She’s from Atlanta, but Montreal is now her home. Meeting with Paige Barlow, a rocker who, despite her 30 years, has already experienced a lot.
Posted at 3:29 a.m.
Updated at 8:00 a.m.
How many US states has Paige Barlow lived in? Sitting in the velvet banquette of a bar in Plateau Mont-Royal, the singer squints her eyes and gently wiggles her fingers, as if to begin a countdown.
“OK, let’s see… I was born in Virginia, and then there was Wisconsin, Washington, New York, Indiana, Tennessee, California and Atlanta [en Géorgie]where I spent the majority of my youth. » She straightens her hair. “There are probably others I don’t remember.” »
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Paige Barlow on stage at Club Soda on October 25
Why did Paige’s family move so often? The answer will come entirely in an indecisive half-smile. Like so many rock stars, the young thirty-something shines with equal parts transparency and mystery, vulnerability and deep belief in her destiny.
“It’s just that chaos is in my family’s blood. We make important decisions like that. » She snaps her fingers.
And we like change. We are curious to live different lives. Because we only have one life to live.
Paige Barlow
Learn every day
And Paige Barlow’s life, for the moment, is unfolding in Montreal. About five years ago (“But it seems like it’s been five years since I said five years”), the woman who was then still living in Atlanta undertook, following a stay in the metropolis, to return home, on time to place your vinyls, your bike and your diaries in a basket, then head back to Montreal. For good. Or, at least, until the next snap decision. Gone is his shitty job in an events office.
It was here that she would continue her life as an artist, first within the duo MIELS, which she formed with her former lover Jean-François Lussier, then solo since the publication last May of Tabula Rasaa bewitching mini-album of heady rock, in French, please.
Excerpt from Sign of the cross
“I found that it was just more respectful and more normal when I arrived here to learn the language,” she confides in French colored with a singular accent, at the heart of which French joual and the warm inflections of his English from the American South.
Excerpt fromAnd then shit
However, several French-speaking Quebecers adopt English when it comes time to add poetry to their rock music. “And it made me want to do the opposite! »
Of course it would be easier for me to sing in English, to do interviews in English, but choosing French makes every day more interesting. I learn something new every day.
Paige Barlow
A few months ago, Paige visited France on a short tour. “One evening, I’m at the bar, I place my order and the waiter didn’t completely understand what I wanted to drink. And there, there was another barmaid who arrived and said: “It’s beautiful, she’s from Quebec, I understand, she wants that.” In my head, it went “yes!” »
Always the music
The first notes of Dreams of Fleetwood Mac descend from the ceiling of the bar onto Paige Barlow who begins to nod and it is suddenly obvious that the interview will have to be interrupted for a few moments, because music is sacred, and Stevie Nicks, even more. “This is a CD that my mother listened to every day when I was growing up. »
Like the witch with countless shawls, Paige Barlow radiates a spectacle of a magnetic presence, discreetly plots inevitable evil spells, then, in a fraction of a second, stirs up a storm. The diaphanous and shy woman that she is in the city is transformed into the one on whose feet it is better not to tread.
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Paige Barlow on stage
“On stage, I’m like in a trance,” summarizes the author-composer who also has the appearance of the child that Iggy Pop and Jane Birkin did not have. As a teenager, she spent many hours in the family basement, listening to the Pixies, Nirvana, Joy Division and Patti Smith on headphones. “My youth was very unpredictable, but at least there was always music. »
And music is also a bit of the reason why Montreal charmed her so much. “It’s as if here, I just know artists,” she exclaims. Immediately upon arriving, I felt that people were less closed, that there were fewer taboos, that I could express myself more. It’s weird, but now I say that Montreal is my home. »
Paige Barlow recently found a bucket list written at the age of 15. Among the experiences she wanted to taste: singing in front of an audience, learning another language and living outside the United States. “I would go through the list and I could almost check off everything. All I have to do is shave my head and take the Trans-Siberian Railway. »
November 8 at the Imperial Bell in Quebec, opening for Bon Enfant
Visit the artist’s website
