Fuzz was a Marseille based hard rock band that began playing in the late 70s, only releasing a single 45 in 1981, until Mémoire Neuve released their archive recordings.

In the style of bands like Judas Priest, Motörhead and the likes, Fuzz roared around the Marseille area. One of the most memorable performances was at MIDEM 1981 in Cannes where crowds were screaming “Fuzz!!!”

“The policeman tells us that the crowd is screaming our name”

Mémoire Neuve did such fantastic work issuing your material for the first time. Most of the material was unreleased with the exception of ‘Satan’s fans’ / ‘Renonce pas !’ single, right?

Gilles Mardirossian: Exactly. The other eight titles had never been released before the album ‘Avalanche de rage,’ out via Mémoire Neuve. Only ‘Satan’s Fans’ and ‘Renonce Pas’ were released as a single 45 in 1981.

Would you like to elaborate on the formation of Fuzz? What was the scene like in Marseille for a band such as Fuzz?

Gilles Mardirossian: When we formed the band Fuzz it originally consisted of Norbert “Nono” Mardirossian, Jean Guy, me and Jean-Marc, a guitarist who left us even before our first concert. Teddy, recruited by advertisement, very quickly took his place and quickly integrated into the band thanks to his seriousness, his sustained rhythm and his humor which stuck (and still sticks) very well with ours.

The real adventure of Fuzz therefore really began with Jean Guy (drums), Norbert “Nono” Mardirossian (guitar), Thierry “Teddy” Moya (guitar) and myself, Gilles Mardirossian (bass and vocals). We were together almost every day to rehearse and spent our evenings in bars in Marseille or in our rehearsal room.

In 1981 we recruited Jacques “Jack” Jimenez on vocals because I wanted to devote myself solely to bass. His voice sublimated our compositions and we got along well but he had to stop his collaboration with us. At the time, we didn’t know that it was only a postponement and that we would be back on stage in 2022… So I got back into my role as bassist/singer until our separation, at the end of 1982.

At that time the leading group was undoubtedly Quartiers Nord but at the end of the 70s many groups came out on the Marseille scene. Moreover, its emblematic singer, Robert “Rock” Rossi has published a very good book “History of Rock in Marseille 1960-1980” which lists the different stories of all these groups.

Where did you have your practise room and tell us about some of the instruments and equipment you had?

Jean Guy: At the very beginning, we rehearsed at home in my parents’ house and then in a room (made available to us by our friend and sound engineer Frank Tassy) which was in a retirement home for the elderly!

Gilles Mardirossian: Then, with the little money we had, we rented space in a hangar divided into several small rehearsal rooms occupied by various rock bands from Marseille. This room was for us much more than a simple place where we rehearsed! It was for our group a real headquarters (HQ) in which we met very often in the evening after rehearsals to play poker, watch films, have meals et cetera.

Thierry “Teddy” Moya: I started with an Eagle guitar before using an Ibanez and a Fender amp.

Jean Guy: I have always played on a Pearl fiber and white wood except for our last concert where I had a Yamaha.

Gilles Mardirossian: When Fuzz was formed, we had very little financial means, so our instruments were not well-known brands… For my part, I quickly bought a Fender Musicmaster Bass and a Peavey amp before playing on a Rickenbacker 4001 stereo and a Hiwatt 2 body amp. Nono, he played on a Fender Stratocaster and a Marshall 3 body amp.

Together with your late brother you started the band. Were you originally called Fuzz?

Gilles Mardirossian: We had a band before but as soon as we started playing hard rock we called ourselves Fuzz which was the name of Nono’s first distortion pedal.

Take us back in time and tell us where you pick new records with your brother?

Gilles Mardirossian: I was five years older than my brother so I went to buy my first records before him. With friends we often went to the record store in the Plaine district of Marseille. There were all kinds of record stores selling imports and little-known rock records. That’s where I bought, I think, my first rock single: ‘Coz I Luv You’ by Slade.

And then very quickly, a guy from my high school introduced me to Deep Purple. I then ran to buy ‘Machine Head’ which I listened to on repeat, alternating with my brother who listened to Pink Floyd. Then his heart leaned towards hard rock! After the formation of Fuzz, we all discovered together the main hard rock bands that we listened to in our rehearsal room.

Judging by the sound of your band you like most of the hard rock of that day, any band in particular you wanted to “imitate” to a certain degree?

