Prosper and GPM aim to set precedent of unity among Christian artists on upcoming album

Ilana Reimer
Special to Spur Ottawa

Prosper Laguerre does not view the talent of other musicians as a threat. Instead, he is eager to see artists unite and share their success. His Ottawa-based band, Prosper and GPM, is working on a new project, called “Live, Love, and Prosper”, that aims to bring together Christian artists from across Canada to collaborate and promote each other’s work.

“When you combine forces together, greater things can happen,” Prosper explains.

Prosper says he hopes to connect artists from Canada’s east and west coasts. Partnering with other musicians, he explains, allows individual groups to share their platforms and expand their audiences.

GPM plans to release “Live, Love and Prosper” in May or June and then tour with some of the musicians they collaborated with. On March 16, however, they released the project’s first single, “Looking in the Mirror”, in collaboration with Doressa Dorcilhomme, a local R&B and soul musician.

“Everybody is segregated, doing their own thing, as opposed to realizing that, if you get a little bit more unified, you gain strength.”

“It’s encouraging, because a lot of times, as artists, we think we should be able to build our own name and do it on our own,” says Dorcilhomme. “But we can create something really special and learn a lot about ourselves when we work with other people.”

Doressa hopes Prosper will be able to collaborate with as many people as possible on “Live, Love and Prosper”. She says that artists can produce better, more creative work when they learn from and support each other.

“I think that’ll leave a big mark in the music industry and that we can reach a lot more people through [collaborating],” she says. This project has inspired her to continue working with other artists going forward.

The idea for more collaborative work is actually an expansion of a local vision Prosper and GPM have already cast. Last year, they collaborated with nine Ottawa artists on a song called “Free to live again”, which marked Canada’s 150th birthday.

Prosper has set his sights far beyond this one album. He wants to inspire a culture of artists coming together to help build up each others’ work.

Prosper Laguerre and his wife Melissa perform together. Photo by Ilana Reimer.

“Everybody is segregated, doing their own thing,” he says, “as opposed to realizing that, if you get a little bit more unified, you gain strength.”

While he has previously worked with some of the artists he is partnering with, such as Winnipeg hip-hop artist Fresh I.E., most of the partnerships for this project are new. Prosper says that in a competitive industry like entertainment, it’s fairly uncommon to propose sharing success and resources like this.

Like with anything, Christian music groups can get stuck within their own cliques. Collaboration is often based on who a group knows or is comfortable with, rather than expanding and reaching out to others.

“I’ve always had a different outlook,” says Prosper. “Personally, I’m just a fan of anyone who is hungry to meet their goals and is producing good quality music.”

Prosper seeks to appreciate and admire the work of other artists, rather than treat them as competitors. He especially wants to break through the cliques and encourage collaboration between artists who do not normally work together. His hope is that these partnerships can become a powerful statement to other artists, both Christian and secular.

More personally, his goal is to share an uplifting, hope-filled message and be a role model to the younger generation. He wants to set an example of a different kind of life than what society and the media often present, and ultimately point people to Christ.

“If that’s all you see on TV, if that’s all you see and hear at parties, that’s how you’re going to be influenced,” Prosper says. “So it’s knowing who you are and who you represent, then building that lifestyle as an example to people. Once they get interested, they start asking more questions about it. Then you have the access to really talk about what you believe. So that’s my strategy for building the Kingdom.”