Name: Manuel Bienvenu
Nationality: French
Occupation: Singer, songwriter
Current release: Manuel Bienvenu's new album oh do we is out March 7th 2025 via microcultures.
Recommendations for Montreuil: If you are actually visiting Montreuil, 93100, France, you can have a look at an interesting building, 'Le Conservatoire' (Public School of Music) at the subway station Croix de Chavaux. If you can find your way into the music rooms you will not regret it, but it is a working place and not a tourist attraction, so I suppose you won't.
Otherwise, this publishing company from my neigbourhood is something you can access online.
Topic I am passionate about but rarely get to talk about: The person I am living with is someone I am passionate about and without whom I would not be able to do 10% of what I am doing.

If you enjoyed this Manuel Bienvenu interview and would like to know more about his music, visit his official homepage. He is also on Instagram, and Facebook.



When did you first consciously start getting interested in singing? What was your first performance as a singer on stage or in the studio and what was the experience like?

I was interested in composing music first. However, doing instrumental music proved frustrating. The music I was imagining needed a focal point, and voice seemed to be the most natural one.

By working with other singers I got the notion of how difficult it is to direct a voice that is not yours. The notes, rhythm and words are one aspect, but there are others which are difficult to communicate about, unless you enter an academic approach. And I have never been interested in an academic approach.

I decided to sing myself in order to be in control of those tenuous elements that could make the song slip into something you don't really want.

If you're also playing other instruments, how does the expressive potential of these compare to your own voice?

I have no skill for expressing myself through solo instruments. I can rehearse a melodic part and try to play it as well as possible. I feel more at ease with instruments that convey a certain mix of rhythm and harmony. On a piano or a guitar, sometimes, I feel that my playing can be a little more than just functional.

I care for the result, either the recorded result or the result on stage, and it has to express something, indeed. However I don't pay attention to who is the source of the expression. I don't mind a voice being there only as a presence in order to support the expressiveness of other instruments.

The fragmentation of expressivity over all the instruments, voice included, is something I would like to work on more in my productions.

Singing is an integral part of all cultures, and traditions. Which of these do you draw from – and why?

I draw from a culture that was probably born with the invention of the studio microphone.

By hearing myself for the first time though a Neumann microphone, good preamps, and a headphone, I then decided to use my voice as a part of a musical production. I have never performed a capella.

What were some of the main challenges in your development as a singer/vocalist? Which practices, exercises, or teachers were most helpful in reaching your goals – were there also “harmful” ones?

The main challenge was probably to accept the limitations of my natural voice and nevertheless dare to use it.

There was a time when, on stage, I tried to apply techniques I got from a teacher. It did not work. I was stuck between two universes, two intentions. I had lost spontaneity and intimacy, but was not able to push my voice enough to reach some lyrical level, or at least another level of expressivity.

From there I have chosen to keep my natural voice and then tried to improve it from the inside by enriching my tone, by being present. I have a long way to go!

What are the things you hear in a voice when listening to a vocalist? What moves you in the voices of other singers?

What moves me in a certain voice can be the same thing that makes another voice difficult to listen, tiresome or even off-putting.

I suppose it has something to do with honesty. Keeping in mind that artificiality or authenticity can be equally honest.

How would you describe the physical sensation of singing? [Where do you feel the voice, do you have a visual sensation/representation, is there a sense of release or tension etc …]

Singing seems to change my perception of time. Sometimes I have the sensation that time is a matter, a sort of clay that I can deform with my voice. It is a nice feeling then.

Otherwise I have often heard of the orgasmic sensation of singing, especially singing loud. But I haven't reached that point.

We have a speaking voice and a singing voice. Do these feel like they are natural extensions of each other, ends on a spectrum or different in kind?

My singing voice is close to my speaking voice, it's a fact. But actually I would like my singing voice to be as far from my speaking voice as possible. I am still in research about this.

For example speaking on top of music is something I hate to do.

How do you see the relationship between harmony, rhythm and melody? Do you feel that honing your sense of rhythm and groove has an effect on your singing skills?  

My observation is that in singing, rhythm - or groove - is as important as being in tune, sometimes more, especially for the great singers. I would like to be one of those great singers who don't have to care about being in tune, but that's not going to happen, so I try to stay in tune and at the same time use the rhythm as a control lever for expressivity.

The way to breathe, and when, is crucial but I get disturbed if I think about it, so it's something that I hope I can improve so that it becomes like an instinct.

