Edition #21
There Will Be Time… For You And I
My dear friends, I hope you are all doing great, that you are able to appreciate the blooming colors springtime has to offer regardless of your — and mine — profound distress and desolation brought by the horrors presently being perpetrated by the Russian regime in Ukraine. If that abominable and dreadful aggression cannot be described with words, I’m deeply grateful that we were able to find solace and comfort in each other’s welcoming exchanges for at least an instant during our last communal live viewing session. Other people’s unbearable tragedies give every single moment of peace a humble and grateful perspective, so it’s with this respectful state of heart and mind that I was utterly appreciative to be able to share with you all. I am also deeply thankful to be able to take the proper time to answer some of the questions you asked me during the live session that I couldn’t answer on the spot, but also those you sent me following the event.
Don’t hesitate to send me additional questions, it’s a privilege for me to share with you!
Much love,
Alex
Ps: if you have the capacity to contribute, please don’t hesitate to give to the Red Cross to help them in their capital effort toward Ukrainian refugees.
Don’t hesitate to send me additional questions, it’s a privilege for me to share with you!
Much love,
Alex
Ps: if you have the capacity to contribute, please don’t hesitate to give to the Red Cross to help them in their capital effort toward Ukrainian refugees.
your questions, my answers
You didn’t play this song “Sorrows (If Only I Had Known)” at your previous October tour, right? Can’t remember. – Dave, Netherlands
The song was written for that specific live broadcast back in 2020, so it’s not only an unreleased version, but we never played the song after that one time… There will be a lot of work to learn those songs again!
I hope the song “Sorrows (If Only I Had Known)” will be on an album in a near future / played on tour. – x bird, Japan (and many others of you)
Good question, I have a variable conception of what an album is…! The rest of the band is coming home in the upcoming days to work on new songs… so we’ll see how it feels! I might also write 25 new songs exclusively for the tour, which will never be played again…! Who knows? 😉
Many of you asked if the poem in French from the song “Sorrows (If Only I Had Known)” and its translation would be available somewhere someday.
YES!!! Someday…! 😉
Any chance for Sorrows (If Only I Had Known) to be available on vinyl? – Thomas, Germany
As you might have read in one of Jeff’s exclusive SFCC club newsletters, I have several projects coming up this year. As you know, I truly like the concept of stand-alone collector and limited-edition lathe-cut vinyl. For me, it’s like encapsulating a moment, letting an emotion captured in real-time grow beyond time. I’m still undecided regarding having Sorrows (If Only I Had Known) on vinyl… The members of the band are scheduled to join me at home to prepare for the upcoming tour in the next few days. So I am envisioning having those direct-to-vinyl communions with you all before leaving on tour at the end of May. I know you are already a SFCC The Club member, so you’ll have all the details about what’s coming up pretty soon…!
As for those who aren’t members yet, I’m inviting you to join! Jeff is tremendously dedicated to sharing updates, exclusives events, news, and personal insights. (And he will be happy to know I am advertising for the club…!) But seriously, it’s a great way to go deeper into the projects’ identities and to connect with us in an up-close-and-personal manner.
https://secretfamilycultclub.com
As for those who aren’t members yet, I’m inviting you to join! Jeff is tremendously dedicated to sharing updates, exclusives events, news, and personal insights. (And he will be happy to know I am advertising for the club…!) But seriously, it’s a great way to go deeper into the projects’ identities and to connect with us in an up-close-and-personal manner.
https://secretfamilycultclub.com
What makes you alive today Alex? – Marko, Serbia
I was about to write that being alive is a relative concept for me — well I actually just wrote it…! So the point is if I had quite an incredible journey of life so far, I’ve grown into exploring the inner reality of the notion of being “alive” ever since I accepted to face the profound emotional loss that I felt when my father passed away, as much as when I decided to leave the community I founded years ago. There’s a major withdrawal of illusions and make-believes involved when it comes to personal transformations… It’s more painfully complex and sorrowfully unbearable than simply rewriting your life past narrative in order to make sense of whatever you might want to see your existence morph into. You can be moving on, but freedom is an acceptance of sufferings, both afflicted and inflicted. It is also the emancipative acknowledgment that what you thought was real at some point might have only been the pale reflection of your denial to see yourself for who you were. Our perspective of freedom is often blurry with our refusal to believe that such an emotional state is in fact defined by concealed desires and broken dreams. So that’s where I am, I guess, slowly stripping my heart from the persistent and enslaving feelings related to memories associated with events or people that never really happened or haven’t been there for me. That simple state of mind makes me alive… That, and a word or a sound about to emerge for me to keep on seeing beyond myself…
I love that you added French and Japanese in your songs. Is there another language that you would like to add someday? Maybe Arabic since you lived in Tangier? – Sophie, Canada
Every language has a unique sonority, its own soulful tone, and it’s always based on that voicing that I envision the inclusion of different languages in my projects. It might be a few words offering a deeper emotional element to the lyrics or a poem defining the spirit of a song in itself. It’s always really uplifting for me to distinguish what sounds are like the whisper I can hear in the otherwise chaotic noises my creative and emotional thoughts are immersed in. I guess that’s why the distinctive tonal singularity of the Japanese language has such a profound effect on me. It feels like a sacred whisper, a prayer delicately wrapped in intimate mysteries, but also like the fragile expression of a profound and hidden type of contemplative lament. I’m already thinking of a Japanese language project, as I’ve been fascinated by old shigin, traditional Japanese poetry that is sung.
