I am a songwriter, performer and activist. I am also a mother, a musician, and a survivor of sexual violence and narcissistic abuse. My art has become my platform of choice to not only express or see my suffering alleviated, but also to raise awareness and educate a society too often indifferent to the realities of survivors and survivors. 

The word Hippocampus in my recent project refers to the hippocampus of the brain in which traumatic phenomena are recorded. I discovered its existence and its role by researching the work of Dr. Muriel Salmona, a French psychiatrist and activist in the field of sexual violence. This seahorse- like structure in the brain influences the way one responds to these dislocations of soul and body that are trauma. From this was born the powerful and intimate symbolic association between memory and the sea, the imaginary place of all the subconscious and all the unconscious. Nestled in the hollow of a remote cerebral cavity, during the healing process the hippocampus travels a motionless journey that can lead a person from the darkness of pain and the fear of dying to the light of rebirth and life.

Marie Martine Bédard

Born in Montreal, Marie Martine Bédard  is a singer, songwriter and survivor. 

As a teenager, it is on bass guitar that she makes her debut on the “rock” scene with Patrick Bourgeois, who later became famous with band “The BB”, 

As a rising music figure of the Montreal underground music scene of the 80s and 90s,  she has the chance to work with many artists.  She performs close to a thousand concerts until she sees years of efforts and momentum short-circuited. 

Two months after the birth of her first child and while the summer sun was bursting her city with life, she attends the slaying of her soul and body.  She is the victim of a sexual predator. 

After a forced shutdown of more than a decade, in 2009 she embarks upon a healing journey through music studies with the renown Berklee College of Music. In 2010 she receives the celebrity-sponsored “Steve Vai Scholarship”. In 2014, she obtains a Professional Certificate in Guitar and in 2018 a Bachelor Degree of Professional Studies in Songwriting.  Some say that she is the first French Canadian and Québécoise obtaining a degree with Berklee Online.  A nice way to come back to life knowing that she was one of the members of the first all girls band in Quebec, Blue Oil.

Photo: Daniel Desmarais

Thank you to all those who have supported me through difficult times.

Thank you to my two sons and Valerie for their unconditioannal love.

Thank you to Jean-François Lemieux for wanting to coproduce the Hippocampus project. Without his support, his talent and his great patience, it would have been difficult for me to keep going through the storms. Part of what you hear on my EP, it's him!

Thank you to all those who did collaborate so far with their talent to the Hippocampus Project:  Kimura Byol, Daniel Desmarais, Julie Desmarais, Jacqueline Van de Geer, Julie Laurin, Morty, Ella Negrescu, Pascale, artiste peintre, Wil Putt, Karine Rathle, Christine Roberge, Marie-France Thibault, Selvi Subramanian and Josée B.

Thanks to my Berklee Online Family,  for the knowledge, guidance and challenges.
Thank you to Muriel Salmona for her work and to all my sisters-in-arms.

A special thank to my emotional support dog, Ophelia..

Marie Martine