Thanks to his collaboration with the musician and director Éric Goulet, L'Itinéraire dealer Siou Deslongchamps managed to set songs written for him by Clémence DesRochers. A masterpiece for this man struggling with autism spectrum disorder, completing a creative process born of a magical correspondence with the great Clémence.
Posted at 10:49 am.
Clémence DesRochers met Siou Deslongchamps when she was a sponsor of Impatients, an organization that helps people with mental health problems through artistic expression. After Siou performed at the cabaret La Tulipe in 2012, she suggested that he start a correspondence. The singer-songwriter sends her a first poem, followed by five more, which Siou turns into songs in the hopes of singing them on stage in front of her friend.
Canceled due to the pandemic, a first show planned at the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde will ultimately take the form of a small text and image collection entitled “Clémence et moi,” which was the subject of an article in La Presse in May 2022.
Just a few years ago, Siou would probably have left it at that. But the recent discovery that he was living with autism spectrum disorder literally changed him. “I was too busy with my problem, it overwhelmed me and I had no way to think about anything else,” admits the man, who believed he was struggling with a general anxiety problem.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
Siou Deslongchamps
In my twenties, at the age when we usually plan for the future, I was unable to do this, there was a black wall in front of me.
Siou Deslongchamps
His book “Clémence et moi” already bears witness to his resilience and perseverance, but in his opinion a book is a bit too short as a vehicle for songs.
From here we must be completely transparent: Siou Deslongchamps completed an editorial course at La Presse under the supervision of the author of these lines and we have remained in touch. He asked me to help him; A friend introduced us to Éric Goulet, leader of the group Les Chiens and director of numerous albums, including some by Vincent Vallières, Michel Rivard and Amélie Veille. A few weeks later we found ourselves in the musician's Montreal studio on Rue Atateken.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
Éric Goulet listens to Siou Deslongchamps.
“Projects like this excite me the most,” says Éric Goulet, who also makes a career under the name Monsieur Mono. Because it represents encounters. The reason I do this job and how I do it is meetings. »
Not to mention that it was a recording of unreleased songs written by Clémence DesRochers. “It is a golden material, a precious material,” emphasizes Éric Goulet. That's why it's great to be at the intersection of such a meeting and have the opportunity to help everything come together. »
Ball of emotions
The five songs, recorded in the studio in two days, allow us to discover Siou as an excellent melodist coupled with an extremely sensitive interpreter. “Emotions come to me on their own, I’m a ball full of emotions,” Siou tells us with a laugh during lunch. I just had to take a step back, the break is good for me. The emotion shouldn't be too intense because it could block me. »
Tense, Siou appears clearly fragile behind the microphone. A quality, says Eric Goulet. “I'm like a hunter-gatherer in the sense that I have to do the best I can with the materials I have. In this case we have great material with a performer who is a little more fragile. The task at this point is to calm the artist so that it is not an effort for him to do this. »
The director believes Siou is a good actor. “He has emotions, sometimes maybe too much. But you know, there are people who would kill their mother to feel even a tenth of these emotions while singing! »
“Imagine: when I started my music therapy sessions 10 years ago, there were ten times more,” adds Siou. In the end I was completely upside down, I had it all over my body, it overwhelmed me, I had to express myself. »
Especially since this expression is also a way for Siou to enter into relationships with others. “I found it difficult to approach others,” he admits. Then, as I started making artistic decisions, I realized that others came to me first and contact became easier. People often come up to me and tell me that it touched them. It also makes me feel good. »
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
Siou Deslongchamps at work
An autistic person can have many abilities, but there are things that block them socially. But when society opens up to him, when we better understand what autism is, we will hire him, we will see that he is good, but we will create the space for him.
Siou Deslongchamps
Progress and projects
If he recorded his songs primarily because he wanted to make Clémence DesRochers listen, it is also a new exercise that has a positive effect on his self-confidence. “I’m here and I think I’m brave. It doesn't seem like much, but people don't know what I've been through, he tells us. At first I felt like I completely forgot about the progress I was making. But I started thinking about the image of the spiral: I may think I'm moving in circles, but I'm moving forward one step at a time. I will search a little more each time. »
The models made with Éric Goulet could therefore serve as a business card; Siou, for example, imagines organizing small shows for charities. And all this while he waits for the next project, because he has several in the works, in particular the setting to music of the texts entrusted to him by around twenty artists, all of whom have in common that they have never written songs. People met at L'Itinéraire or Les Impatients, including playwrights, a choreographer, a dancer, a director, but also the actor James Hyndman, the drummer Michel Langevin from Voivod, the singer Danielle Oddera and the late painter-graffiti artist Zilon. We promise to keep you updated!