Post by lapayin on Nov 11, 2006 22:13:03 GMT -5
Thank you once again David.
While Live, very very private...
(Interview by JPP and Jean-Marc D'Angio)
Lara Fabian
Lara Fabian returns this Autumn with a 4th Live, this one of her album "9", which, whatever one says of it, is a double gold disc in France alone. Released as a version audio, video and even a collector's box, this new Live hides behind a previously unrecorded studio song "Aime", while the singer prepares herself to record in Italian, Spanish and English. Meanwhile, she took the time to respond, for the 8th time, to all of Platine's most indiscreet questions on her career as well as her life as a woman...
THIS LIVE ALBUM IS FULL OF YOUR LAST TOUR, WHICH BEGAN AT THE OLYMPIA AND ENDED AT THE ZENITH A YEAR LATER...
Yes, even if in the middle, we made a summer tour with a different formula, without a chorus, with an extra electric guitar. But the CD/DVD is the reflection of the 50 dates that we made in the Zeniths of France before the summer.
THERE ARE SOME TITLES THAT YOU WOULD HAVE PLAYED ONLY ON CERTAIN EVENINGS, LIKE 'LA DIFFERENCE' BUT THAT DON'T APPEAR ON THIS LIVE ALBUM?
It's true. "La Difference", I sang it only on the summer tour. There is also "Angel".
ON THIS LIVE ALBUM ONE FINDS ALL THE SONGS OF YOUR LAST ALBUM "9" WITH TWO EXCEPTIONS: 'NE LUI PARLE PLUS D'ELLE' AND 'RIEN QU'UNE SEULE L'ARME". WHY HAVE YOU 'ZAPPED' THEM?
For 'Ne lui parle plus d'elle' I am bored a little, in fact, strangely. As for 'Rien qu'une seule l'arme', I wanted to do it with a guitar, but Jean-Felix Lalanne and I had decided to not be on stage together and I didn't want to do it with another guitarist.
FOR EACH NEW ALBUM, YOU PLAY IT QUASI-FULLY ON STAGE LIKE THIS TIME?
Yes. At the time of the album 'Nue', I performed on stage all the strong titles of this disc, plus all the hits from before. But the construction of the LIVE repertoire is truly a process which continuously evolves. To sing many of these new songs, it is also to take more risks. And with the passing of the years, I grow and I want to go towards my new songs, not just to rest on my assets. And then the songs of "9" had truly the path, scenically. Some titles like 'Si tu n'as pas d'amour', 'Les homericains' or 'L'homme qui n'avait pas de maison', I already saw them on stage as they were being recorded in the studio.
HAVE YOU HAD ANY NEGATIVE REACTIONS ON THE RE-ORCHESTRATION OF YOUR SUCCESSES, IKE THE SALSA VERSION OF 'TOUT'?
No, not me directly. But I am sure that there are some people who didn't like, as at each time. But on the whole, the commentaries of the fans in my book of gold were positive.
AMONG THE HITS WHICH YOU DIDN'T SING THIS TIME, THERE IS 'SI TU M'AIMES' WHICH UNTIL THEN HAD FIGURED ON ALL OF YOUR LIVE DISCS?
Yes, I didn't sing it, lack of place. But I nevertheless did it last June at the Place des Arts, in Montreal.
ONE THIS LIVE ALBUM, ONE FINDS ALSO SOME OLD SONGS, BUT WHICH HAVEN'T BEEN SUCCESSES, NOT EVEN HITS, LIKE 'SILENCE'...
Yes. Because this song has an incredible rhythmic energy, which passes into the room. And then we have made a new arrangement of it that I find brilliant, inspired by the English version of the album 'A Wonderful Life'.
YOU REDID ALSO 'BROKEN VOW' A SONG OF YOUR FIRST AMERICAN ALBUM, WHICH HAS SINCE BEEN REPRISED BY JOSH GROBAN, WHO IS IN THE ACT OF BECOMING ONE OF THE BIGGEST SELLERS OF RECORDS IN THE WORLD. IS IT BECAUSE OF THIS THAT YOU DID IT?
No, because Josh Groban is little known in France, even if he is a star in the USA. It is just because it is, with also 'Pas sans toi', my favorite song in all my career.
IN THE PAST, YOU HAVE ALREADY REPRISED LAMA, AZNAVOUR OR RENAULD ON YOUR LIVE ALBUMS, BUT THIS TIME THEY ARE EXCLUSIVELY SOME REPRISES IN ENGLISH, WITH A MEDLEY FROM 'YENTL' OF BARBRA STREISAND.
