Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Canada's Mathieu Grégoire: A Stone Parliament Exclusive Interview


Stone Parliament's written about Canadian musicians for a long time, from Sarah McLachlan and Loreena McKennitt to groups like the Skydiggers to the Tragically Hip. We've talked about big international's from Yo Yo Ma and Boccelli to brilliant world composers live Avro and Morricone! But we're not perfect and think we've failed bringing you some of the best independent artists in Canada. We're about to rectify this!


We're ecstatic to showcase Montreal born singer songwriter Mathieu Grégoire with an exclusive interview to Stone Parliament of Art. When it comes to our own French Canadian artists, English speaking Canada appears to be a little slow in learning what great artists lie right next door. We don't believe Mathieu Grégoire belongs only to Quebec, but to all of Canada and beyond. Isn't that what music is all about? It has no barriers. Comprehension of the French language or any other language for that matter becomes null and void in the world of music. We may not understand the meaning of another language's words, but we can feel the emotion that is echoed. You get a sense of the passion as it radiates causing great vibrations! Mathieu Grégoire is a musician with extraordinary talent both in his ability to compose music and then transport those lyrics into sound singing with profound sincerity. His range of vocals is a pleasure to the ear, never piercing nor shrill, but with almost perfect pitch. He has a gentle firmness as he hits the high notes and bellows out the lows then eludes to a whispering softness that brings smiles to everyone. His mastery over the strings speaks of a love relationship he has with his guitar. Grégoire's message is a peaceful one about life, never harsh but with a reality that stirs emotions and evokes a lot of thought. We love his sound!


THE INTERVIEW:

S.P.of Art: "Where were you born? Town, city. Large family?"

Mathieu Grégoire: "I was born the 27th of December 1968, in Montreal Canada. I'm the last of 5 children."

S.P. of Art: "Where did you learn to speak English so eloquently with great comprehension of the language?"

Mathieu Grégoire: "When I was young I preferred watching television in english. To start with, it had more choice, the programs were, in my humble opinion more fun. It was automatic. When I would turn on the "box" it would be Happy Days, Three's Company, Bugs bunny and friends, One day at a time. I guess my ear picked up the english language right there. Its also, not to lack respect towards english speaking people, easy to learn. I know it was for me in a way. Its also a great tool to tear down boundaries. When one puts his mind to communicate with others everything gets in place for respectful exchanges!"

S.P. of Art: "How many guitars do you own?"

Mathieu Grégoire: "I own....
A Double neck ovation 12/6. Meaning 12 strings on the high neck and 6 on the lower one.
A 12 Strings Takamine
A 6 strings Fender
An APX-1 Yamaha a very tiny guitar.
All listed above are Accoustic/Electric guitars with built-in pick ups.
A Rebuilt Samick with a Ibanez Neck
A Fender Stratocaster (Mex) Made in Mexico"

S.P. of Art: "How long have you been playing? You had said since age 18."

Mathieu Grégoire: "When I was 18 years old, one of my brothers died. I got his 12 strings in heritage. I started to play more and more, filled an add, put in on a wall in college. I think it went as follows : Singer-guitarist, looking for a band or some friends to share music and maybe make a million. We never know! I do recall that even my younger two brothers would teach me chords on the guitar."

Matt10

S.P. of Art: "Did you have early music lessons or self taught?"

Mathieu Grégoire: "Self-taught. The only lessons I had, were singing lessons. They lasted two months. My teacher stopped giving me lessons. Angry with me, she implied that I was driving my voice too hard and that by the age of 30 I would not be able to sing anymore. She manifested that when she came to a show. I really drove my voice this night and she voiced her concerns. I replied that the best way to become a good singer is to push one self sometimes."

S.P. of Art: "Do you play any other instruments?"

Mathieu Grégoire: "A little bit of keyboard. But it remains for music programming. A little bit of recorder, for one song in a tribute band I sing in."

S.P. of Art: "Who ( musicians/bands) influenced your sound?"

Mathieu Grégoire: "I favor great lyrics, soothing melodies within major scaled written songs. I found depths in that matter in many bands or/and solo artists. Names? Supertramp, Yes, Don Henley, Peter Gabriel."

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S.P. of Art: "Are you a solo singer or part a band/group?

Mathieu Grégoire: "I would say I'm more of a solo singer-artist joining here and there in bands for some occasions."

S.P. of Art: "What if any category do you place your sound?"

Mathieu Grégoire: "Its never easy to categorize oneself. Its a good question. I would volunteer that I've come to value words in songs I write. I sing about peace, love, moral, reflection, experience. I like my sound to be easy listening I guess!"

S.P. of Art: "What inspired you to follow a career as a musician/singer."

Mathieu Grégoire: "First of, I don't see myself working 9 to 5. I value my liberty, I do not want to apart from it. Being able to sing offers me great freedom during the week. Weekends are therefore busy although I do work on songs when I don't do shows. To second that I would say that I tend to use music to pass on my values, my philosophy and my story."

Matt12

S.P. of Art: "When writing your songs where does the inspiration come from?"

Mathieu Grégoire: "Some are biographical, some are stories about what I see in other people's lives. I do know that when I get to a meditative state, words flow rapidly. I wrote songs in 7 minutes and some, i know will take years to write. It all depends on the present state of mind, on the first chord I play, on the first word that comes to mind, on the way I feel, on what flows through me when I open up for inspiration."

S.P. of Art: "Most of your songs speak of love, peace and friendship? Is that correct?"

Mathieu Grégoire: "So true. I do not see nor imagine my self writing otherwise. There will never be enough of these songs. Not on the world we live in, not when so much love and kindness needs to be voiced, spoken, diffused, sung. I'm better at it anyways (laugh) except when people ask me to write them songs on a particular topic."




S.P. of Art: "Do you have a message you want to reach people through your music?"

Mathieu Grégoire: "I wrote a song one day. Inside this song there is this : "If you feel that love is asleep, I know its coming on our way". I wish that everyone could think on a peaceful level. Songs I write are of pardon, trust and hope."

Matt6

S.P. of Art: "As any artist struggles in the early years, what makes a musician continue on through the hard years?"

Mathieu Grégoire: "Love!...well that's me! And the love of it. The feeling that everything will be alright as long as you believe and follow and value your own deep feelings. There is something that drives us. An artist is one and will remain one when he/she finds that the path he or she walks on will be the complete understanding of their reasons to be alive!"

Matt11



Here is to Peace and Love!

Stone Parliament of Art would like to personally thank Mathieu Grégoire for his valuable time and wonderful patience putting this interview together. This was Stone Parliament's first interview of this calibre of someone so talented -a great artist. We hope our subscribers enjoyed reading it as much as we had sharing it!

Special thanks to Hughes Bergevin for permission to use his photos of Mathieu Grégoire. More of Bergevin's work can be seen HERE covering the California Guitar Trio @ the Montreal Jazz Festival(2007).Scroll half way down the page. Other photos can be seen HERE or visit HERE to read more.

If you would like to read and hear more about Mathieu Grégoire we invite you to visit a couple of sites below and watch the youtube video filmed for TÉLÉQUÉBEC



Mathieu Grégoire @ Myspace


MathieuGregoire7
Thoughts by at
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