Francois Émond R.I.P.

François Émond co-founder of Miriodor passed away, here's the message from his old friend and member of Miriodor, Pascal Globensky :

On February 10th, 2016, my old friend (and co-founder of Miriodor in 1980) François Émond passed away. He wasn't old at all, a year or two past his 50s. Way too young to die, everyone will agree.

We had been making music together since 1978, recording pieces on two cassettes, first one titled «Amalgame», and the second one, titled «Miriodor», announcing the birth of the band, which still exists 36 years later.

François was most probably the sweetest person I had the pleasure to befriend. He had a very high level of sensitivity, a great sense of humour and a wide array of talents, especially in music but also in other spheres of creation; he was surely one of a kind.

His truly original personality very much stamped what would be required in the band later on, in terms of authenticity, purity and attitude towards music. The lyrical aspect of Miriodor's music, so very important in our style, comes directly from him. He traced the way for us, no doubt about that. And, when he left the band, we were so very lucky that the torch could be passed to other members, namely Sabin Hudon for about 15 years and then to Bernard Falaise, up to the present day.

He had a very poetic approach of life, which impressed me a lot, and that I tried to import in my own life. I remember us walking the streets of our very suburban neighbourhood and upon looking at a high-rise building being built, him saying: ‘another piece of blue-less-sky’.

Even though François left Miriodor in 1988, one thing for certain is that I owe him tons for being there when I got the very, very bold ambition of taking the guitar off my brother and getting into composing music, even if not as a main occupation but rather as a monstrously time-consuming hobby. François would improvise delightfully over my ideas on flute, violin, sax, clarinet, piano, his notes flying all around and spiraling in the air like swallows, making my head swirl, while I was painstakingly trying to keep on with my clumsy arpeggios on guitar or while hammering chords in a not so subtle way.

He had a wonderful ear and he was the one who had to tune my 12-string guitar, mind you! Because of his great talent and musical gift, he ‘made me believe’ - I can not stress that enough- that what I was doing was on the right track to eventually (with the support of precious acolytes) be of interest one day, which was really not the case at the time.

Living in two different cities for the last 25 years, we were much less in contact. But François was a great, great friend at a very important stage of my life, the end of my teens and beginning of adulthood. We had tons of fun together, reinvented a better world (our motto at the time was ‘you live, you create’), played soccer, biked, went out camping together with friends (I remember one occasion where he brought a guitar and played something so wonderful, with notes sparkling in the air along with the campfire that I could only ask myself, "How might I come up with something as beautiful and as natural as that one moment??"). We also shared flats along with other friends when we moved from Quebec City to Montreal and were supportive of one another in harsh times. I owe him much more than words can repay. And it’s damn tough!

A few times, during the last 5 years, we emailed each other about the possibility of exchanging music files, so that we could work again at distance. But that regretfully never materialized.

I extend my deepest sympathies to his mother and sister Marie-Dominique in these very difficult times.

Sad to read.