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Fred

About Me

Hey there!
My life being of little interest to you all, I'll spare you the details about my favourite colour (if any) and get to what may matter a little more. So... I'm Fred, and I'm French. I've been playing music for longer than I can remember, classical piano for the first 12 years, with three incredible tutors. Then, being a teenager, I grew interested in other styles and discovered music had many faces. That of Jazz, first, for which I have a deep love, then soul and funk, cinema music, and eventually traditional music from anywhere in the world, which brought me back to the basics: acoustic stuff.
Although I still have vivid nostalgia of the music from the 70s and the 80s, of course, I've always tried to keep an open mind and try to listen to everything several times before judging. I "suck" ideas everywhere, and even if I don't like everything, I recognize talent when I see (hear) it.
I play a lot of other instruments, but I'm mostly self-taught for all of them. I love the bass and the guitar, but my technique is absolutely completely terribly awful. To my despair, of course.
Now, I've plugged my cheap instruments into a cheap computer with an old version of Cubase but, hey... It works!
So I'm recording stuff, which is of very poor quality, and isn't worth a penny, but that's more about experimenting with the material than really about writing music. I'm a poor poor singer, but since I found no-one to sing for me, I do it anyway. Be warned!!! You know, everyone's gotta be a rookie at one point, so...
Don't hesitate to leave a comment about what you think. Feedback (good AND bad) is the best way to improve and move forward.
Bonjour à toutes et à tous !
Comme ma vie n’intéressera pas grand monde, je vous passerai les détails concernant ma couleur préférée (si tant est que j’en aie une) et je passerai directement à ce qui nous intéresse un peu plus.
Donc… je m’appelle Fred et (on s’en doutait) je suis français. Je fais de la musique depuis aussi longtemps que je me souvienne. J’ai commencé par le piano classique pendant une douzaine d’année, avec successivement trois mentors exceptionnels. Puis, à l’adolescence, j’ai commencé à m’intéresser à d’autres styles musicaux et j’ai découvert que la zik avait de nombreux visages insoupçonnés. Celui du jazz, tout d’abord, pour lequel j’ai toujours gardé un profond amour, puis pour la soul, le funk, les musiques de film et finalement les musiques traditionnelles d’à peu près n’importe où dans le monde, ce qui m’a ramené à la source : l’acoustique.
Malgré une larme au coin de l’oeil lorsqu’il s’agit de musique des années 70 ou 80, j’ai toujours essayé de garder l’esprit ouvert à tout, et j’écoute toujours tout plusieurs fois avant de juger. J’aspire des idées de partout, et même si je n’aime pas tout, je reconnais le talent lorsque je le rencontre. Je joue également de nombreux autres instruments, en autodidacte. J’adore la basse et la guitare, mais ma technique est plus que complètement archi-pourrie. Cela me désespère, d’ailleurs.
Finalement, j’ai branché mes instruments pas cher sur un PC pas cher, mais… ça marche !!!
Du coup, j’enregistre des trucs d’une qualité très discutable et qui ne valent pas trois sous, mais il s’agit plus d’expérimenter les possibilités du matériel que de composer réellement. Je suis le chanteur le plus nul que je connaisse (après mon père, cela dit), mais comme personne ne veut prendre le micro chez moi, c’est quand même bibi qui s’y colle. Soyez prévenus.
Tout le monde a été un débutant un jour ou l’autre…
N’hésitez pas à laisser vos impressions. Les critiques (bonnes ET mauvaises) font toujours avancer les choses.
Fred.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 22/12/2007
Band Members: That’s gotta be a trick question
Influences: Wow... there's gonna be a long list. From Beethoven to Fauré, from Wham! to Björk, from James Taylor to Rage Against the Machine. If you want the scenic route, well, you'll find Tori Amos (ladies first) and Peter Gabriel (Mr Genius) first, then Roland Orzabal, Crash Test Dummies, Genesis, early Elton John, Sting, Alanis Morissette, Brian Adams, Brand New Heavies, Incognito, Miles Davis, Petrucciani, Grapelli, Gilberto Gil, Diana Krall, Andreas Vollenweider, Celtic music, Bill Whelan, traditional music and instruments from about anywhere in the world, Brit pop, Enchant, a lot of "alphabet soup pop music" (I'm sure you know what I mean), Toto, Christopher Cross, Emmett Chapman and many many Stick players. Lately, thanks to MySpace, I'd have to add Andy McKee (He really is the boss!!!) and his fingerstylistical friends, especially Don Ross and his wonderful wife Brooke Miller.

I must confess that as a teacher, my pupils are being more and more an influence on my creativity, thanks to their own and to their enthusiasm, which is boundless. Despite all their flaws, teenagers are wonderful people...

About being influenced, I'd have to admit finally that my biggest influences (though none of them is a musician yet) are probably my wife and kids... ain't that surprising?

16, hoping - original song

Andy McKee's "Drifting" - a great tune by a great guy

Andy McKee's "Rylynn" on piano

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A piano version of Andy's "Rylynn"

Andy McKee's "Dreamcatcher" - piano

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Andy's "Dreamcatcher" on piano
Record Label: What for ? No, thanks.

My Blog

The worlds a nice place after all... (bilingue)

Version française plus bas (et oui, je fais bilingue maintenant)I love you all.OK. I had to say it. Whoever you are, wherever you are, you've provided me with more sympathy and love in a few months th...
Posted by on Fri, 01 Feb 2008 12:16:00 GMT

Myspace and teaching languages...

OK. I said I wouldn't talk about my life, but I have to this time.I teach English at high school, and what I try to tell my pupils is that English is not just a school subject, but a means to an end. ...
Posted by on Sat, 22 Dec 2007 13:52:00 GMT