Mathieu Jaton: The DNA of Montreux Jazz Festival

Sandro Meyer [00:00:08]:
Today, sitting across from me is Mathieu Jaton.

Mathieu Jaton [00:00:11]:
Hello.

Sandro Meyer [00:00:12]:
Mathieu is the CEO and artistic director of the Montreux Jazz Festival, carrying forward the legacy of one of the world's most revered music festivals. Since stepping into this role in 2013, Mathieu has been on a mission to build upon the vision of the festivals legendary founder Claude Knops, who founded the event series in 1967. The Montreux Festival takes place for two weeks every summer in Switzerland on the shores of Lake Geneva. In its 50 years history, Montreux has hosted iconic performances by artists including Nina Simone, Miles Davis, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Prince, Leonard Cohen, David Bowie, Elton John and Stevie Wonder. Under Mathias leadership, Monterey has continued to evolve. He launched Montre Jazz Digital, an ambitious project to make iconic festival performances accessible worldwide. He has also established the Montreux Jazz Artist Foundation, a platform that supports emerging talent, offering young artists the same legendary stage that shaped so many careers and expanding beyond Montreux. Montieu has also brought the festival spirit to global audiences, launching events in cities like Tokyo and Sao Paulo. His work has turned Montreux into a global cultural phenomenon, bridging audiences and artists around the world with the magic that defines this unique festival. Welcome, Mathieu. It's an honor to have you here.

Mathieu Jaton [00:01:38]:
Thank you. It's my pleasure.

Sandro Meyer [00:01:41]:
So, quote. Do you know why I chose you? Mathieu? Asked Claude Nobs, the founder of Montreux Jazz Festival. Because I know you will respect the DNA of the festival I've created and you can carry it into the future. What is that DNA your friend and mentor left you with?

Mathieu Jaton [00:02:06]:
It's more. It's a way of thinking, it's the way of behave, it's the way of not having any limits. And to think that everything is possible, that's really where Claude were and how Claude were thinking. And it was, I mean, the best years for me working with him, just understanding how he built this festival in 1967, which. With the heart, with the emotion, with just like the idea of creating something that's moved people. And that was exactly what I love. It was not a business for him. It was really a way of creating emotions. And that's rare nowadays because now, especially in music business, everything is based on money and because everything is costly and fees getting higher. And in every single forum and discussion around music, we're talking about money, we're not talking about music. And Claude would have been very upset about that. And he was already upset just before he passed away because the music was just like turning into a business which, which is fine in a way, but keeping the DNA for me is really playing with the cards of what the music business is right now. And of course we have to talk about money, but keeping this spirit of bringing the human in, in the center and keeping the music as the core business and creating an environment around this festival that bring the irrational still possible. And that's exactly what I love.

Sandro Meyer [00:03:52]:
We will talk a lot more about kind of what makes Montreux special. Maybe if we wind the clock back a little bit to kind of your early days. Someone told me that you sometimes slept on the piano while your mother was playing. Can you take us back to that time?

Mathieu Jaton [00:04:20]:
So that's a very early time. I was like three or four years old and I was really educated into the classical music world because my father and my sister were just playing piano. We had a grand piano at home which were beautiful. And they were Steinway. It was a Steinway, Yeah, but Hamburg Steve Steinway. Very good sound, beautiful sound. And the most interesting thing for me was that when I was very young, it was like three or four years ago, I was three, three or four years. There was a competition in Vevey called the Concour Clara Aquil. One very famous piano solo classical music competition. And the. The concept of that competition was that the. The competitors were staying in a house, private house, where there was a Steinway piano. So as we get a Steinway. So we had like for one month some competitors coming in the house and just playing and just rehearsaling.

Sandro Meyer [00:05:20]:
Like where you lived, like in your living room.

