Magali Michaut's Interview

– Who are you, Magali Michaut?
– That’s a great start! I’m singer-songwriter, French living in Denmark. I’m researcher. Violonist too.

– Your album Impressionniste is released on August 27th, and a nice work was done on the arrangements, compared to the guitar-voice versions you played live during the lockdown in Spring 2020. Can you tell us how you worked these arrangements, and with whom?
– It’s all a process I wanted to do, but which wasn’t obvious and was done in several parts.
First, I played with musicians, on different occasions. I played for a long time with a double bass player and with a guitarist. In early 2020, I met a cellist, Samuel Künstler, important element for I absolutely wanted cello in my songs.
Then I wrote scores while thinking of the instrumentations I wanted.
Finally, I talked of ideas of arrangements with Louise Nipper, at whose place I went and recorded. When I rehearsed with the musicians, we tested things, that I sent to Louise and asked her what she thought of. We worked like this progressively, and then at a point I said to myself “That’s it, we’re going to do that, we’ll go to the studio and record that.”
– How did you meet the musicians?
– In several ways. I created the association of French songs in Danemark rather fast when I came. It was a means to meet people interested by the chanson. I met Katrine [Rømhild] liek this, at a concert organised by the association. I pinched her guitarist and her bassist, that I found very good. (laughs) Then it’s asking left, right, and centre, each time I see musicians, through acquaintances.
The pianist, Lars-Emil [Riis], it’s when I went to a café, in a kind of open mike where the singers are accompanied by a piano and a double bass.
And the duduk, it’s another story, it’s thanks to Facebook.
– The what?
– The duduk, it’s the name of instrument you can hear in "Toujours Là", it’s an Armenian double reed woodwind instrument. It’s an instrument I love. There was a post about it in a Copenhagen Facebook group. I got in touch with the guy, Arsen [Petrosyan], and I realised he didn’t live in Copenhagen at all but in Armenia. So we did it all online.

– I read you had a double-sided business card: the scientist on the front, the artist on the back. I found this process amusing. Is it still the case?
– It isn’t, actually. When I lived in Amsterdam we had no cards at job, I made cards for music and said to myself “Best do both in one go”, which enabled me when I gave some in a scientific conference to give the music aspect too.
But when I came to Copenhagen University, since we have the ability to have business cards done, thus payed by the University, I didn’t dare to add music on the back side. And I don’t necessarily want to put research on the back of music now. So I’ve got separated cards.

– What’s the place occupied by music in your life?
– A more and more central place, which matters a lot to me. Emotional, creative. Therapeutic in a certain way.
– Therapeutic, what do you mean?
– This isn’t very original, but I think I started to write because I was experiencing strong or difficult emotions that I didn’t necessarily know how to express. It was a way to express things, not necessarily to other people, but rather for me. Then, little by little, I felt like sharing what I’d done, but in the beginning it wasn’t conceivable at all.

– Do you remember the first song you wrote?
– Yes, more or less.
– What was it? When was it? What did it talk about?
– It was in 2010, I think, it was in English, it went like “Open your mouth, open your mind, there's no reason to be inside”. It actually talked about being yourself, trying to be positive and shining around, in the others’ life. I’ve got a version studio of it, which never was released.
– So it’s something that stays, it isn’t a draft or a youthful error, it’s a real first song?
– Yes it is. Then, my songwriting evolved a fair bit. We did something nice at the studio, but the point is it didn’t really look like me. It was much more pop etc.

– It’s good, because you’re just bringing my next question. You attended a lot of songwriting trainging courses (Astaffort, Volo...) What did they bring you?
– Lots of things! Obviously the writing aspect, or even co-writing because I did some group works called Listening Room Songwriting Retreat, organised by a certain Brett Perkins [her partner (editor's note)]. We met this way, when I did the 1st group work in Copenhagen. Every day you write with somebody else.
– Not obvious.
– No, not obvious at all, but very interesting, very educational. As far as technique and creativity go, it brings lots of things. It enables to see how other people write, to start from different starting points rather than staying in your own little routine, when you’ve got one. And, just as important, it brought me contacts. Writing together leads very often to personal or intense topics. That creates very strong connections very fast.
It brought me a community, a tribe, which at first was rather foreign folk, because the work groups I joined were in different countries (Denmark, Ireland, United States, Italy...) Then lately, with Astaffort and Volo, it became the French network.

