Kashtin
[Florent Vollant once explained that in Innu, it means "tornado on the horizon" or, conversely, "good times ahead." In English it is pronounced "cashed in", which he said was their way of having fun with friends who said they had sold out.] In 1984 Claude McKenzie [Born March 11, 1967 near Schefferville in Labrador / Canada. Said that he moved to Maliotenam at the age of six, but that he has been living in Montreal at least since 1984 (Interview 6/27/99)] and Florent Vollant [Born August 10, 1959. Said that he started playing with his own band at the age of 16 (Video "Eternal Drum")] began to write songs together on the Maliotenam reserve of Northern Quebec to help alleviate the tedium of reserve life and by 1989 they were off and flying. On stage, McKenzie bristles with raw energy. His voice is gritty, his stance pure militant and very traditional. Vollant, almost ten years older is more settled in his ways. Between the two of them they manage to cover the emotional scales from both sides.
The duo effortlessly throws a rich mixture of modern instruments and natural elements such as thunderclaps and loon cries into their storied musical heritage with a sound that transcends time, space, language and history. The result is an achingly beautiful sound that the band calls Innu rock 'n roll.
Their language is hundreds of years old and spoken by fewer than 12,000 people. Until the last quarter century, it was only transmitted orally. The band is Kashtin, the language is Innu. Singing in their native tongue, the duo has created a singular style of modern music, a potent blend of British Invasion-era rock and insanely catchy contemporary pop hooks, delivered in a distinctly Aboriginal voice.
Akua Tuta (Take Care), Kashtin (Innu for Tornado) The sound is fuller, edgier then their first two CDs, Kashtin and Innu, but the trademark drums, the guitar-powered pop and the fluid harmonies are still very much in evidence.
The music of Kashtin eludes categorization but with a unique Amerindian twist. They are a comfortable mixture of rock, ballads and the AmeriIndian way of life. Taken from : http://www.canoe.ca/JamMusicPopEncycloPagesK/kashtin.html
Kashtin Living approximately 800 km north of Montreal, Quebec, friends Claude McKenzie and Florent Vollant turned to music to break the tedium of living on the Maliotenam reserve of Northern Quebec. Vollant had spent 10 or 12 years playing area bars doing the material of everyone from the Beatles to Pink Floyd, throwing in old songs from their Montagnais native heritage.
Recognizing the talent of McKenzie, whom he met in 1984 when McKenzie's family moved to the reserve, they formed a band that they called Kashtin, which in their native Innu language means tornado. Playing local bars and festivals, the duo became celebrities in Northern Quebec, but had not achieved recognition out of the area until a TV crew from a station in Montreal came north to film them at a festival for a documentary they were doing on the Montagnais natives. One person to be impressed with their television debut was Guy Trepanier, head of Montreal's Groupe Concept Musique and Les Productions Avanti Plus. He brought them down to Montreal to record a demo and very quickly they were picked up by Trans Canada Disc, Canadian label for the Gypsy Kings.
Their self-titled debut was released across the country and sold over 100,000 copies in Quebec almost immediately. Produced by Trepanier, the album eventually went double platinum in Canada, surprising almost everyone because the entire album was in the duo's native Innu language, which only about 12,000 people in the world speak and understand. They quickly became known for their spirited, exciting live shows as they toured across the country and back. In 1990 they made ten trips to Europe and went Top 10 in France; the musicians that played on the album also formed their band: Donald Meunier, Alan Cavallo, Serge Durocher, and Claude Guay.
Returning to the studio after their extensive touring, the second album, 'Innu', was released in 1991, has gone platinum in Canada, and was picked up for US release on TriStar Music. Once again extensive touring at home and abroad drew overwhelming praise from fans and critics alike.
For their third album, 1994's 'Akua Tuta', Kashtin signed with Columbia Records, and the album was released simultaneously in the US with the Canadian release. Robbie Robertson included the title track on his album 'The Native Americans', and one of their songs was featured on the soundtrack to 'Dance Me Outside' [me note: the song is Nikanish from the CD Innu]. The television show Northern Exposure also used some of their songs.
The end of 1996 saw the release of a solo album by Claude McKenzie on Sky Dog Entertainment out of Minnesota, entitled 'Innutown'.
