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Damien Robitaille

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Damien Robitaille
Background information
BornJune 1981 (1981-06) (age 43)
Lafontaine, Ontario, Canada
GenresPop
Instrument(s)
Years active2000–present
LabelsAudiogram
Websitedamienrobitaille.com

Damien Robitaille (French pronunciation: [damjɛ̃ ʁɔbitaj], born June 1981) is a Canadian musician from the village of Lafontaine, Ontario in the Georgian Bay area, two hours north-west of Toronto. He is a Franco-Ontarian musician whose career is mainly based in Quebec, where he has lived since 2003.

Biography

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Damien Robitaille's father was Francophone, and his mother was Anglophone. Robitaille started playing the piano when he was eight years old. Later in his childhood he learned to play such instruments as the trumpet, guitar and violin.[1] At fifteen, he began to compose his songs in English.

At eighteen, following the advice of his music teacher, Damien Robitaille composed his first three songs in French and recorded his first album.[2] He studied classical music at the Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, where he was a member of the rock band The Mezameeze (made to sound like "Mes Amis" in French, meaning "My Friends"). The band performed Damien's French compositions and won the Battle of the Bands university music competition.

Halfway through his university career he was a finalist in Ontario Pop, a Franco-Ontarian competition, in which he won a scholarship to attend a one-year program at "L'École Nationale de la Chanson de Granby" in Granby, Quebec. In 2002, Damien Robitaille released his first album, Damien. In 2004, Robitaille, a young poetic musician, performed as a finalist at the Festival de la chanson de Granby (Granby Song Festival) in Granby, Quebec. This festival, as well as the Francouvertes festival in Montreal, Quebec where he won first prize,[3] helped Robitaille become a successful musician in Quebec.[4] That same year, he opened for Jim Corcoran in Sudbury. In the fall, Damien Robitaille participated in the Radio-Canada[5] show Le Garage, hosted by Véronic DiCaire, which brought together emerging artists from Ontario, Quebec and the Outaouais region. Also, in 2004, he was a finalist at the Festival de la chanson de Saint-Ambroise, where he won six awards. He then moved to Montreal, where he has lived ever since.[6] 

Robitaille performs the vocals, guitar and piano for all of his songs.

In March 2005, his album Damien Robitaille was selected at the Gala des Prix Trille Or as "Discovery of the Year". That same year, he won several awards, including first prize at the Francouvertes de Montréal. It was the first time a francophone artist outside Quebec won that prize. He also won the SOCAN song award.[2]

In 2006, Robitaille released his first full-length album titled L'homme qui me ressemble (The Man Who Looks Like Me). The title is a reference to the duality of being a performer having to take on a persona, which is a large part of Robitaille's act. He travels in Europe and participates in several French-Canadian festivals. He also took part in the tribute show to Plume Latraverse (Chapeau à Plume)[7] and the tenth-anniversary concert of the Francouvertes. At the end of the year, he was named "Sacré talent" by the radio station Espace Musique (Radio-Canada). The album L'Homme qui me ressemble received four nominations at the ADISQ in 2007. The record also received a nomination for "best album" at the Juno Awards[8] in 2008.

On September 8, 2009, he launched his album Homme Autonome. The album went on to be nominated eight times for the Gala des Prix Trille Or in January 2011 and won six awards. In 2010, he gave two musical performances during the Vancouver Olympic Games ceremonies. The album Homme autonome then received 8 nominations at the ADISQ in 2010, including Songwriter of the Year, Contemporary Folk Album of the Year, Singer-Songwriter of the Year, Music Video of the Year (On est né nu), Show of the Year and Writer of the Year (he won this award).

Damien Robitaille released a new album in 2012, Omniprésent. In 2013, he received eight more nominations at the Gala des Prix Trille Or for this new album and his website.

On November 16, 2016, he released the single "Tout feu tou flamme". He is released under Audiogram.

