The story has something « Searching for Sugar Man »this cult 2012 documentary that followed in the footsteps of Sixto Rodriguez, an American folk musician who had been missing since the 1970s but whose aura had continued to shine on the other side of the Earth (South Africa in occurrence).
Martin Dupont, a French group stamped new wave, had been separated since the end of the 80s, gradually falling into oblivion in France. At the same time, in the United States, their music continued to be listened to and even adored by a whole generation of musicians who were inspired by them. So much so that, pushed by a New York label, the group decided to reform and will chain six dates, from San Francisco to New York via Los Angeles, Las Vegas or Chicago in May, in venues including the capacities will exceed 1000 people!
«I thought it was a joke»
” I still can not believe it, confides Alain Seghir, the leader and founder of Martin Dupont. When I was asked, I first thought that a friend was playing a joke on me. I had always kept hope to get back to it but it’s still completely unexpected. »
The members had each branched off into a career away from concert halls. Alain Seghir notably became an ENT surgeon in Avranches. Without knowing that 6000 kilometers away, the pieces he had composed three decades ago were enjoying a second life. Several American artists have used them, notably the New York rapper Theophilus London on the advice, it is said, of his producer… Kanye West. The number of fans has also grown over time: the site songkick for example, which references concerts around your home, indicates 4000 people subscribed to Martin Dupont’s alerts.
But why did America continue to listen to and cherish the music of this group which remained relatively confidential in its country of origin? “Perhaps because we go back to their roots, this pop-rock with ”synths”, replies Alain Seghir. I was very lazy, I always stopped at the first draft, the songs undoubtedly give off a lot of spontaneity. There’s always something weird in our songs, something indefinable that you can’t find anywhere else. I mixed many influences in it. I listened to a lot of jazz, pop rock, but also unknown labels, Indian music in particular. I also see myself, as a kid, listening to Arabic music in the neighborhood bars of Marseille where I come from. »
It was in New York that the group was relaunched, by the label Minimal Wave created by a figure of the Big Apple electro scene, Veronica Vasicka. “When they wanted to produce a €200 box set, I thought they were crazy, that no one would buy it at that price, says the musician. They sold everything and were forced to reissue it! »
Un come-back improbable
Alain Seghir even went back to composing and reworked the original pieces. An album was made from it. It is called “Kintsugi”, from the name of this Japanese technique which consists of repairing broken porcelain or ceramics using lacquer sprinkled with gold powder. “That’s exactly what I tried to do with our songs at the time”he admits.
He still can’t believe that some of their first parts (Xeno & Oaklander in particular) are groups of which he owns all the records, or that a Californian radio station recently devoted a program to his group lasting more than an hour. . The group retested on the occasion of a few French and European dates and met with great success.
Driven by the second youth of his music, Alain Seghir thinks of slowing down his career as a surgeon to devote himself more to music. “It hurt my heart to give up many extra dates in the United States because I didn’t want to be away for more than 15 days, he regrets. We also refused a tour in Latin America. » Seduced by the story of this improbable comeback, several documentarians have already thought of directing their cameras towards the group… Soon a French Sugar Man?
2023-05-10 14:18:36
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