Patrick Watson

Patrick Watson is a Montreal-based art-rock quartet that carries the name of its chief songwriter and frontman. They exploded onto the Canadian and international scene alike at the end of 2006 following the release of Close to Paradise. Watson, along with bandmates Mishka Stein, Robbie Kuster, and Simon Angell, have proved in a short period of time that they deserve to be considered among the best on a growing list of Canada’s promising musical exports.

The versatility of Patrick Watson’s music can be traced through the man himself, who began his musical career at age seven singing in local churches on the West Island of Montreal. He grew up studying classical and jazz piano performance, arrangement, and composition, and to this day references Debussy and Satie as influences more readily than Jeff Buckley. Watson met guitarist Simon Angell in their hometown of Hudson, Quebec around this time, and the two have collaborated ever since—Angell’s soundscapes and noise-influences having developed into the perfect complement to Watson’s colourful melodic compositions and gut-wrenching falsetto.

By the time he was 16, Watson and Angell were attending high school in Montreal, and playing in the high-octane ska group, Gangster Politics. Never one to be satisfied by one musical genre, Patrick began focusing on engineering his own music with almost fanatical attention to details, incorporating genres and styles from contemporary classical to modern electronica, at once pop-oriented and improvisational.

While studying music at Vanier College in the late-nineties, Patrick had met Ukrainian-born Mishka Stein, and Swiss/British Columbia ex-pat Robbie Kuster, who occasionally invited to fill out his rhythm section when performing live shows (with Angell having long-since become a permanent fixture). In 2001 Patrick released the solo effort Waterproof9—an experimental suite meant to accompany the underwater photography of long-time visual collaborator, Brigitte Henry (who also worked on the stunning art direction of Close to Paradise).

Though still Watson’s project, an informal residency at the legendary Café Sarajevo and an eerie live chemistry between the four musicians quickly led to more group writing and a growing word-of-mouth fanbase. Just Another Ordinary Day was released in 2003 as a result and stands as a kind of snapshot of the band in formation, highlighting their penchant for dreamy soundscapes at once organic, with Watson’s voice as the centerpiece.

Through 2004 and 2005 buzz on the band’s live shows lead to performances with huge international acts and rising Canadian stars alike, from Phillip Glass, Steve Reich and Feist to local friends the Dears and the Stills. Following a breakthrough performance at the Pop Montreal Festival in 2005, the band became the catalyst for the formation of Montreal’s Secret City Records, and entered the studio late in the year to complete Close to Paradise, chunks of which had been recorded for up to two years prior, all over the world. In the summer of 2006, they were invited on a European tour with the late great James Brown, a fitting last leg to the first chapter of their story.

Close to Paradise was released in Canada immediately after in September 2006. It has since been released wordwide and has gone to on to win numerous awards, including Canada’s prestigious Polaris Prize in September 2007.

NME - Patrick Watson previews new material at rare lunchtime gig

"Patrick Watson performed a rare lunchtime gig at the intimate Hotel Café in Los Angeles today (June 19) for a star-studded audience that included Rage Against The Machine's Tom Morello...."

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Patrick Watson to play KARKWATSON shows in June

Anyone who's seen Patrick Watson perform live knows that the four-piece put on an amazing live show, often changing song-arrangements on a dime, extending parts, and generally exploring the big musical soundscapes they're able to create. Well that whole spirit of their performance is going to be taken a step further when they team up with fellow Quebec artists Karkwa in June for some 9-piece action. You can expect some Patrick Watson songs, some Karkwa songs, but probably a whole lot of crazyness in between. They play June 12th in Quebec City, and June 13th and 14th at Le National in Montreal.

After these shows Patrick Watson will be playing a handful of European summer festival dates, and spend the rest of the summer recording the follow-up to 2006's Close to Paradise.

See the shows section for more Karkwatson and festival information.

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Patrick Watson wins Polaris Prize

Wow. Well. Secret City's Patrick Watson took home Canada's Polaris Prize last night, and we're pretty much speechless. We were thrilled as it is when both they and Miracle Fortress made the shortlist amidst some very good company. To see Patrick, Simon, Mishka and Robbie walk away with the Prize was something else. There were some amazing records up the award, many of which we at Secret City are huge fans of...so all we can say at this point is a really humble thanks.

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More award nominations for Patrick Watson

The praise just keeps coming for Patrick Watson and Close to Paradise, with an event-topping six GAMIQ nominations coming in this week. The newly minted GAMIQs are awarded to independent Quebec artists, picking up where the MIMIs left off. Patrick Watson is up for "Artist of the Year", "Songwriter of the Year", "International Career", "Show of the Year", "Breakthrough Artist of the Year" and "Best Indie-Pop Album". All these awards are partially determined by public voting, so by all means, go and vote!.

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