Around Stephen, the world was collapsing; his turner had let him go, due to a lack of concerts to schedule when the world stopped spinning during the pandemic, his manager had left him to go and recover from a burnout. “I said to myself: I have to save my project,” says the singer-songwriter, who found the inspiration and encouragement to present his second album, entitled Etienne Dufresne makes efforts, in the stubbornness of Paul McCartney, the choruses of Gwen Stefani, the advice of Paul Piché and the pats on the back of Alexandre Martel and Lou-Adriane Cassidy.
Born in Sherbrooke a little over thirty years ago, Etienne Dufresne was destined for a career in cinema, studying 3D animation in Quebec, then at Concordia University, until he grew tired of the industry. “A film project is five years of work, waiting for subsidies… By working in the world of music as a photographer and director, I made contacts. I understood, above all, that you can make an album all by yourself in your room. It goes faster than at the cinema. »
He started singing at the age of 28. He is a ” late bloomers ”, as he describes himself. Félix Petit, accomplice of Louanges and Hubert Lenoir, produced his first album, the charming Excalibur published in spring 2021, when COVID-19 was still wreaking havoc, particularly in the performing arts sector. Gone, the turner. Sick, the manager. Here he is all alone with his career project as a singer-songwriter. This is one of the main themes ofEtienne Dufresne makes efforts — not the pandemic, but the profession. The hopes it raises, even when the music industry is coughing in its own economic pandemic.
“I watched the documentary The Beatles: Get Back », a river film by Peter Jackson featuring the Liverpuldiens during the recording of their final album, Let It Be. “I was very inspired by Paul McCartney, who we see trying to save the Beatles. At the time I watched the film, my first album was near the end of its run year, the industry around me was collapsing. It was this documentary that motivated me to continue, that gave me [fait] also deciding that I needed to go back to something simpler. »
Rubbing shoulders with the “real ones”
The song at its simplest, made of acoustic guitar, rounded bass, a little drums, often electronic, always self-effacing. Simple as a song that justifies making it your job. “Me,” explains Etienne, “I have always composed music behind a computer. I composed beats and I sang over it. But when I saw “real” musicians — with the quotation marks — I saw people who sat down at the table with their guitar and who could sing their songs, there, on demand. » He saw them, these “real ones”, at the Petite-Vallée writing camp, led by the smuggler Paul Piché, “with his big open shirt” and his good advice.
“I saw them and I felt far from all that,” he continues. I felt like I hadn’t yet written songs that gave me that feeling. I looked into my history, I learned to make songs that I could also sing on the guitar, on my own. Working alongside musicians who had a lot of experience was really inspiring. I needed to learn how to carry out my project alone, without having to depend on directors and support people around me. This is where my new album acquired meaning, between Get Back and Petite-Vallée. »
On a groove lightly stirred by acoustic guitar chords, Etienne Dufresne sings: “ I make efforts, I work on myself / Even if I don’t like my body and I like my voice even less / I still hope that people talk about me / I take myself out of my comfort to sing ‘that I don’t say “. The title song which sums up the spirit of the album, introspective, self-critical, witness and actor of a singing environment which struggles in delicate conditions. Ten songs composed during “a year of becoming aware of what this profession is, what it represents to do it for real, and considering myself as a songwriter”.
“Writing things like that, for me, is what it takes to get over” this lack of self-confidence, he says. “Showing myself vulnerable in that moment gives me the strength to move forward. And often, songs begin with these ideas, but end on a hopeful note. Besides, often, when I finish writing the song, I have already gone elsewhere. » How much better he felt after cooking it all up with co-director Alexandre Martel and Lou-Adriane Cassidy, who sing backing vocals on the album.
“In the studio, I always had this phrase: “Ah, I don’t hate that, what we just did,” confides Etienne. Alex and Lou-Adriane told me: “Stop denigrating yourself!” […] At the start of my career, I almost apologized for being there. I couldn’t accept positive comments, I constantly said to myself: “Ah! I haven’t been doing this for a long time, I haven’t gotten far…” This album is me trying to get over this character trait. Because the song belongs to the one who sings it and who takes responsibility for singing it. This whole album is that: Etienne makes efforts to accept that that’s it, his job. I got there. »