Presenting a bouquet of eclectic underground artists, Debaser’s summer 2023 Pique Festival is set to take place Saturday, June 10. Hosted at Club SAW and nearby venues, Pique will be enlivened by local musicians like OK Naledi, N’nerjie and HUG MOSH.
The festival supports “equity-deserving” and “off-kilter” artists, according to programming manager Tafari Hall. The vision for the festival is to be artist-driven and forward-thinking.
To Hall, Pique is shifting the festival landscape, making local music more accessible though one day festivals hosted quarterly.
“As far as forward-thinking, I think the one day festival for Pique is a really huge thing. It’s something that I appreciate,” Hall said. “I like the condensed nature, the control and safety that’s had with a one day festival.”
Hall said this format also allows Pique’s programming committee to curate meaningful lineups.
“We’re trying to take the steps to seek out these folks that need help, support and equity—whether that be with accessibility [or] specific racial issues,” Hall said. “Not every artist is equipped with an agent or the resources to reach out to festivals, so we need to do our digging.”
This summer’s festival will feature punk, experimental jazz, Afro-fusion and golden-hour acoustics bills, as well as a vendors market.
R&B and soul artist N’nerjie is looking forward to fostering genuine connections during their set.
“Performing for a live audience—I feed off of their energy,” she said. “I’m excited to connect with new people, to see new faces, to see familiar faces and spend some time with the music.”
To N’nerjie, events like Pique are beautiful spaces to unite creatives of all backgrounds. The artist aims to assert their identity and stories into all her performances and says Pique encourages performers to be authentic.
“I’m a black queer artist. It’s super important for me to let other people know that we’re here and we’re doing our thing,” they said. “I want people to know that we get to be on the big stages as well. We get to share our stories. We get to be loud.”
Hyperpuker musician Fabien Pleur, vocalist and producer for HUG MOSH, will also be performing their collision of hip hop and hyper-pop on Saturday.
They say the Ottawa scene has been receptive to the project’s honest lyrics—which touch on topics like gender transitioning and mental health.
“Music is a bodily function for me,” they explained. “I find that with the HUG MOSH music, I’m being earnest on record and packaging sometimes very serious topics in a bubbly package. Seeing people’s reactions encourages me to keep being honest.”
Having been immersed in the Ottawa scene for nearly 20 years, Pleur says the city’s artists share intergenerational support.
“Between the generations, established artists work with emerging artists. I think that’s one of the healthiest things in our scene. I don’t think that’d necessarily be possible in a bigger ecosystem than Ottawa’s,” they said.
Crossing genre boundaries, Pique is sure to highlight the city’s multitudes of artistry.
“If you’re keeping your eyes open, the arts scene here in Ottawa is amazing. There’s so many talented individuals, especially the youth,” said N’nerjie.
Festival admission tickets are “pay what you can” and can be reserved here.
Featured image provided by Tafari Hall/Pique.
