Sandrine Lemasson talks to Julien Clerc
One of France’s most popular singers
celebrates the fortieth year of his career.
Seeing him still so smilingly youthful, it’s
easy to forget that Julien Leclerc’s first album,
La Cavalerie, was released in 1968. In the
‘70s, several of his albums made their mark,
among them ‘Julien’ (‘Je sais que c’est elle’)
in 1973, and ‘J’ai eu 30 ans’, ‘Ma préférence’
and the title song, ‘Jaloux’ in 1978. “It’s one
of my favourite albums,” he acknowledges.
Another success, in 1982, was ‘Femmes’,
which is still his signature. “What I learnt
from this was never to trust myself. It was
demanding – I didn’t know if it would work.”
Julien Leclerc’s power lies in keeping his
successes – such as ‘Les aventures à l’eau’,
‘Fais moi une place’ and ‘Utile’ – with him
throughout the years. Of his latest, very
personal album ‘Double enfance’ he says,
“I”m a timid and emotional person, and I’ve
always wanted to go deeper into the words.”
It’s a fact that he keeps a low public
profile, and has gained the reputation of being
cold and distant. “I don’t like signing
autographs or discussing a performance. For
me the concert is enough. I don’t know how to
do anything else.”
He has however found a new way to get
closer to his public: videoing his trips. “It’s for
my blog,” confides the singer, “every evening
of my US tour last year, I uploaded a short
film to the web and people loved it. I’ve just
carried on.” This leads the 60-year-old artist to
his enjoyment of the cinema. “I love detective
stories, especially black American films. I’m a
TV channel-flicker, and when I come across
an old film, I stay with it.” So it’s no surprise
to learn that Julien Leclerc was a member of
the jury at the Cognac detective film festival.
“That was a role that I liked a lot.”
His next, which this summer will have him
seeing “la vie couleurs layettes” should suit
him just as well.
|
