out of print - my meeting with sting

18th December 1996

I knew the competition winner would be announced today and I woke up hoping beyond hope that NRJ would contact me. I still had a few hours to wait though, and it wasn't until I arrived home from University at 5.00 p.m. that my father told me they had telephoned. I hadn't won yet but they wanted to know a little more about me, in case I did.

I rushed to my room and turned on the radio. I was so excited and couldn't do anything but listen until I heard something about the competition. I was glued to the radio for over two hours and then it happened. At 7.20 p.m. NRJ announced, "and now we'll call the winner of our Sting competition: fbien". The telephone rang. It was amazing. I couldn't believe it. There I was, talking on the radio about my favourite subject and I couldn't find anything to say. I was just too excited. It finally ended when the radio station gave me the name and telephone number of the person who would be arranging my prize. I put down the phone but was still very excited. Before long, I was jumping around and shouting and it was a whole 5 minutes before I calmed down enough to phone my parents, my friends, anyone! I just had to tell the world what had happened. It was so unbelievable. Just like a dream. That night, I couldn't sleep.

21st December 1996

It was Sting's Toulouse concert today and I'd arranged to meet Estelle and Leslie at my home, two "Sting" friends, before the show. Noa was supporting Sting for the tour and I must say, she was the best supporting act I've ever seen. She had an wonderful voice and helped to make it an amazing concert. Sting performed so many tracks and he was in a really good mood. But there was more to come. Kenny Kirkland sang during "Let Your Soul", and we were treated to an acoustic version of "You Still Touch Me", with all the band at the front of the stage. Noa joined Sting for a incredible version of "Fields Of Gold" and Sting asked a boy and girl to join him on stage for "I'm so happy". The girl Karoline was wonderful and asked if he would sing in French. Sting explained that he didn't know enough French but sang the child's song "Alouette". It was so funny! Finally he sang "I'm so happy" and wore the Father Christmas hat that somebody had thrown on stage. As if that wasn't enough, he followed the performance with the most amazing versions of "Bring On The Night" and "Roxanne".

It really was a wonderful concert but to be honest, I only had one thing on my mind. Tomorrow, I meet Sting!

22nd December 1996

It was D-day and it felt like an exam day. It was so strange. I had to be at NRJ radio by 5.00 p.m. and meet the competition organiser, Olivier. He was so friendly as he showed me around the station and afterwards we recorded a short interview about my passion for Sting. It was then time to go to the Zenith, where the concert and interview were to take place. It was so exciting being on the other side of the stage and to have this little plastic sticker on my shirt. I'd seen so many people wearing passes at other concerts and I'd always wanted one.

Dominic Miller arrived first and I asked him to sign the copy of his "first touch" album that I'd brought with me. He was so surprised but very pleased that I had it. I also took a moment to explain why I was there and that I would be helping with the sound check. And then came my first disappointment. Dominic told me that Sting wouldn't be at the sound check as he was visiting friends in a chateau near town. He wouldn't arrive until 7.30 p.m.! Kenny Kirkland, Vinnie Colaiuta, Butch Thomas and Clark Gayton arrived a few minutes later and Olivier, who was still with me, took my picture with Dominic and Kenny. Finally, it was time for the sound check, even if it was without Sting. It was so funny. Vinnie was playing drums as usual but Kenny insisted on playing Bass instead of the keyboards. All the roadies and musicians were laughing but even so, I thought he was very good. Afterwards, Dominic played the beginning of "Demolition Man" to check his guitar. It really was fun but without Sting, it was over in less than 5 minutes. I then asked Vinnie if I could take a picture with him but he was wet and explained he'd like to take a shower first. I knew what he meant as I felt the same.

Even though it was strange and exciting being so close to the roadies and musicians, I still couldn't help feeling sad and disappointed that Sting hadn't turned up.

