Mika interview in CyberPresse

[sunshine931]

Here's an interview with Mika that appeared on Cyberpresse.ca

It's in french... I'll translate when I'll have time... now I have to go to work !

Mika : star instantanée

 

Philippe Renaud

 

La Presse

 

Collaboration spéciale

 

Vous connaissez probablement Grace Kelly - pas l'actrice, la chanson qui tourne sans arrêt sur les radios commerciales. Vous connaissez le hit, mais pas encore son auteur, le jeune Mika, 23 ans. Sitôt arrivé dans les radios, Mika présentera un spectacle à guichets fermés à son premier passage au Club Soda, lundi soir prochain. Entrevue exclusive avec le nouveau phénomène pop.

 

L'histoire du star-system pop libanais est simple à résumer. Il y a la grande Fairouz, l'une des plus populaires vedettes musicales issues du monde arabe et dont la renommée a depuis longtemps rejoint les masses anglophones et francophones. Cinquante ans plus tard, il y a Mika.

 

Au bout du fil, dans son flat londonien, Mika éclate de rire : «Ouf! C'est tout un honneur que tu me fais! Pourtant, y'a de bonnes choses qui viennent du Liban... C'est juste que personne n'écoute!»

 

Comme beaucoup de jeunes Québécois qui ont leurs racines dans le pays du cèdre, Mika est un enfant de la guerre, «mais je ne parle jamais de moi en ces termes, dit-il. J'ai quitté le pays lorsque j'avais un an, alors, je n'ai jamais vraiment vécu la guerre. En tout cas, je n'en garde pas de souvenirs.» Grâce à son passeport américain - sa mère est libanaise, son père originaire des États-Unis -, Mika et sa famille ont pu trouver refuge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Né à Beyrouth, Mika a grandi à Paris, puis à Londres, avec ses frères et soeurs. «Je n'appartiens à aucun pays, commente-t-il. C'est quelque chose que je ressens beaucoup. J'ai toujours été un outsider - en tout cas, je me suis senti comme tel, surtout à l'école, et ce à cause de ma culture, de la manière dont je m'habillais, de mon attitude, très différente de celle des autres jeunes, spécialement en Angleterre. Ça m'a souvent mis dans le pétrin...»

 

Sa musique, une pop exubérante, démesurément sucrée, lui aurait été inspirée par sa situation et le «regard extérieur sur le monde» qu'elle force.

 

«Je lisais récemment un article d'un journal libanais, ajoute Mika. Le journaliste parlait de ma musique en disant : si tu lis ses textes, ils sont un peu sombres, mais la musique est si festive, c'est comme si lorsque les choses vont mal, il y a une urgence de fêter. Le journaliste notait que c'était un trait de caractère typiquement libanais. C'est vrai. Même lorsque les choses étaient horribles pour ma famille, il y avait toujours une trame sonore joyeuse pour nous accompagner.»

 

Une trame sonore composée de France Gall, Serge Gainsbourg, Fairouz, Oum Kalsoum (la grande diva égyptienne) et de pop des années 60 et 70. Tout ça transparaît dans sa musique, qu'on a vite comparée à celle des Scissor Sisters. En plus, Mika fait une saisissante imitation de Freddy Mercury; la légende veut d'ailleurs que le jeune musicien ait enregistré Grace Kelly en utilisant le piano du défunt leader de Queen.

 

Or la pop infectieuse de Mika l'a propulsé en moins de deux au sommet des palmarès, notamment grâce à un sérieux coup de pouce de la radio de la BBC. Tout le contraire d'un James Blunt, par exemple, dont la chanson You're Beautiful a mis plus d'un an avant de prendre d'assaut les radios planétaires.

 

«Je dois admettre que tout ça est un peu bizarre, dit Mika dans un français impeccable. J'espérais que, quelque part, le public se reconnaisse dans ce que je fais. Aussi, j'aime l'idée d'encourager " l'underdog ". Cependant, je trouve ça assez effrayant de voir la vitesse à laquelle tout ça s'est produit!» Il y a à peine six mois, Mika n'était pas sur le radar; aujourd'hui, il chérit ses quelques heures de repos chez lui, entre un séjour promotionnel à Paris et une prestation au South by South West d'Austin, au Texas, le lendemain de notre entrevue.

 

«Ce qui m'effraie le plus dans tout ça, c'est de voir que l'attitude des gens qui m'entourent change. Aussi, j'ai l'impression qu'un single qui marche très fort est un cadeau empoisonné. D'un côté, l'industrie exige qu'on ait un hit, et voilà, j'en ai un. Sauf que maintenant, je dois convaincre tout le monde que je ne suis pas l'artiste d'un seul hit, qu'il y a autre chose dans mon univers musical qu'une bonne chanson.»

