Hello Fabrice  ! We left you at the end of 2013 (Big Bang n °  88) after the release of your second album, Inner Lands. Could you tell us what you did between then and the release of your new album, 7  +  ∞  ?

Hello,

After the release of Inner Lands in 2013, I started to work in improvised and experimental music with the Japanese percussionist Tomoo Nagai and my partner Samantha Zaccarie on video projections and photographs. The Franco-Japanese collective Luli was born. Several tours have taken place in Japan, Iceland and France. In 2016, we recorded at the foot of Mt Fuji, the sacred mountain of Japan, the magnificent album In the Middle of No Way . During this same year, I also composed and recorded the Lithophonic album dedicated to lithophones. I will come back to this in the interview.

Between 2015 and 2017, I worked on two soundtracks for documentaries Arte Tv Quand Homo Sapiens fait son Cinéma (2015) and France 3 Comme des Sardines en Boite (2017) with the composer Renaud Barbier . Then for the cinema with the soundtrack of the film Corniche Kennedy in 2017 with the composer Béatrice Thiriet.

In 2018, I participated in the album of Happy Angel by composing the musical prologue of the title Nancy - Jupiter à la Nage and then the new album 7  +  ∞  was released in June 2018.

At the moment, I'm shooting with the Beings Deboue projects, the gestural theater company Les Journaliers , the youth show In Search of Pablo for the Compagnie Carré Blanc sur Fond Bleu and finally the atypical music duo Fabrice Bony and Marc Niess .

Along with all these artistic activities, I teach drums and guitar in current music in several music schools including the Conservatory of Music and Dance in Rochefort .

Your 2016 album, Lithophonic, is something special. Can you tell us a bit about lithophones and what they mean to you  ?

Lithophonic is a special album because it is devoted to lithophones, in other words the singing stones. The meeting took place in Iceland in 2011 during the Fresh Winds artistic residency with Páll Guðmundsson , a discreet multi-talented artist, sculptor, designer, painter, musician. Back in France and having just moved to Lozère, I went in search of singing stones knowing that I was at the crossroads of limestone, schist, sandstone and granite. What seemed interesting to me was to assemble the sounds, the resonances. It doesn't matter whether the notes are "  fair  ". I did not use classical tuning.

In this album, I played improvised and composed music for lithophones. Another idea was to explore new sound textures by mixing them with current musical instruments and computer tools. The titles Afrolith and Psychedelith are perfect examples. There are also two original arrangements for lithophones of two minimalist pieces by American composer Steve Reich Clapping Music and Music For Pieces of Wood . I admit I was rather proud that he validated these two arrangements.

Every time I play the lithophone, the audience and I are taken on a journey through time. We come from there and our DNA has not forgotten it. Very often the public is touched and the impression felt is far beyond words.

At the time of the great technological whole, the human and especially the younger generations are in full transformation with the new telephones which are not any more because glued to see literally grafted to the hands. It is important that the younger generations can hear the mineral sounds of the origins again. At the moment, I am imagining an electro-mineral music ...

I guess it was largely these scattered activities that delayed the release of this 7  +  ∞ initially planned for 2015-2016. Are there any other reasons for this  ?

Yes, all of these exciting activities made this new album come to fruition in 2018. It doesn't matter, I'm my own producer. I don't have a dead line to respect, I take the time it takes and that's fine. And then comes the day, the night when I know inside that I have reached the end of the project.

For 7  +  ∞ , I wanted to take a new personal step by managing the mixing myself. It was a hell of a challenge  ! I learned a lot in this area with the brilliant sound engineer Jean-Lou Girold, whom I thank. The result is rather convincing it seems to me.

We remember having discovered you during the promotional tour of the Angel album, The Tears of the Dalai Lama. Then, the relations with the group of Christian Décamps were a little, let's say, weakened. How was your participation in the title “Nancy - Jupiter À La Nage (Odyssée 14'00)” on the last record of the Belfortains (Happy  !, 2018, see Big Bang n °  102)  ?

I saw the group on several occasions and in 2017 Christian and Tristan when they came to the Théâtre de la Coupe d'Or in Rochefort. We even played a version of Quasimodo on stage with the lithophones. It was a beautiful and astonishing moment of reunion. After that, Christian told me about Angel's next album.

In 2016, I sent him the Lithophonic record, I had no idea that at that time, Christian was writing this magnificent text on the stones What the Stones are whispering . He told me about it. It was therefore naturally obvious that something was going to happen between Ange and my work on the lithophones.

Still, one day in my home studio, I made a recording where I superimposed 7 rubbed stones of old types of slate oyster collectors. While mixing them, I started to hear voices coming from the stones. I immediately knew that these sounds would be destined for the next disc of Ange . I contacted Tristan and Christian who were thrilled. I had the joy of discovering that these sounds were used for the Nancy-Jupiter Swimming Prologue. So much for this happy angelic adventure  !

