“we both love going out, meeting new people, new trends, music, and new concepts,” sarah-marie and florent tell me of their new events venture, bolting bits collectif. “we studied in different cities — paris, london, bordeaux — and these cities have really influenced us. we wanted to establish bolting bits by keeping in mind the collaborative cultural models of our favourite venues around the world.” inspired by events like saturday nights aboard the i.boat in bordeaux, which boasts a terrasse, art exhibitions, a bassin-a-flot, and a party in the ship’s hold, florent and sarah-marie hope to bring a similar sense of mix-and-match to their collective’s events. bolting bits will host not only DJ performances, but visuals, mixtapes, and videos. “we want to offer different activities, different media,” they explain, “we want this project to be 360°.”
when my friend scott and i arrive at the second bolting bits event at divan orange, sarah-marie is manning the booth by the door. she greets me by name — a trend that continues when florent joins us outside on the terrasse to make sure we’re having a good time. i think the formalities are reserved for me, as their guest, but after introducing himself to me, florent makes his rounds among the groups on the terrasse as well. a rare move at a montreal party: the result is intimate and family-like, everyone is somewhere they can feel at home. the party itself, which featured DJ sets from locals tronald trump (whom florent met through a mutual friend), lexis, h u g, and florent himself, is intimate as well, fueled by reasonably priced drinks, energetic music, and a warm atmosphere.
“we were looking for a positive word defining the movement,” florent answers when i ask how they came up with the name bolting bits, “we liked the sound and the way ‘bolting’ was written. but the word “bolting” could not be alone, so we decided to add a short word approaching music or technology. the word “bits” came naturally. the two together sound like a melody!” music, of course, takes precedent in the bolting bits philosophy. the events center around nu-disco, funky house, and deep house; scenes that florent and sarah-marie hope to promote through carefully curated DJ line ups and venue choices. “nu-disco is a take on 70s and 80s music. at nu-disco parties, everyone is smiling and dancing! this is the real party!” they tell me, “but it does not have the same popularity in north america. in northern countries, we have the impression that people prefer the sounds that hit, like tech-house. perhaps there is there a link with the climate?”
for florent and sarah-marie’s parts, they met at piano lessons in france over a decade ago. they share work on bolting bits with their collaborators, mathieu (graphic design), remy (video), and marie-eve (promotion). connected through a mutual love of music, the BB crew works to advance their favoured music communities here in montreal. “seeing people having fun and dancing until 3:00 am was a very good memory,” the duo reports of their first event, which took place earlier this summer and hosted valentin ginies, fonkynson, and grand trianon on deck, “we love combining music and video, so on the walls were projected film clips from directors like martin scorsese, stanley kubrick, sofia coppola, and quentin tarantino.”
as for the future, florent and sarah-marie hope to collaborate with the local talent that’s already established themselves as forces in the industry: “we’ll work with the rilly guilty crew (tronald trump is part of it), and we also have an ongoing project with the label lux lisbon record to promote the french house / nu-disco scene.” but it’s not just music: “we also work with our friends of huntees mtl, who created a brand of urban t-shirts. as said earlier, we have a 360° project in mind. we think it’s very important to be mixing views, crowds, and influences to make everyone feel at home.”
bolting bits’ next event won’t take place until october, but in the meantime, pass by the saint edouard on september 2nd to discover their latest findings.
++ graphics by mathieu at bolting bits
