BIO
Multidisciplinarity is an integral part of Annie-Claude Deschênes’s creative process, who continues her perpetual quest of uniting music & performance art by bending the pre-established conventions of stage presence. As a key figure on the Montreal independent music scene for the last two decades, she has left her mark as a performer & visual artist with Duchess Says & PyPy; two bands that are renowned as much for their electrifying live shows as they are for their artistic sensibilities. Always forward, her exploratory approach takes her into uncharted territory with her debut as a solo artist. The urgency that characterizes her work remains, but frustration & aggression give way to introspection & vulnerability.Driven by the endless need to create outside her comfort zone, Annie-Claude Deschênes reinvents herself once again.
Utilizing electronic technologies, the conceptual & aesthetic ideas that define Manières de table began to develop organically. Through experimenting with rhythms built from samples of utensils, table etiquette became not only a source of inspiration, but also a form of conformity to deconstruct. Simultaneously, a fascination for surveillance cameras & other futuristic-looking, but already obsolete machines entered her visual pallet. Inspired by the cinema of Eric Rohmer & the minimal pop of electronic pioneers like Kraftwerk, Giorgio Moroder & Steve Reich, Manières de table is as danceable & melodic as it is disquieting & dystopian.
Over the course of her career, Annie-Claude Deschênes shared the stage with a number of renowned bands, including The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Teenage Jesus & the Jerks, The Black Lips, The Hives, The Hot Snakes & Buzzcocks, among others. Her extensive touring has taken her all over the world, playing venues & festivals (Primavera Fest, Eurockéennes de Belfort, OSHEAGA, Sled Island, etc.) as well as unconventional locations like golf courses, factories & churches. Her career is punctuated by collaborative projects linking various art forms, including the co-founding of the collective Conclusion Finale, with whom she exhibits at Concordia University's VAV gallery, the DARE-DARE diffusion center & Université Laval in Quebec City, & the production of the soundtrack for Yves St-Laurent's Los Angeles fashion show with PyPy. Winner of the 2022 cohort of the PHI NORD program, she was awarded a two-week immersive creative residency, during which her songs transformed into a tangible debut album - LES MANIÈRES DE TABLE- (Italians do it better, Bonsound) that was longlisted for the 2024 Polaris Music Prize. Annie-Claude has been touring the US, Canada, and Europe in 2025 and will be touring France, Germany, the UK, Switzerland, Belgium, and Canada in 2026. She is also a 2026 Juno Award nominee for Main de Fer – Underground Dance Single of the Year.
2026 Juno Award nominee – Main de Fer Underground Dance Single of the Year
MAIN DE FER - 2025 - BONSOUND-ITALIANS DO IT BETTER
Duchess says’ Annie-Claude Deschênes is back with this new solo single and it’s a real clanging techno banger. -Brooklyn Vegan (2025)
NEWS 2025
M For Montreal 2025 - Vidéo : Alice hirsh
Bars En Trans 2025 Review
M for Montreal 2025 Review
Péniche Célestine Review
SXSW 2025
REVIEWS
ANNIE-CLAUDE DESCHÊNES HAS DONE IT THIS TIME BY COMBINING HER LOVE OF MUSIC AND GASTRONOMY INTO A UNIQUELY THRILLING BODY OF WORK.
DESCHÊNES STARTED OFF BY RECORDING THE NOISES HER CUTLERY MADE (“A SPOON SPINNING IN A GLASS, FORK AND KNIFE PUNCHES ON ALUMINIUM PLATES”), AND FROM THOSE CLANKING BEGINNINGS SHE ENDED UP RECORDING A DEBUT SOLO ALBUM OF DARKLY SEDUCTIVE ELECTRO-POP, LES MANIÈRES DE TABLE
The Duchess Says singer argues French Canadians Do It Better on her new wave-y and very fun solo debut
Les Manières de Table will allow Annie-Claude Deschênes to push the limits of her creativity, which will take its ascent on the cold accents of "ANCIENTS" definitively feverish in order to make its magnificence shine like never before. An addictive record like we do more
As I've said, singer Annie-Claude Deschenes doesn't really allow for passive viewing, and Friday night's show at Shea Stadium (10/14) was a crowd that was ready to go bonkers. - Brooklyn Vegan
AWARDS AND HONORS
2005 - Prix Étoile Galaxy-Best new act - Festival MEG
2008 - Prix Gamiq - Best show 2008
2008 - Prix Mirroir de l’artiste d’ici - Best show of Festival d’été de Québec
2011 - Freakiest local act - Best of Montreal Mirror
2012 - Prix Gamiq - Best Punk Album – In a Fung Day T
2013 - Freakiest local act #3 - Best of Montreal Mirror
2014 - Prix Gamiq - Best Punk album- Pagan Day - PYPY
2015 - Freakiest local act #4 - Best of Montreal Mirror
2017- Prix Gamiq - Album Post-rock/Post-Punk of the year : Sciences nouvelles - Duchess Says
2018 - Heaviest Local Act #2 - Best of Montreal Mirror
2022- Winner PHI NORD RESIDENCY - Cohort 2022
2024 - Polaris music prize longlisted
2026 - Juno Award nominee – Main de Fer Underground Dance Single of the Year
VIDÉOS
Composition with PYPY of the soundtrack for Yves St-Laurent's fashion show, "She's Gone"
Official video "Black Flag"- Duchess says - By PIL & GALIA KOLLECTIV
Official video "I repeat myself" - Duchess Says - By Philippe Beauséjour
Official video "New York"- By David Leclerc
Official video "NEGATIVE THOUGHTS" - By David Leclerc
Set design with Patricia Mcneil - Duchess Says - Launch of "Duchess says" Sciences Nouvelles at Théâtre La Tulipe
PERFORMANCE AVEC DAMIAN ABRAHAM (FUCKED UP) À TORONTO - BANDE À PART
If there's one thing you'll learn from watching this video, it's that Duchess Says frontwoman Annie-Claude Deschênes can hold her own in a growling match against Fucked Up's Damian "Pink Eyes" Abraham. Watch the two perform FU's "Year of the Ox" and Duchess Says' "David's Plan" courtesy CBC Radio 3's Bande à Part series. (Click the "regardez" button after the link).- Pitchfork