Posted 1:54pm Updated 7:00am
Last weekend, Julien Morissette was probably one of the busiest men in Gatineau.
As co-founder and artistic director of studio Transistor Media, he has directed the Digital Radio Festival (FRN), held in Old Aylmer, for the past seven years. Every year, except for those stolen by the pandemic, it brings together many festival-goers around the La Basoche cultural center, passionate about podcasts and its various derivatives. The latest edition was no exception.
I have made it my mission to create cultural excitement in the industry with a range of events that is unique in Quebec: a kind of podcast summer camp!
Julien Morissette, director of the Digital Radio Festival
Colorful FRN posters around La Basoche reminded passers-by of the event. Cafes and bistros also took the plunge to highlight the program of various activities this year, from the late-night wrestling gala to the family day spent under the sign of Passe-Partout or ‘El Kapouchi.
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
Last weekend, the Digital Radio Festival offered several family activities, including a drawing session based around the characters of Lotus and Cali.
The 34-year-old is pleased that his fellow citizens are accepting this young festival for a rather young medium.
Another source of satisfaction: giving artists who attend each festival the opportunity to discover a region they often know little about. Or wrong.
A lot of the people who come to work at the festival or in our studios have a bad perception of the region: either it has a bad reputation or it has no reputation at all. They consider the area a cultural wasteland.
Julien Morissette, director of the Digital Radio Festival
Gatineau City Council President Steven Boivin, who co-founded the 2017 Digital Radio Festival, agrees: “The city of Gatineau is seeking a lot culturally. Too often the references people have kept are Luce Dufault or Pierre Lapointe… who no longer live here! The festival allows us to position ourselves on the cultural chessboard. Gatineau is considered a city of civil servants; it could become the city of sound, a cradle of this art form…”
The Outaouais forever
Julien Morissette could have followed the siren song to settle in the metropolis, but that was never an option for him. “I was born in Hull and did my primary, secondary and tertiary education here. While I was in Montreal for my bachelor’s degree in cinema, I was also very involved in the Hull cultural milieu, particularly with my music group, Tracteur Jack. Back then you had to cross over to Ontario to find a recording studio and technicians…”
That loyalty comes at a price, however, admits the one who has long worn the touring bassist’s hat.
I constantly have to defend the interest in working in the region. At the Union des artistes someone once told me straight out that I should move to Montreal because I would never pursue an artistic career in the Outaouais!
Julien Morissette, director of the Digital Radio Festival
“Also, he continues, cultural agencies want diversity, particularly regionally, but are reluctant to budget for hotel accommodation, transport or meals. »
However, the man has more than one ace up his sleeve and has managed to persuade well-known artists to stop by his house to take part in his projects: Sophie Cadieux, Marie-Thérèse Fortin, Sylvie Drapeau and Patrice Dubois are among them them.
In his projects, Julien Morissette never misses an opportunity to put the spotlight on the region where he grew up. He tells the paranormal stories that happened in Old Aylmer in his podcast Haunted, presented in particular on Radio-Canada’s OHdio platform. A second season of this creation that mixes reality and fiction is on the way. It also organized three cinema radios, in which artists from Quebec, Canada and abroad traveled to the region to create a radiophonic work on the spot (and in 48 hours).
“You say that the Outaouais have no cultural identity? It gives me nice blank pages to write stories! “ says Julien Morissette with philosophy.
Media transistor in brief
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
Poster of the Digital Radio Festival in Gatineau
Birth of FRN in 2017, then Transistor Media Studio in 2018
- Mission: Creation, production and distribution of digital audio works
- Founders: Steven Boivin and Julien Morissette
- Number of employees: 8 plus a dozen freelancers
- Over 90 podcast projects since inception, which equates to 600 episodes