“I’ve been wanting to do something in French for a long time. Especially something different from heavy metal and Italian,” explains Montreal singer/songwriter Marco Calliari.
Best known for his Italian-language world beat songs, both covers and originals, and a musical career spanning over three decades, Calliari has ventured into a new genre of music.
Released on February 19 under his alter ego Molotov Mon Amour, J’t’haïme is an emotional French-language anthem about the various contradictions of passion and love. The song is written by Calliari and Christyna Pelletier, and assisted by songwriter Pasquale Caruana and drummer Dany Lalonde, both long time collaborators of Calliari.
Calliari started his musical career at age 14 as a member of the popular Quebec metal group, Anonymus. In 2003, he left the band to focus on a solo career. His Italian-language music calls on the influences of Italian folk music, jazz, and world beat. Over the years he has toured extensively to promote his numerous albums, including Che La Vita (2004), Mia Dolce Vita (2006), Al Far Est (2010), and Mi Ricordo (2014). In 2019, Calliari released Calliari Bang! Bang!, an album celebrating his 30-year music career. His cover of the popular Italian song, L’Americano, became an international hit when it was remixed as “We No Speak Americano” by M.H.M.
Calliari’s plans to enter the French-language music genre were years in the making. He wrote French lyrics, and even recorded a few songs. But the timing never seemed right. He also kept applying to funding agencies, without any luck.
Last summer Calliari decided he needed to make things happen.
“I wanted to wait for the right time, but when is the right moment?” Calliari ponders.
The plan was to go DIY with a five-song EP. Instead, his business partner and life partner, Pelletier, suggested he reach out to music producer Jessy Fuchs from Slam Disques about a possible collaboration.
Turns out that Fuchs was a long-time fan of Anonymus, and so he jumped on the opportunity to work with a musician he admired for years. Fuchs convinced Calliari to delay the release of an EP, and instead release a French-language single in order to gauge public reaction. And so they did.
Over the winter they returned to the studio to rearrange a song that Calliari had already recorded.
A few months later, J’t’haïme was officially released, along with a music video that Calliari recorded over the past year.
The single is receiving positive feedback from fans and critics alike. If all goes as planned, another single and a full-length French-language album will be released in the coming year.
“This time I have a team, which is fun. I’m used to doing everything myself,” Calliari admits.
As in the case with all artists who make a living touring, the COVID-19 pandemic hit Calliari hard. But rather than wait until he could tour again, Calliari found a way to continue performing live while respecting all the lockdown rules.
Calliari fait le trottoir allows individuals or small groups to hire Calliari to perform his music on their front porch or driveway. At times he is hired to surprise someone for his or her birthday with a song. Other times, neighbours pool their resources together to treat themselves to a mini-concert. To keep performing through the cold winter months, Calliari outfitted his van into a mobile stage. To date, Calliari has performed hundreds of trottoir shows all over the province of Quebec.
“We have another tough summer of no touring, but I keep getting requests for Calliari fait le trottoir, so I’ll be okay,” Calliari explains.
J’t’haïme is available for download on your favourite digital music-sharing platform.
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