Montreal’s Duchess Says is known for personality-driven live shows, less so for early morning breakfast conversation.

Duchess Says has long been a Montreal favorite, but should be a worldwide favorite. During a recent visit for the annual Pop Montreal festival, we caught up with a sleepy Annie-Claude Deschênes and Phillipe Clément over some senior-citizen-discounted grilled cheese sandwiches as they addressed the current state of Montreal music. Then we caught their live show and genius videos and wondered why we suffer through so many lackluster bands that pale in comparison.