Back in 2007 (I think), I was contacted through Myspace by a woman from Brussels named Joëlle. I don’t remember exactly what she said in that first message but I checked out the music she was making under the name Greetings From Tuscan. It was instrumental electronic stuff that had a kind of hip hop sensibility to it. I messaged her to tell her how much I liked what I heard and she asked if I’d be interested in collaborating. I said yes.
I don’t know if Joëlle saw the chance to work with me as a good opportunity or what but what happened next was awesome. Not only did she get back to me with a beat to check out within a few days, what she was offering me was head and shoulders above any of her previous work. I’m quite sure she’d say the same thing. She took her game to a whole new level. When I first listened to what she sent me, my jaw hit the floor. It was so dope. And it was beautiful!
I can’t quite put into words how inspiring it was to KNOW that this person I was going to be working with was giving me their absolute BEST. It was flattering, to say the least. It was moving! So, of course, I wanted to do good work for her in return. The result was a song called “All There Is To Say About Love”. I’m still blown away by what she did in that song. We both felt that something kinda magical had happened and agreed that we should try it again. I think the second song we made together was “Nightdriving”. More magic. We kept going. The spell refused to break for months until an album called More Heart Than Brains was finished.
By the way, all the work Joëlle and I were doing was remote. She was in Brussels and I was all over the place - mostly in Toronto. We exchanged lots of emails and spoke on the phone a few times but never met. A few songs into building the album, we discussed the idea that the magic could be a product of the ocean between us and the fact that although we shared a magical connection, we were basically strangers to each other. So we made a pact to never meet. That meant we’d never be able to tour but we felt the magic was precious and had to be protected at all costs.
Joëlle and I both gave the best of ourselves to the More Hearts Than Brains album. I mean, we dug deep into the cores of our selves. So when the album was done, we were both exhausted. We spent the better part of the four or five years that followed in recovery and there was no communication between us. Then, in 2013 or 2014, I received a message from her that basically said, ‘are you ready?’ And I was. Together, we opened the lid on Pandora’s Box again and after another very intense few months, the album So Much Forever was realized. I’ve barely spoken to Joëlle since that album came out.
We still haven’t met. There’s a photo of us on our Discogs page. It looks like we’re sitting next to each other but that’s the product of photoshop. Will there be more Bike For Three! albums? From where I sit today, it doesn’t feel like it. It seems like neither Joëlle nor I have the strength to hollow ourselves out like that again. But who knows? What I know for sure is that if the moment ever does feel right again, she and I will both feel it at the same time.
NEWS FLASH: I’m going to throw a few more things up on the Bandcamp page at the end of the week INCLUDING the new album by Double Nice, which is made up of Canadian hip hop stalwart Birdapres and myself. Bird and I both do our rap thing and I made the beats and did the cuts. I started working on this thing before King Of Drums and finished it yesterday. It will be available on Friday, so check in. I’m thinking I’ll post up a little something on the topic here on Thursday, just to give you an idea of what to expect. Until then…