DIDIER BONIN (DIDBO)

Didier Bonin (Didbo) biography
from Quetigny, Bourgogne, France
Active 1979-1982, 2007-present

Didier Bonin is a multi instrumentalist with particular proficiency on electric and acoustic guitars. His style is spacey and relaxing, and has been compared to Franco Falsini of SENSATIONS FIX while MIKE OLDFIELD may have been formative as well. It could also be noted that his work appears to have presaged some of the ponderous New Age guitarists to follow.

In Bonin's words, he always had the taste for creative music both in the progressive period and beyond, preferring that which was less overtly commercial like Eberhard Weber, Thomas Dolby, Pat Metheny, Devin Townsend, Radiohead, North Atlantic Oscillations and many others.

He composed using as many as 20 distinct open tunings, opening the doors to fascinating harmonic suites based on classics like "Blackbird" by the Beatles, and "Guinevere" and "4&20" by Crosby and Stills respectively. His music never received a promotional push and failed to find an audience, but he knew he had something to contribute and so persisted, noting in particular his pride in the piece "Silences", and in the work behind his second and much better produced LP "L'air Lumiere", where he reprised the best ideas from "L'Arbre Verre" and added new impressive tracks. The climate by that 1982 release had become so frosty towards prog that he had to self publish that second album.

Apparently the saga did not end there, as in 2003 Bonin returned to music as DIDBO and released albums in 2007 and 2012, the latter with the collaboration of Norwegian guitarist Ronny Heimdal.