Lynda Lemay and her “larger than life project” – RFI Musique

On 11/11/2020, Quebec singer Lynda Lemay went on tour. once upon a time. A titanic project consisting of producing 11 albums in 1111 days. Passing through Paris, we caught up with him to talk about this extraordinary project on the occasion of the release of disc 6. There is only one step.

RFI Musique: You haven’t been heard much since your 60th concert at Olympia in 2016. What have you been doing during this time?

Lynda Lemay: It was a dark time in my life, I had a lot to deal with in my head, family and personal life. I needed this break to find myself and do some kind of work.”reset it“. But I wasted no time, I can’t help but create, and it resulted in this larger-than-life project: once upon a time.

How did this project come about and why the repetition of the number 11?

I lost my “strongest father” in 2017. You know the song The strongest is my father, You understand how difficult it is for me to pass this exam! His death made me realize that life can change overnight and maybe I won’t be able to sing like this for the rest of my life… I wanted to feel free, to have space, I was very inspired. I’m turning 56 and I’m very talkative. Very stimulating! I was in a small cafe near my little daughter’s school, my father had passed away not long ago, I promised him that I would do something really big… The day I had this idea, the phone rang at 11:11 and I said, “I have a dream,” and it was like a vision. I accepted and had no doubts.

There is only one step often resort to violence, Between fire and soot, the next one will talk a lot about love. Do you progress thematically on these albums?

I started building this project about 1111 days before releasing the first of 11 albums and now I have 1111 days to release 11 albums. In the beginning, it was in 11 themes, I wanted to make an album according to the theme, but I changed it so that it wouldn’t be boring. In this thread I will cover difficult topics such as bereavement and the end of life, but also humor, e.g. cap head, completely inappropriate, but very funny (he sings about a motorist threatening to run over a cyclist, editor’s note.) And lightness is needed.

And repetition, My Drama, addresses the issue of gender. Why cover it with a different person on each of the eleven discs, in a new version?

It often occurs to me to prepare several pieces of music on the same text in order to be able to choose the most effective music. I found it interesting to present it to my followers. As for mixing my voice with male voices, it fits well with the character’s inner struggle in the song. The transition has been so silent that even if I mention it eleven times in my project, it will never be too many!

Charles Aznavour was the first to read it in France As they say. You dedicate it to him Eternal Traffic Jam. How did this melancholic song come about?

I wrote this in a flood of emotions. The last time I met him was after one of his shows in Quebec and he asked me what I thought of one of his last songs that he hadn’t played on stage before. As a little boy of 16 he said:Hey, what did you think?“. And suddenly, I think, he realized that his first friends from Quebec, to whom he would ask this question, his bearings, were no longer alive. I saw tears flowing… He left in the car and that was it. The last time I saw him… Moreover, from the beginning of my career, I felt myself to old age, to this time where I hope to know that old age is a privilege.

This new album has many collaborations. Sanseverino, but also actresses like Ingrid Falaise, the humorist Jean-Francois Mercier or even the feminist journalist Janette Bertrand. Why such guests?

I wanted to open it up to others for this project. It offers me a lot of space and freedom, and I’m surprised people say yes. Sanseverino puts a little bit of her craziness in there, and there are people like Janette Bertrand that I admire immensely. She is an exceptional woman. He agreed to offer me two texts, which is a great gift. Michelle Jean reads an excerpt from her bestselling book kukum and three great singers from our region accompany me Jewelry who talks about female circumcision. It is very important that they express themselves in this matter.

Will you be listening to these 11 albums on 1111 dates?

Tour Life is a fool’s tale I started in 2021 and I intend to continue it until the end of 2023, the 1111th day of the project. We will celebrate it in December 2023 at the Olympia with my 63rd performance in this room, which is absolutely crazy!

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