I also spoke to Dany Quatrochi, Stings personal roadie. He was very friendly but shy. Vinnie was very honest though and told me he was a little fed up with the tour. It was only two days until Christmas and they were still on the road. He also told me that Sting wasn't very happy with the drum solo and other things like that and finally agreed to have his photo taken with me.


with Dominic...	with Kenny...	and with Vinnie...

And Sting still wasn't there! The next 30 minutes were awful. I knew he had to arrive soon and my heart stopped every time the door opened. It was terrible! Then at around 8.00 p.m., he arrived. His hair was short and he looked very impressive in his long coat. He didn't appear to be in a very good mood though, and he walked past me as if I wasn't there. He had the "Grotesque" face, if you know what I mean, he was very impressive. He passed in front of me again, when he decided to return to the dressing room and find something to eat. It was awful. I still hadn't met him. By now, it was time for Noa to perform and it was clear that my interview wouldn't happen. I just had a long and miserable wait until Sting and the band passed by me again, on their way to stage.

Thankfully, Pascal Bernardin, the French tour manager, noticed how miserable I looked and took pity on me. Perhaps my interview would take place after all? But not today. Pascal could only invite me to Bercy on the 5th February. It was better than nothing though and the meeting was arranged. I just had to wait.

Regrettably, I was still feeling disappointed and couldn't enjoy the concert as I had the night before. On top of that, Sting appeared to be in a good mood again and I couldn't understand it, after seeing him backstage. Eventually, I just told myself he wasn't usually like this and it will be better next time. The concert was good though and this time he invited my friends, Toni Carbo and Estelle, on stage to sing with him.Christmas and New Year didn't seem as much fun as usual either and I still had to wait for the Paris concert on 5th February.

next ..... >

I'm sitting at his side. He watches me as I try to find my tape recorder. I show him the French promotional cardboard A4 sampler of "Mercury falling", that he doesn't know exists. I begin to record. Those present are Pascal Bernardin, the French tour manager, Miles Copeland and Kim Turner, Sting's managers. I explain I'm a big fan and have a collection of 500 records. They just can't believe it and Kim Turner says "What kind of fan is this? Where did you find 500 records?" I tell him I collect releases from all over the world and Sting jokes by exclaiming "Bootlegs!". Finally he says "I thank you. My children thank you". The interview begins:

Do you have an idea of what it means to be a real fan, such as I am, as they follow you everywhere. Did you know that we are mad like that?

(laughs). It's something I'm aware of a little bit because I keep seeing the same (the tape recorder stop, so I have to restart it). Ok. Hello, this is Sting. I'm aware that they are certain individuals who keep appearing in different parts of the world. You know, I keep meeting people in Vietnam, or in Japan, or South America. They seem to spend their lives following me around. Now, I'm not sure how I feel about that. On one hand, I'm flattered, I think it's very flattering for me. The same time, I worry, I worry that perhaps they don't live in there own lives to the full, you know! Now, when I speak to these people, they say "no, it's great fun, we plan our year, we make money, we work, we make money and we fly to, and we see the world". And I think that's fine, that's fine. As long as people have their own sense of themselves and what they want to do in their lives, it's OK. You know, I feel a little bit ambiguous about it. But, I'm deeply flattered that people want to follow us, and I hope the music means something to them.

Sincerely, for me, I love your music. Sincerely, it's something that I can't explain how I love your music. Each time that you make an album, or a single, it's a real pleasure to hear new songs, and every time I like them. I'm a fan, I'm a collector, especially CDs. I collect your records... sincerely my life depends on you (It was really hard to find the good words, I was really impressed and I don't want to said it like that...)

I'm not sure I want to have this responsibility of your life depending on me... But, how old are you?

I'm 20 years old

20 years old, same as my son, you could be my child... It's cool.

Something that I don't really understand is the remixes that you have made of "Sister moon" or "Voices inside my head"... specially "Sister moon".