Gilles Mardirossian: I could not give the name of a single band because we did not really have any band as a role model, but actually several. Our influences mainly came from a mix of Deep Purple, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, then later also Van Halen, Saxon, AC/DC, Thin Lizzy and the likes.

Did you enjoy any of the French groups, maybe stuff from the underground or were you a bit too young to know back then about the late 60s/early 70s experimental bands from France?

Gilles Mardirossian: For my part, I listened to the French groups Triangle and Variations. The other members of Fuzz were around 10 years old and far too young. Of course, we listened to Téléphone’s debut album, released in 1977, but it wasn’t hard rock… It was above all the French group Trust, formed in 1977, that marked us. Hearing real Anglo-Saxon hard rock with great sound and French lyrics gave us hope that we could succeed by singing hard rock in French. We were also listening to Warning in the early 80s.

What were the circumstances around recording your only single? How did that come about and what can you tell me about Les Productions Amicalement Vôtre? Was it a private release?

Gilles Mardirossian: In 1980, when “Les Productions Amicalement Vôtre” offered us the recording of a single, we were overjoyed. We recorded the two titles on Revox 4-track tapes in the small improvised studio of our producer Jean-Louis Giordano. The result was really not up to what we expected and the sound was really bad. We of course expressed our dissatisfaction with our producer by asking him to have us record in a real studio but, being under contract, the latter left us no choice and the single was released despite everything for MIDEM 1981 in Cannes, where our production had a stand. Our single was on sale at major supermarkets and record stores at the time. Given the quality of the sound and the lack of publicity, sales have, alas, never really taken off. However, the few sales and royalties allowed us to support ourselves for a few months…

The most interesting part of the interview comes next. Would you like to analyze the tracks featured on ‘Avalanche de rage’. Where did you record most of the material and what do you recall from working on those tunes?

Gilles Mardirossian: All the songs of the album were written by Alain Le Diabat, a friend from faculty except ‘Réveille-Toi’ which was written by my brother. A few of our lyrics are quite dark like the one for ‘Réveille-Toi,’ which tells the story of a man who hears a voice in his head urging him to murder. There is also “Frappe Plus Fort” in which the victim of a miscarriage of justice decides to take revenge or “Dure Revanche” which is about a hermit who predicts the end of the world. But we also approach lighter themes such as that of the girls who live only through people magazines in ‘Fille A Magazines’ or ‘Satan’s Fans’ which deals with a concert in a concentration of motorcycles.

The work on ‘Satan’s Fans’ and ‘Renonce Pas !’ was harder than on the others because they are the only titles recorded in our production studio, as I said above. We first recorded the drums alone.
Jean had to set his pace on a model made in rehearsal. Then it was my turn to record the bass, then Teddy’s for the rhythm guitar and finally Nono’s for the lead guitar. When the musical tape was finished, we recorded the choirs and finally, I put my voice on it.

The other titles were recorded in our rehearsal room in one take with an ambient microphone, except for the voice of course. Alas, having been unable to find these tapes, I only had the copies left on K7 that I gave to Mémoire Neuve.

You played really fast, almost too fast and it gives a fantastic feel… It’s like taking speed. It’s hard to get that energy back when you’re older, isn’t it?

Gilles Mardirossian: Indeed, giving a hard rock concert at 60 is more tiring than giving it at 20… but it’s possible! And once on stage, as soon as we start playing, the energy returns at a gallop!

Thierry “Teddy” Moya: Same!

Jacques “Jack” Jimenez: I’m used to playing fairly long sets so it’s not a problem for me.

Are you familiar with another French group that I interviewed called Soggy?

Gilles Mardirossian: You must remember that at the time it was difficult to follow what’s happening, because there was no social media. The media did not broadcast rock music constantly. So no, we didn’t know Soggy but thanks to you, I went to listen to what they were doing… I discovered their hard rock which was very good and what an energy!!!

Did you do a lot of shows before releasing the single?

Gilles Mardirossian: We were filming in venues in the region, the youth and culture centers, bars, biker events et cetera.

What about after? What are some bands you shared stages with?

Gilles Mardirossian: We were able to share the stage with the majority of Marseille groups during the “Rock’n Canebière” festival in May 1982. There were notably Quartiers Nord, Lawlessness, Nitrate, Silver Skull, Antidote and many others. There was even Vince Taylor!

Okay, I gotta ask, what would be the craziest that happened to Fuzz?

