d'un talent dérisoire

In order to promote the upcoming tour of Mozart l'Opéra Rock: Le Concert, Florent Mothe was Bernard Montiel's guest on his Saturday, May 24th episode of "M comme Montiel" on MFM Radio.  A that time, the actor who plays Antonio Salieri in the successful musical revisited that amazing adventure, his physique, spirituality, and voting for the conservatives.

 

Concerning the new tour, the 33-year-old singer didn't try to hide how impatient he was to get back onstage with part of the Troupe of the musical.  This time it's not longer a question of acting, but just concerts with a symphonic orchestra... Unfortunately, geopolitical events forced the producers to delay the opening performances.  "We created this tour with a symphonic orchestra and a chorus that came from Kiev in Ukraine.  Due to recent events they are currently unable to leave their country.  It's the state orchestra and chorus of Kiev, and the orchestra relies on the Ministry of Culture which no longer exists.  They are waiting until the elections are over, and they're stuck," he explained.

 

Now pushed back to the end of the summer, this tour will allow Florent Mothe to get back in touch with his audience after the release of his first album Rock in chair in April 2013.  Though the performer is enjoying his notoriety now, he indicated that he wasn't always so comfortable in his own skin.  "I think I look good now, but I wasn't always.  When I was young I was heavier, girls didn't like me.  It leaves you without a lot of self-confidence... so you turn to music," he said.

 

In a talkative mood, Florent also expounded on his spiritual phase!  Hesitant to tell the story at first, the singer finally said that he believes he met the devil in person.  "I met the devil. It was in Toronto, and I'd been through a sort of spiritual phase when I lived in Canada. One night, there was a guy and I told myself 'there's no way that's the devil' and right when I thought that I looked at him, and he was twenty meters away talking to someone else and he looked at me out of the corner of his eye.  It surprised me.  The next day we found out that his name was Damon."

 

Very frank throughout the traditional news segment, Florent Mothe gave MFM Radio listeners his own take on the rise of the National Front, after having mentioned that he abstained from the last election.  "The National Front is on the rise just because there are dumbasses who vote for the National Front, not because there are people who refuse to vote... I gained a lot of respect for Paris when, during the presidential elections, we saw that Paris had the least votes for the National Front.  That made me really happy and proud to be a Parisian," he said.

 

The tour of Mozart l'Opéra Rock: the Concert begins September 20th in Caen and will also play at the Palais des Sports in Paris from the 25th through the 28th of next September.

 

Mikelangelo: The symphonic concert MORLC isn't like the musical. It's more or less the concept they had developed with Notre Dame de Paris: they've rearranged the entire musical into one concert, where there is no acting, no dancers, and everything is based on the sound.  So this time, they wanted to do it with MOR.  It's a French organization called V. Dest which works with bringing famous French artists together and sending them to easter countries to do huge concerts there.  We did two tours in Russia and Ukraine with 7000 people at St Petersburg both times, we were at the Kremlin, so it was an incredible experience.  We have confidence in this show because we tested it in a country where people weren't familiar with it.  There were just posters in town.  They came to see us and accepted us and it worked.

 

 

Florent: It was pretty incredible because as Mikelangelo said, we were unknown there. That is, we weren't completely unknown, because there were some fans that knew us from the internet and came to see us in France during the show.  So we had a little fanbase there, which we went to see, and then the community grew.  We haven't made it as far as the greater public yet, but we've reached a certain audience.  And it was incredible because it's just another culture, they didn't listen to the music the same way we do, of course, because we're speaking a foreign language... But anyway, we met new people, we played with a new orchestra, with a conductor, and a new troupe was created.  And we have incredible memories of all of it, which is why we're so eager to show the French public, who already knows us!

 

 

Mikelangelo: Well the situation has stabilized so it will be the same orchestra. But in any case we had to make that decision and we were affected by the production team's decision.  It's the producers who are really human.  It was out of anyone's control. No one could help it, and when that happens, you have the choice between carrying on with your plans or waiting for them.  We decided to wait, and I'm proud of that decision because, in a country where people are shooting each other, calling on some folks to work, making them leave their families, is forcing them to do something horrible if they want to keep their jobs.  So that was the right decision.  If all goes well, they'll be the ones at the concert.

 

Mikelangelo: No, not yet.

 

Florent: We're playing at the Festival de Carthage in Tunisia this summer so that will be a little like a rehearsal for us.

 

Mikelangelo: Because we don't really rehearse.  Even when we rehearse, we're doing concerts! But on the other hand, yes, it's true that Carthage is a chance to test our show again.

 

Florent: They've got nothing to do with each other! This is just the music! So we're much freer to have fun with it.  We play with the audience, I play with the orchestra, I stroll through the rows of the orchestra during the concert.  Whereas during the musical, it was theater, there was timing... This is a concert.  We come onstage with a microphone, the conductor, 1, 2, 3, 4, and we're off!

