Xavier Caféine is a

French Canadian French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fren ...

rock vocalist, multi instrumentalist, composer and producer from the province of

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. He is the primary songwriter and lead singer of his band Cafeine and has also released music under alternate spellings; Caféine, Xavier Caféïne, or Caféïne. Xavier received formal

Jazz-Pop Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describes a ...

bass training at the Cégep Marie-Victorin school in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

. His first release was the indie-punk album ''Mal éduqué mon amour'' in 1998 sung entirely in French. The follow up album ''Pornstar'' was released in 2000, leaning toward a more

glam rock Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was performed by musicians who wore outrageous costumes, makeup, and hairstyles, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists drew on diver ...

sound, with English lyrics. Xavier formed a band called Poxy and released their self-titled album in 2004, followed by Artificial Pleasures in 2007. In August 2006, he released ''Gisèle'' on Indica Records as a solo project. Once again Xavier wrote the music, sang and performed most of the instruments on his album. Additional drums were recorded by his friend

Michel Langevin Michel "Away" Langevin (born May 30, 1963) is a founding member and drummer of Canadian heavy metal band Voivod. He has been a constant member of the band since its formation in 1982. Langevin is credited with the creation of the mythology of ...

of Voivod. Gisèle considered a classic French-language punk rock album, earning two

ADISQ ADISQ (french: Association québécoise de l'industrie du disque, du spectacle et de la video; eng, Québec Association for the Recording, Concert and Video Industries, link=yes) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to support the indepen ...

2007 nominations for "Best Rock Album of the Year" and "Best Male Artist", and winning the

GAMIQ The Alternative Independent Music Gala of Quebec (french: Gala alternatif de la musique indépendante du Québec; GAMIQ) is an award-giving event created in 2006. It rewards emerging artists from the Quebec music scene. The awards are granted aft ...

2007 award for "Best Rock Album". The

Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) is a Canadian performance rights organization that represents the performing rights of more than 135,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers. The organization collects ...

awarded him the "2008 Discovery of the Year Song" award for "La fin du monde". Cafeine's most recent album New Love was released again on Indica Records in 2013. The album was produced by

Gus Van Go Gus van Go is a music producer, mixer, and musician. He is best known for his work with the Montreal band The Stills, with credits for production, mixing, writing and arranging three albums and one EP with the band. He has also produced and mixed ...

, giving the sound a crisper, more modern electro-punk-pop-rock sound. Singles "New Love", "Electric" and "L'ettre D'Amour" each reached the top 15 French-Canadian Commercial Alternative Radio BDS charts. New Love was primarily recorded in English with alternate French language versions for "Electric" and "L'ettre D'Amour". On February 17, 2015, New Love was digitally released in the US, marking the first time Cafeine's music received domestic distribution in a territory outside of Canada. The USA album cover art was changed from a photo of Cafeine to a blown out photo of a headless angel. A cover version of

The Gun Club The Gun Club were an American rock band from Los Angeles, California, United States, which existed from 1979 to 1996. It was formed and led by singer-songwriter and guitarist Jeffrey Lee Pierce. History Early days (1979–1980) The Gun Club w ...

's song Sex Beat was included as a bonus track. As a live performer, Cafeine is known for his high-octane-punk intensity.

Le Journal de Québec ''Le Journal de Québec'' is a French-language daily newspaper in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. Printed in tabloid format, it has the highest circulation for a Quebec City newspaper, with its closest competitor being ''Le Soleil''. It was found ...

quoted "he is still a beast on stage" referencing Toronto's alternative weekly

NOW Now most commonly refers to the present time. Now, NOW, or The Now may also refer to: Organizations * Natal Organisation of Women, a South African women's organization * National Organization for Women, an American feminist organization * Now ...

Magazine who declared "Cafeine is amazing, what a beast on stage". Established as a beloved personality, Cafeine regularly makes live appearances on French-Canadian music television such as Radio-Canada Television's show Stereopop or

MusiquePlus Elle Fictions (stylized ELLE Fictions) is a Canadian French language specialty channel owned by Remstar Media Group. The channel broadcasts general entertainment programming targeting young adult women. It was first established in 1986 as the mu ...

specials such as Pop de jam. In 2007, Belgian singer

Plastic Bertrand Roger François Jouret (born 24 February 1954), better known as Plastic Bertrand, is a Belgium, Belgian musician, songwriter, producer, editor and television presenter, best known for the 1977 international hit single "Ça plane pour moi". Bi ...

contacted him to collaborate on the writing and composing of his new album "Dandy Bandit". Together they wrote seven songs. The two remain good friends, periodically performing together live as recently as June 24, 2015 in Montreal for the annual St. Jean Baptiste holiday. The free outdoor concert was attended by over 15,000 people in the streets of the Villeray area of Montreal and presented by La fete national dans Villeray 2015.Facebook post
Other producer & songwriting collaborations include two albums for French-Canadian punk band Gazoline, "Futurbabymama" (2012) and their self-titled album Gazoline (2014).

Discography

*1998: ''Mal éduqué mon amour'' *2000: ''Pornstar'' *2004: ''Poxy'' *2006: ''Gisèle'' *2009: ''Bushido'' *2013: ''New Love''

References

19th Annual SOCAN Awards ListArtist profile on Musique Plus
(French only)
Artist profile on Bande à Part

Radio-Canada The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

(French only)

External links

Music Videos
Official YouTube
Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cafeine, Xavier Year of birth missing (living people) Living people French-language singers of Canada Canadian rock singers Canadian male singers Singers from Quebec