After the release of the albums Intertwine and Billy Ave. in the midst of a pandemic, Alicia Moffet will finally be able to defend on stage her pop tied up with powerful soul accents. The summer of the 23-year-old singer-songwriter is more musical than ever; she is already working on new material, in French to boot! Maintenance.
Posted at 7:00 a.m.
Q. How happy are you to finally be able to present your songs on stage?
A. Right now, I’m working on the script for the show, I’m really into it! I was just about to write how happy I am. I never had the chance to present my own show, it’s special to finally taste that, because it’s so not the same thing to do your own show.
Q. Your Montréal en lumière show, which was supposed to take place last February, has been postponed to June 30, as part of the International Jazz Festival (FIJM). How do you feel ? Does it add to the pressure of playing at the FIJM? It’s not trivial though…
A. Life is good basically, because I was so stressed that the show was running at half capacity last winter. I’m just happy to play at the Jazz Festival, and it gave me several more months to prepare. It’s a festival that has a lot of recognition, and I play during the opening night, just that, it’s completely crazy. But I try not to think about it too much, just the fact that it’s my first MTelus is stressful!
Q. You are an example of an artist who managed his career in an exemplary way. How did you choose your musicians, and how did the rehearsals go?
A. We have barely started rehearsals, in fact. But I chose my band myself, the same way I run my business myself. But it wasn’t too difficult, I chose people I’ve played with in the past, it’s important for me to have a connection with them. Honestly, it would be an extra stress to play with musicians I don’t know. Pianist Gabriel Thibault and bassist Maxime Lévesque are even friends with whom I went to high school in Vaudreuil!
PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Alicia Moffet
Q. Is the balance between family and music more difficult as the summer tour approaches?
A. I am in the process of relearning how to manage my work-family balance, because I have just separated. So I don’t think it shakes me that much to do shows, I’m going to go with the flow. But I also made the choice not to do too many shows. I’m still picky. We have a strategy: this year, we are concentrating on festivals, we are going to open theaters at the beginning of next year and do festivals that we will not have the chance to do the following summer.
Q. You seem less active on social networks, which you have been able to use with formidable efficiency. Does music force you to devote less time to networks?
A. I changed my relationship with social networks, I changed my approach, I talk less about everything that happens in my life. It came by choice, but also a bit naturally, certainly partly because I’m more focused on my musical career. Also, my fans have aged with me; I am thought to attract teenage girls aged 12-13, but I have more of an audience that is older between 18 and 35, because I am a mother, among other things. People understand that I display my life less than before.
Q. So you work really hard on your music. Do you have other songs in the works, precisely?
A. I am writing all the time! I am also a little influenced by French music these days. Artists like Stromae and Emma Peters made me rediscover French song. So it’s in my plans to make songs in French.
Q. Do you plan to play any live this summer?
A. It all depends if the songs are finished in time… You never know!
Alicia Moffet will be performing in Quebec City at the Imperial Bell (June 22), in Montreal at the MTelus (June 30), in Trois-Rivières at the FestiVoix (July 7) and in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu at the International des hot air balloons (August 20).