Additional Information
The pianist and composer Jean-Michel Blais is releasing a new album these days, Mirador (Watchtower). A generous album that reflects the musician’s evolution in terms of composition. At the piano, always at the center of emotions, strings, Andean instruments, and above all, a twelve-voice choir are added. Twelve tracks as well that allow those who listen to delve a little into the artist’s mind and heart, who created all these pieces as a coherent whole, allowing all sorts of cherished memories to resurface and take flight into the vast world. A very personal testimony, therefore, somewhat like the previous albums, but this time with a more cinematic scope. In this nice interview he granted me, Jean-Michel lifted the veil a bit on the behind-the-scenes and some secrets behind Mirador.
REVIEW OF THE ALBUM MIRADOR BY JEAN-MICHEL BLAIS
The written interview contains summaries of Jean-Michel Blais’s comments. We invite you to listen to the video segments that follow the answers to get even more information and anecdotes from the composer (French with English subtitles)
PanM360: Why did you feel like offering music this time with a choir, Andean instruments, and strings?
Jean-Michel-Blais: I admit that the choir, I was the first not to see it coming. It was the director Devon Bate (Jeremy Dutcher) who threw that at me when I was starting to think about the album. At first, I wasn’t buying it at all, but the next day I was all in, and I think within two weeks, I pretty much wrote the entire album. It brought out something in me that I didn’t understand at the time.
The vocal cords and the organic side, that blew my mind about this connection. You can feel that it’s very real, especially in an era of AI, to be able to connect with real humans who make harmonies. It brought back all my memories related to the choir (I sang in one), which resurfaced at that moment.
PanM360: The voices only do vocalises. No lyrics. What is your relationship with words?
Jean-Michel-Blais: I am incapable of writing lyrics. Maybe if I got into it, it would be a nice challenge. But for me, it would be a different project. I find that it fixes the meaning. There is something beautiful in instrumental music.
I make instrumental music. I think we’re on the fine line that keeps us in the instrumental, even though they are human voices.
I like to leave room for projection, for what people want to imagine, because as soon as you add lyrics, the chances are high that you send a message. It seems that the voice has a completely different function. I won’t hide from you that I would love to do that one day, a lot, but one thing at a time.
PanM360: How did you find the experience of composing with voices?
Jean-Michel-Blais: In fact, it was quite a challenge because I was a bit foolish. The first time I arrived at the first rehearsal with the choir, the singers said to me, “It’s all well and good, but which vowel are we singing?” I hadn’t thought about that, not at all. I was like, “well, who cares.” And then I thought, well, actually, no, because it changes everything.
An O, an A, an E, a OU, then in the bass, in the treble. It really changes the textures. And there’s also a theory of sounds that sometimes makes you put an O, and then as you go up, it becomes an A. The resonances, the harmonics of voices, these are things I learned in due time.
It’s a learning experience that is humbling.
PanM360: Mirador is a symbol. A lookout for observing the world around. For you, your lookout was your basement. You went there to escape and discover the world, through music, cinema, etc. In the album, you use traditional Andean musical instruments. What specific memories are attached to them?
Jean-Michel-Blais: In my basement, we had a little cassette, it was a show on CBC/Radio-Canada that I had recorded myself, and it played Andean music. A cassette that I listened to, and listened to again until it no longer worked. Sometimes we would go to Old Quebec City, there was a traditional music group we would go see. It spoke to me, there was a pan flute hanging on our wall. All of that was very powerful for me.
We even had a synth organ with little prefab beats, you know, tango, salsa, I actually sampled three of them in the album. When you hear beats, they come from that organ.
And then at 16, I went to Nicaragua. Then at 18, I set off with a backpack to Guatemala, and after that, I returned as a student to Argentina, and I visited the Andes. I crossed the entire Andes in 3-4 trips. I love the richness of the colours, the languages, and the music of this region, Bolivia in particular. I spent a lot of time connecting with people, playing music. It’s music that makes me cry. All of that is part of my memories, and they appear here and there, like wafts, impressions.
PanM360: Are there any tracks on the album that are associated with more powerful memories than others?
Jean-Michel-Blais: Not really, because I wanted it to be relatively universal, after all. It starts from something personal, of course. I was a little kid different from the others, affected by Tourette’s syndrome, gay, and I was pretty much alone in that. At the time, it didn’t exist in normal discussions. I didn’t feel like going to play hockey with my neighbour. I preferred to do my own thing at home. But what I wanted to express is that we have an incredible ability to build worlds with very little. Each and every one of us. That’s why on the cover, there’s a child who made a crown out of a piece of cardboard. Him, he’s a king, he played the knight, there, all day long, and there’s a blanket lying around, he probably made a made up fort. We are all capable of that.
I have the impression that if I dissected each piece, maybe I could make a connection with a personal element, but in truth, it speaks more about the context in which I find myself today, and how I draw from my childhood. But I don’t think there is really a specific moment related to each piece.
PanM360: You went to spend time in Estonia, at the Arvo Pärt Centre, associated with the composer born in 1935. What can you tell us about this experience?
Jean-Michel-Blais: I discovered this composer when I was studying at the Conservatory. I spent a lot of time there, in the listening rooms, exploring his music on records. Arvo Pärt is someone who really touched me emotionally. It’s the kind of thing where I put on the CD, lie down on the floor, turn off the lights, and then I lift off. There is something sacred, spiritual in his work.
The guy was doing contemporary music that was still “inaccessible,” only to stop for 10 years before being reborn, arriving with a new signature, a new colour, a kind of neo-tonalism, which was revolutionary in its super traditional side, ultimately. It spoke to me a lot, because for me, Schoenberg, Berg, I understand the idea, but it doesn’t resonate with me. I needed to be touched emotionally, not just conceptually.
When I started working on the voices, I thought of Arvo because he has worked a lot with voices. I found it interesting to seek out his expertise. When I found out there was a center, I got my act together, signed up, and was accepted.
I went to the Center for two weeks, and it changed my life for many reasons. He doesn’t live far away. On the first day, it was his birthday. He was there. He saw me. Maybe he was a bit confused. In any case, he gave me a big hug. He seemed really happy to see me, but we don’t know each other.
It’s fabulous to be around someone like that.
PanM360: Thank you!
