About Soic Miterne
© Soic Miterne | My grand-father Lucien
Hi, my name is Soic Miterne, the nickname that my family gave me when I was a kid. I was born in Paris and I’m living now in Asia.
The “Netflix” of my life story
This website is a cloud dedicated to my music video archives, I use it to stock and organize my content a bit too old or intimate to be shared on my commercial portfolio. This process of backup became essential when my archives on CD-ROMs from the 90’s started to be unreadable.
Paris, Suburbs, Shanghai
The main content of this website is a photo-video diary made in Paris, Romainville, Les Lilas and Chelles between 1999 and 2013, then in Shanghai starting from 2014. A diary chronicling the daily life of my friends and family, introduced with videos, slideshows and photos-animation.
80’s
I studied art in music school and university with inspiring professors (Pascal Bonafoux, Jean-Louis Boissier, Jean-Claude Moineau, James Durand, Nathalie Lecroc, Philippe Donadini, Serge Dutrieux, Julio Laks…). but everything started with my family and my friends, where the art – and especially the music, was omnipresent.
80’s – Pop culture and classical violin
© Soic Miterne | 80s
My grand-father Lucien – an industrial designer and music lover – was a huge fan of Beethoven’s symphonies; my grand-mother Yvonne was fan of Maria Callas and Paco de Lucía; my mother listen Elton John, Jacques Brel, George Brassens and is fan of «Amadeus Mozart», the biopic directed by Milos Forman; my older brother, a piano enthusiast, who lets me freely enter his room, introduces me to classical music, 60s rock, Gainsbourg, jazz… but also to a whole range of French and American popular culture from the 80s to the 90s.; my father is the best performer of the «le violoniste manchot» sketch (“the violonist with one hand only”) and also the biggest fan of Jacques Bodoin, the “French Jerry Lewis”. Wonderful eclectic influences helping me today to stay curious and open to awkwardness. My mother enrolled me in the musical kidgarden when I was 5 years old, then the following year in classical violin lessons.
1988 – Vinyls, audio tapes and painting
© Soic Miterne | Myself in my room. On the left-top corner, my first vinyl & audio-tape recorder.
In 1988, I build a real-fake tiny recording studio in my room. Like a radio host, broadcasting old records on vinyls, designing fake ads and jingles, making up fictional shows, and recording them on audio tapes. My teddy bear was a big fan. A few years later, seeing me drawing, my aunt Françoise offers me my first canvases, brushes and a box of oil paint. I then began to happily explore painting and crayoning, producing a series of lovely little crusts.
90’s
1995 – CD-ROM, VHS & Playstation
© Soic Miterne | 1995
In 1995, I linked my Playstation One with a VHS video-tape recorder, hijacking the videos recorded on the first CD-ROMs, mixing them with various musics. I was just discovering the power of music : it could be the best friend (or greatest enemy) of visuals.
1998 – Jazz Manouche & Brazilian music
© Soic Miterne | Raphaël Faÿs at Franc Pinot, Paris, October 2000
In 1998, in a record shop around my school, I discover the virtuosity of Django Reinhardt, Stéphane Grappelli and Michel Petrucciani, then the sublime harmonies of Antonio Carlos Jobim (album “Getz/Gilberto”, 1963). An aesthetic shock which will count among the most important in my life. Understanding and feeling now the importance of music, after having stopped playing the violin during my “teenage crisis”, I will then re-enroll in classical violin, piano and jazz ensemble classes. I had just passed a milestone: I was no longer only hearing the music, I was listening to it.
1998 – The night, the dance, the Brazil
Still in 1998, I begin to explore the Parisian night, my friend Christophe making me discover the brand new Favela Chic Paris. There I discovered my taste for dance as well as many Brazilian musicians from the classical and contemporary repertoire, meeting a unique creative community and state of mind. Around the same time, I also participate in the Banlieues Bleues Festival as jambee player in a massive Brazilian drums ensemble of Batucada. An unforgettable memory of collective trance and bleeding fingers.
1999 – Pentium, 3D & Digital Photography
© Soic Miterne | Screenshot of video stop-motion work in progress
In 1999, after the tricky period of «Dance Club» compilations (one of the dark side of French music), I bought my first personal computer with Pentium CPU, the software LightWave 3D, and the camera Fujifilm MX-1700 Zoom, one of the first tiny digital camera available on the mass market. Thanks to this new combination of techniques, I made my first videos and first tests on 3D, photo-animations in stop-motion (photos taken with a “high-speed serial pictures” function) and several other musical slideshows made with photographs taken day-to-day. In the following years, the daily life of my friends and family became the main topics of my video production. Watch all the videos.
