Sylvain Chauveau

Although until now his profile has been low-key elsewhere (this is the first time his music has been released on a label outside of France), Chauveau is increasingly popular and highly regarded in his native country. After several years singing and playing guitar in neurasthenic rock bands in France, Chauveau decided to quit in 1998 and to start a solo project with three main ideas: to stay as close as possible to the abstract beauty of ‘silence’; to make sure that each sound committed is absolutely necessary; and to find his own roots within his cultural and personal history.

The latter has lead him to the quest for a truly modern French music – a music whose trajectory stretches from early 20th century chamber music composers (Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, Erik Satie, Gabriel Fauré, etc.), through the discoveries of mid-century "musique concrète" and the electro-acoustic school (Pierre Henry, Luc Ferrari, Bernard Parmegiani, etc.), and emerging through post-punk philosophy and a pop culture embracing short, simple and melodic works.

Before the release on 130701 of 'Un Autre Decembre', Chauveau had previously released two albums under his own name (‘Le Livre Noir du Capitalisme’ – 2000, and ‘Nocturne Impalpable’ – 2001), mostly recorded by his sound engineer and friend Joan Cambon. He composed and recorded the original music of Belgian cinematographer Thomas de Thier's "Des plumes dans la tête" (‘Feathers in the head’), which was released in early 2004.

Sylvain is also a member of the ambient-rock duo Micro:mega (with Frédéric Luneau) and the cinematic avant-rock band Arca (with Joan Cambon).