Hi everybody! New blog, new site, new album…that’s a lot of stuff for a…ahem…mature guy. I hope I didn’t screw up too badly! I have to admit that some people who know me or have followed my music over the years have seemed quite surprised when they heard I was releasing an album entirely made of solo piano tunes. After all, I’ve always been (and still am!) the guy with all these synthesizers, that used to play in all-electronic bands, etc. True, I played a Wurlitzer electric piano onstage for quite a while, and recorded one (!) tune on a Yamaha grand for RedShift…but that doesn’t exactly make me a “piano man”, right?
In reality, like so many people, I started learning music by noodling on my mom’s old upright. That was a long and spotty process, with the occasional “composition” popping up…and soon to be forgotten. Buying my first synthesizer, a MiniKorg II, changed my focus a lot. By that time, I had moved from my parent’s flat and no longer had regular access to a piano. It wasn’t until I bought the Wurlitzer a few years later that I began to rediscover my “forgotten” piano tunes and writing my first proper songs. A decade later, sample-playback keyboards started to dominate the market and soon enough I was playing a “sampled” piano on whatever workstation I had splurged on at the time. But, somehow, I was still playing piano and writing piano tunes. Also, I was visiting my parents regularly and had built enough confidence to play a few tunes on the (mostly out of tune) upright piano.
In 2002, my mother passed away and the old upright was moved to my house. A few years later, digital pianos had gotten so good that my wife and I decided to buy a Roland model. By that time, I was probably playing a lot more piano than synthesizer. The Roland sounded and felt really good, so that pushed me into more improvisation and a few new compositions. Next time, I will tell you about the making of “l’inévitable” proper.
Finally, I have to tell you how impressed I am with Bandzoogle (hosting my site): It was much easier than I thought to build this site. The tools are extremely user-friendly, don’t require any knowledge of coding, and their customer service is INCREDIBLE! (friendly and very competent live chat available almost instantly). If you’re a musician or band thinking about building your own site, I highly recommend it.