| Musical training : |
I’ve always been told I could
sing Michel Fugain’s “Comme un soleil” before I
could even utter my first complete sentence… I do consciously
remember rehearsing regularly with my father and uncle when I was
5 or 6. My father’s siblings (there was 11 of them) were all
singers and musicians and my brother brought some contemporary influences
in my life by teaching me how to play some guitar. I took piano lessons
for 3 years from the age of 10. My first experience with the drums
happened on a night when my brother was having a band rehearsal to
which the drummer failed to show. I was allowed to sit behind the
drums to give it a shot… And that was it. The very first song
I performed was Heart’s Mistral Wind followed by Led Zeppelin’s
Rock & Roll. I kept at it by myself until the age of 18 when
I decided to study classical percussions at a collegial level. Over
the course of my College I took up many musical ventures: drums,
classical and Latin percussions, big band, percussions ensemble,
harmony and vocal ensemble. I persist in my belief that the best
training I’ve
had was through performing with all the great musicians I’ve
encountered, especially Liva’s band members. |
| Hobbies : |
Listening to music, working on my house,
taking care of my vines. |
| Musical projects
apart
from Liva : |
Occasional DJ for a pub in Dunham and
I have a few other projects as a singer-guitarist for special events
(for example: performing background music for a group of three painters;
the goal is to create an ambiance while they paint to inspire their
work). |
| Job apart from Liva : |
On the road representative for music
distributors. |
| Musical influences : |
My sister and brother made me discover
Neil Peart (Rush) who has been one of my greatest influences as a
drummer. A little closer to our genre, I have a deep admiration for
Michel "Away" Langevin (Voivod / Les Ékorchés).
I also enjoy electro, World Beat and Country/Folk music. |
| Favourite bands,
musicians or composers : |
Peter Gabriel quickly became my music
idol. I also like Opeth, Dimmu Borgir, Sting, Boards of Canada...
This could be a long list... |
| The first album I've bought : |
Oh, boy! Do I really have to answer this?
Michael Jackson’s Thriller (in vinyl). |
| 5 favourite albums : |
Black Water Park (Opeth), Spritual
Black Dimension (Dimmu Borgir), Geogaddi (Boards of Canada), La
Kahena (DJ Cheb I Sabbah), Compter les
corps (Vulgaires Machins)... This
could also be a long list. |
| Favourite
songs from Liva : |
Terra superbit really blows my mind.
It’s a long but constant piece… sure to bring you into
a trance, which could also be said for many of our other pieces,
actually. |
| pre-show routine : |
A quick sound check, a meal with the
gang, a brief moment shared with the band members backstage, a group
hug, and see you after the show. |
| A venue where I would
love to perform : |
I could really see Liva performing at
Montreal’s Place des Arts, accompanied by the OSM (Montreal
Symphonic Orchestra)... |
| Worst nightmare
on stage : |
Our second show at Montreal’s Café Chaos.
I don’t remember the exact date and maybe I’d rather
not. The drummer from the opening act had borrowed my drums and was
literally knocking through the skins. The singer actually asked if
someone in the audience had a brick to hold the bass drum in place… There
were only 5 people attending, including 3 family members… Catherine’s
viola had been put on stage on its stand before our performance,
and got completely out of tune due to the heat coming from the spotlights.
We had to quit playing as soon as we hit the first few notes so Catherine
could tune her instrument… A show to forget! |
Most memorable concert
/
Best memory on stage : |
There are many of them... But the experience
for Bande-à-part (Radio-Canada/CBC) with 13 classical musicians
was a difficult thing to put together but turned out to be an all-around
complete success. A real challenge paired with a true feeling of
accomplishment in the end. |
