MEO/OEM
Two ways of writing. One voice.
MEO loves music at its most organic and stripped-back: wood, strings, air and fingers. But never trapped inside a genre. Chanson, folk, rock, metal, electronic music and new technologies can all share the same playground, including AI when it serves the idea rather than replacing the creative act.
“The tool changes. What matters does not: the idea, the emotion, and the human being who decides what to do with it.” MEO
Songs
that have lived.
Songs composed, written or co-written for other artists, alongside personal releases. Click a song title to go straight to the video or listen.
Amandine
/ MEODINE.
The collaboration began during lockdown and continued with MEODINE: covers, an original song, then a genuine shared project.
Evie.
Sentimental système D.
A collaboration that went far beyond a few arrangements: an album built together in the studio, then carried into promotion and live performance.
Sentimental
système D
Recorded at La Chocolaterie, Manu Lanvin’s studio, Sentimental système D is a collaboration built far beyond a handful of arrangements. MEO / Frédéric Pierrez created all of the arrangements and handled the artistic production. He also played almost all of the guitars, sang some backing vocals and took part in the programming alongside Evie. Steve Prestage engineered the record. The collaboration then continued with several promotional dates and a live appearance on France Inter around the single.
Ptit Li’on.
For the cause.
Putting music to work for a cause.
the cause.
MEO joined Ptit Li’on first and foremost to support Pascal Lesné’s fight against cystic fibrosis. He composed four of the six tracks on the EP Renaissance and helped shape its pop/rock sound. The commitment continued with « Positif », composed by MEO with lyrics by Stéphane Minet and performed with Guizmo de Tryo.
The people
who
mattered.
Not a list of names. Encounters that genuinely changed the way MEO played, wrote, worked, or simply kept going.
Christophe Benoin / Syd Ogy
One of the first formative encounters. While still very young, MEO discovered a professional environment through him and learned a great deal about the craft.
Sylvain Luc
Advice, high standards and encouragement. A decisive encounter that accompanied the move to Paris and a more professional musical life.
José Le Gall
A different way of hearing the instrument, notably by introducing MEO to DADGAD tuning.
Francis H. Powell
English-language lyrics and a collaboration that fed into Alternative Preachers and later the OEM universe.
Léonora Miano
Before the publication of her first novel, MEO worked with Léonora Miano on an album project developed together. A period where music and writing crossed paths before she continued her literary career.
Michel Leydier
A writer and Jacques Dutronc biographer when they met. A great friendship and an important songwriting partnership: La Dissidanse, Dis-moi, Céline and many unreleased songs.
Didier Maïsto
The connection began around Sexité, the book cover created by MEO. It later developed into a songwriting collaboration on three tracks, now kept in the archives.
Arnaud Garoux
A meaningful encounter through songs and words. Arnaud notably wrote the lyrics to Les gens comme toi, composed by MEO and performed by Amandine Bourgeois, and to Allongés dans l’herbe, composed by MEO for Thomas Dutronc.
Stéphane Minet
A collaboration built across several projects, from Ptit Li’on to Positif with Guizmo of Tryo. They later worked together again on Les p’tits bonheurs by Thomas Dutronc, composed by Frédéric Pierrez with lyrics by Thomas Dutronc and Stéphane Minet.
Jérôme Ciosi
A musical bond built on projects, demos and mutual help. Among the many tracks they worked on together, O Citadella would make it onto the album In Bastia by Antoine Ciosi, on which MEO also sang backing vocals. Other shared projects followed, including a musical adventure in China that remained unreleased.
Rémi Vignolo
MEO and Rémi Vignolo were sharing the same rehearsal space at the time. After hearing the songs, Rémi immediately joined the project and brought in Maxime Fougères and Samuel Hubert, giving birth to the Alternative Preachers line-up.
Several songs were later recorded in the studio under live-session conditions at Studio du Faune, near Rennes.
Thomas Dutronc
MEO and Thomas met in 1995 while going together to Sylvain Luc concerts. Their relationship began long before any musical collaboration. In 2005, they also started playing together in World of Warcraft. Then, in 2010, they truly began working together on music. Their collaboration notably produced Les p’tits bonheurs, Allongés dans l’herbe and Turlututu. In 2012, while Thomas was nominated for Male Artist of the Year at the Victoires de la Musique, he performed Turlututu on stage during the ceremony, with the track then being one of the album’s current singles. MEO also arranged Demain. Their friendship spans more than thirty years; the musical collaboration began in 2010.
MEO & The
Alternative Preachers.
Several tracks were recorded in the studio under live-session conditions, including The Light Shines, Guilt or Trouble and Broken Angels. More sessions can be discovered through the links below.
SESSION
OEM
Alternative rock, electronic music, industrial textures, heavy guitars and melody. OEM extends MEO’s songwriting into a darker, more electric, entirely English-language world.
A recurring female vocal identity, conceived as an instrument serving the songs and the OEM universe.
The next
chapter.
The Alternative Preachers may not be a finished story. The idea would be to return to that acoustic, organic and direct material, then take it further: a female voice, more strings, and richer, broader arrangements.
- A female voice, in counterpoint or duet
- A multi-instrumentalist
- Strings able to caress… or riff
- Violin / viola / cello
- A string quartet would already be a beautiful way to bring the project back to life
The ultimate dream would be to bring these songs to life with a real symphony orchestra, while preserving their raw, living character. There is no question of softening the songs: the strings could become rhythmic, tense, almost electric, with cellos taking the place of a guitar riff. MEO’s voice could also be expanded through multi-effects used as real instruments, without losing the grain or fragility of the songs.
Folk, wood, strings… and always a little electricity.
Play with MEO ↗Work
with MEO.
MEO is still composing for Thomas Dutronc and for other forthcoming projects, while remaining open to new collaborations with artists, songwriters and producers.
From a single song to a full album, he can step in wherever a project needs him: composition, arrangements, pre-production, artistic production, or simply an experienced outside ear to help a record reach its strongest form.
Talk about a project ↗Compose from lyrics, an intention or an artistic identity, or build the music together with the artist from the ground up.
Instrumentation, dynamics, strings, guitars, textures, programming and pre-production without burying the song.
Artistic choices, performances, production and sonic coherence, always with one goal: serve the song.
Version choices, sequencing, balance, arrangements, sonic direction and breathing room: an outside ear to reinforce the album as a whole.