Léo Ferré's son, Mathieu, who was born in 1970, has been managing "La Mémoire et la Mer" publishing house since 1992 and keeping a close eye on his father's musical legacy.

Sowing the seeds:
"It's difficult to assess what we do really. I feel in a way I'm out there planting little seeds and then one day they surprise me by growing into something. We have a lot of activities like sending out Léo's scores and stuff. And in 2000 I set up my own small label to release Metamec. We've re-released old albums by Léo on the label and I also produce and distribute other artists too. Then there's the whole publishing side of things, bringing out collections of Léo's lyrics etc. And that's without all the supplementary literature, you know, like the essays and biographies and stuff. The most important thing in my eyes is Léo's work itself."
Books on Ferré:
"It makes me laugh to see all these publishers who think they're invested with some sort of sacred mission to make books for people who don't "know" Ferré and his work. Funnily enough these books are always brought out by the big publishing houses. It's really hard to find the books "by" Ferré that I bring out, but walk into a big bookstore and you'll find stacks of books "about" Ferré. I think that's a total aberration! OK, it's true that he had an amazing life story and that's a way of understanding his work I suppose. But in my eyes there's only one legitimate biography and that's Robert Belleret's book published by Actes Sud. Personally, I don't see the point of all those other books which just rehash the same old stories."
Covers of Ferré songs:
"Singers who want to cover a Ferré song don't have to obtain any special kind of authorisation from anyone as long as they register the song (with the French copyright association) and don't change the lyrics or the orchestrations. Having said that, however, I do think it's a great shame that we're not always informed of what's going on. I'm trying to keep a record of Léo's work and I'd like to know what people are doing with the songs. But not that many people actually think of sending us a copy of their covers. I often end up going out and buying the records in the store myself!"
The Barclay compilation:
"I think it's interesting because a number of the artists involved in the project admitted they weren't actually all that familiar with Ferré's work and the compilation gave them the chance to discover it properly. I think there are some really great tracks on the album and others that aren't all that good. But as far as I'm concerned anything that gives people the chance to discover Léo's work is great! Even if the album only touches a small number of people but it transmits his music, his poetry and his personal revolt then to me that album will have been a total success."
Did Ferré have an eye on the future?
"I don't really think so, no. I don't think he was particularly concerned with posterity at all. He was someone who lived life on a day to day basis. Besides, when singers covered songs during his lifetime and he was asked for his reaction in interviews he always said at the end of the day he didn't really give a damn!"
Managing the Ferré legacy:
"My parents decided to set up their own music publishing company in 1992 and, as I was around at the time, they said, "OK, you'll be in charge!" It took me a while to realise the responsibility and the extent of the work I'd taken on. I'm actually a big fan of angling and my dream would have been to open a lodge for sport fishing in some nice exotic country abroad. The two activities turned out to be totally incompatible! But I have to say I'm totally passionate about what I've ended up doing with my life. "

The different faces of Ferré:
"Léo Ferré has become totally trapped in these caricatural images of who he was. He's always defined in stereotypes as "the anarchist" or "the poet"… Our new website aims to reverse that trend, trying to put all Ferré's different facets across. The person who's developed the site has tried to use the least number of anecdotes possible too. He's tried to base things on the work rather than Ferré the music star. It's important for us to create a site that's not specifically aimed at people who're already converted Ferré fans. The idea is to encourage people already familiar with his work to explore a different avenue, discovering a different side to the man and his music."
Ferré, the work of a lifetime:
"What we're motivated by at the "Hall de la chanson" is not really nostalgia, but passing on a tradition. In other words, we have to think about how we can talk about Ferré to people who don't really know him. On the website we basically deal with the 70 highly eventful years of his life and half a century of songwriting. And to give some kind of order to things we've tried to work around major themes such as Ferré's inspiration, his artistic life, his status as a French "idol" and as a singer/songwriter who generated vast sums of money. Then there's his eternal curiosity and his final years. Part of the site also covers the places Ferré lived and worked. We talk about his early years in Monaco, the people he met, the books he read, but also his discovery of Paris, the years he spent hanging out in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, then Brittany and Italy… Ferré was a man who was very much inspired by the places he found himself in. It's extremely interesting to look at the split between his "society" lifestyle centred around the towns he lived in and, on the other hand, the inspiration he sought in certain landscapes and the poets he read."
Ferré, passing on the tradition:
"Ferré was actually very caught up in the idea of his work living on through others. He always said that of all the singers who did their own covers of Avec le temps the person who sang it best was Dalida. And that's amazing, when you consider the difference between himself and all the razzle, dazzle showbizz surrounding Dalida! I think that was sort of his way of saying that he liked the idea of people taking his work and making it their own."