Motions is Yet Another Montreal Local Proving That Music is Made Best at Home

As an artist, returning to the city where you first got started can be a creative challenge, but Montreal-based producer Motions is undaunted. Motions is the post-Grown Folk pseudonym of Brendan Neal. He's been hard at work on his solo project since mid-2013, where his EP became the first release on Skream's new label Of Unsound Mind by the following summer. His second EP, All Gone, came out on the LA-based label Body High in April—quite the notable list of achievements for a fresh producer. Now, with a full follow-up album due to release on Body High and a residency on a fresh monthly event series in Montreal called 00:AM, Neal gives THUMP some insight into his beginnings, his influences, and his plans for the future.

Neal was first inspired to create music while attending university in Montreal, where he was thrust into club culture back in the electro heavy days of 2008. "Once I got that first little taste, I just delved deeper and deeper into it. And over time, my tastes got more distilled and I moved away from the super maximal sounds of electro and towards house," he explains. In the summer of 2013, while achieving success with Grown Folk, Neal made the impulse decision to pack up and move to the UK after his graduation. "I bought a flight on a complete whim," he says, and rushed through a visa application to find himself in London that July.

Once overseas, Neal officially left the Grown Folk project to pursue a solo career as Motions. He was quick to foster his own sound and artist profile, due in part to the sheer difficulty of supporting himself in London. "I worked a ton and I knew that whenever I wasn't working I had to use that time to work on music," he remarks. "I ended up having probably the most important creative stretch making music that I have ever had because of that." He became intrigued by the melodic sides of underground techno records that he was exposed to in London clubs. And soon began incorporating similar sounds into his brand of modern house music.

His productions caught the ears of Skream and Body High, culminating in the release of his two EPs within a year of his arrival. He also landed a booking at the famed Fabric nightclub last August, fulfilling a long-time dream of his. "I used to go to all the Hessle Audio nights there," says Neal. "That was definitely really important in thinking about the way that I DJ and some of the sounds that I got into, by seeing Ben UFO and Pearson Sound DJ there [and] then being able to play there. It was pretty nerve-racking but incredibly exciting and special."

Neal made the difficult decision to return to Montreal last November, which he now regards as the right move. "Montreal is definitely on a huge upswing right now," he says, referencing clubs such as StereoBar and Newspeak—both of which cater specifically to showcasing more underground electronic music.

He came home from London with the newfound drive to create something unique within Montreal's club culture. Teaming up with a group of creatively like-minded friends and fellow Montreal artist M.Bootyspoon, this new collective is attempting to change the way partygoers approach a night out. They're doing so by creating a new monthly event series at Newspeak, titled 00:AM. "There are a lot of amazing bookings in Montreal," Neal explains, "but there is less of a culture of going to a club night because it's been set up and curated by people who are doing special things to make that night theirs. It should not simply be going to a club to see a DJ and then leaving."

00:AM looks to embody this new night-centric approach through consistently bringing underground artists that Neal and the collective love and believe into Montreal. They're also creating a unique experience each month through constantly evolving visuals, lighting, and other creative elements specific to their night. By investing himself in developing a unique party series, Neal hopes to attract partygoers in coming months through a quality reputation and atmosphere and not just due to specific bookings.

While 00:AM kicked off last Sunday to a packed crowd with Neal and M.Bootyspoon DJing alongside headliner and Montreal-native Jacques Greene, Neal also graced the main stage at Piknic Electronik for the first time in early June. Due to his long dedication as a Piknic attendee over the years, he found the experience particularly meaningful thanks to the festival's role in his development as an artist. He cites the many underground artists that Piknic first brought to the city as influential to his shift towards the deep, atmospheric house music he produces today. "To be playing up on the main stage was definitely a little bit surreal. Sometimes it takes a week or two to look back on that and realize how significant something like that is based on where you've come from."

Neal is currently focusing on the singles for his new album, which will expand on the sound put forward in his first two EPs. This time around, he is using computer driven synths along with analog equipment and his own vocals, with a goal of creating a versatile house record that works on the dancefloor without forgoing song structures and dreamy, melodic breaks.

While his time in London helped to foster his sound, for Motions, coming home has allowed him to discover new horizons. "Coming back to Montreal, I'm not trying to just play odd nights and put out an EP," he says. "I'm trying to immerse myself in everything to do with being an artist."

Motions is on Facebook // Twitter // SoundCloud

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