This song on my new “Infinite” EP came from a striking image... Listen here

I was following a physics course on a MOOC (Mass Open Online Course), and one of the session was about some extraordinary insights of Einstein’s theory of Relativity, and the subject of the speed of light as a constant. What I vividly remember was a computer simulation attempting to show the kind of visual distortion that would happen if you were to travel at a speed close to the speed of light (because nothing can go any quicker, even though Star Trek told you so!), and how things would appear to you as you were increasing speed. (The video here is of low quality, unfortunately I couldn’t find a better one, sorry! But hopefully you'll get the idea)

What I liked was how, as you passed a building in that simulation, it was still appearing ahead of you, because of the distortion and the time the light would take to reach you, and also the fact that as you were speeding up, everything in front started to appear brighter and focused on a center point ahead like the end of a tunnel…

And then I remembered how people who had a near death experience often talk about that tunnel and the light in front of them, and how it sounded similar.
Now I’m not a spiritual person, but this made me think that it was somehow strangely related.

From that came the central idea of this song (to be taken literally):

And as you reach the speed of light
You face your past collapsed and bright
Sliding

From there on, to think of a journey with no return, far from the sun, in a “rocket ship firing” naturally followed… It’s a journey we will all take one day, so I hope it will be full of wonders and exciting. I tried to make the sound and the song a possible (if only faint) reflection of this extraordinary adventure.

Yesterday, I received a batch of CDs of my Infinite EP.

They look good, and it’s fun to have, but then, what’s the point?
Do people still listen to these? Do they even have a CD player anymore?

It’s said everywhere that CD sales are moribund, and that nowadays people are using streaming platforms for the most part. As for downloads, well, they are going down as well…

So what’s the use of this then?
Well, you should know that there are still many blogs and radios that only accept submissions of physical products. This means that not only do you have to produce these (and estimate in advance how many you will need to minimize the costs of duplication), then you also have to ship them in bubble wrap envelopes to wherever this is required, this ends up being quite an investment in time and money, without any guarantee for a return.

On the one hand I can understand that these radios and blog need some tangible product to keep in their library and have some attached liner notes to draw information from. On the other hand it sounds like a waste of resources (and place - I can only imagine how many of these a typical radio need to store) when it’s so easy to transfer digital music nowadays, tag your mp3 files and add a one-page PDF in a zip with all the info that is needed.

Oh well! At worst, this can make some really cool coasters! :D

Nowadays people don’t listen to music. They watch it on YouTube! 
Which is why having a video for all your songs is essential… Like it or not, YouTube is still the number 1 music discovery website far more than any other platforms.

Which is a bit silly, really, because I remember that back in the days we used to listen to albums, sometimes with eyes closed, to get engulfed into the sound and music and dream our own movie… I suppose we have became too lazy today to just listen to music without image support?

So, if you are making music nowadays, you need to create videos. And of course that’s another hole in your budget/time, either you hire people to work with you on videos, or you have to learn to do it yourself (and not everyone can be gifted at everything) and this takes more time away from what your focus should really be which is writing/playing/recording music.

For this song, which is supposed to be the feature song of the EP, I wanted to make a special “Official” video. And I was fortunate to find Gareth Kay, a video artist from London - UK, who accepted to work with me on a limited budget but with a dedication to create the best content possible. We talked about a loose scenario and directives that included someone between life and death trying to make a sense of his life in “out of body” experience sequences. I wanted the end to be hopeful, like the song ultimately is, after a psychotic experience seen from evocative images.

I’m very happy with the result which looks sleek and professional, despite the budget, and nicely bring along the viewer on an emotional journey.

Yesterday was Canada day and the country was celebrating the 150th birthday of the confederation.

Although I’ve been living in Montreal since 2005, I’ve only been a real Canadian for a couple of months, since I only applied for citizenship recently, which was granted on May 3rd during a ceremony that celebrated multiculturalism and the values of the country.

I’m pretty proud of being Canadian actually. Not that I disown my French roots in any way but Canada is a country looking towards the future more than the past and its values of openness and welcoming immigration policy is something I really appreciate.

Unlike its southern neighbours (this spells with "ou" here!), it is a safe country to live in, and the social climate is not one of fear and distrust. It is the country we have chosen to raise our daughter because of this, among other reasons.

I also like that its thoroughly North American culture is still pumped with European blood and this can be seen in many places all over the country. Montreal in particular still shares a lot of its culture with France and is proud of its French roots. An ideal place for me to live in.

If only Winter didn’t last that long! :D