It makes ten years that I want to sing 'Yentl' and that everyone told me that in France that will not interest anyone. I did it nevertheless, and I was not mistaken, to such a point that this medley of 'Papa Can You Hear Me' and 'A Piece of Sky' is going to be released as a single in Germany, in Flanders, and in the Netherlands. All the more since 'Yentl', which is a film, and not a musical comedy, is 20 years old.
CERTAIN TITLES WHICH APPEAR ON THE DVD ARE NOT ON THE CD. HOW DO YOU CHOOSE THE SONGS WHICH DON'T APPEAR ON THE AUDIO VERSION?
I listen and I watch the whole concert, and certain titles sound very well, but are less interesting on screen. They are those that I chose to not put on the disc. They are those more for the DVD. And then, there is a collector's box, with the two, CD and DVD, plus some bonuses, some karaoke versions and a duo with an Italian singer, Gigi d'Alessio. We have just besides recorded another, 'Cuore Malato', which is going to be released on his next album and on mine, since I prepare an album in Italian for the spring of 2007.
WITH CELSO VALLI, THE PRODUCER OF RAMAZOTTI AND BOCELLI?
Nothing is less certain, for he is someone very difficult to trap. He is nevertheless the one who approached me initially.
YOU ALREADY HAVE SOME SONGS FOR THE ITALIAN PROJECT?
Yes, not bad. There are some songs of other well-known Italian composers, and then some songs that I composed or wrote myself, for in Italian the melodies come to me very easily. It is truly a new experience which freshens me, it goes very well.
ARE YOU KNOWN IN ITALY?
They knew me with a single song, 'Adagio'. Therefore I am known for it, without being known, as a voice with classical tendency. Whereas I'm not a classical singer.
ARE YOU, LIKE FOR YOUR LAST ENGLISH ALBUM, GOING TO ADOPT CERTAIN OF YOUR FRENCH SONGS IN ITALIAN?
No, I have no desire to turn myself toward the past.
EVEN NOT - UNA AVE MARIA?
It is funny that you cite this one, for this one, I truly thought of it. I am going to try, but this is even so very French-medieval-like melody. And then I'm going also to try for 'Il ne manquait que toi' for the Italians adored this song. It is necessary to believe that I have this deep Italian gene, since it is me who composed this title all alone.
OUTSIDE OF THIS ITALIAN DUO, AMONG THE BONUS DVD THERE IS A 45 MINUTE DOCUMENTARY BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE TOUR. IT IS THE FIRST TIME WHERE YOU LET YOURSELF BE FILMED WITH SOME HANDKERCHIEFS IN YOUR NOSE?
(Laughs). Yes. That's certainly me, that! 'Neuf' marked a total turn for me, a table razed of the past, some teams with whom I worked. And since I live, I breathe, I work differently. I want that my music be in accordance with my evolution as an individual and inversely.
ON THIS 'LIVE' YOU HAVE ADDED AN UNRECORDED STUDIO TITLE 'AIME'...
Yes, it is a song which was born during the tour, in February 2006. The melody came to me in an airplane, I finished it with my pianist, Jeremy Jouniaux, then I wrote the text without stopping, without lifting the pencil, there still in the airplane. I have also recorded it in English, under the title 'Love'. I have moreover plenty of other melodies that I composed during the tour and which will be on the Italian album.
JEREMY HAD ALREADY CO-WRITTEN WITH YOU 'JE ME SOUVIENS' - WHAT IS HIS LEVEL OF INTERVENTION BY RELATION TO YOUR PREVIOUS MUSICAL ACCOMPLICES, RICK ALLISON AND JEAN-FELIX LALANNE?
That depends. Jeremy intervenes often in a second time for the harmony, the chords which go with the melodies that I find all alone, and that I record on a dictaphone.
WHERE ARE YOU IN YOUR DESIRE OF SINGING SOME LYRIC ON STAGE, WITH SOME ARIAS LIKE THAT OF 'LA CASTA DIVA'.
I wanted to do it for the last show, but I abandoned the idea. I was scared stiff of not being at the level, for the show was already long and very heavy vocally.
WILL YOU HAVE A CLIP FOR 'AIME'?
Yes, I shot it here, even, in 35 mm, in this hotel a week ago. It will be a mélange with some images of Live. It is very moving.
WHO REALIZED IT?
It is Gerard (note: Pullicino, her companion).
