Tell us about your meeting with Claude Nobs, he will change your life!
The first time, I must have been sixteen years old, I had started a music band, and my dream was to be able to make a demo to Claude Nobs, founder of the Montreux Jazz Festival and especially boss of the music label Warner Europe. My father had known him for many years, which allowed me to get an appointment, we were so proud to have been able to talk to him and get his advice, even if the band did not give much ” laughs “.
Our second meeting was in 1994, at the Montreux Palace for the Spring Ball, I had worked as an extra and it’s at the end of the service at about 4 o’clock in the morning that Claude patted me on the back and spontaneously proposed me to help him the next day at the chalet, he was welcoming the manager of Monty Python. As promised, I help him in the kitchen and in the service, to finish by being invited to their table. When the guests left, we had a glass of whisky and remade the world, it was for me, then 18 years old, a magic moment, which was going to seal a friendship for life and change mine.
What were the steps at MJF? Do you feel you were privileged?
In fact I was lucky enough to start at the bottom of the ladder with a summer job at the chalet, unpaid, but with access to the festival, it was great. The year I graduated from EHL, in 1999, the position of marketing and sponsoring manager had just become available at the Montreux Jazz Festival, I was called by Claude for a job interview. An atypical interview, with four other candidates in the same room, in retrospect, it was quite similar to Claude Nobs’ practices” laughs. In the end, I was chosen among more experienced profiles, I had gained his trust over time. Six years at Claude’s side, working on various jobs, allowed me to learn the trade.
A dazzling career, easy?
Not at all, on the contrary, I found myself in a delicate climate between the members of the old organization, i.e. that of the Montreux Jazz Festival and the Festival de la Rose d’Or when they still belonged to the Tourist Office, and the new team put in place when the Foundation was created. New team, which had the wish to restructure the whole organization, needless to say that I was expected to be there.
The following year Michaela Maiterth, Secretary General of the festival and Claude’s ally of 30 years, resigned and suggested to the Board of Trustees that I take over his position. I was very happy about this news, which I learned while writing notes during a meeting. Later on in the car, Claude half-heartedly let me know that he was 65 years old and that he would have to think of a successor and we never spoke about it again.
Today you are at the head of a real musical empire with different foundations, what are their roles?
The Montreux Jazz Festival was created in 1967 and became in 2007 a foundation that owns all the assets, such as the Montreux Jazz Festival brand.
Montreux Jazz International SA develops café franchises and festival licenses on an international level.
The Montreux Jazz Artists Foundation, a public utility foundation, takes care of the educational part, with the music academy, the jam sessions, the discovery of young musicians and their support.
The most recent one created in 2019, Montreux Media Ventures, is a company that creates, edits and distributes the content of Montreux Jazz on digital and new technology platforms. It allows, for example, to manage the copyrights, the streaming or the video clips of the artists who come to us.
The Claude Nobs Foundation, bequeathed to Thierry Amsallem, partner of Claude Nobs, works to preserve, maintain and enhance Claude’s heritage, such as the chalet, the archives and the musical collections.
What do we do with this heritage?
Until 2007, the tapes were more than 40 years old and were stored on a shelf in the chalet. It took the intervention of the EPFL and Patrick Aebicher not to let these tapes die. It took 12 years to digitize more than 15’000 hours of music. In 2019 and in collaboration with BMG, we have released a series of music vinyls called Montreux Years with mythical live acts such as Nina Simone, Etta James, or Marianne Faithfull. We also have an exclusive partnership with the Qello concerts by Stingray platform which allows you to view more than 150 Montreux concerts.
Could the Montreux Jazz Artists Foundation go further to accompany the artist?
We did not ask ourselves the question of signing an artist, we are a cultural institution to help him to face the musical environment, but it is true that today with the crisis and all the international mergers of record companies which become monstrous groups, with for only goal the development of contents for the social networks, the artists feel apart. Our experience and developed network could allow us to create a niche label, a 2.0 label, which would emphasize the human, the proximity, the values for the artist. So it’s not impossible.
Do you think that this pandemic crisis has forced the economic model of concerts to evolve?
Absolutely, the crisis has been a gas pedal of inevitable changes for us. All the events since 2020 have been rethought, with sustainable development in mind. I also believe that we must return to quality and not quantity. To develop a music festival in an ideal place like Montreux, it is above all to be clear in its positioning, to bring excellence in the reception, to offer optimal conditions to live musical experiences.
Claude Nobs was nicknamed “Funky Claude” after the song “Smoke on the Water” by Deep Purple, did they give you a charming nickname?
Not really “laughing”, a friend of my father had given me a nickname brother smile, I was a bright child and always smiling, an eternal optimist.
What are the advices or values that Claude Nobs has bequeathed to you that you keep preciously and put into practice?
He had many exceptional values and especially his altruistic side, his very human side and had the art of putting everyone at ease. To illustrate this, I have in mind a sentence that my dad used to say to me and that I never forgot: “Never neglect anyone, because one day they will be in your way”.