For Your Consideration: An Interview with Trztn of Services

Interviewed by Julie Finley

Trztn (AKA Tristan Bechet) may not be a household name, but you may have heard of him in a variety of instances, since he’s been circulating in NYC’s underbelly of musicians since the late 90s. Unlike many others in that circle, he’s not an unimaginative fashion plate riding the horribly coined “Now Wave” scene (I won’t mention names to protect the not-so-innocent). . . in other words, you’re probably not going to find him schmoozing with phonies like Sofia Coppola anytime soon, although he’s pretty tight with those that probably do.

A quick history of his musical discography will tell you that his visibility begins with (the now defunct) Flux Information Sciences, moves onward to an upstart of his own label known as Pinksock Records, and is now witness to his release of a solo outing. He’s collaborated with FM Einheit of Einstürzende Neubauten at some point, as well as Dr. Walker and Khan. He had another band with Electro-Atomu called Sauna Kings. He’s done production work for The Melted Men, and recently did a remix on the Foetus Vein album.

As for today, his most recent and solid band (started in 2005) is known as Services, and they are part of the A Touch of Class Recordings (ATOC) roster. Services were also part of the prestigious All Tomorrow’s Parties Festival in the UK. In addition, their full-length album on ATOC was produced by Roli Mosimann (aka the other half of Wiseblood, and production wizard for The The, Faith No More, as well as New Order). The most recent recording released with Trztn’s stamp on it is the latest single on ATOC called “Presenter” and there’s even a promotional video to suit it!

Needless to say, Trztn is swimming in waters of reputable company, and is contributing his own talents—left and right! In the midst of his busy schedule, Trztn took the time to converse with moi, and expand on his musical escapades.

There’s conflicting info out there about you. . . some reports say you’re from France, another says Brazil. So where does a Trztn like you actually hail from? Tell us all about your origin(s)?
I was born in Portugal, grew up in Brazil, moved to the US in my teens and I carry a French passport.

So, how many languages do you speak? You seem to have no traceable accent.
3.5. . . English, Portuguese, French, and Spanish.

Flux Information Sciences

I dig how you’ve shortened Tristan to Trztn. I can relate as I prefer to be called Julz. . . the ‘z’ makes a statement. So what was your motivation for the moniker abridgment?
Lobster Lung of The Melted Men sent me a package addressed to me as Trztn—I laughed and thought it looked good on paper: a stamp.

There’s a Flux song I have never found a copy of, but I heard like once or twice like six years ago, but I haven’t been able to forget it. It has a lyric in it that goes “You fell from grace, right on my face!” I thought that line was hilarious, but I never knew the name of the song. I have Summer and Public/Private, but that’s not on either. . . so where could I find this song, and what’s the name of it?
Unfortunately that song was never released. It was called “Razor Blade,” a love song. I also like that phrase. . . I will try to place that phrase somewhere else in the future, perhaps inside an elevator?

On the cover of Public/Private it’s clear there’s an homage to The Night Porter: you can clearly see you and Sebastien in the photo, so who are the rest of the posse pictured?
Terrence, Steve, Ginger, and Eva Dare. Don’t know the ladies’ whereabouts. The other two are around. . . old, old, friends.

You’ve discussed at length in past interviews where/why Flux Information Sciences came about. . . but what isn’t clear is why it ended? What happened to the other half, Sebastien Brault?
We grew apart as people and the project was not going anywhere commercially. Eventually the pressure to continue working on it became unbearable and the collaboration disintegrated. This is a totally normal function of being in a band. Sebastien lives in Berlin. Services will be releasing a song I co-wrote with Sebastien called “She Made it Big” on our new EP. So, it’s not the end of the world.

Click to read more from Trztn on. . .

Services
Lyrics
Images

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