ON THE LAST ALBUM, 'IL NE MANQUAIT QUE TOI' HAD TWO CLIPS. WHY?
For the song had like a second life, and inspired in Gerard a new idea. That had already been the case for 'Ne lui parle d'elle', but there it was the initiative of the Record company, for the initial clip, like that of 'Il ne manquait que toi', was done as part of the 7 or 8 that I had shot with a Belgian director in a very realistic world, Mark Hollogne, and which we had put as a bonus on the album '9'. They weren't made necessarily to be broadcast on TV.
WE LOSE OURSELVES A LITTLE IN ALL THE SINGLES OF '9' FOR CERTAINLY THEY WERE ZAPPED VERY RAPIDLY?
Yes, I practically made the impasse on 'Ne lui parle d'elle' the second single, which was released in the summer, with a bad timing.
AND ALSO THE FOURTH, 'IL NE MANQUAIT QUE TOI'?
There it is because NRJ couldn't resist the side rhythm of 'L'homme qui n'avait pas de maison' and wanted to play it, therefore we 'switched' very fast. Yet NRJ, which until then had broadcast only 'La Lettre', is not a radio station that supports me systematically.
EXACTLY WHAT DO YOU THINK ARE SOME OF THE ACTUAL DIFFICULTIES OF THE FEMALE SINGERS SAID TO BE 'OF VOICE' : ISABELLE BOULAY, NATASHA ST. PIER, HELENE SAGARA, OR YOURSELF. YOUR RECORD SALES AREN'T AS GREAT AS THEY WERE...
It is sure that I will never again sell 2.8 million copies of an album, as in the past. It is necessary to be lucid. I have sold 12 million records in my career, I have had much luck, but the world changes. People still listen as much to music, but consuming it in an entirely different way. It would be time that all the big party bosses of the recording companies, all these 'fifty-somethings', open their eyes and tell themselves that it is necessary from now on to sell the music differently. It is necessary also that the artists wake up and lift themselves up, so that one has true legislation against pirating and illegal downloading. There are too many artists who keep silent, or worse, are 'false cooks' and say that they find everything goes well. It is necessary to stop!
IN THIS CONTEXT, HOW DO YOU ASSESS THE SALES OF THE ALBUM '9'?
I am a member of the privileged because people come to see me in concert, which then sells for me some albums. There's nothing to be done, I am a seller of tickets: on this tour, I made 80 dates, with a mean of 3000-6000 spectators per evening. For the current times, this is extraordinary. And '9' it has even so sold 400,000 copies. Then certainly, it isn't the million that I've done in the past, but it remains close to the sales of my preceding record, 'En Toute Intimite', which sold 480,000 sales. It is honorable. And I remain, I last! In the end, seeing the actual record market, I've done well with '9', especially with all the musical and artistic turns that I made with this disc. And I continue to work a lot in the whole world: with the Turks, Russians, Italians, Americans, I do concerts all the time.
YOU ARE MOREOVER YOUR OWN PRODUCER ON STAGE, HOW DID THAT GO?
Very well. It was difficult in the beginning, for it is very tough to produce oneself one's shows and one's tours, but from now on, the organization is well broken in, and I am surrounded by a terrific team. Certain people did not endear themselves to me at the beginning of the tour, but finally it passed well. And then for certain countries like Russia or Turkey, I have an acoustic formula in piano voice, or piano voice violin-cello, for some rooms of 2000 places. Everywhere else I always leave with five musicians minimum.
HAVE YOU HEARD THE ROCK VERSION OF 'JE T'AIME' BY MADAME KAY?
Of course, and I adored it. I even ratified their version for I am publisher of this song, and they needed my authorization to be able to remake it. There is also a version 'zouk' by another group.
WHERE ARE YOU ON THE SONG OF KATE RYAN 'THROUGH THE EYES' WHICH RESEMBLES VERY CLOSELY YOUR SONG 'GIVING UP ON YOU'?
It is moreover you who have put the 'flea in the ear' during one interview. It is a case of plagiarism pure and simple, it is some theft, and the judicial steps are underway.
WHAT DO YOU HAVE - ON THE FIRE - AMONG THE THE SONGS THAT YOU WRITE FOR SOME OTHER ARTISTS? YOU WERE IN PARTICULAR TO WRITE AND MAKE A DUO WITH ROLAND KARL...
