The Sonic City
Pride Toronto: Five Questions with Saturn Alien
While Toronto has many great local artists that will be performing in this year’s Pride Toronto festivities, I’m also excited to discover talent from the many other regions across the country who will be joining us between June 26th and 28th.
Today, I have Louis Butterfield of the Montreal-based band, Saturn Alien joining me. Described as psychedelic punk-funk-jazz-rock, Saturn Alien has forged a truly unique sound to coincide with a live show that you will not want to miss this on June 28th at the Clean, Sober, and Proud stage.
Casey: Welcome Louis! It’s great to have you join us. To begin, tell us a little bit about the band, your influences, and sound.
Louis: Saturn Alien is an occasion of revelry. Its about the face you make when the chaos gives you convulsions. Musically, we try to cover everything we like, so the forms can get tricky. Debussy, Thelonius Monk, Jimi Hendrix, The Mars Volta, and 90’s pro wrestling. It’s all entertainment that has given out of body experiences to ourselves and countless others. Emotionally, we’re looking for that all-you-can-eat sushi feeling. The one you get when you watch every James Bond movie in one sitting. Shameless desire I guess.
Casey: What does Pride Toronto mean to you?
Louis: Pride will be the great hurrah for Saturn Alien. The energy is quivering. It’s people being completely themselves for one weekend every year. There are few things like it on earth. It changes stuff.
Casey: What are you looking forward to most about performing in the festival this year?
Louis: Playing outside in the afternoon to people that have the freedom to do whatever they want. There’s no trapped feelings from being in a bar. Everyone that sticks around for the set is a victory.
Casey: Any other artists performing that you’re excited to see play at Pride Toronto?
Louis: To be frank, any and every drag show is a major win for all.
Casey: Any final words, or advice for emerging artists out there?
Louis: Get educated. Give yourself options, the musical language is an inventory. Also, everything takes way longer than you expect, it’s all about the process.
Thank you, Louis! We’re really looking forward to Saturn Alien’s live show coming up this weekend! For our readers, be sure to check out Saturn Alien’s set on June 28th at 3:30pm at Pride Toronto’s Clean, Sober and Proud Place.
You may also connect with Saturn Alien online at SaturnAlien.ca, and on Facebook.
About the Author
Casey Robertson is a genderqueer human rights activist, musician ,composer, and graduate student researching musicology and cultural theory. In recent years he has been involved with the committees of LGBTQA projects such as the Durham Pride Prom, Allies for Equality, and Queerstock Canada. He also served as a member of the board of directors for PFLAG Durham Region from 2012-2014, where he was a member of the peer2peer support team and a facilitator for monthly sharing evenings. Casey currently resides in the Church-Wellesley Village of Toronto and enjoys spending his free time scoring independent film projects and playing with his band Liberty Street, while on the constant search to discover new artists of all expressive forms. Follow Casey on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at CaseyRobertson.net