Montreal’s DIY music scene is in crisis

When a teenage Peggy Hogan was growing up in Victoria, she admired Montreal bands like The Unicorns, The Dears and Stars. By moving to the city as a fresh-faced 17-year-old to study jazz at Concordia University in 2007, the young musician hoped to join the artistic community of her idols.

She has fond memories of that era of creative flourishing. “I kind of very quickly realized [that] this community is tight and thriving,” she remembers. “It was much easier to meet these [musicians] and start playing with them.”

During her early twenties, Hogan could make rent with a few $200 gigs and spend the rest of her time working on her craft as recording artist Hua Li 化力.