Interview with Francine Desjardins
Audio: Francine Desjardins interviewed by Camille Brochu. Archives of the Musée de l’accordéon. 1995.
Photograph: Detail of a promotional poster for Francine Desjardins and her band. Collection: Marcel Vézina. C. 1975.
Transcript:
Interviewer: Roughly how old were you?
Francine Desjardins: I was about 8.
Interviewer: Were you the one who decided you should take up the accordion?
Francine Desjardins: Yes, I used to play it in secret because my father didn’t want me to touch his Messervier accordion.
Interviewer: It was a diatonic accordion?
Francine Desjardins: Yes, that’s right. He had one from the first batch Marcel made. He kept it hidden. He didn’t want me to use it. But I would put it back in the same place so when he returned, he didn’t notice. [Laughter.] He didn’t like lending it to anyone. Because in those days, a Messervier accordion was considered a piece of art! And then, to help me practice my tunes, I remember taking a piece of cardboard and folding it like an accordion. I’d just hum along and pretend I was playing. But I was humming the tune.
Interviewer: You were just pretending?
Francine Desjardins: Yes, that’s right. Still, I think that’s how I learned. I loved it so much.
Interviewer: You would sing them in your head?
Francine Desjardins: That’s right! And I played along on my piece of cardboard, as if it was an accordion. [Laughter.]