Guâdjéwâ was a rap/rock band from Salaberry-de-Valleyfield with Jérémie-Jacob Loubot-Landreville on lyrics/vocals, Valérie Tremblay on bass, Antoine Beaulieu-Claveau (2010-2013) and Paul Zakarivan (2013) on guitar and myself on drums. The band was focused on writing original songs with very politically-engaged French rap lyrics and performing covers from Rage Against the Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Limp Bizkit among others.
In late 2010, shortly after being founded by Antoine and I during the summer, Guâdjéwâ won the Prix du public at the 2010 local edition of Cégeps en spectacle at Collège de Valleyfield: it was only the second time that the band played live, having played its very first show a few weeks earlier at Valleyfield’s mythic Brasserie Olympique.
In 2011, the band released a self-titled EP, comprised of three songs: Guâdjéwâ, Le 7e continent, T’auras pas mon scalp. A music video for T’auras pas mon scalp, entirely self-produced, was released in early 2012.
Other achievements include opening for Valaire and Peter Peter, as well as winning the Prix du Public at the Rock tes régates music contest in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield.
In 2013, the group (with new guitarist Paul Zakarivan) went to France for 5 shows in the Angoulême region alongside pop-rock power trio LSX. These were the final shows of the band, as it disbanded a few months after coming back to Quebec in late 2013.
In 2021, Guâdjéwâ was mentioned by Pierre-Martial Gaillard in his article ROCK/RAP – Crossover (Hors série Québec) for ONZMTL as one of the prominent examples of rock/rap music in Quebec.