 

«Et tu sais quoi? demande Mika. Je ne l'aurais pas voulu autrement. C'est plus facile d'entrer dans la vie de quelqu'un avec une bonne chanson. Mais entrer dans la collection de disques de quelqu'un, c'est autre chose. Ça, il faut le mériter. C'est ici que les concerts sont importants. Ils me permettent de montrer qui je suis. C'est beaucoup de pression, mais je n'ai pas d'autre choix. J'ai envie que les gens retiennent de moi que j'ai plein d'autres belles chansons à offrir, que je ne suis pas l'homme d'un seul hit.»

________________________________

 

 

 

MIKA, en spectacle lundi, au Club Soda.

[ema]

Waiting for translation

[Sou]

Thanks for the interview

 

Mika has nothing to worry about though, we all know he isn't a 'one hit wonder'!

[lollipop15]

Merci sunshine! Of course Mika ISN`T a "one hit wonder" and we all already know that don`t we?!

...you really should translate it when you`ll have innuf time...

[mel_tinydancer]

there is no way Mika could be a one hit wonder, he already has more than one song that's popular. Merci!

 

-Melissa

[Tia]

Waiting for translation

 

Erm me too!!! xxx

[BexxY]

Waiting for translation

 

me too my french isnt that good yet

[Steph]

Waiting for translation

 

please post translation if possible, my french is not that good...sadly...

[Sou]

I tried to translate, but I suck bigtime...so bear with me and if anyone could fill in the blanks (more like paragraphs!) it would be great! For the bits I couldn't translate, you'll find these [...]

 

French is my third langauge and I don't ever, ever use it, so I apologize once more for the sucky translation.

 

You probably know Grace Kelly - not the actress, the song which plays non-stop on commercial radios. You know the hit, but not yet its singer, the young Mika (23). [...] I couldn't translate, but it basically meant that he'd perform a performance as impressive/great as his Grace Kelly (that's what I understood) at Club Soda. Then they started writing about Fairouz, I didn't really understand what the message they were trying to send to the readers was, sorry.

 

The writer wrote about his background, which I'm sure we're ALL familiar with...born in Beirut, moved to Paris because of the war, etc. But then it says that he's a Child of the war, and he responds by saying, "I never refer to myself as that, I left the country when I was one, I never experienced the war and I have no memories of them." Then the writer says, Thanks to his American passport, his Lebanese mother, American father and family could find refuge. Mika grew up in Paris, then in London, with his brothers and sisters. “I do not belong to any country. I always felt like an outsider, especially at school, and this was because of my culture, the way I dressed and my attitude was very different from that of the other young people, especially in England. That often put me in [...]”

 

His music, pop exuberant, [...] “I recently read an article in a Lebanese newspaper, adds Mika. The journalist wrote about my music while saying: if you read his words, they are a little dark, but the music is so festive, it is as if when things are bad, there is an urgency to celebrate. The journalist noted that it was a typical feature of the Lebanese; it is true. Even when things were horrible for my family, there was always a merry sound to accompany us.” A sound made up of France Gall, Serge Gainsbourg, Fairouz, Om Kalthoum (the famous Egyptian diva) and the pop hits of the sixties and seventies. All that shows through in his music, which one quickly compares with that of Scissor Sisters. Moreover, Mika does one seizing imitation of Freddie Mercury; [...]. However Mika's infectious pop single escalated in less than two at the top of the hit lists, in particular thanks to [...] of BBC radio. Completely different from James Blunt, for example, whose song You're Beautiful spent more than one year before taking the international radios by storm. “I must admit that all of this is a little odd. I hoped that the public recognizes what I do. Also, I like the idea to encourage [...]. However, I find it rather alarming to see the speed in which everything occurred!”

 

Hardly six months ago, Mika was not on the radar; today, he cherishes his few hours of rest between a [...] stay in Paris and a [...] in South by South West of Austin, in Texas. “What frightens me the most in all of this, is to see the attitude of people who surround me change. Also, I have the impression that [....]. On one hand, the industry requires that a hit be acheived, and here, I have one. Except that now, I must convince everyone that I am not the artist of only one hit, that there are other things in my musical universe than only one good song.” “And you know what?" asks Mika. "I would not have liked it [...]. It is easier to enter the life of somebody with a good song. But to enter the [...], it is other thing. It is here that the concerts are important. They enable me to show who I am. It is a lot of pressure, but I do not have an other choice. I want people to understand that I have other beautiful songs to offer, that I am not a one hit wonder."

