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Album review
M
From A To Z!
Paris
17/12/1999 -
The M biography which was sent out to journalists claimed "M's new album should be given out free on the National Health." What type of 'ill' person is it aimed at?
Well, that statement shouldn't really be taken at face value … I don't really know who my new album is aimed at, in fact. I'm always surprised when people take an interest in my music in the first place! I don't make music in an elitist way - I've never sat down to write a song and started out by wondering whether I was going to appeal to the 13-18 year-old market or 25-40 year-olds. The way I work is very instinctive, unconscious almost.
Is that why you prefer to record things in one take?
I feel I'm more of an 'artisan' - a craftsman - than an artist. And what I like best are not the things which are strictly controlled but the things which slip in when you're not looking.
The media have hailed your second album as a more "mature work". How is it different from the first one?
My first album was called "Le baptême" (Baptism) - which was a pretty appropriate title really as before that album M didn't exist. I'd say the second album points the direction I'm going in now. You know, after 125 concerts, you begin to have a pretty good idea of where you're going!
Which brings me nicely on to my next question - is M Mathieu Chedid or a fictional character invented by Mathieu Chedid?
- Using the pseudonym M is a way of conveying the way I am when I'm up on stage. I'm a lot more excessive in concert than I am in everyday life, where I'm relatively quiet and reserved. So I'd say M is Mathieu Chedid - but Mathieu Chedid in a special context. M gives me the freedom to enjoy myself and dress up in a sort of disguise - M gives me a way of having a childish side which means I don't take myself too seriously! 
You once said that "M is much more like the real me than Mathieu Chedid". What does M get away with saying or doing that you don't dare to say or do in normal life?
I never seem to have enough time or energy to say things in everyday life. I tend to keep a lot of things inside. But when I'm up there on stage the audience give me such strength and energy - a kind of super-charged energy which I don't have in normal life - and that means I want to get up there and say things. I don't leap about making a big song and dance about denouncing issues, but I do express what I feel in a very sincere way. All my taboos and personal complexes disappear when I go out on stage - and in a way, this allows me to be more myself. At a subconscious level I feel totally protected when I'm up on stage. It's a bit like wearing dark glasses or a mask, in fact! I'm quite shy and reserved by nature but music gives me a way of opening up and communicating.
Is your pseudonym a way of covering up the fact that you're Louis Chedid's son - and thus a way of avoiding comparisons with your father?
- Let's say it leaves an opening for people who don't know my family history. You know, when I started out in the music business interviewers would always start talking about my father. These days, journalists don't especially go on about it, but they do talk about me as Mathieu Chedid - there's no secret about who's behind M. But, basically, I prefer to be hated for who I am than loved because people think I'm someone I'm not!
Both of your albums were written and 'conceived' at home. Do you need to work in familiar surroundings or can you get your creative juices flowing elsewhere too?
80% of my songs were written at home in the country, because that way I could work in peace and take the time to do what I wanted. My house in the country's got great vibes. I was born there and that's the house I grew up in. But I have written songs elsewhere too - in the tour bus for example!
A track like "Qui est le plus fragile?" - which is actually a very melancholy song - breaks away from the very kitsch, eccentric image a lot of people have of you. What do you feel you're working towards musically and image-wise?
I was brought up with a healthy sense of irony, so I was used to writing things which have a double meaning. You have to be a bit more mature to drop the irony and express things sincerely. I was actually quite sincere on my first album, in fact, if you look at songs like "La fleur" and "Le rose pourpre du cœur". I was trying to express some deeper, serious things there. But the media ended up playing up the eccentricity, the fun side of things with songs like "Matchistador".
Your grandmother, Andrée, wrote two songs on your new album: "Bonoboo" and "Je dis aime". From a songwriting point of view, would you say you feel closer to your grandmother or your father?