It is like for the dancers I guess. While performing, if they become conscious that they have a body, that is when they fall.

As a singer, it is possible to whisper at the audience, scream at the audience, reveal deep secrets or confront them with uncomfortable truths. Tell me about the sense of freedom that singing allows you to express yourself and how you perceive and build the relation with the audience.

It was a good surprise for me to feel that I could lead a band with my voice. A sensitive band will follow the singer's intention, making the singer responsible of leading them to interesting places, or difficult places. Therefore my concern while singing probably goes a lot to the band.

Towards the audience, it's also a responsibility to throw a human line from the stage to the people and the voice has the power to do it in the most natural way. As a listener I like to listen to the band or the orchestra as much a anything else.

Often when attending a concert or listening to an album I care about the voice mainly because the absence of it would make the music pointless, and because an unfit voice would break the spell. So often I like a good singer that I don't have to listen to - as much as I like a good vocal performer.

I am trying to be that singer who allows the listener to enjoy the work of the band and the work of the composer. But I know that some people have their focus always going to the voice whenever there is one. I suppose that they can feel the energy conveyed by the band, but will not actually listen to the musicians.

That is tricky for me. Because it is not the way I listen to music.

When you're writing song lyrics, do you sense or see a connection between your voice and the text? Does it need to feel and sound “good” or “right” to sing certain words? What's your perspective in this regard of singing someone else's songs versus your own?

I don't think one can separate the sound of the words from their meaning. Unless you don't understand the language at all, words will be followed by a fraction of meaning, and there is no mental process that can erase this. Therefore the text is important and I spend a lot of time working on it.

My process is basically to rework the lyrics until I feel that the words, with their sound, accent, natural punch, of course, but also their meaning, add to the music.

Strain is a particularly serious issue for many vocalists. How do you take care of your voice? Are the recipes or techniques to get a damaged voice back in shape?

I don't take good care of my voice. With the kind of tone I have, one bottle of Bourbon and two packs of cigarettes a day would probably help. But I am not that disciplined.

I have read that mumbling, mouth closed, can be good for the vocal chords, to moisturize them. For this reason I have the habit of mumbling when I walk alone, and before recording I do strange noises that i was told to do, but that is all.

How has technology, such as autotune or effect processing, impacted singing? Has it been a concrete influence on your own approach?

The microphone and preamp are the only technology that have impacted my singing. It was a real impact, as I can hardly sing without them. If I like a part but a note is out of tune, I will use the pitch function from the software to correct that note by hear, but that's all.

I almost never use plugins myself. My mixing engineer is allowed to use them if he can hide it from me. But that's just because I don't like the idea of them. In my experience they have always destroyed something in the sound, drained some vitality. I know that they have improved a lot but I didn't keep up. If I like what I hear I just don't care where it comes from - plugin or not. But it's easier for me to skip the use of the plugins only in order not to get lost in the creative process.

If the mixing engineer proposes to pass my backing vocals into a correcting plugin and it sounds good, I will agree. And if he adds that the plugin was used by Mariah Carey, I will beg for it. But myself I don't include the usage of these tools into my work.

For recording engineers, the human voice remains a tricky element to capture. What are some of the favourite recordings of your own voice so far and what makes voices sound great on record and in a live setting?

I think I should get an Aphex Aural Exciter and learn how to set it up for my voice. I have tried it on one album and it seemed a good choice for me. I should get one at home and also bring it with me on stage maybe. Also a brighter microphone. But brighter and cheap is the worst combination for a microphone.

I'd dream to have a Sony C37A, not especially bright, but extremely responsive and charming, but they became almost unavailable. For my latest album oh do we I used exclusively the AKG C414 B-ULS. It is a mic that I know I can always trust on any source. However it is a bit too neutral for voice, especially mine. I have to rethink this for the next recordings.

That is why selling a lot of records is good. You can invest in better equipment for the next album and make everyone happy.

Motherese may have been the origin of music, and singing is possibly the earliest form of musical expression, and culture in general. How connected is the human voice to your own sense of wellbeing, your creativity, and society as a whole?

Now I don't easily imagine composing music, something personal, and not singing at least a part of it. It would feel slightly sad. Like going near the seaside and not seeing the sea.

What I am trying to do needs to find its coherence from song to song, album to album. And my voice is the most natural link, the common presence.