Unhappily, that hasn't gone well, but not at all because of the man and it is a pity, I am very sad about it. I haven't had the time to produce it and to occupy myself with it, but I much wanted to be a partner of the duo for him. But in the end I became a sort of 'bargaining chip' for to find him a 'deal' in a record company, when he didn't have a contract. But I was super honest with Roland, because he is brilliant, that I adore him and he has nothing to do with this problem (Note: finalist of the 'Nouvelle Star' - season 3, Roland has been signed by Antoine Angelelli, artistic director of Orlando Productions). I hope that in the future, near or far, I could nevertheless do something with this kid, because he has a crazy talent.
HAVE YOU OTHER PROJECTS WHERE YOU WOULD BE SIMPLY AUTHOR-COMPOSER FOR AMEL BENT FOR EXAMPLE AS YOU HAVE EXPRESSED THE DESIRE...
It is difficult....One can propose some things which are not inevitably suitable, that I can understand.
AND FOR CHIMENE BADI, YOU HAD WRITTEN A SONG FOR HER LAST ALBUM BUT FOR THE NEW ONE...
I didn't even try.
HAVE YOU ANYTHING NEW FOR MYRIAM ABEL, FOR WHOM YOU WROTE THE FIRST HIT, 'DONNE'?
Not any, even if I did cross paths with her on television stages...It is a pity, but it doesn't matter.
WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE ALBUM OF MAGALI VAE, PRODUCED BY RICK ALLISON?
I have heard some cuts, diagonally [i.e., in passing].
YOU HAVE NOTHING ELSE TO SAY OF IT?
(Silence)
HAVE YOU SEEN ZOE ON STAGE?
A very long time ago. And it was extra. I've always thought that she is a fabulous artist.
SINCE THREE YEARS AGO, YOU RETURNED TO LIVE IN EUROPE, IN BELGIUM. QUEBEC, DO YOU MISS IT?
Yes. That which I miss is the light down there, and the extraordinary kindness of the people. The look of others doesn't judge you, it is another world. And they are very respectful of the private life of well-known people. But I have found again for myself a 'pied-à-terre' , and I am going to return and live there partially starting next April.
ALL YOUR ALBUMS ARE RELEASED DOWN THERE?
Yes, even if the choice of singles is different. Down there, inevitably, it is 'Je me souviens' which functioned well.
ON TOP OF THE ITALIAN ALBUM, ARE YOU GOING TO GO TO THE END OF THE PROJECT OF THE ALBUM IN MANY LANGUAGES?
Yes, it will be the continuation of the album in Italian: Italian, Spanish, English, indeed Portugeuse, on the same disc. And it will be only new songs. Zero return to the past...
IN THIS CONNECTION, IT SEEMS THAT YOU'VE JUST WRITTEN A SONG WITH DAVE STEWART OF EURYTHMICS?
Yes, yesterday evening! It was an extraordinary moment, and the song is very beautiful in addition. It is called 'Between Hatred and Love'. The writing session lasted 17 minutes exactly (she sings). It is between R&B and folk. We had already spent some time together in New York, we had very nearly written together for my second English album, we have the same manager in the United States.
WHAT'S HAPPENING EXACTLY FOR YOU IN THE ANGLO-SAXON MARKET? ONE KNOWS THAT YOU LEFT SONY AFTER THE FAILURE OF THE SECOND ENGLISH ALBUM...
I am not in waiting for anything from that side. I do something else. For example, yesterday's meeting with Dave Stewart could go very far, like no part...the only thing that I precede, they are my desires. I march to the desire, to the sincerity, not to ambition. And if my desires provoke the ambition of others, so much the better. But me I don't want to function anymore like that: I have had a lot of pain, I've been very disappointed. They (Note: Sony) had invested 1.5 million dollars on my album, and they 'dropped' it. They scarcely released it, on two or three markets, and then they let it fall. While there are artists who burst from hunger! It is for that that I went to see them so that they surrender to me my contract.
HAVE YOU DIGESTED THIS DECEPTION?
Yes...
FOR YOUR NEXT ENGLISH ALBUM, HAVE YOU THE DESIRE TO COLLABORATE WITH SOME OLD ACCOMPLICES LIKE WALTER AFANASIEFF?
I am not a girl of the past. I am no more the same than the time. I've just written a song with Glenn Ballard (Note: big American producer for Alanis Morrissette, Aerosmith, Michael Jackson...) and will make it part of my next multi-language project.
AND YOUR LIFE AS A WOMAN?
It goes very well, thanks! (laughs)
AND THE BABY THAT YOU WANTED BEFORE 35 YEARS?
