This is my second conversation with Aret Madilian. It took place on 12/1/23 from his home in France.

In the fall of 2000 Aret Madilian, Beatrice Valantin and Gerard Madilian, recorded what was to become Deleyaman’s debut album in Aret Madilian’s home-studio in Normandy, France where he had moved from Los Angeles, California. The album entitled 00/1 was released on September 11, 2001, on TTO Records in the U.S. and on a french music label Editions Nech for Europe.

The following albums entitled Second and 3 which were released in 2003 and 2006 by the Parisian music label Editions Nech, further confirmed the band’s unique music.

Between 2005 and 2007 Deleyaman performed live in small venues in Paris, and they were regulars at an off the wall club located in the Parisian suburb of Pantin called La Menuiserie. Following the release of their third album 3, Deleyaman was invited to tour Armenia in 2007 by the Naregatsi Art Institute.

In 2009 the band signed with the Portuguese label Equilibrium Music, a label specializing in dark folk, ambient and industrial music and released Fourth, part one. The album revealed a subtle shift in direction for the band. The tracks on the album were mainly sung in english with the exception of three songs sung in French and in Armenian.

The following album Fourth, part two was released in 2011 on Equilibrium Music in Europe and TTO Records in the U.S. The subtle changes of the previous release were confirmed on Fourth, part two. Synthesizers and string arrangements gave way to the guitars of Ara Duzian who’d joined Deleyaman for these recordings, before leaving the band in June 2011.
in 2011, Deleyaman announced a series of U.S. concerts which were performed In April and May of 2012. The band played eight shows in venues and theaters across Los Angeles and a show at the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art in Santa Ana, California.

Following these gigs, Deleyaman returned to Europe to start the recording sessions of a new album. In March 2013, the band returned briefly to the U.S. as a duo and played in the cities of Portland, San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, Long Beach, Los Angeles and Santa Ana. The band’s sixth album, The Edge, containing 13 tracks was released on July 4, 2014.

In autumn 2015, Deleyaman began the recordings of the lover, The stars & The citadel.

The album was recorded between October 2015 and June 2016 at Kurna Hata, the band’s studio in Normandy, France. It included contributions from Brendan Perry of Dead Can Dance, guesting on two of the album’s tracks.

In 2017, The french actress and director Fanny Ardant who had been a fan of the band, included two tracks from Deleyaman’s Second album on the soundtrack of her film Le Divan de Staline.

In 2018, Guillaume Leprevost former bass player of the french band Nellcote joined Deleyaman, taking on bass and guitar duties.

October 2018 - Deleyaman & Jules Maxwell toured Ireland and the UK playing in Limerick, Galway, Lisdoonvarna, Carlow, Dublin, Dundalk and Portaferry, an instore performance at Bending Sound Records in Bangor as well as guesting on BBC Radio Ulster’s John Toal show.

2019 - Dead Can Dance covered the song Autumn Sun by Deleyaman including it in the setlist of their European Tour: Dead Can Dance a Celebration - Life & Works 1980 - 2019.

2020 - Deleyaman’s eight album “Sentinel” was released on January 17th, 2020.
The album includes ten tracks and contributions from guests; Brendan Perry (Dead Can Dance), Madalina Obreja and Jules Maxwell (Dead Can Dance, Lisa Gerrard)

2021 - On January 29, 2021, Deleyaman and iconic french actress Fanny Ardant performed a live-stream concert-reading at the Maison de la Poésie in Paris around the essay “Our need for consolation is insatiable” by Stig Dagerman.

2022 - On January 14, 2022, Deleyaman and Fanny Ardant performed a concert-reading at Trianon Transatlantique in Rouen, France.

The Abbey Project: Aret Madilian, founder of the french-american band Deleyaman, was invited to write the soundtrack for the first edition of a multi-cultural art festival which took place from October 26 to November 1st, 2022, throughout 14 abbeys scattered across Normandy in France.

The Sudbury Inn is the ninth studio album by Deleyaman: Recorded between 2020 and 2022, The Sudbury Inn contains 11 tracks running 56 minutes. 3 songs’ lyrics on the album are partly inspired by the "Tales of a Wayside Inn" written in 1862 by the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow about the real stories of seven travelers telling their tales at the Wayside Inn in Sudbury.

https://deleyaman.bandcamp.com/