Champion (Canadian Musician)

Maxime Morin (born c. 1969),Martel, Stéphanie, "Le Monde est Chill", ''Voir'', Dec 8, 2005
(French text) Last retrieved Jan 8, 2010 is a multi-instrumentalist, better known for his work in electronic music under the name DJ Champion or simply Champion. Morin is based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Early music career

Maxime Morin began playing guitar at age 13, playing mostly heavy metal music.Lala, Steve, "Chillin' Them Softly With His Song", ''Hour'', Dec 14, 2004
Last retrieved Jan 8, 2010Benson, Denise, "Champion & His G-Strings", ''Eye Weekly'', Nov 23, 2006 He went on to play in a few punk and metal bands,Devlin, Mike, "Laptop loaded, DJ hits the road", ''Times Colonist'', Mar 24, 2007 but by the age of 25 he found himself moving away from metal and gravitating towards techno. The transition was a gradual one: "Totally, I was like 'Dance music is crap!' So it was actually a big liberation, to lose my fear of dance music," said Morin in a 2004 interview. Morin's girlfriend at the time took him to a warehouse show and soon he began to attend techno Sundays at Les Foufounes Électriques acts. By 1994 Morin began producing his own dance music and was performing around the Montreal club scene under the names Le Max and Mad Max.Sperounes, Sandra, "Montreal music scene holding strong", ''The Edmonton Journal'', Mar 27, 2007
Last retrieved Jan 8, 2010 By about age 27 he stopped playing guitar altogether.

In the late 1990s, Québécois composer Benoît Charest attended a Mad Max performance; after the show Charest approached Morin with a business proposal; the two men went on to become co-owners of Ben & Max Studios—a company specializing in jingles and soundtracks. Ben & Max Studios became quite successful, however in 2001 Morin sold his share in the company back to Charest in order to continue his own personal musical career. Even after leaving their business partnership, Morin remained in close contact with Charest who was working on the score for the 2003 animated film, ''The Triplets of Belleville (Les Triplettes de Belleville)''. Morin would go on to perform the bass and percussion on the song " Belleville Rendez-vous" and he also performed the song live, along with Charest and vocalist Béatrice (Betty) Bonifassi, at the 76th Academy Awards ceremony—Morin played percussion on a bicycle during the live performance. One of the main protagonists in ''Les Triplettes de Belleville'' is an aspiring cyclist who happens to be named Champion; Morin has stated that he was already performing under that name before the film was even created.

Work as DJ Champion

By 2001 Morin had become frustrated with commercial music work. As part owner of Ben & Max Studios he was making quite a good living producing music for advertising and film, but he also felt "empty." He decided to leave that world to focus on more personal music.Ash, Amanda, "Heaven after all", ''SEE Magazine'', Mar 22, 2007
Last retrieved Jan 8, 2010 He decided to move in a musical direction where he could combine "the two things that made imfeel good: Live electronics and guitars..." He also chose to change his performance name from Mad Max to DJ Champion as a way to poke fun at the growing dance music scene and the resulting outbreak of DJs: "Everybody wanted to be a DJ and wanted to know 'Who's the best DJ?' I was like, 'I don't give a damn about all that crap now. I'm DJ Champion."

The DJ Champion sound was formed by experimenting with the software music sequencer Ableton Live, which is specially designed for live DJing and arranging sounds. He would then layer the digitally produced beats and sounds with guitar loops. Gamotin, Desiree, "DJ Champion combines electro and guitar", ''The University of Western Ontario Gazette'', Mar 27, 2007
Last retrieved Jan 8, 2010 During live performances he and his live band would tour as "Champion et ses G Strings" ("Champion and his G Strings"). His live act often consists of four guitarists, one bassist, a vocalist, and Morin working at his laptop and conducting the band. On occasion Morin has also played live drums.

''Chill'em All''

2005 saw the release of DJ Champion's debut album, '' Chill'em All''. The album included the hit single "No Heaven" — a soulful and bluesy song set against heavy dance beats and noisy guitar riffs. Inspired by ''Negro Songs of Protest'' recorded by music collector Lawrence Gellert, Béatrice "Betty" Bonifassi (with whom Morin had previously collaborated on the ''Les Triplettes de Belleville'' soundtrack) sings a plaintive tune reminiscent of the work songs sung by the chain-gangs of the American South in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.Bottenburg, Rupert, “Personal Best >> Montreal’s Champion goes for gold”, ''Montreal Mirror'', Jan 27-Feb 2.2005 Vol. 20 No. 31
Last retrieved Jan 9, 2010 "I heard Betty singing those blues songs, and she was the girl for that job," said Morin. The single "No Heaven" was used in both a trailer and the ending credits of Gearbox Software's 2009 video game '' Borderlands'', and is used in the opening credits of the television series '' The Line'' and the ending credits of the game Army of Two.

