About

Welcome to PeachyMango.

I'm Franck Martin, and I practice a kind of alchemy: I turn electricity into places.

The spark was Jean-Michel Jarre's Oxygène on vinyl — the first electronic music I ever heard, and it blew my mind that sound could feel like a landscape. It took a few detours (twenty years in Fiji building the Pacific Internet, a career as a LinkedIn postmaster) before I found my true instrument: the modular synthesizer. Unlike any other instrument, it doesn't exist until you wire it. Every performance, I build it — and the sound world it makes — in front of the audience.

What fascinates me is immersion: quadraphonic sound, Ambisonics, Dolby Atmos, Spatial Audio. I want music that doesn't play at you, but that you walk into — that surrounds you and transports you somewhere else. Everything I release on PeachyMango is part of that experiment.

Thanks for visiting. Put on headphones. Or better: four speakers.

Music Bio

Franck Martin turns electricity into landscape. Born in France, inspired by Jarre, Vangelis, Tangerine Dream and the avant-garde mathematicians Iannis Xenakis and Hughes Le Bars, he spent twenty years in the Pacific Islands absorbing its rhythms and spaces before landing in San Francisco, where he began performing on an ever-mutating modular synthesizer.

His works are slow transformations: Symphoney, a six-part dissonant voyage; Passages, an aural journey reviewers compare to metaphysical film soundtracks; How Dare You!, a climate statement built from speech and noise; and To The Stars. Albums are often recorded in live conditions — the patch, and the risk, fully exposed. He performs long-form quadraphonic sets, collaborates with modular artists from the Bay Area and beyond (Modular California Vibes), and is a Recording Academy Voting Member.

Internet Bio

Franck Martin has been postmaster at LinkedIn from 2011 till 2017. He spent nearly 20 years in Fiji where he worked extensively with 20 or so Pacific Islands countries. He was trustee at the Internet Society 2006-2009, and a member of the Pacific Islands and San Francisco chapters. He has deployed a few ISPs in Tuvalu, Fiji and Samoa as well as established two ccTLDs dot KI (Kiribati) and dot NR (Nauru). He has worked on the DMARC.org specification, deployed it at LinkedIn and he is promoting email authentication technologies and policies. He is currently working towards building an IPv6-only data center at LinkedIn.

The longer story

The first electronic music album I ever heard was Jean-Michel Jarre's Oxygène on vinyl. It blew my mind. I became a fan of Jarre, Vangelis, Tangerine Dream, and other pioneers of electronic music. I also bought a Korg M1 synthesizer, hoping to create some sounds of my own. But I didn't have much musical training or guidance, so I mostly played some chords and experimented with presets.

I studied Engineering and Computing in Marseille, where I met some people who were doing musical research and experiments. They introduced me to some avant-garde composers like Iannis Xenakis and Hughes Le Bars, who used mathematical models and algorithms to create music. They also showed me some musical illusions, like sounds that seemed to rise or fall endlessly in pitch.

Music was always a source of inspiration and focus for me, especially when I was working on complex problems or projects. I listened to all kinds of music genres, but electronic music had a special appeal for me. It was creative, diverse, and futuristic.

I moved to Fiji in the mid-90s, where I worked on Internet development and empowerment in various Pacific Island countries. I traveled to places like Tuvalu, Kiribati, Tonga, Palau, Solomon Islands, Niue, and many others. I learned about their cultures, their music, their dances, their stories. I have many anecdotes — like spending an afternoon at the home of New Zealand artist Mark Cross in Niue. I also met many people from the Internet community: IETF, ICANN, ISOC (I was a board member and co-founded several chapters). I met people such as Vint Cerf (co-creator of TCP/IP), Howard Schmidt (White House Cybersecurity Coordinator), Jimmy Rogers (Director of the Pacific Community), and others.

Vint Cerf and Hon. Sailele Malielegaoi Tuila'epa at PacInet 2006 in Samoa

I helped organize Internet conferences, set up ISPs and ccTLDs, and promoted Internet governance and security. I also got involved in the email industry, which led me to join LinkedIn in 2011 as a postmaster. I worked on email authentication technologies and policies, such as DMARC.org. I also worked on building an IPv6-only data center at LinkedIn.

During this time, I also enjoyed some hobbies like kite surfing and photography. But I always had a passion for electronic music in the back of my mind.

A few years ago, I watched a documentary called "I Dream of Wires", which rekindled my interest in synthesizers and modular systems. I discovered that San Francisco and Berkeley were hotspots of electronic music innovation and experimentation. I found a shop called Robotspeak that sold synthesizers and hosted monthly concerts called Church of the Super Serge. I started going there regularly and meeting amazing people who shared my love for electronic music.

I bought a modular case and started filling it with modules. I also started learning music theory, music production, music business, and music promotion. I used GarageBand and LogicPro to create some tracks and riffs. I also explored different genres and styles of electronic music, from ambient to techno, from classical to experimental.

My modular synthesizer and the San Francisco skyline

One of the things that fascinated me was the immersive and spatial sound. I wanted to learn how to use technologies like Dolby Atmos, Ambisonics, Binaural Audio, and Spatial Audio to create a 3D audio experience for the listeners. I wanted to make music that could surround you and transport you to another world.

I decided to release my music online on various platforms like Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube.... I wanted to share my journey as an electronic musician and sound enthusiast with the world. I wanted to learn from feedback and improve along the way. I wanted to have fun and express myself through sound.

This is my story so far. I hope you enjoy my music and find something that resonates with you. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions, feedback, or suggestions. Thank you for visiting PeachyMango.

Contact

If you want to say hi, or have a question, or want to bring the quadraphonic experience to your venue or event, or anything else:
franck at peachymango.org

Also consider becoming a supporter on my Bandcamp Community or subscribing to my mailing list.