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My name is Matthew Mastrocola, and I'm a physics undergraduate student here at Concordia University. I co-host the show In The Garage with my long time friend Cole Paquet (we've been buds for over 10 years)! Our show is all about providing an intimate space between friends and our audience where we share what we've been into the past week. We'll play mostly alt-rock music ranging from shoegaze, post punk, garage rock and some emo, but each week brings a little different flavour where we'll change things up and hopefully play something you'll find cool! Check us out every Monday at 10 PM for some tunes, banter and maybe the occasional hot take provided by yours truly!

Reporter: Shanellie Marie

Stories: Luca Caruso Moro 

Montreal extends state of emergency 

For your COVID-19 update, Montreal has again extended its state of emergency to May 26.

The province is moving forward with plans to reopen retailers, library services and museums. 

As of this weekend there were over 46,000 people infected in Quebec.

Bushfires rush through NS

Approximately 1000 people were forced to leave their homes this weekend as bushfires spread through Nova Scotia. 

Dry and windy conditions have pushed fires to grow out of control in the Porter Lake area, just 20 km east of Halifax. 

Authorities say the evacuation perimeter may need to be expanded. 

Halifax Fire has been called in to aid provincial firefighters. 

Major Quebec Fire Extinguished

In Quebec,the changing weather has raised the risk of fires in the province to “extreme.”

A major fire broke out on Friday 20 minutes north of Trois-Rivieres. 

Several people were evacuated as firefighters from seven municipalities banded together to fight the blaze. 

Quebec’s provincial police did not report any injuries.

Stories: Luca Caruso-Moro

Reporter: Shanellie Marie

CSU split on opt-out consultations 

Consultations with fee levy groups are expected to continue into next month. 

The Concordia Student Union was divided on a timeline when confronted with a motion to move forward in developing an online opt out system during this week’s council meeting.

Some representatives were eager to move forward, while others say they need more time to speak with fee levy groups. 

Fee levies are student groups which rely on per-credit funding from students, such as CJLO and The Peoples Potato. 

Many fear a system which allows students to withdraw funding online could force layoffs and cuts in services.

CSU General Coordinator Elect Isaiah Joyner sits on the consultation committee.

No tuition changes for online classes

Concordia will not be reducing tuition for the upcoming fall semester, which will be almost completely online. 

Tuition deadlines will be extended, and support services including virtual library access are expected to be more accessible. 

Applications open for student benefit

Students are now able to apply for the government’s student COVID relief program through the CRA’s website. 

The benefit will provide $1,250 to eligible students every four weeks.

$2,000 will be given to students with disabilities or those with children or other dependents. 

Photo credits: Fifou

Hailing from Lyon, France’s third-largest city, Jäde is about to unveil her very first EP, Première Fois, on May 15th.  Her musical universe includes R&B that borrows as much from trap as from pop, lascivious melodies, and disarming punchlines.  With her warm and singular voice, Jäde tells stories that tackle modern love and other generational themes, with an incisive and fair pen.  CJLO caught up with the young artist about her origins, her new EP, and figuring out how to deal with COVID-19.

I read that you started singing when you were very young and that you started music, by chance, when your sister received a guitar as a gift.  What convinced you to make music professionally?  Have you ever had doubts about yourself or from those close to you about the choice?

My passion for music came to me at an early age, yes!  The idea of making a career out of it came to me by watching one of my friends develop his own career.  I was 14/15 years old, and I told myself “if he can do it, I can do it too.”

I’m confident in my music, but I always have a doubt when I share my songs.  I like them of course, but I don’t know if the rest of the world will like it.  My entourage, my parents who are very open-minded, and my friends have always supported me and encourage me to do my own thing.

It's been about two years since the release of your first collection of songs, ClichéTape.  Do you consider Première fois to be a continuation of that project, or a new beginning?

Première Fois is not a follow-up or the continuation of ClichéTape.  With this new EP, there’s a much more open and eclectic approach.  It better represents my different facets.  Of course, the foundation remains the same, as my tastes haven’t changed.  I’m still the same girl as two years ago, just an improved version of it.

Your music is labeled simultaneously as R&B, pop, trap, and soul, but it's really a mixture of all of these into one distinctive package.  Do you find that genre labels are limiting or restrictive, either when applied to your music or others?

To be honest, I find it restrictive to apply a particular label on music.  Between “Longtemps” and “Docteur,” I find that there’s a huge gap in the style of these two songs.  But anyway, it’s what people are doing right now in modern music.  There are less boundaries between the different styles and everybody knows it.  Plus, being an “R&B singer” has its appeal, I find that it’s a very stylish label to wear.

You collaborate with several different producers to bring the songs you write to life.  What’s your collaborative process with these producers like?  Do you already have a sound in mind before a beat is made?  Do you see yourself creating your own musical accompaniments for future songs?

The process varies.  A producer can send me some music and then I write and sing on it.  Or, I start to make a beat at home, and then I ask a producer to collaborate with me to finish the song.  Sometimes we start everything at the beginning, back to the acapella version of it, or we keep some of the instruments I played.
Producing songs is a real passion for me. I haven’t really been able to produce something all by myself that I’m 100% proud of, but I’m working on it. 

At its core, what makes a good pop song for you?  Do you have a favorite song or artist that you think best represents the form?

A typical pop song to me is more like a summer hit that you blast while driving your car into the sunset and the freedom that goes with this image.  Like maybe “Sweet Dreams” by the Eurythmics or Drake’s “Hold On, We’re Going Home.” 

I read on your Twitter feed that you’re not the biggest fan of promoting your music through social media.  How do you reconcile trying to present your daily life and promote your art without being too in-your-face about it?

The pace of social media is very intense.  It goes in all directions.  Sometimes I worry about doing “too much” and my content drowning in the vast pool that is the Internet.  But, people who are following me are fans of my music.  So, if I do content oriented on my music, I think it’s okay.

The banning of shows because of COVID-19 is particularly devastating for newer artists like yourself.  How have you coped with the new reality while trying to make it as an artist with a new release?

The lockdown period forces me to be more creative.  It leaves me time to try new things, like filming and editing the video for “-12°C.”  I’m trying to maintain a positive attitude and learn a maximum of things that I will be able to apply to my music in the near future.

Alex Viger-Collins is the host of Ashes to Ashes, your weekly dose of modern pop, every Tuesday at 8:00 PM EST.