My Name is Claude
Biography
My Name is Claude is the classical-meets-electronic pop project of singer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist Claude Ferland Milewski. Both strong and delicate, being at the meet point of avant-garde electronics and orchestral composition , the work of My Name is Claude touches by its melancholy, depth and poetic approach.
Multi-disciplanry by essence , it was natural for Ferland Milewski to compose music for feature films, short films, documentary series, and art projects.
Growing up in Montreal, he was in the 90s a member of the electro-pop group SAS-31. Composing for both films and art installations, Ferland Milewski presents a series of highly melancholic material, using a large variety of instruments both analog and electronic.
By 2005, he had moved to Berlin and played with another electro-pop outfit, now with an alter ego named LOVELOVELOVE who appeared on 2007’s Berlin insane compilation together with artists such as Peaches, Planning to Rock or Mount Sims. Around this time, he began working on the My Name is Claude material first composing pieces for an 11-piece orchestra and then solo piano works. In 2008, he released “Always lost somewhere”, a collection of live and studio pieces.
Two years later, the Camille voit la neige EP served as a teaser for the full-length Science of Doubt, a largely beatless work that combined synths with double bass, piano, and harp. Containing what was declared by famous Bar 25 Circus in Berlin one of the 3 saddest songs in the world (!), the album spawned two years' worth of concerts in France and Germany leading him to perform in the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris. The tour lead to a 60 minutes concert documentary by director Tristan Milewski.
My Name is Claude worked with the director again, composing the music for 2017's Dream Boat, a documentary about a gay cruise that was nominated for the Best Documentary Film Music Award at Munich's DOK.fest.
In 2018, My Name is Claude released You Cannot Enter the Disco, an album about finding community that featured some of his most rhythmic works yet, and the Can't Cheat EP, a set of dub-inspired live improvisations.
2019 will see the release of a new album, Blood Vessels, on which My Name is Claude decided to give the singing part to an invited guest, artist M.S.K. from Kuwait. The year will also be the release time for a piece of work called Schoolboy, in which Ferland Milewski adresses the questions of bullying.
Discography
Schoolboy, 2019 (upcoming)
Blood vessels, 2019 (upcoming)
You Cannot enter the disco, 2018
Can’t cheat, 2018
Dream Boat, 2018
Single releases, 2013-2016
Science of doubt, 2011
On tour for 2 years
among other venues Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
Gaité lyrique, Paris
Elisabetkirche, Berlin
Camille voit la neige, 2010
Always lost somewhere, 2008
2 years tour
Berlin insane IV, 2007
Reunion, 2006
2 years tour
Film
Dreamboat, 2018
Directed by Tristan Ferland Milewski
Documentary Feature
Co-produced by ZDF and ARTE
World Premiere Panorama section Berlin Intl. Film Festival 2017
Dok.fest Munich 2017: Nomination for Best Music
On Netflix worldwide
Gay star news: listed in “the 10 best LGBT films of 2017” next to “Call me by your Name”
Make Love, 2017
Directed by Tristan Ferland Milewski
Documentary series, 5 seasons (ZDF)
Nominated for German TV Award 2017
Nominated for Grimme Online Award 2014
L’Oeil du Quattrocento (The eye of the Quattrocento), 2005
Creator and Composer
Video Installation (Montreal, Strasbourg, Berlin)
Director and Composer
Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois
Creator and Composer
Video Installation (Montreal)
Le Cirque Noir (The black circus), 2003
Director
Selection Clermont-Ferrand 2003
Avalanche, 2000
Director and Composer
19th Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois "coffre aux trésors" section
Selection Clermont-Ferrand 2000
Quand sous les ponts la nuit, 1999
Director and Composer
Festival du Nouveau cinéma et des nouveaux médias (Montreal)
18th Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois
FILMSCORE
DREAM BOAT
A cruise ship and 3.000 men: a universe that usually remains a mystery to the outside world. Once a year the "DREAM BOAT" sets sail on a cruise exclusively for gay men where most passengers are united by the wish to live and love authentically as themselves in a protected place. The countdown is on. Seven days of hunting for freedom, love and happiness under the southern sun are about to begin. But once on board, personal stories and hidden pasts find their way to the surface … With heart und humor, the film follows five men from five countries on the quest for their dreams, far from family, social, and political restrictions. The passengers come from 89 nations. For many of them, it is dangerous to live openly in their home countries. For months, they have been eagerly awaiting this journey. Now, bodies are pumped and suitcases are filled with push-up swimwear and glamorous costumes. Sun, sea, naked skin and a lot of testosterone stoke the vibes. Day and night, time and space melt with the rhythm of party music. But along this dreamy journey, above all, the five men are confronted with themselves and some feel it can also be quite lonely despite being surrounded by 3.000 potential future partners. Thus, the blissful cruise unexpectedly becomes a soul-searching experience—a voyage to the depths of emotion on the wide open seas.
How many hopes will the DREAM BOAT fulfill?
World Premiere: Panorama Section at Berlin International Film Festival 2017
MUSIC FOR TV SERIES
MAKE LOVE
5-part documentary series written and directed by Tristan Ferland Milewski starring sexologist and best-selling author Ann-Marlene Henning.
In our allegedly enlightened society where sex is omnipresent in the public sphere, the true taboos are the silence, insecurities and knowledge gaps within our private relationships. The documentary series MAKE LOVE takes us into the authentic and individual realities of different persons between the ages of 20 and 100 alongside sexologist, couple therapist and best selling author Ann-Marlene Henning. Her expertise, tact and exhilarant naturalness allow Ann-Marlene Henning to help the couples (and us) break the silence.
While interacting with Ann-Marlene Henning, the partners learn to really perceive themselves and their significant other, thus finding true intimacy. With the help of real couples, MAKE LOVE additionally shows many lesser known facts about good sex, regardless of gender and sexual orientation.
Nominated for the German TV Award 2017 and Grimme Online Award 2014
"Explicit without being pornographic; empathetic without being presumptuous; always funny, never embarassing. A voice like this has been missing in the public debate …" (Stern)
"Probably one of the bravest and most provocative German productions since a very long time." (Focus)
"What you get to see (…) resembles a small revolution." (SUPERillu)
"Yes, you need to be brave to do this kind of format.(…) The first episode, which just aired, avoids all kinkiness, greasiness, sleaziness inherent to this subject." (Die Zeit)