A major figure in the musical press and historical pen of Inrockuptible, JD Beauvallet is part, as he says about David Bowie, of “those people who can’t stand that there is fantastic music that they don’t know. “In perpetual quest for new nuggets, this music obsessed has explored all its facets in more than thirty years, and if he left the ship Inrocks in 2019, he keeps the desire to transmit pegged to the body: we still regularly come across his signature, Tsugi magazine at Release Passing by Vanity Fair.
He returns these days in detail on the ups and downs of his rich journey in Ferryman (published by Braquage), an overwhelming and instructive autobiographical work, both funny and melancholy, and of course beautifully written. The opportunity to question him about those, artists, friends or journalists, who have played this role of transmission for him.
First passers
JD Beauvallet: Music has always been there for me. My father listened to it a lot even though it was mostly jazz, which I can’t stand because he tried to force it on me by waking me up with it every Sunday morning. We lived far from everything, in the middle of the forest, in a place surrounded by barriers (in the psychiatric establishment run by his father Editor’s note), as if isolated on another planet. There, the son of one of the psychiatric nurses who was 5 or 6 years older than me had records and I spent entire days in his room listening to Bowie, Lou Reed and Kraftwerk. But it was thanks to the son of another colleague of my father’s that my life was turned upside down in just one afternoon, around 12-13 years old, when he played me to the Velvet, John Cale and Brian Eno. . I took it all in the face and I remember him telling me about other records: “no, that’s not for you, it’s too commerciall “. He had felt that I had already established tastes. That day, at his place, I spent my afternoon making cassettes. These cassettes, I still have them. They are relics of my first passionate steps.
Then there are your friends from Radio Cactus in Tours, Didier Delage, Philippe Girault and Olivier Bas with whom you form the Epsilon collective …
Before them there is Pascal Bertin (a long time journalist with Inrockuptible Editor’s note), whom I knew before everyone else, from the 3rd. It is with him that the role of passer works both ways for the first time. He makes me listen to the records of his big sisters, those of Joni Mitchell in particular, while I make him listen to Lou Reed. With Didier, Philippe and Olivier, we made each other listen to everything we discovered because we spent our lives in record stores. Everything we harvested in the week we spent on weekends on our radio show.
Then it is the meeting with Christian Fevret, founder of “Inrockuptibles” …
I met Christian later, in 1986, I was 23 years old. During our first conversation in a Chinese restaurant in Belleville, we talk about the Smiths that we were both fans of and that I had just seen in concert. Christian will play exactly the same role and it will last a lifetime because we still regularly send listening links. He made me love Springsteen, even though I’m not a fan of everything, and he introduced me to Leonard Cohen. For my part, I showed him that Bowie was not just a nerd in pleated pants and I introduced him to a more contemporary scene, like Joy Division. At the start of Inrocks, with the team, we all played things all the time, every day it was a continuous blind test in the office. Everyone had their own privileged piece of culture, for me it was decadent and post-punk rock. It was a joy to share, I felt less alone, because when I listened to Brian Eno in my forest at 14, I had no idea if anyone knew Brian Eno other than me.
You write that your taste for long interviews comes from Jacques Chancel, that you listened to on the radio, in the car with your family …
With my parents we spent a lot of time traveling by car and listening to the radio. I remember the way Jacques Chancel got people to talk about themselves and especially the silences he observed, which is very courageous in radio where everything is done to avoid white people. I liked his patience; we felt that he had a goal, that he was going somewhere. He knew what little back roads to take when the person was reluctant. We were all super focused when listening to Jacques Chancel, we were clinging to the next question when we did not even know who was the guest. In fact, he succeeded in making interesting people that one did not know, which was one of the bets at the beginning of the years. Inrocks with the long talks.
