the essential
From creating cakes to composing songs, there is only one step, which the Néracais Eddy Perraudin, alias “Eddy Pero”, took without difficulty.
Eddy Pero has always been immersed in Music. With a singer and composer mother and a musician father, who played for Serge Gainsbourg, Jacques Dutronc and Jane Birkin, it’s difficult to imagine another path.
Although he spent a good part of his youth in Île-de-France, Lot-et-Garonne is today his office, or rather his recording studio. “I have traveled around England and the United States, but since I have been based in Nérac, I have found parallels between New York and Lot-et-Garonne,” he comments. “In the musical world, relationships are more immediate than elsewhere in France. There is a spontaneity, a mutual assistance that we do not find in other places.”
A song for “Joséphine guardian angel”
For several years, he collaborated with other artists, including Norbert Krief, the historic guitarist of Trust. “I accompanied him from 2014 to 2018. His son is a singer and was looking for someone who could both play guitar and keyboards.” He also plays for Antoine Tomé, a singer-songwriter produced by Francis Cabrel in the 90s.
In his other notable memories, Eddy remembers a song composed in one day. “It’s called “My memory s’effaced” and dates from 2016, he explains. I sang it as a duet with guitarist Kim Melville. I wrote it for an episode of the series “Joséphine ange garde… “I had just learned of the death of my friend Hubert Mounier, the singer of the group L’Affaire Luis Trio. There was perhaps a resonance between the two events…”
Then, meeting drummer David Rebillet and bassist Stéphane Cocuron in 2014, he formed Amazon Zero, an explosive rock trio. It didn’t take long for the team to release a first album. “This record saw an incredible amount of opportunities,” says Eddy. “In France, sound engineers were really overpriced, so a friend advised us to turn to the United States, where they are cheaper. And so, we found ourselves mixing our album with Brandon Eggleston and Pierre Bianchi.”
The first worked with the group The Dandy Wharols, very well known in the world of psychedelic pop, the second with Peter Gabriel from Genesis and Youssou N’Dour. “One thing led to another and we found ourselves collaborating with Jon Astley for the mastering of the record, that is to say the last stage of the mixing.” Not the worst: in his CV, the man has to his credit productions with Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones, the Who, David Bowie.
A hard core of faithful
“At the time, Jon Astley was having a mastering competition,” recalls Eddy. “We sent him our models, he told us “don’t even take the competition, we work together!” Subsequently, we won the prize for best album and best video at the Metro Music Awards in 2016.”
The musical adventure is not limited to Amazon Zero for Eddy. With his wife Kristina, he forms the duo Déjà-Vous. “I discovered only eight months ago that she sings very, very well! We created something very different from Amazon Zero, so that my two worlds don’t step on each other’s toes. With Amazon Zero, we have our own compositions, for an electric, rather rock sound, it’s something else entirely. We mainly do covers, acoustic, including “Eye in the Sky” by Alan Parsons Project. very gentle.”
Two projects whose paths could cross very soon, with the potential arrival of Kristina in the backing vocals of Amazon Zero on an album planned for 2025. A way to start again on a series of “peaceful projects.” Eddy is the first to be surprised to have his small hard core of followers in Lot-et-Garonne. “When we give concerts with Amazon Zero, we realize that they know our lyrics by heart, as if they were revising in the car before coming!” he laughs. With a new album in preparation, the public will soon have the opportunity to learn new compositions to accompany Eddy in his musical adventures.
Pastry and music, the art of making people happy
“Somewhere, baking and music come together, we create something beautiful and good to make people happy,” smiles Eddy. “The relationship with customers and the public is almost the same.”
With his wife Kristina, Eddy opened the Maman Gâteaux patisserie in Nérac in December 2022, an SARL also specialized in events, authorized to prepare orders for various events. Born in Jakarta, Indonesia, Kristina obtained an international pastry diploma in Paris. With Maman Gâteaux, she had created a whole range of specialties, including choco-praline choux.
Their journey, however, has not been smooth. Last year, inflation hit the couple hard. Soaring energy prices, general increase in raw material costs… To get by, they started by adapting their pastries, in particular by preparing smaller formats. “Businesses found themselves forced to raise their own prices, but we didn’t want that. We maintained our usual prices, so as not to impact customers.”
A choice that harmed them. “It became more and more difficult not to get into debt. So we made the decision to close last February. We love the relationship, the bond that we have created with people. In the evening, I need to go to bed knowing that I had an honest day.”
From culinary creation to musical creation, Eddy and Kristina are sure of one thing: spending time with people is the most important. “In the kitchen or in concert, it forces us to be humble.”
