An Interview with Alex Mahé
Paula: Who are your musical influences?
Alex: There was not one in particular. I was brought up listening to the music my brothers and sisters were playing. There was some French, some English like Johnny Rivers, Moody Blues, and sometimes my parents would listen to a French station so I would hear Maxime Le Forestier; artists from France and Quebec. It was sort of a myriad of different musical styles. Valdy had quite an influence on me in terms of folk music as I got into high school. I was never into the heavier rock influences; it was mostly folk, country rock, some classical. Even to this day I flick the radio stations quite a bit. I listen to a varied array of music.
Paula: What is the most important aspect of being a children's performer?
Alex: I think it's having your heart in it and respecting the audience you are working with; not talking down or singing down to your audience but being there with them even though they're younger and not as developed intellectually. It's to connect emotionally with them and to be there to say, "Hey, let's have a good time; let's be in it together; let's get some good feelings happening here."
Paula: What is your favorite moment during a performance?
Alex: Something that is memorable, not in just one particular instant, is when I choose some children from the audience and get them up on stage and get them to play the kazoo or sing - I've always got an extra microphone - and then being told by the teachers or parents following the show that I could not have picked a better child to come up and do that. It was like that child was one who needed that attention or was the outcast who never gets a chance to go up there and be a little star.
Paula: What is the biggest challenge of being a bilingual performer?
Alex: I find that when I am asked to do a show primarily in French and there is a certain percentage of the audience that is English, I find it a challenge because you are trying to keep your audience in with you. My shows are highly participatory in nature; I involve the audience and I find it a challenge when there is one particular part of the audience who is not grasping what I am doing. I feel it's harder for me to go out and reach them. The ideal is an entirely English show or vice versa.
Many presenters think that I am a Francophone-only entertainer. In fact, I do as much English as French.
Paula: What are your goals as a performer?
Alex: My goals are to continue in the vein in which I am going. I enjoy what I do, people enjoy what I do, and if I touch lives, I am successful. If I am making people happy, I am successful. I'm doing what I enjoy and it's a blessing that I am able to do this. I would love to do television again, as well as record more albums and reach a greater audience; to reach more children because those are the people I want to reach!
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