ΑΛΓ is a one-man project.
Music, lyrics and artwork by Arnaud Le Grand (unless otherwise specified).
Content on this site is licensed under a
CC by-nc-sa
license (unless otherwise specified). This means you are free to download, share or adapt this work, as long as you don't use it
for commercial purposes. Moreover, any adaptation must be distributed under the same or similar
license to this one, with clear credit to me.
If you want to use my work outside of the above conditions, or in case of doubt,
please contact me (link at the bottom of this page).
If you like this project, you can give financial support by buying my music on Bandcamp,
or just moral support by leaving a review on one of my profiles (see "Links" section).
Here are the answers to the questions no one ever asked me (except for sometimes) :
Bio
I was born on Monday the 27th. It was snowing outside.
Now I live by the sea and grow mint on my balcony. I don't have a cat, but if I did, I wouldn't call him Nyarlathotep, because that's too long.
Why the unpronounceable artist name ?
First of all, my real name doesn't sound very rock'n'roll, nor do my initials (ALG sounds like « algue » which means « seaweed » in french…).
An english name would have been like denying my own identity, while a french name seemed unsuitable as I sing mainly in english.
I wanted something universal to circumvent this dilemma.
When I started this project, I had just got back from a one and a half year stay in Greece. This is how my initials looked like on the local
administrative paperwork. I always found greek alphabet esthetically appealing, and the fact that greek artists had to latinize their
name in order to exist on the internet kind of upset me. I wanted to do the opposite, as a way to protest against this cultural
standardization imposed by the system.
Also, a big concern for me was opting for a name unlikely to be used by anyone else, to avoid as much as possible any contingent
conflict with members of the music industry, whose abuses of copyright laws are well known.
Besides, this project being purely virtual in that it only exists on the internet – I don't give concerts, I have nothing to sell
and I make no effort to promote my work – I didn't really feel the need for a catchy name.
Why release under a free licence ?
I think that music, and culture in general, should be accessible to everyone, not only to those who can afford it. And I like the idea that my music can circulate freely, be shared, played, covered or modified by others... Anyway, that's the way it's always been, whether it's legal or not. I added the 'nc' clause because I don't want anyone to use it for profit.
Why do you sing in english rather than in your mother tongue ?
For several reasons :
- Whether you like it or not, English is the language of rock and blues, and it's not easy to get away from it when you're playing those genres. Most of my musical influences are Anglo-Saxon, and when I started out I just couldn't imagine using an other language.
- It is the de facto universal language. English allows you to be understood throughout the world, to define yourself as a citizen of the world rather than a resident of a particular country.
- For a long time I worked in an international context, even lived abroad for a while, and used English on a daily basis. At that point in my life, writing in French would have meant going backwards, even closing myself off, whereas all I wanted to do was open up to the world.
- I'm not a lyricist, and I have no poetic ambition. I only write lyrics because I need something to sing (which doesn't
mean I'm doing it flippantly). When listening to a song in your native language, you tend to give more attention to the words than to
the music, all the more so in french with our tradition of “singer-poet”. I avoid singing in french to give prominence to the music.
- It's easier. Let me explain: I (almost) always write the lyrics after the music. The writing process consists of laying lyrics over an existing melody line. In english, you can say a lot of things with one or two syllable words easy to fit in. It's much more complicated in french, in my opinion.
- It's a matter of reserve, because you won't express the same things in a foreign language and in your mother tongue.
However, English has its drawbacks: writing in a foreign language is a difficult exercise unless you are perfectly bilingual, which I'm not. I imagine some of my lyrics must sound strange to native speakers. And English can also be seen as a symbol of Anglo-Saxon cultural imperialism, imposing itself at the expense of local cultures. That's why I now want to reclaim my mother tongue by trying more and more to write lyrics in French.
Why releasing the same songs under both EP and LP formats ?
When trying to make your music known, it makes more sense to release short albums. Listeners are more likely go through a 4/5 tracks
EP than a one hour album.
On the other hand, if you expect money, it's only normal to offer a full-length album in return.
On the top of that, the second release is an opportunity for me to rework the songs with a little hindsight. I often remix them on this
occasion, and even sometimes partially rerecord them or have them mastered. In short, I try to offer an improved version.
Why no gigs ?
My job doesn't leave me much time for music, and doing gigs means a lot of constraints (setting up a band, rehearsing, managing equipment, finding dates, etc.) for little return: venue owners pay peanuts (if they pay at all). Of course, there would be a gain in visibility and the pleasure of playing. But if I have to choose, I'd rather spend what little time I have doing what I'm most interested in : composing and recording new material.
