Daniel
Lavoie in English!
by F.
Durepos Jr.
A
splendid day. What could be better than to come and talk with Daniel Lavoie
about “Cravings”, his first
LP in English, which will be available on the Sefel Records label.
It’s
been a long time coming, “Cravings”,
it was begun at the time of “Nirvana Bleu”,
that explains the fact that two teams were necessary for its production, that of
“Nirvana Bleu” and those
musicians who took part in the shows.
“The
English disc is in the same mould as “Nirvana
Blue”. I think it will go a long way because it’s very deep. The
theme of coming up against a brick wall, is obvious, it’s an awareness that
life delivers less than it appears to promise.” said Daniel. On the
question of the dividing line between the French and the English languages, he
finds there an obvious challenge. “I had to ignore French completely and it
took almost a year to find my own personality in English. I hadn’t thought
that I was schizophrenic or that there was a gap between the two languages but,
when I listened to myself in English, it wasn’t convincing, it didn’t work
and I needed to immerse myself in English completely in order to succeed.” he
maintained.
All
the same, there are variations between the English items in the show and those
on the disc that one can notice according to the information given by the singer.
“In the show, the English songs are endowed with
a “comic relief”, whereas those which you will find on the LP re meant to be
more thoughtful, they are definitely not funny. On the disc these appear to be
in a very serious style. One could say it’s sad to laugh at it!”
As
for the “sound” which he has, Daniel Lavoie considers that nothing needs
changing and that’s even in spite of his success in Europe. “I
believe that my sound has developed over the years and with experience but
it’s not a conscious choice to specify a sound for one thing in particular.”
For
Daniel, performing in a big theatre or in a little club seems a bit like varying
the menu. “You know there are days when you prefer to
eat a hot-dog and others when you opt for a good steak, I’ve done really good
shows in clubs where I’ve banged my head on the ceiling when I stood up. Too
much of one or the other leads to routine and I don’t want that to happen.”
As for his projects, nothing will be ready before the Autumn. He wants to go on tour in Ontario, a month in Europe and a tour in Québec. Daniel is already working on his next French LP. Success must be in order again when one considers the amount of effort he puts into his work.
Copyright © [
Daniel Lavoie: official website]