Exclusive Interview with Manu Chevalier

Artist Spotlight: Manu Chevalier

International musician and funk sensation Manu Chevalier brings a new beat to the dancefloor with his single, “I’m alright (feat. Lumina B).” The French musician and songwriter blends funk, soul, jazz, reggae, and pop for a captivating sound with worldwide appeal.

In this exclusive Q&A, [Artist’s Name] opens up about the stories behind the music, lessons learned along the way, and what keeps their passion alive.

BH Review: How has your relationship with music changed as your career has developed?

Manu Chevalier: Music was always a passion, a hobby, but since I moved into a professional way and I started a career,  it has brought more personal and financial investment with passion, stress, self-pressure, and expectations. I had some interesting results, but also a lot of disappointments. 

The music industry has changed, the competition is very high quality (120, 000 new tracks every day on Spotify),  AI is starting to be everywhere, and even if my relationship with music is always strongly connected, I don't exclude stopping my career and giving up. 

BH Review: How do you typically move from an early idea to something that feels complete?

Manu Chevalier: Generally, I start with the music, I may have a melody, a bit of melody or a specific Chord progression on keyboard, and I can sharpen and build a complete melody while I already think about the structure. Then, once I have the main melodic draft, I start to think about words that can match the melody, and I also think about a storyline.

As a non native english speaker, I always try to use simple formulations, but singable formulations. Then once I have Lyrics, melody, Chord progression and structure, I can rework around to improve the song till a final version. The production is the next step.

BH Review: How do you know when a song has reached the point where it no longer needs anything added?

Manu Chevalier: I'm never sure about that. But as I was mentored by great songwriters/Hitmakers at the songwriting academy, it might happen that I ask one of them to review it, which would be like a final validation. It can always be better, but at the end I have to make the final decision.

BH Review: Have there been any recent shifts in the way you think about your sound or style?

Manu Chevalier: Yes and no. I have a wide musical culture, especially the basis, and as I know about the sound and style, I generally got the ideas and the directions I want to give.  But I often try some sounds I haven't tried before, and if it sounds consistent with the song, I keep it.

BH Review: How intentional are you about the emotional or sonic atmosphere of a release?

Manu Chevalier: I always try to bring all the elements that fit the style and the emotion that can be felt in the song. 

One of the most important things is the voice, which will "sell" the song.

I always sing my own demos, but for the final version, I will always hire a singer who fits the style. I don't think that my voice is strong enough for my songs, but it's generally good enough to be used as a vocal guide as I'm often quite accurate.

BH Review: What felt most important for you to express through your latest release?

Manu Chevalier: If we talk about "I'm alright" the most important is the groove in the song.

BH Review: How did the process behind this project differ from your earlier work?

Manu Chevalier: I would say that I went a bit out of my comfort zone, especially with the production by testing some sounds.

And for aesthetic reasons, I  play the sax with a Midi Keyboard, knowing that I'm formerly, a sax player.  I also hired a female singer, it's not the first time but a lot of my songs are performed by male singers.

BH Review: Is there a particular song on the project that feels especially significant to you?

Manu Chevalier: Well, "I'm Alright is a new song which is released as a single, so there are no other songs associated with it. 

But talking about my recent releases, I would like to mention 2 of them for 2 different reasons: "Back to my dream" because, in terms of composition I made a lot of progress by exploring Keys and melody changes.  I also recorded my voice in the background and vocal harmonies.

I wanted to have a kind of YachtRock/Funky song in the vein of Mike McDonald, Hall and Oates,  and the challenge was successful. Many people who appreciate that genre told me that the song is fantastic.It is also one of my favorite song.

"Get on the dance floor" because it was my first release, and I was challenged to take as a reference an artist that I appreciate. In that case, it was Justin Timberlake, ref track "Rock your body" and lyrically I thought about Kool and the Gang, whose lyrics are simple, easy to remember and match with the melodies they use to write. The final result is great, and despite the mid-tempo (106 BPM) , the song is very groovy, and you wanna dance for sure.

BH Review: What do you hope listeners notice or connect with most on this release?

Manu Chevalier: I'm quite versatile as I also wrote unreleased songs in Soul, RnB, Jazz ....  but till now I released only Disco Funky Pop songs that might bring you to the dance floor. So the message is quite simple: feel the groove, come on and dance, just forget the troubles. The goal is to escape a bit from this hard world.

BH Review: What are you most interested in exploring next, creatively or sonically?

Manu Chevalier: I want to revisit my first single "Get on the dance floor" by bringing some layers, voices and probably some sax arrangements. I wouldn't call that a remix but more an improved version or a 26 version if I finish it by the end of the year.

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