As for the prospect of using the Arabic language, the never-released song The Slow Pace of the Winds, the one I opened up my set with during the tour with The Pineapple Thief, originally dwelled on the Palestinian poet and author Mahmoud Darwish’s spoken word. I like Arabic languages for their chanting and rhythmical essence. If I had heard his name and stumbled upon a few of his poems in the past, it’s only during my first passage in Tangier that I had the blessing to understand the poignant and emotional nature of his words when someone having a tea next to me while I was reading at the Gran Café de Paris happened to have one of Darwish’s book in his travel bag. This stranger’s enthusiasm for Mahmoud’s work had quite the effect on me and I started exploring his work from that point on. Soon, I learned to dwell on the authenticity of his work as the man, the artist, as much as the devoted national identity he had, rather than explore his dense literal universe through the eyes of his political views and their controversies or my North American perspectives…
Regarding other languages, I am also fond of Spanish. So who knows, I might explore those passionate tones as well. But one thing for sure, anyone who heard me speak in German, Hungarian, or Polish during my last tour would kindly but strongly suggest that I should take way more time before even starting to imagine myself trying to use those languages in any possible endeavors! I guess I’ll invite local artists to collaborate may this day come!
As for the prospect of using the Arabic language, the never-released song The Slow Pace of the Winds, the one I opened up my set with during the tour with The Pineapple Thief, originally dwelled on the Palestinian poet and author Mahmoud Darwish’s spoken word. I like Arabic languages for their chanting and rhythmical essence. If I had heard his name and stumbled upon a few of his poems in the past, it’s only during my first passage in Tangier that I had the blessing to understand the poignant and emotional nature of his words when someone having a tea next to me while I was reading at the Gran Café de Paris happened to have one of Darwish’s book in his travel bag. This stranger’s enthusiasm for Mahmoud’s work had quite the effect on me and I started exploring his work from that point on. Soon, I learned to dwell on the authenticity of his work as the man, the artist, as much as the devoted national identity he had, rather than explore his dense literal universe through the eyes of his political views and their controversies or my North American perspectives…
Regarding other languages, I am also fond of Spanish. So who knows, I might explore those passionate tones as well. But one thing for sure, anyone who heard me speak in German, Hungarian, or Polish during my last tour would kindly but strongly suggest that I should take way more time before even starting to imagine myself trying to use those languages in any possible endeavors! I guess I’ll invite local artists to collaborate may this day come!
In the first interview that you did about Windows in the Sky, you said that it was difficult for you to talk about the song Snowflakes in July. What about today? Are you more at peace? – Elena, USA
I haven’t played the song very often. If I have a great measure of emotional respect for the unique nature of my songs and projects, Snowflakes in July has a significant measure of personal intimacy involved. Therefore, for quite a long time, I needed to be in some kind of deep serenity to even contemplate the prospect of playing the song live. It’s through significant moments of communion with other grieving people that I realized that Snowflakes in July wasn’t mine alone to keep, that it was too precious and comforting for so many to even consider hiding within it by myself. The song was meant to shine, destined to grow beyond me, to be an ever-transformative stream of life and healing somehow. Accepting that reality allowed me to see it for the magnificent entity it was in the first place and to admire just how dazzling of a free spirit it has.
You sing “There will be time for you and I”… We know it was about your father but is there someone else with who you would like to have more time? – Tobias, Germany
There are always several layers of symbolism and metaphors in my projects. There’s no absolute nor any definitive meaning to my words… I believe that intimate words, like any honest artistic lifelike creation, have a growing nature of their own. Sometimes, when the subject of a song seems too vividly clear to me, I often realize that, once I let go of my self-preservative ego, every word and sound have their own shadows that contain more light than the darkness they either originate from or in which they try to hide. Abandonment reveals more than I would like to admit myself, and in that case, “you and I” implies a profound affective and spiritual type of communion that hasn’t been “consumed” yet, from love to friendship, and vice versa. That kind of transcending sensation is too pure to be kept in the fearful midst of my emotional dismissals. If it takes time, it also takes courage to face our personal faithlessness towards the impermanence of such an elusive perspective. It’s through self-abandonment that time loses its grip on our ever-fading twilight… Time then becomes an instant that can last eternally. The opposite is also true when we try to hold onto any given communal moment.
