Rialzu | Interview | First Official Vinyl Re-Release Of The French Highly Sought After Prog/Zeuhl Gem

Rialzu were an incredible band playing music in the style of Magma, Wapassou and the likes. PQR-Disques plusqueréel recently announced the first official vinyl re-release of this gem for January 15, 2022.

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‘U Rigiru’, as suggested by the very title (in Corsican), is a circular endeavor, a self-referential leap from and into an existential angst-ridden enclave, enshrouded in a celestial abyss. Recorded and originally released in 1978, Rialzu’s first and only album is rightfully considered by savvy collectors as a hidden gem in the prolifically versatile French prog scene. Spearheaded by a mesmerizing interplay between baritone and soprano vocals, an assemblage of sinister instrumental twists and turns constantly undermines and postpones the possibility of catharsis. This is a truly eclectic masterpiece.

The album is already available for pre-order!

I was really pleasantly surprised when George Rossolatos of PQR-Disques plusqueréel told me about the upcoming reissue of your sole 1978 album. How did that come about?

Gilles Renne: I was also pleasantly surprised that George found my trace and contacted me to offer to make a reissue of this 70’s album in vinyl form as originally. I immediately accepted this adventure, convinced that Rialzu’s music was closely related by its aesthetics to this incredible decade of the 70’s which brought to light an unprecedented musical explosion. Previously, in 2008 for the 30th anniversary of the album’s release, a CD reissue by Alain Lebon’s “Soleil Zeuhl” label had made it possible to revive a music buried by the years, but above all, to explain by the libretto included, the particular history of this enigmatic band that was “Rialzu”.

What’s the reissuing process? Are you excited about the results?

Living 2000 km away, I never met George, but I trusted him to be able to lead that project through our emails and phone calls. Despite the distance, the work had to focus on rethinking the original cover to, among other things, add information and photos that were non-existent, to put heads and names on the musicians of the band. Likewise, we decided with George to add 2 live “bonus tracks” from the same period to increase the initial music time, and to give the opportunity to hear the band on stage through these 2 unreleased tracks. I think the result will meet our requirements.

Would you like to talk a bit about your background? When did you begin playing music? What was your first instrument? Who were your major influences?

I started playing the guitar at the very beginning of the 70’s as a complete autodidact, listening mostly to Blues and Rock groups then Hard Rock (Johnny Winter, Jimi Hendrix, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin …). Then, I started listening to bands as different as Santana, Chicago, Jethro Tull, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Yes, Genesis, Magma. Besides, I always listen to these bands because their incredible instrumental masteries give rise to music of a timeless force. At the same time, I was seduced by the world of Jazz music by guitarists such as Wes Montgomery, George Benson, Pat Martino … All these influences led me subsequently to create Fusion groups mixing the energy of Rock with the sophisticated language of Jazz.

Are you all coming from Corsica?

All the members of the band are from Corsica, except me and my brother Olivier. The origin of Rialzu started in the fall of 1971 from my meeting with brothers Christophe and François Mac Daniel when we were boarders in the same establishment in Avignon, a city in the south of France. They came from Corsica to study on the continent. Christophe played the organ, François the drums and I the guitar. Being fans of the same music, we decided to create a band. At first we played songs borrowed from our favorite groups, then later Christophe’s compositions influenced by Magma but with the particularity of being sung in the traditional Corsican language. Subsequently, with the arrival of Dominique Gallet as singer-violinist, François took on the role of bassist while my brother Olivier became the group’s drummer. Rialzu was born!

Were there a lot of hippies back in the Seventies? Did that influence you to start a band? Were there any other bands from Corsica that are worth mentioning?

The hippie movement in France at the beginning of the 70’s was already declining and it had no influence on us, apart from having long hair … We were very far from this ideology which pronounced “Peace & Love “, lived in community, made your own goat cheeses and smoked cannabis all day … As far as we are concerned, unconsciously, we were driven by the desire to play music in which all our influences could go beyond passing fashions.

You’ve been active for about two years. Did you do any gigs and if so, where did you play?

Indeed we did not do a lot of concerts, because of the fact that we lived very far from each other. Our concerts took place mainly during the summer holidays outside of our student activities. The last time we played together was on May 3, 1978 when we recorded our only album, the end of this singular epic.

What are some of the strongest memories from recording your 1978 album? Would you share your insight on the albums’ tracks?

First of all, you have to know that this album can be seen afterwards as a real achievement, because it was recorded and mixed on an 8-track tape, all together in a small room in one day by young musicians for whom it was the 1st recording experience in the studio. Apart from that, for me a major memory remains, the one where François the bass player wounds his hand at the end of the day by opening a tin can, preventing him suddenly from recording the last track of the album. This is why, for this personal composition which sounds more Jazz-Rock, I had to record the bass, then the guitar in re-recording.

Your sound is strongly connected to the Zeuhl genre. When did you first hear about Magma and to what degree that inspired your own sound? This may sound strange, but the DIY recording process gave the record a distinctive aura…

Indeed, the major influence of Rialzu is Magma. Christophe, me and my brother Olivier attended for the first time a Magma concert at the beginning of 1974 whose music totally captivated us by its aesthetics, its technical prowess and its singular strength. The intro of the main track, ‘Rigiru’, is notably a nod to Magma for ‘Köhntarköz’s’ intro … from Magma, Rialzu’s music will retain the dark character while remaining perhaps more lyrical music and undoubtedly more conventional in its melodies and its unfolding. The fact of being sung in the Corsican language is part of the will of the Corsican independence movements of the time (of which Christophe was part) to rehabilitate this regional language in opposition to the French language.

Thank you. Last word is yours.

Rialzu was the only group that made this move to mix traditional Corsican music with progressive rock. The album was only released in 300 copies, hence the difficulty of finding it. Apart from some very mediocre recordings of concerts or rehearsals on audio cassettes, from which the bonus tracks are taken, there is no other unreleased material.

After the recording of the album in 1978, each member of the band continued their journey. As far as I’m concerned, I’ve never played progressive rock anymore, but most of the time a “muscular” instrumental Jazz fusion through about thirty albums.

Rialzu’s adventure is closely related to my youth and its end in the twilight of the 70’s corresponds to the handover to my adulthood. Despite the imperfections due to our youth, the strength of our somewhat naive sincerity gives this album the care to keep intact the spirit of this bygone era and to be a musical witness to it.

Klemen Breznikar

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