I started working on this new solo in the spring of 2020. Mostly outdoors, as I couldn't work at home. The idea caught on and I presented a first version of the project in a forest in the Lot region (South-West of France), during the Concerts Dispersés series in August 2020. I have continued to play concerts, keeping in mind the idea of playing as much as possible outside the usual music venues, in spaces with remarkable acoustics. That's how I came up with the idea of Le Bargy: to present music and the sound environment on the same plane, and to map out the different acoustic spaces of a specific place.
The Grand Bargy is a rocky cliff rising up to 2301m in the Bornes massif in Haute-Savoie, at the foot of which lies a mountain pasture tended by Pierre and Marianne Métral. They both bring their animals up there when the snow melts to make cheese, and they head back down to the valley as winter approaches. I spoke to them about this record, and they agreed to host me at Chalet Neuf, the place where they live and work in the summertime. After a scouting phase at the end of May 2021, I was joined by Olga Kokcharova, a sound artist based in Geneva, for recording. There was a lot of rain in early June, but enough sunshine to capture the mountain's springtime ambience. I edited a first version of the record the following summer, but it still lacked some music. So, I had to let a winter pass and go back up the following year to do some extra recordings. The second session took place in July 2022 in a summerier atmosphere (#1 Le Grand Cirque, #5 Au Chalet Neuf, #8 Les Cloches).
Most of the tracks on the album are pieces I usually play live. For this record, I have adapted these tracks so that you can hear not only music, but a place: the great rocky cirque (#1), the scree slopes (#2), the Montarquis cave (#7), the waterfalls at the foot of the Almet (#3), the north side of the Grand Bargy and the Lac Bénit (#6; #4), the Chalet Neuf (#5), the mountain pastures (#8). With these locations, you will also hear living creatures in their natural environment (or almost): Hérens cows and their bells (#8; #5), common midwife toads (#6), alpine chough (#7), dogs, shepherds, airplanes and the sound engineer.
The making of this project would not have been possible without the invaluable help, sound advice and exceptional hospitality of Marianne and Pierre Métral. Nor would it have been possible without the patience and the ears of Olga Kokcharova.
