For some international touring
artists, a stop off in China can
be a case of same shit, different
hotel room. French pop-rock star
Matthieu Chedid, who performs
under the name -M-, is not one of
them, however. Following his first
visit to the country in 2010, Chedid
has explored Taoist philosophy,
learnt how to play traditional Chinese instrument the
guzheng, and collaborated with
artists such as Shanghai-formed trip
hop duo AM444 and Beijing-based
Mongolian musician Sang Ka.
‘China
still holds a lot of mysteries for me,’
he says, ahead of his latest shows in the country this month, ‘this is in
part what attracts me.’
A sense of mystery is something
that Chedid has attempted to
cultivate for himself during a
career that has spanned nearly two
decades. -M- began as a superhero-
like persona for Chedid, complete
with lots of spandex and outlandish
hairstyles when performing live. While he may have toned down some
of the more flamboyant elements in
recent years, his last appearances
here in 2014 still saw him don light-up specs to take to the stage.
Yet despite this extravagant on-stage posturing, Chedid has been
keen to use his visits to china to
explore local culture and engage
with artists here. this led to him inviting Sang Ka of Mongolian act
Hanggai and folk band Dawanggang
to play the guzheng on a reworked
version of his track ‘Machine’ (watch above) on
his last tour here.
‘It was love at first
sight for me with the guzheng that
Sang Ka plays,’ he says. ‘I bought
myself one and have been playing
it since. But of course, I play it in my
own way, kind of like the blues.’
Chedid’s efforts to work with
Chinese artists bore further fruit
with the release two years ago of
‘Détache-toi’, a remake of AM444’s
‘Shenjing Moshao’ featuring new
vocals from the Frenchman (watch above). ‘I was
so fond of the melody, so attached
to the vibration and the charm of the
voice,’ he says of the song. ‘the tune
captured me immediately.’ AM444
vocalist ChaCha has subsequently
lent her vocals to a track on -M-’s
latest album
La B.O2 -M-, and
Chedid continues to work on further
projects with the group.
‘The moment that you begin to
explore a new type of culture, it’s
like opening doors and indeed
working on “Détache-toi” has fed
back [into my own songs] and has
got me interested to do something
with other cultures,’ says Chedid,
who is keen to collaborate with
more Chinese artists. 'I hope that
the message will spread so that I
can invite some artists to come and
discover my world.’