You say “The view is foggy, and so are memories”. Have you been able to regain some clarity on those memories? – Melinda, Hungary
Memories, like the pain or joy they evoke, are eternal somehow. Once you stop wondering about their meaning, it doesn’t matter if you can’t discern every single one of their details. It’s like passing by a dense city or forest while looking by the window of a fast train; one form morphs into something else, one color merges into the next… It’s what you make out of that perpetual stream of past images and sensations that defines how bright of a scenery your life will be filled with… At least, that’s how I see it now…
You wrote Windows in the Sky in Tangier, is there a country where you would like to go someday eventually to write another album or create another project? – Mertens, Belgium
I wrote about winter, snow, cold, and deep forests in a city standing between an ocean and a desert… so I guess it’s safe to say that what I see around me when I write is quite far or different from what I’m actually surrounded by… 😉
What’s the name of the stuffed moose in the green room? – Shona, UK
His name is Alfred, he followed me home one night a few years ago and never left.
Alex, I have a question for you: Your music sometimes sounds like Steven Wilson’s. Is he one of your influences? – Arnaud, France
I’m not really familiar with Steven’s deep catalogue, but I’ve been asked about that quite a few times… I guess it’s the creative “instinct” and “danger” that links us both.
What are your influences at the moment? If you know more unknown bands in France, I would like to discover. – Emilie, France
I like the idea of knowing unknown bands to share, it’s the cutest way of asking for new discoveries! Good question, though…! I guess I should do a French-only addition to one of my next playlist updates. Stay tuned!
Is your Moog used as a MIDI keyboard or are you playing melodies with it as well? – Fatoni, France
For me, the main fonction of the instruments is to offer the opportunity to do more sounds textures. I like to be able to “play” with the tempo and the rhythmic signatures in my songs…
Can you talk about your decision to lay the guitar flat and play it like a keyboard? – Blake, USA
For me, instruments are tools to express sensations, to provide deeper emotional layers… I’m not a musician, I’m an impressionist … The others are amazing musicians though. See what I did with my different guitar sliders? That’s what I meant by crafting sonic textures.
Alex, what is the mysterious device that you are using ? – Kimiyo, Japan
It’s an analog keyboard that creates what the other band members call a gentle end-of-the-world kind of sound.
Do you plan on adding one or more songs in French in your upcoming new project? – Aurélie, France
The foundation of the song Sorrows (If Only I Had Known) comes from one of my poems in French. I would like to something involving French by next year… So yes, it’s in the plans!
What is the name of this music type? – Arif, Turkey
Good question… You need to help me find a name for it!
Can we expect a prog festival with current bands such as Haken, Tesseract, The Ocean & AHF ? Also, what do you think of your predecessors like Rush, Triumph and Saga? – Arnaud, France
It would be an honor to share the stage with those incredible bands… for those who paved the way, they are the reason we are redefining the boundaries.
Alex, have we never told you or have you never thought of doing soundtracks? For movies or TV series? Your music would fit perfectly. – Constance, France
I’m currently working on a soundtrack project… 😉
The lighting is beautiful. They are like floating balls… I wonder who’s thinking about the stage setting? – Tsugumi, Japan
It’s my concept, I wanted to create an old theatre type of vibe… but Miss Isabel was the decoration “wizard” behind it all.
The last track on this live stream, was it the opening track on The Pineapple Thief tour? – Duncan, UK
The song you are talking about is called “Ouverture” that was linked with “Slow Pace of the Winds”… It is also a song that written specifically for an event, in this case the tour, and never released. Yes, I tend to do that…
When you go on tour in June, will you have newly designed shirts and sweaters? – Daly, Netherlands
Absolutely. It’s important for me to share something that is specifically aligned with the initial spirit and entity of the tour. Touring is not a sterile type of entertainment enterprise for me. That’s why the name and imageries are as significant as the songs set to be communed are…
Are the tour dates still standing for the coming months? – Cynthia, USA
Yes, the upcoming tour is still on, and more dates should be added soon… But the present horrors going on in Ukraine have a very profound impact on me… so I’m very sensitive about it.
Any chance that you guys will do a gig in Spain or Portugal? – ro-ro
I always keep my schedule open. For me, it’s always about doing it right, about taking the time to really share a moment rather than entertain… so I can’t wait!
Any plans for Canadian dates this year? – Paul, Canada
I don’t have plans for North America at this point. I’ve been invited to share a musical moment in many wonderful places, but I’ve learned to take my time… It will come.
Will the entire band be there for the Rock Your Brain Fest in Sélestat? – Albina, France
I will bring everyone on the road… if they’re still nice with me…!
In a tense situation in Europe it is difficult to think about concerts. Many concerts in Poland are canceled. What is the situation with Your performance in Krakow? – Sylwia, Poland
I still don’t know much about it… if not for the fact that my heart is with you all.
Alex when will you be playing in Montreal??? – Alexandre, Canada
I’m thinking of doing an event at our church-studio in Drummondville next fall. It all depends on my musical projects.
Will you add a date in Italy? – Andrea, Italy
I’m working on different options for our Italian rendez-vous!
See you soon!
I can’t wait to see you on April 16th (sorry for those who circled April 9th on their calendars!) for a special live session and a direct-to-vinyl moment. Don’t miss it!