Shortly before Post Malone took the stage in front of more than 100,000 people at one of the biggest summer concerts on the continent on Friday night (July 12), Festival d'été de Québec (FEQ) was treated to another major musical milestone: the launch of Rolling Stone Quebec.
The new publication expands the iconic magazine’s brand and voice to the Quebec market, one of Canada’s most important and unique music scenes. So it only made sense to celebrate the launch at one of the province’s biggest festivals, FEQ.
The 10-day event in Quebec City brings in some of the world’s biggest headliners, yet maintains a relatively low profile outside of the province. Having an important new publication to cover and amplify it can show off its distinct charms to the world.
“There is reason to be excited about the opening of a new cultural media outlet considering the numerous closures that have occurred in recent years in Quebec,” says newly minted Rolling Stone Quebec editor Marie-Lise Rousseau. “Moreover, we are launching not just any media outlet: Rolling Stone is an institution renowned for its quality content, in-depth interviews and editorial rigor.”
Marie-Lise Rousseau being interviewed by CBC at the Rolling Stone Quebec launch at FEQ 2024 in Quebec City.
Rousseau shared similar sentiments in a speech in French at the event, which gathered industry figures from Quebec, the rest of Canada and across the world to sip cocktails and mingle between posing for photos on the red carpet and in a Rolling Stone cover photo booth. Around The Dome (the same outdoor venue artists hung out before their performances) hung famous covers of Rolling Stone featuring Canadian artists from Alanis Morissette to Avril Lavigne, Neil Young, The Weeknd, Justin Bieber and The Sheepdogs.
Joining them was a previously unseen cover: the very first Rolling Stone Quebec digital cover featuring deadmau5, with an exclusive shot of the Canadian electronic music superstar surrounded by goats on his farm in Milton, Ontario. The extensive interview by Billy Eff covers 25 years of his career, redefining the dance scene around him, while finding peace in his sanctuary.
Rousseau says it’s the kind of story you can expect to see from Rolling Stone Quebec, especially when applied to local artists. She says her goal is to highlight the diversity, eclecticism and talent found in abundance in Quebec.
Samantha McKinley, Vice-President of Brand Strategy and Public Affairs at BLEUFEU, the promotions company that puts on FEQ, says partnering was a natural fit.
“I mean, does it need explanation?” she says. “It's Rolling Stone. What an honour. And very smart from a media group to recognize that Quebec needs its own Rolling Stone.”
MuchMusic VJ Sadé Powell at the Rolling Stone Quebec launch party.
Courtesy FEQ
FEQ’s artistic director Louis Bellavance says it’s important for a publication to speak to the world while covering the Quebec market, which is distinct from the rest of Canada.
“It's a different people, a different language,” he says. “It’s not France. It's not English Canada. It's really a culture of its own style.”
Recognizing the uniqueness of the genres and artists that do well in the market is part of the job, he says, and it’s something that will give Rolling Stone Quebec its own style as well. FEQ was instrumental in the breakout of Canadian artists like Charlotte Cardin, TALK and Mike Demero, a Quebecois artist on his way to a breakout. Demero played Bleufeu’s winter festival Toboggan opening for Medusa in front of 50,000 people, then again at this year’s FEQ with big-ticket electronic acts Alan Walker and Loud Luxury.
DJing at the Rolling Stone Quebec launch, he talked about his big moment earlier that week at the festival. He played a remix of a song by Les Cowboys Fringants, a beloved and long-running Quebecois band whose lead singer Karl Tremblay died last year and whose albums then charted on the Billboard Canadian Albums chart. After spinning the song on the mainstage, he got calls from radio stations asking to add the song to their rotations. But it was just a one-time thing, he says.
“The best thing that can happen to us is when we can have an impact on an artist's path,” Bellavance says.
With tons of talent in Quebec waiting to be discovered by the world, there’s now an iconic music brand to do the same.
Check out Rolling Stone's exclusive cover story interview with deadmau5 at qc.rollingstone.com.
Billboard Canada and Rolling Stone Quebec share the parent company Artshouse Media Group.
