Conversations with Guilhem Fourty

Today we’d like to introduce you to Guilhem Fourty

Guilhem, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I started back home learning percussions near my hometown in France, and went on to pick up the drums at an early age. I then studied for about 7 years at the Toulouse music conservatory classical music, jazz, and other genres, while also learning from well-respected educators, such as Daniel Dumoulin (Dante Agostini drum school). At this time, I was playing in my hometown, Toulouse, but also with different bands in the Capital and around France. After continuing my jazz performance studies at Jean Jaurès University, I received a scholarship at age 19 to attend the Berklee College of Music in Boston. I had the chance to be mentored by legendary musicians such as Dave DiCenso (Hiromi, Josh Groban), Neal Smith (Mulgrew Miller, Steve Nelson), Greg Hopkins (Buddy Rich Band), Ralph Peterson (Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers), Billy Kilson (George Duke, Dave Holland), and NEA Jazz Master Terry Lyne Carrington (Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter),

Over the past couple years, I have had the chance to play and work with artists such as Braxton Cook, Danilo Perez, Miguel Zenón, Peter Eldridge, Camila Cortina Bello, Mayu Calumbi, Bill Pierce, Ian Coury, Audrey Bussanich, Zach Santos, Kieran Brown, Pedro Couto Silva, among others, and have performed in many venues around the world.

This year, I finished my Master’s at the Berklee Global Jazz Institute and I’m very excited for this next step to move to New York City!

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
This journey has been a straight line so far, as I knew I wanted to do this since my earliest age, but definitely not smooth. There are lot of struggles along the way, such as financial needs, mental support, and trusting the process. Coming from a rather isolated environment, where music is only seen as entertainment, it has been tough to prove that I can make a living from it, and most importantly can express myself through it, to create meaningful changes in the world. Nowadays, another obstacle that a vaste majority of artists face is social medias. It’s a great tool for communication and showcasing your art, but It’s easy to fall into comparing yourself with others, which in my opinion kills the definition of Art.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Until now, I have been working in different projects as a sideman playing drums and percussions, but also producing and recording artists. Last year, we recorded Zach Santos’s new album “Superbloom” that reached more than 60k streams on Spotify, and more recently recorded his upcoming EP “Year of the Dragon” at the legendary Powerstation studio in New York. Earlier this year, I have collaborated with xPropelr (https://www.xpropelr.org) on the project “Dreaming Freedom” which includes musicians such as Alex Isley, Justin Kaulfin, Kris Bowers, Brandee Younger, John de Faria, and many others. You can listen to the project online at https://tidal.com/browse/album/368384654/u. I’m currently working on some original music that will be released soon (more details soon!).

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.guilhemfourty.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/guilhemfourty/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/guilhemfourtymusic
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbak3wCrmawToTWlqBn7b8w
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/intl-fr/album/2yczv0pPU1WtKeZg8AXkxO?si=xk6pXBSIQxuqtgV_pzhZaA

Image Credits
Jeriel Sanjurjo