Ayeen Alef

The Real Ayeen AlefI’m a professional concertist pianist , I like drums , I like to smoke my menthol cigarrettes with a glass of champagne rosé” and I LOVE MY ROZEN , he is the man who guides me thru’ my art
THE REAL AYEEN ALEF'STORY
Part 1 : Alef
Please forgive my english , I speak and write with all my heart and i’m sure that you’ll understand me.
I’m Ayeen Alef , This is a nick name , my real name is in my other my space , i create this my space to make a difference between of the artist that you see and the real woman and artist that I am.
Back in Paris,september 2003 , rue de la boétie 75008,when I was a real optimistic and devoted woman to art and people, i was looking for a drummer for my band , for the little story, a friend of mine from belgium told me that i should write rock songs and create a rock band when he heard me playing piano , he is an artist too a wonderful painter and a keyboard player in seventies,and it’s true that i rock when i play piano.
A young man , 29 years old, came at my appartment after he saw an advertisment on internet,he knocked at my door , i was sleeping and surprised because i never met a musician with a real sens of punctuality.
We discussed about me about my art , my songs , my project but not so much about him, he was a very discreet personn, I saw sparkle of passion when i talked about music.I dont want to give names so i call him R,informations in my my space ayeen alef, you’ll make connections.
I decided with other guys from my team to give a chance to R for an audition,I didn’t know and i tsill don’t really know rock and metal world , i know some bands but i’m not a specialist , when i heard him playing drums it sounded like an orchestra , i choosed him but everybody was against my choice , they were jealous , he was not quiet the best drummer that i’ve ever seen but he understood quickely my world,my music.
i didn’t really know what i wanted as riffs or rythm section , my arranger was so naive,simple in arrangements too teenage music about his referencies he was my keyboard player too , R told me why i had a keyboard player so then I was a virtuoso piano player , i dont like keyboards it’s like I have nothing under my fingers , I ballasted my keys of my steinway piano with lead.
After a lot of rehearsals in my big house in Vaux Sur Seine, at 30 minutes from Paris,my music was here but sounded like a teenage band , i had a guitarist full of sounds but very opposed from my music vision , a keyboard player who sounded like the band Muse , a bass guitarist nice but he didn’t play in the right tempo,the drummer R who gave me more one thousand of ideas and fills. He was the only one who understand what is the best for my music .
Everybody told me that he was not the right drummer for my my project, i was fooled by my surroundings and by my musical education , i said to him to play tight , he understood quickely and he played what i told him to play but i know right now that i understand what he would like to tell me about fills and rythmPart 2 : Butterfly
I knew the CEO from one of the greatest recording studio on the boulevard Davout in Paris,about this part of the story,I went to this studio to produce my songs alone ,I knew my ex-keyboard player,”J”, in this studio who is knew the man who arranged my songs before him.
We started to search musicians,we found “R” as drummer to heard him in audition in studio on rue rasselins near from the studio on boulevard Davout,found a guitarist with the nick name “skippy” , my first bass guitarist,”H”,who was canadian but worked in Paris,another guitarist with the nick name “Haricot” who knew I think “J”.
I had a lot of problems with bass guitarist because there are not so many in Paris who wants to play rock and metal music , in Paris all they want to play it’s just funk,fusion,soul,pop, but to find a bass guitarist who understand my universe who plays right ont time with melodic ideas oh god it’s undiscoverable,now I understand what R told me “This is not the question that you are a professionnal musician, you must understand and fit on the music and the world of the artist,you can have the best musicians of the world for you project if they don’t understand your feelings, it will never work ” and it’s true when I recorded my album that you can hear on the other my space , I wanted a drummer who record very fast, right on the tempo but I didn’t really care for drums and rythms so when you hear my new songs on my album with 18 tracks it sound like a drum machine with no feelings , the guitars solo are some times boring it doesn’t take you in the depths of your guts,your heart and your soul because I write solo for guitars on my piano, I have a strong personnality I admit it I love to be free in my personnal life,in my work,my creations and nobody told me how it sounds just few guys around me who wait that i’ll be famous and who don’t understand what I play or create,”R” was right for what I wrote here .
