jarretribute.com - a tribute to Jean Michel Jarre

Patrick Rondat - frequent hard rock guitarist for Jean Michel Jarre from 1993 to 2005.

jarretribute.com: When did you ever first hear of Jean Michel Jarre, not only as a collaborator but as a Frenchman and music listener?

Patrick Rondat: In 1977 when Oxygene came out and became a very big, it was the complete opposite of punk rock music which was also big at the time. I kind of like that, when everybody is going in one direction and one guy just go the other way, like he did with instrumental electronic music.

jarretribute.com: Please tell us the situation when you first met Jean Michel Jarre.

Patrick Rondat: After I saw Jean Michel in a show from the band Extreme in Paris I decided to go to his record company to give him a CD to listen to and a press kit. He called me back 2 weeks later! It was the end of 1991. I'll never forget this phone call and still have the answering machine recording! I met him in Croissy begining of January 1992. After few minutes we were already like old friends, we talked about music, he told me about his projects, the Chronologie album and Europe in Concert. It was a dream for me. He had already everything in mind.

jarretribute.com: Can you remember the feelings or thoughts you had when you first worked with Jean Michel Jarre in his studio?

Patrick Rondat: After he asked me to come to Croissy we started to work together with Michel Geiss on old Jarre stuff just to find the right way to add rock guitars. So we recorded Rendez-vous 2, Ethnicolor, Revolutions, etc. It was more to see how guitars would fit in Jean Michel's music than for recording. Also a very nice way to see if he liked my playing without a real test / audition.

jarretribute.com: From the European tour in 1993 to Poland in 2005, you have been on stage with Jarre in amazing concerts, what is your most special moment from these concerts?

Patrick Rondat: Hard to say. Wembley was incredible for me as a rock player, it was amazing to play there. The Mont St Michel also because it was the 1st one, and the 1995 Eiffel Tower show was great too, it was the first time ever I played the Vivaldi presto.

jarretribute.com: Please tell us about one time where you and Jean Michel did something together musically, and you were surprised.

Patrick Rondat: Probably when we started to work on his idea of a duet, Digisequencer. It was like a jam in the begining, it was late at night or maybe early in the morning, and we had fun together, searching for sounds, ideas.

jarretribute.com: Can you explain something about Jean Michel Jarre's personality or creativity that you admire the most?

Patrick Rondat: He is very creative, a real artist, with a great sense of humour, also about his own work. Very open minded, always looking for new inspirations. He is very clever, very easy to work with and he is definitly not an ego / big head guy. I am glad I had the chance to cross his path in my life.