I don't understand it either. This has nothing to do with me, actually the record company think they can... They have an idea that they can make something new, and I'm very excited by making something out of something old, making something new. And sometimes it fails, but I've nothing to do with it.

Some of "Voices inside my head" are good, but not so much!

I just like them to let them have fun an experiment with it, as sometimes it works, but it's not something I'm particularly interesting in doing. It's something extracurricular.

For example, a remix of "Let your soul" is very great.

Yeah, I like that.

But there's a one, runs ten minutes, and we don't hear you one minute on these ten minutes. I don't think it's really interesting

(Big laughs)

We can't hear you on this song.

They make that for people to dance too.

I've so much things to ask you. I'm a student in design and I love your records sleeves. And, I want to know how your records sleeves are designed, if you have a personal idea of what you want or...

Well, we have a very good design team at A&M records in California (Someone knock on the door).I'm not sure how much I understand about design. I'm not a very visual person, I think in terms of sounds, music. But you know, I know what I like

A voice- I's there anybody there.

Yes, me, come in. Hey, Henry. This is Henry Padovani, one of the legendary figures from...

Henry Padovani -What radio is it?

Sting - NRJ...legendary figures from the past. Of which he's chief (laughs).

HP- So do I.

Sting - Henry was one of the founder members of the Police.

Me- Yes, I know, Fall out...

HP- I'm looking for Miles

Sting - Miles, he was just here a minute ago. See you later.

What were we talking about?

Records sleeves

Yeah, you know, a record sleeve must reflect my mood, or the mood of the record. And basically that's all. That's my only consideration. And I shouldn't look too ugly (laughs).

I've a question to ask and I don't know if you will like it or not. What do you think about Bootlegs records?

Again, I'm ambiguous about it, because, in the one hand, it's flattering that people want to tape your records, and put them out. On the other hand, if Mafia will make lots of money out of it I'm not so keen of it, you know. The Grateful Dead allowed people to record the shows all the time, they encouraged it. And, to be honest with you, bootleging doesn't hurt my career too much, doesn't hurt my finances too much. BUT, it hurts record companies. And if record companies profits go down, they have less money to give to younger bands. And so they can't promote and they can't encourage younger bands. So, in that sense it is a bad thing. But, for me personally, I don't mind.

I've a song, that I found very strange is "Oo la la la Hugh".

Oo la la???

A song that was on the single of "The soul cages". (I sing it).

Oo la la... (he try to sing it).

You don't remember that?

You record a song called "Oo la la Hugh".

I did, I don't remember, I must have been drunk.

It's a very strange song where you sing "Oo la la Hugh" on all the song. I find it so strange...

It's on "The soul cages"?

On "The soul cages" single.

Oh, really!

You don't remember that?

No, I don't. You see at the end of the day when I finish the album, the record company asks me for B-side, stuff to fill put on the singles, and I just give a lot of stuff. I've forgotten about, so I don't remember.

It's funny you don't remember that.

Is it terrible.

No, it's funny that you have recorded a song that you don't remember. It's a so strange song that I really understand.

For this tour, I've heard that you want to make a live album.

Actually, that was my idea at the beginning of the tour, but I'm not sure I want to do that this time. We may do, it's not finished yet, but I'm not sure I'll do a live album. I haven't decided.

I've read it on the Internet, there's is so much things on the Internet.

Oh yeah?

Do you like to make the videos of your songs.

Sometimes it is chore, sometimes it's just something I have to do. I prefer music to be just music, you hear on the radio, you know. Because you can invent your own scenario. Whereas on a video you dictate to the listener what the image of the song is. And that is too didactic, you know. So, but some videos are really enjoy making. I enjoyed making "I'm so happy I can't stop crying".

Why this (I make sign on my head)?

I'm wearing a wig on my head, that was funny.

Kim turner makes a sign to stop the interview. I just have time to show him my Sumoner magazines, and he enjoys seeing them. "My own record sleeve" as he tells me, and he signs some records.