Florent Mothe: I won't turn my back on Mozart
Wednesday, 26 February 2014 02:46 pmWe met him as Salieri in the musical "Mozart l'Opéra Rock". Today Florent Mothe is making a name for himself in his own right without forgetting his roots. He tells us:

Original article here
After the end of Mozart l’Opéra Rock, has it been hard for you to find your place in the current scene?
No, not really. When the tour ended, I signed with Warner for multiple albums. That label has been taking care of me ever since.
Was there a lot of pressure to put out your album "Rock in Chair" after the end of the Mozart tour?
No, not at all. It's not good to force these things, and music needs to come from a natural momentum. You can't make an album just to make an album. You have to have something to say. I took my time. I worked on it for at least a year after Mozart.
Why did you call it "Rock in Chair"?
Mostly because of the English "rocking chair". Like someone sitting in his seat and sways so that they see the world moving back and forth, and going wrong. Plus there's the pun on "rock", like music.
Your musical world is very broad. Have you been singing jazz for a long time?
Yes, but I'm not a jazz purist. When I was in Canada, in Toronto, I was able to cover some jazz songs by Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra. But I have very eclectic musical tastes, I listen to a lot of different genres.
Do the songs on "Rock in chair" represent you well?
In all honesty, I couldn't do everything I wanted to on this album. I think that the singles that were put out are the less personal songs. Those songs are well-written but I feel like they're lacking in my own personality. I miss that a little. There are other songs on the album that are more personal, like the ones I wrote with Ycare, "Arrête" and "Astérisque". I think those songs have a really pretty sound.
Those songs are very different from what you did in "Mozart."
Not that different. In the last single I put out, "Arrête", I revisit a lot of the same feelings as Salieri, a somber and strong title. It's sort of in the same vein. Of course, in this album, there are a lot of lighter things, and more offbeat things as well. You have to do a little of everything when you're a performer. I'm building a long-term career and "Rock in Chair" will be a part of it from now on, just like Mozart, and I won't turn my back on either one.
And what's going on with that 49 second song, "Je roule des pouces"?
(Laughs) That's just a little musical comma in the album, a little intermission. An album is meant to be listened to from the first to the last song, and this one is in the middle just like a short break...
Does it bother you to be stuck with the Mozart reputation?
I think things would have been a lot more difficult for me without that reputation. It was a huge part of my life, it was an exceptional springboard for a solo career, a phenomenal success. I'm very proud of it, and proud to still be a part of it.
Alongside Merwan Rim, are you the only one to really pursue a solo career?
Melissa Mars is working on a lot of films at the moment. It's what she's really wanted to do for a long time. Solal is doing work as a producer, helping young performers sing,and Maeva Meline is doing a lot of voice work for Disney. Mikelangelo Loconte is a completely different kind of artist, and he's working on his own album. It's a very unique project, just like him. He's very original, and his music has to be in his image.
If someone offered you another musical, would you do it?
Why not? I admit Mozart required a lot of energy and I loved working on it. For now I'm concentrating on my solo career. I have a lot of things to say with music, and I'm in the middle of the creation process. Right now I'm working on my second album. It'll definitely come out at the end of the year or the beginning of next year, I don't know which yet. The first one only came out a little while ago so... it takes time to do things right.
We saw you on the show "Un Air de Stars" on M6 where you impersonated well-known stars and sang. Why did you agree to do that show?
I'm a musician, a singer,and I'm not interested in going on television to do anything but what I know how to do. I was offered "Un Air de Stars", and I said yes. I had a lot of fun. And the viewers played along.
Next March you'll go on tour with Fréro Delavega. What should we expect to see onstage?
It'll be an intimate show, like hanging out around the house. I'll be alone onstage with my guitar. I'm going to play the songs I hold most dear and some Jeff Buckley covers like "Lilac Wine". I really like to do acoustic performances.
Mozart is continuing with a concert tour. What will be the big differences from the musical?
For the musical, we were telling a story. There was song, dance, and acting. In the concert version, it's a real symphonic rock concert. We'll be onstage with a rock group, a symphonic orchestra, and a choir. 60 musicians. It'll be a lot of fun to do this concert in such a great setting. We're going to sing all the songs from the show, plus the others that were on the album but weren't performed onstage. We had to cut a few things for the sake of the musical. So we'll be bringing back "Quand le rideau tombe", "Le carnivore"... it's a really superb project. A magnificent show. We'll be in costume. We did some cool stuff with giant screens in the Russian production. It'll really blow people away. We've already done two tours in Russia and Ukraine.
That's right, you had a staggering reception in Russia and Ukraine, didn't you?