Mathieu Jaton [00:05:22]:
Yeah, exactly. That was in the living room. And as I was not going to school because I was too young at that period, I was really just taking a nap on the carpet under the piano and just listening to music all day long. So I think that's. This situation brought me the music in my head, in my ears and in my heart. But very early when I started school and listening to music with my brother. I had an older brother and an older sister. We were listening to Dire Straits and Pink Floyd and all those band Genesis. I mean all those famous bands from those period. I'm from 1975. 75. So it's all the bands that were very famous in the 80s, 85, something like that. And I was really captured by the sound of Mark Knopfler, especially in Dire street. This sound of guitar. Very special, let's say, because I was playing guitar, classical guitar. Take some, some lessons of classical guitar. And I found out it's. It was nice, but I mean it was like not very funny. For 10 or 12 or 14 years old guy, you know that's. Everybody was listening to. To those very big rock band and I was just like playing with my classic guitar. So I started bought like a copy of Fender guitar and I bought my first amplificator and just. I remember being in the living room of my parents and just trying to recreate the sound of Dire Straits and Pink Floyd's and putting the whole album on a vinyl because my father had like a very big Hi Fi system. Analog 100 analog of course. But we with. With all those still the hi Fi system I love right now with just big 2P, two big PAs and one analog amplificator which I still have at home and listening to vinyls all day long. And I thought I had quite a good year as a musician just to listen to what were playing and just trying to make it again rather on the piano or on the guitar. And my parents were so open minded that there was the. In the living room you had the grand piano, you had the guitar amplificator and there was a drum of my father, of my brother. So we were just playing all day long in the living room and my mother would just. She loved writing and she was just like 2 meters for. For Merce and just writing letters and blah blah blah. And then sometimes. Mom, does it disturb you? No, no. I like when you're playing guys.

Sandro Meyer [00:08:05]:
So no parent ever usually, right?

Mathieu Jaton [00:08:08]:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that, that was really cool and that was really my. My education. And then I. I started to create a band like. I mean like everybody at that period when you're studying and you like music and they were. So we created a band. We was five friends playing in a band and especially to the drummer and the bass player that were just like passionated by music and playing all day long which I could not do because I was just studying and I was playing. I mean not the lead guitar but the rhythm guitar plus singing and we, we. We built that band and we starting to play some concerts and blah blah. It was kind of jazz rock. It was music like was inspired by. I don't know if you know Coliseum, John McLaughlin, Mahavishnu, Chik, Korea. Like A Feather, which is one of the most beautiful album. It was really jazz but more jazz rock, fusion, something like that.

Sandro Meyer [00:09:16]:
And so if I understand you correctly, the picture that you're painting for us is really. You grew up literally around music. Your family lived music. And so was for you at that time clear you want to, you want to Work in music. I mean, you did the ehl. The hotel business school. The hotel business school. You didn't pursue your band. You didn't necessarily go to like a music school. Like what. What kind of mindset were you in at the time? You just love music.

Mathieu Jaton [00:09:53]:
Yeah, you know, that was part of my education, but it was not like. Like education to drive me into the music business because.

Sandro Meyer [00:10:04]:
Not an ambition of yours.

Mathieu Jaton [00:10:05]:
Yeah. And neither from my parents because they were not like professional musicians. They were just passionate about music. They were just listening to music. So there was never in my head, so I need to make a musical school, going to London and blah, blah, blah, because I was not thinking that I was good enough to make. So there was just one moment where I had that question because I met a French singer and composer that was living close to Lausanne. And I don't remember exactly how I've been connected to him, but he accepted to welcome me in his house and he asked me, just bring your guitar. And started to play. And I was always improvising, so I was never doing any cover because maybe I'm lazy. No, it's just like, I hate. It's like, like cooking, I ate, reading recipes and it's like cover. I really don't like to just follow something. I just like to create something for myself. So anytime I'm taking my guitar, I'm playing things, I don't know where I'm going. And I started to play like that and to sing yogurt in front of that guy, I say, wow, this is. This is interesting. This is quite interesting. Continue. Play again, play again. And then he accepted to give me some lessons, how to position my voice, how to. I mean, to. Not to play really guitar, because I'm not a very good guitarist, but it's just like rhythm guitarist. And I remember it was a period quite difficult for me because he looked at me and said, okay, if you want to move further into the music and if you really want to be musicians, I will follow you and I will just teach you how to enter this music business. If you're not, I will. We will keep French. You can come for any. Some lessons like that, but you have to choose where you want to go. And I remember just like dreaming one second of that, but again, back to my education. It was not like a job. It was really, no, no, I have to go to university. I have to go to make my bachelor and all the stuff. So it was quite easy for me to understand that it was not music was my passion, but it was Also very clear in my mind that the biggest passion for me was to organize even for people. Since I was very, very young, even 10 years, I was just organizing all the parties at home for friends, for family, for, I mean, New Year's Eve, for Christmas party. And at the time I had the band, I was not just like waiting on someone who's calling us to book us. I was just organizing my own festivals. So in my little village, organizing like a small three days festival and then another biggest festival when I did my bachelor also organize a party with different musicians. So I really quickly understood that my passion around music was more to organize even around music. And that was how I started. When my parents asked me, what do you want to do as a school? It was a period where I was living in Canton Fribourg. And normally when you were quite good at school, you're doing like the College du Sud in Beuhl in Fribourg. And then you were moving to the University of Fribourg or maybe Economics in Lausanne, I should say in Lausanne. And so I've chosen, I should say in Lausanne first of all. And then I asked some of my friends that were already there. It was just one day before I had to go to university. I was 18 years old or 19 years old. And I met that friend and he showed me all the documents and the lessons of, of the economics at the university. I looked at, I say, no, I don't like that. I mean, it's. I. I like that in a way. It's, it's passionate. Not where I want to do my life. And then I went back home and I looked to my father and say, dad, I'm sorry, I don't want to go to university tomorrow. And he looked at me and said, okay, okay, but it's tomorrow, so what do you want to do? He say, I don't know, but definitely I want to go in the entertainment business or hotel business. Say, okay, fine, but first you're going to work in a hotel just to understand what it is. And I spent two months or three months during Christmas time, New Year's Eve, and working till 2 in the morning, at 3 in the morning.

Sandro Meyer [00:14:53]:
So you didn't go to university?

Mathieu Jaton [00:14:54]:
No, no, no, no, no.

Sandro Meyer [00:14:55]:
Okay.

Mathieu Jaton [00:14:55]:
No, no, not at all. And. And then I started like three months in, in a small hotel from friends of my parents. And I so much enjoyed. Yeah, so much. I was working like 18 hours a day, waking up at 5, ending at, at like 2 in the morning or something. Like, I was so happy I would just like, yeah, really, in. In my bath, I just like, wow. I love that. I love, like, being with people. Even if I were just like in the kitchen and cutting the carrots and all the stuff, I would just enjoying myself. And so then I started a hotel business school. And that's where my life changed, because I discovered this world of hospitality, this world of, I mean, welcoming people and making people happy. And I felt so comfortable with that. So it was the best period of my life during my studies, definitely.

Sandro Meyer [00:15:53]:
So if you take all of these experiences when you already started organizing events for people, when you were. Yeah. A child, but also then afterwards, when you got into the hotel industry, what do you think is the essence for you, why you want to make people happy, like all. You know what I mean?

Mathieu Jaton [00:16:17]:
Yeah. It's a big personal question, if I may, because I can see there is in the hotel business, and especially more in the hotel business than the entertainment business, it's really the goal to. To serve the people and to make people happy. Is that a way to hide yourself behind the others? Is that a way to be humble or is that a way just to hide your emotions? Maybe. I don't know exactly. I'm still working on that, to be honest. But I love this feeling of having people in front of me just smiling and being happy and just with bright eyes, and that I create something that makes those people happy. I love this feeling. Why do I love that? Rather than just being something of myself that makes me happy alone. I don't know. I don't know where does it come. But I'm working on that. And I've been working. Not just like fighting against that, not at all. Because it's really the thing I'm living for. And when I've started at the Montreux Jazz Festival, it was exactly what I wanted to do and this impression always to have like thousands of people coming to the event, like every day. I still have that feeling, like the first day of the festival, when you just open the festival and you have like thousands of people coming in and the music started and you have people crying, screaming, dancing and kissing themselves and just like enjoying. I just sat and look at that, start maybe a little bit crying and say, okay, I did my job.

Sandro Meyer [00:18:07]:
Yeah. It's also. If I hear you talk, it's also probably what then Claude saw in you. It was this kind of pure passion. It was. It was not about how big the event is or it doesn't really sound like it's for you. It's for someone Else. And that seems to be the DNA how you explained it as well. So how did Claude come into your life? Because in the end you said right yourself. Ehl kind of changed your trajectory of your life. But then the second thing that changed your trajectory was also this man, in a way, right?

