Jean-Pierre Massiera

Jean-Pierre Massiera (10 July 1941 – 28 December 2019), sometimes referred to by his initials JPM, was a French musician, composer, record producer, sound engineer, and recording studio owner. His prolific output between the 1960s and 1990s ranged across pop instrumentals, psychedelic rock and disco music, often incorporating elements of musique concrète, field recordings and samples in an eccentrically experimental and unique style. His work is usually credited under one-off band names such as Les Maledictus Sound, Horrific Child, and Herman's Rocket.

He has been called "the French Joe Meek". The Guardians reviewer Ben Thompson called his work "a fetid miasma of sick humour, sound effects and unexpectedly first-rate musicianship",

Early life and career Massiera was born in Nice, France, but grew up in Córdoba and Buenos Aires, Argentina. After several singles in the style of British and American instrumental groups such as the Shadows and the Ventures, Massiera and Malaussena formed a new band in 1964, under the name of Les Monégasques, with Fernand "Nicky" Cafiero (bass) and Jean Haumont (drums). The band also played on recordings by pop singer Gérard Brent.

Freakbeat and progressive rock In 1967, Massiera set up his own recording studio, Studio d’Enregistrement Méditerranéen (SEM) in Nice, with good quality recording equipment, and began recording local musicians including drummer André Ceccarelli and singers Jocy (later known as Jessy Joyce, real name Joyce Pepino) and Basile. In 1968 he composed and produced the album Attention, credited to Les Maledictus Sound'''. As well as Massiera and Ceccarelli, the musicians included guitarist Patrick Djivas, later of the band PFM. One track was contentiously called "Jim Clark Was Driving Recklessly" – the racing driver Jim Clark had been killed in a crash a few months previously. The studio was used by John McLaughlin, Bill Wyman, and many others. The album incorporated African rhythms, samples, spoken excerpts from writers Baudelaire, Lovecraft and Lautréamont, and contributions from Massiera's regular contributors Torelli, Brent, and Jessy Joyce, among others. and Midnight Massiera: The B-Music of Jean-Pierre Massiera'' (Finders Keepers Records, 2009).