Tag: Xavier Caféine

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: DVTR “Live on the Big Rusty Ferry”

Montréal-based JOVM mainstays DVTR —  Le Couleur‘s Laurence G-Do a.k.a. Demi Lune and Gazoline‘s,  Kandle‘s Xavier Caféine‘s and Gab Bouchard‘s JC Tellier, a.k.a. Jean Divorce — have exploded into the Canadian indie scene with the release of their debut EP, 2023’s BONJOUR. The EP earned a plethora of rapturous reviews, landed on a number of Best of 2023 lists and earned the duo the first batch of a growing number of Québec-based music industry awards.

Building upon 2023’s momentum, the duo released an expanded edition of their debut EP, 2024’s BONJOUR (BIS), which featured a couple of bonus tracks.

The Montrealers supported the original and expanded editions of BONJOUR EP with a frenetic and whirlwind world tour that saw the band playing sets across the international club and festival circuit in Asia, Mexico, Germany, Québec and France. During this remarkably busy period,. the duo released a live album on VHS — yes, VHS! — and added a few more awards to their already crowded mantle, including the 2025 Breakout Artist of the Year at the GAMIQ Gala early last year. And they also managed to release new material, including “Né pour flâner (Born to loiter),” and “Couleur peau (Your Next Token Asian Friend).”

The duo along with their live backing band of masked minions/henchmen filmed a blistering and unhinged 17-minute live session on a big rusting ferry on the St. Lawrence River. Live on the Big Rusty Ferry features live version of BONJOUR tracks “Anu Cuni,” “Les flics,” “Vasectomia,” “Rhum cokeMD” and “Sound $ex Change,” and “DVTR,” as well as last year’s standalone “Né pour flâner,” and accurately captures the wild and frenetic energy that has helped the act win fans at clubs and festivals across the globe.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: DVTR Returns with an Incisive Ripper Tackling Colorism and Racism

French Canadian JOVM mainstays DVTR —  Le Couleur‘s Laurence G-Do a.k.a. Demi Lune and Gazoline‘s,  Kandle‘s Xavier Caféine‘s and Gab Bouchard‘s JC Tellier, a.k.a. Jean Divorce — burnt up the Canadian indie scene with the release of their debut EP, 2023’s BONJOUR. The EP amassed a plethora of rapturous reviews, landed on a number of Best of 2023 lists and earned the duo the first batch of a growing number of awards in Québec.

Building upon that momentum of the previous year, the duo released an expanded edition of their debut EP BONJOUR (BIS), which featured a couple of bonus tracks.

The Montrealers supported the original and expanded editions of BONJOUR EP with a frenetic and whirlwind world tour over the past couple of years, which has featured sets across the club and festival circuit in Asia, Mexico, Germany and Québec. They’re currently in the middle of an extensive bit of touring across France.

During this remarkably busy period, the duo released a live album on VHS (!) and added more awards to their already crowded mantle — the 2025 Breakout Artist of the Year at the GAMIQ Gala earlier this year.

And they’ve still managed to release new material. They began this year with “Né pour flâner (Born to loiter),” a song that further cements the duo’s uncanny knack for mosh pit friendly, catchy hooks, punchily delivered vocals and furious synth and guitar riffage. 

Cementing their reputation for restless and frenetic creativity, the duo return with “Couleur peau (Your Next Token Asian Friend),” arguably one of the more defiant, feisty and perhaps somewhat straightforward punk songs of a growing catalog of breakneck rippers. The song sees the duo happily spitting on and trampling the outdated, ridiculous French concept of couleur peau (“skin color”), a term that according to the band only ever refers to white or beige skin. While calling out colorism, the song is also an incisive criticism of performative and wishy washy White liberals that sees the song’s narrator ready to cash in on White guilt. I’ll be your token Asian pal– if you ante up, the song says. But she’ll also call you out for it, as she’s cashing that check.

The accompanying video by Cedric Demers and Alexandre Normand feature DVTR’s frontperson insouciantly eating a buffet-style table of Chinese food while the song plays — with chopsticks and then a fork.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: DVTR Tackles a Québecois New Wave Classic

With the release of their debut EP, BONJOUR, the French Canadian JOVM mainstays DVTR —  Le Couleur‘s Laurence G-Do and Gazoline‘s,  Kandle‘s Xavier Caféine‘s and Gab Bouchard‘s JC Tellier — burnt up the Canadian indie scene: The EP amassed a plethora of rapturous reviews, landed on a number of Best of 2023 Lists and earned the duo a handful of awards in Québec. 

Earlier this month, the duo released an expanded edition of their debut EP, BONJOUR (BIS), which featured “Les Olympiques,” a punchily breakneck ripper an anchored in scathing sociopolitical commentary — but while seeming to draw from The Hives, The Strokes and The White Stripes among others. 

The expanded EP features a cover of Dolbie Stéréo’s 1982 Quebecois New Wave classic “Pied de poule,” which also appears in the musical of the same name. Anchored around a chugging synth-driven groove and punchily delivered shouts, Dolbie Stereo’s original is an in-your-face anthem. DVTR’s cover subtly modernizes the Quéecois New Wave classic while retaining the original’s in-your-face punchiness and irresistible groove.

The accompanying video features footage shot at a sweaty and bonkers DVTR show.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: DVTR Shares Breakneck and Punchy “Les Olympiques”

Deriving their name as an acronym for the French phrase “D’où vient ton riz?” (Where does your rice come from?), Montréal-based duo and JOVM mainstays DVTR is a collaborative project featuring two of the city’s most highly accomplished […]