[Tia]

Well done Sou!!! whos a clever girl!!! xxx

[Sou]

Well done Sou!!! whos a clever girl!!! xxx

 

Aww, thanks Tia! I keep on correcting it though because typos keep on popping out, grrr!

[Sity]

especially in England. That often put me in [...]â€Â

 

Aaaff, That I would have wanted to know what it was :/

 

But thank you very, very much!

With my French I definitely couldn't have done this!!

[sunshine931]

Thank you so much Sou for taking the time !!! Obviously your french is really good !!! I added the missing parts and corrected a few sentences here and there but you did an tremendous job !!

 

So here's the complete translation, sorry for the delay everyone !!!

 

You probably know Grace Kelly - not the actress, the song which plays non-stop on commercial radios. You know the hit, but not yet its author, the young Mika (23). He has just freshly arrived on the radio and yet he will present a sold out show on his first passage at the Club Soda, next Monday. Here’s an exclusive interview with th new pop phenomenon

 

The history of the pop star-system in Lebanon is pretty easy to sum up: There is the great Fairouz, one of the most popular singer of the arabic world whose popularity has reached enlgish and french speakers. Fifty years later, there’s Mika.

 

On the phone in his London flat, Mika just cracks up laughing : “Wow this is quite an honor you are doing to me ! Still, there is some good stuff coming from Lebanon, it’s just that nobody listens !â€Â

 

Like a lot of Québécois (people living in the province of Québec in Canada) that have their roots in the cedar country, Mika is a child of the war, but he says : “I never refer to myself in those terms. I left Lebanon when I was one year old, so I never really lived the war. Anyhow I don’t have any memories of itâ€Â. Thanks to his American passport – his father is american, his mother is lebanese – Mika and his family were able to find shelter.

 

Born in Beirut, Mika grew up in Paris, then in London with his brothers and sisters. He says : “I am not rooted to any country. That something that I feel strongly. I’ve always been an outsider, at least I’ve always felt like one, especially in school, and this because of my culture, the way that I dressed, my attitude, very different from the other young people, especially in England. It often got me in troubleâ€Â.

 

His music, exuberant pop, overly sweetened (candy like), was inspired by his situation and the particular outlook it gave him on life.

 

“I recently read an article in a Lebanese newspaper, adds Mika. The journalist wrote about my music while saying: if you read his words, they are a little dark, but the music is so festive, it is as if when things are bad, there is an urgency to celebrate. The journalist noted that it was a typical feature of the Lebanese; it is true. Even when things were horrible for my family, there was always a merry soundtranck to accompany us.â€Â

 

A sound made up of France Gall, Serge Gainsbourg, Fairouz, Om Kalthoum (the famous Egyptian diva) and the pop hits of the sixties and seventies. All that shows through in his music, which one quickly compares with that of Scissor Sisters. Moreover, Mika does one seizing imitation of Freddie Mercury; the legend says that he recorded Grace Kelly using the piano of the late Queen lead singer.

 

However Mika's infectious pop single escalated in less than two at the top of the hit lists, in particular thanks to the help of BBC radio. Completely different from James Blunt, for example, whose song You're Beautiful spent more than one year before taking the international radios by storm.

 

“I must admit that all of this is a little oddâ€Â, speaking impeccable french. “I hoped that somewhere people recognise themselves in what I do. Also, I like the idea to encourage the underdog. However, I find it rather alarming to see the speed in which everything occurred!†Hardly six months ago, Mika was not on the radar; today, he cherishes his few hours of rest between a promotional stay in Paris and a perofmance at South by South West in Austin, Texas, the day after our interview.

 

“What frightens me the most in all of this, is to see the attitude of people who surround me change. Also, I have the impression that a very succesful single is a poisonned gift. On one hand, the industry requires that a hit be acheived, and here, I have one. Except that now, I must convince everyone that I am not the artist of only one hit, that there are other things in my musical universe than only one good song.â€Â

 

“And you know what?" asks Mika. "I would not have it any other way. It is easier to enter the life of somebody with a good song. But to enter someone’s cd collection, is something else. This you have to earn. That is why the concerts are important. They enable me to show who I am. It is a lot of pressure, but I do not have an other choice. I want people to remember me as someone who has alot of other good songs to offer, not just a one hit wonderâ€Â.

[Sou]

Wow, so I actually got most of it right! Thanks so much for adding and correcting Sunshine!! Things make a lot more sense now

[Sity]

Ah, finally i could read the gaps as well... Thanks both of you!! :thumb_yello: