Additional Information
A few days before the final unveiling of the Polaris Prize, which will determine the outstanding Canadian album of the past year on September 16, we are posting this interview with Lou-Adriane Cassidy, conducted in mid-July in the whirlwind of her absolute triumph on the French-speaking scenes of America, very clearly at the top of this new wave of artists that some call the golden age of this culture, nothing less. Since Lou-Adriane is among the 10 finalists in Canada for her album Journal d’un Loup-Garou, the subject was unavoidable and is now one of the important factors in her current influence. The other elements of “her situation,” just as important, are obviously addressed in this interview.
PAN M 360: Since you’ve been giving interviews about your last two albums since their respective releases last winter and spring, and since I’m the 250th person to talk to you about your own phenomenon (just kidding), we’ll do it differently: by first talking about your nomination for the Polaris Prize short list and then going in-depth about your recent work.
First, I remind you that only one group/artist expressing their art in French has won the Polaris since its founding 19 years ago: Karkwa in 2010. If you win this year, you will be the 2nd. But… as I have pointed out several times, Canadian coolness is not exactly on the French-speaking side these days. Normally, you should be a very serious contender for the prize. So if you win, it is because the majority of the members of the “grand jury” will have understood the importance of your contribution and the new French-speaking wave that you embody. It would then be a historic achievement.
Lou-Adriane Cassidy: Yes, it’s crazy! It makes you wonder about Canada’s view of Quebec. I think that sometimes it creates such a strong reaction that it could be really disturbing to win. Didn’t Karkwa create a controversy by winning at the time?
PAN M 360: There were still people from the Rest of Canada who said something like Who the fuck is Karkwa???
Lou-Adriane Cassidy: The Polaris is not a popularity award, I don’t see the connection… Yes, there is the language barrier and at the same time several Canadian artists have won in languages other than French or English, Jeremy Dutcher has won twice.
PAN M 360: Jeremy Dutcher, Lido Pimienta, Pierre Kwenders, etc. And… it seems that the linguistic expression that represents 25% of pop has won 5.25% of the Polaris Prizes. And it has little to do with quality and everything to do with perceptions.
Lou-Adriane Cassidy: I have nothing against a victory for diversity, I am absolutely for diversity but we can wonder why we (French speakers) are not included.
PAN M 360: We are the first to applaud the victories of Indigenous artists or artists from cultural communities; that’s not the problem. The problem lies in our near impossibility of winning since the prize’s inception. This tells us a lot about the perception of non-French-speaking Canadians who vote on all Polaris juries. Obviously, it’s not malicious, but the results speak for themselves.
Lou-Adriane Cassidy: But did Francophone coolness ever exist in English Canada?
PAN M 360: There has already been an interest among some. At the time when Pierre Elliott Trudeau was perceived as cool (before October 70), there was an interest in Francophone culture. Among Anglo prog fans, for example, we were impressed by Harmonium or Cano. But… you’re right to ask the question, because it’s actually very thin. Given our history of the two solitudes, more tense than relaxed, something is being expressed unconsciously, the Polaris Prize selection process is no exception. I don’t think it’s deliberate, however. We’ll know more on September 16!
So let’s move on to other topics. Have you ever lived in Montreal?
Lou-Adriane Cassidy: I lived there for two years and then returned to Quebec City, where I settled. I was born in the Saint-Roch neighborhood and I live in Limoilou. I left the city because I wanted to get away from home. I’m at home in Quebec City; there’s a way to live here and contribute to the community of artists in my city while doing everything else. There’s a way to make ends meet and stay here. And I like to contribute to that too, to the flourishing of my city.
PAN M 360: It’s really cool that you’re from Quebec… Well, it’s worth repeating: this is your year! It doesn’t happen often in a lifetime, such success. Maybe you’ll be able to repeat this feat, it’s impossible to predict. But just to have achieved it is already very big. Did you see it coming? How did you see the heat rise?
Lou-Adriane Cassidy: Well no, I didn’t see it coming. I don’t think you can see it coming. I experienced it a little from the outside when Darlène launched Hubert Lenoir. I was part of the tour, it was very intense. I think it was harder than this year because everyone was younger. Hubert was very polarizing too, which made things less easy to live with.
PAN M 360: And this time?
Lou-Adriane Cassidy: I didn’t expect to experience this at all. I had a career I was very proud of, it was still developing. I had an audience, I already felt very privileged, in fact. I was really proud of the album Loup-Garou. I had hopes, of course, we have them all the time. But I hadn’t dared to go that far in my head. That’s why I don’t think these things can be measured or calculated. Dis-moi dis-moi was played on commercial radio… a lot. I really didn’t think this song would have this effect.
PAN M 360: In the vast majority of cases, it’s commercial radio that decides what to broadcast. But sometimes, as was the case with Dis-moi, dis-moi, an “alternative” song becomes too big a hit and exceeds the criteria, and FM is then forced to get on board. A great victory for quality over prefabrication!
