After a jet ski accident in August 2019, IU junior and musician Matthieu Picard severed three of his fingertips and needed finger amputations. He didn’t know if he would be able to play piano the same ever again.
Two years later, Picard is performing in a music duo with his piano skills fully restored. He and junior Benjamin Rich started SD Gloria this semester and released their first single, “honey & locusts,” to Spotify on Jan. 23. They have two more songs coming out Feb. 21 — “NO NEED” and “Act Your Age.”
After his fingertips healed over, Picard said it took a year of sitting down at the piano and practicing to get his playing back to where it was. Ultimately it was creating SD Gloria that gave him the motivation he needed.
“It prompted me to think that life is kind of too unpredictable and wild to sit on things that you're passionate about,” Picard said. “That's when I started to think that I'm really passionate about music.”
Picard and Rich started making more music together after becoming roommates and realizing they shared a passion for it. Eventually, they created SD Gloria, which gets its name from Johann Sebastian Bach who used the phrase “soli deo gloria” to credit glory to God in his music. With this name, Picard said he and Rich wanted to reflect how important their faith was to them.
Rich is a guitarist who enjoys indie and rock music while Picard enjoys EDM. Picard said the music they are releasing has elements of those genres, but also expresses a synthesizer dance feel.
“Our music’s uniqueness comes from the interesting sounds that are used,” Rich said. “It’s a little more experimental than house music or the popular EDM stuff.”
The band tried to create cohesion between the two upcoming singles. Picard said “Act Your Age” was inspired by his friend's break up, and “NO NEED” acted as a response to that song. They also wanted to use similar sounds for both songs, so “Act Your Age” has a subtle piccolo sound that appears in the bridge of “NO NEED,” Picard said.
Unlike “honey & locusts” and “NO NEED,” which are solely instrumental tracks, “Act Your Age” features vocals performed by Rich.
“I honestly wasn't expecting to record vocals at all,” Rich said. “But one time, we were just hanging out and then we started recording, and now we have a song from that.”
The band plans to release more music throughout the semester that combines their favorite genres with EDM, Picard said.
Picard said his songwriting process always starts with an idea in his head that moves him.
“I would think ‘wow, if I heard this at a concert or in a store that would just be so beautiful,’” Picard said. “Then, I want to make this song a real thing.”
With the COVID-19 pandemic, Rich said quarantine has given artists like them more time to focus on creating music.
“I think there's always a need for music,” Rich said. “Quarantine really has given a lot of time to pursue the passion, to get better at making beats or get better at making music in general, and to give time to that creative side of us.”
Picard said since creating music is more digital during quarantine, it allows the opportunity to potentially work with different people. He said SD Gloria has been able to get feedback from listeners and artists around the world and he thinks there is potential down the road to work with friends overseas.
Junior Dina Dietrich has been friends with Picard and Rich for three years. They all share a love for music and have played together for fun in the past. She said she is a huge fan of SD Gloria’s music.
“Anyone who knows Ben and Matthieu knows that they have big hearts for others and their music is a reflection of their creative zeal,” Dietrich said. “Their songs always make me smile — it’s the kind of music that brightens any space.”
