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“So nine years later, it’s happening and we’re really excited.”

Petsche says the band, in their curator role, has already been heavily involved, suggesting a number of interesting acts to pursue.

“We’ve booked quite a few of them already, in fact,” he says.

“I think it’s obvious from their musical output that they have really incredible musical influences but also incredibly diverse. And that will definitely be apparent in their picks.

“They’ve just been so incredible to work with.”

Godspeed You! Black Emperor was formed by Efrim Menuck, Mauro Pezzente and Mike Moya — who have remained the core while the number of other members and collaborators has swollen to double-digits — and built a cult following with their stunning audio and visual live spectacles and a handful of releases.

Their last album, ‘Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!, earned them the 2013 Polaris Prize for best Canadian album, an award voted on by critics and journalists from across the country, which they famously refused, pledging the $30,000 prize money to start music programs in the Quebec prison system.

This year’s Sled Island will run from June 24 to 28, and feature over 250 local and international acts performing in more than 30 venues around the city, with comedy, art and film components as well.

A certain number of passes are currently available from sledisland.com at 10 per cent off, with options ranging from: $45 All-Ages Pass, which provides access to all-ages venues including Olympic Plaza and Tubby Dog; $179 Discovery Pass, that allows entry to all Sled Island events, subject to capacity; and the big-ticket $315 Discovery Plus Pass, which has all of the access of the Discovery Pass as well as priority access to all Sled Island events, Artist Lounge entry and other goodies.

Petsche says Sled will be announcing the first wave of headliners in early March.

“But in my mind this is a pretty good headliner to start with,” he says.

mbell@calgaryherald.com

Twitter.com/mrbell_23