Interview with Christophe Goze: I have no idea what will come next: Video

Jazz interview with a bad musician and problematic person, as if guitarist, idiot Christophe Goze. An interview by email in writing. 

JazzBluesNews.com: – First let’s start with where you grew up, and what got you interested in music?

Christophe Goze: – I was born and raised in Paris with Catalan background from my father side. I come from a professional musician family. My Gran father and my father were both music teachers and composers. I was taught music from a very young age. Piano first then guitar. Music was everywhere at home. That was pretty much the only thing we talked about at home. Classical, Jazz but also progressive rock and world music

JBN: – How has your sound evolved over time? What have you been doing to find and develop your own sound?

CHG: – Coming from a family of pro musicians I was told that beside training your ears and open your heart you also needed to practice your technique a lot.  Having a good technique as a guitarist, a composer or a producer helps to develop ideas. I practice every day and that way I keep opening doors to new ideas and my sound evolves.

JBN: – What routine practices or exercises have you developed to maintain and improve your current musical proficiency, in terms of both rhythm and harmony?

CHG: – I practice or play every day. Basics guitar exercises to keep the fingers going and also improvisation. I practice jazz harmony on guitar or piano. I also record music almost every day. Sometime just one hour, but I do something with sound every day and watch a lot of tutorials from masters

JBN: – How do you keep stray, or random, musical influences from diverting you from what you’re doing?

CHG: – I never listen to any music when I record a project. I listen to all sort of music and try to understand how it is being written or produced. But as soon as start one of my track or project , I stop. I want my inspiration to come from the inside , not from the outside.

JBN: – How do you prepare for your recordings and performances to help you maintain both spiritual and musical stamina?

CHG: – I work on myself on a daily bases. I work on my own mind and the way I act in my everyday life. I try to “digest” my life experiences and live centered in the moment and in the best harmony as possible with the world around me.  I never think about the future. That way I connect better with inspiration. When I find it , I tend to let it live inside my head for a while. I play the melody or track idea on guitar a lot finding new ways to harmonize it or perform it. I let it grow. A little bit as a classical musician would practice a piece over and over before performing it on stage.

Then I go in the studio and usually the recording process happens really quickly because I had the time to understand what it is I wanted to do.

There could be talk or advertising about your CD

JBN: – In your opinion, what’s the balance in music between intellect and soul?

CHG: – This is an interesting question. I guess we need both. But I will always try to give Soul the priority. Soul is our spiritual energy that physically connects to our heart. From the heart we create feelings. With those feelings we connect to people. Intellect is more connected to the ego. We need that side to maybe organise a project, built a strategy around it, study the techniques to play or record it better. But that’s as far as it should go I think. From the moment I play or record, I connect to the soul and heart. I often have strange experiences when I finish a track. I often have tears coming to my eyes. I can’t control the emotion. It hits me like a huge wave of emotion. Then I know the track is done and I can pass it on. From that moment I also ty not to use intellect too much. I trust the universe to deliver the music wherever it needs to go. This is almost out of my control.

JBN: – There’s a two-way relationship between audience and artist; are you okay with delivering people the emotion they long for?

CHG: – It is my only objective. I don’t care about stats, sales, profit …

My only goal is to deliver an emotion people can connect with and recognise maybe from within themselves. It is the only way to make the music go round. It is the work of an artist. We are open channels transmitting universal emotions / messages to others.

When I succeed in doing that, my music is a success.

JBN: – Can you share any memories from gigs, jams, open acts and studio sessions over the years?

CHG: – The are many. But the best ones always happen in the same way. We talked about sharing emotions with the listeners. It starts in the studio with the musicians involved connecting to that emotion. And when it happens, the energy in the room is huge and sometimes hard to take and control. I don’t play live. But I have shared those special moments with musicians many times. Sometimes performing in a very special place , with deep history or energy can also be magic. I once performed in Kyoto Japan , inside the Golden Temple. That temple is closed to visitors. You can only view it from outside. But I was invited to play inside surrendered by centuries of Japanese history  and energy. That was very special

JBN: – How can we get young people interested in jazz when most of standard tunes are half a century old?

CHG: – I think it is chic Korea who released an album of new standards. Many jazz musician would now improvise on a Beatles tune . Pat Metheny wrote a David Bowie hit song. Jazz is music. A melody is a melody and as Maurice Ravel said there is no such thing as small or big music, there is the good one and the bad one. I think he was referring to good and bad melodies. A good melody can be performed in any style you want with any harmonic style you want. Jazz is also about improvising witch is the art of creating melodies on the moment. This is what should attract young musician. The freedom of expressing the music in your head on the moment. Only jazz and improvisation can give you access to that.

JBN: – John Coltrane once said that music was his spirit. How do you perceive the spirit and the meaning of life?

CHG: – Life is in the moment. The meaning of life is to live that moment and be who you really are. John Coltrane knew music was what he was and he was creating it in the moment. Maybe someone reading those lines want to design cars, or make bread. As long as you do something you know you connect with and you can share the emotion of doing it with the rest of the world (even on a small scale) then you are in the meaning of life. There is no other meaning of life than being yourself , now , and living what comes to you. Music is my thing, I do it every day and I share it with people. It comes from an expression of my soul, and I know it is real for me.  So I guess it is my spirit too.

JBN: – If you could change one single thing in the musical world and that would become reality, what would that be?

CHG: – Nothing. The music world is fine as it is. The world needs some changes.

Better communication between people, more respect and tolerance. More love.

The music world will change when people change. I’m trying to be a more conscient person, connected to the idea of a better world. I apply this attitude within my business and the people in my business too and it creates changes … or not.

JBN: – Whom do you find yourself listening to these days?

CHG: – I listen to a lot of different things. From rap to heavy metal even 🙂

But my roots will always be in jazz and classical music. Pop is too repetitive in my opinion these days, and technically not very interesting. But I keep listening and when I hear a good melody or an interesting groove or riff, I stop and listen. My masters are Pat Metheny, Peter Gabriel, Pink Floyd, Bach and Mozart. I can live happy with that for many more years 🙂

JBN: – What is the message you choose to bring through your music?

CHG: – Love …

JBN: – Let’s take a trip with a time machine: where and why would you really want to go?

CHG: – The 70’s. Play at Woodstock and be a rock star 🙂

So much musical revolution in the 70’s. I’m sure it was fun to be a musician in those days

JBN: – So far, it’s been me asking you questions, now may I have a question from yourself…

CHG: – I’m wondering where music will take me next. I see myself as a music digital nomad. I move a lot. I change styles often. Recording a “Jazz” orientated album even thought I don’t consider myself as a jazz musician has been a very interesting and challenging journey. I have no idea what will come next. More jazz or maybe world fusion or a pop song 🙂

JBN: – Our questions were not enough for your delusions. Here you should have asked your question, not continued to write. Yes, your place is cheap pop.

Interview by Simon Sargsyan