And well that will be before 40 now! I have three years remaining...(claps of laughter)
While Live, very very private...
(Interview by JPP and Jean-Marc D'Angio)
Lara Fabian
Lara Fabian returns this Autumn with a 4th Live, this one of her album "9", which, whatever one says of it, is a double gold disc in France alone. Released as a version audio, video and even a collector's box, this new Live hides behind a previously unrecorded studio song "Aime", while the singer prepares herself to record in Italian, Spanish and English. Meanwhile, she took the time to respond, for the 8th time, to all of Platine's most indiscreet questions on her career as well as her life as a woman...
THIS LIVE ALBUM IS FULL OF YOUR LAST TOUR, WHICH BEGAN AT THE OLYMPIA AND ENDED AT THE ZENITH A YEAR LATER...
Yes, even if in the middle, we made a summer tour with a different formula, without a chorus, with an extra electric guitar. But the CD/DVD is the reflection of the 50 dates that we made in the Zeniths of France before the summer.
THERE ARE SOME TITLES THAT YOU WOULD HAVE PLAYED ONLY ON CERTAIN EVENINGS, LIKE 'LA DIFFERENCE' BUT THAT DON'T APPEAR ON THIS LIVE ALBUM?
It's true. "La Difference", I sang it only on the summer tour. There is also "Angel".
ON THIS LIVE ALBUM ONE FINDS ALL THE SONGS OF YOUR LAST ALBUM "9" WITH TWO EXCEPTIONS: 'NE LUI PARLE PLUS D'ELLE' AND 'RIEN QU'UNE SEULE L'ARME". WHY HAVE YOU 'ZAPPED' THEM?
For 'Ne lui parle plus d'elle' I am bored a little, in fact, strangely. As for 'Rien qu'une seule l'arme', I wanted to do it with a guitar, but Jean-Felix Lalanne and I had decided to not be on stage together and I didn't want to do it with another guitarist.
FOR EACH NEW ALBUM, YOU PLAY IT QUASI-FULLY ON STAGE LIKE THIS TIME?
Yes. At the time of the album 'Nue', I performed on stage all the strong titles of this disc, plus all the hits from before. But the construction of the LIVE repertoire is truly a process which continuously evolves. To sing many of these new songs, it is also to take more risks. And with the passing of the years, I grow and I want to go towards my new songs, not just to rest on my assets. And then the songs of "9" had truly the path, scenically. Some titles like 'Si tu n'as pas d'amour', 'Les homericains' or 'L'homme qui n'avait pas de maison', I already saw them on stage as they were being recorded in the studio.
HAVE YOU HAD ANY NEGATIVE REACTIONS ON THE RE-ORCHESTRATION OF YOUR SUCCESSES, IKE THE SALSA VERSION OF 'TOUT'?
No, not me directly. But I am sure that there are some people who didn't like, as at each time. But on the whole, the commentaries of the fans in my book of gold were positive.
AMONG THE HITS WHICH YOU DIDN'T SING THIS TIME, THERE IS 'SI TU M'AIMES' WHICH UNTIL THEN HAD FIGURED ON ALL OF YOUR LIVE DISCS?
Yes, I didn't sing it, lack of place. But I nevertheless did it last June at the Place des Arts, in Montreal.
ONE THIS LIVE ALBUM, ONE FINDS ALSO SOME OLD SONGS, BUT WHICH HAVEN'T BEEN SUCCESSES, NOT EVEN HITS, LIKE 'SILENCE'...
Yes. Because this song has an incredible rhythmic energy, which passes into the room. And then we have made a new arrangement of it that I find brilliant, inspired by the English version of the album 'A Wonderful Life'.
YOU REDID ALSO 'BROKEN VOW' A SONG OF YOUR FIRST AMERICAN ALBUM, WHICH HAS SINCE BEEN REPRISED BY JOSH GROBAN, WHO IS IN THE ACT OF BECOMING ONE OF THE BIGGEST SELLERS OF RECORDS IN THE WORLD. IS IT BECAUSE OF THIS THAT YOU DID IT?
No, because Josh Groban is little known in France, even if he is a star in the USA. It is just because it is, with also 'Pas sans toi', my favorite song in all my career.
IN THE PAST, YOU HAVE ALREADY REPRISED LAMA, AZNAVOUR OR RENAULD ON YOUR LIVE ALBUMS, BUT THIS TIME THEY ARE EXCLUSIVELY SOME REPRISES IN ENGLISH, WITH A MEDLEY FROM 'YENTL' OF BARBRA STREISAND.
