INTERVIEW. anasazi. Mathieu Madani: I don t think that the trend is the CD. The trend in France is the Vinyl

14 августа 2019

Уважаемые дамы и господа, хотел бы представить вам французского музыканта Mathieu Madani, руководителя группы anasazi. Их альбом 2011 - Playing Ordinary People – GSP 30 – 2014 - GS PRODUCTIONS - digipak я недавно обозревал. Цитата

«Очередной сюрпрайс от GS PRODUCTIONS - в этот раз - французский проект, который играет УНИКАЛЬНЫЙ МИКС ПРОГРЕССИВ РОКА, МЕТАЛЛА С ВЛИЯНИЯМИ ПОП-МУЗЫКИ.
Как мне кажется, всего у команды 5 альбомов, а это как раз - срединный, можно догадаться, что и в музыкальном смысле — срединный по мелодическому наполнению.
А что до оригинальности, то на самом деле мастермайнд Mathieu Madani - вокалы, гитары, дополнительные клавиши, так этот чел экстремально богат на музыкальные идеи, и их перфектное воплощение. Его конек - полифония, полиритмия и синтез разных начал. Записан этот диск в двух студиях, и отмастерен в третьей, что может говорить в пользу того, что Mathieu Madani прекрасно ориентируется в звукопостроении, и отлично знает, за какие ручки крутить. Это шутка, конечно, насчет «крутить», дело в том, что музыку такого плана, само собой, надо заранее представлять в голове, ИЛИ отдавать на откуп продюсерам».

Полностью, если интересно - читать здесь

http://www.mastersland.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1517963#p1517963

и еще в 10 местах )).

Когда я искал информацию про команду, то наткнулся на инстаграм Mathieu. И с добрым удивлением поразился, что у него выставлены фото его коллекции винила - как полагается - на вертаке - в процессе проигрывания.
Все импульсы: неординарная музыка, ее подача, винил, - все сложилось у меня в желание поговорить с Mathieu.
Нет ничего невозможного в этом мире. Оказывается. С помощью Виталия Сависько - босса лейбла GS PRODUCTIONS, эти вопросы были переведены на английский )) - международный язык рок-музыки. И пересланы во Францию. Переводить обратно на русский я не стану, я лично все понял, и думаю, поймут все, кому надо. Вперед!

Hi Matt, how are you? What are your plans about anasazi? Any new albums?
Will they be different from the previous albums? And by the way, do
you happen to have other projects, if possible - briefly about them?

Hello, i m fine :-)
Thank you for your interest in anasazi s music.
The plans for anasazi in the near weeks is to record a new album. It is all written and I have made the demos of all the songs with vocals line. I just have to write the lyrics but the melodies are composed. It will be more Metal (wow!!! Res.) than Rock (unlike the last 2 records "1000 yard stare" 2014 and "ask the dust" 2018) but always with a bit of Progressive Music.
I guess we ll begin tracking in october.
Beside i have a band called Croak in a Metal and Stoner vibe and we are currently recording an album since june. The band is, anasazi s bass player and guitar player, Christophe and Bruno, a canadian singer Pit and myself on the guitar. We will release our first album in 2020 in june. We have already release 2 Eps https://croakmusic.bandcamp.com/
I m very pleased about this side project because i can unleashed all my anger and Metal side by writing heavier riffs and stronger songs. This is a lot of fun to play. I have composed this album in one month, with all the guitars / bass / drums parts and lyrics. The singer lives in Montreal (Canada). He came to France 3 weeks in june to record the voices. He s a screamer :-)

<img alt="" src="https://b.radikal.ru/b38/1908/bd/b692b359a409.jpg">

How is it with your concert activity? When have you played a latest concert,
what is planned in the near future?

<img alt="" src="https://sun9-31.userapi.com/c855420/v855420529/b0cae/76wakubjLU4.jpg">

Touring in France is difficult with good conditions. For each album we try to select nice concerts to play with good conditions to propose our music to the best audiences as possible. The last show was in the south of France (about 600 kms from home) in a Metal Festival called Metal oc. That was a lot of fun to play with Death Metal or Hard Core, Grunge, Metal prog bands.
The next show will be in Lyon (France) with a tribute cover band of Dream Theater in september. After we ll begin to record our next chapter.

