Maxime Morin Earns The Right To
Call Himself Champion

By Steve McLean

Montreal composer/musician Maxime Morin's success story is a somewhat unlikely one, but that only makes it more inspiring.

Morin was an excellent guitar player following the typical rock band route when he tired of the excessive showmanship associated with the instrument and got into electronic music in the early '90s. "I found that people weren't looking at the DJ, but were just listening to the music, which was something I loved," he says.

"At that time, electronic music was growing and was full of life and new stuff and new intelligence, and I got really hooked by that. So I played electronic music for a few years with absolutely no guitars."

Morin went by the stage name of Mad Max while also building a lucrative career making music for television and movies. He even performed some of the Oscar-nominated music from the animated film Les Triplettes de Belleville on the 2004 Academy Awards broadcast. But the money and work left him feeling hollow, and he decided to do something different.

Morin adopted the tongue-in-cheek name DJ Champion and started writing electronic-based dance music infused with guitar loops. Champion's Chill 'Em All debut album came out in 2004, but it took a 2005 appearance on the free outdoor stage at the Montreal International Jazz Festival to really launch Morin and his band, Les G-Strings. Champion won ADISQ Awards (Quebec's equivalent of the Juno Award), the song "No Heaven" became a hit and interest was ignited across the country. The Remix Album quickly followed, which earned Champion a Juno nomination and the closing performance slot on the 2006 telecast, leading to more invitations to tour across Canada and showcase in the U.S. and Europe.

Les G-Strings are made up of four guitarists, a bassist and soulful vocalist Betty Bonifassi, and Champion had to figure out a way to communicate with and conduct them during their shows. He came up with hand signals that incorporate elements from jazz and classical music, as well as ideas adapted from universal gestures. But he'd like to expand his range.

"I want to take courses in sign language to get new ideas of communicating with the guitarists. It's interesting to communicate without words. When it works, it's a very cool thing to do."

Chill 'Em All was certified gold in Canada for selling 50,000 copies last year, shortly before Champion released a live CD/DVD package titled Champion Et Ses G-Strings Live that was recorded at Montreal's Metropolis club. It's unusual for an act to put out both a remix record and a live effort after only issuing one studio album, but there was a method to the former Mad Max's madness.

"We started touring, and then touring a bit more, and then touring much more, and then we were touring all the time. We got hooked by the wave so I didn't have time to compose music for a new album. But we wanted to give some candy to the fans because they've been so supportive."

Morin and his bandmates have been jamming and working on ideas for the next studio album, but he's in no rush to get it into stores. "The only goal is to have a good CD at the end," he explains.

"If it's not good next fall, it will be later. I like stuff that lasts. When you play in concert, if you start too hard you don't last until the end. If you take your time with a slow start, you'll go further. It's the same thing with girls."

Here's hoping that Morin has lasting prosperity with both his music and the ladies.