Bret Parenteau and Adara Moreau make noise music under the respective monikers B.P. and Body of Intrigue. The two regularly collaborate on cassette albums, often released by Parenteau’s tape label, Male Activity, which he founded in 2013.

“(We) had a bunch of music we made, and we were too lazy, or maybe too anxious to contact other labels,” Parenteau says. “We ended up being like, ‘hey, we have all the tools, why don’t we just make our own label,’ and that’s what we did.”

The label is dedicated to showcasing noise music.

Parenteau and Moreau say they’ve been in their West Broadway apartment for “too long.” When asked what they’ve named their home, Parenteau and Moreau agreed on “shitty apartment.”

“We just wanna go at this point,” Parenteau says.

“It’s comfy in here, and we’ve done really good will setting it up ... It didn’t feel like a home for the first year of us being here,” Moreau says. “The more you live in a space, the more it really starts to resemble a life in a home. Now, because that’s finally happened, we realize we have no room! We have a lot of our music equipment in (the) living room and all of our records and tapes. It’s a lot.”

Tigger the cat

BP: “Tigger is very old. I’ve had her since like
Grade 11.”
AM: “She acts young though!”

Desk(s)

BP: “I was living in the Summerland Apartments like six years ago, nearby the Value Village on Pembina Highway. I found that desk at the Value Village, and I couldn’t fit it in my friend’s truck. My friend left for whatever reason, and I was like, ‘Okay fuck, I guess I’ll just carry this home.’ So I carried it on my shoulder all the way to the apartment, over the overpass. There were cars honking at me, and people yelling like, ‘You go, man!’ By the time I got it home, I was like, ‘I’m never getting rid of this thing. It’s given me such fucking grief.’”

Art

AM: “For us, collecting local art is huge. And (displaying) personal art, too … I would never buy a print or photo from IKEA of New York or something. I’d rather go to New York and take the picture and hang it up myself.”

Tapes, tapes, tapes

AM: “I love this shelf. We found it in Value Village. It was like $2. It’s one of my favourite pieces in the living room. There are tapes in there from Vienna Press, which is a big label we follow, and also stuff from Posh Isolation, too.”
BP: “That black case is all local punk tapes.”

Incense holder

AM: “I got this from Value Village for like a buck. It’s wood that’s been burned. It holds incense. I got it when I was like 17. When I left my parents’ place, I had a little box of things I was going to bring with me when I moved out finally, and that’s one of the things I brought.”

Published in Volume 73, Number 21 of The Uniter (March 14, 2019)