 

Mikelangelo: It's a journey with the audience.  Whereas sometimes, a theatrical show, the audience watches you make a journey.  It's different.  But in any case, we're confident, because you know, when it works in Russia... the Ukranian fans and the Russian fans, they practically made love to us there.  Really!  While we were on stage we felt this energy.  There were people who did dances, who threw flowers, drawings, works of art... They made dolls for us, they made us comic strips... The amount they put into it was incredible... So then we came back, recharged by all this love and now we're eager to do the same thing in France with the same energy.

 

Mikelangelo: We have a song where Solal breaks in with a part like "[je parle] au nom du père, ne lâche pas la main de l'ange..." [Les Solos sous les draps] something really serious like that.  That means that the entire symphonie orchestra slows down and creates this super moment, a really sumptuous sound, right?  And then Solal arrives in this huge beam of light and sings his part, all the lights are on him, all the audience is watching him, all the orchestra is with him.  But right at that moment, he was messing around backstage.  So then, we hear the orchestra playing Solal's part, without Solal.  Solal was backstage.

 

Florent: I forgot about that! (laughs)

 

Mikelangelo: And Solal was with me! He looked at me, and I saw his expression change, I saw his face change and he said "That's me! And I have to sing!" With the entire symphonic orchestra asking him "And where were you?"  So there was an instrumental section instead of Solal!  And the lights all went over to one spot, no one understood why.  They must have lit up a stairway.  It was amazing!  One of my favorite memories of MOR in Russia!  And I think that was at the Kremlin!

 

Florent: And it was at the Kremlin!  What!

 

Mikelangelo: Yeah, Solal was even more upset.  And he was in the middle of telling a joke.  Can you imagine? When he's supposed to be the most professional of all of us!

 

Florent: No, he's always messing around!

 

Florent: Yes! Also, this tour is a little different.  During the first MOR tour, we did a "star tour", that's what it's called.  That means we left from Paris, passed the weekend in a city, and at the end of the weekend we came back to Paris, then left for another town the next weekend.

 

Mikelangelo: I like that, "star tour".  I didn't know, that's cool, you taught me something great.

 

Florent: This time, we're not doing a "star tour", we're doing a continuous tour.  We're on the road together for two weeks straight.  We're going to have a lot of fun. 

 

Mikelangelo: We're going to have laundry everywhere! (laughs)

 

Florent: I have a lot of fun singing "Victime de ma victoire" because my colleagues are doing the chorus parts now.  It's something I couldn't do when I was Salieri during the first version of the show, because Salieri always sings alone, it's kind of annoying!

 

Mikelangelo: I love watching him while he sings "Victime de ma victoire" because he acts like he's drunk, so he moves strangely, I promise it's a show!

 

Florent: I'm also pretty good at acting drunk.

 

Mikelangelo: He's really really good at doing that.  You can't take your eyes off him, you watch him the whole time and you crack up the whole time.

 

Florent: You were asking for anecdotes a second ago, so here's one! So one day we were singing "L'assasymphonie" in Russian, so we had a guy who came up with a teleprompter because we didn't quite have enough time to learn the song in Russian.  But this guy, he didn't speak English or French, just Russian, so we had trouble understanding each other.  And he was really stressed.  Really, really, really stressed.  And just before "Victime de ma victoire" he didn't know if he should leave, so it was right then.  Just before coming onstage I get in character, so I was acting a little drunk backstage. And he saw me coming, and I saw his whole face go, "he's been drinking, no way! I'm already stressed, I don't know what I'm going to do!" and I said to him [in English], "Vodka good!" He didn't understand anything that was happening to him, it was pretty funny!

 

Mikelangelo: That's amazing! (laughs) For me, the song I like to sing the most is "Le carnivore".  It's a song that I've always wanted to sing but it wasn't in the final cut of the show, and now I can.  And we did an incredible arrangement with a super guitar solo, a little like Pink Floyd toward the end, it's incredible.

 

Florent: Oh yeah, that's true, in Mozart's era we didn't have twitter and instagram!  So now we can put things online in real time!  That'll be fun.

 

Mikelangelo: Yes, for the time being we're focused on preparing the concert and a few other things but I think soon we're going to have a little fun with social networks!

 

Florent: Yes, yes!  Why not?

 

Mikelangelo: I don't know.  I don't think so, for me.  Unless it's something completely redone, original, if it's like a revolution.

 

Florent: Yeah but there's already been a Revolution!

 

Mikelangelo: Yeah that's true.  But I mean a revolution in the musical format, not the Revolution in musical format! (laughs)

 

Florent: It was my first album, it was a little difficult because I had just come out of MOR, and I was new to it all.  But I know that there were three or four songs on that album that I'll play for the rest of my life.

 

Florent: It's a little lonelier, a little more cheerful, funnier, a little more wacky as well, and a little less sad! The first album had a lot of guitar, this one was composed on the piano, so it will sound different, you'll see.  I'm excited!

 

Florent: I started to work with Ycare but he's very busy. I work with lots of new people now and it's great! I'm really very pleased.

