Pierre Bastien’s work has seen him gradually refine and expand upon a practice of building his own instruments — he refers to them as players — a childhood curiosity that led him to create his own 80-piece machine orchestra, Mecanium. As a solo artist and Mecanium leader, he’s composed music for dance companies; performed in ensembles such as Operation Rhino, Nu Creative Methods, and Effectifs de Profil; and collaborated with an array of creatives, including Pascal Comelade, Robert Wyatt, Can drummer Jaki Liebezeit and Japanese fashion designer Issey Miyake. Bastien has released dozens of solo and collaborative albums, most notably for experimental British electronic label Rephlex.