Yes, it was incredible, such incredible passion. The fans were there with posters of us, asking us for autographs. And yet, Mozart never toured there. It's really just the internet that made us known there. It really caught on and the tour was great.

Original article here
After the end of Mozart l’Opéra Rock, has it been hard for you to find your place in the current scene?
No, not really. When the tour ended, I signed with Warner for multiple albums. That label has been taking care of me ever since.
Was there a lot of pressure to put out your album "Rock in Chair" after the end of the Mozart tour?
No, not at all. It's not good to force these things, and music needs to come from a natural momentum. You can't make an album just to make an album. You have to have something to say. I took my time. I worked on it for at least a year after Mozart.
Why did you call it "Rock in Chair"?
Mostly because of the English "rocking chair". Like someone sitting in his seat and sways so that they see the world moving back and forth, and going wrong. Plus there's the pun on "rock", like music.
Your musical world is very broad. Have you been singing jazz for a long time?
Yes, but I'm not a jazz purist. When I was in Canada, in Toronto, I was able to cover some jazz songs by Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra. But I have very eclectic musical tastes, I listen to a lot of different genres.
Do the songs on "Rock in chair" represent you well?
In all honesty, I couldn't do everything I wanted to on this album. I think that the singles that were put out are the less personal songs. Those songs are well-written but I feel like they're lacking in my own personality. I miss that a little. There are other songs on the album that are more personal, like the ones I wrote with Ycare, "Arrête" and "Astérisque". I think those songs have a really pretty sound.
Those songs are very different from what you did in "Mozart."
Not that different. In the last single I put out, "Arrête", I revisit a lot of the same feelings as Salieri, a somber and strong title. It's sort of in the same vein. Of course, in this album, there are a lot of lighter things, and more offbeat things as well. You have to do a little of everything when you're a performer. I'm building a long-term career and "Rock in Chair" will be a part of it from now on, just like Mozart, and I won't turn my back on either one.
And what's going on with that 49 second song, "Je roule des pouces"?
(Laughs) That's just a little musical comma in the album, a little intermission. An album is meant to be listened to from the first to the last song, and this one is in the middle just like a short break...
Does it bother you to be stuck with the Mozart reputation?
I think things would have been a lot more difficult for me without that reputation. It was a huge part of my life, it was an exceptional springboard for a solo career, a phenomenal success. I'm very proud of it, and proud to still be a part of it.
Alongside Merwan Rim, are you the only one to really pursue a solo career?
Melissa Mars is working on a lot of films at the moment. It's what she's really wanted to do for a long time. Solal is doing work as a producer, helping young performers sing,and Maeva Meline is doing a lot of voice work for Disney. Mikelangelo Loconte is a completely different kind of artist, and he's working on his own album. It's a very unique project, just like him. He's very original, and his music has to be in his image.
If someone offered you another musical, would you do it?
Why not? I admit Mozart required a lot of energy and I loved working on it. For now I'm concentrating on my solo career. I have a lot of things to say with music, and I'm in the middle of the creation process. Right now I'm working on my second album. It'll definitely come out at the end of the year or the beginning of next year, I don't know which yet. The first one only came out a little while ago so... it takes time to do things right.
We saw you on the show "Un Air de Stars" on M6 where you impersonated well-known stars and sang. Why did you agree to do that show?
I'm a musician, a singer,and I'm not interested in going on television to do anything but what I know how to do. I was offered "Un Air de Stars", and I said yes. I had a lot of fun. And the viewers played along.
Next March you'll go on tour with Fréro Delavega. What should we expect to see onstage?
It'll be an intimate show, like hanging out around the house. I'll be alone onstage with my guitar. I'm going to play the songs I hold most dear and some Jeff Buckley covers like "Lilac Wine". I really like to do acoustic performances.
Mozart is continuing with a concert tour. What will be the big differences from the musical?
For the musical, we were telling a story. There was song, dance, and acting. In the concert version, it's a real symphonic rock concert. We'll be onstage with a rock group, a symphonic orchestra, and a choir. 60 musicians. It'll be a lot of fun to do this concert in such a great setting. We're going to sing all the songs from the show, plus the others that were on the album but weren't performed onstage. We had to cut a few things for the sake of the musical. So we'll be bringing back "Quand le rideau tombe", "Le carnivore"... it's a really superb project. A magnificent show. We'll be in costume. We did some cool stuff with giant screens in the Russian production. It'll really blow people away. We've already done two tours in Russia and Ukraine.
That's right, you had a staggering reception in Russia and Ukraine, didn't you?
Yes, it was incredible, such incredible passion. The fans were there with posters of us, asking us for autographs. And yet, Mozart never toured there. It's really just the internet that made us known there. It really caught on and the tour was great.