Name: Sébastien Guérive
Nationality: French
Occupation: Composer, sound engineer, producer
Recent Release: Sébastien Guérive's new album Obscure Clarity is out via Atypeek.
Recommendations on the topic of sound: The book: Music wishes you well by David Christoffel
Video Art: With nature and the world around us.

If you enjoyed these thoughts by Sébastien Guérive and would like to stay up to date with his music, visit his official website. He is also on Instagram, Facebook, and Soundcloud.

For a deeper dive, we recommend our earlier Sébastien Guérive interview.



When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening? Do you listen with your eyes open or closed?

I sometimes close my eyes to listen to the music, which allows me to reconnect with my inner self.

How do listening with headphones and listening through a stereo system change your experience of sound and music?

I'm lucky enough to have very good speakers in both my studio and living room, as well as very good headphones.

Listening using the speakers in the living room is more active than listening via headphones, which are more introspective. You can play music in your living room while you're doing something else, and it conditions your mood.

I also sometimes lie down and fall asleep with headphones on. Studio listening, on the other hand, is more analytical.

Do you experience strong emotional responses towards certain sounds? If so, what kind of sounds are these and do you have an explanation about the reasons for these responses?

Yes, some sounds touch me more than others. I'm particularly sensitive to pads. It also depends on the scale used.

I think it's the ability of sounds to stimulate my imagination by projecting me into wide open spaces, and their airy character, that appeal to me.

There can be sounds which feel highly irritating to us and then there are others we could gladly listen to for hours. Do you have examples for either one or both of these?

I don't really like sounds that sound too eighties.

But there's no such thing as an irritating sound. It really depends on context and dosage.

Are there everyday places, spaces, or devices which intrigue you by the way they sound? Which are these?

I am indeed sensitive to the acoustics of places, and in general to all sounds that surround me, objects or nature … They all contain a richness, and I sometimes like to record them to make samples.

Recently, for a show, I recorded a cauliflower that I decomposed with my hands. I re-enhanced the sound a little, giving me some magnificent cracks!

Have you ever been in spaces with extreme sonic characteristics, such as anechoic chambers or caves? What was the experience like?

Yes, I find that certain churches have incredible echoes, and can even generate new harmonics when you sing, for example.

One day, I'd like to be able to use different spaces to reamp my sounds and obtain incredible reverberations.   

What are among your favourite spaces to record and play your music?

When I'm recording accoustic piano or vocals, for example, I use studios with wooden floorboards, which give me warmth when I'm recording. To play it, I enjoyed the experience in a church that wasn't too reverberant, and the audience's attentive demeanor was a big plus for me.

The location also has an effect on the audience as much as on the musicians.

Do music and sound feel “material” to you? Does working with sound feel like you're sculpting or shaping something?

Absolutely, I think the comparison with sculpture suits me well.

I like to work on the texture of sound and the different layers that make it up. It's as important to me as harmony and rhythm.

How important is sound for our overall well-being and in how far do you feel the "acoustic health" of a society or environment is reflective of its overall health?

Music has the ability to provoke emotions and generate a feeling of well-being.

At the moment, I'm realizing that young people have a huge need to go dancing in clubs to let go. It's probably to get rid of the stress of our modern society, based on excessive capitalism and a lack of meaning, which doesn't sufficiently develop the spiritual and poetic fields.

I'd like to invite people to listen to relaxing and contemplative music too, to develop their connection to the world.

Sound, song, and rhythm are all around us, from animal noises to the waves of the ocean. What, if any, are some of the most moving experiences you've had with these non-human-made sounds?

I'm going to talk about a sound which is also very important, silence.

I had the opportunity to go to the desert and meditate at the top of a dune. There was no noise, it was incredible!

In music, the management of silence and breathing is very important.

Many animals communicate through sound. Based either on experience or intuition, do you feel as though inter-species communication is possible and important? Is there a creative element to it, would you say?  

When communicating with animals, it seems to me that it's intonation that generates meaning. There are a thousand ways to make a word sound when talking to someone, and we could talk about interpretation like a musician playing a score. The sound that emerges nourishes and guides the meaning of the word.

I draw inspiration from his intonations in the nuances I introduce into my compositions.

Tinnitus and developing hyperacusis are very real risks for anyone working with sound. Do you take precautions in this regard and if you're suffering from these or similar issues – how do you cope with them?

I'm very careful with my ears!

I use plugs if necessary during concerts, and I work in the studio at a fairly low volume so as not to wear out my ears.

We can surround us with sound every second of the day. The great pianist Glenn Gould even considered this the ultimate delight. How do you see that yourself and what importance does silence hold?

I listen to a lot of music, both for what it brings to my daily life and to nourish myself with musical writing.

But as I said above, silence is essential to also know how to appreciate again the music and the sounds that surround us.

Seth S. Horowitz called hearing the “universal sense” and emphasised that it was more precise and faster than any of our other senses, including vision. How would our world be different if we paid less attention to looks and listened more instead?

Indeed, we tend to believe that vision is the most important sense. I don't think one is more important than the other.

Paying more attention to hearing would allow us to leave more room for our interpretation in the poetic and metaphorical field. Vision can tend to lock us into our beliefs. The visible is easily misleading!