In 1991, she traveled to Montreal, Quebec, Canada to visit her sisters who were students at "l'École nationale de cirque", the National Circus School of Canada, and she decided to make Montreal her home. Developing an interest in Francophone culture, she sang for five years in bars, collaborating with rock guitarist Yves Desrosiers. In 1992, Denis Wolff, general manager of the independent Canadian record company, Audiogram, saw Lhasa performing, her head shaved, in front of a tiny nightclub audience. He was struck with "her personality, her charisma and her voice" – he soon signed her to the label. With Desrosiers she developed the material that eventually became her first album.