Jean-Pierre Massiera
Jean-Pierre Massiera (10 July 1941 – 28 December 2019), sometimes referred to by his initials JPM, was a French musician, composer, record producer, sound engineer, and recording studio owner. His prolific output between the 1960s and 1990s ranged across pop instrumentals, psychedelic rock and disco music, often incorporating elements of musique concrète, field recordings and samples in an eccentrically experimental and unique style. His work is usually credited under one-off band names such as Les Maledictus Sound, Horrific Child, and Herman's Rocket. He has been called "the French Joe Meek". The Guardians reviewer Ben Thompson called his work "a fetid miasma of sick humour, sound effects and unexpectedly first-rate musicianship", and reviewer William Rauscher described him as "a freewheeling auteur whose outrageous forays in trashy pop culture mix low-brow sensuality with oddball experimentation". Early life and career Massiera was born in Nice, France, but grew up in Córdoba and Buenos Aires, Argentina. After learning guitar, he returned to France when in his teens, and formed the instrumental beat group, Les Milords. Massiera played lead guitar; the other band members were Pierre Malaussena (rhythm guitar), Patrick Batteu (bass), and Francis Cavallaro (drums). After several singles in the style of British and American instrumental groups such as the Shadows and the Ventures, Massiera and Malaussena formed a new band in 1964, under the name of Les Monégasques, with Fernand "Nicky" Cafiero (bass) and Jean Haumont (drums). The band also played on recordings by pop singer Gérard Brent.Commentaires sur Les Monégasques, Bide & Musique, 20 November 2012. Retrieved 8 December 2019 Freakbeat and progressive rock In 1967, Massiera set up his own recording studio, Studio d’Enregistrement Méditerranéen (SEM) in Nice, with good quality recording equipment, and began recording local musicians including drummer André Ceccarelli and singers Jocy (later known as Jessy Joyce, real name Joyce Pepino) and Basile. In 1968 he composed and produced the album Attention, credited to Les Maledictus Sound. As well as Massiera and Ceccarelli, the musicians included guitarist Patrick Djivas, later of the band PFM. One track was contentiously called "Jim Clark Was Driving Recklessly" – the racing driver Jim Clark had been killed in a crash a few months previously. In late 1968, Massiera sold his studio and moved to Quebec, but returned to France the following year. Massiera continued to work as a producer for pop and freakbeat musicians in the late 1960s and early 1970s, including the single "Pardon pour Buchenwald" by Erik, on which he included samples of Nazi speeches. He also added a variety of electronic effects on the 1971 heavy rock album Chico Magnetic Band by Mahmoud "Chico" Ayari. In 1972, with the support of his half-brother Bernard Torelli, he opened a new 16-track studio, Antibes Studio 16, known as the Azurville studio. The studio was used by John McLaughlin, Bill Wyman, and many others. In 1974, he composed and produced the album Visitors, with an extraterrestrial theme. The musicians included vocalist Gérard Brent, violinist Didier Lockwood (later of Magma), and Bernard Torelli