Up Close … with Marcus Mondon the artiste |29 July 2014

‘Put your education first, it is the most important thing in life’

By B.P. Damou

It has been difficult for us journalists lately to find people willing to feature in our ‘Up Close’ column. Discussing my difficulties with one of my fellow colleagues, he enthusiastically helped me to find one of his acquaintances who eagerly agreed to have a last minute interview with me.

‘Debout for pour mon lekor, pe sirmonter avek en gran zefor. Pa pou retournen lavi i kontinyen. Mon tenir tou mon dignite san okenn regre, san okenn regre.’
I bet reading the lyrics the rhythm is already beating in your head and without doubt you’ve already guessed the person we’re going to learn more about today in our ‘Up Close’ column. Yes, it’s Marcus Mondon, better known by his stage name Cus Mun.

I was excited to meet him as I have seen him during different music concerts and I was expecting someone with a personality all over the place as I have seen him on stage. But to my surprise when he walked in the office he was shy and smiley. But once we started talking our conversation just flowed.

Born under the star sign Pisces, Marcus was born on March 3, 1996. He lives at Copolia with his parents and brother. Marcus did all his primary and secondary studies at Plaisance school. He is now furthering his education at the School of Advanced Level Studies (Sals) where he is studying computing and business studies.

“I was always an active kid, I never misbehaved but I was very stubborn. As long as I can remember I never liked reading but I always loved music. I make sure I remain updated with music especially local ones,” Marcus said smiling.

Most of our local artists discover their talents through the Creole Festival’s inter-school competition ‘Moman Kreativite’. And without doubt Marcus started acting in this competition.

“I started with story telling, then I moved to drama. After that I started acting and I starred in small television adverts,” Marcus explained.

Marcus has also starred in the famous Seychelles Broadcasting Corporation’s local programme ‘Senaryo Alternativ’. It was then that his interest in music grew. Marcus’ first song was ‘Admir ou an sekre’ which he sings with Ion Kid.

“After my first song I took a break from acting and singing as at that time I was in secondary five and I needed all of my time to focus on my education. I also passed my IGCSE exam,” Marcus said.

After succeeding in his exam he moved to Sals and he then made two songs ‘Anba sa soley’ and the famous moutya ‘Parti mizer’.   

Many of our readers may have heard of a production called ‘Menas’, a sequel production of different artists that show different situations that many people are facing in reality.

“In ‘Menas’ I play the role of Phillip, a young man who did not complete his schooling and after that found himself losing his girlfriend. He looks for a job and ends up working for his ex-girlfriend’s rich boyfriend. Seeing his girlfriend with another man he tries to win her back and he sees himself turning into delinquency. He gets involved in all kinds of criminal activities just to get money, like selling tortoise meat and many others,” Marcus explained when giving a brief summary of his role in ‘Menas’.

“With ‘Menas’ we as artists are trying to show actors and Seychellois in general that there is a future in acting here in Seychelles. ‘Menas’ has five episodes and three of the episodes have been released online and it will soon be aired in Reunion Channel,” Marcus added.

Being a busy body with school and acting, Marcus still finds time to produce music. With his talent to write poems and play the guitar, Marcus is currently working on an album for his fans. There’s no one particular thing that inspires Marcus to write his songs. “I may be walking down town and a phrase my just pop up in my mind. I write it down and when I get home I work on it. I can say that writing songs comes naturally to me,” he said.

Marcus does not have a specific date when he is going to launch his album but he is expecting it to be around end of September to October.

“The album I’m working on will have 10 songs and it will be of different genres and on different topics. But as my favourite is reggae and dancehall there will be songs of those genres on my album,” Marcus said smiling.

Although the hobbies or spare time of most artists revolve around their talents, for Marcus this is not the case. Strangely enough in his spare time he loves to sleep or holding a console and play video games.

Even if he has performed in many concerts and has featured in many adverts and acted in local programmes, Marcus makes sure that his education comes first.
 
“I always advise other young artists like me to put their education first; it is the most important thing in life. It does not stop anyone to explore their talents but remember that with a good education one can move faster in life. One can reach any goal one wants,” Marcus advised.

Marcus took the opportunity to send a message to those young people who have let drugs and alcohol rule their lives.

“I believe that each one of us has a right to make a choice in our lives. It is up to us to say no to drugs and alcohol. Many might say that in music also there is a lot of bad influences but if one lets oneself be influenced that was one’s choice. There has been a lot of adverts, talks and campaigns against drug abuse; most people know that drugs is not good; therefore all I can advise is to make the right decision and say no to drugs and alcohol.”

Like any young man Marcus has a plan for his future. “As I never mix my education with my artistic pursuits, I am not planning to do so in my future as a working man. I plan to leave my coat as an artist at home whenever I go to work. I will only wear it when I am not working. I will do so because I see that when you take up two things at once you tend to neglect one. I may be wrong but for me I see things run more smoothly when I do not mix the two,” Marcus said.

Marcus took the opportunity to thank all who have helped him through his journey and to be where he is today.

“I do not want to mention any names as there are many people whom I would like to thank and I do not want to miss out anybody,” he said.

For you who love Marcus’ songs, just wait as Marcus has said his album will be out soon.