My grandmother has written an amazing number of novels. She used to be friends with Albert Camus … She's one of the most important writers this century. Her lyrics always manage to have a philosophical side as well as a poetic side and they're also very much in touch with day-to-day life. I'd say when it comes to state of mind, I have a lot in common with my grandmother. She has a real love of people, of life. When I sing the songs she writes I feel like I could never have written them myself and yet they fit me like a glove! My father has a very different style of writing. He's a lot more social. He writes in a very precise, thought-out way whereas the way I work is completely the opposite!
Before you started recording your own songs you worked as a session musician, recording with an extremely diverse range of artists - everyone from Nina Morato and NTM to Jane Birkin and De Palmas! Would you say these different experiences helped you to evolve musically or were you just trying to earn a bit of money?
When you're making music together, there's always some kind of emotional attachment. You can work with someone for a whole month or just one day, but there's always some kind of relationship between you! And this is especially true for me because I'm not like normal session guitarists - the technical wizards who can play everything from classical to bossa nova - I'm not a chameleon. When people call me up they want my particular style, not just a bit of guitar-playing. They generally get me in to the studio to listen to a track they've recorded and then I improvise around it. All the different people I've worked with have been great - each experience brought me something new.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
It's one big jumble of ideas - playful, futile and completely mad ideas which have been knocking around my head for 2 days, 5 months or 10 years! Take the M 'look' for example. I spent a lot of time working out how to get my hair to go into an M and I got inspiration for my stage jackets from "Sergeant Peppers". Apart from that, I can't really say I'm a big reader - my reading material's more likely to be Franck Margerin and Edikat than Tintin!
Are you sensitive to what the critics say?
Every now and then people will walk past and nudge each other, going "Oh look, it's whatshisname!" I find that a bit disturbing, even if you have to accept that kind of thing when you're in the public eye. Yes, I am sensitive to what critics write about me. But then I'd be the worst possible judge of people who write about me, wouldn't I? I'm not against someone pointing out something that's wrong with my work, because I'm convinced there are things which aren't quite right yet. Songwriters are always trying to get things on paper but they never end up getting exactly what they want. I just pray for constructive, intelligent criticism - that's all I ask. And a few good reviews every now and then because I need a bit of a confidence boost!
Vanessa Paradis recently approached you to write material for her next album. When did you meet her exactly and how did your meeting come about?
I met Vanessa eighteen months ago. It wasn't me that engineered the meeting. What happened was when my first album came out and started getting a lot of airplay, Vanessa heard "Le baptême" on the radio one day. She was driving along with some friends in her car and at the time she was looking for people to write material for her. At first she thought "Le baptême" was sung by a girl. But, anyway, two days later she left a message on my answering machine and asked if we could meet up. We met up and got on really well. In fact, we realised we were practically neighbours - our houses are very close to one another in the country. It didn't take long before things got chatty and friendly between us.
Do you think Vanessa's new album will end up being written entirely written by you?
Well, we did about ten songs together which more or less worked out. What happened was I composed them while I was on tour, then spent two or three days in the studio recording with her. I'm sure she'll end up keeping some of the songs for the new album. But as to how many and when they'll come out, I really don't know.
Writing for Vanessa Paradis means following in the footsteps of major names like Serge Gainsbourg and Lenny Kravitz - does that make you feel you've really made it now?
No, I didn't take it that way at all. It would be too overwhelming to work if you thought like that.
Are you planning to write material for any other singers in the future?
I'm a bit limited when it comes to time but, yes, I do have a few projects lined up. I'd prefer to help up-and-coming artists though, rather than write material for stars just because it's considered to be "trendy".
David Hallyday has just written the music for his father's new album - is there any chance of you working with your father one day?
Well, we have sat down and written little snippets of songs together, but none of them ever really worked out. Maybe one day we'll end up working together, who knows? But right now I really need to work on establishing my own sound. That way, if I ever did work with my father it wouldn't be the work of a "Daddy's boy"!
Interview: Gilles Rio
Translation: Julie Street
08/09/2009 -
21/06/2004 -
28/11/2003 -