It makes ten years that I want to sing 'Yentl' and that everyone told me that in France that will not interest anyone. I did it nevertheless, and I was not mistaken, to such a point that this medley of 'Papa Can You Hear Me' and 'A Piece of Sky' is going to be released as a single in Germany, in Flanders, and in the Netherlands. All the more since 'Yentl', which is a film, and not a musical comedy, is 20 years old.
CERTAIN TITLES WHICH APPEAR ON THE DVD ARE NOT ON THE CD. HOW DO YOU CHOOSE THE SONGS WHICH DON'T APPEAR ON THE AUDIO VERSION?
I listen and I watch the whole concert, and certain titles sound very well, but are less interesting on screen. They are those that I chose to not put on the disc. They are those more for the DVD. And then, there is a collector's box, with the two, CD and DVD, plus some bonuses, some karaoke versions and a duo with an Italian singer, Gigi d'Alessio. We have just besides recorded another, 'Cuore Malato', which is going to be released on his next album and on mine, since I prepare an album in Italian for the spring of 2007.
WITH CELSO VALLI, THE PRODUCER OF RAMAZOTTI AND BOCELLI?
Nothing is less certain, for he is someone very difficult to trap. He is nevertheless the one who approached me initially.
YOU ALREADY HAVE SOME SONGS FOR THE ITALIAN PROJECT?
Yes, not bad. There are some songs of other well-known Italian composers, and then some songs that I composed or wrote myself, for in Italian the melodies come to me very easily. It is truly a new experience which freshens me, it goes very well.
ARE YOU KNOWN IN ITALY?
They knew me with a single song, 'Adagio'. Therefore I am known for it, without being known, as a voice with classical tendency. Whereas I'm not a classical singer.
ARE YOU, LIKE FOR YOUR LAST ENGLISH ALBUM, GOING TO ADOPT CERTAIN OF YOUR FRENCH SONGS IN ITALIAN?
No, I have no desire to turn myself toward the past.
EVEN NOT - UNA AVE MARIA?
It is funny that you cite this one, for this one, I truly thought of it. I am going to try, but this is even so very French-medieval-like melody. And then I'm going also to try for 'Il ne manquait que toi' for the Italians adored this song. It is necessary to believe that I have this deep Italian gene, since it is me who composed this title all alone.
OUTSIDE OF THIS ITALIAN DUO, AMONG THE BONUS DVD THERE IS A 45 MINUTE DOCUMENTARY BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE TOUR. IT IS THE FIRST TIME WHERE YOU LET YOURSELF BE FILMED WITH SOME HANDKERCHIEFS IN YOUR NOSE?
(Laughs). Yes. That's certainly me, that! 'Neuf' marked a total turn for me, a table razed of the past, some teams with whom I worked. And since I live, I breathe, I work differently. I want that my music be in accordance with my evolution as an individual and inversely.
ON THIS 'LIVE' YOU HAVE ADDED AN UNRECORDED STUDIO TITLE 'AIME'...
Yes, it is a song which was born during the tour, in February 2006. The melody came to me in an airplane, I finished it with my pianist, Jeremy Jouniaux, then I wrote the text without stopping, without lifting the pencil, there still in the airplane. I have also recorded it in English, under the title 'Love'. I have moreover plenty of other melodies that I composed during the tour and which will be on the Italian album.
JEREMY HAD ALREADY CO-WRITTEN WITH YOU 'JE ME SOUVIENS' - WHAT IS HIS LEVEL OF INTERVENTION BY RELATION TO YOUR PREVIOUS MUSICAL ACCOMPLICES, RICK ALLISON AND JEAN-FELIX LALANNE?
That depends. Jeremy intervenes often in a second time for the harmony, the chords which go with the melodies that I find all alone, and that I record on a dictaphone.
WHERE ARE YOU IN YOUR DESIRE OF SINGING SOME LYRIC ON STAGE, WITH SOME ARIAS LIKE THAT OF 'LA CASTA DIVA'.
I wanted to do it for the last show, but I abandoned the idea. I was scared stiff of not being at the level, for the show was already long and very heavy vocally.
WILL YOU HAVE A CLIP FOR 'AIME'?
Yes, I shot it here, even, in 35 mm, in this hotel a week ago. It will be a mélange with some images of Live. It is very moving.
WHO REALIZED IT?
It is Gerard (note: Pullicino, her companion).
ON THE LAST ALBUM, 'IL NE MANQUAIT QUE TOI' HAD TWO CLIPS. WHY?
