Formula Indie Sessions _ Interview with JPI – Je passe inaperçu

What is your earliest memory related to music?

My father listened to a lot of music…as far back as I can remember, I was always surrounded by music. He listened to a lot of classical music like Brahms, but also Pink Floyd and Queen. Queen was what I liked best as a little boy, and I ended up listening to them and singing along myself.

How did your passion for creating music begin?

Michael Jackson and Prince turned me into a music addict starting around age 10; during my teenage years, grunge and every form of guitar music, as well as rap, also had a huge influence on me. John Frusciante and Jimi Hendrix were the catalysts that made me want to play the guitar too. As a teenager, I bought an acoustic and an electric guitar with my own money and played for several hours a day from then on. From day one, I started writing my own songs, and it’s stayed that way to this day: I never pick up an instrument just to practice; I just play, and most of the time something comes out of it that then develops into a song.

What’s the story behind your current music project?

I played in a band for 20 years, and everything I composed always went into the band. Then the pandemic hit and for a few months we couldn’t play together anymore, but I wrote a lot of music during that time. Since the pandemic was a very uncertain and surreal time, especially at the beginning, because no one knew what would happen next, this had a massive influence on my songwriting: the songs were very reflective in content, very personal, and musically rather dark and oppressive. Shortly after the pandemic broke out, my father passed away, and there were other interpersonal upheavals that pushed my songwriting further in this reflective, rather oppressive direction. It became clear to me relatively quickly that this would be the music for a new project. As the pandemic progressed, it also became increasingly apparent that my band was coming to an end, and from then on I poured all my musical energy into JPI.

How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard your music before?

I have a really hard time describing my music to people, especially those who listen almost exclusively to commercial music and have never heard of bands like Porcupine Tree or Nine Inch Nails…to them I just say that it’s anti-commercial, anti-party music that doesn’t follow conventional pop structures.

Otherwise, my music is probably best described like this: Depeche Mode recorded a prog rock album with French vocals.

What is one thing you’ve learned that completely changed the way you make music?

The biggest influence on my songwriting was probably my introduction to the world of synthesizers about 7 years ago. I used to write all my songs on the guitar, but now a synthesizer is usually the starting point for a song…or a sound that I record somewhere on the go with my smartphone and then turn into a sample. In almost all my songs, I use sounds and noises I’ve recorded outdoors – these can be natural sounds like rain, thunder, wind, or crickets chirping, or metallic sounds, squeaking doors, elevators, engine noises, whatever – there are endless sounds out there that inspire me.

What tools, instruments, or software are essential in your creative process?

I have a dozen hardware synthesizers and countless virtual instruments, plus electric and acoustic guitars, several objects I use for percussion, and all kinds of sounds from the world around me that I record with my smartphone.

Which indie artist or song are you loving right now?

For a music lover like me, every Friday is like a birthday, because that’s when I’m showered with lots of new music… I listen to a lot of music every day across all kinds of genres, so it’s hard to single out individual artists. The last band that felt like a true musical revelation to me was Feu! Chatterton about six years ago – their album ‘L’oiseleur’ is probably the one I’ve listened to the most in recent years.

As for this year: Puscifer has once again delivered a magnificent album.

How have your personal experiences influenced your music and artistic vision?

My music is nothing more than the musical expression of my experiences and perceptions. Every interaction with a person, every article I read, every album I listen to, or every film I watch influences me as a person, and therefore my music as well. Music usually comes to me very unconsciously, it’s a reflection of what moves my subconscious. Once the music takes shape, the underlying emotion gradually reveals itself to me, and based on that emotion, I then start writing lyrics. I don’t really have control over what emerges… for example, with my song ‘Echec et mat’, I didn’t say to myself: “Okay, now I’m going to write a song that’s has a 90-second intro, no chorus at all, and a rap part in the outro”… it all just happened naturally.

What emotions or messages do you hope listeners take from your work?

‘Je passe inaperçu’ deals with very personal topics as well as my perspective on world events and social developments. I think most of the songs offer enough room for interpretation so that listeners can relate to the songs through their own stories. Many people will probably find my topics rather dark, but I hope there are also people who can relate to it and find some form of comfort in my album.

What’s the most important lesson music has taught you so far?

For me, music has a healing power…music is both escapism and catharsis. The way music can move people and bring them together is simply unique. When I think back on concerts by artists like Prince, The Mars Volta, or Steven Wilson… those were magical moments that can’t be put into words; you’re transported to another universe and emerge from the concert transformed and enlightened.

What is a dream venue or festival you would love to perform at?

The location doesn’t matter to me; for me, it’s more about what develops between the artist and the audience. It’s like at a party: it’s the people that matter, not the venue. When you’re on stage and see the spark jump over to the audience and what the music stirs in people, it’s very moving – these are those magical moments that almost only music can create.

If you could collaborate with any artist, past or present, who would it be and why?

I have no idea how we’d get along personally, but purely artistically, I’d find a collaboration with Kanye West extremely exciting. His album ‘Yeezus’ is an absolute masterpiece…if you took that as a foundation and incorporated rock, it could result in a fantastic industrial album.

Where can our listeners follow and support your music?

My album ‘Je passe inaperçu’ will be released on May 29, 2026, on all streaming services; the videos for ‘Tellement humain’ and ‘Sale putain’ are already on YouTube, and the video for ‘Ton coeur’ will also be released on May 29. Otherwise, all information is available at jpimusic.com; this is the only channel I use, as I stopped using social media several years ago. Whether and in what form JPI will perform live depends largely on the response to the album.

Looking toward the future, what’s your dream for the next chapter of your musical journey?

It would be nice if people out there somehow got the chance to hear ‘Je passe inaperçu’…and of course it would be fantastic if they really connected with the album…but I’m well aware of how difficult it is to make a name for yourself as an indie artist. Regardless of how the response to ‘Je passe inaperçu’ turns out: I’m already working on the next album and have several songs that are finished – there will almost certainly be a second JPI album.

What do you hope listeners will discover about you along the way?

At first, I didn’t plan to release ‘Je passe inaperçu’ at all…this album is the product of a difficult phase in my life and was my way of processing those issues. The few people who have heard the album so far encouraged me to release it. For me, it’s a very personal and highly emotional album…whether other people will see it that way and connect with the album remains to be seen, but as I said: Regardless of the response, there will almost certainly be a second JPI album, because I still have a lot of music inside me. If there are even just a few people out there for whom the album means something, then the release has already been worth it.

Video ‘Tellement humain’: