Pierre Jolivet, also known as Pacific 231, is a French composer and musician born in 1951. He is best known for his work in the field of industrial and experimental music, as well as for his solo musical project Pacific 231.
The stage name “Pacific 231” refers to a class 231 steam locomotive of the same name, which was designed for the French railroads in the 1910s. Jolivet began using this stage name in the 1970s for his early electronic and experimental music compositions.
Pacific 231’s musical style is often described as highly noisy, abrasive and experimental, incorporating elements of industrial music, musique concrète and electronic music. Pacific 231’s compositions are often based on recordings of industrial sounds, machines and other unusual sound sources, which are then manipulated and transformed electronically.
Over the years, Pacific 231 has released several albums, including “Unusual Perversions” (1984), “Power Assume” (1986), “Ethnicities” (2006) and “Micromega” (2013), as well as collaborations with other experimental music artists such as Instinct Primal, Lt. Caramel and Rapoon. Pacific 231’s work has had a significant influence on the development of industrial and experimental music in France and around the world.
