About the Band

Madame Psychosis is a five-piece alt pop and indie rock band from Toronto. Members include singer Michelle Mondesir, guitar players Bret McCaffrey and Rene Ip, drummer Jaina Tharakan, and bass player Giovanni Paola.

The quintet came together in late 2014 after a conversation at a wedding, where a mutual friend of some of the eventual band members suggested a jam session. This very unlikely jam session resulted in what became Madame Psychosis. Five years later, the band continues to write and perform original music. Though their sound is often compared to Metric or a cross between the Black Keys and Alabama Shakes, the band cites a number of musical influences from an array of genres. These artists include Whitney Houston, Freddie Mercury, The Smiths, Arctic Monkeys, Spoon, Wilco, Pearl Jam, Guns N’ Roses, Smashing Pumpkins and War on Drugs.

The band first made waves with their self-titled debut album, released in June of 2017. Alan Cross, the internationally syndicated host of The Ongoing History of New Music, selected the single “Space Motorcycle” for his weekly Top 11 Playlist in August of 2017. The album was also featured on 94.9 The Rock FM’s emerging artist spotlight, Generation Next, in May of 2018. Four songs from the debut album were showcased, including “Space Motorcycle”, “Run”, “On Top of the Game”, and “Mellow”. The band supported the album by performing at venues across Toronto, including at the legendary Opera House and the iconic Horseshoe Tavern.

Coming off the heels of this positive reception, Madame Psychosis was invited to perform on the nationally televised segment of Global’s The Morning Show in January 2019. They were also selected to perform at Canadian Music Week in May 2019 and cracked Dropout Entertainment’s Top Picks for CMW 2019. They followed this with a performance at Indie Week in November 2019. The band also released two music videos in 2019 for “Just Wanna Be Myself” and “Crashing Down”. A third music video for “Kapow” is currently in progress.

Madame Psychosis is now turning their attention to promoting Survivor, their new sophomore album, which was released on September 20th, 2019. In their album review, RX Music says, “the band sound better than ever, with memorable hooks that reward repeated listens, and an elevated chemistry fans will appreciate.” LA-based Buzz Music says, “The musicianship on this project is consistently flawless, whether the moment is high energy or more of a subtle, intentional gathering of layers.”

The band has released three singles from the new record. A Journal of Musical Things calls the aforementioned lead single, “Just Wanna Be Myself”, “a fun, upbeat song with sweet yet edgy female vocals”. They followed with “Crashing Down”, which was called “mellifluous magic wrapped in a grungy garage rock exterior” by Odd Nugget. Most recently, “Kapow” drew the attention and acclaim of several writers and playlist curators from around the world. Buzz Music calls it a “heart-dropping anthem”. Lefuturewave refers to it as “a brilliant piece of music”.

You can find Madame Psychosis on all major streaming services.