Indigo (Nocturne to feel more alive)

Do you like Tamino? Here is a recomposition of his song "Indigo Night", and this is our story behind it.

A few years ago, I read that Hunter S. Thompson had once re-typed, word for word, Ernest Hemingway’s "Farewell to Arms" as well as F. Scott Fitzgerald’s "The Great Gatsby" because he wanted to get a feel for their writing style in a way that you don’t get when you’re just reading a book.

Ever since, I have been interested in this idea of learning by walking in the footsteps of others. During the pandemic, Pierre and I challenged each other to re-draw an illustration by Matisse that we saw here in the museum of Cimiez. It’s a simple enough illustration, but having to pay attention to the line strokes, to the trail left when the pencil is lifted from the paper, and even trying to get a sense of the speed at which Matisse drew the lines, gives you an understanding of the illustration when you’re copying it that you don’t get when you’re just looking at it.

The same is true for music. At least, sometimes. Pierre and I fell in love with Tamino’s music a couple of years ago and, just like Matisse’s illustration, I was thinking "this is simple enough, so let’s pay attention to what’s going on" by trying to get some of the same mannerisms and inflections on the piano.

Then, naturally, I got carried away with the possibilities and began playing fractions of it to "suck the marrow out of them". Pierre then picked up all the bits, cut most of them out to bring it back to its essence, and turned it into a beautiful nocturne-style piece.

And it worked: we now love Tamino even more.

Con mucho cariño,

Belle & Pierre

Here’s the link to the album in our shop.