Name of band: Ujjaya
Members: Hery
Randriambololona (all instruments)
Year formed: 1993
Location:
Montigny le Bretonneux (near Paris) – France
“I’m mainly a live
artist. I make nap or sleep concert. Many of my concerts take place
in sacred places like
Hindu temple, church, crypt or Pagode mainly in Paris.”
Ujjaya first was a
ritual-psychedelic-heavy-prog sextet.
Founded in 1993, after
the first album, I was seeking for a music that reflected more my
spiritual concerns and naturally ended to play ethno-ambient music
around 1997. After 15 years of silence, (and
dozens of albums
recorded in complete secrecy) I decided to become public again around
2011.
Intravenous
Magazine: Who are you and how did the band/project come to be
formed?
I was studying medicine
but ended as a professional musician as I was obviously making more
music than anything else. The success of my first public album 'The
Master Of Crossroad' gave me confidence in that choice.
IVM: How would you
describe your sound/style, and how did you arrive at it?
It’s Ethno-ambient.
It reflects my spiritual search. As a yoga practicer, and as a
malagasy (mix between Indonesia and Africa) the style was obvious for
me at the first track around 1997.
I was hearing that kind
of music (Jon Hassell, Jorge Reyes, Steve Roach and so on) long ago
but I was still stuck
into my electric guitar then. When I decided to make a definitive
step into that
unknown land the
instruments came to me (as both I came to them into my travels
thtough Asia)
IVM: Who and what
are your primary influences both musical and non-musical?
Tuu, Jon Hassell, Steve
Roach, Robert Rich, Jorge Reyes.
Hinduism, shamanism,
esoteric ism, yoga, Buddhism, poetry (Indian poetry , and spiritual
poetry)
IVM: Do you perform
live and if so where can we see you perform in the near future?
Yes I am. I’m mainly
a live artist. I make nap or sleep concert. Many of my concerts take
place
in sacred places like
Hindu temple, church, crypt or Pagode mainly in Paris.
My next date will be
January 14th in the auditorium of the public library of Clichy (in
the near suburb of Paris) with another artist called Archetype (who
is more on the drone side than me but also make sometime some
ethno-ambient track à la Dead Can Dance)
IVM: What is your
current release and where is it available from?
My current release is a
live album available for free at https://archive.org/details/eg0_162
IVM: What have been
the highlights of your career so far?
My second Sleep concert
into the Hindu temple of the Dharma Sangh in Paris (in Nov 2016), it
was just pure magic all night long.
My concert into the
great pagoda of Vincennes, at the foot of the 9 metres golden Buddha
for the day of Bhutan (May 15th 2016). Baza Rimpoche the head of the
Buthanse Buddhism gave the initiation of long life. We ended by
recorded him a full day in a studio in Paris.
The Sacred Night in the
Saint Merry Church ( 28 of May 2016) in Paris which gather all the
religion (Buddhist, Jews, Sufi, Hindu and Christian).It lasted all
night long and I played at the morning around 5 or 6 after the
dervishes.
The Ambiosonic festival
2015, in south of France which happen in the middle of nowhere into
the wild. All the energy was provided by solar installations. Only
vegan food for 5 days.
IVM: What are your
plans for the future?
Get a label for a
physical album.Take time to make my website and a bandcamp (I’m
ashamed but I haven’t any yet ). Organizing the Paris Festival
Ambient on a greater scale. Have a collaboration with an African
traditional player, Adama Ouedraogo, and another with Ian Naismaith,
an ethno-ambient American guitarist (Two projects that I started but
as to be finished ). Another collaboration with a Chinese jaw’s
harp player called Wang Li is still mo my mind since 2011. Never
found the time to start it. A long time goal is still approaching the
illumination and the silence.
IVM: Finally, is
there anything that you would like to add?
Not enough time (much
is devoured by promoting myself) too much projects