We already knew your admiration for Magma and Christian Vander, but it really transpires in your new album, maybe even more than in Inner Lands. If the latter was very progressive with a touch of fusion and some references to this Gentle Giant that you appreciate so much,  7  +  ∞ has passages much closer to the zeuhl. What do you think  ?

Yes Magma and Christian Vander , absolute fan at ∞!

The 1st title of the album Tuatha De Danann (The Tribes of the Goddess Dana) evokes the Mythologies of the Far North. The music is influenced by Celtic music but also Magmaian rhythms, especially Rhodes and voices. It is especially in the 1st part of the piece that we can say that it is close to Zeulh music. For the second part of the piece, we are closer to minimalist, jazz, aerial and symphonic music.

Toundra is a track in the vein of minimalist music. It is composed with a primitive elven psaltery that I made in Iceland. It produces hallucinating and random sounds. You never know what will come out of it, it allows me to be in the present moment and not in the repetition. Samantha Zaccarie added this shamanic instrument that is the Jew's harp and ethereal voices evoking the great outdoors and large migrating herds. Magic  !

Caravan of Whales is an astonishing track of almost 8 minutes of crescendo which with its heavy trance-shaped rhythm evokes a caravan of whales crossing the deserts then covered by the ocean. Two drum parts overlap to evoke this haunting progression with this haunting cello rhythm. We can say that there is also a reference to Magma or rather Offering with Earth . Then the form is that of Coltranian jazz with this dialogue between the saxophone of Satoru Kita and the trumpet of Marc Niess .

Ukiyo-e refers to the Japanese Floating World. My relationship with Japan is strong, so I wanted to compose a song in this honor. The title of more than 10 minutes is divided into 2 parts, the 1st being very aerial, focused on the work of the sensitive voices of Samantha Zaccarie and myself in lead vocal and rhodes. While the 2nd part revolves around different themes of piano and strings with dynamic and soaring rhythms at the same time. For this title, I was lucky to have the excellent Japanese saxophonist Satoru Kita .

Celtia evokes the Celtic worlds with its harmonized themes of violins, flutes and guitars. The 12/8 ternary rhythm is typical of Celtic music. I love the energy of this music, I listen to it often. I am not far from Brittany. I love this land of raw energy  ! I wanted to compose a song with this influence. I was lucky to have the Breton violinist Héléna Boistard and Damien Fadat on Irish flutes.

The piece Silex is, as its name suggests, played with flint stones from the Ile d'Oléron, here we are in the most minimal form possible. And we navigate in the very high mineral frequencies. I was pleasantly surprised with the result. I didn't think I could get that kind of sound with stones. Nice discovery  !

The title of the album corresponds to the number of titles, the last, as you explain on the booklet, this 8 lying down representing infinity. Can you tell us more specifically about this “Frequency Of Dreams” and these 46 guests who speak different languages?  ?

For the number 7, there is obviously a reference to the creation of the World in seven days, it is the very essence of this album to evoke the sacred and the spiritual.

∞ corresponds to the title Frequency of Dreams which closes the disc. I composed this track in Iceland during the Fresh Winds artistic residency. 46 international artists were invited, representing nearly 20 different nationalities. The theme of the residency was the Dream. In my mind has come  the image of the human connected to the Frequency of Dreams, infinite.

I asked everyone to express their feelings about the Dream in their own language. From all these recordings, I composed and edited this musical piece which when listening is like an infinite journey, a film evoking the billions of human beings in the process of dreaming. This title has a very strong emotional power.

You had already taken special care in recording and mixing the drums, your major instrument, on Inner Lands. We feel the same concern on this new album. Am I wrong  ?

As I told you above, for this new album, I decided to manage the complete mixing but also all the sound recordings of all the instruments. Long and exciting process.

The recording of the drums was carried out in different places. I do 3 takes per piece most of the time. I play by letting go and I refine as I go. Very little editing at the end of the day. Then I let time pass before listening to it again. It helps me not to lose the thread of creative energy.

Likewise, from a compositional point of view, minimalism is still present with its subtle changes and repetitions. Does the lithophonist that you are now accentuate this influence  ?

Yes he is present throughout the album. I fully assume it. For me, minimalism and the progressive of the 70s are intimately linked. They are great sources of inspiration. These two movements, through their open-mindedness, are natural bridges that bring together and integrate all musical genres. Nowadays, Progressive Rock rhymes more often with Metal Prog than anything else. Personally, I am not hanging on. I prefer the sounds close to the origins. The "  repetition  "  with its subtle changes represents the form of Trance. The music of this new album 7  +  ∞ is spiritual.

If I'm not mistaken, you moved from the Cévennes to settle on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, in the Charentes. What has this geographical change modified in the “tellurian” that you are and that we recognize in the title “Tundra”  ?

