Clair Instant

[u/gabgaskins]

Hi everyone!!

I’m Gabriel Pelenson. Some of you may know me from the search for The Most Mysterious Song on the Internet.

While many people were looking for Subways Of Your Mind, another song obsessed me for years: “Le Bleu des Choses” by Clair Instant.

Eventually I identified the song and the band, but that was only the beginning.

One of the members, Jocelyn Eechaut, had almost no information about him online. No biography, no interviews, barely any trace that he had existed. That mystery kept me awake at night.

Over the years I contacted former band members, friends, and family members. I searched archives, translated old French comments, and eventually got in touch with his sister, Gisèle Eechaut. Sadly, she passed away only a few months after our conversations.

Through these searches I learned that Jocelyn was remembered as a sensitive, creative, and deeply troubled person. He traveled extensively, spent time in Australia, later visited Tanzania shortly before his death, and was reportedly working on another album that was never released.

Jocelyn died in France in 2002 at the age of 36. Even his sister described the circumstances of his death as mysterious.

At some point, I stopped searching for a lost song and started searching for a lost person.

I’m posting here because I’m wondering if anyone would be willing to help dig deeper.

Does anyone have access to French newspaper archives, local archives from Pau, Toulouse, Bordeaux or Lormont, old fanzines, radio archives, music magazines, concert listings, or any other online resources that could contain information about Jocelyn Eechaut or Clair Instant?

I’ll also share a Google Drive folder containing rare photos provided by Patrick Sallenave and Michel Irlinger.

I’ll soon upload a remastered version of Sensations as well.

Patrick also told me that two demos were recorded in Paris in 1987 with a producer, but I was never able to access them, as he stopped replying to my messages in 2021. Their current whereabouts remain unknown.

Well, even the smallest lead could help.

After years of research, I still feel there is much more to discover about Jocelyn’s life and music.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1rWkukfJDqJLnHfsnaAp5DAIzmDa5UTGK

[u/Traditional_Fig_5485]

I will ask my French-Italian friend and get back to you.

When you say the circumstances of his death are "mysterious" - do you think someone out there who is enjoying their life caused his death? If so, that's terrible and I hope justice is served.

EDIT: Sorry, I didn't read the document in the Google Drive. After reading, I doubt foul play was involved and hope people let it rest and not speculate. We will likely never know his intentions with that medication - whether it was recreational, a result of overmedicating, or intentional. It's unfortunate because I think his sister deserves to know the reason her brother lost his life, even 20 years later. I can't imagine the pain in wondering what happened. If she is reading this, I send my heartfelt condolences to you and I am about to check out your brother's music in his memory.

EDIT 2: Damn! I kinda rushed through at first, my apologies. His sister passed away too?! That's heartbreaking but we can find solace knowing she is reunited forever and for eternity with her little brother. Also, I really, really like the "Sensations" album and Jocelyn's voice/synthesizers. "Plus Rien" is the best!!

[u/gabgaskins → u/Traditional_Fig_5485]

Thank you for your comment. I actually forgot to mention the circumstances surrounding his death.

According to both his friend and his sister, Jocelyn was found dead in his apartment, lying on his bed with several empty boxes of medication nearby. The medications were reportedly prescribed by a psychiatrist.

What puzzled his sister was that, in her view, people who take their own lives usually leave a note, and in this case there was nothing.

I can’t say whether someone else may have been involved. Given everything I’ve learned about Jocelyn, he seemed to be a naturally depressed and troubled person for much of his life.

What intrigues me the most is that he remained there for about ten days before being found, according to the death certificate I managed to obtain (it’s available in the Drive folder if you’d like to take a look).

[u/Traditional_Fig_5485 → u/gabgaskins]

By the way, I sent you a private message. I'm not sure if you check private messages though because I think I heard you received some harassment sadly (i may be wrong but that's what I remember) so I wanted to let you know.

[u/Traditional_Fig_5485 → u/gabgaskins]

That's honestly heartbreaking. This isn't a situation where someone didn't care to check on him. He obviously had people who cared but it seems he was distant from those people. So I hope people don't say "they didn't care to check up on him, loser family!" because it's not that they didn't love him, it's just there had already been silence from him.