• What instrument do you mainly play ? When and how did you hear your instrument for the 1st time ?

After being a transverse flautist, drummer and sound engineer, today my project revolves mainly around the Handpan. But I add my old musician lives to him for a cocktail that suits me. I discovered the instrument in Batteur Magazine (sic), then on YouTube, so not ideal for flashing. Years later, I met KLAÏM and he put one on my knees for a few minutes in front of the Pompidou Center in Paris. There, there was a spark that burns even stronger today.

I point out that since I made music for films and documentaries, as well as dance performances, I had had Bali Steelpans a few years ago, but the current did not pass, using them only a few times for children’s shows. I also ordered a « Bellart » brand Handpan in 2011 for these specific productions… it was available to me in 2014, what patience it took at the time !

• Adèle B. opened your eyes so… and since then have you collaborated with other players ?

In 2014, I was able to attend the last day at the festival « L’Arbre qui Marche« , a Sunday. First festival of this community for me, I was in my little shoes, a little intimidated.

Adèle introduced me to Klaim and Kelu Didg. Suffice to say that they were true to themselves, Kelu winnowing a little but overall super nice. We talked a little Hang with Klaim, but mostly talked kids and family, ahah.

On the other hand, I had a Udu with me and I found myself pushed by Adèle to do the closing jam. There was a very powerful set of djembes… and Kelu with his Kornbass ! Our first jam together, each of us struggling to get along a little amid the percussion. I was playing standing in front of the microphone, the Udu on my shoulder! I also briefly met Colas that day.

Then over time, the two friends became my friends, I participated in more and more events of this environment and finally the meeting with the Handpan Festival in October 2014. And I had met Zalem on a few occasions since the duo Adèle et Zalem worked well and their music excited me. I even heard the first album excluded because Adèle wanted my opinion on the balance, always delicate between two didgeridoos.

When my handpan project started to grow very quickly in 2015, I did more and more festivals with didgeridoo players, and the community welcomed me with open arms, it was heart-warming.

Kelu was already a poto, he came to record his solo disc in my studio. It’s a sacred memory, they tore the pieces in two takes, and his playing was powerful and all the time thoroughly. I burst out laughing after each take because it put so much energy. We both have a regret on this record, because after my first mix, which I found good, (especially since Kelu plays « Evoludidge », and some other quality didgeridoos, so with his precise playing, it was already well polished sound level), he came back to see me saying that he had listened to the album with his great subwoofer and that it sent too many low frequencies. I was skeptical and disturbed because I had a studio pro studio expressly for his album, it seemed to me that it was well balanced but as a sound engineer, you are listening and serving. In the end we both laugh because it lacks stockings !!

In 2019, we both did a memorable summer tour with my son Timothée who is already a regular at didgeridoo festivals, like a fish in water…

• Your 5th and last album has just been released, does it contain some sort of message ?

Today with the virus, this unprecedented situation of global confinement, and life which enters a new paradigm for many, this title takes on a new meaning. Originally, it is a sonata that I composed for solo handpan, in 3 movements, and which is particularly close to my heart because it was the first step towards a style of composition close to French composers of the 20th century, Debussy, Ravel , Fauré. They are great influences for me, even if I don’t compare myself for a second, they are incomparable.

The Sonata « Life Equinox » was born during that year, combining sadness, light streaks and a life-long record dedicated to music. Perhaps the 40s crisis? Body and mind dropped on Thursday June 21 ! I was preparing to do 3 dates in 2 days the following Saturday, with a lot of kilometers, and I had 2 and a half months of high season to insure. So I did it day by day, using the little energy I had left, cracking with exhaustion more than once, but the profession and the experience allowed me to insure until the end of august, well, i ended this summer there sound manager for 3 days for the festival l’Arbre qui Marche! The loop was complete, but the frame was broken.

The first CD of this double opus consists of pieces of this type, melodic and harmonically rich on an instrument which is often played modal on a chord, or even two. Raindrops Sonata for example was composed when I regained my energy and the zest for life, at the very beginning of 2019. Lots of emotions in this first CD.

The second CD consists of duets « world music » with musicians of the heart, whom I have often encountered on the road, and with whom I have lived extraordinary moments : Lily Jung, Xavier Desandre Navarre, Julien Coste, Yves Mesnil with whom I have a duet that delights me, Tritha Sinha, sublime Indian singer, Kengo Saito….as well as Adèle and Zalem. Two songs with the latter, one with a messy didge and one with a beatbox, I am delighted with his presence.

The song with Adèle is of her composition, and the only one recorded in studio of CD2, all the others having been captured in one or two takes at the time, at my place or between two concerts on the site of a festival. She sings wonderfully, plays the drum and Huaca (bewitching triple ocarina). And no didgeridoo for her this time!

She has often been the guest of my previous albums, and there are always many requests for festivals and festive events. She’s my musical soul mate, we follow each other everywhere in our flights, in our mistakes too, ahah. I appreciate the incredible luck that we have found ourselves on the way, because the hardest thing in music for me is to find the playmates who match us.

To come back to the question, the message of the album is to fully realize your being and your art, to give everything you can to your dreams, but also that friendship and love are essential, that sharing the music is the essence of it !

Very recently, in full confinement I made a livestream for a handpan community on facebook. My grandmother died a few minutes before I played. I experienced a state of emptiness, of total upheaval, I did not know what to do: play, not play ? I was afraid of collapsing live. And then, I took my instruments, for an acoustic concert whose pieces came from the album Life Equinox, and corresponded perfectly to this deep emotion. I spoke with seriousness and sadness, without pretense, I had tears in my eyes at many times, I played for her, it was so emotional and suspended. Each note made even more sense. And it turns out that the emotion passed strongly even through the screens and the disastrous internet connection, according to the returns. Fortunately, the sound was good and it was our farewell ceremony with my family who was before me on the grass. I will remember it forever.

In the studio, it’s never easy for me, it’s always a lot of concentration and doubts. the most beautiful moments are clearly the duo recordings, made in the magic of the moment and in the joy of sharing.

• At the speed of things going today, do you have a personal message for people who read, listen to or listen to your album ?

Each at his own pace, each his own journey. It took me many years to find myself, going through despair, injuries, but also an evolution and unexpected joys. What makes me me, what makes me happy, will not be the same for you, free yourself from mimicry and the desire to be someone else, to look like your idols. Listen to yourself for your choices and decisions, but especially to others when you play music. What will stand out is your musicality and your aura. There will always be better than you technically, but no one else conveys your emotions and your lyricism.

To achieve musical achievement is a lot of work, dedication, and constant focus. I had almost no talent for music when I started, that’s also why I took so long, but the difference was made in consistency and resistance to difficulties. Knowing how to constantly evolve and reinvent yourself is also a key, especially in a society that is accelerating almost all the time. But the key word is fun, having fun with what we do; I happen to forget it, and these are my worst years as a musician.

To finish on a happier touch, I would not trade my life for any other, and this is my greatest achievement !