press-kit - Le grand Bateau

le grand bateau
l’eau de vie
le grand bateau
‘Girl singing in French, some
accordion passages here
and there… it must be French
chanson’; anyone who takes
this as a reason to listen to
the group will have wasted
their time.
Le Grand Bateau produces
a sound entirely its own,
incorporating a wide range
of influences. It’s no easy
task to label or categorise
their music and if one could
it would immediately be
superseded.
The lyrics determine the
music, regardless of genre.
The lyrics and music are
inherent to the material and
each depends on the other.
Although the numbers
seem to sound lively, they
are accompanied by rather
more melancholy lyrics.
As is often the case in songwriting, the inspiration
was taken from personal
experiences and stories
heard ‘at the bar’ or in
conversations.
Although many of the
numbers are about people,
what they do above all is
visualise a genuine emotion.
There is story behind every
façade. In spite of this
contradiction and diversity,
there is a thread that ties it
all together. The members
of the group spin this
thread very informally, and
the truly intriguing nature
of the songs arises out of
the members’ individual
lifestyles. All with different
tastes in music, views and
characters; it is to this that the
music owes its complexity.
But to express it in an
uncomplicated
manner,
we can say that they play
numbers that are above
all appealing, genuine and
lively. A delight to listen to
and a pleasure to see them
play. They are neither black,
nor white… but more like
grey (like Belgian weather).
They offer you a ‘chanson
Belge’.
l’eau de vie
They have now taken the
time to record their second
official album (which
ultimately became an EP
of their best new numbers)
called L’eau de vie. For
this they have taken a new
crew member on board in
the shape of Jean-Marie
Aerts (TC Matic, Absynthe
Minded and others) who has
taken on the responsibility
for production. The songs
were recorded at the ICP
Studios in Brussels. Aerts
succeeded in pointing up
the personality of this group
using the right sounds and
the songs selected for the
EP, and allowed them to
record completely live… on
tape (when J-M Aerts is in
the studio, it’s the old school
approach).
L’eau de vie sounds riper
and slightly darker than La
mesure, their first album,
which was much more of a
musical exploration. Their
characteristic themes of
fear, passion and loss still
provide the undertone, but
are accompanied by their
distinctly spontaneous style.
Yves Meersschaert
Yves Meerschaut has been
playing the piano since
he was seven. The first of
his own melodies were
born the instant he made
the acquaintance of the
instrument. He wrote several
fine French chansons for
the duo Derek and Vis. His
song Petit Lapin was a radio
hit in Flanders and the
Netherlands.
In 1999 he brought out
the first solo album of his
own work, called Mon
Paradis. It was on the basis
of these compositions that
the Ministry of the Flemish
Community selected him to
tour the cultural centres of
Flanders. Since 2000 he has
been the resident composer
with the Ultima Thule figuretheatre company in Ghent.
Since 2004 he has been the
composer and conductor
of the Propere Fanfare in
Ghent, which has more than
100 members. As a pianist
and producer he has worked
with Lieven Tavernier,
Warre Borgmans, Herman
Brusselmans, BJScott, Derek,
Bruno Deneckere and Wim
De Wulf.
Aster van Vaerenbergh
Aster graduated from St
Lucas College in Ghent as
an illustrator and artist. Since
2011 she has been working
as a tattoo artist and has run
her own business, called ‘The
House of Dis’. She also still
works as an illustrator and
provided the visuals for the
previous album, La mesure.
Aster is a self-taught vocalist,
but she has had a passion for
music since her early years.
She has worked with Kid Fear,
Arne Van Haecke and others.
In 2010 she opted decisively
to become the lead singer
with Le Grand Bateau.
Thomas Noël
The
musician
and
photographer Thomas Noël
(1971) studied classical
piano under Sonja Moortgat
at Antwerp Conservatoire,
and jazz piano, guitar and
composition under Mike
DelFerro, Erik Vermeulen
and Lucien Posman at the
Conservatoire in Ghent.
He currently works as a pianist
and multi-instrumentalist
and also as a freelance
photographer. He is also the
composer and driving force
behind Frontiera npo and
‘The City’s song’ (http://
www.frontiera.be) and is,
moreover, actively involved
in numerous other music
and audiovisual projects.