Gilles Mardirossian: I think my friends will agree with me if I talk about an anecdote that happened to us at MIDEM, in Cannes in 1981. We were in the old Palais des Festivals where MIDEM was taking place when we saw a panicked and very agitated policeman who asks everyone he meets if they know Fuzz! Immediately we go to him, introducing ourselves and asking him why he is looking for us. The guy then leads us with a hurried step in front of the windows of the entrance and there, on the steps of the Palace, we see a row of policemen barring the entrance to a screaming crowd! The policeman then tells us that this crowd is screaming our name and wants to see us… Incredible for those of us who have no notoriety… So we went running to ask our producer what we should do. He then gives us about thirty copies of our single and asks us to distribute them to the crowd who are asking for us. We then go out behind the police in contact with the public. People, seeing that we were holding records in our hands, started pushing the policemen and pushing through their ranks. Within seconds we were in the middle of the crowd. The audience was excited but not at all violent. So we distributed all the records we had, taking the time to sign them and chat with people. That day, a girl even asked us to put our signatures on the cast she wore on her broken arm! To end this anecdote, we never knew the reason that led all these people to claim us so insistently…

What happened after the bands stopped in 1982? What occupied other members’ lives?

Thierry “Teddy” Moya: After giving our last concert in 1982, I left on my own to play in other groups before opening a music store, “Central Music Occasion” with Nono in 1985.

Jean Guy: Nono, Gilles and I joined an Armenian music group for a short time. Then, I stopped playing concerts while continuing to play for my own pleasure.

Gilles Mardirossian: Nono set up the music store with Teddy and played in several bands including Ki, Coyote and Nino. Shortly before his death, he recorded a solo guitar LP, ‘Star Dust,’ which can still be found on Spotify. As for me, I turned to medieval music before composing with Frank Tassy a dancefloor title, ‘Go To The Dance’s Beach,’ also on Spotify and then devoting myself to writing lyrics. However, since October 2022, fate has played a funny trick on us. Indeed, Robert “Rock” Rossi, writer of the book on rock in Marseille mentioned above, was at the initiative of a major exhibition which premiered in October 2022 at the Library L’Alcazar. It is titled “Marseille Ville Rock 1956-1980 “. In this exhibition, all the Marseille rock bands are represented with posters, instruments, articles, records et cetera. It was then that the directors of this exhibition made a proposal: to reform Fuzz to give a small concert during an evening reserved for Marseille hard rock! After some hesitation, we accepted the challenge… However, being only three since the death of my brother, we called on Jacques Jimenez, the singer of ‘Fille A Magazines’ on our LP, to accompany us on the guitar and sing most of the songs instead of me. Since Teddy and Jacques no longer live in Marseille, we had to rehearse each on our side based on our LP, before a single 5-hour rehearsal together the day before the concert! It is therefore 40 years after giving his last concert in 1982 that Fuzz returned to the stage, on Saturday December 10, 2022! Only one person was missing: Nono, my brother, whose soul must have hovered above us during this concert… It was a very intense moment with a lot of emotions that gave us only one desire: to play together again!

While working on the compilation, do you think there might be even some more recordings?

Gilles Mardirossian: When Mémoire Neuve contacted me to release an LP, I had to search through all my archives to find the tapes recorded during rehearsals at the time. It gave me a crazy job to listen to them one by one on an old tape recorder in order to sort them out and check if they were recorded in their entirety! Then I sent all the original tapes to Mémoire Neuve who did a fabulous job bringing our compositions back to life after remixing them. So yes, there are three compositions that do not appear on ‘Avalanche de rage’… We chose, by mutual agreement with Mémoire Neuve, to discard a rock ballad that had nothing to do with the rest of the LP. As for the two others, we have, alas, no more recordings of these titles…

What would be the best moment in Fuzz?

Gilles Mardirossian: There have been so many good times that it is very difficult to choose one! For my part, I would put at the same level our last gig in 1982 where we had a sound and lighting of madness with an overexcited crowd and the MIDEM in 1981 of course.

Thierry “Teddy” Moya: For me, MIDEM was the best memory with Fuzz.

Jean Guy: MIDEM too! We’ve been through so many crazy things that it’s hard to forget…

Thank you for your time. Last words are yours.

Gilles Mardirossian: It was a pleasure talking with you. Hope 2023 sees Fuzz again on a stage… So in the meantime, you can find us on the Fuzz Facebook fanpage to follow our news or on my YouTube channel to watch some videos of our last concert!

Klemen Breznikar

Headline photo: Fuzz in 1979

Fuzz Facebook / YouTube