Timmins-born singer and songwriter Céleste Lévis is trying to stay positive amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Lévis, 25, lives and works in Ottawa with her fiancé and guitarist Marc-Antoine Joly.
Since the start of the pandemic, they’ve been doing a few Facebook lives and working on various music projects from their studio. Lévis has also been working with local school boards in Ottawa performing and sending positive video messages to students.
Many of her contracts and a big tour with about 30 shows across Canada have been cancelled due to the pandemic, but some gigs have been moved to next year or shifted online. Lévis says the hardest part is not knowing how long the whole situation will last.
“Quite a bit has changed,” she says. “At first, we were hopeful things would get back to normal and they haven’t, so more and more we were disappointed.”
“But we’re trying to stay positive. We’re lucky to create, to record and still be able to release music. And it has given us time to complete some other projects that we wouldn’t have time to complete.”
May 1, she released a new song. Titled “Run To You,” it is a first song that has been produced by Lévis and Joly from start to finish, including photography, shooting the music video, writing the lyrics, recording and marketing.
“It’s about finding that special someone and knowing even though you may spend all your days with them as soon as they leave for a little while, how much you’ve missed them and how much you need them,” she says. “I tried to stay vague so that everyone can make their own story.”
It was also the first time they released a song under their own Joly Records label, which Lévis says they created to be able to make independent decisions in the ever-changing music industry.
Lévis started singing at the age of 13 after she was diagnosed with Chiari malfunction which made her stop doing sports.
She moved to Ottawa in 2013 to study advanced mathematics but after participating in La Voix in 2015 she decided to stop her studies to focus on her music career.
“(Music) is something to bring me hope, to make me feel good, to make people happy,” she says. “I think it portrays in my songs and my lyrics. I always try to stay positive. For me, music helped me get through quite a bit … It just means everything to me and it’s become the majority of my life.”
Thanks to her music teacher at École secondaire catholique Thériault, she says she realized the importance of the French language.
“It's something that disappears so quickly if you don’t practice it and to learn about the history and the culture, it’s something that became a passion of mine. And I realized how important it was to express myself in that language and to surround myself with that community.”
Sometimes, writing songs in English comes naturally to her; other times, she finds there are more ways to say something in French. Having debuted in the French music industry and having established many contacts, crossing over into the English industry has been very difficult to her due to big competition and having to make new contacts, she says.
“But at least I’m confident in what I am doing and what I am putting out as music because I’ve discovered who I am as an artist, so I think that’s really important now that I’m finally ready to show everybody what I have to offer.”
With two already released albums “Céleste” and “Donne-moi le temps”, Lévis is currently working on the third French album and on a bilingual Christmas album which will be finished this summer. Some English songs are underway as well.
In writing music, she draws inspiration from her personal experiences. Sometimes she adds a few fictional details to the story but strives not to be too specific so that listeners can relate to her music. Currently, her favourite artist is a Canadian singer and actress Lennon Stella.
When the lockdown is lifted and audiences are allowed to go back to attending concerts and music shows, Lévis reminds it’s important to support not only performers on stage but those working behind the scenes as well.
“There’s a whole team behind that, whether it be technicians for the sound or lighting. It’s important to think of them when you go see a show. I really hope when all this is over, people will encourage and go see more shows than they did before if they can.
"Other than that, I just hope everybody stays safe and my music is always there is they need it."
