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
Les Foufounes Électriques is a club and concert venue located at 87 Saint Catherine Street East in the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada in a neighbourhood known as the Quartier Latin (Latin Quarter).alternative rock 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
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and Defi ...
Benoît Charest
Benoît Charest (; born in 1964) is a Canadian guitarist and film score composer from Quebec. He is best known for the soundtrack of the animated film ''The Triplets of Belleville (Les Triplettes de Belleville)'' (2003), for which he won a César ...
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
''The Triplets of Belleville'' (french: Les Triplettes de Belleville) is a 2003 animated comedy film written and directed by Sylvain Chomet. It was released as ''Belleville Rendez-vous'' in the United Kingdom. The film is Chomet's first feature ...
" 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
''Chill'em All'' is the debut album by Canadian electronic musician Champion, released in 2004 on Saboteur Records.
A 32-second cut of "No Heaven" serves as the opening theme for the 2009 Canadian TV series ''The Line''. "No Heaven" was also used ...
''. 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 Lawrence Gellert (1898-1979?), was a music collector, who in the 1920s and 1930s amassed a significant collection of field-recorded African-American blues and spirituals and also claimed to have documented black protest traditions in the South of th ...
, 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-gang
A chain gang or road gang is a group of prisoners chained together to perform menial or physically challenging work as a form of punishment. Such punishment might include repairing buildings, building roads, or clearing land. The system was no ...
s of the
American South
The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...
Borderlands A borderland or borderlands are the geographical space or zone around a territorial border.
Borderland or borderlands may refer to:
Places
* Borderland, West Virginia, an unincorporated community in Mingo County, West Virginia
* Borderland (ele ...
'', 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
ADISQ (french: Association québécoise de l'industrie du disque, du spectacle et de la video; eng, Québec Association for the Recording, Concert and Video Industries, link=yes) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to support the indepen ...
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 Award
The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...
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
The Juno Awards of 2007 were hosted in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada on the weekend ending 1 April 2007. These ceremonies honoured music industry achievements in Canada during most of 2006. The event was well known for a possible tape delay by t ...
. Morin and Bonifassi worked together again on a version of 1957
Screamin' Jay Hawkins
Jalacy J. "Screamin' Jay" Hawkins (July 18, 1929 – February 12, 2000) was an American singer-songwriter, musician, actor, film producer, and boxer. Famed chiefly for his powerful, operatic vocal delivery and wildly theatrical performances of s ...
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").
Betty Bonifassi
Betty or Bettie is a name, a common diminutive for the names Bethany and Elizabeth. In Latin America, it is also a common diminutive for the given name Beatriz, the Spanish and Portuguese form of the Latin name Beatrix and the English name Beatrice ...
Radio-Canada
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...
Chill'em All
''Chill'em All'' is the debut album by Canadian electronic musician Champion, released in 2004 on Saboteur Records.
A 32-second cut of "No Heaven" serves as the opening theme for the 2009 Canadian TV series ''The Line''. "No Heaven" was also used ...
Live
Live may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film
* ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film
*'' ''Live'' (Apocalyptica DVD)
Music
*Live (band), American alternative rock band
* List of albums ...