Teradélie is a french composer who has no limits when it comes to musical ideas.
1/ LB: Teradélie, could you please let us know how the idea of your nickname came?
It was found when I was working in advertising in the nineties by one of my co-workers.
I wanted a name which invites to a journey, a musical, mystical and poetic trip and most of the people don’t know the Terre Adélie’s territory in south pole so it keeps all its mystery.
2/ LB : Could you tell us how your musical career started and what inspires you?
When I was a teenager I used to sing on Genesis and Bee Gees records, then much
later I started to be in a rock band, we first did covers (U2, Police…) and original compositions.
After that, I was in a prog band which was searching for a vocalist…
And in 1996, I really started my solo career with an album and some shows in bars…
Everything could be a source of inspiration, the music I listen to, the book I read,
the people I met, the spiritual life and experiences…
3/ LB: You used to rehearse with a neo-prog rock band named Salmacis before turning solo. One of the songs is in regular play on ISKC RadioActive channel. Could you tell us more about this short-lived collaboration, and are there any more hidden gems we could share with our audience?
Yep, Salmacis was the first band and then when it split it became Sucre Noir with the same drummer and other musicians, the drummer left and he was replaced by the drummer of my first rock band. I probably have another track of Salmacis in my box 😉
We were a true prog band, influenced a lot by Marillion at this time.
4/ LB: You work in tight collaboration with Eric Grünenwald for your lyrics. When did this collaboration started?
Most of the time, I write my own lyrics because before being a vocalist and songwriter, I started writing poems at the age of 10… With Eric, we got in touch by social network years ago and the first song is “Suffira” in 2014 I think, he did it with a Belgian composer and when I heard the song, I said to Eric, I can add a vocal chorus if you want too and it started here…
I guess I took 4 texts from Eric in my whole discography…
5/ LB: Tell us more about your collaborations, like Francis Dunnery, London Metropolitan Orchestra, David Hentschel…
I met David Hentschel in 2003 or 2004 after I sent to him the album ‘ZaZen’. He was very dithyrambic about it and said that he wants to work with me, so he came at my home in Tourcoing (north of France). He added the moog in “J’ai perdu le temps” and proposed me other stuffs that I didn’t keep for new tracks…
With the LMO (London Metropolitan Orchestra), it was one of my biggest experiences and dreams… nothing compares when you first hear the music you wrote and arranged for strings being played by a real strings orchestra, it’s so emotional, it drives you to tears especially when you stay in the same room… Fantastic!
Francis Dunnery, that I met during a show in Belgium a long time ago, did guitar parts on my ‘zaOrganic’ album on the song “Water Edge” and said that he would produce my pop album but it didn’t happen…
6/ LB: How did the press react to your music throughout your career, both in France and internationally?
Quite good critics more internationally than in France especially in Germany… in France, it stayed more regional with some TV broadcasts on M6 or France 3 …
7/ LB: Do you have a dedicated fanbase, in France and elsewhere in the world?
Not really, I’ve got fans but don’t know where they really are… There is no specific country in fact, they are worldwide.
8/ LB: A few months ago, you told me that you wanted to stop your musical career. However, you keep recording music from time to time, be it some original music, covers (usually very personal), or duos. Do you plan to come back « seriously » to business, or will it be just from time to time, when opportunities come? Please expand on the reasons that lead you to take your decision.
I don’t know… but probably when opportunities came like the covers during the lockdown we did for the fun with my friend bassist Daniel Collet and more recently with John Marcell who asked me to sing in French on some of his recent songs…
I stopped because people prefer to listen freely to music than really buy it especially when the artists are not really known… And to be in Spotify and the other streaming platforms, you have to pay and of course, you lose money… When you see you earn 0,00019 euros per streaming… the math is easy to do.
9/ LB : Your musical world is very unique. People notice it immediately the first time they listen to your music. Despite doing « your own thing » (according to Francis Dunnery’s own words), it seems that you don’t have the attention you deserve. That’s a real pity. Do you know why is that and how it can be solved?
Certainly because I’m not commercial enough (laughs) and I don’t have enough money to pay for TV spots and other big medias… People buy what they see in TV, what they hear on big radios and mostly what makes the buzz today… Without a media coverage, it doesnt’t work and now in social networks, there are too many people or artists, so if you’re not curious, you don’t discover original ones…
But I have to say that I have had absolutely great attention and words of appreciation from wonderful musicians such as Jean Musy, David Hentschel, Anne Clark, Francis Dunnery, Hector Zazou…
10/ LB : with almost 40 songs in regular play on ISKC RadioActive channel, our listeners can get a good picture of your music. Are there any other webradios that play regularly your music ?
Not regularly. I would like to thank ISKC for its great support, it’s amazing.
11/ LB : anything else you want to add to our listeners?
Let’s go for a special musical journey with TERADELIE… and welcome to Cosmogony!
Video links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUlHW6BVnsM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGokh_AUsLQ
Music links:
https://teradelie.bandcamp.com
http://teradelie.wixsite.com/music-artist (official website)
Teradélie’s website (Welcome to Cosmogony!)