10 questions for a decade of career for The Boulay sisters

UPGRADE DAY

The Boulay sisters celebrate their 10-year career this week. For the occasion, they concocted a music video made up of archive images from the last ten years with their song Let go of life . The Diary asked them 10 questions for the occasion. 

Girls, tell me a memory of your victory at the Francouvertes in 2012.

Mélanie: “We stayed first throughout the competition, but each time it was a surprise. Us, all we wanted was just not to be last (laughs).

Stephanie:“Throughout the competition, we were just both with our microphone and we were told: don't do this, it's daredevil, people will talk while you sing! But we had confidence, we had a forehead all around our heads and it worked. »

At the Francouvertes in 2012

Tell me about a pivotal moment in your career?

Stephanie:“The moment we decided to become a duo. People told us that we should sing together, but at the beginning, we wanted to sing each on our own. Then one day, in the car, in the middle of a snowstorm, we had a very strong intuition that we had to do it. It's been 12 years now, a little before the Francouvertes. »

What was your first song that was significant?

Both: “Lola, because it was the first song we wrote together in the kitchen of our apartment. It was from this moment that the sound of the Boulay sisters was defined. »

One of your most memorable shows? 

Stephanie: “Les Francofolies de Montréal on the big stage with our guests, June 19, 2015. We were nervous and our guests really impressed us. There was Daniel Lavoie, Fred Fortin and Paul Daraîche. We couldn't believe that all these people were in front of us to listen to us play. »

The Boulay sisters on the Bell stage at the FrancoFolies, in 2015

One of the biggest surprises of your career? 

Mélanie: “The moment we sang with Richard Desjardins on stage, because he's been our #1 idol forever. It was surreal. It was during a show at the FME in 2017, because we had participated in an album of Desjardins song covers. We sang I slept in my tank with him. »

The duo during the show Desjardins, on l’aime-tu.

Which collaboration with an artist was particularly memorable?

Stéphanie: “During a Martha Wainwright show in Halifax, she asked us to sing with her the song Mon corps by Ariane Moffatt without being prepared. We got into his energy, which is more hippie than ours, and it was magical! »

Martha Wainwright

Number of albums released and albums sold in 10 years?

Both: “We sold over 100,000 albums in 2017, so it looks like around 120,000 copies. We have released four albums (The weight of confetti in 2012, The death of stars in 2019, 4488 de l'Amour in 2015 and em>Escape the Night in 2022) and a mini-album (Lendemains in 2016). » 

Mélanie, what has becoming a mother changed in your duo?

Melanie: “My time, inevitably (laughs). We have, at this point in our career, the great luxury of being able to choose what we do more, which leaves me time at home with my children, who are small at the moment. I have to split my head in two. There is the mental load of my life as a mom and my career. » 

Describe to me your musical evolution in 10 years? 

Stéphanie:“We started more blue flower and we became women. We are less candid, but more assumed. The sound has been refined and the writing of the texts too; before it was more groche and more “Quebecois”, now it is more lyrical. »

What are you doing to mark your ten-year career? 

Both: “We asked people to write to us to remind us of memories related to our music. People tell us about slices of life, births, heartbreaks, times when our music was important to them. It's fun to be reminded that the first album was significant for us and for people. » 

The Boulay sisters offer Escape the night, a show and a tour revisiting their ten-year career. They will be at the Grand Théâtre de Québec on October 13 and at the MTelus in Montreal on November 9. Tickets are already on sale.