© Tous droits réservés par Gaël Fromantin - © All right reserved by Gaël Fromantin - 2024
It’s Time that started it all, it’s because of him. The one that passes too quickly. The one who makes us forget that we are not eternal.
It’s been several decades that my relatives, my friends, and the occasional listeners who crossed my path invite me to launch myself, not to keep my music only for me! And what have I done? Well, nothing! I just kept on composing, playing and dreaming that one day I would do it. “Yes, it’s sure, I’ll do it later”, “I have time, I still have time to share all this” I told myself.
And then one fine day in 2019, I suddenly realized that I couldn’t wait any longer, that I couldn’t let time pass and not do it. I had wanted to do it so much since I was a kid that I had to do it now. So I decided to put my professional career on hold, the time to record an album and to organize concerts to share my music which, like me, had been waiting for more than 30 years…
Once the decision was made, I suddenly found myself in front of a great void, a great moment of solitude, because I now had to select several pieces among the twenty or so that I had composed. But which ones to choose? Which style? According to which criteria? How many pieces? How long? And what title to give to the album? And so on…only questions, and at the beginning…no answers.
After a few weeks of reflection and discussions with my relatives, I chose the songs that meant the most to them and to me. And in retrospect, I think we made the right choice. They are all very representative of my musical palette. As far as the title goes, it was a natural choice. I just remembered what people said about my music: “It’s like an intimate dialogue that comes to life”, “It’s like a story expressed through the guitar, with different chapters that reflect different feelings”. And so I titled this album, “Dialogues Entre Deux Mondes – Je de Miroir”. It came to me all of a sudden as the title of each of the pieces that compose it:
« Cartographie des Sens », « Obsessions », « Kytička », « Révélations », « Une Petite Promenade avec Juliette », « À l’Ombre des Rivières » and « Funny Jérémie ».
Once the songs and the title were chosen, I immediately started looking for a recording studio and a sound engineer to whom I would entrust the mission of reproducing the universe I wanted to share with you. I wanted the clarity and natural brilliance of my guitar to flood you, to envelop you. I wanted you to discover my sound with all its nuances, its resonances, as I hear it myself on the guitar.
After a few days of research, I contacted Pierre Tassinari, owner of the “Studio du Lac” in Annecy, and I met Rob Carson, the studio’s main sound engineer. I explained him my project and my expectations, and I played an extract of each of my pieces. He immediately understood what I wanted and imagined what the best recording setup would be. And I liked that a lot. I could then move on. It was looking good. I couldn’t wait to get started.
The recording started one month after this interview. We recorded in three days the 7 tracks I had selected. It was a privileged moment but also very trying. The days were long and the work was intense both physically and mentally. I was playing 5 to 7 hours of guitar a day and I wanted to record my music at all costs as I play it in intimacy, for my family and myself. Pierre and Rob both found ways to make me feel comfortable. I quickly felt at home during these three days dedicated to music, to my music. I was able to concentrate on my playing and interpret all my songs with the sensitivity I had imagined.
Once the album was recorded, almost two years after my famous “revelation”, all I had to do was finalize the cover, the masters and my artist’s website so that a piece of this childhood dream could begin to come true.
As soon as the recording was finished, I started looking for a photographer who would have the delicate task of translating my musical universe into images with great fidelity. I quickly found him or her in the person of Virginie Delattaignant from Calista Studio. The sensitivity, the delicacy, the finesse, in short the talent that emanated from her compositions immediately grabbed me.
After she had immersed herself in my music, we imagined several scenarios and the shooting session that followed was simply a magical moment for me. What patience and attention to detail! She took advantage of all the opportunities that the present moment could offer and that only the sharp eye of the artist can see: she was on the lookout for the right posture, the right expression, the right light, in short… for the image she had in mind.
And today, seeing the result, I am happy and feel privileged that she accepted to work with me. There is her touch, her mark in the photos of my album… thank you.
Now that all these crucial steps are over, I hope you will like this music as I do. It is my fervent wish that it will grab you, move you, but also draw you in…despite yourself. Whatever you do, wherever you are, I would be happy if my pieces had the power to suspend time, to open an unexpected gap in the course of your life, to bring you a breath, a little air, a little comfort, a little love.
I would like to thank from the bottom of my heart my wife Klára “Kytička”, my children, Juliette and Jérémie, my Mom, my friends: Dirk, Anetka, Ági, Marie Laure, Michel, Patricia, Jo, Virginie, Sylvain, Sonja and Roland for supporting me, encouraging me, helping me, guiding me and loving me throughout this project.
© Tous droits réservés par Gaël Fromantin - © All right reserved by Gaël Fromantin - 2024