FUTURE OF FRENCH ROCK
Cayenne part of alt music wave
In 1974, when he was still a rock critic, Jon Landau famously wrote after seeing Bruce Springsteen perform for the first time, “Last night I saw the future of rock ’n’ roll.”
Landau went on to become Springsteen’s manager, which he still is. Whether he saw the future of rock ’n’ roll or not, he certainly saw his own.
Well, the other night I saw the future of what I hope is the French language of rock in Canada.
It wasn’t at a concert. It was YouTube. The performer goes by the name of Mehdi Cayenne.
His father is Algerian, his mother franco-Canadienne. He was born in Algeria and grew up in New Brunswick, lived in Montreal and now calls Ottawa home, although he seems to be everywhere. His real name is Mehdi Hamdad, and don’t doubt for a second that the “Cayenne” is supposed to be everything you think it is: spicy, and I suspect he would accept “exotic,” as in hot. Peppery for sure.
He plays a gigantic red guitar on stage. The only things bigger are his million-dinar smile, his heart, his exuberance and his love of the French language.
Admittedly, the latter might not get the approval of the Académie française, but Cayenne is actively changing the French language and culture in Canada in ways that are not only being recognized but applauded.
He is part of a truly alternative wave of music and musicians in Quebec and the rest of French Canada, adapting hip hop and rap to Molière’s tongue, all the while paying homage to the language’s roots.
Not long ago, for example, he took part in a Canada-wide francophone celebration broadcast on Ici Radio-Canada with musicians joining together electronically to sing Félix Leclerc’s Moi mes souliers.
“Un sacré défi,” tweeted Tout le monde en parle host Guy A. Lepage, “mais un grand réussit.” High praise, indeed.
If you follow Cayenne on social media, you’ll find he doesn’t have a lot of down time. He takes his ebullient personality on tours of francophone and immersion schools, where he gives poetry workshops.
There might not be too many sonnets produced by the time he leaves the classrooms, but there are smiles on the kids’ faces and an appreciation for the fun of the French language that just isn’t the same as being indoctrinated into the simple joys of the passé historique or every anglo’s fave, the subjunctive.
Here are a few examples of Cayenne’s Facebook messages.
“Merci aussi pour le S/O love à Rivière et aussi franchement watchout le nouveau guitar.”
“PSA pour les Drummeurz et les Drummeuzes, Oli Bernatchez rock la patente pif paf pouf big time — check this out.”
Can we hear Jean-Paul Sartre spinning in his own personal No Exit?
In May, he swept the ninth Gala des Prix Trille awards in Ottawa, winning best male performer, best song for La pluie and best album for Aube, his third release.
Last month, the 29-year-old was named Personnalité de la semaine by Le Droit and Radio-Canada.
His new video, La Rivière, written and directed by Anisia Uzeyman, says everything you need to know about this young man: it was shot in the New York subway, permissionless I assume, it’s an interracial love story that is a kind of rock but borderline operatic, and just this side of crazeeeeeeeeee.
“Le moteur c’est de continuer,” he told Le Devoir in 2015. “Keep on keepin’ on. My dream is to be like Leonard Cohen and release an album when I am 80.”
To which he added with a Cayenne smile, half sincere and half with his tongue in his cheek, “I got 52 years ahead of me.”
If anything, he is revving that motor even more these days. He has to. Cohen’s You Want It Darker came out when he was 82. Better make that 53.
The other night I saw the future of what I hope is the French language of rock in Canada.