Lou-Adriane Cassidy: Yes, really. And I’m really happy to be moving to commercial radio. We’re the first to say that there’s no more diversity and openness in genres. So, if commercial radio is starting to open up a little, I’m happy to be a part of it. I’m very happy! I’m still doing what I’ve been doing all the time for the last 8 years: shows, albums.
So it’s not an inner change that explains this success. In fact, I’m happy to be experiencing this, that it’s happening on commercial radio. Because I really did this out of complete love for music and what I wanted to do. We worked a lot and there’s something very satisfying about experiencing this. Because that’s not always the case, in fact! So for me, this work remains independent and this adequacy is a great source of pride for me.
PAN M 360: It’s natural, it’s organic, indeed. Your friends Ariane Roy and Thierry Larose could have had an impact. Whether the sauce takes more for one or the other remains an intangible phenomenon, there are no rational explanations to suggest to explain such success. It’s luck, but you made your luck, it’s fully deserved. That being said, you have more popular success than your best friends with whom you work. So, it’s sure that creates a disparity, but at the same time, there’s no explanation to be had to know why it’s you and not the others.
Lou-Adriane Cassidy: I still think we lift each other up. For me, there’s not such a big gap being created. I think it’s more, let’s say, mainstream. But Ariane and Thierry have many loyal fans. They have very successful careers.
PAN M 360: There’s no doubt about it. What I mean is that there’s a difference between a great career and being on the biggest festival bills. It’s still a whole different ball game, but it has nothing to do with quality. We’re as excited about Ariane Roy and Thierry Larose as we are about your work; we don’t see any clear differences in terms of quality. Broadly speaking, you’re artists of equal quality. It’s great that you maintain your friendship in this context.
Lou-Adriane Cassidy: Yes, I admire them a million times over! I think we contributed to my success together. We built a lot of things together. We learned a lot together. For me, this bond is very strong.
PAN M 360: Clearly, you’re going through a period of intense creativity. Two separate albums in a single quarter!
Lou-Adriane Cassidy: Actually, Loup-garou didn’t happen quickly; it was a long gestation period. When we were finishing this album, I still had some of Stéphane Lafleur’s songs that he had sent me over the last few years – he had already written me a song on my second album, we both really liked this collaboration. It helped him, I think, with the creation of his own repertoire, because he said he was having trouble writing for Avec pas d’casque at that time. And he would send me songs from time to time.
I have a lot of admiration for his talent, but it didn’t fit with Loup-Garou. I then started writing the song Adieu, and the idea came to make a different album, in complete reaction to the previous one.
The idea was to make an album where we would have a short production time and everyone would have to play together in the same room. I’m not saying I invented anything, but we don’t do that much anymore.
PAN M 360: Live recordings for the album Triste animal, then.
Lou-Adriane Cassidy: Yes, everyone together, with the vocals, the backing vocals, all that. Nothing was recorded over it. That was really it, played and sung in the moment, no alterations. I found that process really exciting and really different from what we had done before. I booked the studio in the fall of 2024. I had three songs at the start and I had an album at the end.
Sometimes it’s interesting to test your creative limits a little, to see where you go when you’re pushed to your limits. I almost canceled the studio a few days before because some texts were missing. I think there’s a little masochistic side to it, it’s very uncomfortable but the satisfaction of getting to the end is great and rewarding. What’s going to happen? How are we going to get there? We have anxieties, there are mysteries and… things happen.
PAN M 360: Inspiration remains a mystery…
Lou-Adriane Cassidy: How is it channeled? It’s mysterious indeed. You need an impulse. Then you can develop the work. If you don’t have this impulse, it can become panicky!
PAN M 360: And what happens next after the big summer festivals?
Lou-Adriane Cassidy: A new show is planned for the fall. It will run through 2025 and 2026.
PAN M 360: With the program, mainly a mix of the two albums, is that it?
Lou-Adriane Cassidy: Yes, that’s it, new staging and everything. A mix of both albums and also the essentials. I recently realized that I could count on a real repertoire, and not have the choice of doing this or that song in a show. I’ve like crossed over to the other side.
Editor’s note: Alain Brunet conducted this interview with Lou-Adriane Cassidy in mid-July. We talked about Polaris with the new queen of French-speaking indie pop from Quebec, among other topics covered in this interview, which justifies posting this interview online two months after it was conducted. However, the author of these lines did not know at the time that he would be selected for the Polaris Prize “grand jury”, which would determine the final winner of the famous pan-Canadian prize. The invitation to this “grand jury” thus came AFTER this interview was conducted. The comments made here are therefore in no way colored by the author’s participation in the final jury of the prize and do not constitute in any way an indication of the discussions held within this jury, secret discussions which can under no circumstances be made public.
