He will be 23 very soon. His name is Jules Terrien. He is the
co-founder of Moonkeys Music, a record label based in Paris. He was born
in Boston but was raised in Paris.
He had his first work experience
when he was around 12 years old: his parents sent him to work at a
bakery. It changed his life: making and selling baguette showed him that
he could use his brain and hands to make something useful and people
who like it! After high school, he took a gap year to work with a band
he co-founded, Namasté (www.facebook.com/musicnamasteFortunately, his brother, Alexandre Terrien, a fellow Sandboxer has invited me to crash over at his place here in Paris and I got to meet him.
Jules Terrien is extremely modest. But acutely talented. If he
doesn’t sound like a good teacher, he is a good teacher. We spend days
talking and dissecting music. Yet, this is what we can give you to read.
ONYEKA NWELUE: What got you interested in music? And what is your taste for music like?JULES TERRIEN: I started playing bass guitar when I was around 12 or 13 years old. I think this is what got me into thinking about music. I started to listen to music and tried to understand the emotions that the artistes were trying to express through their songs. When I was 17, however, I met Raphael Cornet (with whom I later created the band Namasté). This was a turning point because he taught me how to listen to music. I started to pay attention to the various sounds in a song, the effects used, the layers, etc.I listen to a lot of music…probably 5-10 hours a day. I’ve been using Spotify for the past year and love the app! It’s great to discover new songs and artists. I think I like all kinds of music except screamo/hardcore rock/etc. This past year, the artist’s I’ve listened to the most were Bon Iver, Fat Freddy’s Drop, Fink, The XX, Radiohead, Phoenix and Stevie Wonder.
ONYEKA NWELUE: When I speak to you, I always sense some kinda feeling of an entertainment guru who clearly understands what he wants. You know what you want. You have travelled to so many countries, after studying in the US. Can you tell us more about your journeys? Where you have been?
JULES TERRIEN: That’s a great compliment — thanks! I don’t know if I consider myself an entertainment guru but I’ve thought hard about what I want to achieve and now I’m working hard at making it happen! As I said earlier, I started music when I was 12/13 years old, then really got into it when I was 17 (I even wrote my University application essay on music) and co-founded Moonkeys Music when I was 19. I’ll be 23 in a few weeks which means I’ve been thinking about this industry and how it’s changing for the past few years, and I’ve started to ‘do my thing’ for the past 3 years with Moonkeys Music. As you rightly noted, travelling has been key to that development. I was fortunate to travel a lot: in the past five years, for example, I’ve been to the US (where I lived for 4 years), to South Asia three times, to Africa twice, to South America twice and to various places in Europe. Travelling is great for both personal and professional reasons. Personally, I think it’s one of the best ways to learn about yourself. Professionally, it allows you to think very deeply about what you want to do. On a personal level the trip that impacted me the most was perhaps a trip I took on my own to Indonesia when I was 19. On a professional level however, I learnt the most when I was in the US.
ONYEKA NWELUE: You once mentioned something about performing alongside Nigerian musician, Nneka. Can you tell us about it?
JULES TERRIEN: Unfortunately, I never had the chance to perform personally with these artists. However, Namasté, one of the bands we produce, played at the Solidays Festival a few times and met Nneka there. They also played a concert with Keziah Jones in Paris. We played or worked with other African musicians such as Patrice and my co-founder worked with Papa Wemba once.
ONYEKA NWELUE: This takes me back to your connection with ‘African’ musicians. What is special about African music? Why do you think there are more African musicians coming to France than anywhere else in the world? Is there a certain magic that happens here that we don’t know?
JULES TERRIEN: Each time I go to Africa, I’m struck by how lively and festive people are. I went to big cities and rural villages and each time, I’ve met incredible people with huge smiles and a positive energy. That’s real magic! That emotionality is so important and when it’s properly channeled into music, it can turn a good song into a hit that people will sing and dance to for ever! In comparison, most people you meet here in the streets of subway of Paris are depressed, negative, frustrated, etc! It’s terrible! On top of that, I think there’s a tradition of technical excellence in African art, and especially music. Most of the world’s best drummers, percussionist
ONYEKA NWELUE: What was the specific thing that drew you to Namaste? Can you tell us how discovery happened?
JULES TERRIEN: I met Raphael (the singer and guitar player) when I was 17. He had started to sing and play guitar and was childhood friends with Kenzo (keyboards). We started to get together at Raphael’s home and play music. Soon afterwards, Octavio (one of Kenzo’s childhood friends) joined at the cello. Everything started from there. We started playing a few concerts at local venues. Then wrote songs and noticed that people really enjoyed the cool/chill/happy vibe of our music. I left Namasté in 2008 to go study in the US and Benoit Dordolo replaced me at the bass. By then, Reda Samba (the son of Mokhtar Samba) joined at the drums. It took a few years for the band to find their sound and their way to work together but I believe they’re going to do great!
ONYEKA NWELUE: You have signed a few artistes and looking for more. How do you get your investors as owning a record label is really a big thing? How does the structure work?
