Le dossier de presse des Moquettes Coquettes

Article dans The Gazette du mercredi 27 septembre 2006.

Via Canada.com

Coquettes stay hungry

The irreverent and reverent radio hosts get set for prime time, taking another step up the ladder of fame with a new stage show

JUAN RODRIGUEZ , Freelance

I recently fixed up my middle-age-crazy bachelor pad, and my first dinner guests were six women in their mid-20s - no less than Les Moquettes Coquettes, paragons of alt feminism and femininity in Quebec. Is this a dream or what?

Here’s the set-up: This gang des filles has parlayed a monthly fan show spotlighting the local francophone music scene on CHOQ, the Internet radio station of Universite du Quebec a Montreal, into the stage show Femmes au feminin, which premiered last night at Le National (and continues through tomorrow).

It’s been a whirlwind two years - remote broadcasts from Quai des Brumes and Cabaret du Musee Juste pour rire, a glam photo shoot for Elle, big mainstream exposure on Tout le monde en parle. And now they’re going on stage for the first time without musical guests. A gang with a reputation as frank-talking enthusiasts, voices of the new generation - they must be hungry. (I’ve decided to serve a simple seafood paella - baby shrimp, bay scallops and mussels, aromatic prosciutto substituting for greasier chorizo, easy on the garlic, heavy on the saffron.)

“They will be coming hungry. They’re saving their appetite - they need at least one big meal once a day,” breathlessly informs Sophie Goyette, who, as the sixth Moquette, handles business and arrives early. She’d rather be on stage, she admits, but there’s a job to be done running Les Moquettes. Despite their notoriety, big media still doesn’t get it. An idea for an alt music TV show got nixed by a big broadcaster. “They wanted a host like (mild-mannered singer) Dany Bedar,” Sophie says. “Not that there’s no place for Dany, but …”

Are Les Moquettes ready for prime time? Is the world ready for these working girls who fly by night, a gang des filles that’s irreverent and reverent, iconoclastic and iconic, sweet and salty? The girls arrive - as they’ve got day jobs, it’s no picnic getting them all together for interviews - and each says they’ve noticed a change within.

“We were just at the Festival de musique emergente en Abitibi, and we didn’t feel out of place,” says Evelyne Morin-Uhl, chief music fan among the Coquettes. “It’s absurd, but we feel like a band.”

“An air band,” says Valerie Caron, the group’s intense absurdist.

“We play trombone with a hair dryer,” adds Marie-Helene Lebeau-Taschereau, main dramaturge of the group.

“We’re a band of hosts, but it feels like a band of musicians,” says Laurence Desrosiers, whose father, Real, is a member of ’70s supergroup Beau Dommage.

“We’re able to do anything we want from A to Z, without censoring ourselves,” says Marianne Prairie. “This is something I couldn’t put aside once I realized how far we had come. I knew I had to get fully involved.”

The new show reflects higher stakes for a group of communications students who began as prototypical fans. “At first it was just at a little bar on St. Denis, and we operated with une belle naivete,” says Marie-Helene. “We still have that, but now there’s more pressure.”

Adds Laurence: “Being committed to shows, now we have no choice in the matter. It’s a sort of a vicious circle. That’s good, because it’s a motor, a creative force.” She accents the latter cliche mockingly.

“It’s only over the last little while that I think the six are toutes la,” says Evelyne. “At the beginning we didn’t realize how much we needed each other.”

Les Moquettes Coquettes have insinuated themselves into Quebec’s pop culture and modern folklore. It diminishes their effervescent originality to label them riot girrrls chez nous. They are dream girls who are totally down to earth. And they elicit curious responses from both sexes.

“The guys who say they’ve been dragged along by their girlfriends tell us they appreciate our guts,” says Evelyne. “And the number of women of all ages, from the very young girls to grandmothers, who tell us, ‘I wish we could have a gang like yours; you say exactly what we’re thinking.’ Comments like that make us want to go farther.”

“It’s funny,” says Marie-Helene. “Women who stay home to take care of their children are criticized, and women who go into the workplace are criticized - there’s no side better than the other. We just pose questions. For example, responding to hip-hop’s so-called demeaning of women, we’ve come up with a chaste rap.”

While I prepare the almond sponge cake and ice cream and raspberries and cafe, my Mini Disc recorder picks up Les Moquettes in full flight, talking among themselves, Evelyne’s hand banging a beat to Mystic Rhumba by Arthur H.

“Maybe once we were known as the flavour of the month, but we’re still around,” says Marianne. “I think it’s more than an underground thing; it’s something that’s necessary at this point in time.”

“Just the fact of seeing five girls on stage doing whatever they want, disparaging whatever, is already something,” says Valerie. “We’re not just humoristes, and we don’t take ourselves seriously.”

“It’s a big plus to have so many different personalities in the group,” says Laurence. “While everybody seems to have their favourite, when you see Les Moquettes Coquettes you don’t get just one punchline.”

I get 12 kisses as they file out. There are no leftovers. And I’m in septieme ciel.

Les Moquettes Coquettes are at Le National, 1220 Ste. Catherine St. E., tonight and tomorrow at 8. Tickets cost $13.67. Call 514-790-1245 for more information.

© The Gazette (Montreal) 2006