For the song had like a second life, and inspired in Gerard a new idea. That had already been the case for 'Ne lui parle d'elle', but there it was the initiative of the Record company, for the initial clip, like that of 'Il ne manquait que toi', was done as part of the 7 or 8 that I had shot with a Belgian director in a very realistic world, Mark Hollogne, and which we had put as a bonus on the album '9'. They weren't made necessarily to be broadcast on TV.
WE LOSE OURSELVES A LITTLE IN ALL THE SINGLES OF '9' FOR CERTAINLY THEY WERE ZAPPED VERY RAPIDLY?
Yes, I practically made the impasse on 'Ne lui parle d'elle' the second single, which was released in the summer, with a bad timing.
AND ALSO THE FOURTH, 'IL NE MANQUAIT QUE TOI'?
There it is because NRJ couldn't resist the side rhythm of 'L'homme qui n'avait pas de maison' and wanted to play it, therefore we 'switched' very fast. Yet NRJ, which until then had broadcast only 'La Lettre', is not a radio station that supports me systematically.
EXACTLY WHAT DO YOU THINK ARE SOME OF THE ACTUAL DIFFICULTIES OF THE FEMALE SINGERS SAID TO BE 'OF VOICE' : ISABELLE BOULAY, NATASHA ST. PIER, HELENE SAGARA, OR YOURSELF. YOUR RECORD SALES AREN'T AS GREAT AS THEY WERE...
It is sure that I will never again sell 2.8 million copies of an album, as in the past. It is necessary to be lucid. I have sold 12 million records in my career, I have had much luck, but the world changes. People still listen as much to music, but consuming it in an entirely different way. It would be time that all the big party bosses of the recording companies, all these 'fifty-somethings', open their eyes and tell themselves that it is necessary from now on to sell the music differently. It is necessary also that the artists wake up and lift themselves up, so that one has true legislation against pirating and illegal downloading. There are too many artists who keep silent, or worse, are 'false cooks' and say that they find everything goes well. It is necessary to stop!
IN THIS CONTEXT, HOW DO YOU ASSESS THE SALES OF THE ALBUM '9'?
I am a member of the privileged because people come to see me in concert, which then sells for me some albums. There's nothing to be done, I am a seller of tickets: on this tour, I made 80 dates, with a mean of 3000-6000 spectators per evening. For the current times, this is extraordinary. And '9' it has even so sold 400,000 copies. Then certainly, it isn't the million that I've done in the past, but it remains close to the sales of my preceding record, 'En Toute Intimite', which sold 480,000 sales. It is honorable. And I remain, I last! In the end, seeing the actual record market, I've done well with '9', especially with all the musical and artistic turns that I made with this disc. And I continue to work a lot in the whole world: with the Turks, Russians, Italians, Americans, I do concerts all the time.
YOU ARE MOREOVER YOUR OWN PRODUCER ON STAGE, HOW DID THAT GO?
Very well. It was difficult in the beginning, for it is very tough to produce oneself one's shows and one's tours, but from now on, the organization is well broken in, and I am surrounded by a terrific team. Certain people did not endear themselves to me at the beginning of the tour, but finally it passed well. And then for certain countries like Russia or Turkey, I have an acoustic formula in piano voice, or piano voice violin-cello, for some rooms of 2000 places. Everywhere else I always leave with five musicians minimum.
HAVE YOU HEARD THE ROCK VERSION OF 'JE T'AIME' BY MADAME KAY?
Of course, and I adored it. I even ratified their version for I am publisher of this song, and they needed my authorization to be able to remake it. There is also a version 'zouk' by another group.
WHERE ARE YOU ON THE SONG OF KATE RYAN 'THROUGH THE EYES' WHICH RESEMBLES VERY CLOSELY YOUR SONG 'GIVING UP ON YOU'?
It is moreover you who have put the 'flea in the ear' during one interview. It is a case of plagiarism pure and simple, it is some theft, and the judicial steps are underway.
WHAT DO YOU HAVE - ON THE FIRE - AMONG THE THE SONGS THAT YOU WRITE FOR SOME OTHER ARTISTS? YOU WERE IN PARTICULAR TO WRITE AND MAKE A DUO WITH ROLAND KARL...
