# Jean-Pierre Massiera

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French musical artist (1941–2019)

Jean-Pierre Massiera Also known as JPM Areisam Sierra Born Jean-Pierre Bernard Massiera (1941-07-10)10 July 1941 Nice, France Died 28 December 2019(2019-12-28) (aged 78) Genres Instrumental rock, freakbeat, psychedelic rock, prog rock, disco Occupations Producer, recording engineer, composer Years active 1962–2019

Musical artist

**Jean-Pierre Massiera** (10 July 1941 – 28 December 2019),[1][2] sometimes referred to by his initials **JPM**, was a French musician, composer, record producer, sound engineer, and recording studio owner. His prolific output between the 1960s and 1990s ranged across [pop](/source/Pop_music) [instrumentals](/source/Instrumental), [psychedelic rock](/source/Psychedelic_rock) and [disco music](/source/Disco_music), often incorporating elements of [musique concrète](/source/Musique_concr%C3%A8te), [field recordings](/source/Field_recording) and [samples](/source/Sampling_(music)) in an eccentrically experimental and unique style. His work is usually credited under one-off band names such as **Les Maledictus Sound**, **Horrific Child**, and **Herman's Rocket**.

He has been called "the French [Joe Meek](/source/Joe_Meek)".[3] *[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)'*s reviewer Ben Thompson called his work "a fetid miasma of sick humour, sound effects and unexpectedly first-rate musicianship",[3] and reviewer William Rauscher described him as "a freewheeling auteur whose outrageous forays in trashy pop culture mix low-brow sensuality with oddball experimentation".[4]

## Early life and career

Massiera was born in [Nice](/source/Nice), [France](/source/France), but grew up in [Córdoba](/source/C%C3%B3rdoba%2C_Argentina) and [Buenos Aires](/source/Buenos_Aires), [Argentina](/source/Argentina).[1] After learning guitar, he returned to France when in his teens, and formed the instrumental [beat group](/source/Beat_music), **Les Milords**. Massiera played [lead guitar](/source/Lead_guitar); the other band members were Pierre Malaussena (rhythm guitar), Patrick Batteu (bass), and Francis Cavallaro (drums).[5] After several singles in the style of British and American [instrumental](/source/Instrumental) groups such as [the Shadows](/source/The_Shadows) and [the Ventures](/source/The_Ventures), Massiera and Malaussena formed a new band in 1964, under the name of **Les Monégasques**, with Fernand "Nicky" Cafiero (bass) and Jean Haumont (drums). The band also played on recordings by pop singer Gérard Brent.[6][7]

## Freakbeat and progressive rock

In 1967, Massiera set up his own [recording studio](/source/Recording_studio), Studio d’Enregistrement Méditerranéen (SEM) in Nice, with good quality recording equipment[*[according to whom?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Words_to_watch#Unsupported_attributions)*], and began recording local musicians including drummer [André Ceccarelli](/source/Andr%C3%A9_Ceccarelli) and singers Jocy (later known as Jessy Joyce, real name Joyce Pepino) and Basile. In 1968 he composed and produced the album *Attention*, credited to **Les Maledictus Sound**. As well as Massiera and Ceccarelli, the musicians included guitarist [Patrick Djivas](/source/Patrick_Djivas), later of the band [PFM](/source/Premiata_Forneria_Marconi). One track was contentiously called "Jim Clark Was Driving Recklessly" – the [racing driver](/source/Racing_driver) [Jim Clark](/source/Jim_Clark) had been killed in a crash a few months previously.[8]

In late 1968, Massiera sold his studio and moved to [Quebec](/source/Quebec), but returned to France the following year.[1] Massiera continued to work as a producer for pop and [freakbeat](/source/Freakbeat) musicians in the late 1960s and early 1970s, including the single "Pardon pour Buchenwald" by Erik, on which he included [samples](/source/Sampling_(music)) of [Nazi](/source/Nazi) speeches. He also added a variety of electronic effects on the 1971 [heavy rock](/source/Hard_rock) album *Chico Magnetic Band* by Mahmoud "Chico" Ayari. In 1972, with the support of his half-brother [Bernard Torelli](/source/Bernard_Torelli), he opened a new [16-track](/source/16-track) studio, [Antibes](/source/Antibes) Studio 16, known as the Azurville studio.[8] The studio was used by [John McLaughlin](/source/John_McLaughlin_(musician)), [Bill Wyman](/source/Bill_Wyman), and many others.[1]