Tell me about your vinyl collection - how much titles are there
approximately? They say it s a bad omen to count to EXACT numbers ...

About 1300 Vinyls and more than 2300 Cds. I m a collector of Music since 1990. I was 13 years old when I bought my first tapes. Iron Maiden "No prayer for the dying" en Judaspriest "Painkiller".
All my Vinyls are registered on discogs https://www.discogs.com/fr/user/anasazi.france/col... in order to know what i have, what pressing, what year, what state and of course what I don t have yet.
I m a bit of control freak with my collection. I love to buy Vinyls and dig in the record stores where i travel.
I m very lucky because my dayjob is : Record seller at O CD www.ocd.net brand new and second hand Vinyls, CD and DVD record store :-)

I see you have completely different styles on various Vinyls. Do you
collect them by styles or by some other principle, which one?

I collect what i like. I m not trying to collect for the collecting purpose. I buy CDS and Vinyls because i m a lover of music, from Jazz to Death Metal. When i listen to a record that i like, i always buy to support the bands or artists. Since i m 13 years old, I have never listened to a record that I like without buying it. If I like it, i always need to have it in my hand. If I don t like it I don t buy it of course...

What are you listening from NON-metal genres? Why?

I love Jazz music (Miles Davis, John Coltrane). I remember when i first heard Miles Davis "Kind of Blue". A new musical universe and journey that opens for me (for a Metal fan).
I really like trumpet and Miles is a God to me.
Otherwise, i very like The Beatles, U2, Peter Gabriel, Sting & Police, Frank Zappa, Eagles, Tori Amos, Jeff Beck, Al Di Meola, Toto, King Crimson, David Bowie, etc...I like so much kind of Music, except Electro and Reggae. Not my cup of tea.

At what age did you start listening to vinyl? Who influenced you in
this? Nowdays the trend is the CDs ...

I m very new in the vinyl world. I started buying CD in 1990 after the vinyl era.
As a professional record seller in store, I don t think that the trend is the CD. The trend in France is the Vinyl. We still sell a lot of CD but the Vinyl has became "hype" since 3 or 4 years.
I have pushed back the purchase of a turntable until 2014 because I am a collector freak and when I collect, I buy all the bands that I love in multiple copies and if the vinyls are colored i try to collect all the colors. So I did not want to give in but a good friend of mine offered me his turntable, and i ve opened the pandora box (lol).
But it is so cool. I love buying and listening to Vinyls. It s romantic, it s vintage, it s a pice of history.

Do you have friends from offline who also listen in vinyl?

Yes a lot of my friends listen to vinyls. And a lot of my friend just do streaming.
I think when you listen to vinyl you are committed to your listening.
When you put the needle on the vinyl, you listen to the whole track from beginning to the end of the side A and then you have to turn the vinyl to listen to side B and then again for C and D side...

What is your vinyl player, when have bought it? How much did it cost
you? You purchased it in the store or by mail, ordered it on the
Internet? What speakers do you have, how many watts, which preamp and amplifier?

<img alt="" src="https://sun9-34.userapi.com/c852216/v852216759/19d150/Xub9SjcLOmo.jpg">

This is a Pro-jet carbon anniversary bought in 2015. Not an expensive one, about 450 €, it s a very good turntable, very musical. I have purchased it online with a Marantz amplifier, a CD player Marantz again and JBL ES80 speakers.
I have used it for a year and one day i have tried to listen my turntable in my home studio on my Monitor speakers and I really like the sounds that I have so for 3 years now I listen the vinyls in my home studio and the Cd in my living room on the JBL.

Is this your first player? Do you want to buy something of higher level?

Yes and one day I will buy a better one but you know i m a musician and i like to buy gears and guitars so i must be reasonable.

Do you often manage to play Death(band) at a good volume?

Sometimes yes, but i don t like when the music is too loud because I like to hear all the nuances of music. But my neighbours won t be agree with me (lol).

Do your living conditions allow you to listen to music on normal
volume?

Yes, I choose my appartment because of this. I play music and i listen to music all the time.

