Didier Esteban - Man Ray/Rosa Yemen Interview
Born January, 13th of ‘55, what was your childhood like growing up in Paris, France ? When did you first begin to fall in love with music, more the guitar? Was this something that was relevant around your household? Do you have any siblings?
I lived in the northern suburbs of Paris with my family until I was 17 in 1972. I have a sister, two twin brothers who are 8 and 10 years younger than me and my older brother Michel, who had already left home at that time. My first musical discoveries were a few years earlier on a Teppaz record player that included 45s such as The Beach Boys, The Beatles, but the revelation was the first Roxy Music album in 1972. I bought it at a brand new shopping center which had just opened near our home. That same in ‘72 was also when I got my first motorcycle, which would allow me to often escape from the heavy family core. In ‘74 my brother Michel lived in Paris creating a brand of Rock t-shirts sold exclusively by mail order so I joined the adventure in screen printing in his apartment on the sixth floor that we occupied on Rue Des Halles. We would wash the screens in the bathtub.
Who were some of your earliest influences in your more formative years? When and where did you see your first show and when did it dawn on you that you wanted to be a musician and artist yourself? What ultimately inspired you to pursue a life in music?
First important concert was Todd Rundgren on October 14, 1975 at the Mutualité in Paris. The next day I bought my first guitar. Some time later the store on the ground floor was occupied by a photographer friend of Michel’s. It was in this magical place with a stone cellar and an old soundproof banana ripening factory near the Harry Cover store. The first group that I formed was with a rock journalist friend on vocals and his photographer partner on bass. I don't remember if we had a name, but we did our own thing without really knowing how to play. We did Bowie, Lou Reed and T=Rex covers as the Harry Cover store became the meeting place for Parisian musicians who would come to buy t-shirts of their favorite groups. We met interesting people there, notably Jean Louis Boulanger (Herman Schwartz) who was already an excellent guitarist compared to me. He knew how to play all styles. We created our first real group together as a duo with two guitars. Our name was European Son.
Tell me about putting together the legendary Man Ray with fellow bandmate Hermann Schwartz. What were those days like and how did you guys meet each other?
Jean Louis and I having become big fans of the Velvet Underground, spent a lot of time playing together at the Cellar Side. VU destroyed personal compositions, obviously Iggy and the Stooges paved the way for us too, but later we would do a memorable jam in this same cellar with the late Lizzy and Patti Smith. With an hour of guitar delirium, there was a cassette recording of this moment that I have never found unfortunately. On September 20th and the 21st in 1976 we went to London to attend the concerts of the 100 club where the Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Damned, Siouxsie and The Banshees, Buzzcocks, The Vibrators and Subway Sect performed. At the end of ‘76 my girlfriend at the time (Anne) joined us on vocals and Patrice (Ness) on drums. He never played, but did well. Our name became Man Ray due to my admiration for the photographer. We did three concerts in MJC de Fresne, the Mouffetard theater on January 31st, 1977 and the Gibus on March 21st. I enlisted in the army on February 1st of ‘77 and asked for special permission that I would only return to the barracks between two gendarmes and would be definitively reformed on April 20st.
How did you eventually meet the late and great Lizzy Mercier Descloux? What were your very first impressions of her and what initially led to you guys creating music together? ‘79 saw the release of her debut record entitled “Press Color” on the legendary ZE Records label.
I must say that the attention is usually always focused on Lizzy whereas in the initial project there were only two of us. Firstly named Lola Rastaquère, under which we did our only concert in New York at The Kitchen gallery. Surprisingly, this can not be found in their archives, which leads me to think it happened in ‘78 though the events were well archived there. The group split up after my return from the army. Anne having gone to London to follow Mick Jones of The Clash and Michel met Lizzy who lived in the building opposite of myself. The day before leaving for the army I went to meet Athena, a young American who lived between Paris and New York. A few months later, we started rehearsing in the cellar with Lizzy. Our first composition was a piece dedicated to Baader who was a terrorist of the FAR (Red Army Faction). Michel and Lizzy had already created the magazine “Rock News” and had made numerous trips to New York for articles as well as to witness the birth of the punk scene that was going on between CBGB's, Max's and all the small places that were emerging at the time. They quickly sympathized with a good part of the musicians and journalists of that scene such as Barbara and Richard Robinson, Richard Hell, Tom Verlaine, John Cale, Patti Smith and Lenny Kaye with whom Lizzy would remain very close too.
In the middle of ‘77 I moved to New York with Lizzy and stayed there for over a year. Towards the beginning of ‘78 the EP “Rosa Yemen” was born during the same time the album “Press Color” was. After several accommodations in the Village we settled in a building on 34th Street in a former furrier's building where Tom's group Television rehearsed. Television along with Richard Hell had already left the group as we were converting the cold room that was intended for the conservation of furs into mini rehearsal studios. Living in the rest of the apartment which was spacious, we would do classic jams there with Arto, Marc Cunningham, John Lurie and among others. What good memories those were for me. The EP Rosa Yemen was entirely composed at the Blank Tape studio with Bob Blank as our sound engineer. Seth Tillett, Lizzy's new companion, added some percussions and sound recordings like that of Antonin Artaud. A few months later, back at the studio with Bob who had opened it for us, remained free. We often waited with Lizzy at the bar of the Chelsea Hotel sipping Margaritas, which inspired the song “Tio Pepe". We decided on four covers of titles that we liked: “Mission Impossible”, “Jim on the Move” - the B side of the 45 more specifically, “Fever” which would become “Tumor” and the brilliant “Fire” by Arthur Brown.
What was the writing and recording process for this album like I understand you mixed, produced and arranged this album as well. What is that process like compared to just being a performer on an album?
The first version that we recorded was much closer to the original, but Michel was the producer had seen the breaking disco wave and decided to re-record it with the contribution of studio musicians. This would give the version on the disc you hear. The other pieces were composed directly in the studio with the help of Erik who was part of the group Marie et Les Garçons. He came to record their first 45 rpm record with John Cale as producer. You can hear on the song “Golden Throat” a voice in French of my brother Michel. The song takes its title from the fact that Lizzy wanted to use a voice effect pedal, the “Golden Throat”, but the pedal never wanted to function hence the title. It was here that Lizzy wold continue in music without me.
Lizzy would go on to release an incredible body of work all throughout the 80s, where did you find yourself both creatively as well as personally after Rosa Yemen? As the year comes to an end, what have been some of your most fondest memories in music? Is there anything else you would like to further share with the readers?
Regarding the excellent albums that we all now know, Lizzy was also very gifted at painting and I think she preferred that the most. As for me, I continued music for a while with Clode with the ex singer of Métal Urbain, who would release a 45 under the name Etat Major that included the song “Django Jet”. He used the music that I composed without crediting me. Eventually working with the former manager of Métal Urbain, Jean Philippe, we did an interesting recording in the studio with two covers of “Casanova” by Bryan Ferry. They were adapted in French as well as the song “Trash” by the English band Cowboy International under the name of Parisians Inc. The record was never released and a few years later I would compose two titles such as “L’adieu aux Larmes” and “Homme Vidéo” with help from Erik who also played with us on Press Color. It would remain in a state of a sample having not found a label willing to produce it. I still listen to a lot of music, but no longer practice. I like Patrick Watson, Cuddle Magic, Benjamin Lazar Davis, Cass McCombs, Reb Fountain, Mark Eitzel, The Delines and many others.
