SPILL FEATURE: ECHOES FROM FORGOTTEN HEARTS – A CONVERSATION WITH ALEXANDER JULIEN OF VISION ETERNEL

ECHOES FROM FORGOTTEN HEARTS

A CONVERSATION WITH ALEXANDER JULIEN OF VISION ETERNEL

Vision Eternel made its debut in 2007 and quickly established itself as a melogaze band. Although the band was established in Edison, NJ, Vision Eternel relocated to Montreal. Re-location for the band was not a huge deal, as the band is really one person, Alexander Julien. Since 2007, Julien has released nine projects under the umbrella of Vision Eternel. The music is instrumental, usually sparse, and simply beautiful and artistic. Julien has recently rereleased an album that has turned 10 years old, Echoes From Forgotten Hearts. I caught up with him to talk about the beautiful new edition of the wonderful album.

“Echoes From Forgotten Hearts was recorded in two parts at my home studio, Mortified Studios, then located in Saint-Hippolyte-de-Kilkenny, Quebec. The first session, which I later referred to as the Soundtrack Version because it was recorded as the score to a short film, was tracked and partly mixed from Oct. 4 to 31, 2014. The second session, the Extended Play Version, was made after the short film was canceled and I decided to convert the material into an extended play. That one spanned from Nov. 18 to Dec. 18, 2014, during which the material from Oct. was edited, remixed, and partly rerecorded. I also composed and recorded two new songs, rewrote half of one, and dropped another during that second recording session.

“Most of the material originated from a single, eight-min song that I started composing in mid-Aug. 2014. When I was asked to compose the score for a short film later that month, I split up the song (which was still being developed) and rearranged it into several shorter cues and themes. I did not want to submit a single long song because it would have been difficult to sequence it properly into a short film since the writer-director-producer had not shared any information with me—he just wanted music, so these shorter pieces could be spliced and faded at appropriate moments in the movie.”

The music was intended as a soundtrack, but Julien was able to salvage what he had written and recorded and turned it into a wonderful album. “In the case of the music that ended up on Echoes From Forgotten Hearts, I was approached personally to compose the score for a short film, not one of my bands. So, I felt free to create music from an honest and inhibited perspective, one that was natural to me, rather than be restricted to a genre or style that one of my bands established, Julien recently told me.

Composing for a soundtrack or his own album does not make a huge difference to Julien.  “Vision Eternel started with that freedom in 2007, but over time became more restrictive, and still was when I worked on that score in 2014. However, it has since expanded its horizon to encompass that freedom again, so there is no longer a difference between “Alexander Julien music” and “Vision Eternel music”; they are the same.”

ECHOES FROM FORGOTTEN HEARTS (DELUXE EDITION) ALBUM REVIEW

This was not the first time he has been approached to compose a soundtrack. “I have been asked to compose music for video and film content by a handful of people over the years but to be candid, most has remained unused. I am both an honest and uncompromising musician and composer, and I think that catches people off guard when they hear the material that I submit. My music has a distinct somber and melancholic sound because that is inherent to my personality. It is who I am. And I am honest about that and let my emotions show through my music; I will not compromise my artistic integrity to compose upbeat or trendy music or play genres with which I am not accustomed. I assume that I was approached by those people because they were familiar with my repertoire, with Vision Eternel’s releases, but I guess they were expecting something different… What exactly, I know not. So, if I am asked to compose music, regardless of the project, it will always sound like Vision Eternel. There would be no difference between music for a film and music for Vision Eternel, as far as style, sound, and production. What might differ is the way the music is presented, if I can contribute longer pieces or shorter cues.”

Perhaps most impressive with this rerelease is the beautiful packaging that Julien took a great deal of time and energy to make it absolutely stunning.

“Echoes From Forgotten Hearts is offered in a Deluxe Compact Cassette Edition boxed set (as well as a Deluxe Digital Edition), released via Geertruida. The physical edition contains two compact cassettes, an 80-page novella, and a postcard, packaged in a thermoform box. The novella took me two years to complete and details the making of the release, assembled from band journals and studio logs, along with 70 pictures from my archives.

The Deluxe Edition also features a new artwork designed by Michael Koelsch (Jeremy Roux’s original cover artwork is still presented in the booklet), which is based mainly on Alvan Cordell Hadley’s 1931 theatrical poster of Charlie Chaplin’s film City Lights. The artwork also takes elements from City Lights’ 1950 rerelease theatrical poster. It is one of my favorite films so I am happy that I could pay it tribute. Rain Frances also painted several artworks that are used throughout the release. My goal with this new presentation was to offer a completely different listening and viewing experience from the 2015 version of Echoes From Forgotten Hearts.”

In the end, Julien has hopes for Echoes From Forgotten Hearts being rereleased is to present it to the public hear it the way he once intended.

“Echoes From Forgotten Hearts was never released properly until now. It has been available in digital formats since 2015, originally only via Bandcamp, then reissued in 2017 for the band’s 10th anniversary, and a compact disc was released in 2018, but those were always treated as limited releases. I worked very hard to secure a record deal for a physical edition over the last 10 years. Many record labels offered to release it but abandoned it at the last minute. Because of that, I never promoted the extended play, not until its proper release this year. So, I hope that it finally reaches the ears of established and new Vision Eternel fans.

“After all this time had passed, I wanted to offer more than just the seven songs from the Extended Play Version, which had been heard by loyal fans online since 2015. I wanted to present the release differently and also wanted to share the unreleased Soundtrack Version, along with early demos, rehearsal recordings, and alternate mixes. I wanted it to be more like a collector’s set. And that took some time. So much work went into making this release and the expanded Deluxe Edition. It was exhausting. It is relieving to now be able to move on from this project and contemplate Vision Eternel’s next extended play.”

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Photo Credits: Rain Frances | Album Cover Credit: Michael Koelsch