To which hour of evening one can play music in France?

10 p.m. After that you must lower the volume but as I said : Music don t need to be loud to be good and powerful to listen to.

What is your favorite vinyl?

I have to answer by gender.
For Metal : Dream Theater – "Awake"
For Pop : The Beatles : "Abbey Road"
For Jazz: Miles Davis "Kind of blue"

Do you have vinyl from Russia? For example, funeral doom metal
Who Dies In Siberian Slush?

I ve had a Beatles pressing, not official, from Russia. I m not in Doom Metal.
Not yet. I guess, I will have to listen to Who Dies In Siberian Slush. I m curious now...

Do you have pic-discs, how do you feel about them?
Do not you think that this is exclusively for collectors?

I have Picture-discs but just for the collection. I don t like the sound of pic-dics.
Maybe one day, they will create pic-disc that plays well but for now it s not good sounds.
My "Lateralus" from Tool, in pic-disc is crapy, so much noise when it plays on the pictures. Good looking by the way...

Do you have discs signed by musicians - covers, of course?

In vinyl, just one signed by John Corabi (ex Motley Crue 1994 album singer).
In CD, all my Dream Theater are signed until "Systematic chaos", some Steve Vai album too, Ark and Bad Moon Rising.

Do you exchange with other collectors? Or you take everything solely
for yourself, to put them on a shelf?

No exchange, i keep it on a shelf, and I listen to them.

Do you manage to keep discs in a clean state, what are you using
for this?

I am meticulous and careful, so I take care of my vinyls. I place them vertically in a temperate room
I don t listen to the same album on vinyl. I prefer playing each time a new record. At oposed with a CD I can listen to 30 times the same album. All my vinyls are protected with transparent sleeve to avoid the friction and the dust. When I have to clean one vinyl bought on a fair, I use demineralized water with a very clean cloth.

How do you get discs? Does your city have a record store?
Or do you order by mail in online stores? Which way do you use
more often?

I work in a record store, it helps, and I buy on the other stores of my city (Гренобль, Res.), on the internet (discogs, Fnac, Amazon, Ebay). I prefer buying old stuff in store where i can dig and check the state of the vinyls. For the brand new stuffs, on the internet and shops in my city. I live in city where there are only 3 seconds hands store (one is the one where i work) and everywhere i travel for work or vacation, I check the google maps for records stores. I have bought Vinyls in London, Lisbon and Paris for the big cities. I wish i will go to New York one day and Los Angeles in Amoeba. Maybe Moscow too, is there a lot of record shops?

(Moscow? I do not know... )) )

How the disks are packed in the store, or in France the packages all arrive
in perfect condition?

The problem is the shipping, not only the packing. The post office don t care about the safety of our vinyls. They are just here to ship. This make me crazy but what can we do ?

Do you buy used discs? Why?

Yes of course. The pleasure to feel and breathe the vintage vibe, and for the Jazz and 80 s Hard Rock Metal I prefer older vinyls.

How much do you spend in a month on vinyl? If you do not mind
answering this question.

According to my wife : too much (lol). It depends, sometimes 400 or 600 €, sometimes just 100€.
According to my bank accounter: too much. I have no kids. I don t travel very often. So what the fuck : let s buy vinyls :-)

Is anasazi going to release a vinyl? Or maybe it already has?

No we don t have release a vinyl yet. Maybe one day. The day where we record a 45 minutes long album, because a double vinyl is very expensive for us and the lenght of our record is more 65/75 minutes than 40. We have pressed our 4 last records in CD.

Do you have any CDs or tapes in your collection? How many?

More than 2300 CD and 3 tapes only.
I was into mix tape when i was a kid or a young teenager.
I loved making mix tape for my girlfriends. I was doing the one for the day with Metal and Rock stuffs and for the night, more quiet songs. It was necessary to calculate the lengths of the songs to spoil as little tape as possible. This was a really good era !!

Thanks for the answers, it was very interesting to talk with a keen person.

Thank you, i really appreciate speaking of my passion. I m a vinyl junkie....
Спасибо вам и вашему интересу к anasazi:-)

Best regards.

Good luck to you and your band!