Jonas Tomalty introduces us to his adorable little family

Whether it is the one that saw him grow up, the one that he created with his wife, Carmen, or the one that he forms with his musicians, family is at the heart of everything that Jonas Tomalty does. On January 17, he will launch his album Jonas & the Jaguar Moon. The rocker welcomed us to his home, with his wife, Carmen, and their three adorable children to chat about music and family.

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Jonas, l’album Jonas & the Jaguar Moon represents a return to basics!

Produced by Dave Shiffman who has worked with legendary groups like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Adele and AudioSlave, among others, this album can be described as having rock influences from the 60s and 70s. But, honestly, Jonas & the Jaguar Moon, it’s damn good music, authentic, warm, which makes you vibrate. Real, real rock and roll!

20 years ago, Quebecers got to know Jonas Tomalty through your success, Edge of Seventeena song that marked the start of your career!

I started by playing rock, then I explored different musical avenues. In recent years I’ve dabbled in blues and R&B, but at some point I realized I’m a rocker at heart. As soon as we started working on the new album Jonas & the Jaguar Moon, I felt that we were on the same wavelength, my musicians and I, that we wanted truth, authenticity… as only rock and roll can offer us.

You are not only a singer, but also a producer! How did production come into your life?

In 2020 during the pandemic, the government invited artists to reinvent themselves, and that’s what I did! I founded O’Lion Productions. It was a way for me to generate my own work, to stay busy, but also to provide work for my musicians. Then, when the time came to produce a new album in 2024, I toured the record companies, only to realize, finally, that the only way to produce my album without compromise was to produce it myself.

Does being a producer give you more freedom?

I’d be tempted to say yes, but if you ask Carmen, she’ll tell you that I spend a lot of time in my home office, sorting out a million and one details. (laughs) Besides, I must pay tribute to my wife, because without her, I could not be an artist and producer, and also have a family.

Carmen was a backing vocalist in your previous show tour. Is this still the case?

When we only had our son Lennon, it was pretty easy to lug him around with us. But as soon as Carmen became pregnant with Gloriana, we realized that it was impossible for both of us to go on tour and have our children looked after. Even less since Morrison arrived. Carmen participates in the shows Jonas and friends during the summer season but otherwise, she takes care of our little family.

(The charming Gloriana comes and sits next to her dad and listens to the rest of the interview, while her two brothers play in the living room.)

Having their mother at home is worth gold for our children. They are four years old, three years old and two years old. Lennon started kindergarten at age 4 and everything is going well. We have really good children, kind, curious, sociable. My in-laws come by regularly to lend a hand. We also have the help of a nanny from time to time. Having three children so close in age is a lot of action in the house, but honestly, we wouldn’t want our family any other way.

Your kids seem to get along really well!

Lennon is a great big brother, he loves Gloriana and Morrison. Sometimes we find the three of them in the living room, watching television together, huddled together. Every day when Lennon comes home from school, Morrison jumps into his arms like he hasn’t seen him in weeks! (laughs) They are really cute to see.

2025 will be a touring year for Jonas & the Jaguar Moon. Are you going to miss your children?

Since I was 17, I’ve been touring. I missed engagements, weddings, birthdays, funerals. If it broke my heart to miss family events like that, I would have changed jobs a long time ago! That said, I am more present for my children than a parent who works 9 to 5 every week. And I make my living doing what I love doing most in the world: music. I don’t focus on what I lack, but on what I have!

At what age did you start playing music?

I started so young that I don’t remember it. A few years ago, I found an audio cassette on which I sing Puff the Magic Dragon to my grandparents, I must have been around two years old. When I was eight, my parents bought me a guitar. Two years later, I got an electric guitar. When I told my father that I wanted to become a musician, he would take me to the Lionel-Groulx station at 6 a.m., so that I could sing for passers-by, before going to school.

How old were you?

Twelve years! The passers-by weren’t there to hear a teenager playing music, but I saw it as a challenge: I only had a few seconds to attract their attention. I put all my heart into it.

Are your parents musicians?

Both my parents are teachers by profession, but my father plays the harmonica. Besides, you can hear it on the song Out to dry. Rick “Daddy-O” Tomalty, it’s him! When I was growing up, we had a large vinyl collection at home. When I was five, my parents gave me the right to put records on the record player myself. I went very carefully, so as not to damage the vinyl, as if it were a very precious object.

What is the difference between Jonas Tomalty twenty years ago and now?

Oh good question. When I started my career, I perhaps took success a little for granted, whereas today, I am more grateful to the public who continue to follow me, year after year. And the guys in my band, Steve Nadeau (guitars), Francis Fugere (drums) and Alex Lapointe (bass) think like me. Every time we go on stage, it’s a privilege. Fatherhood has also changed the way I see life and my job. Reconnect with rock and roll, perform myself: I want to show my children that I do what I love, in my own way, without compromise.

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