting energy is exciting, intoxicating, and a little bit frightening at the same time.

The purpose of all this, according to Black, is to create a world so unusual, so out of the ordinary, it becomes the stuff of legend.

“We’re trying to create an atmosphere, and that atmosphere will be legendary,” Black says.

Then there’s the music, which is almost just a by-product of the crazy world that Black and his fellow musicians have built for themselves.

“Anyone can make music,” Black said. “Anyone can learn an instrument and play songs. You have to have a style and you have to live that style.”

Seb Black on his throneFor Black, living this way comes naturally. His story has all the markings of a classic punk folk tale. A high-school dropout raised by a passionate, free-thinking single mother up north in the Laurentians, Black started making and producing music at a young age.

When he was 18 years old, he was living almost 100 km north of Montreal in Val-David, producing music for hip-hop artists.

“My manager said ‘I’ll introduce you to a big producer but you have to meet him on Wednesday at ten in the morning on the corner of St. Denis in Montreal.’” he said. “I didn’t have a ride so I hitchhiked here and met him.”

This attitude of going out and just doing something without having a backup plan is what led Black to where he is now.

“Most people have shit holding them back,” he said. “I’m just lucky that I had the life I had, which might have been really hard, but it gave me the chance to truly not give a fuck.”

The emphasis on this idea of having a style and living that style is what all the musicians at Emery Street seem to have in common. “Style is like a religious word around here,” said Eddie Paul Hodorek, whose band is signed to the label, along with Seb Black and a third band called Les Tavarneux.

Eddie Paul moved in around three years ago when Emery Street was starting to come together. He’s the first to say that this lifestyle isn’t for everyone. He had to adjust to the constant movement, chaos, and noise in the house, not to mention sleeping in a room with no windows.

“Everything you know, or you think you know, has to change,” he said. Is it working for him now? “I work for it now,” he replied.

His statement speaks volumes about the concept of Emery Street as its own entity. Every member seems to agree that the musical products created by all of these individuals would not be the same were it not for this environment.

Emery Street studios
Eddie Paul at Emery Street Studios/his bedroom
Contrary to what most people might think, the total absence of rules, schedules, and regimented work slots is incredibly conducive to inspiration and creativity. The proof is in the music. Seb Black’s album ‘On Emery Street’ will be officially launched on May 30 at Katacombes. Tickets are 10$ and you get a copy of the CD. Meanwhile, Eddie Paul and Les Tavarneux are looking to release their respective works sometime in the fall.

“There are bands out there with budgets from their record labels. They’re paying for studio time, they’re watching the clock,” Hodorek said. ”That’s the difference: we’re all friends and we’re all here for each other. We get the benefit of everyone caring about everyone else’s music. The whole process is more enjoyable ‘cause it’s not about money, it’s about each other’s thing.” - Forget the Box, Bianca David

Known for it’s specialty boutiques, unique bars and nightlife, Montreal’s Quartier Latin has become a true hotspot over the years. Of course, we can’t forget the bordering UQAM student population, the sometimes questionable characters that mingle around Emilie Gamelin Park and the comings and goings from the nearby bus station. It seems like there is never a dull moment in the area. The only thing missing… a recording studio and jam space for local artist. Enter Seb Black and his low key Emery Street Studio!

Before I continue, I should preface this post by explaining how I first heard about this unique project. A slow week was afoot and a good acquaintance happened to call with an invite to a listening party and BBQ. The location of said festivities, the Emery Street Studio, was unfamiliar to me but I figured I’d drop in. Fast forward a couple of hours and I find myself walking past the place several times, expecting a somewhat lavish facility. Instead, I was (pleasantly) surprised to find myself standing in front of a very nondescript storefront which would soon blow me away! So much so that fellow contributor Jenny King and I spent an afternoon chatting with the man behind the joint.

Seb Black

Born Sebastian Schwarz, and having grown up in the West Island sebblackand the Laurentians, the first thing that rubs off of Black is an eclectic, bull-shit free, no-rules personality. These feelings were quickly re-inforced before our sit-down even began as he spewed words of wisdom quite naturally:

“For it to be worth it making art, it needs to be uncensored. [...] It’s just taking mediocre things and making it seem like a movie but in the end, how can you make that movie if you censor anything?”

Although Black doesn’t really recall when he started dabbling in music, he remembers being in his mid-twenties and bumping into two girls at a party who broke into a song they claim he’d written and taught them when he was just 8 years old. That, he claims, is the earliest recollection he has of being musically-inclined.

In case you’re wondering, Black’s style is actually a throwback to the various music eras he’s lived through and includes hints of folk, punk, and electro… You may even find heavy influences from acts such as Tom Waits and Social Distortion.

The Studio

Emery Street actually came about when Black had just turned legal and, through acquaintances, rubbed shoulders with local producers. Little did he know, one of the people he’d bump into would be none other than legendary record producer, Pierre Bazinet (best known for his work with Robert Charlevoix, Jean Leloup, Bruno Pelletier, and Sass Jordan) who just so happened to be hanging up his headphones at his self-built studio on… Emery Street! Black recalls his first meeting with Bazinet like it was yesterday, “I had no lift, no car. I actually hitchhiked [from Val David]. It’s 9:30 in the morning. I was young so I had never seen no boards or none of that shit before and I was fuckin’ impressed. [...] I was thinking, this place can’t die. I have to figure out a way to keep it. So we made Emery Street Records”. He followed that up with a chuckle as he mumbled, “now we’re struggling to pay the rent ever since”.

Speaking of paying the rent, the inevitable issue of rent and expenses came up. Turns out several artists (Black’s own band included) not only work at the space, they also live there. Not only that, but seeing as the studio is spread across two floors Black and his partners are also able to rent out the remaining space at more than reasonable rates to various musicians and bands. In fact, Black estimates approximately 60 artists have shared the space as of late and no less than 14 hours a day are dedicated to creating music. Essentially it’s a community approach driven by a passion for music.

On the topic of potential issues with neighbours and noise complaints, Black began to grin and quickly pointed out, “I don’t know the neighbours [but] there’s nothing I can do in anyway that could come close to the noise that [patrons at nearby bars] are making”.

Also fascinating (and a little known fact) is that the Emery Street facilities along with their partners actually make their own equipment, including a custom-made pre-amp. “If you’re not all that rich, you can’t have 5,000 different pre-amps”, Black touts. “That’s why we make our own.”

The Dogspitbull

Contributing to the unique concept of the studio are two well-behaved pitbulls. One of them even has his face reproduced on business cards and in the form of a tattoo on Black’s arm. Black simply explained, “Our dogs are like the security guards/mascots/models… They pretty much do everything we don’t do”.

Props to Montreal

When asked why he was still sticking around our fair city as opposed to trying his hand at the States, Black jumped up in his chair, his eyes lit up as his index fingers pointed down, and he quickly exclaimed “this place”.

I also couldn’t help but ask him who some of his favourite local acts are. His response was all over the map giving props to art rockers Sunset Rubdown, bluegrass-driven Les Tavarneux, and the classic Leonard Cohen! - Montreal Music Scene