Ferdinand Richard

Hervé Richard (born 25 June 1950 ), better known as Ferdinand Richard, is a French avant-rock bass guitarist and composer.

Hervé Richard-Cochet, known under the name Ferdinand Richard, was born in June 1950 in Meknes in Morocco, but spent his childhood between 1951 and 1964 in Saint-Malo in north-western France, from where his family comes.

He has lived in southern France and Marseille since 1964.

From 1969 to 1971 he studied Medieval Literature and Law at Grenoble in south-eastern France, then attended a double-bass course at the Conservatoire Régional de Musique de Grenoble.

In 1971 Richard abandoned his studies, adopted the pseudonym "Ferdinand", and played in several local rock groups, covering Cream, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, etc... he even tried improvisation with anarchist group Libre Cours (1971), before joining a local iconoclastic rock group called Etron Fou Leloublan in 1973, playing bass guitar, singing and composing.

Etron Fou Leloublan, French for (roughly) "Crazy Shit, the White Wolf" or "Mad Shit, the White Wolf" were a "nonconformist" avant-rock group that produced a blend of punk rock, jazz, French music hall, comedy satire and "avant-garde mayhem".

Their music was a "viable [...] alternative to both French rock'n'roll and French free jazz", which had stagnated at the time.

Richard played his bass guitar in ways that went beyond its traditional "metronomic role" – he used "double stops, chords, harmonics and onomatopoeic sound effects" to add melody to the group's songs.

He also tuned his instrument "up a minor third" to better match his partner's alto saxophone.

Later on, in the early 80's, he bought himself a rare Fender Bass VI six-string electric bass guitar from a New York pawn shop, which became his sole instrument.

Richard remained with Etron Fou Leloublan until they broke up 13 years later, during which time they recorded six albums and performed hundreds of concerts in Europe, the Soviet Bloc, and North America.

Richard was a founding member of the French avant-rock group Etron Fou Leloublan in 1973, and remained with them until they broke up in 1986.

He was also a member of Alfred Harth's group Gestalt et Jive in the mid-1980s, and collaborated with Fred Frith in 1989 to record Dropera (1991).

While still with Etron Fou Leloublan, Richard also released two solo albums, En Forme!! and En Avant in 1981 and 1983 respectively.

En Avant, subtitled Huit Chansons en Huit Langues (Eight Songs in Eight Languages), is scored by Richard for two bass guitars and a cello (played by Tom Cora), and consists of eight songs sung in English, Vietnamese, Arabic, Polish, Dioula, Spanish, French and German.

On En Avant Richard explored his interest in language and culture, and wrote the lyrics for, and sang seven of the eight songs (the German song was composed and sung by Urs Engeler).

In 1984 Richard also formed a duo, Bruniferd, with saxophonist Bruno Meillier from Etron Fou Leloublan that was dedicated to "precise and condensed musical poetry".

Bruniferd made three albums and toured Europe and Japan.

Near the end of Etron Fou Leloublan, Richard joined the German saxophonist Alfred Harth's multinational avant-rock group Gestalt et Jive in 1984.

In 1985, Richard founded the Aide aux Musiques Innovatrices association (A.M.I.), and in July 1986 launched the first Movement International des Musiques Innovatrices (MIMI) summer festival that takes place each year in the south of France dedicated to all kinds of innovation in music.

MIMI has featured such acts as After Dinner from Japan, Iva Bittova from Czech Republic, Les Têtes Brulées from Cameroon, and André Duchesne's Les 4 Guitaristes de l'Apocalypso-Bar from Quebec, groups from New Zealand, Russia, Vanuatu, Democratic Republic of Congo, the Middle-East, etc... but also Fred Frith through diverse formations, Ornette Coleman, Jeff Mills, Terry Riley, The Ex, and many then unknown groups which became famous later.

Once based in la Friche de la Belle-de-Mai in Marseille, A.M.I. became a Centre for the Development of Popular Music, and, as an urban development platform, launched various training workshops, artists residences, festivals, an incubator for cultural micro-businesses, and a consistent program of international extensions.

Ferdinand et les Diplomates

They performed regularly in Europe and North America for four years, during which time they made two albums, developed their "instant composition" technique, and gave their farewell concert at the 6th Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville in Victoriaville, Quebec in Canada in October 1988.

In 1989, Berliner drummer Peter Hollinger, East German saxophonist Dietmar Diessner and Richard decided to start a power-improvisation trio, "Falaq", which never recorded but delivered several dozen performances in Europe and North America.

In 1989, during one of the first "artists residencies" supported by Marseille Culture Department, Richard created an urban musical concept with Czech violinist Iva Bittová and Czech drummer Pavel Fajt.

The project was recorded for the Czech national radio and television (at the time part of the Soviet bloc).

In 1989 Richard formed his own band, Ferdinand et les Philosophes, a trio of Richard, guitarist Alain Rocher (later replaced by Laurent Luci) and drummer Dominique Lentin (from "Les i").

Richard also collaborated with English experimental guitarist Fred Frith from the English avant-rock group Henry Cow in 1989, as Fred & Ferd, to record Dropera (1991), a "twisted rock opera".

Richard also formed his own group, Ferdinand et les Philosophes in 1990, and recorded two solo albums, En Forme!! (1981) and En Avant (1983).

Les Philosophes performed at the 9th Victoriaville festival in October 1991, and went on to record two albums.

In 1993, US drummer David Moss replaced Diessner.

In 1993, Richard produced a concept album and performance, Arminius, with Japanese violinist Takumi Fukushima (After Dinner), German violinist (The Blech), and Czech bass-player Vladimir Vaclavec (Dunaj) based on the work of Roman historian Tacitus.

In 1995, this music was reconditioned to be the Sensurround (8-channel) music score of the theatre play La bataille d'Arminius by Jean Jourd'heuil at Théâtre Nanterre-Amandiers in Paris.

In 1996, Richard transformed "les Philosophes" into "Ferdinand et les Diplomates", with Marseille drummer Gilles Campaux and turn-tablist DJ Rebel, a cult figure from the French hip hop scene.

In 2007, they released the album E-Pop (Richard's last recording) through the cryptic Japanese label Out-One-Disc.

As a producer, Richard has worked with the groups "MÖGEL", a female punk group from Sweden, "Les Batteries", a drum trio founded by former colleague Guigou Chenevier with British Charles Hayward (This Heat) and American Rick Brown (V-Effect), and for three albums with "Les i", a French avant-rock combo.