The fifth album Univers parallèles (2017[9]) is produced with Carl Bastien and Michel Bélanger as artistic directors[10] and will be followed in 2019 by an album of Christmas songs, entitled Bientôt ce sera Noël (including seven original tracks and three covers), produced with the same team.

In 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic, he reinvented himself by posting a series of videos on social networks of himself performing multiple compositions in his home. The videos have been a big hit all over the world. His cover of the song Pump Up the Jam by the band Technotronic went viral with over 10 million views on Twitter. The video was reshared by former basketball player Rex Chapman, actor Elijah Wood and star Jennifer Garner.[11][12]

His 200th song of the day was We Are the World, a song that features 21 artists in the original version.[13]

As part of the School culture days of 2020, he offered the song Il me semble in a karaoke version so that all the students of Quebec and the Francophonie could sing in together.[14]

Other projects

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Radio

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During the 2011 summer season, Damien Robitaille hosted two radio shows on ICI Musique: Jamais trop tard pour les standards, which highlighted pop and jazz classics from the 1930s to the 1950s, and La Chaîne musicale, which brought together singer-songwriters to present their musical world.[15][16]

TV

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Ma caravane au Canada, broadcast in 2014 on TV5, featured Damien Robitaille and Vincent Gratton introducing francophones from different regions of Canada.[17]

Damien Robitaille also hosted the show Voyage de chien on the Unis TV channel (filmed in Ontario and Manitoba) with his dog Suki (an American Akita) in 2016. The program showcased the natural encounters and events that occur when you have a dog.[18]

He has also performed three of his songs: Mambo Mètissè, Homme Autonome, and Bienvenue a Longueiul during two different episodes of the quiz show *100 Gènies.

Gurdeep Pandher

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During the 2021 summer, Damien Robitaille collaborated with dance artist and educator Gurdeep Pandher of the Yukon, and their collab video registered 4 million views.[19][20]

Discography

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  • Damien (2000) - Independently released album which Damien recorded with the help of his high school music teacher
  • Damien Robitaille (2002) - Mini-album featuring tracks from Francouvertes
  • L'homme qui me ressemble (2006)
  • Homme Autonome (2009)
  • Omniprésent (2012)
  • Univers parallèles (2017)[21]
  • Bientôt ce sera Noël (2019)

Filmography

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Nominations

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Juno Awards

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Damien Robitaille was nominated for two Juno Awards in the "Francophone Album of the Year" category in 2008 for L'Homme qui me ressemble[8] and in 2014 Omniprésent.[22]

Gala des prix Trille Or

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This biennial event is organized to recognize the talents of musicians and sound artists from Ontario and Western Canada. In 2015, Damien Robitaille hosted the edition.[23]

Year Work Award Result
2005 Damien Robitaille Découverte de l'année Nomination
2009 Damien Robitaille Interprète masculin de l'année Lauréat
2009 Damien Robitaille Spectacle de l'année Lauréat
2009 ??? Vidéoclip de l'année Lauréat
2009 Mètres de mon être de l'album L'Homme qui me ressemble Prix Radio-Canada de la chanson la plus primée Lauréat
2009 Damien Robitaille Artiste ou groupe franco-ontarien s'étant le plus illustré à l'extérieur de la province Lauréat
2011 Homme autonome Meilleure pochette Nomination
2011 ??? Meilleur Vidéoclip Nomination
2011 Damien Robitaille Auteur, compositeur ou auteur-compositeur par excellence Lauréat
2011 Damien Robitaille Interprète masculin par excellence Lauréat
2011 Homme autonome Meilleur album Lauréat
2011 Damien Robitaille Meilleur spectacle Lauréat
2011 Damien Robitaille Artiste solo ou groupe franco-ontarien s'étant le plus illustré à l'extérieur de la province Lauréat
2011 Damien Robitaille Coup de cœur des médias Lauréat
2013 Damien Robitaille Interprète masculin par excellence Lauréat
2013 Damien Robitaille Prix SOCAN de l'auteur, compositeur ou auteur-compositeur par excellence Nomination
2013 Au pays de la liberté de l'album Omniprésent Prix Radio-Canada pour la chanson primée Nomination
2013 Omniprésent Meilleur Album Nomination
2013 Damien Robitaille Artiste solo ou groupe franco-ontarien s'étant le plus illustré à l'extérieur de la province Lauréat
2013 Omniprésent (pour le travail de Lone Lebone) Meilleur arrangeur/réalisateur de disque Nomination
2013 Omniprésent Meilleure pochette Nomination
2013 www.damienrobitaille.com Meilleur site internet Lauréat

