De Temps Antan takes a new approach to recording music

After a long and occasionally stormy week, De Temps Antan closed out the CKUA stage at this year’s KDays. The Québecois trio are no strangers to Edmonton, but brought something fresh with them this time around.

The group’s roots go back to each member’s family heritage, which was always intertwined with music.

“The tradition of the call and response song has been a part of my life since I was very young. The first instrument that I learned was the singing,” Pierre-Luc Depuis said.

Depuis, who plays accordion, harmonica, and does his fair share of singing in the band, was introduced to music through family and celebrations. 

David Boulanger, the band’s fiddler, on the other hand, didn’t come from a family of musicians. Instead, he first encountered folk music in school. “One of my teachers, he liked dancing and every once in a while we would not play music, but dance.” 

It was often a mix of international and traditional music, but Québec traditional music and dances too. 

Those outside influences still shape the band’s music today. Their sound as a band has evolved over the nearly 20 years they’ve been together. 

“It was more acoustic and then we got inspired by other genres that we incorporated, but it’s still very much traditional music,” Éric Beaudry, their guitarist, said. 

A lot of those influences come from each member’s various backgrounds. Depuis played electric guitar and played more punk and rock music for a time. Sometimes the group also draws from pop music or singer-songwriters from Québec. Now, those elements add some spice and flavour to De Temps Antan.

Inviting the audience into the studio

In early June, the group tried something a little different — they decided to record new music in front of a live audience.

“Normally you will go to a concert and it’s a bunch of greatest hits and maybe a few new songs,” Boulanger explained. “We only played new songs, so people discovered the song that night.”

The night also evolved to be more than just a show. They would answer questions and would hear from the audience before and after each track.

“It’s more like we invited them into the studio,” Boulanger said. 

And it flipped the usual recording process for new music on its head. Instead of fine-tuning the songs and perfecting them by testing them out before recording, they went straight to performing the songs for an audience while recording them. 

“Normally, the more you play the tunes, the more relaxed you are, the more confident you are,” Depuis explained. “That project was about the opposite of that. It was more relying on our instincts and our experience as a band.”

“And also, we accept what comes up. If there’s a goof here, if it’s not major, we don’t try to polish everything and have everything perfect,” he added. “Just show the music for what it is for real.”

While it’s a very new approach for them, it was something they enjoyed. “It’s very natural when we get together and play, so that’s easy. We don’t need to talk so much,” Depuis said. “I think it’s rare, it’s a privilege to be able to play with musicians and with such a strong connection.”

They don’t have an exact date set for the release yet, but it fans should keep an eye out for late this year or early next year.