Marc-André Fortin has been rather discreet in record shops in recent years. However, that doesn’t mean his artistic direction is compromised.
“I always have album projects, concept ideas, but there’s always the same question as to whether I’ll engage in that process,” admitted the winner of Star Académie 3rd Edition (2005), which also produces her own projects.
The financial aspect and sales of albums that aren’t what they used to be are affecting the equation, he argued. “I’m not ready to throw in the towel and say I won’t do this anymore. [d’album]. I’m a bit ambivalent on that level. […] Maybe I’ll release an EP here and there or a few tracks,” he continued.
For his last pieces recorded in Quebec, Marc-André Fortin surrounded a team of musicians from Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, his native region. “There’s something that calms me down and makes me feel good,” he said, emphasizing the energy and authenticity the music exuded and felt.
Nostalgic for Saguenay
Originally from Hébertville, a small village where almost all of his family lived, Marc-André Fortin developed more and more nostalgia for his region as he got older. “There are many things that we did when we were little that I miss now,” he said.
“The more often I go there, the less I want to come back. I’m keen on staying there and the older I get the more appealing it is to have a second home there. I tell myself I could live there half and half part of the year. “It’s really working more and more for me,” admits the former academic, who has often had to drive back and forth to look after his parents, who had health problems, in recent years.
“My new journey is to leave earlier. I am an early riser and manage to be out of the house by 5am. At 9 a.m., 9:15 a.m., I arrived at my parents’ house by the lake. “I feel like I’ve won a day,” shared the singer, who hasn’t lived in the area for 17 years.
“I do this with you all at once, with no intercourse with the music at the end. Everything is fine!” he added, laughing.
A winter without December
For the first time in 15 years, the singer could be having a quiet winter. Since the blockbuster’s announced end in December last March, Quebec Issime, which had plans to repeat a new show for the holidays, still hasn’t responded to its company’s artists.
“I’m still waiting for a definitive answer. I tell myself it’s almost too late,” he told QMI Agency.
“Part of my head doesn’t believe in this case and thinks that in the end we’re just going to end up in our costumes,” he added, admitting that he recently launched a call for projects to producers.
Until then, Marc-André Fortin will perform for three nights this fall at the Cabaret du Casino de Montréal and the Salle Albert-Rousseau in Quebec, supporting Marc Hervieux on the show C’est si bon… de danser.
His music is still accessible on online listening platforms.
It will also air this Monday on the final leg of The Beautiful Tour on TVA from 9pm.
Marc-André will also be at the Gatineau Hot Air Balloon Festival this Friday for the Carte Blanche show hosted by Patrice Bélanger. He will share the stage with William Cloutier, Luce Dufault, Benoit McGinnis, Jason McNally and Guylaine Tanguay, among others.