Pierre Lapointe | Death is always chic at the columbarium

On May 4, 2004, Pierre Lapointe released his first record. The columbarium, Standing on my head, Like one man, this gifted man has struck down the musical world with some serious ammunition. Twenty years after this launch into orbit, he agrees to go back in time with our columnist and to speak with disarming frankness.

Mario Girard: Before talking about the creation of this record, I will take you back to October 18, 2000 when you won honors in the Tout nouveau, tout show competition, in Outaouais. The next day, I received you on my show and the newspaper The right had titled “A barefoot singer rewarded”.

Pierre Lapointe: Just before, I did the local Cégeps en spectacle stage. I was studying theater at Cégep de Saint-Hyacinthe and my teachers kicked me out, telling me not to waste my time and to go sing. So I returned to my parents in Gatineau to do a DEC in visual arts. That’s where I did this competition.

M. G.: I remember listening to the model that you had submitted for registration. You were 19 and I was on my ass at such maturity. Who is the Pierre Lapointe of this period?

PL: I had taken piano lessons and I was very bad. I’m dyslexic and I couldn’t read music. At 13, my teacher made me work on a Gymnopedia by Satie. I did this on the exam and got 98%. She explained to the other teachers that I learned one piece per year and that it was perfect.

M. G.: Were you good at school?

PL: No! But because I expressed myself well, I was able to move forward. When Everything New, Every Show arrives, I make the decision to use my weaknesses to make something of it.

M. G.: And it’s this competition that brings you to the Granby International Song Festival.

PL: Absolutely. And then it explodes. I went on tour with the other winners and Luc De Larochellière. I could see that the journalists were devoting half their article to what I was doing. Despite this, I was hesitant about pursuing a career in music. The director of Granby wanted to hit me when he heard that.

M. G.: Your admirers know: before launching your first record, there was a first self-titled record that they probably have at home.

PL: I put nine songs on this recording which I describe as a model. Then came Audiogram. Art director Denis Wolff had worked with artists I liked, including Bran Van 3000. He asked me to stop selling this model. I was matched with Jean Massicotte, who had worked with Yves Desrosiers on the Lhasa de Sela records.

M. G.: Apart The columbarium, Pointing north And Standing on my headall the songs are new, right?

PL: Indeed, several were born during the tour Little ugly songs. When this first record arrives, I already have three years of touring and five years of writing in my body. I was already pretty strong for a 23 year old guy.

M. G.: When you release this record, you stand apart. You stand out with your impeccable diction and your careful writing. My colleague Alexandre Vigneault, while really liking the record, wrote that it felt “old France”.

PL: I was happy to read that kind of thing, because I thought I wouldn’t be out of style.

M. G.: At that time, when journalists compare you to others, they refer to French artists, Vincent Delerm or Thomas Fersen.

PL: As I came from the theater, singing with a Quebec accent did not interest me. Looking back, I think it was a kind of manifesto. I was told so much that I didn’t belong that I really went elsewhere.

M. G.: The haughty and arrogant character that you created at this time comes from that?

PL: Yes, and he saved me. Social networks did not exist. As the good advertiser and director that I would have liked to be, I told myself that I had to come with a strong image. Even if they didn’t remember my name, they could describe me in a few words: the fake barefoot Frenchman!

M. G.: On this record, there is an isolated song called Mom and which occurs around twenty minutes after the other 12. It’s the only song that you perform with a Quebec accent.

PL: Dédé Fortin had just died and his departure unlocked that for me. I didn’t want to put it on the record. The artistic director really insisted that we put it on the record. We negotiated and I got it hidden.

M. G.: After the launch, the shows multiplied. You find yourself in a whirlwind. Are you experiencing this well?

PL: I was well surrounded by my two managers, Michel Séguin and Jocelyne Richer. But for the stage, it was something else. Before doing the shows, I was sick as a dog. I became skinny as a louse. I had fun in the dressing room, but once on stage, I was paralyzed. I managed to make a switch. The frenzied French persona faded away and I started to feel good.

M. G.: I am fascinated by the pain that certain artists inflict on themselves when going on stage.

PL: I always thought that the desire to go on stage was not a question of talent, but of injuries. To want to put yourself in this very humiliating situation, you have to have something inside you that forces you to do it. I’m a good example of that.

M. G.: In September 2005, the record found itself with 13 selections at the ADISQ gala. A record for a first record. How do you receive this?

PL: After the gala, I felt the backlash of the last four years where I had worked a lot. I found myself in burnout. No one noticed because I kept it a secret and continued to do my shows. I fell asleep everywhere, I cried… I was in total depression. I was no longer someone’s son or brother, I had become Pierre Lapointe who was arrested when he went to buy a croissant. Added to this were unpleasant or homophobic comments. It was both very powerful and very violent.

M. G.: Have you gone to therapy?

PL: Of course! I’ve been seeing psychologists since I was 14. That said, during this period, I experienced great things and beautiful love stories.

M. G.: I find that it’s a record that stands the test of time.

PL: I quite agree with you, except for two or three songs which, writing-wise, have aged poorly. I don’t want to say which ones, because if they are important to people, they won’t want to listen to them anymore.

M. G.: Which ones do you perform again?

PL: Like one man still follows me. The columbarium comes back from time to time.

M. G.: Is this the record that had the most impact on your audience?

PL: That one and The forest of the unloved. Everyone told me I wouldn’t like my first record. I love this record. He represents everything I was at that time. I had everything I dreamed of having to do it. I’m proud of it.