Up Close … with young and gifted artist Mikael Vidot |10 April 2018

‘Challenges are meant to be in your life’

Only nineteen years old, exceptional artist Mikael Vidot strongly believes that youths also can become great singers and promote great music worldwide.

Anyone who has ever taken on a giant artistic project knows that originality is a fickle mistress; there are secrets to originality, tricks that work for the best local artist. Mikael is among the few Seychellois artists who incorporate French, English and Creole in his style of music.

In our Up Close column this week, Mikael Vidot, who goes by his stage name M.V., talks about music, personal life and family and how he has managed to overcome obstacles to become the brilliant singer that he is today.

Childhood and family

Born on June 9, 1998, Mikael is the youngest in a family of two children – both males.

He was born in France but came to Seychelles at a very young age and gained nationality since his mum, Suzie Vidot, is a Seychellois.

His mum gave him the best education a child could ask, so he made it his goal to always make her proud.

“During my childhood I was a very dreamy infant. I grew up here in Seychelles and moved around a lot because we didn’t have a fixed domicile. My mum placed me in the only French school here where I did my primary, secondary and post-secondary studies. While we were growing up my mum always taught us good things and brought us up on a right path,” he says.

He adds that his mum sacrificed a lot to provide him with a successful life and education.

“There’s nothing more powerful than a mother’s love, she is what I would call my biggest piece of gold, without her I would not be where I am today and I am thankful for everything she has done and is still doing in my life. Life was not that hard when mum was here with everything. Even at school, I was far off being a model student but I enjoyed every single time. My childhood is a part of me,” Mikael says.

Throughout his childhood and becoming the man he is today, Mikael has encountered so many challenges along the way, but with determination and perseverance he has managed to become a successful individual.

 Music career

Mikael’s passion for music started to blossom at a very young age. He wanted to be a vocalist ever since he heard music and he started singing as a past time, with his mum and his brother.

“I was only 14 years old and Julian Basset, also from French School (Ecole Française des Seychelles) started to go to a studio and expanding our talent on another level. We both wanted what at that time seemed impossible to get and that was acknowledgement for what we were doing,” he said.

From that day Mikael has been working hard to make his voice heard in the music industry in Seychelles. He even was able, with the help of Julian Basset, to create a musical group called ‘Louis Gang’, and since that day they are making great music for the youths.

“So that’s when I started my music career. Years later the gang grew and Jules Dugasse and Anil Bacco joined the team and that is when we became ‘Louis Gang’. At that time we were much younger and lacked maturity; many obstacles came my way, trying to stop me or hold me back but I wasn’t alone and what I didn’t know somebody else knew and we could motivate each other and move on,” he says.

By having such great talent next to him, it allowed Mikael to showcase his talent to the world, and create a name for himself in the local music industry.

“I will always have the same advice for the youths who are coming up after us: If you love music and you want to start a career and develop what you already have or don’t, the key to success is always being keen to learn new things and as I said once we are all human, nobody is different from each other so keep your two feet on the ground and success shall come earlier than planned,” Mikael says.

Personal life

Surely Mikael is not all about music, so I decided to find out more about his personal life.

“When I was younger I used to dream about becoming a police officer, then I wanted to become a chef and soon after came music. But I have always loved taking care of people so I would say my dream work would be in the field of human resources,” he says.

After completing school, he was able to find a job but the love of music still haunts him.

“I started working not long after I finished my studies and realised soon after that my biggest dream would be transforming my music career into my professional career. I would describe my career as adventurous because I am learning new things, meeting new people and learning how to deal with problems at work,” he says.

Social life

For Mikael being truly committed to music allowed him to be a role model for the youths, who listen to his music.

“My music always comes first but I also enjoy going to the gym and working out. I try my best to make time for everything so I can do everything I like every day, although it is quite difficult to squeeze everything you like to do in one day. I would also like to work with the youths. Nowadays we can all see that there is a big problem with our youths. They are being dragged by many bad influences and are forgetting the important things in life. We all went through this part of our lives when we were young and reckless but we should all know our priorities in life,” he says.

Final thoughts

Mikael has the following piece of advice for all young adolescents who would like to follow music as a career in Seychelles:

“Challenges are meant to be in your life, never take one obstacle as the end but as the beginning. Nobody has a perfect life even the richest person on earth has been challenged by life. I face my challenges with the support of people who are ready to help me because if life is too heavy on your back don’t carry the pain on your own, ask for help so you can solve the problem. I don’t see myself as successful and I still have a lot to achieve in my life but what I know is that the extra effort that you put will tell you if you will be successful or not,” he says.

“On a last note I would just like to say, love the life you live, many consider what you call an obstacle as a second chance, and many don’t get that second chance. So take a firm hold on your life and just follow the flow,” he says.

 By U-Roy Jules