Some will remember that he played the sportsman Marc-André in Rooms in town. Since then, he has become the voice actor for cinema icons such as Tom Cruise, Johnny Depp and Matt Damon, but now, it is without the instrument that constitutes his livelihood, his voice, that he hopes to conquer ears Quebecers… and the whole world.
At 58, Gilbert Lachance began a musical career by launching an instrumental piano album whose title echoes his passion, Indoor cinema.
He who has mostly spent his career in the shadows now wants to find a place in the sun.
“I wanted to share with people and meet them in performances,” says this lover of Beethoven and Chopin, who has been playing the piano since he was very young.
The wrong note
This is easily heard in the 12 pieces of his album, Gilbert Lachance is an excellent pianist who has a flair for melody that finds its way to the heart of the listener.
Photo of Jaime Antonio Luna provided by Gilbert Lachance
Why did you wait so long before diving in then? “I had crazy anxiety about hitting the wrong note,” he pleads.
With the encouragement of those around him, who were charmed by his compositions, and “by practicing a lot”, the actor-aspiring pianist ended up overcoming this handicap.
By giving him the role of George Gershwin in the play Edgar and his ghostsa few years ago, actress and director Michelle Deslauriers made her last inhibitions disappear.
“She had heard me at a party and it stuck in her mind. She said to me, “I’m putting Gershwin in the room so you can play the piano.” It was a wonderful trap that helped me a lot to play down the false note.”
The world
Thanks to his short compositions that make pop, Indoor cinema places Gilbert Lachance in the neoclassical movement which is carried here by Jean-Michel Blais and Alexandra Stréliski.
“I want my music to be accessible, touching, for people to identify with it and to allow themselves a moment where they let what is in their hearts emerge,” explains the pianist, who allows himself to dream big.
“I would like to play all over the world. Quite simply,” he said, bursting out laughing.
Music as therapy
He firmly believes that his music can do good.
“When I was in Rooms in town, he says, we were big stars, we had an audience of 2 million and we were known. I didn’t understand why, I wasn’t saving lives, I was just on TV playing Marc-André.
Gilbert Lachance with the actors and actresses of “Chambres en ville” in 1990-91. He is second in the top row, to the left of Francis Reddy.
Archive photo
“It took me a long time to understand that allowing people to experience an emotion and project themselves into another reality does them good. It’s like preventive therapy. It keeps people from getting sick and the music is even more powerful, in my opinion, at that level.”
The album Indoor cinema has been available since May 3. Gilbert Lachance suggests buying it on Bandcamp where additional songs are available.
