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And
God Made Her....
| Introduction | Chantal..
what an appropriate name for such an amazing woman. The etymology of the
name can be traced back to the French "chanter", meaning to sing.
And sing she does. This Winnipeg born singer/songwriter/pianist released
her debut album in 1996, and has released four singles including the hit
"Surrounded". She has recently been included on the Armageddon
soundtrack with her rendition of the song "Leaving on a Jet Plane",
for which a video is rumoured to be in the works. Another project Chantal
is working on, which could result in wide exposure, is to write/perform
a new theme song for the hit WB television series "Dawson's Creek."
While the song must certainly be approved by the show's producers, the
fact they even asked is a definite indication of a start on the rise.
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| Background | Chantal
was classically trained in music from a very early age in both piano and
voice (presumably, like most Canadian music students, under the Royal Conservatory
of Music syllabus). She has been immersed in
the communicative power of music for as long as she can remember. At the
age of three, when her older brothers were being forced to practice piano,
she would watch them intently and beg her mother to let her play, too.
"My mom said, 'no honey, you're too little, when you're five, you
can start lessons.' I think I developed hand-eye-ear coordination from
watching my brothers before I ever touched a key. One day, I went to the
piano by myself and I 'just knew' how to play. Music was always a part
of me; it was just so incredibly natural. I would make up songs to my mother
when she was putting me to sleep (Sony site). Chantal is blessed
with perfect pitch (Dini interview), enabling her to accurately discern
the tone of any sound. Although she cannot reproduce the notes to such
an accuracy with her voice, it has usually proven to be beneficial to any
musician in terms of touch, rhthym, tonal quality, improvisation, etc...
and a remarkable learning curve.
Although Chantal had obvious talent, both in piano and singing (apparently, she used to sing the anthem at Winnipeg Jets games), she never took full advantage of it. She only used her talent only when the need arose... writing jingles or singing in lounges whenever she needed money. That is, until about four years ago. |
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| Decisions | While
in Italy, Chantal was involved in a rather nasty moped accident. She was
riding her moped in the wrong direction down a street, and an oncoming
moped did not have a functioning lamp. Although the two riders saw each
other, they unfortunately mirrored each other's evasive maneuvers (she
went to her left, he went to his right... etc.) Chantal wound up in the
hospital with a broken femur and jaw. While in recovery, Chantal took the
time to re-evaluate her life, and decided that music is what really matters
to her. From that decision, she started writing. So, Chantal walked away
with a new direction in life, and sports a faint scar on each side of her
jawline which she seems somewhat self-concious about.. enough to try to
always perform with the right side (which has the fainter scar) facing
the audience. (personally, upon meeting her, I don't think she has much
to worry about) Chantal also admits to this day, has no idea how the other
guy did (Dini interview).
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| A New Life | Chantal
initially planned to release her CD as an indie, even going as far as gathering
the necessary funds. However, during the course of preparing the album,
some of the people she was working with thought it was good enough for
a  large label, and
as a result, Chantal sent a demo to Sony Canada. Sony loved the demo enough
to visit Chantal in Winnipeg and have her play for about an hour. Shortly
thereafter, Sony faxed her a contract and a record deal was born. In fact,
Sony had enough confidence in Chantal and her music to allow her to choose
her producer. They essentially asked her "What albums do you like?
... We'll get you the producer..." Chantal eventually chose Peter
Asher (10,000 Maniacs), and Matt Wallace (Sheryl Crow). (MuchMusic, Bill
Welychka)
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| Music | These 2 sections are still under construction... sorry!
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| Interview Transcripts |
Three more interviews to come! |
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| Imaginary Friends | If you'd like to sign up for a mailing list
that discusses Chantal, her music, tours, etc, drop an email with the word
subscribe in the body to:
Loose list - believer-request@esosoft.com Other Chantal pages:
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Questions? Comments? Email me!
