On Friday morning, French musician and turntablist Jean du Voyage was engrossed in recording music with a local vocalist at the Alliance Francaise of Pondicherry (AFP) office on Suffren Street.
He was in Alliance Francaise Puducherry as part of his ‘musical tour’ in India.
Alliance Francaise Director Olivier Litvine said that his visit to India is part of a joint project of the City of La Rochelle, Centre Intermondes, La Sirene (concert venue), French Institute in France, French Institute in India and Alliance Francaises in India and coordinated by Alliance Francaise of Puducherry.
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During his stay in India, Mr.Voyage will be performing in nine concerts on a tour of eight cities across the country. And, in his love to spread knowledge of music, he is also conducting workshops. “At these sessions, I share tips and explain to amateurs what is scratch.... it is not very common in India though there are some DJs and scratchers in big cities like Mumbai,” says Mr.Voyage.
An autodidact, Mr.Voyage trains only seven participants in his three-hour workshops. “I am conducting three workshops. This will be followed by a conference on Saturday and culminate in a concert on Sunday evening,” he said.
Unlike the modern Electronic Dance Music (EDM) bands, he prefers to tread a unique path with downtempo and electronica. Though he is also a DJ, he prefers to be called a musician as he has composed original tracks of music. “I am mostly a musician. I make my own production and my tracks,” he adds.
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True to his name Jean du Voyage, which means ‘traveller John’ or ‘traveller population’, he likes to move to different countries, meet musicians and explore different music. “I love to travel and meet people. The music of gypsy has many influences since they travel. I am like them. I get inspired by travelling and local instruments. I am meeting different musicians across the country,” he says.
He has already met a dozen musicians across India. By the end of his journey, he will invite one or two Indian musicians to work with a group of musicians in France.
Mr.Litvine added that the invited Indian musicians will work at La Rochelle in France with Jean for 20 days on a residence and play, record and perform music together in France.
His yen for perfection is evident in his album ‘Mantra’, a collection of 11 tracks, which took four years to complete. “I want to be respectful of the music that is played in the country and hence I take time to compose when I am making a fusion,” he says.
The turntablist and beatmaker, a passionate musician, who has been carrying around his discs and vinyls in clubs around the world since 1998, Mr. Voyage will continue his exploration of sound in Kolkata, Delhi and Chandigarh during his stay here.