The main theme of this album 7  +  ∞ is Timeless Nomadism. So I went from the Cévennes Lozérien mountains to the Atlantic Ocean and Charente Maritime. What change  ! A real crush for this region was born. I love the horizon of the ocean and the sky. A real pleasure to walk on the wild coast and meet migratory birds in all seasons. And then the discovery of the marshes between Rochefort and Ile d'Oléron, what a marvel  of biodiversity  ! This environment is very inspiring for my music. Tundra evokes the great spaces linked to the migrations of large herds.

My feelings between music and the encounter with Nature are more and more strong year after year. It translates into a creative energy that I feel is pure and natural.

Of course, the great maritime expanses are present (“Caravan Of Whales”, “Lament For The Ocean”), even if the caravan could leave from Santana ...

The two titles you are talking about highlight the environmental problems caused by humans. Caravan of Whales evokes the image of Whale Caravans quietly crossing the deserts covered by the ocean. The image is captivating but it is also a way of telling people that the ocean could again cover these deserts in the near future with the rising waters due to global warming, the melting of glaciers, air pollution due to human activities. The younger generations seem to be waking up to these problems, so much the better  !

Lament for the Ocean  is a strong title in the sense that I wanted to evoke ocean pollution by plastic, nuclear power and human economic overactivity. When I see that oyster farmers still use plastic to produce oysters, it really saddens me. And these days, I learn that a ship has just run aground near the Charente coast with a great risk of pollution. In these two cases, humans show their irresponsibility. The ocean,  let us remember that whether it is Atlantic, Pacific or Indian is in fact only one and only Ocean.

We knew you were an accomplished multi-instrumentalist, but you also turned out to be an excellent vocalist. The voices are also more present than on Inner Lands, as on the very beautiful “Ukiyo-e”, a kind of hybrid cross between Steve Hillage and Ryūichi Sakamoto. A commentary on this voice work  ?

In this new album 7  +  ∞ , I wanted to balance the music and the vocals. Ukiyo-e turned out to be a perfect example. The idea was to start from a simple form, voice and rhodes. I like to sing more and more. In my image of singing, there are no texts but rather sounds and textures. The melodies came quite quickly then with Samantha Zaccarie , we worked together on harmonizations and counterpoints. Again, it took time and maturation.

Ukiyo-e is also inspired by the floating worlds and Japanese prints by artist Hokusai, whose remarkable retrospective I saw in Tokyo. As much the 1st part is centered on the voices, the 2nd is centered on the piano, the strings and the rhythms. You're right, I winked at Ryuichi Sakamoto whom I really like. Ukiyo-e is also for all Japanese friends after all. Ah what an amazing country that Japan, I adore  !

You have a few guests, in particular Satoru Kita (saxophones, cello) and Marc Niess (trumpet) with whom you also collaborate. Could you tell us a few words about these guests  ?

In this new album 7  +  ∞ , several guests have been invited. First of all, my partner Samantha Zaccarie who played the harp, sung on 5 of the 8 tracks on the album. With her feelings and her particular listening to music, she helped me a lot during the mixing. Samantha largely designed the digifile cover with this gorgeous photo from her Infinite Trace series. She considers herself an artist of Life. Also his photographic work is to be discovered.

I was lucky to have the excellent Montpellier flutist Damien Fadat for the titles Tuatha De Danann and Celtia . I had seen him in concert, I had loved his playing and his energy.

Satoru Kita has played saxophones and cello on 2 tracks Caravan of Whales and Ukiyo-e . Japanese musician, he lives in Paris. Go listen to him, he is an exceptional musician with an innate sense of graphic design in musical composition. Amazing  !

Héléna Boistard came to the Cévennes with her electric violin to record the song Celtia. I have known her for a long time. She is an excellent violinist with great energy.

Finally I end with Marc Niess who came in last reinforcement created a part of trumpet and surprising sound textures on Caravan of Whales . The artistic understanding between us is moreover natural so that we formed the duo Fabrice Bony & Marc Niess which starts touring since 2018. I really like this project which mixes genres. It's like a musical synthesis of my entire artistic journey. The Live Concert album is online at the moment. We'll be releasing a studio-recorded mini Ep by May or June. Ladies and gentlemen programmers, this is a project that deserves to be turned. Do not hesitate to contact us.

Can we expect to hear 7  +  ∞ in concert  ?

With the duo Fabrice Bony & Marc Niess , we resume Caravan of Whales in concert. But it will be the only title played live. Frequency of Dreams was performed in Iceland. Play 7  +  ∞ in concert would require to form a group of 6 musicians at least.  This is not planned at the moment. Rather, it will be necessary to listen and see this album as completed paintings.

A last word for our readers  ?

Readers, I greet you. We look forward to seeing you on the road. Continue to support independent artists  !

Thank you for this interview and good luck to Big Bang magazine.

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