{"id":14530,"date":"2020-03-21T18:05:46","date_gmt":"2020-03-21T22:05:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/panm360.com\/?post_type=interviews&p=14530"},"modified":"2020-04-02T09:57:22","modified_gmt":"2020-04-02T13:57:22","slug":"louis-jean-cormier-quand-la-nuit-tombe-quand-un-nouveau-jour-se-leve","status":"publish","type":"interviews","link":"https:\/\/panm360.com\/en\/interviews-panm360\/louis-jean-cormier-quand-la-nuit-tombe-quand-un-nouveau-jour-se-leve\/","title":{"rendered":"Louis-Jean Cormier \/ When night falls… and a new day dawns"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

First topic on the menu of perceptions: of the three LJC albums released since 2012, Quand la nuit tombe<\/em> (Simone Records) is the closest to Karkwa. When the observation is put to Louis-Jean Cormier, he nods in agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n“Yes, absolutely! We also made this observation as we progressed\nthrough the album. It wasn’t planned and, in the end, I’m very happy.\nIn fact, it coincided with the return of Fran\u00e7ois Lafontaine (also\nof Karkwa<\/em>) to my artistic life. When he wanted to change studios,\nI welcomed him into mine and he set up his own synthesiser museum\nthere (laughs<\/em>). I was in the middle of making my new album at\nthe time, so I thought it was cool that he got involved in the\nproject. He ended up playing on almost half of the repertoire in the\nend.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nLJC insists, Fran\u00e7ois Lafontaine’s role was decisive in the making\nof the album.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n“From the beginning of the album, I wanted songs that \u2018come\nout of the speaker\u2019, I wanted it to go overboard. Frank went in\nthere like a dog in a bowling alley, knocking everything over, it was\nfun! We were happy to go back to the drawing board. The next step\nwill be to compose together for me, for him, for Marie-Pierre\n(Arthur), maybe for Karkwa… “<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nSome people sum up the instrumental construction of Quand la nuit\ntombe<\/em>: a guit-free album. Was it premeditated?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n“It wasn’t… it kind of came out of a drunken evening. I took a\nfew chances with my friends, made an album without guitars and also\nmade songs to dance to \u2013 although I really don’t consider myself an\nartist who makes people dance. The idea took off, and that was it!\nArtists had better take on such challenges, it’s always healthy to\ncreate under duress. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n“It was very rewarding to make an album that focused on piano\nand keyboards. It’s bigger, it leaves more space for the voice and\nthe words. The piano frees up the set, you can hear the voice, the\nwords, the other instruments better. Moreover, the piano is my\nprimary instrument; I played it for about 15 years before perfecting\nmy guitar.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nFive years separate the release of Quand\nla nuit tombe<\/em> and Les\ngrandes art\u00e8res<\/em>. Five pivotal years, Cormier points out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\u201cMy life has changed a lot \u2013 break-up, shared custody, new\nrelationship, sabbatical, travels, making recordings… I was in\nEthiopia, Germany, California. I’ve stuffed myself with hip hop,\nelectronic music, Ethio-jazz, I’ve become aware of the cultural roots\nof my Ethiopian girlfriend (Rebecca Makonnen). By the way, the song\n\u2018Les poings ouverts\u2019 is directly inspired by Ethio-jazz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\u201cMy girlfriend also inspired me to get into hip hop, so much so\nthat I bought samplers and other synthesizers, and started digging\ninto my brain to master these machines. To give an example, the song\n\u2018100 m\u00e8tres haies\u2019 features excerpts from Debussy, and is the\nresult of this apprenticeship. It must be said that the classical\nside of this song comes from my paternal influences and those of my\nbrother, a violinist with the Orchestre symphonique de Qu\u00e9bec and\nsometimes with les Violons du Roy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nDespite the absence of muscular guitars, LJC notes, Quand la nuit\ntombe<\/em> is not sweet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n“The word got out, I’d made a piano-vocal album. People are\ngoing to take the plunge when they hear it! It rocks and I like it! I\nwouldn’t say it’s a rock album, but it’s one of my solo projects that\npushes me the most in that direction. As well as singing on it, I\nplay piano, synthesizers and synth bass. Alex McMahon, one of the\nbest pianists in the country, doesn’t play a note of piano on this\nalbum! He plays synthesizers, but mostly drums, simultaneously with\nMarc-Andr\u00e9 Larocque. Together, they are a-maaaa-zing! Guillaume\nChartrain plays electric bass and synth bass.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nThe start of the new tour was imminent but… the pandemic has\nobviously changed the course of things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n“We’ve got a hundred dates planned, we’re going to play them all\neventually. I’m really looking forward to getting back on the road!\nBrigitte Poupart will be stage-directing, Mathieu Roy will be\nlighting. With the exception of Fran\u00e7ois Lafontaine, the band that\nmade the record will accompany me \u2013 Alex McMahon, Guillaume\nChartrain, Marc-Andr\u00e9 Larocque.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n