It was a band, an orchestra, a commune, a gathering of psychedelic magicians. And now they’re releasing their 1972 masterpiece Volume 333, remastered by Walter Boudreau and reissued by Mucho Gusto on December 16th.
A light bulb. An idea. Many ideas. 333 ideas! l’Infonie is back with a unique mix of rock, prog, jazz, contemporary and classical music made in Kébek. The album Volume 333 (remastérisé 2016) is now available on Bandcamp as well as on vinyl on December 16th. Crazy stuff. Wild outfits. Drugs? Probably! This was the early 70’s, anything was possible. Back then l’Infonie, more than any French Canadian band, pushed the limits of musical exploration.
Formed in Montreal in 1967, l’Infonie existed officially until 1974. During these seven years of mayhem they birthed four albums (Volume 3, Volume 33, Volume 333 and Volume 3333) and multiple shows designed to be way-out avant-garde hippie happenings. Lead by composer Walter Boudreau and poet/singer Raôul Duguay this very loose collective includes up to 33 artists from various backgrounds, including free jazz, rock, classical and contemporary music, as well as visual arts and poetry, and forms one creative adventure still unsurpassed in Québec.
L’Infonie is part of a historical movement that tried to shake the foundations of our culture… Shock, surprise rather than flatter. Rub the wrong way… In those days the group members weren’t drop outs but we were trying to stir away from the usual artistic conformity. We had seen enough. We went out of our way to appear with toilet seats or coat hangers on our heads: trying to break something. — Walter Boudreau (1979)
L’Infonie exorcised a lot of fantasies. A rage for living occupied our spirits, a creative angst regrouped Le Quatuor Jazz Libre du Kebek, Walter Boudreau, Michel Lefrançois, Roger Pellerin (designer), Guy Boivin (painter), Ysengourd Knohr, Doc Scrop or Corps (chiropractor), Andrée Paul (pianist), orchestral symphony musicians, all kinds of jazz rock-pop-progressive groups, classical, contemporary, middle-age, pre-cambrian and pre atlantis… — Raôul Duguay -Taken from « Raôul Duguay ou: le poête à la voix d’O » (1979)