You may have spotted the name BeMixed floating around on Facebook posts recently, and on one occasion at least, it was also featured in this column, but what exactly is behind it?

When we received the first contributions we realised that people took our tracks in directions we never even imagined

A closer look will reveal BeMixed to be a visionary musical project; the brainchild of two foreign artists – Frenchman Christophe Ladret, who many will also know as the drummer in FellowFish, and Dutch producer Daniel Talma, who is also a proficient Chapman stick player.

Based in Gozo and very much involved in the local music scene, Ladret and Talma came up with the idea to launch a project that broadens their horizons and transcends physical and musical boundaries, inviting collaborative efforts and input from anyone and everyone with a musical inclination, and thanks to the wonders of modern technology, regardless of wherever they may be located.

About two months ago, the first fruits of the project – an intriguing mix of pop, soul and jazz with a fluid feel and a hint of world music – were uploaded on BeMixed’s page on Bandcamp, with three more tracks added just a couple of weeks back.

The tally of six complete recordings to date, collectively titled A Transatlantic Pact (Reel One) and featuring instrumental and vocal parts from a variety of international and local artists, was produced in a relatively short time (the project was only set up at the beginning of this year); certainly a most encouraging achievement that points to more successful productions in the future.

www.bemixed.net

Interview with BeMixed

What inspired you to set up the project?

We both like improvising and we’ve been jamming for years, playing with other musicians in Gozo, but we wanted to expand our musical horizon beyond our small island. We wanted to do something different, something that connected composing and improvisation, so we thought of using the internet.

It’s a great way to meet new musicians, and we decided to throw a message in a bottle in the sea of internet and see what would happen.

The basic tracks were relatively bare, built mainly around drums and stick…

Initially we posted seven tracks, trying to offer people different styles and basic tracks to start with. Some only contain chords, while others also have some melodies. We experimented with different time signatures and rhythms derived from different cultures.

It was quite difficult to write tracks that were empty enough for people to add stuff to, but offered enough to be inspiring. The choice for stick and drums was simply made because that’s what we happen to play.

When we posted the tracks we were unsure whether people would like what we presented, but we were also curious where people would take those tracks. When we received the first contributions we realised that people took our tracks in directions we never even imagined.

It’s like the surrealists’ game ‘rotating corpse’, in which players write in turn on a sheet of paper, fold it to conceal part of the writing and then pass it to the next player for a further contribution. No one knows what the other does, yet you’re still creating something together.

Was the response close to your expectations?

We really had no idea what to expect, but it’s been working really well and there’s always the option to release more than one version of a track.

The quality so far has exceeded our expectations, with most musicians having very high standards and the parts we received were really amazing and great to listen to.

We’ve had contributions from the US, UK, France, Holland and Malta. Occasionally there’s a problem with the quality of the recordings but we have to deal with what people send us and we do appreciate that they’ve taken their time to contribute to this project.

We must admit it was hard work combining all the different contributions into something that sounds like a song. We spent hours going through the different tracks to come up with the final results.

Some people may find it hard to believe that none of the contributors knew what the others did, or that we didn’t add any loops or samples; everything you hear was sent in and moved around, but it is all authentic.

What was the general reaction to the finished tracks you uploaded on the internet?

People have been very enthusiastic. It’s not mainstream music and we won’t score a Top 10 hit, but many people find it fascinating music all the same; music where improvisation meets composition, where jazz meets pop.

We’re working hard to promote the tracks and the BeMixed concept, and hope that new musicians will join the project. They do not need to send in complete arrangements; a solo, a backing track for a chorus, a rhythm guitar pattern, vocals and so forth, these would be sufficient.

What’s next?

We’re working on a video for Shine On and we’re also recording tracks for what will eventually be [Reel Two]. The new tracks will be different, based on fretless and fretted stick and will be emptier because we’ve learned from the contributions so far that you don’t have to give musicians a lot; their inspiration is triggered by silence just as well.

www.bemixed.bandcamp.com