''Chill'em All'' won an ADISQ Félix Award in 2005 for "Album of the Year" in the electronic/techno category and was nominated for "Best Dance Recording" at the 2006 Juno Awards.DJ Champion's bio on his official website
Last retrieved Jan 9, 2010 The single "No Heaven" was nominated at the 2006 CASBY Awards in the category "Favourite New Song" and won the SOCAN prize for Dance Music in 2007.18th Annual SOCAN Award highlights from their official website
Last retrieved Jan 9, 2010 DJ Champion's indie debut went on to sell over 100,000 copies across Canada.

Musical projects from 2006 to 2008

In 2006, Morin released ''The Remix Album'', an album featuring remixes of tracks from "Chill'em All" by such guest musicians as Akufen and Patrick Watson. ''The Remix Album'' garnered Morin another ADISQ Félix Award for "Show of the Year" and it was also nominated for Dance Recording of the Year at the 2007 Juno Awards. Morin and Bonifassi worked together again on a version of 1957 Screamin' Jay Hawkins hit "I Put a Spell on You"; it was used as the theme song of the Québécois film ''Truffe'' which premiered at the Fantasia Festival in January 2008.Rhéaume, Julie, "Le film «Truffe» ouvrira le festival Fantasia le 3 juillet", ''Showbizz.net'', Apr 16, 2008
(French text) Last retrieved Jan 9, 2010"Truffe au Festival Fantasia", ''LeCinema.ca'', Apr 16, 2008
(French text) Last retrieved Jan 9, 2010

''Resistance''

In the winter of 2008, after a long spate of touring and performing, Morin felt that his newer material was starting to sound too similar to the songs of ''Chill'em All'' and he decided to delete an entire studio recording in order to start fresh.DJ Champion bio page from CBC Radio 3
Last retrieved on Jun 1, 2010Berner, Drew, "DJ Champion Chooses Path of Most Resistance", ''Spinner'', Dec 30, 2009
Last retrieved Jan 9, 2010 Morin withdrew himself from the musical scene and began experimenting. He also recruited Pilou Côté, a young musician from the Montreal music scene, to provide vocals, replacing Betty Bonifassi who had since moved on to her own electronic music project, Beast.Dunlevy, T'Cha, "Album of the week Sept. 17: Champion's Resistance", ''The Montreal Gazette'', Sep 2009
Last retrieved Jan 9, 2010
Last retrieved Jan 9, 2010

''Resistance'' was released on September 15, 2009. The first single from the album is titled "Alive Again".

Illness and recovery

On May 18, 2010 it was announced on DJ Champion's official website that all confirmed concert dates up until July 3, 2010 were cancelled. It was explained that Morin was "facing a health matter" which required him to "stop all activities in order to regain his strength."
Last retrieved Jun 1, 2010Duchesne, André, "Loco Locass crée une version instrumentale de ''Le but''", ''La Presse'', May 18, 2010
(French text) Last retrieved Jun 1, 2010 As of June 7, an updated statement was added to his official website confirming that he would be postponing all performances indefinitely."DJ Champion annule tous les spectacles prévus en raison d'ennuis de santé", ''La Presse Canadienne'', June 7, 2010
(French text) Last retrieved Jun 13, 2010 On July 4, 2010 DJ Champion's management company, Bonsound, officially announced to the press that Morin was suffering from lymphoma. On January 27, 2011, DJ Champion posted an announcement on his website stating "I ain't sick anymore", and on April 13 another post on his website stated that he would be "gradually resume performing in the coming weeks".

G Strings

DJ Champion tours with a live back-up band normally composed of four guitarists, one bassist and a vocalist. Together they tour as "Champion et ses G Strings" ("Champion and his G Strings").

Current members

*Maxime Morin — Main producer, keyboards
*Barry Russell — GuitarMontminy, Marie-Josée, "DJ Champion résiste à la tentation de la répétition", ''Le Nouvelliste'', Sep 19, 2009
(French text) Last retrieved Jun 1, 2010
*Sébastien Blais-Montpetit — Guitar
*Pierre-Philippe (Pilou) Côté — Vocals
*Stéphane Leclerc — Guitar
*Jean-Luc Huet — Guitar
*Louis Lalancette — BassConner, Shawn, "Interview – Champion", ''Guttersnipe'', Nov 8, 2009
Last retrieved Jun 1, 2010

Past members

* Betty Bonifassi — Vocals
* Manon Chaput — BassLeijon, Erik, “Beast Emerge From The Champion Camp”, ''CHARTattack'', Apr 9, 2008
Last retrieved Jun 1, 2010
* Blanche Baillargeon — Bass
* Marie-Christine Depestre — VocalsMarie-Christine Depestre performing the song "No Heaven" with DJ Champion
on the Radio-Canada tv show '' Tout le monde en parle'' in 2007. Last retrieved Jun 15, 2010

Discography

* '' Chill'em All'' (2005)
* '' The Remix Album'' (2006)
* ''Live'' (2007)
* ''Resistance'' (2009)
* ''°1'' (2013)
* ''Best Seller'' (2016)

Singles chart positions

References

External links

DJ Champion's official website

DJ Champion on MySpace

{{DEFAULTSORT:Champion
Canadian electronic musicians
Canadian dance musicians
Canadian DJs
Musicians from Montreal
French Quebecers
Living people
1969 births
Electronic dance music DJs