Words by Jim Ottewill

Musical shapeshifting is at the core of the output of Montreal musician Jean-Michel Blais, a pianist turned composer infatuated with a range of sounds spanning from Nils Frahm to Debussy. When it comes to creativity, nowhere is off-limits.

“I would be so excited if someone gave me space in a museum and asked: ‘What would you do with it?’” he grins. “Then let me come up with some conceptual, intellectual, and philosophical ideas of sound and music.” We’re talking through the different paths that have taken Jean-Michel to his latest record ‘aubades’, a collection of compositions seeing him work with a chamber orchestra for the very first time. It’s another step forward for an aesthetic that has helped him cut a distinctive figure in the post-classical music world. His compositions ripple with various tensions between old and new, improvised and more conventional song structures. 

“I like testing new directions and exploring different sides to my music,” Jean-Michel says. “Having more than one ongoing project means you can really pursue contrasting sounds. I love pop music, I love noise and experimental sounds. They don’t often fit together and I like being able to move between the two.” 

aubades is the third full-length record from the musician, an 11-track collection of life-affirming and heartwarming compositions. It comes after early musical years spent at the prestigious Trois-Rivières Music Conservatory in Quebec. Jean-Michel cut his time there short to travel, teach and pursue his own unique journey which led to his 2016 debut album ‘II’. 

“I always had this sense of imposter syndrome and never felt I was in the right place,” he says of his studies. “There are high standards and you’ll always be below Bach. That’s why it took me some time to gain the confidence to move forward and focus on my own music.” It was thanks to Jean-Michel’s friends and the various labels and industry figures around him that helped him overcome his artistic vulnerabilities. Their encouragement and support spurred him on to find his own voice. “It helped me trust myself,” he explains. “They gave me the courage to gather my insecurities, pitch them out into my music and record them.”

The album stems from a challenging situation Jean-Michel faced back in 2018. Following a lengthy tour, he returned to a break up and eviction from an apartment. Despite these taxing personal circumstances, then the impact of the pandemic, he sought solace in his music, aiming to create compositions celebrating the power of human connections. The album’s title refers to the “aubade”, a Middle Ages morning song about lovers separating at daybreak while the tracks are full of major chords and uplifting melodies. 

“I was trying to fill the void with music and eventually ended up creating real-life connections,” Jean-Michel states. “I worked with Alex Weston who was formerly Philip Glass’ assistant and he helped me with the arrangements. Writing this music was a way to surround myself with people and eventually, it went from an idea to sheet music, then meeting these classical musicians and recording with them.”

Jean-Michel’s compositions came from ideas captured in over 500 recorded piano improvisations. He then transformed these sketches into 11 pieces performed by a 12-person ensemble. Rather than smoothing over any human elements, the performers were recorded with close-up microphones to ensure every element of warm-blooded musicianship and energy was audible. “Chamber music is obviously beautiful but I wanted to go beyond typical preconceptions of how it sounds and provide something more challenging,” he says. “I wanted to offer something fresh when compared with what you’d expect. Capturing the human aspect, the musician, the instrument, this is an unusual way to record an ensemble.” 

Other ambitions to subvert traditions surrounding the post-classical genre are at the record’s foundations. Instead of focusing on one instrument with the other members of the orchestra acting as a supporting cast, every musician was given a chance to enter the spotlight. “It’s almost a socialist way of looking at music,” Jean-Michel says. “Every single human being in the room is there to play, not just back me up as a pianist. We’re creating music together and I wanted everyone to have their moment.” 

Jean-Michel’s ambitions to challenge traditional classical conceptions come from a passion for music forged within various sonic worlds and genres. He began his experiments in improvisation before following some of the classical behemoths such as Beethoven and Mozart. Since then, he’s worked hard to build up his own head of creative steam. 

“I began through improvisation, then writing snippets and pulling them together,” he says. “I asked myself this question lately; when do you move from being a student of classical music in a conservatoire to inducing your own feelings within music and emotion? For me, it’s through trial and error.” 

He currently lists a number of different influences and inspirations. From the likes of Bach and Rachmaninoff to the minimal sounds of Philip Glass and Steve Reich, then contemporary auteurs including Chilly Gonzalez, Jean-Michel has soaked up as much music as he can over his lifetime. “I remember in the conservatory, I would lie on the floor and turn off the lights, and listen to a Glass or Reich album,” he says. “It would talk to me as a contemporary human being. I felt close to the Romantics, even closer to the Impressionists, and now with the Minimalists. My music is a mix of all of these influences.”

Jean-Michel’s route into his music begins with creating as many sketches and ideas as possible, then returning to re-edit and refine the most exciting or intriguing parts.  

“I’m very good at coming up with emotions and ideas,” he explains. “I’ll usually start with different excerpts, then begin to gradually focus on what I want to include. I slow down when it comes to the final stages, which is when I like to collaborate with others.” 

On aubades, he managed to increase his team of collaborators for the first time. It’s given him new-found confidence to build a wider community around him and his music. “I usually work on an album with five people but this far was more by the end of it,” he states. “I’ve had to learn new ways of working but that’s been one of the best things about Covid for me. It obliged me to stop and pause. It’s now about challenging myself, thinking about what’s next, and to start trusting myself to go in a new direction.”

Jean-Michel’s compositional process is driven by the power of an idea rather than equipment or technology. Usually, music comes at the piano while melodies for other instruments might pop into his head at any time. 

“My piano is cheap, it’s like a bad version of a Yamaha but we know each other so well and we connect as soon as I sit down to play,” he laughs. “Music-making all happens within three square metres between it and my midi controllers and my laptop. Touring and soundchecks help too. When I don’t play new stuff or improvise for a while, I have this real need and it can just come out of me.”

Jean-Michel’s creative process is based on refinement and boiling compositions down to their essence. It is through this that he sifts for musical nuggets of gold. But although this works for him, he advises that everyone needs to find and forge their own way. “You need to know yourself as a composer,” he states. “I came up with my methodology as I didn’t know how to start. I was scared as it wasn’t my idea of what I would be doing for a living.”

Collaborating with others who are willing to critique and support is also a key part of Jean-Michel’s musical process. He likes to bounce ideas off peers and friends whose tastes he respects.

 “I come up with a lot of music and a friend of mine helps me make sense of it,” he says. “Surround yourself with people who will tell you the truth about your music but also have taste. You won’t get anywhere if you don’t find people who can give you constructive criticism.”

Although the neoclassical genre is one traditionally governed by melancholy, Jean-Michel wasn’t concerned about flipping perceptions on their head. He sees himself as a vessel to carry ideas taken from his environment. “My job as a composer is to sit at the piano and create but I think it’s in the air around me,” he says. “I don’t like to consider the musician as the creative source. Instead, I see myself as collecting what surrounds me, then funneling it into my compositions.”

*Jean-Michel Blais will be performing live at the Southbank’s Purcell Rooms on 27th March.