– As you are globetrotter, trendy stuff in English could have been expected from you. On the contrary, you do let’s say traditional French chanson. Is it to keep the link with your own roots?
– At first I wrote in English, when I lived in Toronto. In the work groups that I joined, the common language was English. 2 years ago, I started to think in more concrete terms about which album I wanted to do. At the beginning, I saw it a bit like sharing the songs I did on stage, so many songs in English. Then I said to myself that, to support it, it’d rather be the music that I wanted to head for. Thus, very clearly, writing in French.

– In your opinion, how is French chanson perceived abroad?
– In the countries where I lived, it makes a part of local population dream. It brings back memories, for those who lived in Paris for one year or 2... Anyway there’s generally a strong imagery with French chanson. Probably more for a certain generation, let’s say the over-40s.
Otherwise, there are all the same strong associations with Paris: it’s romantic, it’s love...
– Isn’t it a bit cliché?
– Yes, but it’s a cliché that many people have got abroad.
– So you try to use it? or not? It isn’t especially calculated?
(protesting) – No, no it isn’t! But when you’ve written in English and in French, you realise you can go much further in your mother tongue. I feel like I’m on one leg when I write in English, in terms of writing quality.
– You play very well with what you’ve just said in "Ma Petite Chanson Parisienne". It’s the only one in English, with small touches of internationally understandable French. It’s older maybe?
– It was co-written in a group work, with Swedish artist, Patrick Rydman, which dates back to 2015. It was a really interesting collaboration because Patrick is very good and really wanted that the song contained both of us. And it went very fast.
And it’s true that here I can play a little with what, in French, talks to foreigners: “c'est chouette”, “c'est la vie”...

– Everything looks simple and easy for you. Education? Illusion?
(laughs) – I don’t know how it is for the others. It makes me think of my mother who said when I played tennis: “You don’t look tired, while the other one is all red and sweating”. Whereas inside of me I was dead tired all the same, but it showed less. So I don’t know... Probably, illusion. Else if you want to believe I’m a genius, that’s fine too. (laughs)
– I have the impression that it progressed, that it wasn’t always like this, that you went through harder things and that now it’s over and all seems easy now.
– I’m rather an inner person. So you can totally have the impression everything’s alright, although inside it isn’t. I don’t want to convey a bad atmosphere, but it isn’t over at all. Life, some good moments, some bad moments.
– It reminds me of a song of Francis Cabrel, which is also the title of one of his albums, which said “Je suis quelqu'un de l'intérieur” (“I’m an inner person”).
– I think it’s true for him, and probably for me too, I write songs because I don’t know how to say things.

– I propose you to have a look at the list of the albums reviewed in japprecie. Which ones do you know? Which ones do you like?
– I already know there’s Volo; I even think I’ve discovered them thanks to you.
Lately I’ve discovered Slim Paul too. I liked a few songs.
Then, I knew les Goguettes. I knew Ben Mazué, love him.
I’ve discovered Agnes Obel again too. Ah yes, I’ve also discovered... the Swedish... Sophie Zelmani.
I knew Auren a bit. La Maison Tellier...
Eiffel, I’ve even seen then in concert in Notre-Dame-de-Gravenchon, in Normandy, a dump, in a small venue, in preparation of a big venue. Well, it was most the taste of my boyfriend of that time, but I liked it. And Daran, that I was listening to at the same time.
I like Clara Luciani. Pomme obviously.
Anyway, I remember the 1st time I happened on this blog, seeing artists I already knew and liked, I said to myself “Hey, that looks interesting!”
Well, I love Frédéric Fromet. I know mostly what he does on France Inter. I should listen to his CDs.
– Do you have some more to suggest to Appreciators?
– Probably a lot! Éric Frasiak, whom I talked to in Barjac.
The nit goes very chanson and very folk. Frédéric Bobin.
There’s Daguerre: I saw him in small concert in Astaffort, it was cool. When we had the training, all trainees did one song, and then he did a set.
Then, I must think... Ah yes, have you got Clarika in your website?