The iconoclastic Montreal composer and pianist Chilly Gonzales has just released the album French Kiss, a tribute to the French language and culture in which all styles are permitted. Discussion with an artist who knows no boundaries.
It’s in Paris that we reach Chilly Gonzales by videoconference – the camera closed because it’s a heatwave that day, he’s arriving from a meeting on foot and he’s “shirtless and sweaty.” So did he return to live in France? “It’s a little more complicated. We artists live in several cities and nowhere at the same time. I’m in that category at the moment, a bit between Cologne, Paris, and London, sometimes,” explains Jason Charles Beck, who had the idea for this album while he was waiting for a piano to be delivered by the window of his apartment on Île Saint-Louis. “It inspired my first chorus in French. I said to myself: but what am I going to play on this piano? That’s how this melody was born with the words that came with it: Piano in Paris. »
Chilly Gonzales thought he would do just one piece in French, but “quickly it became two, three and four, and finally an album.” The pianist, who was born, raised and studied in Montreal, returned to songwriting thanks to French, which he uses for the first time. “French has always been in my life, but I had never dared to express myself artistically. I don’t know why, maybe I was intimidated. I have too much reverence for this relationship that French speakers have with their language. And strangely, it was through French that I reconnected with the idea of writing texts. I hadn’t written lyrics since Solo Piano 2, about twelve years ago. » What does French allow him to say that he can’t say in English? “There’s a side of letting go of mastery. In English I can find 25 ways to say the same thing. In French, I go straight to the point because I have no choice, and strangely it’s a liberation. »
Chilly Gonzales has long championed the usefulness of popular music, whether for relaxation or entertainment. In this vein, he pays homage here to the French pianist Richard Clayderman – Ballade pour Adeline, do you remember? –, her “musical dad” who accompanies her on the piece Richard et moi. “He is the most famous living pianist in the world. He still has a very active career in Asia, the Middle East and South America. In Europe, his music is snubbed, but it’s a question of taste, and taste is subjective! He helped popularize instrumental music to reach a wider audience, and that’s objectively a huge accomplishment. » Richard Clayderman, who according to Chilly Gonzales is one of the precursors of the current neo-classical wave, was a great inspiration which allowed him to “see the piano differently”. “He showed me that I could become a star on the piano, which I am, so I thank him! »
There’s everything in French Kiss, Fauré and Michel Berger, disco and Ondes Martenot, rap and experimental music, we even come across Aznavour transformed into a hip-hop figure. What’s the common thread in all of this? ” It’s me. I think you can hear my compositional aesthetic in each piece. In my piano albums, there was the same complexity of styles, but here, I allow myself to produce an album with lots of instruments, it stands out more. » The collaborations are just as eclectic, from Arielle Dombasle to Bonnie Banane via Juliette Armanet. A choice that corresponds to his vision of “very inclusive” French culture, which goes “from Baudelaire to Bangalter”, with a bias for what is underestimated and for artists who have fun. “I chose each cover, collaborator, name drop, whether they are very well known or not, based on what they share, which is the privilege of pleasing the public. It’s still the flag that I’ve been holding for a long time, calling myself an entertainer more than an artist. »
Chilly Gonzales is delighted because his new tour will allow him to spend a lot of time in Montreal. His most recent concerts here were in January 2020, just before the pandemic, and those scheduled for 2022 were postponed. “It was sad, but it was for obvious reasons. I really want to, and coming back with French Kiss is even better! » He will play three evenings at the Rialto in October and he believes that his new pieces should be well understood by his “favorite audience”. “My perspective on French culture, both I am inside and outside, but in which sense am I outside? It’s in the Quebec direction, ultimately. This little distance, I can’t wait to see how it can resonate. And did you catch the little Quebec references in the song Wonderfoule anyway? When I say sickening in the positive sense, it’s fun… I made an effort to ensure that Quebecers recognize themselves in these pieces. »
