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01. When you started to compose music? Do you have any musical background? At the origin, I've started to learn classical guitar at Nancy's conservatoire of Music but I am completely self-taught with the piano. 02. Why "Leitmotiv"? Leitmotiv is usually a dramatic musical theme, which is repeating itself all the time. In 1991, I wanted to form a band with my brother, Eric, this definition of the name was corresponding to the kind of music I was composing, dark and repetitive. After this, I was on my own but kept the name as an explanation of my musical journey. 03. Why do you play music? Which is the final aim of Leitmotiv? Music is the best way to express myself. I am feeding myself with cinema, painting, feelings, in fact from life and I try to express it with music. I think that any kind of creation, at the beginning is very personal, then after, I try to compose pieces of music that people can also feel in their own life. 04. Which is usually your instrumentation? Do you use the same equipment when you compose and when you record? Long time ago, I used Roland equipment, today I am using a digital piano Korg and Gem, but I also like to use my old guitar. 05. Your first official release was the tape Rêves. How did you realize it? How did you release it? I can image a musician that one day decides to record his own music and distribute it, but how did the process go? It was the first time that I was going to do this. For the production, I did everything myself except for the cover of the album which was done my Marie-Sophie Dubois (I am working with her since the beginning), I am recording most of the album at home, "La chambre bleue" - The Blue room - it is my own and this is where I feel very comfortable. I also can record some of the stuff with Julien Ash and at the CCAM's Studio. For Rêves, I didn't have enough money. In 1992, I didn't think that my music will have any impact with the people, I just wanted to have a "try", and I had no distributor. I, then sold a few tapes in a shop called Wave in Nancy. I don't regret anything. This tape gave me the opportunity to meet Julien Ash who appreciated my music. After, it was the production of the split cd (Drame cérébral - Angels of Oïkema) in 1993. 06. Apart collaborations with Julien Ash and Olga Zimovets (concerning Drame Cerebral times), did you ever think to form a band or at least use performers for your music? It seems that you like to collaborate on others' projects, but dislike they collaborate on Leitmotiv works. Most of the time, I am working on my own. But for the album called "Parc St Marie" in 2002, I've asked a friend, who is playing cello to participate and Julien Ash asked Philippe Joncquel (who is playing with NLC) to participate to the remix of "sordide sentimental 3". A few years ago, I was in contact with the singer form And Also the trees, Simon Hue Jones, and he was very interested to collaborate but with regret, never happened. 07. When and how did you meet Julien Ash? I met Julien at a radio station in 1992. Each of us was animating a radio program. Him on new sounds and experimental music, myself on independent labels. I offered him the tape "Rêves". As he appreciated some of the tracks, he proposed me to compose some titles with him and the idea to do a common CD came after this. By meeting Julien our friendship permitted to get my cd distributed with SEMANTIC, with this, I was able to continue my musical production.
In fact, Sophie's birth make a huge turn in my life. When you do have a little human being who is there, asking to blossom, you have to asking yourself questions, to be less egocentric and give the best of yourself to this child. Of course, this big chance made an impact with my music. First, no more inspiration for me, then I decided to make a revue of my life - after 30 years old - I needed to change everything. I needed to rebirth, build a more stable life and then, I had other projects, other passions such as scuba diving. Then, with Julian Ash's encouragements the need and envy to make music again and he also continued to promote my old album after the termination of Semantic. 10. What happened to Karismatik? It was your first label, now defunct and apparently turned into FTR. SEMANTIC, went bankrupted in 1996. Small labels such as Karismatik didn't survive. Compare to Semantic I had another status (not a company status) so I decided to stop the production after the wonderful album I produced for NLC "Unis" and as you already know I also was at an important turn in my life, some painful ones and some happy one which permit myself to reborn again after. 11. Karismatik produced Unis for NLC, did you like to be in producer shoes? I really like it, at the beginning of 1996 Karismatik was becoming an influencer, the album "Une saison sans pluie" had success. The album "Drame cérébral" was edited again. One day Julien Ash gave me a tape of one his project. I loved it straight away. It was very natural that I proposed him to produced the album under Karismatik. I really like his music and today, I am still astonished by his music and I have already fell in love with one of his new tracks from one of his next album "Book of Lament". 12. A silly question... how did you choose to give a particular title to a particular song? Most of the titles come after I composed them. After it is a spirit, images from my head. I just realised that the chosen title is finally the interpretation that I try to express in my music. I can't really explain why. 13. Where did you record usually? La chambre bleue - the blue room - since the beginning, this is where I compose, I record and 90% of my music is recording there and this is where I sleep too. 14. Your compositions are totally instrumental. I think some tracks could be a good background for recited vocals. Did you ever think about singing? Of course I thought about writing lyrics for my music, but I don't think I can do it. All I express; I manage to do it with "notes". Since 10 years, I am trying to become better, and this is why I think I can deliver a mini-album "Piano solo" under my own name, Frédéric Truong, with simplicity and without superficiality. 