By Keith Walsh
When I first encountered the globetrotting creative powerhouse Gilles Snowcat and his merry band of cohorts in 2013, I got the impression that European musicians are crossing borders, both creatively and geographically. Computers have brought the facilitation of music creation across borders to new levels, and the European progressive rock band Lunear, introduced to me by Gilles, proves this point very well.
Lunear’s independently released debut , “Many Miles Away,” features expert playing and songwriting, with the three seasoned multi-instrumentalists offering a tasty album of commercial leaning rock, built upon years of experience and hard work with their instruments– created on Apple computers in three European cities in Spain and France. It’s true that every progressive rock band needs a cosmic sort of hook – this is found in the band’s name itself, along with spiritual and psychological themes, as well as with catchy melodies and expert playing.
The tunes on the album range from grand pop rock tunes, to upbeat numbers and poignant ballads, all with catchy pop sensibilities. The project started when vocalist and keyboardist Paul J. No and his bandmate Sebastien Bournier, who contributes drums and vocals, recruited longtime friend Jean Philippe Benadjer to add a third voice to their developing project. Jean Philippe contributed his skillful bass guitar, guitars and vocals, as well as mixed the album, and the rest is history. I find it somewhere between brilliant and a masterpiece, and not to be missed. A good starting point is the apparent first single, “Just Another Song About That Girl.”
The blokes in the band were kind enough to submit to my questions, and I found them pleasantly loquacious about subjects as diverse as the songwriting process, the equipment they use, and the challenges of promotion. Please enjoy, and for a limited time the album is available for free on Bandcamp.com, or you can support the band by paying as well. It’s also available at Amazon MP3, iTunes and other digital outlets.
Q : I’m wondering guys, since it seems that many European musicians travel across borders, what is the home town of Lunear?
Jean Philippe : Our hometown is the internet 🙂 We live in three different towns located in two countries: France and Spain.
Sebastien : But, if you really want a hometown, I guess that it is Avignon, where I live, because this is were we met to take pictures, film our video and finish the album.
Paul J. : One curious information is that during the making of this album I was travelling a lot. I began working in Madrid, then I moved to Canary Islands and now I live in Barcelona!
Q : Tell me about the history between Sebastien and Paul, and also how they know Jean Philippe. How long have all of you been playing music?
Sebastien : Paul and I have known each other for 20 years. We met on a french rock progressive mailing list… I’ve been playing the drums since 1997. Then I began learning guitar in 2000 and piano since 2003. Everything self-taught.
Jean Philippe : I’ve known Sebastien since 2004/2005. We talked through a forum dedicated to Genesis. Then i helped him on his albums (Sousbock) in different ways : sometimes mastering, sometimes mixing, sometimes writing a song. I’ve played music for more than 25 years now, mostly in pop rock bands. My actual band is called PolarSun.
Paul J. : Seb played drums in some of my records (Midrone). We have always been in touch, talking about music. Four years ago we decided to write songs together and we started working on an album. Seb had written some strong lyrics and it was very easy for me to fit in the words he had created. I began developing songs around demos or ideas he sent me. We worked slowly, step by step, and sharing ideas and melodies. Then a year ago Seb told me about JP. How great it would be to have him on board. JP is not only guitarist or bassist. He’s also a very good sound engineer. The mixing of “Many Miles Away” is his masterwork! So JP brought his talented skills. He helped rearrange some songs, and we also wrote two new songs with him.
One interesting thing about us also is that we all can sing. I sing in most of the songs on the record but JP and Seb have also the leading role in some songs.
Q : Was there any era of music, in a kind of retro sense, that was in mind when creating this album? I hear it in the choice of sounds, but also in the lyrics. And what are some of the influences on the band? (I know, it will be a long list, so if it’s annoying just keep it general).
Jean Philippe : We don’t really have a specific era in mind. We love a lot of different things and they somehow influenced what we do, but there are no consciously references, except Genesis which is our common ground. We can’t deny that Radiohead, Pink Floyd or Steven Wilson influenced us too.
Paul J.: I could add some classic rock bands… Like Supertramp.
Sebastien : And even Marillion!
Paul J. : But I must say that it’s more a background… today we listen to more actual bands.
Q : What kind of keyboard setup are you using Paul? I hear analog or at least analog simulations. Beautiful keyboard sounds.
Paul J. : I am more an organic player. I love playing piano which is my favourite instrument. And I also love the sound of the cello which was my first ever instrument when I was 6 years old. For this record, piano, organ and cellos are the basic sounds used. The sounds are all standard presets from Logic.
Q : What guitars is Jean using? I grew up in Fullerton, California, home of Fender guitars. Any Fenders there?