So let’s go back to the part of the studio that I call “studio D”,The Ceo heard me playing piano and he gives me opportunities to record songs on his studio but he took percentage of the production if of course songs who were record in his studio will be out ,I could now record songs with professional materials and a very good sound but it’s the same problem with musician you must have the right engineer sound behind this materials.
While my secretary “V” was organising the show case and the recording sessions, I rehearsaled with my musicians night and day but it was more the nights because “haricot”,”j”,”H” worked the day,R and “Skippy” was with no huge projects like mine,It was a very pleasure at the beginning to start this musical and artistic adventure,I had a very big house where there were my Steinway , I said to the musicians de to bring music instruments at my home.
I really like this house that I build in Vaux Sur Seine,a big entrance with a big electrical iron black portal,a garage where there was inside a sauna,beside this one , a room”the red room” for friends or family,and beside this room a very beautiful swimming pool.
This is for the basement,there was stairs to climb up to the big dining room,a big open space blended with the kitchen,the floor was made with marble slabs,this big open space was separated by a door wich was another room for friend “the blue room”, there was a jacuzzi and a water bed with a shower and a washbasin,from the dining room there was stairs to climb up to my room at this floor, there is 2 little rooms for busness and for work,my room was ... this is my secret garden,sorry !
When you went out of this house , I build while the construction of this one started,another little house for me with all comfort,all around there was flowers,green grass,trees and just horrible neighbours who hated me because I play music very loud but they were two rednecks guys who had a lot of dogs barking every days and nights.
Part 3 : I miss U
My arranger let me down for personnal reasons but I think my project scared him,we advanced slowly but surely.Before this I recorded the first VERSION of “Valpurgis nite” and “Alchove” in the recording studio D, I think it was in the little studio c with the marble floor, My friend the belgium painter brought me musicians from belgium a young guy on drums and his father I think on bass or guitar I dont really remember,”J” and “Haricot” were here too but with the belgium musicians it didn’t work,that’s why after I met “R” and “Skippy”.
I like to go fast even I don’t really see what’s goin’ on around me,When I have an objective in my mind,I speed even I dont doubt consequences that’s gonna cause me my decline but i’ll write it later , I like to do evreything in the same time that’s why while we practised and prepared the show case , I made a video clip for the song “valpurgis nite” with a young director that “j” introduced him to me , but I was not satisfied of the video clip editing in spite of what “R” told me that it was the new underground style and rock sound , you can hear on my other space the very last version of this song it sounds like .... I don’t really know It gives me nothing but only big sound just basic arrangements it’s sad to hear that.I made this album to turn a page of my life and to clean my wounds but it’s just for you Art and Music !
The bass guitarist from Canada was nice but he was a “Steeve Harris clone” without the talent, so I found another bass guitarist who was ok .. but a too little bit jazzy and he always ran infront the click I understand now why “R” was so uncomfortable,me and my so-called staff thought that he was always wrong with the click.I defend nobody about music but the truth is here.
The most difficult was for my secretary “V” who worked night and day for this project and to find sponsors and the financing for the show case but I had very good friends who understood my situation and helped us .Every nights “V” took back home the musicians because “R”,”J” and “Haricot” had and have no cars , I think “R” and “Haricot had no driving licence as I know Sir “R” at this time has maybe no driving licence , I told him that it’s important for every day to have it but he was deaf about it , he has a strong personnality and a moody temper that sometimes drives me crazy.
In those days my favourite band was Muse and Marylin Manson , I wanted that my songs sound like an orchestra , “j” my ex-keyboard and so called “arranger” created a lot loops and juno synthesizer sequences to coloured my piano and to accentuate the melody,the result was so far of what i exepected too much virtual sounds and that’s why we played with click for the show-case because we had no time to change all arrangements and to find a real arranger.
