Lard Free

Lard Free was a French improve/electroacoustic band that released three albums through 1977 on Vamp and Cobra. Material from their original 1971/72 lineup later appeared on the Unnamed disc, courtesy of Spalax.

Members: Gilbert Artman (drums, piano, vibraphone, organ, percussion, tenor saxophone, clarinet, 1970-78, 2009), François Mativet (guitar, 1970-75), Jean-Jacques Miette (bass, double bass, 1970-73), Dominique Triloff (organ, 1970-73), Philippe Bolliet (saxophone, clarinet, keyboards, 1970-75, 2009), Robert Wood (vibraphone, 1971-72), Hervé Eyhani (bass, synthesizer, 1973-75), Alain Audat (keyboards, tenor saxophone, 1975), Antoine Duvernet (alto saxophone, flute, 1975), Richard Pinhas (guitar, bass, synthesizer, 1975), Jean-Jacques Birgé (synthesizer, alto saxophone, 1975), Xavier Baulleret (guitar, 1977, 2009), Yves Lanes (keyboards, 1977), Jean-Pierre Thiraut (clarinet, 1977)

Background

Lard Free formed in 1970 in Saint-Maur when drummer Gilbert Artman joined guitarist François Mativet, bassist Jean-Jacques Miette, and saxophonist Philippe Bolliet. Organist Dominique Triloff completed the first performing lineup later in the year.

Mativet played acoustic guitar from age eleven (circa 1960) and acquired his first electric guitar at eighteen. Lard Free became his first established group. Mativet and Miette were self-taught musicians, while Triloff came from classical piano training.

Artman grew up in Livarot in Normandy and developed an early interest in jazz through radio programs, records, and music magazines. He first played drums as a substitute musician at a sailors’ club in Le Havre, where the left-handed Artman adapted to a right-handed drum kit. Artman moved into the Paris jazz circuit and frequented clubs including La Cigale. He also joined jam sessions with saxophonist Benny Waters and trumpeter Jacques Butler. Mativet and Bolliet later approached Artman about the developing group.

Lard Free rehearsed in Montreuil-sous-Bois with sound technician Jacky Chantrier and moved onto the Paris club circuit at Gibus and Golf-Drouot. The group won the Golf-Drouot Tremplin in 1971 and received several hours at Chappell studio for a first recording session. Lard Free also played universities and factories on the post-1968 underground circuit. The group made radio appearances and performed on the television program Pop 2. Triloff subsequently left the lineup.

In March 1972, Lard Free played the Diplodocus in Paris, where Le Parapluie contributor Gilles Yéprémian encountered the group. Yéprémian soon became group manager and connected Lard Free with additional bookings. English vibraphonist Robert Wood heard the band at the École Spéciale d’Architecture in Paris and joined the lineup. Lard Free subsequently recorded with Wood at Studio Saravah. Recordings from the 1971–72 period later appeared on the archival collection Unnamed.

The group paused in late 1972, then Artman secured a recording contract with Didier Guinochet and Gabriel Ibos of Vamp Records. Bassist and ARP synthesist Hervé Eyhani joined the revised lineup alongside Artman, Mativet, and Bolliet. In April 1973, Vamp sent the quartet to London for a three-day recording and mixing session at Island Studios.

Discography:

• Gilbert Artman’s Lard Free (1973)
• I’m Around About Midnight (1975)
• III (1977)
• Unnamed (1997, recorded 1971–1972)

Sources

• François Mativet interview, 2020 — the strongest source for the actual formation sequence. Mativet dates the precursor trio to the end of 1969 in Saint-Maur, places Artman roughly six months later, identifies Triloff as the subsequent addition, describes Mativet and Miette as autodidacts, and gives Mativet’s guitar background. It also covers Gibus, Golf-Drouot, Pop 2, Chappell, the March 1972 Yéprémian meeting, Wood, Saravah, Vamp, Eyhani, and the April 1973 Island sessions. (It’s Psychedelic Baby Magazine)
• Gilbert Artman interview, 2021 — supplies the usable Artman background: childhood in Livarot, jazz radio and records, his first drumming experience in Le Havre, left-handed technique on a right-handed kit, Paris jam activity, and recruitment by Mativet and Bolliet. Artman also confirms the Golf-Drouot Tremplin victory and the resulting Chappell session. (Buzz on Web)
• Bibliothèque nationale de France: 2015 Gilbert Artman oral-history interview — useful independent corroboration. The BnF divides the interview into sections covering Artman’s pre-Lard Free history, the 1970 creation of Lard Free, Golf-Drouot, the Auvers-sur-Oise festival, Chappell, Studio Saravah, Robert Wood, and the first record/Vamp period. (BnF Catalogue)
• Gilles Yéprémian interview, 2022 — corroborates the management sequence. Yéprémian says Dominique Mulhem took him to see Lard Free; he subsequently interviewed the group, supplied a booking contact, and accepted Artman’s request to manage them. (It’s Psychedelic Baby Magazine)
• Contemporary/archival lineup evidence — Mativet’s 1971 Golf-Drouot photographs identify Miette, Triloff, Mativet, Bolliet, Artman, and sound technician Chantrier in the performing unit. (Commons)
• First-album documentation — BnF catalogs Gilbert Artman’s Lard Free as a 1973 Vamp release with Artman, Eyhani, Bolliet, and Mativet. Album documentation identifies Didier Guinochet and Gabriel Ibos as producers and Island Studio as the April 1973 recording location. (BnF Catalogue)