The National Parcs, veterans of Montreal’s celebrated Freeworm, first joined forces for some live shows in 2001. This was the year the city first got out of its seats for the trio’s infectious found-sound and found-image stage experience: their Club Soda performance at the Montreal Electronic Groove Festival won them the MIMI “Show of the Year” award. Two Freeworm albums later, they made the partnership official under the new moniker, the National Parcs. The French–English mash-up of the name suggests the range of their influences, while the parkland theme is a nod to preserving what matters. The three young men who make up the group were born in the backwoods of Quebec, Malawi and British Columbia, but were bred on Montreal streets buzzing with the noise of every nation on earth. Their ears have been trained on grime and hip hop, Afrobeat and Baile funk, American spirituals and Malian blues. The resulting songs are an invitation for the world to dance, starting with the half-remembered hum of our own backyards and smuggling in the best that the world has to offer.

www.thenationalparcs.com