- Q & A with Thomas Coquelet of BeCoq Records
Please give us a brief bio of the label. How did it start, til today….
When we were kids, with my brother, we only had a stereo for two. We had to learn to share or at least accept the musical tastes of one another, or fight. It’s very similar to what’s happening today, we have a music label for two and we have to discuss what we want to release and why. It’s been three years already and it’s getting more and more exciting!
Which labels inspired you most to make your own?
At first, it was the idea of creating a music label that appealed to us, there wasn’t a specific example that we wanted to follow. But then, I was struck by the musical diversity of a music label like Gaffer Records on which you can find a minimalist quartet of drone music just as well as some ultra-cold noise rock like Staer. It contrasted so much with the music labels with a clear guiding principle that we are accustomed to come across… and which have their own appeal by the way, I’m not saying they haven’t. The strangest thing is that for me, it’s another type of guiding principle that’s behind our music label. Somewhere, these types of music are not so remote from one another, they coexist, but in a more subjective way.
Which is the motto for BeCoq Records?
“Here, take that one too as a gift, you’ll like it!”
Which are the advantages and disadvantages of running a music label today?
There are virtually no disadvantages in managing a volunteer music label, if you find that there are you, just stop. It’s not our work, but a pleasure, our main goal is not to make a living, so it should not become something that raises problems. You don’t go to a restaurant with friends in order to argue… even if obviously, it can happen sometimes.
Which are your future plans for the label?
We find ourselves at a key moment in the history of the label. A lot of things are becoming more precise and are being prepared right now. The music and the art are going to toughen in the coming months. Also, we are producing some bands that, a priori, don’t correspond to the aesthetic of the label but we’re coming back to what we were saying earlier. What matters is the human contact, interactions, the output of an encounter.
- Three distinctive BeCoq Records’ releases
It’s quite hard to choose as all of them have their own distinctive features, but let’s give it a try:
Jean-Luc Gionnet / Thomas Bonvaket – ‘Loges De Souffle‘
The first album of the duo composed of Thomas Bonvalet (L’ocelle Mare, Cheval De Frise, Powerdove) and Jean-Luc Guionnet (The Ames Room) is a beautiful forty minutes long piece of music which mixes the drone of the organ with the cruder sounds of a banjo and of several selected objects. It bears witness to the first encounter between two universes which didn’t seem destined to merge and which however work terribly well together. Another recording of the duo was also released on BeCoq Records in vinyl.
MILESDAVISQUINTET! – ‘Shapin’ With‘
MILESDAVISQUINTET! is a band born of the Parisian collective “Tricollectif” with whom we regularly work. The basic orientation of the collective, and of this band in particular, is jazzy but it’s only an anchoring. The principal here lies in the construction, as a trio, of separate parallel rhythms that strives to keep of sense of unity and built up into a long crescendo. It’s smart and generous music.
Chaman Chômeur – ‘Chaman Chômeur‘
Chaman-Chômeur is a guitar/bass/drums trio that draws a lot more energy from rock. Their music is mainly composed of long improvisations focusing on Larsen, and satured sounds or on the contrary on low frequency sound that which creates contrast dynamics inside of which the nuances of each instruments are given as much space as possible.
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Becoq/738425652836632
Curated by: Christos Doukakis