Godspeed You! Black Emperor

Godspeed You! Black Emperor began with Efrim Menuck, Mauro Pezzente, and Mike Moya in Montreal during the early ‘90s, playing a handful of shows and recording a self-released cassette as a trio before deciding to transform the group into a large band.

The band’s name was taken from a 1976 Japanese documentary film Goddo Supiido Yuu! Burakku Emparaa, about the motorcycle gang Black Emperors.

Recruiting numerous Montreal musicians through 1995-1996, GYBE mounted sense-rattling wall-of-sound performances, featuring as many as 14 musicians and several 16mm film projectors, before recording F♯ A♯ ∞, their debut, vinyl-only Constellation album in 1997.

They transformed a warehouse space into the Hotel2Tango, a DIY hive of activity with band rehearsal rooms, silkscreen and wood shops, and weekend shows that took place under the radar.

The group settled into a permanent nine-member line-up by late 1998, with Aidan Girt and Bruce Cawdron on drums, Thierry Amar and Mauro on basses, Efrim, David Bryant, and Roger Tellier-Craig on guitars, and Norsola Johnson and Sophie Trudeau on cello and violin respectively.

The band toured and recorded incessantly from 1998-2002 and gained a reputation for mesmerizing live shows marked by orchestral dynamics, epic rock power, and clunky, beautiful film loops.

After four records, GYBE announced an indefinite hiatus in 2003; which lasted until December 2010, when the band returned to curate and perform at All Tomorrow’s Parties in the UK, followed by extensive international touring. They have since released three more albums.