With his third album in four years, P’tit Belliveau asserts himself as the most authentically singular of artists. And it proves that even living 1000 kilometers from Montreal, you can successfully pursue your career independently.
For the Montreal promotion of this homonymous album, the Acadian singer-songwriter, who lives in Baie Sainte-Marie in Nova Scotia, arranged to meet us in a bowling alley. The place is noisy and unusual enough for us to immediately ask the question that torments us: but what’s the deal with the frogs? Not only is this the illustration on the cover, but three of the pieces also have the word “frog” in their title – The Frog Swamp, The Secret Life of Frog, The Frog War.
“There’s nothing deep, we’re really having fun!” “, answers Jonah Richard Guimond, aka P’tit Belliveau, who we discovered as a finalist at the Francouvertes in 2019. “I like frogs, I find them cute. People have told me about French frogs, but I never thought of that! I don’t think about anything. »
So it’s not a metaphor for the world either? ” Never ! There is no second or third degree. ” He smiles. “There is almost no first degree! »
Extract of The Secret Life of Frogby P’tit Belliveau
The Little Belliveau style
That’s the P’tit Belliveau style, which is the type to title his first album Greatest Hits Vol. 1, and whose song Income Tax became the most improbable of successes. He sums up “the only degree” he knows like this: “Be happy, we’ll be good, and we won’t worry any more than that. » This is his philosophy in his shows, in his albums, in his profession that he takes no less seriously.
I take my job seriously, like before when it was my job to build houses. That doesn’t mean there isn’t art in it. Of course I am an artist!
Little Belliveau
But P’tit Belliveau looks at his job with pragmatism, and he believes that his job is first and foremost to offer a service: to allow the public to escape for an evening. “I do it to the best of my ability,” says the singer, who lives very well with the idea of being taken for a clown.
” I do not care. My fans, who understand my proposal well, they know that it’s the whole range. » Indeed, there is something more serious and more “emotional” in his songs, the objective of which remains “to paint the most honest portrait possible of life in La Baie”, he explains.
Extract of Maybe he has tequila in his brainby P’tit Belliveau
In addition to his rock opera of frogs, P’tit Belliveau goes here as much as a sweet homage to his grandfather (The Church of St-Bernard) than a funny story of a slip in the South (Maybe he has tequila in his brain), through his usual calls to enjoy life with simplicity (Feel good).
But while his other two albums were more about country-bluegrass, which he skillfully mixed with electronic music, this one is more fragmented. P’tit Belliveau walks between punk-rock and metal, country and rap.
Extract of Feel goodby P’tit Belliveau
“It looks like a Spotify playlist. Mine are like this: there’s a metal song where you don’t understand what the guy is saying, then some Talyor Swift. This album is more of a collection of singles. » People will then listen to their favorites according to their tastes… as they already do anyway!
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
Little Belliveau
People like to say they like albums. But in reality, 5% of people listen to entire albums! I know how many vinyls I sell per evening… I sell eight times as many t-shirts.
Little Belliveau
Autonomy
Since his beginnings, P’tit Belliveau has been making his albums almost alone, at home in his studio. After the publication ofA man and his pianohis second album released in 2022, he took a further step towards autonomy by leaving the Bonsound label to perform independently.
“It’s not to take away their work, they helped me in the past,” he analyzes. But we overestimate how essential this aspect is. The music industry now is 80% about doing shows. There’s nothing about it that has to do with a record label. »
His team is reduced to a minimum, and he has kept the tasks he loves, such as that of entertainment agent. “I’ve been my own booker for a year and a half. » He likes to discuss, negotiate, and above all he can plan exactly the tour he wants, with time to return home. Still, it’s impressive that he manages to manage all of this without moving to Quebec or Montreal.
“We’re going to play the biggest shows of our lives next summer, we’re going to continue to grow… I don’t understand why I would need to move. It’s true that I sometimes have to turn down opportunities, but if I sell tickets, I transport people for an hour and a half, the rest is details. »
When we point out to him that with an album every two years, he is rather productive, P’tit Belliveau is surprised. “What is it normally? » Often three, four years… “But what do the others do during that time? » He composes music all the time, would like to do a little more directing, is proud of his career which is a mixture of luck and work… and he intends for it to continue. “The other options I have are to break my back and sacrifice my body,” the former construction worker said.
“Yes, there are moments in music that are difficult. But compared to my life before, it’s nothing. It’s the difference between here’s 100,000 dollars, and getting punched in the face. It’s not even comparable. »
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Little Belliveau
Little Belliveau
Independent