Mientras que algunos se empeñan en cantar aquello de “that’s not my name”, hay quien prefiere la afirmación positiva y se hace llamar My Name is Claude.

bandonó la electrónica para practicar un pop barroco y melancólico que complementa con una puesta en escena multidisciplinar y futurista. Su de-

but, “Science of Doubt”, es un poema de Baudelaire hecho canción con el mínimo de elementos: violín, voz y piano. ¿Fue el impulso incontrolado de un

artista o un buen sentido de la oportunidad? Lo cierto es que el canadiense Claude Ferland está dando mucho más de qué hablar como My Name is Clau-

de que con sus anteriores proyectos musicales. Tan comprometido está con su nueva propuesta que incorpora en ella sus otras facetas artísticas -como

performancer y videoartista- y la viste con las creaciones del diseñador de moda Mads Dinesen, tan rotundas y atribuladas como lo es su modelo. Aún

así, advierte: “My Name is Claude no es un personaje. Es, quizás, una versión recóndita de mí mismo”.

El músico explica el por qué del cambio que le ha llevado a convertirse en una suerte de Johann Sebastian Bach posmoderno: “Hacer electro era lo más

barato en ese momento, pero soy muy pasional y doy mucho de mí en el proceso de creativo. Era muy duro actuar en clubs a las tantas de la madrugada

para gente hasta arriba de éxtasis que ni si quiera se acordaba de mí al día siguiente. Sencillamente, me cansé”. Justo antes de fichar por una discográfi-

ca para grabar un álbum, reflexionó y decidió dejarlo todo atrás. Con un violín en sus manos desde la infancia, Claude Ferland no sólo no se siente parte

de una generación de artistas, sino que, además, cree estar “bastante fuera de onda”. Aunque, al menos, se reconoce en las canciones de gente como Ant-

ony & The Johnsons o Nick Cave: “No hacemos lo mismo, pero somos diferentes ramas de un mismo árbol”.

La instrumentación orquestal que configura la personalidad de “Science of Doubt“ ilustra ese proceso de búsqueda que le ha llevado a su actual encar-

nación musical, empezando por su título (“La Ciencia de la Duda”): “Mi mente es bastante caótica y sólo consigo organizarla a través de la creatividad.

En el álbum, combino mis mayores influencias. Se puede decir que, uniéndolas, he encontrado cierta armonía en mí mismo“. La melancolía que despren-

de este trabajo y también su directo, con el que está girando desde el pasado verano por los escenarios de ciudades como Londres, París y Berlín, mues-

tran al artista pero nunca a la persona: “No soy así en mi vida cotidiana, más bien al contrario. Supongo que, si indagas mucho, si excavas demasiado a

la hora de componer, al final encuentras tesoros ocultos que, en mi caso, muchas veces resultan ser tristes. A veces me colocan en un estado emocional

algo incómodo y frágil”.

¿La música ha robado al mundo del arte a una de sus promesas? “No lo creo. Intento combinar al músico con el artista. No es difícil cuando creo video

instalaciones, ya que las integro a mis espectáculos. Pero My Name is Claude me deja poco tiempo para seguir desarrollándome en otras disciplinas. En

un futuro no muy lejano, encontraré el modo de que una parte de mí no mate a la otra”. Que así sea. H Héctor Llanos Martínez

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H119 ENGLISH TRANSLATION He abandoned electronic music in order to practice a baroque and melancholic pop complemented with a multidisciplinary and futuristic scenography. His debut, ‘Science of Doubt’, is a Baudelairean poem that was turned into a song by using as little elements as possible: [Contrabass], voice and piano. Was this development triggered by the uncontrolled impulse of an artist or by the sense of a good opportunity? One thing that is for certain is that with My Name is Claude the Canadian-born Claude Ferland is giving us much more to talk about than with his former musical projects. He is so committed to his new concept that he incorporates his other artistic facets – he also works as a performance and video artist- into it. He even dresses it in the creations of fashion designer Mads Dinesen, which are just as majestic and afflicted as his model. Despite all this, he still warns: “My Name is Claude is not a character. It is, perhaps, a hidden version of myself.” The musician explains the motivation behind the change that has converted him into a sort of post-modern Johann Sebastian Bach as follows: “To produce electronic music was simply the cheapest option back then, but I am very passionate and I give a lot of myself in the creative process. It was very hard to perform at late hours in clubs in front of people that were so high on ecstasy that they didn't even remember me the following day. I simply got tired of this.” Just before signing with a record label in order to record an album, he thought his situation over and decided to leave everything behind. Due to the fact that he had been holding a violin in his hands since he was a little kid, Claude Ferland does not only not feel like a part of a certain generation of artists, but additionally thinks that he is somewhat of an outsider. Artists like Antony and the Johnsons and Nick Cave are some of the few musicians in whose songs he recognizes himself: “We don't make the same kind of music, but we are different branches of one tree.” The orchestral instrumentalization that constitutes the character of ‘Science of Doubt’ illustrates this process of searching for the right form, which already shows in the title of the record, that has lead him to his present musical incarnation. “My mind is quite chaotic and I can only manage to organize it through creativity. In the album I combine all my greatest influences. I could almost say that by uniting them I have found a certain harmony in myself”. The melancholy that emanates from his work, as well as from his live program, which has taken him to stages in cities such as London, Paris and Berlin since last summer, always show the artist, but never the real person: “I am not like this in my daily life, quite the contrary. I think that if you investigate a lot, if you dig very deep at the time of composing, in the end you will find hidden treasures that, in my case, often turn out to be sad. Sometimes they place me in an emotional state that can be a bit uncomfortable and fragile”. Has music stolen a promising talent from the arts? “I don't think so. I try to combine the musician with the artist. It is not difficult to do so; I create video installations because I integrate them into my shows anyway. But My Name is Claude leaves me with little time to continue developing myself in other disciplines. In a not so distant future I will find a way to avoid the one part of me killing the other one”. Let’s hope for that.