- short version -

AL COMET aka Alain Monod

- long version -

Alain Monod was born in Fribourg / Switzerland in march 1959.

He starts studying classical music at the conservatory of Fribourg as a piano player at the age of 7.
Mainly influenced by Jimi Hendrix around 10/11 years old, he stops his piano lessons at the age of 14 and starts joining rock bands as guitar player.
At the age of 19 Alain joins the the Swiss Air Force Pilot School and starts a short period of his life as an aircraft pilot. But he gets kicked out of the Air Force… for failing to follow bed-making procedures.

Back to music… Alain decides to start a new band called TB with some friends. They play a lot of successful local shows. Their first studio experience (recording a 7") marks a big change for Alain - he realizes how far away he is from the expected sound…
TB don't survive…. Alain (Al Nox at the time) self-produces his first solo 12". He is learning how to make a sound in a studio… he is working also with his (to this day) good friends Bertrand Siffert and Dominique Torche (Relief Studio).

In the mid 80's, he stops playing traditional instruments and concentrates his research on this new machine called "sampler".

In 1988 Alain joins The Young Gods as their driver. A few weeks later… during the same tour he gets behind the mixing desk as their FOH engineer.
In 1989 he becomes keyboard player of The Young Gods.

Also in 1989 Franz (TYG singer) produces the first Al Comet CD at Relief Studio with sound engineer Bertrand.
The song LAD becomes a hit in the Pipeline (Newark's underground club).
Alain and Bertrand decide to go on a 10 day Europe Pirate Tour. They digitally record all the shows (4 per night!). Bertrand is playing keyboard and Al is singing through a megaphone.
The second Al Comet CD is a "live" one. The "Europ pirat tour" is also produced by Franz at Relief and is released in 1991.
Distributed by COD, they organize great promo days… Alain is taking reporters for a flight!!!

In 1992 Al Comet's song "Plus d'accordeon" is selected as part of the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Winter Games in Albertville.

In 1994 Alain is moving to NYC with The Young Gods. They stay there for almost a year writing "Only Heaven".
Following the release of the album they go on a extensive world tour. After almost two years of the "Only Heaven" tour… Al takes a break and starts to experiment with ambient music. He gets married and becomes the father of two children.

The third Al Comet CD "Comet" is an ambient one… he records it by himself in his living room!

Alain meets Team Lazer and buys a sitar-guitar off him. After playing improvisations every day at home or for friends for some time, Al decides to record this instrument… improvising melodies.
In 2000, this project called "Sitarday" is released on the net only.
He is working also with TYG on their next album "Second Nature".

After the "Second Nature" tour with TYG and a few Sitarday shows, Alain works with the band on a 30minute meditative music project for the Swiss Expo 2002. They end up with 120 minutes of ambient music. This new project is called "Music For Artificial Clouds" and is scheduled for release in February 2004.
At the end of 2002 Alain plays some more Sitar shows. He is joined by Jean-Louis Gafner who adds visuals to the performances. Jean-Louis is playing with oil projections, adding a beautifully psychedelic dimension.
Alain and Bertrand produce the new Al Comet project. They are back to their "power pirate duo" contest!!!
This album is called "White Planet" and it's gonna be released in February 2004