Artist Spotlight
Population II

Population II

Meet Population II, a psychedelic rock band hailing from Montreal, Quebec. Population II thrive on instinct, chemistry and a creative momentum developed over years of playing together in the same room. Raw and physical but never sloppy, their music is an energetic blend of Detroit-style punk with progressive structures and kraut-rock precision delivered in Quebecois French.

 

The band is a trio consisting of singer/drummer Pierre-Luc Gratton, guitarist/keyboardist Tristan Lacombe and bassist Sébastien Provençal. Early in their career they were championed by John Dwyer of Osees, and the band has also been both longlisted and shortlisted for the Polaris Music Prize for their albums Électrons libres du Québec (2023) and Maintenant Jamais (2025) respectively. Hit play on their latest album and read on to discover more about Population II.

Judaea

For someone discovering Population II for the first time, how would you describe what you do?

A very eclectic mix of influences. Young people using the energy and rawness of Detroit punk with a progressive and kraut-rocky finesse. All sung in Quebecois French.

 

How did the band come together, and what made you decide to keep going with it?

It came very naturally, we met when we were teenagers and we perpetually mix our stew. We kept going because the feeling was very good and you can’t stop a good broth.


When you first started playing music together, did you have a clear idea of what kind of band this was going to be, or did that only reveal itself over time?

It revealed itself overtime, this band is really the sum of its parts. Nothing was too planned, it came into fruition with years of mutually improvising music in a room together.

Judaea

How do ideas usually surface for you? Do you write your music with ideas in mind, or does something creative happen when you stop trying too hard?

I think the three of us have really different ways to deal with our creative practices. Usually the embryo of a piece starts with a simple idea but will be the focus of a piece. Then we improvise on it all together without trying too hard and magic happens.

 

When you’re writing or jamming, what tells you “this is worth holding onto” versus something that can just live in that moment?

We record pretty much everything that the three of us do. There’s always our phone recording what we’re doing and we just listen to everything while doing normal chores, driving and etc… What grips us tends to make it into a finished song.

 

You were championed early on by John Dwyer of Osees, which brought a lot of new ears to your music. How did that experience feel from inside the band at the time, and did that recognition change anything about how you saw yourselves?

It felt amazing to be recognized by him, we couldn’t believe it. But It changed nothing about how we saw ourselves. We still do this for the sake of music, fun, being creative and sharing good.

Judaea

Montreal has quite a history of experimental and independent music. How does being part of that environment shape you?

We kind of always gravitated around the scene and are kind of some oddballs we think, but the rents use to be very cheap and accessible, so it’s a good way to have art and a bunch of venues. Montréal is very rich and eclectic artistically, so it’s very supportive of everything happening, even if some don’t understand what’s hitting them at 100dB.

 

How do you think about the relationship between your recorded music and your live shows? Do they serve different purposes for you?

Lately, yes. We tend to polish more in the studio. But most of the songs have been recorded and written live so it’s easy for us to perform them. We like to stretch things out live and we can also play with an intensity and dynamics that are not possible in the studio.

In the studio we try to obtain beautiful and controlled results, we work a lot on the tones and (the) timbre of every sound so it can feel good to the listener.

Is there something about playing live that feels essential to the band? Something that recordings can’t quite capture?

The rawness, the energy and our curly-haired heads flying.

 

For someone listening alone on headphones, what do you hope stays with them after the music ends?

We hope that listening gives them the same feeling of enjoyment that we had creating those pieces. It’s so fun to listen to music that sounds so good, very hard to describe.

Judaea

What’s next for Population II?

We don’t even know! More art! We love to make something communally that feels bigger than all of us! More travel, more good moments and meeting new people!

 

You can find Population II on Instagram, Bandcamp and YouTube.

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