Jean Philippe : There’s a lot of Fender here 🙂 I mostly play on a US left-handed Fender Telecaster, and overdubbing some parts with a US left-handed Gibson SG. I usually play on a Fender Deluxe Amp, but I made this album only with simulated amps. I also played on a Stanford 6 strings acoustic guitar. The bass is a Fender Squier.
Sebastien : JP is left handed and he doesn’t have a 12 string guitar. So Paul played his Takamine 12 string on the record. I played my PRS electric guitar on the song You Owe Me Nothing as well as my Takamine acoustic 6 strings and even a Ibanez ukulele on the beginning of A Last Time For Everything.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bi6mizoB9q2/?utm_source=ig_web_options_share_sheet
Q : What kinds of drums did Sebastien use?
Sebastien : I’m using a Roland TD 4 midi drums. I use it to trigger sounds from Toontracks EZ Drummer 2. As you know, real drums are the most difficult things to record properly in a home studio. That is why I settled for this solution a long time ago. It’s easier to mix, it’s easier to fix and nowadays, it sounds really really good. If you don’t know that it’s not real drums, you can have a hard time figuring it out.
Q : What is Jean Phillipe’s studio like? Or what studio did you record on, and was it mostly digital or analog (tape?)
Jean Philippe : We recorded this album in our 3 home studios. I have only an old iMac, a simple sound card (Presonus FP10) and basic monitors (Tapco S5). The core of the album is Logic Pro. We did everything in it.
Sebastien : Well, everything but the drums, obviously. As I said, they are from EZ Drummers 2. Everything was digital. We all have iMacs with Logic Pro. My sound card is a Focusrite Scarlett 18i8.
Q: Our mutual friend Gilles Snowcat has been very creative in promoting his work. Aside from the website, what promotional techniques are you using to ensure your new album reaches a wider audience?
Jean Philippe :Paul makes a lot of things, like promoting us on Facebook, Instagram. I made the visuals, including videos.
Sebastien : Gilles is amazing. We rely on Paul for the social media network thing. And we rely on JP for things like our website, videos.
Paul J. : As we are not able to tour, promoting ourselves is not an easy task. When you make music you soon realise that people are more focused on bands that release singles than full albums. I guess that the time when you put the record on a record-player and sit to listen to the music carefully and with the lyrics is over…
Q : As in a lot of prog rock, there is a sense of spirituality and hope. I see this in your lyrics and it’s really a nice feature of the sound and message. What role does an optimistic spirituality play in the creation of songs for this project and (I hope) the next project that you are working on?
Sebastien : I’m surprised that you’ve found hope in the lyrics. I am the one to blame for them :-). I tried to write on things that matter to me. A song like Don’t Be Scared is somehow hopeful but I think it’s a stretch. Songs like A Last Time For Everything might be dark and depressive, but it’s my way to say « enjoy life before it’s too late ». Closed Doors is about choices and regrets that might occur after. Fresh Start is pretty self explanatory I think… Heaven? is one of my favorite lyrics. It’s another way to say « Enjoy life, enjoy the moment ». This is something I truly believe in : the power of Here and Now. This is all that matters: the past is past and you can do nothing to change it. And the future, you just don’t know what is going to happen, so there is no point in worrying about it because it’s never like you thought it would be… I guess that’s my kind of optimistic spirituality. I’m trying very hard to live according to that because I used to be a very very worried person. And I still kind of struggle with this on a daily basis.
Oh, and by the way, English is not my mother language, so I hope that there are not too many grammar mistakes on the record… (You see, worrying again for something that is too late to change…).
Q: What are you working on? A second album, or are live gigs in the working? Would Jean Philippe play guitar or bass live?
Jean Philippe: We are many miles away from each others (pun intended), so there are no plans for live gigs (and it would require some extra musicians…). In concert I prefer playing the guitar, it’s my natural instrument. We don’t know if there will be another album, but it would be great, I think we all want it. I’m finishing the new album of my pop band and then I will work on my next solo project.
Sebastien : I hope we’ll be able to make a second album. I’ve the idea for the lyrics. But it’s gonna take a long long time. We need to charge our batteries again. This album was a lot of work and I, for one, am exhausted. Happy, but exhausted. I need time before we embrace this new journey.
Paul J. : I have been writing music since I’m 14! I use to release records nearly every 18 months with Midrone which is more pop-oriented. I strongly believe this record helped us discover a new way of making music. We all love the final work. It was refreshing to rely on different people and we discovered that we worked together magically. So it a second record is definitely an option! As Seb says, we just need some time, to do our solo things or refresh. And we will hopefully be working again on a new album sometime.
http://www.lunearmusic.com
https://lunear.bandcamp.com/
lunear at amazon.com
lunear at instagram
finis