In 1974, he composed and produced the album **Visitors**, with an [extraterrestrial](/source/Extraterrestrial_life) theme. The musicians included vocalist Gérard Brent, violinist [Didier Lockwood](/source/Didier_Lockwood) (later of [Magma](/source/Magma_(band))), and Bernard Torelli on guitar. This was followed in 1976 by *Atlantide*, with Patrick Attali on lead vocals and Torelli on guitar, [sitar](/source/Sitar) and [Mellotron](/source/Mellotron).[6] Also in 1976, Massiera composed and produced one of his most notable albums, *L'Etrange Mr. Whinster*, credited to the act **Horrific Child** and marketed as a "psychological experience".[9] The album incorporated African rhythms, samples, spoken excerpts from writers [Baudelaire](/source/Baudelaire), [Lovecraft](/source/Lovecraft) and [Lautréamont](/source/Lautr%C3%A9amont), and contributions from Massiera's regular contributors Torelli, Brent, and Jessy Joyce, among others.[6] He also co-wrote and co-produced Jessy Joyce's album *Love Me*, and the single "Toi qui rève de baisers" credited to **Sex Convention**.[8]

The 1977 album *Turn Radio On*, was co-composed by Massiera and Torelli, and co-produced by Massiera and Georges Colleuil. Massiera also produced [folk rock](/source/Folk_rock) albums by Valéry Btesh, and engineered releases by [proto-punk](/source/Proto-punk) band [Little Bob Story](/source/Little_Bob_Story). Massiera's next album, *Phantasmes*, was credited to **JPM & Co.** and contains a mixture of styles including [chanson](/source/Chanson), [disco](/source/Disco), experimental [electronic music](/source/Electronic_music) and [prog rock](/source/Prog_rock), as well as the track "Dali court", a parody of [Boney M](/source/Boney_M)'s "[Daddy Cool](/source/Daddy_Cool_(Boney_M._song))" dedicated to [Salvador Dalí](/source/Salvador_Dal%C3%AD), and a version of [Michel Legrand](/source/Michel_Legrand)'s "[Les moulins de mon coeur](/source/The_Windmills_of_Your_Mind)". Also in 1977, Massiera issued a single under his own name, "Aime moi", a version of [Deep Purple](/source/Deep_Purple)'s "[Child in Time](/source/Child_in_Time)".[8]

## Disco music and later projects

The following year he co-wrote and produced the album *Space Woman*, credited to the act **Herman's Rocket**. The "cosmic disco" album was commissioned by record label owner [Humbert "Mémé" Ibach](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Humbert_Ibach&action=edit&redlink=1), and the title track became one of Massiera's best-known tracks.[6] Massiera's next album, *Galactic Soul* (also known as *Synthetic Soul*) followed a similar approach, but this time was credited as being by **Venus Gang**. Both albums were produced with Torelli as arranger, and both included reworkings of Massiera's earlier material as well as that of others. Also in 1978, Massiera co-wrote and co-produced Jessy Joyce's disco album *J. Joyce & Co.*, and co-wrote and produced one of his best-known albums, **Human Egg**, the name of both the album and the act. The prog rock album featured many of Massiera's regular contributors including Bernard Torelli, Patrick Attali, Tony Bonfils, Jessy Joyce and André Ceccarelli.[6][8]