Artist smugglers, from Bowie to Björk, via Daho and Miossec
JD Beauvallet : There are plenty of artists who have served as smugglers. Anyone who was generous enough to name names in interviews. In this game, Bowie was the world champion because not only did he give names in interviews but he even gave names in his songs, like when he quoted Andy Warhol. He was an incredible well of information. Always at the forefront, he spoke of groups that we did not hear about elsewhere. He was generous because he always paid tribute to the people he admired or from whom he was inspired. He never concealed his loans. For example, without his passion for Scott Walker I think I probably would never have listened to Scott Walker, who was then very important in my life. Bowie was one of those people who can’t stand that there is fantastic music that they don’t know. And beyond music, he opened on the visual arts, literature, Allen Ginsberg in particular, or the collage techniques of William Burroughs. With him, it was endless treasure hunts.
In France, Etienne Daho also held this role in the 80s, even if I was already much more mature musically. When he was invited on Canal + and he brought the video of Jesus and Mary Chain saying: “it’s a new Scottish band, you absolutely have to listen to this”, at prime time, he was in his role of ferryman. Miossec too. He can’t help but talk about Wire or the writer Henri Calet in an interview. He’s so grateful to the culture that built him that he never forgets to return the elevator.
Björk is also a great passer. I remember very well my first interview with her, around 1986-87, at the time of the Sugarcubes, when she spoke to me with passion about Olivier Messiaen but also Arvo Pärt, whom I did not know. Damon Albarn is also a huge ferryman, he introduced the English to African music, he popularized with the general public names of artists such as Banksy (who signed the cover of Think Tank of Blur released in 2003 Editor’s note) or Julian Opie, who made the famous cover of the Best Of of Blur. In their genre, the members of the French rap group TTC have always advised me lots of good things to listen to. I love it, and my advantage is that I will really listen to them when most people forget. I never forget, I always have my little notes with me.
Journalists smugglers, from Michka Assayas to John Peel
JD Beauvallet : From the early 1980s, Michka Assayas spoke in Rock & Folk groups that fascinated me, but I especially admired his way of talking about it because I was then quite incapable of putting into words what I liked. Michka not only found the words, but he linked things together historically: for example, he explained that Echo & The Bunnymen came from Velvet, while I did not make the connection. And above all he wrote so well, and he was so funny! I said to myself if you want to share your passion for music, you have to tell little stories like him, that you dare punchlines like him. One day he had spoken of Gary Newman and he called him the Darty of the cold wave, I thought that was so correct!
English music journalists like Nick Kent (NME, Release Editor’s note) and Paul Morley (NME) then meant a lot to me. I still revere them as much because they are true storytellers. I liked the long articles from the Anglo-Saxon press that you couldn’t find in Best and Rock & Folk. In fact, I have a fascination with cities, I think that you don’t come from a city by chance when you are a musician, the city influences music. However, I did not find much that in the French press, more often focused on a staging of the journalist himself.
And the radio host journalists?
John Peel, I listened to it during all my years in England in the 80’s. I rarely listened to it live because I was at concerts every night but I programmed the recording of the show and I played it. listened on my way home. As I had managed to get hold of a double cassette deck, I did the compilations live, catching the moments when he spoke and the songs that I didn’t like, and I went to bed at the right time. I called these compilations the “Peelies“. Before that, Bernard Lenoir had held this role with his show Feed Back on France Inter. Even though I didn’t always agree with what he was going on, I liked the way he talked about it with that kind of nonchalance, humor and that rather dark and melancholy side that he always had. It was a friendly voice and a rare voice in France, the only program where you could hear Joy Division or Echo and The Bunnymen.
You who have antennas everywhere and spend your nights and days listening to music, what are your latest favorites?
I really like Squid (English post-punk band). This somewhat frenetic side that the English can have on stage and at the same time an incredible culture. These are young people who work more in energy, in the very physical side of music while being able to do Robert Wyatt covers, I find this way of summarizing the story quite brilliant and making it our own. But one group particularly fascinates me, it’s Working Men’s Club. It’s a real live band with a great musical culture, at 18 they talk about 808 State, Stone Roses, LCD Soundsystem, everything I love about music. The new album coming up is awesome.
“Passeur” by JD Beauvallet (Braquage editions)