A No-holds-barred Interview With Marie-Mai

By External Source

The last time Marie-Mai was on the cover of SOCAN’s Words & Music, she posed with her musical and life partner, Fred St-Gelais. The title of that story? Hand in Hand in Hand in Hand. It goes to show how deep a hole was left in her career after their break-up in January of 2016. As if that wasn’t enough, Marie-Mai also severed her ties with her management team (Productions J) and her record label (Musicor). Literally overnight, she lost the three pillars of her career that had been with her from the start. So alone, without a huge machine behind her, the singer healed herself, to release her sixth album, Elle et moi. Here’s a no-holds-barred interview with her.

This is the very first interview you’ve given since you wiped your slate clean. The first of a long series of interviews to coincide with the release of Elle et moi. What do you expect from the new promotional cycle?

I’m still pondering what I’m going to say, and how. Elle et moi is an incredibly personal album from beginning to end. Definitely my most personal album ever. I’ve never devoted an entire album to a period of my life as I just did. This record is like my diary while I was going through all of this turmoil. I had a lot to say, chaotic things as well as beautiful things. I also felt the need to let people know my side of what I went through. People imagined what situation I was in, based on what leaked in the media. I needed to tell my version of it. This record is an open window on my life during these last few years. Each song reveals a little more about me, and I know people will have questions after listening to them. Did she really do that? Did she really feel that way? I still don’t know what I’m going to say during interviews, where I’m going to place the limits.

Continue reading the interview conducted by Olivier Robillard Laveaux on SOCAN’S Words and Music Website.