This industry, like so many others, has been hit hard by the slow waltz of health restrictions, in stop-and-go mode. “In addition to being a logistical headache, a venue at 50% capacity is operating at a loss,” reads the most recent letter from a cultural sector collective addressed to the Prime Minister. “We are witnessing an unprecedented wave of cancellations (…) Moreover, a predictable but regrettable consequence of the current situation will be the accentuation of the shortage of manpower and expertise in our sector. Who still wants to work in such an unstable industry grappling with ever-changing rules?” Answer: Mixbus Studio.

Do business differently and dream better

Mud stuck under the Docs , mosquito bites in a row, a hoarse voice and a head in a vice... blurry mornings follow early sunrises that play cat and mouse with the last flames of an improvised campfire. Life! This is a bit (often) the universe of Jacob and Isabelle, young thirty-somethings with their heads firmly screwed on their shoulders, bearers of a project that blows on the wings of emerging artists, and revives the light in the eyes of established artists, promoters of shows and organizers of cultural events.

Hubert Lenoir took part in the game, as did Philippe Brach and Safia Nolin, to name a few. At the back of a revamped soundproof bus, set up there for the duration of a festival, hides a top-notch multifunctional studio in which they met up with friends to jam . It has everything you need: instruments, quality audio equipment, the latest music production software, a sound mixing space. For emerging artists, it's a quality recording at a lower cost, and for others, a breath of fresh air! Recording songs, albums and live session videos, the Mixbus Studio even does post-production as well as mixing albums and podcasts.

Jacob, a sound designer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist, has realized his dream of combining his passion for music with his passion for travel, encounters, and spontaneity. With his father and friends, he bought and revamped a school bus in 2017. He recorded his album there that winter, between the wood stove and the pots. By 2018, he was crisscrossing Quebec like a snail with his house and livelihood strapped to his back. Financially supported by the Economic Development Corporation of his region, he did a first exploratory tour of around thirty festivals, drawing attention to his joyful and unusual installation. It was the experimental summer of the first live sessions .

Adapting to the wind

In 2019, a chance encounter (they're always the best) took Mixbus Studio even further. In addition to the creation offer, there was a broadcast offer: "It's even more recordings and festivals, but also shows on the rooftop for performing artists or to do sick DJ sets. We create magical moments, so unifying", says Isabelle, another cool kid, who crossed paths with Jacob and became his co-pilot.

She too is a tripper in the image of this generation that sees business as a life project. The duo is inspired by Timothy Ferriss and his 4-hour week, the nomadic Go Van movement and the Rolling Stones' mobile studio. "It's great, we sow magic wherever we go! This job is hours that we don't count, but there is no sacrifice. It's a way of life in itself; there is a name for it: the skoolie ."

Self-taught, young entrepreneurs, who follow the path that the school of life traces for them, do not really have a strict established structure. "It's fun to always adapt," proclaims Isabelle. "That's exactly the beauty of it, we're not stuck in a straitjacket." The young woman, a cultural editor and researcher for television, has taken the wheel of the bus and the reins of the company's communication, while her boyfriend runs the console. "We learn on the job too. I just redid the website, thanks Google!" She does everything from event coordination to social media management, booking, photography and video to edit clips.

"And then there are the spontaneous meetings with the right people at the right time. Really hot collaborators in their field have approached us, we are so lucky." Freelancers come to join the projects in stage technique, video, direction and production.

The pandemic, young people and the elderly

“With the pandemic, everything fell through, so we seized opportunities to continue to be in action,” says Isabelle. “In 2020, we bought and fitted out a new, larger bus with a 30-foot-long stage to put on shows that meet health guidelines with artists in social distancing.”

In solidarity with the cancelled festivals, and with the support of SODEC, Mixbus found a way to consume culture digitally by performing a series of outdoor concerts in pop-up mode on its mobile stage in front of in-person spectators in inspiring locations across the province. Six unique shows that it webcast live for free on the Urbania Facebook page and partner festivals: La Noce, the MURAL Urban Art Festival, the Festival en Chanson de Petite-Vallée, Go-Van, the BleuBleu Festival and the Festival de la solidarité musicale. “It opened our eyes to the event aspect and the promotion of artists.”

With its interactive installations, in fixed or mobile mode, the Mixbus appeals to everyone, even to retirement homes. “For me, entrepreneurship is the endless quest for accomplishments and social and personal challenges,” says Jacob. “There are no problems, just solutions!” Isabelle adds: “We were inspired by the Italians who played the violin on their balconies. We have a rolling balcony! So I contacted my grandmother’s residence, and we organized shows for 35 residences in their group.”

In 2020, Mixbus Studio won the MTLab Oser Innover Award. In 2021, the entrepreneurs were finalists for the RJCCQ Business Succession Awards.

A third stage bus was born. The bus line even got closer to the school benches they had known when they toured CPEs with Atchoum, and high schools, as part of the Rendez-vous panquébécois de Secondaire en spectacles cancelled, due to the inability to perform in a hall. Municipalities also became clients for street shows.

In total, that year, there were nearly a hundred days of shows and 34 live sessions. Laurence Anne, Matt Hullobusky, Louis-Jean Cormier, Sarahmée, Elisapie and Émile Bilodeau rocked the Mixbus studio. "Our goal is for music to travel all over Quebec, for bands to be able to broadcast their music and for people to come together and enjoy culture."

Live in the present moment and think about the future

2022 is off to a flying start with the recording of the Star Académie theme song, a great way for Jacob to reconnect with his first love, emerging artists. And also an opportunity for the Mixbus to charm the general public. Isabelle has also just made a presentation as a finalist for the honorary scholarships from the Ministry of Economy and Innovation, which is a testament to the company's success.

And for the future, the two entrepreneurs are ready to launch into virtual reality, so that everyone can meet communities, territories and artists.

"We want to capture musical performances on the sites in 360 degrees. It's about creating a journey of video capsules of the shows to experience in an intimate way, as if the band were around you, with a simple QR code that you can scan while passing by the festival site or in the city center where it was recorded, explains Isabelle. In fact, the idea now is to take the digital content outside."