This article originally appeared at: http://www.can-widecirculation.com/JamMusicPopEncycloPagesK/kashtin.html
Thursday, December 26, 1996 Innu musician goes solo TORONTO (CP) -- As half of Innu duo Kashtin, Claude McKenzie last performed alone when he was busking on Montreal's subways in the early '80s. He's back on his own after releasing his first solo album, Innu Town. To demonstrate, McKenzie, in town for some pre-Christmas promotion before returning to his home in Montreal, breaks into song in a deserted downtown restaurant. "Running along a country road," he sings, tipping his chair back and spreading his arms like a lounge crooner playing to an audience. "That's what I'm doing." His eyes light up and a mischievous grin returns. Moments earlier he'd been feeling sluggish. Late afternoon eating can have that affect. He's running solo, for the time being anyway, because long-time singing partner Florent Vollant is on sabbatical. "One day Florent said to me 'I'll have a break, man,'" says McKenzie, who is closing in on 30 in March. "So I said, yes. I respect the guy, he has a family, four children. So he went back to his family and now I'm working on my solo album and I'm proud of it." Vollant is spending time with his family on the Maliotenam reserve, a community in Quebec about 800 kilometres north of Montreal. It's where Kashtin was born. Like Kashtin's music, McKenzie has written and sings most of Innu Town's 12 rockers and ballads in his native tongue, Innu, a language hundreds of years old and spoken by fewer than 12,000 people in northeastern Quebec. But for the first time, he's also recorded songs in French and English, including I Got a Taste of Tears, one of the few songs on the album he didn't write. It's a pretty tune, with gentle acoustic guitar pickings, a chorus of rich harmonies by a quartet of backup singers and McKenzie's raspy voice sounding like Eric Clapton, which may owe something to the "vocal consultant" credited in the liner notes. McKenzie and Vollant turned Kashtin into one of the most successful musical groups in Canada, selling more than 350,000 copies of their first two albums and receiving worldwide attention. When they released their last album, 1994's Akua Tuta, their major label debut, Sony Music suggested Kashtin was poised for a breakthrough in the U.S. But the disc sold only 40,000 copies, a respectable number by Canadian standards but disappointing compared to expectations that maybe overlooked Americans' resistance to music in a "foreign" language, no matter how palatable. Right now McKenzie has the attitude of a modest man. It's been almost three years since he served three months in jail after a 1993 drinking and driving accident on the Maliotenam reserve. McKenzie's two-year-old son also died that year of a degenerative bone disease. He plans to promote Innu Town, released on a small, Montreal-based record label, in the U.S. and Europe and will travel to an industry conference to look for a distribution deal. "Do the cards, give the CDs, and all of that," he says. A spring tour of Canada may follow. In the meantime, McKenzie is offering listeners an out if they dislike a track on his new release. In the CD liner notes, he's written: "If you don't like one of those songs, just press FF." "It's just for fun," he says. "I said 'I gotta do something that nobody's ever done.' It's a good joke, eh?"
Thursday, November 28, 1996 Native singer steers clear of politics By MIKE ROSS Edmonton Sun Rock 'n' roll can be supposedly understood in any language - it's the the rock 'n' rollers themselves that can be a little less fathomable.
Not that Claude McKenzie isn't trying.
One-half of the native duo Kashtin, the 29-year-old singer has a new solo project he's promoting, which he spoke about to The Sun this week. It was a difficult little chat, to say the least.
His first language isn't English, or even French (not that it would help - this interviewer only speaks one language), but Innu, a tongue that only 12,000 people in the world speak. It's the language in which Kashtin wrote most of its songs, the language of its home: a native reservation in northern Quebec.
That the rest of Canada can't understand them hasn't stopped the group from becoming popular, and in fact may have actually helped.
McKenzie doesn't rule out the possibility of recording an all-English album (he says he's learning his English on the road), following other Quebec crossover stars like Celine Dion or Roch Voisine, but he's happy now to stick to the Kashtin formula that earned album sales of more than 350,000. McKenzie's new album is called Innu Town - and all but two songs are in his native tongue.
"It's natural to me," he explains. "I write about what I know or about what I see."