Unhappily, that hasn't gone well, but not at all because of the man and it is a pity, I am very sad about it. I haven't had the time to produce it and to occupy myself with it, but I much wanted to be a partner of the duo for him. But in the end I became a sort of 'bargaining chip' for to find him a 'deal' in a record company, when he didn't have a contract. But I was super honest with Roland, because he is brilliant, that I adore him and he has nothing to do with this problem (Note: finalist of the 'Nouvelle Star' - season 3, Roland has been signed by Antoine Angelelli, artistic director of Orlando Productions). I hope that in the future, near or far, I could nevertheless do something with this kid, because he has a crazy talent.
HAVE YOU OTHER PROJECTS WHERE YOU WOULD BE SIMPLY AUTHOR-COMPOSER FOR AMEL BENT FOR EXAMPLE AS YOU HAVE EXPRESSED THE DESIRE...
It is difficult....One can propose some things which are not inevitably suitable, that I can understand.
AND FOR CHIMENE BADI, YOU HAD WRITTEN A SONG FOR HER LAST ALBUM BUT FOR THE NEW ONE...
I didn't even try.
HAVE YOU ANYTHING NEW FOR MYRIAM ABEL, FOR WHOM YOU WROTE THE FIRST HIT, 'DONNE'?
Not any, even if I did cross paths with her on television stages...It is a pity, but it doesn't matter.
WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE ALBUM OF MAGALI VAE, PRODUCED BY RICK ALLISON?
I have heard some cuts, diagonally [i.e., in passing].
YOU HAVE NOTHING ELSE TO SAY OF IT?
(Silence)
HAVE YOU SEEN ZOE ON STAGE?
A very long time ago. And it was extra. I've always thought that she is a fabulous artist.
SINCE THREE YEARS AGO, YOU RETURNED TO LIVE IN EUROPE, IN BELGIUM. QUEBEC, DO YOU MISS IT?
Yes. That which I miss is the light down there, and the extraordinary kindness of the people. The look of others doesn't judge you, it is another world. And they are very respectful of the private life of well-known people. But I have found again for myself a 'pied-à-terre' , and I am going to return and live there partially starting next April.
ALL YOUR ALBUMS ARE RELEASED DOWN THERE?
Yes, even if the choice of singles is different. Down there, inevitably, it is 'Je me souviens' which functioned well.
ON TOP OF THE ITALIAN ALBUM, ARE YOU GOING TO GO TO THE END OF THE PROJECT OF THE ALBUM IN MANY LANGUAGES?
Yes, it will be the continuation of the album in Italian: Italian, Spanish, English, indeed Portugeuse, on the same disc. And it will be only new songs. Zero return to the past...
IN THIS CONNECTION, IT SEEMS THAT YOU'VE JUST WRITTEN A SONG WITH DAVE STEWART OF EURYTHMICS?
Yes, yesterday evening! It was an extraordinary moment, and the song is very beautiful in addition. It is called 'Between Hatred and Love'. The writing session lasted 17 minutes exactly (she sings). It is between R&B and folk. We had already spent some time together in New York, we had very nearly written together for my second English album, we have the same manager in the United States.
WHAT'S HAPPENING EXACTLY FOR YOU IN THE ANGLO-SAXON MARKET? ONE KNOWS THAT YOU LEFT SONY AFTER THE FAILURE OF THE SECOND ENGLISH ALBUM...
I am not in waiting for anything from that side. I do something else. For example, yesterday's meeting with Dave Stewart could go very far, like no part...the only thing that I precede, they are my desires. I march to the desire, to the sincerity, not to ambition. And if my desires provoke the ambition of others, so much the better. But me I don't want to function anymore like that: I have had a lot of pain, I've been very disappointed. They (Note: Sony) had invested 1.5 million dollars on my album, and they 'dropped' it. They scarcely released it, on two or three markets, and then they let it fall. While there are artists who burst from hunger! It is for that that I went to see them so that they surrender to me my contract.
HAVE YOU DIGESTED THIS DECEPTION?
Yes...
FOR YOUR NEXT ENGLISH ALBUM, HAVE YOU THE DESIRE TO COLLABORATE WITH SOME OLD ACCOMPLICES LIKE WALTER AFANASIEFF?
I am not a girl of the past. I am no more the same than the time. I've just written a song with Glenn Ballard (Note: big American producer for Alanis Morrissette, Aerosmith, Michael Jackson...) and will make it part of my next multi-language project.
AND YOUR LIFE AS A WOMAN?
It goes very well, thanks! (laughs)
AND THE BABY THAT YOU WANTED BEFORE 35 YEARS?
And well that will be before 40 now! I have three years remaining...(claps of laughter)