Before the end of the 1970s, Massiera also produced disco albums by Micky & Joyce (*Hold Up*) and *Trans Am Dancing* by Friends featuring singer Sparkle Tuhran. He left Antibes in 1979, and opened the studio Jean Jaurès in Paris for [Philips Records](/source/Philips_Records). In 1981 he produced the [jazz-rock](/source/Jazz-rock) album *Debbi* by Francis Lockwood, the disco-[reggae](/source/Reggae) album *La Chica* by African Magic Combo, and a second album credited to Visitors, as well as numerous singles for other artists, in some cases as a co-producer with Torelli or others. Through the 1980s Massiera continued to work as a writer and producer, but at a lower level of intensity than before, sometimes using the pseudonyms **Areisam** or **Sierra**. With Torelli in 1983, he wrote and produced the [12-inch single](/source/12-inch_single) "Inch Allah", credited as **Orient Express**.[8]

In the mid-1980s he left Paris and established a new studio in [Le Bar-sur-Loup](/source/Le_Bar-sur-Loup). In 1992, on the occasion of Columbus' [quincentennial](/source/Quincentennial), he co-wrote and produced the album *Red Power* by **Indian Nation**. A second album on the same theme, *Red Soul*, was issued in 1995.[1]

## Reissues

Selections of Massiera's work have been issued on CD, as *Psychoses Freakoïd (1963-1978)*, *Psychoses Discoïd (1976-1981)* (both issued by the Canadian label Mucho Gusto Records, 2007),[10] and *Midnight Massiera: The B-Music of Jean-Pierre Massiera* ([Finders Keepers Records](/source/Andy_Votel#Finders_Keepers), 2009).[11]

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-liner_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-liner_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-liner_1-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-liner_1-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-liner_1-4) Jean Garand, Larsen Nick, Liner notes for *Jean-Pierre Massiera: Psychoses Freakoid (1963-1978)*, Mucho Gusto Records, 2008

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["R.I.P. Influential French Music Figure Jean-Pierre Massiera", *Exclaim.ca*](https://exclaim.ca/music/article/r_i_p_influential_french_experimentalist_jean-pierre_massiera). Retrieved 8 August 2020

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-guardian_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-guardian_3-1) [Ben Thompson, Review of *Midnight Massiera* by Jean-Pierre Massiera, *The Guardian*, 15 March 2009](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/mar/15/jean-pierre-massiera-midnight-review). Retrieved 7 December 2019

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [William Rauscher, Review of *Psychoses Discoïd*, *ResidentAdvisor.net*, 21 January 2009](https://www.residentadvisor.net/reviews/5806). Retrieved 7 December 2019

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** [Les Milords, *Guitares & Batteries*](http://www.guitaresetbatteries.com/en/les-milords-2/). Retrieved 7 December 2019

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-cole_6-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-cole_6-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-cole_6-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-cole_6-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-cole_6-4) [Max Cole, "A Guide to the Unhinged Genius of Jean Pierre Massiera", *Red Bull Music Academy*, 14 January 2015](https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2015/01/jean-pierre-massiera-guide). Retrieved 7 December 2019

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** [Commentaires sur Les Monégasques, *Bide & Musique*, 20 November 2012](https://www.bide-et-musique.com/artist/7713.html). Retrieved 8 December 2019

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-savinov_8-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-savinov_8-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-savinov_8-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-savinov_8-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-savinov_8-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-savinov_8-5) [Savinov, "Jean-Pierre Massiera", *JPMDiscogs*](https://sites.google.com/site/jpmdiscogs/) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20210218074258/https://sites.google.com/site/jpmdiscogs/) 2021-02-18 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine). Retrieved 7 December 2019

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** [Jason Draper, Review of *L'Etrange Mr. Whinster*, *Record Collector*, #377, July 2010](https://recordcollectormag.com/reviews/letrange-mr-whinster). Retrieved 7 December 2019

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** [*Psychoses Freakoid (1963-1978)*, Mucho Gusto Records](https://muchogustomusic.bandcamp.com/album/psychoses-freakoid-1963-1978). Retrieved 7 December 2019

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** [*Midnight Massiera*, Allmusic.com](https://www.allmusic.com/album/midnight-massiera-the-b-music-of-jean-pierre-massiera-mw0000816495). Retrieved 7 December 2019

## External links

- [Jean-Pierre Massiera](https://www.discogs.com/artist/637745) discography at [Discogs](/source/Discogs)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Jean-Pierre Massiera](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Pierre_Massiera) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Pierre_Massiera?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.