JULES TERRIEN: We started with Namasté, then signed Fränk (his first EP will be released in March 2013). This past year, we signed The Sophia Lorenians and Christine. I think we’ll be focused on working with these artists for the next few months and then we’ll sign new artists. Getting investors is hard. First of all because the music industry lost two thirds of its global value in the past 10 years. It’s slowly starting to recover and digital sales are going up but most people still think it’s impossible to make money in music today. Second of all because it’s the music business and investors know how risky this business is. The majority of artists in the world are independent artists who don’t make enough money to live. Only a very few are superstars. Getting to the top of the pyramid requires not only hard work and persistence but also talent and a bit of luck. However, it will always be possible to find people to invest in music because there will always be successful business people who love music and want to use the money they earned to help artistic projects.
ONYEKA NWELUE: I know you have plans of entering the African music market. When is this going to happen? And how prepared should we get for you?
JULES TERRIEN: Before expanding, we first have to be successful here at home and prove that our business model can work. Expanding internationally takes a lot of time, money and hard work so we will only do it when we’re ready. I don’t think African artists should wait for Moonkeys Music to come…or for any other ‘western’ music company. Today, with Internet, it’s possible for anybody to become internationally famous. All you need is a few incredible hit songs a few incredible videos and branding, and an incredible live show. If you have that, everything will fall into place. Remember that Youtube is the most popular way for people to discover music today. That means that you can be from Paris, New York or Lagos and still
become a star, as long as you have an incredible video…Of course, making an incredible video is easier said than done! But look at a band like Die Antwoord. They’re from South Africa, yet they’re becoming incredibly famous and successful in Europe and America now. Their music is interesting (although I don’t think they have hits yet), but their videos are incredible. The concepts are fun and entertaining. They’re well made and produced. And people from Paris to New York are watching them over and over again. And now the band is playing at huge festivals in the US. Don’t wait for us! First research and learn what makes a song a hit and what makes a viral video a hit. Then focus on making great music and developing a great brand and all the labels will want to work with you.
ONYEKA NWELUE: What do you believe in? Are you a Christian?
JULES TERRIEN: I was raised a Catholic and my parents practice (my mum even published a youth Bible called ZeBible). I believe very deeply that we’re here on earth for a reason, that we have a responsibility to improve ourselves, our community, and if we can, the world. However, my way to practice my faith is not traditional: I rarely go to Church but will pray on my own. Like many people from my generation, I think I’m more spiritual than religious.
ONYEKA NWELUE: What is your understanding of music? How does it come to you?
JULES TERRIEN: That’s a hard and tricky question. When I listen to music, I focus on the song’s emotion. That’s the most important. You can have all the effects in the world, the most sophisticated arrangements, etc…but if you don’t have emotion, the song will never work. Some of the people I work with are much better at understanding music. They’re trained themselves to understand the various layers of sounds, and the various sounds used, etc…That’s great and I wish I could do the same…but again, at the end of the day, it all comes down to emotion: a song needs to make you want to laugh to, dance to or cry to. And, it needs to have a catchy melody if you want people to listen to it again and again and again.
ONYEKA NWELUE: Who are your favourite African artistes and why?
JULES TERRIEN: I’ve been listening to a lot of Asa [Asha] recently. She’s from Nigeria and I love her song ‘Bimpe’. I also like Tiken Jah Fakoly.
ONYEKA NWELUE: We don’t know much about you in Nigeria. What is special about Moonkeys Music?
JULES TERRIEN: I’m not surprised you don’t much about us! We’re still a very young company and we’re focused on the French market for now. We also decided to work on promoting our artists more than promoting our company. I don’t know if there’s anything special about Moonkeys. We’re passionate about music, obsessed with the music business and how it’s been changing for the past 10 years. Our long term goal is to focus on developing incredible artists that make original but hit music, and focus on developing the necessary tools and apps for music to be better shared and promoted online. In terms of artistic direction, I think our ‘model’ is XL Records, the British label. They’ve done an incredible job at developing huge commercial successes while working with artists that come from the indie world. All of their artists are world-class artists in terms of the quality of their productions! For example, they work with Radiohead, Adele and Jai Paul.
ONYEKA NWELUE: What are the great opportunities for African musicians in France?
JULES TERRIEN: French people have always loved African music and African artists have always been welcomed and successful here in France. But there’s a divide between the very successful African artists here (Keziah Jones, Ayo, Asa, Patrice, etc) and the hundreds of artists who have not managed to make ‘hit’ music and focus on reaching out to the African diaspora here. But again, I believe that African artists
shouldn’t focus on reaching one market in particular. They should focus on reaching out to the world using the Internet as the best marketing platform that exists! Make beautiful/incredible music with catchy choruses that people around the world can relate to…create a fun or interesting video…and start promoting your music online!
Onyeka Nwelue is a Nigerian writer studying at Prague Film School in Czech Republic. He is the CEO/Founder of Blues & Hills Consultancy.
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