References

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  1. ^ "Damien Robitaille". www.atuvu.ca (in French). Retrieved 2021-07-05.
  2. ^ a b Robitaille, Damien. "Damien Robitaille" (in French).
  3. ^ "Éditions précédentes". Francouvertes website. Retrieved July 20, 2014.
  4. ^ "Artistes: Damien Robitaille". Bande/Apart. Retrieved July 20, 2014.
  5. ^ "Damien Robitaille". 400e. Retrieved 2021-07-06.
  6. ^ "Québec Info Musique | Damien Robitaille". www.qim.com. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  7. ^ Hébert, Francis (26 October 2006). "Vincent Vallières, Éric Goulet : Salut Plume!". Voir.ca (in Canadian French). Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  8. ^ a b "Lafontaine native up for Juno award". Simcoe.com. 27 March 2008. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  9. ^ Univers parallèles by Damien Robitaille, 2017-04-07, retrieved 2021-07-08
  10. ^ ICI.Radio-Canada.ca, Zone Arts-. "L'univers parallèle de Damien Robitaille". Radio-Canada.ca (in Canadian French). Retrieved 2021-07-08.
  11. ^ "Quebec singer Damien Robitaille's Pump Up the Jam cover goes viral". montrealgazette. Retrieved 2021-07-06.
  12. ^ "A Montreal musician makes headlines after his latest video goes viral | Watch News Videos Online". Global News. Retrieved 2021-07-06.
  13. ^ "We Are The World: one of Damien Robitaille's "greatest challenges"". News in 24 Lifestyle English. 2021-05-18. Retrieved 2021-07-06.
  14. ^ "Il me semble, de Damien Robitaille | Une chanson à l'école | Les Journées de la culture". La Fabrique culturelle (in Canadian French). Retrieved 2021-07-08.
  15. ^ ICI.Radio-Canada.ca, Zone Arts- (22 June 2011). "Un vent d'été souffle sur Espace musique". Radio-Canada.ca (in Canadian French). Retrieved 2021-07-09.
  16. ^ "En avant Espace Musique!". Le Devoir (in French). 23 June 2011. Retrieved 2021-07-09.
  17. ^ "Vincent Gratton : L'émission Ma caravane au Canada est à Sydney | Le réveil / Nouvelle-Écosse et T.-N.-L. | ICI Radio-Canada Première". ici.radio-canada.ca. Archived from the original on 2021-06-29. Retrieved 2021-07-09.
  18. ^ Lemieux, Marc-André (7 May 2016). "Le périple canin de Damien". Le Journal de Montréal. Retrieved 2021-07-09.
  19. ^ "Canada : la star dansante des réseaux sociaux Gurdeep Pandher rencontre l'homme-orchestre Damien Robitaille". TV5MONDE (in French). 2021-07-16. Retrieved 2022-11-14.
  20. ^ David, Pascaline (2021-07-10). "Le phénomène web Gurdeep Pandher se déhanche au Québec". La Presse (in French). Retrieved 2022-11-14.
  21. ^ "Univers parallèles by Damien Robitaille on Apple Music". Apple Inc. 7 April 2017. Retrieved April 18, 2017.
  22. ^ CBC. "CBC". Archived from the original on 2021-11-07.
  23. ^ ICI.Radio-Canada.ca, Zone Arts- (7 May 2015). "Gala hors d'ondes des prix Trille Or : deux prix pour le Mehdi Cayenne Club". Radio-Canada.ca (in Canadian French). Retrieved 2021-07-09.
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