McKenzie will be performing - both with Kashtin and on his own - tonight at the Convention Inn ballroom, as part of the three-day Knowing Our Spirits aboriginal conference.
Despite his presence at this event, McKenzie says he doesn't care to set himself up as a native spokesman quite yet. He stays as far away from politics as he can.
"Music is not politics," he says. "Music joins people. Instead, politics separates people. It's not good to compare music with politics.
"I just want to make songs. I want to make good and try to make my music on stage and be happy. But I don't want to be an ambassador or something like that. I just want to be a musician, and share my rhythm and share my spirit with all the people. And that's it."
McKenzie is considered to be the rowdier, more flamboyant member of Kashtin (not unlike certain non-native rock stars of the past, he got himself in trouble in 1993 when he was arrested and subsequently convicted of drunk driving causing bodily harm). And although there may have been a rift between he and partner Florent Vollant, McKenzie insists Kashtin is simply taking a little break.
"I'm just trying to make something new, just have fun with my own band, but there's no problem between my friend and I ... since January I work alone. It was a little bit strange. It's a double responsibility. I'm not the co-pilot now - I'm the captain of the boat."
This article originally appeared at: http://www.canoe.com/JamMusicArtistsM/mckenzie_claude.html
Rock BY STEW SLATER PROFILE Claude McKenzie Convention Inn Nov. 28 Claude McKenzie steps off the elevator on to the main floor of Edmonton's Convention Inn and I expect him to quickly duck out a back entrance. But he doesn't. He strides into the convention registration area, greets several volunteers and teases an official when he attempts to introduce his wife as a young male well-wisher pushes in between to grab McKenzie's hand. On the morning of his performance at the third annual "Knowing our Spirit" Conference of the Tribal Chiefs Institute, McKenzie's handlers have moved him out of the building into a room in a neighboring hotel, after he was continually being asked for autographs or a handshake. Later, in his hotel room, he says, "when I was 21, I thought I was a star. I got into trouble because of that. Now, I don't think I'm a star." McKenzie, 29, is half of Kashtin, the Québec-based folk/rock duo known for singing in its native Innu tongue. Kashtin's third album Akua Tuta was its first for Sony, but McKenzie and partner Florant Vollant put a hold on further recording to convince the record label to put more support behind their work. In the meantime, McKenzie, who did the minority of Kashtin's writing in the past, has released a solo album of his own songs, entitled Innu Town, on the Musicor label. It's difficult for the highly likable performer to deny his stardom among native Canadians. He's appeared three times in the past few months in the Edmonton area, all for native groups. He offers advice on getting through nights in hotel rooms (if it's dry, as it often is, sprinkle water on the carpet before you go to bed. And always leave the window a little bit open, even if it's -40 out). Now, he'll be on the road even more promoting Innu Town. The album isn't far removed from the fairly simple arrangements and compositions of a Kashtin recording, save for the inclusion of one song each in French (written by McKenzie) and English (a cover tune, but remarkably well-enunciated for someone who spoke very little English until recently). But that's a good thing. Kashtin fans quickly grew to love the beauty of the Innu language, as projected through simple chord progressions, and McKenzie and Vollant's soothing vocals. Ekuen Pua, Mamu and the title track are as catchy and emotional as the best of the duo's work. Over tea in his hotel room, McKenzie discusses the album. "I'm part of Kashtin. It's natural that I'm gonna sound like Kashtin." The difference, he says, is the presence in the songwriting of Claude McKenzie's personal feelings. "I write about real things - what I see, what I touch. I tell stories about heartbreak, about the people I meet, about my girlfriend, about my parents." And he's happy to be on the road telling people about it through song. "It's better when you can sing about things. You can explain more."
This article was orignally located at: http://www.greatwest.ca/SEE/Issues/1996/961205/mus4.html Translation from the French for the following was provided by “M.A” Maliotenam--Rivière Moisie (literally--mouldy river)
Friendship and sharing
Rivière Moisie
The Montagnais (a Native American group) populate of the Sept-Îles region (north eastern Quebec) is divided into two clans: Uashat (population 1200), situated on the limits of the city to the west and Maliotenam (1500 inhabitants), a village which was founded circa 1950 fourteen kilometres to the east, near the rivière Moisie. We can find in Uashat, reconstructed on the site of an old trading post, the Vieux-Poste (old post), a museum which is definitely worth a visit. Within its perimetre, the Centre for the Interpretation of the Innu Culture is also worth a detour when one wants to learn more about the history and way of life of the first occupants.
