Gigi de Nissa, a music group from Nice, gets together to rehearse.

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E. Martin / ANP / 20 Minutes

  • In one year, the music group performed three concerts.

  • To continue to keep their music alive, the people of Nice try to meet once a week to rehearse.

  • They need the audience to exist and to know if what they are playing pleases.

Soon a sad anniversary for the whole world, and particularly for the cultural sector.

"Since March, we have done three concerts", summarizes Louis Pastorelli, singer and guitarist of Gigi de Nissa.

With the rest of the group, they keep seeing each other to rehearse because “it's important.

In this way, we hope to prepare for a bright future ”.

Normally, during this period, Gigi de Nissa walks the streets and settles there to play, in the middle of the Nice carnival.

"For the artists and even for the whole population, it is an event which serves to appropriate the city and the life for us", launches, a little nostalgic, the guitarist and singer.

With the Covid-19 and the health situation which does not improve, the members of the group have struggled to find themselves and to exist.

"The public is the first thing that gives you the impression of existing"

Since the end of the second confinement, the members of Gigi de Nissa meet once a week at Louis Pastorelli's and play… for themselves.

“These are moments that we need,” says Cédric Le Donne, on percussion.

We feel alive when we are together.

We prepare some songs, we do our repertoire.

What is missing is the human aspect.

Making music is sharing it physically ”.

“The audience is the first thing that gives you the impression of existing,” adds Nicolas Saibene, who plays all types of stringed instrument.

For them, no social networks, videos to share or special interactions with a virtual community.

"You have to be in contact with people to see if what you are doing is working", underlines the percussionist.

So they tried to sit in the street and play.

"It was not to ask for money, but to see if what we had worked on appealed to passers-by," said Louis Pastorelli.

But ultimately, "it's too risky", respond the musicians. 

"It's wrong to believe that we can create more"

Without asking for money, no, because they are "lucky to be intermittent at the show" or to work alongside.

Except their accordionist, Milena Pastorelli, who could not accumulate her hours for status.

She explains: “It's demotivating for young people.

There, I paddle completely to do what I love.

Everything is not as secure for my future as if it hadn't been for the coronavirus.

I start to wonder if I will not change my professional path ”.

“So that she has the skills and the potential to continue in music,” the rest of the group said. 

For musicians, this period of crisis cannot be, as one might think, "a period of creation".

The guitarist explains: “You have to have perspectives and dreams to create.

Making music takes your life.

In this context, we struggle to take this time which inspires us.

Creation comes from what we experience and from the emotions that arise from these moments.

So it's wrong to believe that we can create more because we have time ”.

In the meantime, they settle in the large room of the house in Nice, everyone takes their instrument.

The feet hit the ground to set the pace.

The smiles and the nods of the head when the first notes ring confirm what they were proclaiming: “You need places and meetings for things to happen.

Music is lived and felt ”.

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  • Nice

  • Music

  • Coronavirus

  • Culture

  • Concert