Kevin Barnes wakes up of Montreal’s frontman Kevin Barnes on Music, Social Media, and becoming Woke BY WILL ISERN
Kevin Barnes is not a conventional front man. But then his band, of Montreal, is not a conventional band.
Barnes is both the face and the creative force behind the Athens, Georgia-based psychedelic rock outfit, of which he has been the only continuous member since 1996. Over the years of Montreal has put out more than 20 albums and EPs and toured the world several times over. Through his music Barnes has explored love, loss, anxiety, depression, sexuality, religion and more, all set to the soundtrack of a psychedelic dance party. Barnes’ latest album White Is Relic/Irrealis Mood was inspired by the writings of James Baldwin and the extended dance mixes of the 1980s. The band returns to Pensacola to play at Vinyl Music Hall on April 25. Barnes talked to Downtown Crowd ahead of the show about working on his new album, staying sane in the era of divisive politics and setting down his smartphone to live in the moment. 12 | DOWNTOWNCROWD.COM
PHOTO BY EBRU YILDIZ
