The Cool Feedback | Interview | New Album, ‘Free Spirit’
The Cool Feedback is an innovative ensemble that explores sonic frontiers with feedback-driven music.
It’s a musical ensemble that delves into the fusion of three guitars and bass, utilizing feedback to create a dynamic interplay of harmonies, inviting musicians to embark on improvisational journeys spanning Free Jazz to Noisy Ambient. Comprising renowned artists such as Jac Berrocal on trumpet, Gilbert Artman on bass clarinet, Pierre Mimran, Tullia Morand, and Vincent Chavagnac on saxophones, alongside Jean-Bernard Lepape on drums, the band represents a collective of seasoned musicians. Guitarists Robert Lloyd, Morgan Lanoë, and Grégoire Garrigues, along with bassist Laurent Lanouzière, form the core ensemble.
Robert Lloyd and Grégoire Garrigues collaborated on a 1993 album, ‘Think About Brooklyn,’ produced by Bill Laswell in New York, where Grégoire Garrigues initially experimented with the concept of guitars in feedback. This album stands as the final studio recording of the iconic Free Jazz guitarist, Sonny Sharrock. With over 15 years of collaboration with Laurent Lanouzière in Panther Burns, Tav Falco’s band, Grégoire Garrigues’ journey with feedback-driven music has been deeply rooted.
The music of The Cool Feedback can be likened to a symphonic orchestra exploring novel sonic territories, harnessing the unexpected beauty of feedback as a transformative element. The guitar pick-up, akin to a newly discovered instrument, is wielded to masterfully harmonize sounds, evoking the untamed energy of a wild string section. Through their compositions, they aim to pierce through conventional norms, leading listeners into uncharted realms of auditory exploration.
The latest ensemble’s lineup features Grégoire Garrigues on guitar, keyboards, and bass, alongside F. Robert Lloyd on guitar, Laurent Lanouzière on guitar, Morgan Lanoë on bass, and Jean-Bernard Lepape on drums. Guest musicians including Jérôme Pons on piano, Gilbert Artman on bass clarinet and drums, Jac Berrocal on trumpet, Vincent Chavagnac and Tullia Morand on saxophone, Pierre Mimran on saxophone, and Didier Leglise on Korg MS20 enrich the sonic tapestry with their contributions.
“I share a passion for feedback”
Would love it if you could share what was the original concept behind forming The Cool Feedback project?
Grégoire Garrigues: It all started in June 1993 in Brooklyn when we were recording F. Robert Lloyd’s album ‘Think about Brooklyn’. For a track called ‘Lullaby You,’ we had the idea of creating a background of harmonized guitars in feedback, like a long chord. It’s worth noting that Robert Lloyd and I share a passion for feedback, so all we had to do was bring Sonny Sharrock along for the ride. After listening to the result, we decided to turn it into a track in its own right, which became “Tribute to Sun Ra”.
Not giving up on the idea of guitars in feedback, in 1997 I began recording the tracks for what was to become the first Cool Feedback (quartet at the time) album on my own. Robert Lloyd came to play on ‘Catalyst on the List’ with Iann Assuied on drums, who also plays on ‘Future Shadow,’ and classical pianist Michel Guikovaty came to compose his parts for ‘Backlight Blues’.
‘Cool Fire’ and ‘Conversation’ are performed entirely by myself.
As I was otherwise very busy with my main band Gregoire 4 and the APC Studio projects I was working on, it wasn’t until 2016 that, on Thierry Los’s initiative, the record was finally released.
How did you approach working on your latest album?
More or less in the same way as for the previous album, I compose by thinking about the instruments that are going to be used or the musicians who are going to be involved in the recording. Sometimes, when we’re recording with drummer Jean-Bernard Lepape, I give him a direction to improvise on, like on ‘Bouncing Bass’ or ‘No Words Are Innocent,’ and what he does, in turn, inspires me.
Would you say it differs from your previous albums?
Compared to the first album, ‘Dash My Mind,’ yes, it’s a very different approach, but as for ‘Soul Overdrive,’ basically no, it’s a fairly logical sequel, especially as it features almost the same musicians.
Tell us more about the recording and producing aspect of it?
There’s not much that differs from a classic studio recording session, except for the feedback itself: here it gets technical and sometimes painful because you have to play loud! Often for a long time because the tracks are quite long, and you have to hit the right notes to get the right feedback. I use hollow-body guitars for this, and bass guitars as well. As for the production itself, I record and mix everything myself.
You have a stunning lineup of musicians participating in it. How did you decide who to invite, and tell us about how you originally knew them? I’m sure you have a common history together.
Indeed, the list is long! So, from the outset, there’s Robert Lloyd, who’s known Gilbert Artman for several decades (there’s a recording on YouTube made when we came back from New York in 1993 with Artman on drums, Lloyd on guitar, and me on double bass), and of course, Artman knows Jac Berrocal.
Jac came as a guest to the first concert in June 2018 and has been part of the band ever since.
As for me, I’ve known Jean-Bernard Lepape for a long time, and I played in Tav Falco’s Panther Burns for more than 15 years with Laurent Lanouzière, who, in turn, plays with Morgan Lanoë in Lotus Blossom.
The pianists, on the first album, there was Michel Guikovaty whom I’ve known since school, and on the last album, it’s Jérôme Pons whom I’ve known from the Paris garage punk scene for a long time too.
As for the brass section, Tullia Morand and Pierre Mimran have been friends for a long time, so when I asked all these talented musicians if they’d like to play live and record with the Cool Feedback, the answer was “yes,” and at the last concert, the circle was widened still further with the presence of Vincent “Turquoiz” Chavagnac.
What’s next for you?
The priority is to find gigs in Europe and why not in the rest of the world. Depending on the proposed budget, we can change the number of musicians and invite others on-site, which is always a great experience!
Although there’s no rush for a next record, I have a new and quite different idea for a fourth album.
Are you working on some other projects as well?
Before I moved from Paris to the South of France one year ago, I played regularly in five bands, each with a different musical style, but the distance makes it much more complicated now.
Actually, I play in two bands with local musicians, and I’ve immediately reinstalled my recording studio, which is now up and running.
Klemen Breznikar
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Jacques Berrocal | Interview
F. Robert Lloyd | Interview | “Think About Brooklyn”
