FOREIGN DIPLOMATS

Élie Raymond : Guitar, vocals
Antoine Lévesque-Roy: Bass
Thomas Bruneau Faubert :Trombone, synths
Charles Primeau: Guitare
Emmanuel Vallières: Drums

“We make music, we want to dance, we want you to join the party, crack, boom, pow!”

Foreign Diplomats embody the idea of a carefree and slightly disobedient youth: the ones to blow up firecrackers in dark alleys at night, but not to throw punches. They come with the kind of unpredictability that will catch you off guard without pissing anyone off. Put another way, Foreign Diplomats is also the journey of five guys (not the burger chain) — Lazer, the tall drummer, Tony, the wise bass and foot-keyboard player, Charles the sexy guitarist, Thomas, the bouncy keyboard and trombone guy and Élie, the sad singer — as an international indie-pop project. From growing up in the Laurentian mountains of Quebec (Canada) to accidentally finding their stage name at the airport while waiting at customs, needless to say the young-but-not-so-young band has come a long way.  

With a self-titled debut EP (2013) and two records — PRINCESS FLASH (2015), produced by Brian Deck (Modest Mouse, Sam Robert Band, Iron & Wine), and MONAMI (2019), recorded in collaboration with Jace Lasek (Wolf Parade, The Barr Brothers, Patrick Watson, Sunset Rubdown) —, the gifted musicians collectively wear out their soles as well as their fingers. Represented by Indica Records (Canada) and Revolver Promotion (Germany), they were soon recognized for their ability to kick off the party, supporting several prominent bands like Violent Femmes, Phantogram, Teenage Fanclub, Vance Joy and Half Moon Run as part of renowned festivals such as Reeperbahn (Germany), Paléo (Switzerland), Les Primeurs (France), Cervantino (Mexico), Osheaga, Festival international de jazz de Montréal and Festival d’été de Québec (Canada).  

In short, Foreign Diplomats is like a road traveled at high speed, along which one does not fail to meet festive comrades. Birds of a feather flock together, they say. According to the boys, the more the merrier and it sounds just right: if someone cracks a match, they will turn it into a bonfire.