Misteur Valaire : No Kidding

*Translation of an interview made in 2008*

Misteur Valaire : No Kidding

A few days only before the Montreal premiere of Friterday Night, the first album from the electro-jazz new sensation Misteur Valaire, I had a little chat with Luis, percussionist and dj for the colourful gang. Taking the task quite seriously, I tried to unravel the mysteries about these young explorers of the organic-eletro-dance sound.

How is the web album going on?
Really well, it came out in september, it's been two months, and we've reached and even past the 4000 downloads. If we were talking about record sales, these would be some incredible stats.

Is it effective to bring people to your shows?
I guess, at least I hope so. In Québec City and Sherbrooke, people responded quite well. Now it is our premiere in Montreal, people have to pay to see us in our new city. We'll see how it goes, but I have a good feeling. We had some very good come-backs so I think it's gonna work out.

Why is your show better than an other electronic music show?
It is an amalgam, electronic music, but with five live musicians who play real instruments. Drums, brass, bass guitar...Something is happening, you're not watching a guy behind a laptop for two hours. Our show is fun to watch, it makes you want to join the party. It remains in the dance style because of the strong electro sound, everyone in the band has an element of electronic. Also, we're talking here about our Montreal premiere, it is our first real show in Montreal, which means our team of projectionists. Our album director, Loïc Thériault will be there, he's been following us since the very beginning. He edited video projections while watching us composing. Team Panda does our lightning, they too have been with us from the start, so visually and musically, the show is very very tight. In fact, we are all a bunch of friends working together so the result should be awesome.

What does MV brings to electronic music, differently from other hype artists these days?
The research, the live instrumentation, which brings a dynamic side to the performance. We go from jazz to rock, we have a very large range in sonorities and musical moods.

If you don't mess with MV, what does MV do not mess with? What are you taking seriously?
There are a lot of things. We are really involved in the whole Nathalie Simard phenomenon. Other than that, we care about kids dealing with dyslexia. We are also trying to defend ourselves against Vincent Vallières, who stole our name. This is going to trial. That's about it, a lot of little things we care about in our everyday lives.

In the contrary, what are you kidding with?
Everything else. There are those little everyday dramas in our lives, I think pretty much anything is laughable.

Are you geeks or rockstars?
Ohh I'd say it depends who we're talking about. I'd say geeks. I think it's cool. It suits me, I don't want to speak for the others, but for myself, geek is a winner tag.

You have panties in your promo merchandise. Are the Misteur Valaire's panties selling well?
Yes, quite well! Selling well, very popular. I say congrats to MV's panties. Sold-able, wearable, you must try them. With precaution though, but with enthusiast and fiercely.

Finally, after the conquest of Montreal, what are your projects for the future?
The show's gonna be mainly based on the album, so we will keep on working things out until D-Day. Most probably composing new material to add to the show. After that we'll start booking for the summer, it is starting already, which is a good sign. I think we'll have a really busy Summer in Quebec, then we'll begin looking for Europe venues. Vue sur la Relève gives us a lot of contacts out there, we'll also send our booker to see what could be done. I might not be a whole tour, but who knows.

Original article link : http://bangbangblog.com/coup-de-coeur-francophone-misteur-valaire/

Le Kid @ Coup de Coeur ; a translation for Pitchfork folks

Mission Coup de Coeur Francophone ; Le Kid & Les Marinellis

Dear rock'n'roll fans,

I would like to introduce you to a new Montreal rock band who could really make you want to take the dust off your vinyls and time-travel in an old Chevy. He's 21 years old, sings from his nose, and when I met him he was wearing a turtleneck. That young fool's name is Cedric and he's the lead signer of the band Le Kid, aka Le Kid & Les Marinellis. Do not adjust your jukebox, the band's 60's psychedelic rock also formed by Etienne, Oli, Yan and Luc really takes place nowadays.

Formed in 2007, the band made it's first live performance at Café Campus for the celebrations of the 8^th anniversary of l'Escogriffe, hot spot for the whole Montreal rock scene. All members are friends who hang out there and wanted to start a music project together. When I ask him how does it feel to share the stage with Luc Brien, lead signer of the Breastfeeders, a very well known rock'n'roll band from Montreal, he says that far from being intimidating, having the stage expert next to him gives him confidence and makes him want to blow the public's mind even more. For having seen the results live myself, I can only say both performers have a great chemistry and burn the stage without ruining each others presence.

Le Kid has nothing in common with the several rock bands appearing these days, sounding pretty much all the same. The gang distinguish themselves by a well studied sound, very sixties like and definitely solid. Not only solid, but assumed, serious and determined, absolutely not a side-project. Cedric explains that he wants to push the band as far as possible. He wants to learn from the best and do the same, only faster! Since he's the main writer and composer of the band, it is important for him that every song is perfect before it is played live. According to him, a jam session is not (just) an occasion for hanging out and drink beer. When studio time comes, Le Kid wont be satisfied only with a 5 songs EP, they want to record a full album that should come out in Spring if everything goes well.

In the meantime, they will be performing on November 7^th for Coup de Coeur Francophone at l'Escogriffe. It will be like playing at home says Cedric, even though the show is produced by Coup de Coeur, the exposure of playing at l'Esco is not the most efficient one. Nevertheless, it will be an important date for both francophone and anglophone fans, because it seems that the enthusiast comes from both sides. Rocking in french and making the English speaking fans dance is a challenge that Le Kid et Les Marinellis win brilliantly. Check out their Myspace page to hear more at www.myspace.com/lekidmtl

http://bangbangblog.com/le-kid/