 

Mikelangelo: For us, we had to break free of MOR.  And then we found ourselves with huge organizations. So it's hard for us to lead the teams.  We are artists.  I mean, leading businessmen, musicians, labels, etc, while still doing exactly what's in your head... It's tough when you have a vision, it's a lot easier to say "okay, do what you want, and I'll sing".  So for now I'm in the middle of preparing an album, and I'm going to take the musicians that have been chosen.  We're working on getting ourselves into a rehearsal space to really perfect the arrangements. The album is pretty much ready except for the lyrics, where there are a few things left to finalie.  It will be an album that's very original, it's very very hard to get it out, because people don't allow for an album to be very extravagant, and since that's the idea that I've had for such a long time... It's really my dream to make a truly original album, but I'm being pushed back. For now I'm going to get into a studio, I'm going to record it all live.  After some post-production, I'll be ready. But first I've got to put out two wild singles online and a real single.

 

Mikelangelo: That song, it might not even be on the album. Because I'm a musician, I'm a creator of songs, and when someone asks me to make a song for myself, I make a song to myself, just a song for me.  I didn't have anything to sell at the time, I couldn't say, "my album is going to be like this". I just chose a song that was fresh and I tried to do it.

 

Mikelangelo: Yes, I have a rubric. There will be more, in fact I'll meet artists and try to have them talk about themselves, all within a story of a journey. That is, the journey is an excuse.  Because you know, we all have a place we have seen in life, where we felt special... It's true, we all have contact with a journey that we've made.  It's a lovely way to make the artist talk about things that they wouldn't otherwise. So the series is called "A star, a journey", and I did one with Mélissa Mars, and I'll be back soon.  I'm very particular about choosing people, it's nothing to do with who they really are, it's people chosen with the website "inside all".

 

Mikelangelo: There have been a few. I was really moved by the journey that I made in Odessa. One town that really spoke to me was Venice. And I was really shocked by the trip I took to Brazil, I have great memories from it, I did some concerts there and it was incredible.

 

Florent: For me it was Toronto, where I lived the Bohemian life all artists dream about! But at that time I had a lot of friends, I was always partying... I worked hard, and finally I said "now I have to stop, I have to do nothing but music, it doesn't matter if it's successful or not". So I quit working for six months, I wrote all day, I made music, and at night I partied, that was the Bohemian life. And Toronto is a great city.

 

Mikelangelo: Theater or cinema, yes. But it's complicated for me, because I'm a guy who has a lot of trouble coming out of character, so I would need a very particular kind of role. And plus I have an accent, so I couldn't play every role in France. But I'm a trained actor. But I would have to find an agency to get started, but my training is there.

 

Florent: Thank you for your support, because the fans of MOR have been very important for the success of the show. All the way back to the beginning. As for me, in my solo career, again fans have been very important. It's very important to know that there are people behind you. The public is the reason we do this, because without them no one will listen to us, so yes, thank you to the fans, and I hope that they'll like MORLC and my second album, and everything that will come afterward.

 

Mikelangelo: It's true it's great, people like us as if we were something from their dreams. And you can't put a price on that, I know that there is real love coming from the audience, and it's a pretty foreign audience, today, that's not just Russian or Ukrainian. There are fans in Korea, Japan, a few people in Brazil, Chili, Mexico, the US...

 

Florent: England, Canada...

 

Mikelangelo: It's very interesting, all of that. Sometimes I get the impression that I was created from all of this, like I came from these peoples' dreams. It's very strange, we have a great audience, from those who are just curious, to people who love the genre, to people who specifically love us, to the people who are truly fans. And I hope there are groupies as well! (laughs)

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.

 
If you listen to this song and think, "Wow, what a great song about how annoying girlfriends are!" please never ever speak to me.
 

Here are my attempts at transcribing the lyrics:
 

 

 

Florent Mothe: We can work six months on one composition.  Make outlines, realize it can get better, go back, copy the parts out, add things, at the last minute in the studio we can find things, and then there are songs—one song is three minutes—sometimes there are songs that can be written in three minutes.

 

Dove Attia: Florent is a guitarist and also a harmonist, meaning he has a sense of the harmony, and he doesn’t like simple harmonies, so we’re leaving the majority of the choices behind, what we call the ? rhythm,  and he has this culture that’s a little jazzy, even sometimes a little South American, with ?, which results in this music that’s pretty rich and has comes from its own universe.

 

Dove Attia: The difficulty with Florent is having cohesion in his album, it’s going from his extremely moving songs to that are more intelligent, I’d even say like a new French scene.  Because he’s both.  Florent is both.

 

Florent Mothe: I need him to fix those faults you have when you aren’t very experienced in composing.  So we worked on all the songs I had, either the bits of lyrics, or bits of melody, maybe songs I’d already worked to death, but deserved to be corrected a little… yeah.  Dove Attia really helped me with that, and we even composed some—a good amount of melodies together.