Today, the Montagnais are, of their own admission, seeking a delicate equilibrium between their past and the future. They are torn between the desire to preserve their traditional values and their thirst for a chance to embrace modernity. The young, for example, ask themselves if they should follow in the footsteps of their nomadic ancestors or find a stable job.
This dilemna is the source of a grave identity problem felt by the young Montagnais. Members of the community have decided, however, to react and to take a stand, each in their own manner, like the brothers Raoul, Florent, and Réginald Vollant of Maliotem. Raoul, the eldest, leads the fight on the political and cultural front. This is why he created Innu-kanu, the festival of native films of Maliotenam which is at its fourth edition this year. As for Florent, of the duo Kashtin, he sings about the pride of the Innu people on the international stage, and he has begun the construction of a recording studio to promote the talent of young Innu. Finally, Réginald created and piloted for ten years or so a programme of stays in the forest for the young in order to facilitate the transmission of a thousand years of knowledge by the elders.
The Vollant brothers: Florent (in the foreground), Raoul, and Réginald.
Among the customs of which they are fervent defenders, there is that of the matutishan, or the sweatlodge ceremony. It is a ritual of mental and physical purification used by the elders in order to gain the energy necessary to face the exhausting portages they had to make during their long trip up the Moisi towards their hunting grounds. The ceremony begins by the collection of ten or so round stones of about 20 centimetres in diametre on the shores of the Moisi. They are transported to the site of the Matesham and deposited on a pile of wood which is lit and allowed to burn until the stones are red as embers. They are then deposited in a hole in the middle of a low ceilinged tent of which the ground is carpeted with moss. The round form of the tent symbolizes the bosom of Mother Earth with whom we have a desire to reestablish the original link.
Martin Simoneau listens to Réginal Vollant's explanations.
The participants then slip into the tent and find themselves in total darkness, surrounded by intense heat and humidity. Florent Vollant acts as a guide during the length of the ritual which can last up to two hours. At
a certain point, he invites us to invoke deceased parents or grand- parents (symbolised by the round stones) so that they may communicate to us their strength. Kuei ne mushum ! Kuei ne mushum ! (Welcome Elders!)
Florent and Réginald Vollant put hot rocks into the matutishan.
Emerging from the tent, we have the impression of being reborn and we find ourselves in awe of the cold waters of the Moisie, and filled with a sense of well being. Kuei ne mushum ! We then meet around a table where we share a
soup of caribou heart (delicious!) and share the veritable interior transformation we have all just experienced.
Réginald Vollant and Benoît Havard.
It is at this moment that the Vollant brothers inform us that their uncle André, a well renowned hunter and artist in the community, died the preceding night. According to the customs of today, the body will be exposed at the house for three days and three nights. In the olden days, the Innuat (how the Montagnais refer to themselves--Innu is singular) buried their dead on the rocky isles of the high Moisie. Therefore, when we collect rocks on the shore of the river for the ceremony of the matutishan, it is as though we bend over the souls of the elders.
To read the original french and see where the photos came from: http://www.novanor.qc.ca/cote-nord/malio.html
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In 1984 Claude McKenzie [Born March 11, 1967 near Schefferville in Labrador / Canada. Said that he moved to Maliotenam at the age of six, but that he has been living in Montreal at least since 1984 (Interview 6/27/99)] and Florent Vollant [Born August 10, 1959. Said that he started playing with his own band at the age of 16 (Video "Eternal Drum")] began to write songs together on the Maliotenam reserve of Northern Quebec to help alleviate the tedium of reserve life and by 1989 they were off and flying. On stage, McKenzie bristles with raw energy. His voice is gritty, his stance pure militant and very traditional. Vollant, almost ten years older is more settled in his ways. Between the two of them they manage to cover the emotional scales from both sides. 
Returning to the studio after their extensive touring, the second album, 'Innu', was released in 1991, has gone platinum in Canada, and was picked up for US release on TriStar Music. Once again extensive touring at home and abroad drew overwhelming praise from fans and critics alike. 