15. And perform live? Of course I would like to perform on stage one day but not on my own, with Julian Ash and other acoustic musician for ex. But this is not my principal job, and this is requiring a lot of rehearsing and time. This is very hard for me to do this, and this is why I have never done it. Maybe one day, it will be possible, who knows. It will be very terrifying and wonderful at the same time. 16. Again about the music, your compositions are often very short, usually just few minutes. Did you ever think about a project like a "suite", a longer piece with different elements but with a basilar "leitmotiv" as guide? I like short tracks that express a direct feeling of impression. It is part of my personality. I don't know if I can compose longer tracks, to compare this with cinema, I will be more in short cuts and long films. I need to express a multitude of things and depending of the day I am playing, depending on what I live, what happened around me, my mind is always different, my way of playing is different and I really don't know if I can have continuity in an unique project. 17. Parc Sainte-Marie is clearly a walk (for some listeners it could be a travel) through the park. On retrospective Suspended Moment some concepts are expressed concerning old albums. Also the music seems to be in according to these themes, I refer particularly to the martial rhythms of Voyageurs En Parallele, that results inspired by refusal of war conflicts. Could you explain better these theme associations? Yes for this record, and also for the track called "L'Euphorie" in Rêves, I am using military rhythms, to express the different conflicts in the world, to express my fear of the war (ie... The great Dictator and Modern times from Charlie Chaplin), a conflict in Sarajevo was happening at that time. The parallel trip is a journey without frontier; "Hier oder anderwo" was representing the fall of the Berlin wall. I can see so many images in my head at the time of the album that I really like and I prefer to talk about the other instead of myself. 18. What does the German text inside Voyageurs En Parallele booklet mean? And the Japanese (I guess...) kanji on Suspended Moment CD? I try to anticipate your questions - this text means " here or somewhere else" means distress, behind this frontier, there is a non-openness mind. I was talking about destruction, instead of building things, I was talking about Sarajevo, the pain of the people, children and also that nobody was interested to send help over there, because there was no oil. This is what I was feeling. A pessimist vision, a general disgust. The Japanese text on "suspended moment" is simply a translation from the title "moment suspendus". And a certain interpretation of Leitmotiv in a dramatic musical theme as Leitmotiv can't really be translated in Japanese. 19. Your music could be fine as soundtrack. Some time ago you were contacted for Hong Kong spot. How did it end? Do you have and/or want other work like this? Two years again, my editor, Gérard Nguyen from the publishing house "Le soleil et l'acier" called me because Warner Chapell Hong Kong wished for an ad, to use "Le secret". I think that someone from the advertising agency who created the film (for fibre channel) must have found at Monitor the cd "une saison sans pluie". A complete hazard which contribute to motivate me. To produce, later on "la Révérence", I discover only a few time again, that "La marche des troubadours" and "la berceuse pour Sophie" were used at the national French radio for some of the programs. 20. You are quite outside music business, I mean of course indie music business. Do you like some artists of this scene? And mainstream music? In an old interview, I was talking about a few band I was listening to before. Today, I must admit that I don't know what is going on in the actual musical context. I still like Tuxedomoon, Minimal Compact, And also the trees, even if today I am less listening to their music, this is part of my past. Today, I am listening to French singers, original soundtrack like the one from the movie "in the mood for love". Music from Pascal Comélade, classical from Satie, Schubert and Michael Nyman. 21. Having an album inspired by movies, it results obvious the question: do you like cinema? Which are your favourite movies / directors? I love cinema, Truffaut's film (The bride was in black (la Marié était en noir) - Chabrol, Almodovar (Todos mi madre), Chaplin - I am often going to a small cinema in my quarter, a little place where you can still see some "authors films" or watch very old movies - Jacques Tati - or smaller film in their original version. The titles of my tracks are closely related to the images, movies, this is the cerebral and visual aspect of Leitmotiv. 22 Do you have some rarities, some unfinished pieces? Will they ever be released before or after? I have a DAT or master of pieces that I have never produced or never ended. I took two of them for the album La Révérence. For the last one, it was Emma Bovary. I am thinking about republishing "drame cérébral" very soon and I will add a extra track from that period. 23. Could you provide an index of Leitmotiv sales? I'm not asking for knowing exactly how many copies each record sold, but I think it would be interesting know the tendency in time. Also, I guess the closure of Semantic carved heavily on first albums sales, isn't it? I don't think I will manage to get a "gold record". This numbers are staying confidential. I am not interested about the quantity but the possibility with the sales to produce another album. With the end of Semantic, during a small period, I didn't have any more distributors. But Edt came to rescue me and today, I think that I have the same status as before, for "Parc St Marie" I am distributed by Muséa, which means that I can be a "reference" in record shop like Fnac in France. 24. Do you want to add something? Thanks to you Adalberto for your support, your friendship and your patience. You have created the first web site and I really appreciate you help and your enthusiasm. This is very motivating and I think that you contributed since two years, to the new rising of Leimotiv. |
