www.sweat-and-tears.com
Described as “a laboratory of ideas, where you will assist the birth of creation live and direct, public jam sessions, pure sound research”, there’s a sense of anticipation in the air as I wait for The Treichler-Pizzi-Trontin Experience to take to the small stage at the Hundred Blue Bottle Club. It’s the last night of their OFF festival residency in Cully and a tightly-packed crowd of loyal Young Gods fans of all ages are giving off the distinct impression that something thrilling and unique is about the take place. It’s the coming together of well-seasoned, deeply-connected musical partners still capable of enthralling their audience with new ideas and aural concepts. The three musicians share a musical history of almost 30 years, yet everybody present knows that old school nostalgia is not on the menu tonight.
A tight whirlwind of gripping sound
Indeed, for those not familiar with the three-decade towering inferno that are Treichler and company, it might be a surprising sight to see men over 50 producing such a tight, trancy, experimental, head-nodding wall of sound. From the get-go there is a sense of journey, like being yanked onto a rhythmic train moving with pleasant urgency from station to station, hypnotising you with varying degress of intensity and volume along the way. Rhythms are created slowly, electro beats taking their time before coming at you like a whip and ensnarling you into a tight whirlwind of gripping sound.
It’s a technological playground for bedroom rockers
www.sweat-and-tears.com
Franz Treichler, the archetypal gum-chewing rock legend, weaves his often unintelligeble vocals in and out of the soundscape tapestry. His words are at times irrelevant and haphasard but serve to add a darker edge to the swirling, dubby rhythms. Interesting effects are used to create echo, reverb, loops and playback – it’s a technological playground for bedroom rockers who like their soundtrack trippy, hypnotic and just that little bit sinister. When things get a little too bouncy, Treichler comes in with a good dose of tough-love guitar to remind us there is beauty in light and shade. However, for me, the greatest of props go to drummer, Bernard Trontin, who steers a tight ship full of funky breakbeats and unparalleled rhythmic structure. Watching his dexterity and joy behind the drumkit is a rare delight.
Four questions to Franz Treichler
What was your reasoning behind “a laboratory of ideas”?
Franz Treichler: We were invited to do a residency at the Hundred Blue Bottle Club as part of the OFF festival at Cully Jazz. It seemed a perfect occasion to try out new ideas without the pressure of having to play Young Gods material. The OFF festival attracts a very open-minded audience at Cully, the atmosphere on stage is very free, basically ‘anything goes’. This felt appropriate for the band. Some ideas were born in the afternoon and played out the same night. Tracks changed every evening. I played guitar in a style I don’t normally use for The Young Gods, the same for my vocals – I couldn’t really call it singing, it was more sound improvisation and throwing things into the mix. There weren’t even any track titles, each piece was considered a session, a one off.
Why didn’t you bill yourselves as The Young Gods?
Franz Treichler: This would have changed the expectations of the audience and would have limited our freedom to experiment. We really wanted to create a mysterious vibe during the residency, encourage the listeners to be curious and progressive with us. Expect the unexpected.
What was happening on stage from a technical point of view?
www.sweat-and-tears.ch
Franz Treichler: Cesare and I both had computers loaded with programmes that activate sound, sequencing, loops and pitch. Our computers were synchronised so that I could affect what he was playing and vice versa whilst keeping in rhythm. It was a very free and interactive process, although I must admit that there were times when it was hard to know who was doing what! What we set out to create was a sound of elevation, (music doing the job of the drugs!)
Is this in some way the future sound of The Young Gods?
Franz Treichler: We’d like to do something for the next album that’s in a similar vein, by that I mean not totally sequenced. We’ve always been categorised somewhere between rock and electronic music. It would be good to expand our experimental ambiant side, something less structured, more free.
Band line up:
Franz Treichler – vocals, guitar
Cesare Pizzi – keyboard, sample
Bernard Trontin – drums
Mains jointes ou offertes, poing tendu, le corps ondulant ou sautillant, la chanteuse Claire Huguenin impose d’emblée son style très particulier. La vocaliste de Bulle dont tout le monde parle a choisi de dévoiler en formule acoustique son premier projet solo, 
A ses côtés, le grand manitou du piano, 
Ce qui n’empêche pas Claire Huguenin de continuer sans faillir son évocation de l’intime, des sentiments à fleur de peaux, des sensations pas forcément agréables, comme ce « Weary Dany » en duo voix-contrebasse qui évoque l’ennui. Le monde de Claire Huguenin est peuplé d’esprits, de gens qui ne communiquent plus, de ruptures, de fracas. Et sa voix fonctionne comme un écho à ses ruptures, ses cabosses, ses éclats de rire. Evidemment, l’équilibre est périlleux, difficile à tenir de bout en bout. Variant les modes, déstabilisant l’auditeur en jouant sur le tragi-comique, Claire Huguenin et ses musiciens taillent néanmoins leur route. Il faudra encore certainement quelques prestations live pour que ce projet atteigne sa pleine puissance. Mais le potentiel, la grâce et la trempe de cette « little big woman » (pour reprendre l’expression d’un Internaute subjugué) sont de ceux qui marquent durablement. Merci !
Le 4 octobre 2014, le travail des saxophonistes soprano et ténor est enfin écoutable et visible “pour de vrai” au Sud des Alpes dans le cadre de la 18è édition du Festival Jazz Contreband, cette manifestation qui rassemble 50 concerts en 20 lieux pendant 24 jours, en France voisine et en Suisse romande.
