oui merci begins with friendship, for it was in 2019, when several band members were living together, that the idea blossomed (perhaps with the help of a beer, admittedly). Mathilde Joncas, Ludovic Leblond, Laurent Massie, Marc-Antoine Lavallée and Gabriel Couture combined their strengths (and weaknesses) to create a colorful, passionate music influenced by artists such as Grizzly Bear,The Flaming Lips, Big Thief and Feist. What emerges from this union is a polished indie-rock characterized by arrangements that oscillate between surgical precision and deliberate accidents. Their music is like a hurricane of intertwined emotions, rooted in its time but always sincere, driven by the desire to be together.

On March 5th, 2021, oui merci launched chaque chose, a debut EP produced by Étienne Dupré and recorded a year earlier, just a few days before the start of the pandemic. The band took advantage of the stillness of the end of the world to concentrate on the recording and production of this opus exploring lo-fi songs and art rock arrangements.

In the spring of 2021, true to form, oui merci takes the crazy risk of appearing on stage for the very first time in the band's history, as part of the 25th edition of the Francouvertes. After an acclaimed run that took them to the semi-finals, the band played a few concerts over the summer, developing their stage identity alongside bands like zouz, Malaimé Soleil, Valse Fréquence and Velours Velours.

In May 2022, oui merci recorded its first album at Le Wild, with Étienne Dupré as producer and Tonio Morin-Vargas as sound engineer and mixer. On the way back, the van loaded with gear gets stuck in the mud, but the band pulls through just in time to launch the singles Voiture de course (March 2023) and Fleur (May 2023). The band then takes advantage of the good weather to announce a twelve-date summer tour across Quebec, including stops at La Saint-Jean du Parc Laurier and the Festival Off de Québec, alongside Jonathan Personne and Keith Kouna.

oui merci released the album ok bebye on September 29th 2023. The songs on this album unfold at times as confidences to loved ones who have disappeared, and other times as cries of rage or exaltation that never fail to make you dance. Flowers, cars, free-love and addiction dance together in this singular universe that embraces the plural nature of life. An emotionally charged debut album that captures the sweetest and craziest aspects of friendship.

The band then embarked on a colorful tour, punctuated by laughter and unforgettable moments, with moving launch shows in Montreal and Quebec City. oui merci also took part in a fun-filled evening at Foufounes Électriques with their friends from Mon Doux Saigneur, before spending the summer of 2024 rocking the stages of festivals such as La Noce, FEQ, FRIMAT (opening for Karkwa, where they meet François Lafontaine, who will reappear later in the bio), Santa Teresa, and the Festival en chanson de Petite-Vallée, to name a few.

In October 2024, Bébé is released, a single that extends the universe of ok bebye. This is followed by two live sessions recorded at Madame Wood and released in early 2025. On March 19, oui merci played to a sold-out crowd at Sala Rossa with an intimate and festive concert where the band shared the stage with several friends such as Arielle Soucy, LUMIÈRE, and even their idols Forêt, who reunited for one song.

In the spring, the band returned to Studio Wild, in their native Lanaudière, to work on a second album with François Lafontaine as producer and Guillaume Chartrain as sound engineer and mixer. The summer was punctuated by the last concerts of the ok bebye tour, including memorable shows at the Francos de Montréal, the FME, and Saint-Roch XP.

On February 6, 2026, Oui Merci released La distance n’est pas vraiment là, their second album, produced by François Lafontaine (Karkwa, Marie-Pierre Arthur, Klaus). Cleverly navigating between sweeping ballads and unpredictable rock anthems, the band delivers an album that explores the internal conflicts, dualities, and ambivalence that sometimes leave us feeling stuck.

oui merci, it’s first and foremost a story of friendship between Mathilde Joncas, Ludovic Leblond, Laurent Massie, Marc-Antoine Lavallée, and Gabriel Couture. Together, they create vibrant music that they’re passionate about—influenced by artists such as Grizzly Bear, The Flaming Lips, Big Thief, and Feist—from which an indie rock sound quietly emerges, marked by arrangements that oscillate between surgical precision and deliberate imperfections. Skillfully navigating between grandiose ballads and unpredictable rock anthems, the band delivers a show that explores the internal conflicts, dualities, and ambivalence that sometimes leave us feeling stagnant. An exhilarating show that celebrates all that is sweetest and wildest about friendship!

[Translated from French] « The whole group benefits from the arrangements, which are beautiful without being uniform [...]. oui merci—it’s a free-spirited bivouac that draws fireflies. »

4 étoiles - Sylvain Cormier, Le Devoir, 6 février 2026

[Translated from French] «The quintet, whose members take turns singing lead vocals throughout the album (recorded in Saint-Zénon and Montreal) in a spirit of collaboration, has lost none of its colorful, lively, and vibrant melodies. [...] oui merci flows seamlessly between exaltation and melancholy on the follow-up to ok bebye (2023), born out of a period of questioning: whether to leave the city for the Bas-du-Fleuve, or to stay.»

Caroline Bertrand, La Presse, 7 février 2026

[Translated from French] « “oui merci” is described as “friendly art-rock/polished indie-rock”—you get the idea without really getting it. A fascinating journey, melodic here (“Fleur”), taken to the extreme there (“Voiture de course”). It’s gentle and disorienting, wild and cathartic, hard to follow yet irresistible—an impossible puzzle where every piece somehow fits. In the end, lulled by “Toute ouïe,” almost a normal song built around a tender piano, we end up in chaos. An ode to friendship and freedom—that’s what it is. Ok? Bebye, and see you next time.»

4 stars - Sylvain Cormier, Le Devoir, 6 octobre 2023

[Translated from French] « “I’d say that oui merci is an indie-rock band full of emotion [...] It’s authentic, it’s heartfelt, it’s original, it’s polished. I’d call it emo indie-rock, that kind of music that brings out the full range of emotions. I really, really liked this debut album.[...] There’s real musical talent here, and the album was produced by Étienne Dupré—so we already know we’re in good hands.” »

Tatiana Polevoy, Il restera toujours de la culture, Radio-Canada (Ici Première), 28 septembre 2023

[Translated from French] « This band is always in search of emotion, that’s what takes precedence in their compositions. There’s a joyful side to it, a playful side. [...] It’s also refined; the arrangements are original. [...] Here, it’s deliberately crafted; there are often layers of sound that shift and transform, and the songs become something else. »

Alexandre Courteau, Il restera toujours de la culture, Radio-Canada (Ici Première) , 28 septembre 2023

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Photo credit : Nana Quinn