As I wrote it I’m a beginner in rock and metal music and I came from a classical music education with high level , I was persuaded that loops and sequences will give to big sound. “R” told me that loops and sequences killed my music and that I should have 2 guitarists,a bass guitarist,me playing piano and a drummer and that’s all and sometimes to fix melodies like glue strings,I understood this when I went with him to see “The Darkness” it was not the best rock band of the world but they recorded their first album in the line of the best seventies rock bands in the world ,Queen,Deep Purple,AC/DC,Aerosmith,etc... thanks to this gig I understood that with only guitars , drums and bass guitar and effective melodies with a good sound engineer it sounded heavy and and a big sound,Poor “R” this night he didn’t saw this gig correctly because I sent him waves of questions,I was very happy and excited about this night but “R” was extremely patient, nice and courteous,I felt like a real woman.
Part 4 : my bloody WEDDING
It was on november 03 I think ,in Studio D on boulevard Davout I had the possibilty to record the song “papillon” you can translate it in english “Butterfl?”,while I record Guitars with “Haricot”,I told to “R” to practise his music instrument because we have no much time to record this song,I gave the opportunity to “R” to record in a professionnal recording studio because before this he recorded for local bands in home studios or with few recording materials, “R” was very excited and grateful to me, to my trust that i gave to him , it was not the case of “Haricot” who didn’t care with all his heart of what we have done here.
I have a a theorical vision of music and the sound recording maybe it’s my musical education for me a musician must do a music school to understand all secret keys of Music, I don’t understand how people can be self-taught personn for Music and Art , I know... It’s a kind of elitism,many people , the most who come from the best music school in the world are like formated for rock music and metal music and all music since 40 years.
It is a good point to be patient it’s a quality but for me it’s a bad habit I let all things go on with the extrem limit , “R” was quiet quick but for the first takes he hadn’t the right touch on snare too smooth,no temper with his drumming but He understood what the sound engineer wanted exactly.
after it was the turn to the jazzy bass guitarist always infront of the click, he stayed about hardly 1 hour even the takes was bad because I didn’t pay him I understand this but I think when you do a job and you gave your word or we’re agree on an agreement even free you do it with the best quality.Sometimes I hate professionnal musicians but it’s not only musicians,we can find this situation in all kind of jobs.
So we finished to record the jazzy bassman,”Haricot” recorded guitars, Oh God...he played with no passion,with no desire,I wondered why he was here it’s for me,music or because he’s got time to kill, he was very nice but a little bit disturbed in his mind. When you have no budget for an artistic project you become a beggar,”R” told me for this kind of situation “a time where the nests of delinquency were “ à la mode” a time where we did the lovers for the whores of god”,it’s sad to think that but I feel myself like this sentence in bad days ,all troubles don’t come from god , 99% men adn women are responsible of human misery after we have the chance and hazard factor.
I was the last to record voices and I was completely tired,’i’m a robust woman,my secretary “V” tell me a million times “i am all except a woman”. As I wrote I’m a very patient woman but for the voice ... I must be in a total trust with myself and the atmospher must be relaxed, with love and passion, I recorded voices but I was too tired and it was artistically sad,bad and poor, we fixed hours and hours drums with bass ... I didn’t know who was on the click? the drummer or the bass guitarist,”R” played back to the click and the jazzy bassman was infront of it and I retouched all “Haricot” ‘s riffs of his guitars, I’m too meticulous and respectuous of music to let to pass mistakes or imperfections,I realize that the general audience don’t care of all this musicians things who make them selfish and egocentric and I forgot this point so much important.
To be continued ...
TO CONTACT THE REAL AYEEN ALEF: JUST CLICKOn the other space , They shine by my Art , they eat my heart and soul thru' this production..
Ayeen - Composed ,Arranged,Mixed,Mastered,Produced By Rozen Schtark