2000’s
2001 – Nan Goldin in Paris (Centre Pompidou)
© Centre Pompidou 2001, Photography : Nan Goldin (c) Nan Goldin Studio
In 2001, I discovered the work of Nan Goldin during a retrospective orginazed by Le Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris (Le feu follet, 11th October – 10th December 2001). Second biggest aesthetic shock in my life. Hypnotised, I went back to the exhibition several times, to watch and re-watch the photos and slideshows. As a tribute to Nan Goldin, I made a special slideshow named « Ballad of Sexual Independency ».
2001 – Vjing at Nouveau Casino & La Java Paris
© Soic Miterne | Alt #5 – Je suis comme je suis – VJing at Nouveau Casino & La Java, Paris, 2001
In 2001, after producing my first series of photo-animations, Philippe Donadini (artist and professor) proposed to me to present some videos during collective exhibitions. A great opportunity to experiment VJing, in two clubs in Paris : La Java and Nouveau Casino.
2002 – Mixtapes for restaurant
In 2002, the manager of Le Saint-Hubert (a French bistrot) needed a music selection. She said to me : « Make me a big playlist, like the Dj Pompougnac, but in the country style ». Convinced, I proposed some mixtapes specially made to «serve proudly the calf’s head». Many customers – drunk for some of them – were sensible to this musical proposal, mixing Johann Sebastian Bach, Cypress Hill, Charles Baudelaire, Louis-Ferdinand Céline and Vincent Van Gogh.
2008 – Guitare, tablatures and jam sessions
© Soic Miterne | 2008, Guitar, tablatures and jam session
At the beginning of 2008, between two end-of-studies internships, I learn how to “strum” pop rock / jazz guitar thanks to YouTube and simplified tablatures. Having given up playing the violin a few years ago, I rediscover with joy the pleasures of playing an instrument, accompanying in particular my older brother who has been playing the piano assiduously since childhood. I take my guitar everywhere on weekends and parties, and I am surprised to find that some of my “non-musician” friends like – and know how to sing. I then get into the habit of always bringing a small sheet of lyrics and tablatures with me, organizing small improvised jam sessions in the kitchens or corridors of our apartments during our evenings.
2010’s
2012 – Electronic Music rediscovery
In 2012, my friend Craquotte introduced to me the music of Burial, Four Tet and several other artists from the deutch & english electro music scene. The same year, I met a member of GNG, an electronica-pop group from MonsterK7 label. He shared with me his love for the underground electro music scene. As a spectator, I lived my first electro-music experience at Le 6B (an art laboratory at Saint-Denis, near to Paris), at « Villette Sonique » (an electro music festival in Paris), and at Le Grand Palais during the special event « We Love Dynamo ». The music of James Blake, Mouse on Mars, Erol Alkan, Gesaffelstein and Richie Hawtin, in particular, has opened new musical perspective in my mind.
2013 – Tracktor & House parties
In 2013, Germain, a friend and co-worker, member of the GNG Collective, suggested to me to try Tracktor. The power and disconcerting ease of use of the soft allows me to mix my favorite songs. I then begin to explore in a much more precise way than before the universe of Edit and Mashup; something I was already doing with Adobe Première but in a very artisanal way. Also, the « participative » potential of this soft gave me an idea to have fun with my friends : organizing the Monster Sound System Parties, including open playlists and free access to the soft. In totally improvised sets, the guests mixed their own sounds live, giving rise to great moments of collective hysteria.
2014 – 2019 | Mixtapes & SAGB Shanghai
© Soic Miterne | Super Attractive Ghetto Blaster Shanghai. Photo by Keint, 2015
In 2014, we moved in Shanghai with my friend to work and study, in the mood for doing my first Shanghai Video Mixtapes, a tribute to our life in the Hai. Also, this is where I met the French Dj crew Super Attractive Ghetto Blaster. Playing DJ, organizing parties and creating original content during their free time, they initiated the most famous alternative afterwork parties in Shanghai (SAGB Afterworks) at La Cava then The Cut Rooftop. In 2017, I played with DJ Cavia for the Grand Opening of Café des Stagiaires at Julu Lu Found 158, facing 3000 people during the event. A unforgettable musical moment. In 2016, 2017 and 2018, we played several times with SAGB Shanghai at Bar Rouge Shanghai, Bar Unico Shanghai and Café des Stagiaires Shanghai. Discover all the party video tapes produced during this crazy time.
2020’s
2020 – Future memories
© Soic Miterne – Shanghai Micro Stories. China, 2017 – 2019
In the flow for this new decade, moving to Saigon for new challenges and exploration, I decided from now to post all my recent and future personal works (videos and sounds) directly on my main portfolio. The objective is to initiate a stronger convergence between my personal and commercial works. Discover the Shanghai Micro Stories and my others personal works.
To be continued…
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