Pierre Bastien’s is a French gentleman born 1953 who builds his own machineries, at the cross between music and visual art, blending live trumpet sounds with screen projections of on-site mechanical sound sculptures in a very poetic way. His work is described as “a timeless sounding orchestra, both futuristic and slightly dada, conjuring ancient traditions in its surprisingly sensuous music.” His work has been called a “mad musical scientist with a celebrity following” by The Guardian. In 1986 he formed his own self made one-man orchestra, Mecanium and made over 20 records over the years. For this concert Pierre presents Quiet Motors, a concert with his home-made machines as heard on his latest record for Discrepant.

“My sound machines cannot be found in the music shop. I slowly construct them in my studio, with a screw driver and a soldering iron. They don't hide in a steel case labelled by a Japanese top brand. Instead they exhibit their mechanisms from the electro motor that activates the wheels and gears, to the final movement that produces the sound. Along the concert they are filmed and projected in real time and in a big scale. The large projection shows every source of sound and magnifies every mechanical activity. Then the listener becomes also a viewer and an explorer: he travels into the sound, he discovers the music both by listening and watching, as if he were having a walk inside the composition.” Pierre Bastien, 2017