Batterie Magazine numéro 200

200 ISSUES! REALLY?

I remember the exact moment I got my hands on the very first issue of Batterie Magazine. At the time, I never imagined for a second that I would be writing this, nineteen years later, in what is our 200th issue. I had joined the editorial team a few months earlier, after graduating from high school. I didn't know anything about journalism and my background in drums was limited to my high school band practice. In other words, there was an abyssal chasm between my experience in this field and that of Josh Freese when I found myself facing him in the dressing room of the Zenith in Paris on January 31st 2004. A surreal encounter for the fan that I was (and still am), as exciting as it was dominated by doubt. While my initial mission within the company consisted in supporting the publicity manager, I was sent to tour Parisian concert halls and palaces to interview - in broken English - the drummers I admired (Nick Mason, Nicko McBrain, John Dolmayan, Cindy Blackman, Chad Smith...) and to train myself as a journalist under the guidance of my boss at the time, Alain Versini, and my colleague and friend, Ludovic Egraz. Once the exhilaration of these lunar moments with my idols was over, I had to write a solid and coherent article, gather information, find photos or organize a shooting, supervise the creation of the layout with the graphic designer... To be honest, the impostor syndrome didn't leave me for a long time and it took me several dozen closings and hundreds of meetings to feel legitimate in this profession, the experience as a musician helping in parallel... Concentrated on the writing of the magazine of our fellow-members of Guitare Xtreme, Ludo will end up entrusting me little by little with the direction of Batterie Mag.
Nineteen years later, if we are still there, it is only thanks to all of you, who read us all year long, and inevitably, there are no words strong enough to express our gratitude.
Like some of you, I (we) grew up with this magazine. I am always amused (or depressed, depending on the mood) when young pro drummers tell me in an interview that they used to read Batterie Magazine "when they were kids". This media has evolved with its time, CD-ROMs were replaced by DVDs before embracing the digital transition (website, social networks, YouTube...). While we were one of the first music media to offer an "e-mag" format, we will always be committed to defending the magazine as a "tangible" object (despite the rising costs of paper and transportation), which, as you may have noticed, does not prevent us from ensuring an online presence with exclusive content.
200 issues: significant events, whether concerts, trips, album releases, dark periods (November 13, 2015, the pandemic...); but above all, there have been those unforgettable encounters with the artists we admire, in the intimacy of their tourbus or their dressing rooms, and without whom we would not be here writing these lines. This issue is dedicated to them. This editorial is also an opportunity to thank all our past, present, (future?) for their precious contribution to this beautiful story: my mentor Ludovic Egraz, Olivia Rivasseau, Régis Savigny, Lisa Vincent, Thomas Millo, Manu Wino, Nathan Ray Le Solliec, Nidhal Marzouk, Manuel Dubigeon, Antoine Ladoué, Victor Singer, Hervé Chiquet, Cédric Hilaire Théo Bègue, Morgan Berthet, Florent Portais, as well as Christophe Tessier, Laetizia Forget, Anthony Dubois, Patrick Buchmann, Antoine Garrel, and Alain Versini, without whom this magazine would never have been created. Without forgetting the professionals (brands, stores, distributors) who have supported Batterie Magazine (they will recognize themselves).
200 thanks!

Sébastien Benoits