“Nothing was really planned,” Ariane Moffatt is still surprised in the beautiful creative space on the third floor without an elevator that she occupies in Mile End. “I was not approached. Nothing, until after death. » Denial of “cold meat”, one would say in newspaper jargon. Cold meat is necro ready in advance. In case. The Pope has his own. The present pope, not “the pap, pap, pap-pi-douz” of Ferland’s song. It’s crazy, Ferland, he has good lines to quote about everything. The death ? He talks about it in every tone. But writing Ferland’s cold meat when you’re not Ferland? Statify our handsome Jean-Pierre before his time? “When we are dead, we are dead”, he already stated in 1971 on the very monumental album YELLOWIn The cat from the Café des artistes.
“Jean-Pierre died last Saturday April 27. It was only three weeks ago that I was contacted. » That is to say two weeks after death. Let’s do the math. It’s Tuesday, June 4 at Ariane’s for this interview. The tribute show will be presented at Place des Festivals on Tuesday, June 18. In total, exactly five weeks to put together a scaffolding of songs and arrangements with the most beautiful array of artists imaginable. “Marianne Gauthier, who is a friend, told me: “We [de chez Pamplemousse], we want to do something, the Francos want a tribute. The mission is to bring together the heirs of Ferland, artists of all generations. We thought of you as artistic director. Do you want to be the transmission belt?” I didn’t think about it. I just said yes. »
Say yes to sweet madness
Ariane Moffatt said yes as they say of course yes, oh yes, of course yes! Even if, life being life and his being damn full, nothing was going to be interrupted so that all his valiant moments were devoted to this ad hoc spectacle, with an insane schedule, launched in the middle of the “bus of the showbusiness » at “100 miles per hour on route 11” to end at Place des Festivals for hundreds of thousands of lovers of Jean-Pierre Ferland’s immortals. Not half crazy, girl. “My girlfriend went wow! Not without reason. When you measure what you have just embarked on, you feel dizzy. It’s quite a deal. Quite a privilege. Quite madness, yes! » She bursts out with her most joyfully panicked laugh. “I had other commitments. Here in the building, there is the Clip Station on the second floor, a music production school. They have a week of creative camp, and it’s this week, so I’m going to go three times. Yes, in absolute terms, I could cancel, but I would find it annoying. That’s not me, put everything aside, and then sort things out. »
His three children don’t stop being in the portrait either. Ariane laughs louder and louder. “There is the musical film Sisters-in-law which is coming out, so time for promotion. » Ariane plays a key role, there’s no way to cut it, the premium stamps are sticking to her. ” It is freaking, but that’s what I want. Everything, everything, everything at the same time, but done well, not haphazardly. Yes, there is the flat part, the fear of not being up to the task, of disappointing, of having taken too much on one’s shoulders, but when you turn this fear to the other side, you say to yourself, my god How galvanizing! That’s what living is all about. » Intensely. Seriously. The tone dropped an octave when she said “live”: Ariane Moffatt is as determined as she is valiant, as aware of the work to be done as of the happiness to be captured, shared, and spread.
The gathering gene
“Ferland, just with the songs, you have a show. And the rest of us, in Quebec, are like in the Netflix documentary behind the scenes of the creation and recording of We Are the World, we have the gene of gathering in our DNA. We’re pretty strong overall. The us. The taste of celebrating our song. When you work with your musical family, your Quebec of songs, and even more so the incredibly rich repertoire of Jean-Pierre Ferland, you find the energy, there is humanity in mass. »
The poster is not cheap. And the potential links between the participants, not far from infinity. Let’s name them, not in order, rather in the beautiful disorder of the list revealed the very morning of the interview at Ariane: Hubert Lenoir, Marie-Pierre Arthur, Thierry Larose, Ariane Roy, Lou-Adriane Cassidy, Karkwa, Adib Alkhalidey, Marie Denise Pelletier, Vincent Vallières, Martha Wainwright, Soleil Launière, Patrice Michaud. “You bring together sensitive artists who all have Ferland in their background, you give them the opportunity to create even more beauty with beauty, it’s sure to happen. »
Everyone has their own Ferland and Ferland for everyone
There are so many songs, so many possibilities, enough hooks to weave chemistry into a quilt. “That’s where the magic happens. There, in the show, there is Karkwa. That means there is Louis-Jean [Cormier] who can mingle with everyone. And there is Frank [Lafontaine] who will find his Marie-Pierre Arthur. A Martha Wainwright, we can certainly say that she has a very developed family spirit, and that she is not afraid of anything. She’s not going to stay in her corner! »
Ariane continues her momentum. “A Marie Denise Pelletier, who we always imagine solo, is a dangerous trippy, and she can sing everything, and she knew Jean-Pierre more than anyone, so she allows for lots of connections. That’s what a family is in Quebec popular song. We are all relatives. Even the youngest, even those who come from elsewhere. » But there are differences, the Ferland canon is not equally integrated by everyone. The artists boarded his “bus of the showbusiness » at different stops. “Vincent Vallières, for example, we can say that he knows his Ferland. He’ll tell you what he wants to sing, you don’t need to make suggestions to him. It is certain that he will have worked like a goldsmith on EVERYTHING he proposes. It’s going to be authentic, inhabited, it can’t be any other way. »
An artistic director and her Wurlitzer
Ariane will play with most of the guests, without being shy, but without imposing herself. If the artistic director will direct the comings and goings, if she already has a game plan as head coach of the Alouettes, she will not bring her good old Wurlitzer keyboard to make up the numbers. “We are going to have a very 1970s approach, very organic, zero programming, we want people to recognize the songs, a sound, a way. The idea is not to reinvent Ferland, it is to pay homage to him and his musicians from all eras, to his numerous composers, to the songs in their context of creation, while maintaining a beautiful flexibility. »
To pay homage, it should be noted, is to respect the work. It is not rebuilding the Motel Alfred, nor replant Macadam flowers, but it’s restoring flavors, smells, textures. “These are songs that live, and in Ferland’s very particular language, everything lives eternally in the present. ” An example ? The city. For a show in the heart of the festival district, that speaks volumes. Let us quote: “It filth and it stinks / It spreads / It eats people / It pollutes […] It’s gibberish / Seen from below / It’s a stomach / Seen from above / A skinny brain / It’s so ugly sometimes / That it becomes beautiful.” It resonates like a call. A beautiful breadcrumb trail. See you on the 18th.