Marie-Mai

The young tattooed woman always had the gift of music which probably comes from her father who was a musician himself.  “I wrote my first song when I was 6 years old.  I didn’t know I wanted to be a singer, hell I didn’t even know what a singer was.  I barely knew how to write.  The music was in me.  I remembered being soooo mad and going to the piano and just banging on it.  When I was happy, I sat down and played some lullabies and stuff.  I always used music as a way of expression.  I remember being in sixth grade and not listening to the teacher at all; dreaming about being on stage and me singing and dancing.  It’s always been a part of me and I don’t think I could have done anything else really!”  She isn’t just a singer; she is an amazing songwriter too.  I had heard her say that she writes French songs in English first and then translates them.  I asked her if she still works that way today:  “Lately I’ve been trying to write songs in French first just because it’s a good work.  It’s always harder to write songs in French because there are so many words; Poetry is… I want to say deeper than English; we have a lot of choices for words in French.  As in English, everything comes more naturally to me.  I grew up in French and English, my dad’s English, so it’s always been easier for me.  To be able to sit down and write a song in French is actually a lot harder for me.”

If her name or her face seems familiar to you, it’s probably because you saw her at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic closing ceremony along with three billion other people.  She had the chance to perform her single: “Emmène-moi” (Bring Me).  Did this help her pursuing her career in English?  “I don’t know I certainly hope so.  I’ve had so many comments from people all over the world.  I’ve had people from Brazil, Europe, Japan and China.  It was one of the greatest performances I’ve ever done.  Not technically because I was so nervous but as visibility, I hope it will help me.”  To be able to receive international feedback like she did is largely owed to our good old friend, the World Wide Web.  It’s a big part of the relationship between an artist and its audience.  Some artists are really present on the internet, some aren’t.  “I could spend many hours a day to communicate with them.  Sometimes I’m on tour and I write them on the road and I think that every artist should do the same.  Basically, the people who follow you on Twitter or follow you on Facebook or your website, they are the ones buying your record, they are the ones buying their tickets to your concert.  The least you can do is giving them attention.  The least you can do is taking five minutes of your day and say Hi.” Marie-Mai confessed that she is a big internet user.  She can go on Facebook every five minutes or so and that’s why she hasn’t given in to Twitter yet.  “I tried to stay out of it for the longest time but I think I’ll do it.  But it’s so important.  I think it’s the best way to communicate with your fans.  Like a couple of years back, you didn’t have that.  To be able to communicate with artists you had to be part of a fan club or you had to go through so many things.  It wasn’t as personal; it wasn’t as close as it is now. Basically it’s magic. I wished I had this opportunity when I was younger to communicate with my idol so it’s definitely something I love to do.”  Speaking of idols, I then asked Marie-Mai which one inspired her the most and she immediately answered, Gwen Stefani:  “She hasn’t done much in the past years so we gotta do something. I would also love to work with Chantal Kreviazuk. She is an amazing songwriter. She’s really talented.” She also told me about who she would dream to work with.