|
oOmiaq
 |
It must be great to live in Regis Provenzano/oOmiaq's village. His "taKe keEp gO", recorded between the mountains and his home-studio, is the kind of intense and joyful record made by people that haven't lost the will to enjoy making music, but is also a multilevelled work, that involves you more after each listening. That is why oOmiaq himself in this interviews proves that some of our interpretations were indeed wrong, and gives us the chance to listen to his record once again with open ears. A good thing, since we weren't willing to leave "taKe keEp gO" alone, as it shows the talent of an artist who may be about to reach great heights.
All the drawing in this page are by oOmiaq himself. |
Would you like to introduce yourself
to our readers? Who are you, where are you from , when did
you start making music...
I live in southern france mountains,in a village,Bezaudun
Les Alpes, nearby Vence,altitude 850m.
Since my childhood I live in south.I need mediterranean light
and landscapes. I've always wanted to tell stories,with sounds
,with images,drawing everytime,everywhere. When I was 12,i've
sent my pictures to a french kids tv show and they invited
me in paris (by plane for the first time)=that was my first
big artistic experience! At the same time,i was playing guitar
and bontempi organ with my brother and sister,we formed a
lot of ephemere bands together!
Our passion was to record audiostories with a magnetophone,with
sound-effects (crumpling a plastic bag for imitating fire,etc...),mini
soundtracks and voices (scrolling the tape in slow motion
for making monster voices) today,my brother is a musician
too (pyo.free.fr)
And what about your Italian roots?
I have family roots around Napoli and my country is very very
close to italy (we have a mutual natural park in mountains
,where there are wolves) I like italian movies poetry like
in "brutti,sporchi e cattivi"
 How
does your activities as an illustrator and composer influence
each other?
When i'm recording a track,i like to make a lot of illustrations
around the song,like drawing up a map,the universe,his " poetry
territory ",every colours and textures of the music...
For example=for an ultramarine song,i'm using blue and liquid
synthesizer chords ,or,for an orange one=a warm organ...
How did the "taKe keEp gO" project took form and how many
people were involved?
*"taKe keEp gO" is a "narrative music" project=i wanted to
work with kids from my village,with friends,with people around
me ,not with professional musicians (because I think that
we've all got a lot of creativity inourselves, everybody can
improve his talent,find and build his poetical and artistic
universe...) we're like a troupe: kids invented a language
and melodies,my not singer-friends recorded a beautiful chorus
on "onaKa". Camille is the singing girl and she wrote every
english words...she's
essential in "taKe keEP gO", her voice took me by the hand
for composing "shinE".
She's very spontaneous,we only made 2 or 3 takes .
What instruments have you used?
A lot of instruments: prehistoric monophonic & polyphonic
synthesizers,every kind of flûtes,a banjo,i spoked in a jaw-harp
for sounding like a vocoder in "wake Up", I polished pebbles,shaked
fruit seeds...
I suppose the storyline had a definite structure when you
created it but on the record a lot is left to the imagination
of the listener. Is this something you had in mind from the
beginning?
There's a lot of improvisation,not really a pre-scenario.
I tried to preserve freshness in every song,
with no technical guitar solos,or professional studio-references
(no midi,no mastering=a rough sound)
I want to sound like a spontaneous audio collage, a light
work but with strong poetry,sensations ...
it's like=i 'm giving to every listener a kind of clay,or
audio-pencils,full of colors,and you can create with these
clay and pencils everything you want, with YOUR imagination...
This is not an "headphone music"=this is a disc made for stereo
speakers (not Pc or mac mini speakers but real big ones),listened
in a vertical position,lying in bed or grass or a boat
Beyound the natural and playful narrative stream in "taKe
keEp gO" there's some "serious" episodes, full bloomed songs
like "Onaka" or "Vîlle Nouvelle". Did you feel the need to
add this denser dimension to the record?
That's not really a "serious" music but perhaps APPEASED songs
it was necessary in the story devellopment,like after a big
laugh,fun moments with friends,you need sometimes a lonely
melancholic walk...i like contrasts,like a shiny yellow next
to a light blue
Can you tell us something about "Disques Puzzle" and the
artists involved? Is that an open collective, a record label
or what?
My friends from "disques puzzle are yirgah,scalde and selar.
Scalde just released his album "Poperetta " on the Eureka
label (in Spain ) you can find it on the net...there's a song
that we made a song together: "ravin". Sometimes ,during festivals,we're
playing together each other song and ,yes it's like a collective
(but thet all live in lyon,400 km from my house so,i'm not
an active member,i'm more like a cousin )
How did you get in contact with Source? The song "L'Ultime
Atome" on their compilation may prelude to a future collaboration?
Or do you think your music is too particular for an institutional
label like Source?
I've recorded one song for "Source Rocks" (or "Source Material"
in some countries). Marc Teissier Du Cros is one of the first
person who told me "i like your music".
He keeps all my old tapes and illustrations in a plastic bag...he
was a cool support,he helped me.
When he was a Source a&r he asked me ="do you want to record
something for the new Source project?" I asked jean-benoît
and nicolas from Air to play "Solina string ensemble" and
drums on my song and we arranged the song together now,Source
is not really a "new artists" label,it's more like a record-distributor
Do you see any link between modern french electronica (Air,
Daft Punk) and your music? Have these artists been an influence
for you at any level?
I don't really listen to french electronic records but i'm
friend with Air members since a long time sometimes,in summertime,jean-benoît
come in my village ,we've recorded songs together, one day
i'll publish these tracks.
About influences from France: I feel a stronger link with
people like françoise hardy,areski & brigitte fontaine or
laetitia sadier from Stereolab and Monade...
jean-jacques Perrey is important for me(i made 2 sleeve illustrations
for him)=he gives me a lot of advices,he's refreshing=a wonderful
man...and françois de roubaix is a fabulous discovery in my
life: in 70's,i heard his soundtracks ("les amis") on the
radio and his animated films musics on tv when I was 7,and
20 years after I found his records,full of sea sounds,travels,peaceful
moments...i wrote "wagOn==>mer (françois)" for him.
The evocative power of your music may sometimes be similar
to Boards of Canada, relying on memories and nostalgia. Do
you think that's true?
I bought "music has the right to children" because I was attracted
by the sleeve image...the music is cool,i like the "biological-documentary
score"concept but that's not really my cup of tea.
I don't think there's any nostalgy in my album: kids voices
aren't refering to the past or our "back to school" moments...i
'm speaking about today,about now with kids improvisations
my aim is=we need to keep our child feelings in our eveyday-life,everytime,everywhere;
wilderness in modern life,animal instincts (not bestiality
but a closer relation with nature): that's what we need today
and for the future,we need our ancestral roots...some of "taKe
keEp gO" songs are like modern tribe-songs in cities and forests...
Your future projects?
-a super website full of sounds and drawings (soon: www.oomiaq.com)
-new songs
-but first of all, I want to form a group and to play music
in villages and cities.
Salvatore
Links:
oOmiaq official site: oomiak.oomiaq.free.fr
oOmiaq@indiepop.it: bands/oomiaq.htm
|
|