As a director he is regularly
engaged in theatre projects
for De Vieze Gasten and
De Centrale intercultural
centre (e.g. as initiator of the
BOXART project in Ghent in
2010).
In 2014, together with the
violinist Wouter Van Den
Abeele, he took part in the
Yolda project (http://www.
projectyolda.be) set up by
the Handelsbeurs as part of
the Istanbul Ekspress festival.
Thomas has worked with
Blindman, De Filmfabriek,
Literaturhaus
Innsbruck,
theater bij De Vieze Gasten,
Huis Van Alijn, Yawar, the
Standaard group, D&D
productions, CC De Markten,
BOZAR, De Handelsbeurs,
ICC De Centrale, Radio
Panguana (Melbourne), Pitti
Pollack, Pop in Wonderland,
Lieven Tavernier, John
Snauwaert,
Catherine
Delasalle and others.
His exhibitions have toured
several cultural centres in
Flanders and abroad.
Sophie Cavez
At barely 30 years old, this
young self-taught accordionist, extremely gifted and
a fanatical worker, is solidly
rooted in the world of ‘musical buttons’. Engaged in her
own projects and offering
her talent to others, in just
a few years she has taken
a new diatonic sound that
combines power, charm and
sensitivity to concert stages
in both Belgium and abroad.
For the last three years she
has also been in action with
her bass and has provided
vocal accompaniment for
several chanson projects: Urban trad, Dazibo, KV Expess,
Montanaro/Cavez duo, Julien Padovani, Malyka, Kaline.
Wouter van den Bossche
Wouter
Vandenbossche
was born in Wetteren on
6th April 1984. He learnt his
first drumbeats at the age
of 10 with the local brass
band in Sint-Lievens-Esse.
His interest in drumming
developed there and he
later enrolled at the music
academies in Herzele and
Aalst.
Later, at the Conservatoire in
Ghent, he was taught by Mimi
Verderame, Arnoud Gerritse,
Toon Van Dionant, Teun
Verbruggen, Marc Godfroid
and Frank Vaganée. In June
2010 Wouter obtained his
Master’s degree in Jazz and
Light Music there.
He has played with such
bands as Smashdance (a
disco-pop cover band),
the Royal Navy Band,
Contraband (folk), Big Band
86, Major Five (Liliane SaintPierre’s backing group),
Le Grand Bateau (Frenchlanguage pop), The Vintage
Jazz Cats (swing band)
and Crosstown Traffic (Jimi
Hendrix tribute band).
Collaboration
One of the sources of
inspiration for the composers
Yves Meerschaut and
Thomas Noel was Le Dernier
Brame, a strip cartoon by
Jean-Claude Servais. Their
fascination for the interactive
sensuality between body
and nature, the sparkling
energy that animates
Servais’ work, led them to
convert this imaginary world
into a musical opus on a
grand scale with original
drawings from the book, plus
videos and photos. Together
with their band, Le Grand
Bateau, Meerschaut and
Noel provide the music. This
vintage pop group writes
French songs permeated
with the bronze green
colours of the forest. The
singer Aster Van Vaerenberg
adds even more atmosphere
with her superb voice. Le
Grand Bateau recorded its
debut album in 2010.
Credits l’eau de vie
music: le grand bateau
lyrics: Yves Meersschaert
producer: Jean-Marie Aerts
recording studio: ICP
mastering: Alan Ward
lead vocal: Aster Van
Vaerenbergh
guitars, hammond:
Thomas Noël
piano: Yves Meersschaert
drums: Wouter Van den
Bossche
bass guitar: Sophie Cavez
el guitar: Jean-Marie
Aerts
backing vocals: Aster,
Thomas, Sophie, Yves
artwork: Bram Blondeel,
Jesús Azogue, Aster Van
Vaerenbergh
lay-out: Bram Blondeel,
Jesús Azogue
art direction: Jesús
Azogue
label: CLICK
www.legrandbateau.com
℗ 2014 Le Grand Bateau / © 2014 CLICK