Komintern

Komintern was a French avant-psych/trad band behind the 1971 Harvest album Le Bal du Rat Mort.

Members: Francis Lemonnier (saxophone, vocal), Serge Catalano (drums, percussion 1970-75), Michel Musac (guitar), Olivier Zdrzalik (bass, piano), Pascal Chassin (guitar 1970-75), Richard Aubert (violin, cello, 1971)

Background

Komintern formed in Paris in May 1970 when saxophonist-vocalist Francis Lemonnier and drummer Serge Catalano answered an advertisement placed by guitarists Michel Muzac, Pascal Chassin, and Olivier Zdrzalik.

Muzac grew up in Paris and spent weekends with cousin Zdrzalik in the suburbs. Zdrzalik received a classical guitar on return from a family trip to Spain, and the cousins began playing guitar. In summer 1969, the pair met Chassin in Ibiza. As a trio, they convened in Paris for guitar improvs. 

Lemonnier and Catalano came from Patrick Vian’s Red Noise, which played the occupied Sorbonne amid the May 1968 student revolt. Musical and political disagreements split the pair from Vian in spring 1970 as Lemonnier argued for music tied to explicit political discourse. Scheduled French dates with East of Eden prompted Lemonnier and Catalano to seek a new lineup. Zdrzalik switched from guitar to bass at the first Komintern rehearsal.

By late May, Komintern opened French dates for East of Eden. The group played the Aix-en-Provence and Biot festivals that summer. At Aix, Komintern delivered a political address that linked the gathering to the May 1968 revolt. Contacts with Maajun led Komintern into the Force de Libération et d’Intervention Pop in October, when the groups circulated a manifesto against paid spectacle and for free concerts.

Komintern also played universities and secondary schools. The group played factories as part of the same circuit. On March 20, 1971, Komintern played an École Normale Supérieure commemoration of the Paris Commune with Gong and Red Noise. Violinist Richard Aubert joined the lineup that spring. 

Pathé-Marconi artistic director Philippe Constantin knew Lemonnier and Catalano through the East of Eden booking and continued to secure concert dates for Komintern. Lyricist Étienne Roda-Gil also secured dates for the group. On May 8, 1971, ORTF broadcast a Komintern studio rehearsal and an interview by Patrice Blanc-Francard for Pop Deux. Constantin secured Komintern a Pathé-Marconi contract for Harvest. Komintern entered the large Pathé-Marconi studio in Paris in July 1971 to record Le Bal du Rat Mort. 

Discography:

• Le Bal du Rat Mort (1971)

References and notes

• Michel Muzac, 2024 interview tied to his self-published La Pop Sauvage. This supplies the most detailed first-person account of the Muzac–Zdrzalik background, the 1969 meeting with Chassin, the Le Pop advertisement, first rehearsal, East of Eden connection, Aubert entry, Constantin, Roda-Gil, and July Pathé-Marconi sessions. Muzac also says he checked period newspapers and consulted Zdrzalik, Chassin, former drummers, Maajun member Alain Roux, and Komintern manager Gilles Yéprémian while preparing the book. (It’s Psychedelic Baby Magazine)
• Matthias Glenn, La fabrique du rock français (1955–1982): Sociologie historique d’une nationalisation culturelle, Université Paris Nanterre doctoral thesis, 2023. Glenn independently places Lemonnier and Catalano in Red Noise at the occupied Sorbonne, records the 1970 split, reproduces the Aix political report, documents FLIP, and identifies Constantin as the intermediary for the Pathé-Marconi contract. The section draws on period government material and contemporary rock press. (BDR Paris Nanterre)
• Ian Thompson, Synths, Sax and Situationists: The French Musical Underground 1968–1978. The published extract reconstructs Red Noise from contemporary and later testimony and quotes Zdrzalik on the dispute between Vian and Lemonnier over political discourse in music. (The Wire)
• Eric Deshayes, Neosphères, “Force Pop / Front Rock.” Deshayes dates the Komintern–Maajun FLIP alliance to October 1970 and traces the manifesto to Alain Roux’s 1973 account, Tout! No. 3 from October 29, 1970, and Rock & Folk No. 52 from May 1971. (Neospheres)
• The surviving East of Eden itinerary lists Komintern at Maison de la Culture in Paris on May 25 as part of the British group’s French run. It supports the immediate post-formation tour connection but creates a date problem discussed below. (Pearls of Rock)
• The surviving ORTF program listing identifies the Komintern studio rehearsal and Patrice Blanc-Francard interview; Neosphères dates the Pop Deux broadcast to May 8. (Apple TV)