Director Chandler Levack on the 2010s Montreal Artists Who Inspired ‘Mile End Kicks’: Interview

Chandler Levack is a scholar of Montreal’s indie music scene.

"The city has famously gone through so many exciting waves in music,” the Toronto-born director tells Billboard Canada. “There was Arcade Fire, The Dears, The Unicorns, Stars, Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Wolf Parade [in the 2000s] which was electrifying. When I moved there, there was this new wave of artists like Grimes, Mac DeMarco, Silly Kissers, Think About Life, Cadence Weapon. There's like a million artists I could name.”

Levack’s move to the city that unknowingly laid the groundwork for her second film, Mile End Kicks, which premiered at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and is now out in select theatres.

Set in 2011, it follows Grace Pine (played by Euphoria’s Barbie Ferreira), a young music journalist living on the outskirts of Toronto, who moves to Montreal’s Mile End neighbourhood for one summer, living with Madeleine (Juliette Gariépy), an aspiring DJ. Desperate to be a part of the city’s budding music scene, Grace gets close to fictional band Bone Patrol, befriending guitarist Archie (Devon Bostick), but falling for lead singer Chevy (Stanley Simons). It’s a messy, coming-of-age story that has music at its core.

Before Levack became a filmmaker, she was a music critic. Citing Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous as her north star, Levack dove head first into the music world — she dropped out of her Cinema Studies program at University of Toronto to write full-time, interned at lauded music magazine SPIN, worked for now-extinct Toronto alt-weekly Eye Weekly, got the scoop on Grimes’ avant-garde world before she made it mainstream and even co-directed a couple of Juno-nominated music videos for Toronto punk rockers PUP.

Then, Levack turned inward and started on a screenplay that detailed her summer in the Mile End. That was over a decade ago.

To accurately tell the story, she wanted to film in Montreal, which proved to be a funding nightmare for an unknown filmmaker. Pivoting, she worked on her debut feature, I Like Movies, a dramedy about a young cinephile working at a video store in Burlington, Ontario, to fund his dream of going to film school. Shot on a micro-budget, it premiered at TIFF in 2022 and instantly resonated with audiences and critics for its early aughts sentimentality.

Mastering the art of nostalgia is Levack’s forté. Transporting viewers back to the 2010s, Mile End Kicks is a semi-autobiographical take on Levack’s experience in Montreal. Ferreira’s Grace is navigating the music landscape during a pivotal period for the city’s music scene, when the talent from homegrown artists was oozing out of the city and attracting international audiences. The scene was fuelled by cheap rent, a Québécois joie de vivre and nightly gigs by burgeoning acts, like DeMarco and Grimes.

“They were all playing these tiny loft shows,” Levack says. “Coming from Toronto, where I'd only ever really been to more conventional indie rock shows and venues, it was incredibly exciting to be at an abandoned warehouse at three in the morning, watching one of these artists perform for the first time.”

Making the movie, which was shot in Montreal last summer, was a powerful experience for Levack, as it allowed her to relive her story — not an experience many who yearn for nostalgia get. Ferreira bears a striking resemblance to Levack and even sports Levack’s old Sonic Youth and SPIN t-shirts during the film.

“It was emotional,” she says of bringing her personal stories to the screen. “It reminded me of my passion for music back then and how seriously I took the position of getting to write about a band,” she explains. “ I loved music so much and I loved writing about music and I miss writing about music and I miss writing about bands. Being at that moment in time in Montreal, you really felt like you were at the centre of the universe.”

As she immerses herself in the city, Grace lands the opportunity to write a 33 ⅓ book on Alanis Morissette’s larger-than-life album, Jagged Little Pill — one of the fictional elements of the film. Levack has a deep admiration for Morrisette, sharing that the singer’s third album was the record that got her into music as a kid.

“I would listen to it over and over again and pore over the lyrics. [The album] felt like it covered everything I needed to know about being a woman.”

The singer’s fearlessness served as a guiding light for Levack during the filming process. ”The more research I did about Alanis and her story as a woman in the music industry, and her relationship to some of the male mentors that shaped her journey, it was so uncanny the way that it paralleled my film,” she says. “Whenever I got stuck on something, I would always go back to Alanis and she would tell me everything I needed to know.”

Levack can’t confirm if Morissette has seen the film, but says she gave Levack and her crew permission to use her music, image and likeness. “All she said was, ‘You have my blessing,’ which, I mean, she literally played God in Dogma,” Levack jokes, referencing Kevin Smith’s 1999 film.

Morissette's songs make a couple of appearances in the film, with “All I Really Want” and “Hand In My Pocket.” Avril Lavigne sings a cover of Morissette's "Ironic" on Mile End Kicks' soundtrack.

The film is filled with throwback tracks from Canadian artists, including Cadence Weapon, Sean Nicholas Savage, Peaches, Mozart’s Sister and Diane Tell. Levack worked with Montreal indie rock band Tops, formerly known as Silly Killers, to craft two original songs for the soundtrack.

“They were always my favourite band of all time,” she shares. “They soundtracked a lot of my time in Montreal, so there was kind of no other band for me to work with. They'd never worked on a film before, which made it a really fun collaboration.”

Montreal serves as a hip backdrop to the film, seeing Grace work through moments of heartbreak, waves of insecurity and late nights in real time. Before the project was greenlit, Levack recalls walking through the Mile End, taking photos of potential frame shot ideas and reciting the dialogue. When it all came to fruition last year, she recalls feeling extremely grateful.

“I've been preparing to make the movie for 10 years, so there was a lot of moments where I was making the movie in my head before I shot it,” she says. “Having the chance to finally make it with this incredible ensemble of actors, and this incredible team of collaborators and getting to engage with the Montreal community of filmmakers was exciting for me."

Chandler Levack's Seven Songs That Define 2010s Montreal Music

We asked Levack to flex her knowledge of Montreal’s music scene, sharing seven songs from the early 2010s that shaped her and defined the era.

“Downtown” by Majical Cloudz

“To me, this sounds like what it feels like to be alive.”

“Sweet Sixteen” by Think About Life

“They're one of the most underrated Canadian bands. Every time I saw that band live, I felt like I was in the middle of the best party I'd ever been to.”

“Be A Body” by Grimes

“Such an underrated deep cut from Visions. It’s so fun. I can't believe she recorded that on GarageBand by herself.”

“Outside” by Tops

“The greatest love song to ever exist. It sounds like the end of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks. It’s a masterpiece. Jane Penny and David Carriere are the greatest musicians ever.”

“Mozart’s Sister” by Mozart’s Sister

“We used it in the film. Cecile Believe, who did [the score] for us, is an incredible collaborator and is just a genius singer, songwriter and producer. It was so cool to get to work with her and feature her in the movie.”

“Five Roses” by Miracle Fortress

“My dear friend Graham Van Pelt, who's an absolutely wonderful musician. His music feels like the sound of Montreal.”

“No Cities Left” by The Dears

“I listened to that album when I was 15, and it made me want to live in Montreal forever. I love The Dears, and I love Murray Lightburn. He did the music for I Like Movies. They’re just an incredible band.”

Mile End Kicks is out now.