Mathieu Jaton [00:18:51]:
Of course, yeah, of course. He changed completely my life. And again, it's a family story because Claude, when Claude was young, he was living in Montreux. His father was a baker and Claude was terrible at school. And then he went to. Because he was so terrible, his father sent him in the kitchen in Basel to work as a cook. And then he ended like one of the first best cook in Switzerland. But in Montreux he was a scout. There was a period where the scoutism was something very important. And my father was a scout in Vevey. So since years, when I was a young kid, I heard about Claude Nobs during the Montre Jazz Festival. Claude Nobs, the CEO of Warner Music. And I've seen pictures in my house, I've seen pictures of Claude up in the chalet with the motorcycle, driving on the snow. And. And I've always heard from my parents and my family because I mean, Montreux and Vevey was very close. So we from Vevey and Claude was from Montreux. And it was just like big families and everybody knew each other. And once I had a band, I was 16 at that moment, just not yet at the hotel business school. And I had to think what we're going to do with the bands. And I say, okay, I have one dream is that the Warner music man, Claude Nobs, is listening to our music. So it was more than Warner than. Because Warner and Atlantic Records for me was Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone, James Brown, all those bands that was. I was so fat about that. So I really wanted that the managing director of Warner Europe, he's listening to. And I took my chance to call Clonknops office. Can you imagine at that period, you were in the middle of the 90s. I mean, warning music and letting record is on the top of the world. It is one of the biggest companies. So clone ops is very powerful. So calling the office cuckoo is something a little bit bizarre. And I remember I was just like calling the secretary and saying, no, no, I'm sorry, Mr. Nobs is not here, Mr. Nubs not there. And the third time I called Claude himself pick up the phone. And he said, hey, Matthew, how are you? How is your dad, Philip? And I was just like, what? Are you okay? Yes, Mr. Nobs. How are you? What can I do for you? Say ah, just like so intimate. So I have a band and say, oh yeah, why don't you come tomorrow in my office? Okay. I understood years later that Claude was so loyal to all the friends that helped him creating the festival at the early beginning. And my father was one of them, but there was plenty of them, because Sometimes, like many 25 years later, I was still fighting with why this guy has a laminate, why this guy, kids are coming like with 10 people during the most crowded concerts. But I understood very clearly that all those people, they did something for Claude when he started the festival. And he was still loyal 30 years later to those people. And I was one of it. So he's why he accepted to pick up the call and just to welcome me. I'm taking a little time to explain you that because he show you exactly who is Claude, very authentic person. And so I went to the office and you see, you are quite impressed because you enter the water office and you have like big picture of Led Zeppelin and Rolling Stones. It's just okay. And I remember the first Claude was sitting on the big desk and there was a picture of his mother in the middle of the desk. And it was very emotional to me, honestly. And then he listened to the tape, there was just a little tape for my band called Silk Waves. And he listened to the entire tape for 45 minutes. And we're just like, okay. And at the end he said, okay, nice guys. I was just with the bass player. And he said, nice guys, yeah, maybe you have just. You switch that, that and that. And yeah, but good job, sounds interesting. And then we left. Of course nothing happened because we didn't have the capabilities to come to the festival, to play the festival, of course, and it was not the goal again, but we were already on heaven. I mean, spending one hour with Claude Nobss, of course. And then nothing happened. And I never called back the office. What do you think? Can we do something? Of course not, because I knew how, I mean, the business of Claude a little bit. And I was not naive that he would never call me back. And that was not again the goal of that. But the life is so well done. Then when I started the hotel business school, I have to do some. Some extras in Paris to pay the school, because the school is quite expensive. And so I did some extras at the Motor palace, because you had some very big parties at the Motor Palace, a lot of hours, so making a lot of money doing extras. And I remember it was a Saturday night, it was a party called the Bal du Printemps with very rich people coming in and just drinking and you serving. And it was four in the morning. I was so tired because we started at 6pm it was 4 in the morning. I was cleaning the table. People was totally drunk and very polite.

Sandro Meyer [00:24:50]:
To be honest, as strong people sometimes are.

Mathieu Jaton [00:24:55]:
And someone hitting my shoulder and I turned myself and said that was Claude. They say, oh, Mr. Nobs. And he said, hey, Matthew, what are you doing here? It was two years later. So first of all I was just like hotter and surprised that he was just recognized me. And he said, what are you doing here? I'm doing some extras working. Say, what are you doing tomorrow? Tomorrow is Sunday. I don't know, maybe I'm gonna sleep a little bit with this. Okay, why don't you come to the chalet? Chalet is his house where he were. The famous, the famous chalet where he was all welcoming all the artists during the year and during the festival. And I was just, I didn't know about it, honestly. And I said, yeah, of course, of course. So yeah, please come to the chalet. So I went up to the chalet and I'm thinking he got like a big party and I have to just serve and serve the people. And there were only two guests, Claude and myself. And two guests were the founder of the Monty Pythons. And I had no clue at that period who were that guy, to be honest. And so I started to cook and to serve and Claude looked at me, said, but don't stand up, just sit with us, okay? And I started just like to be with those people I didn't know anything about. With Claude, I met just one, one time for 30 minutes, 45 minutes, listening to my music. And I was just like in the middle of. And then the, the guests were, they left. So I was just cleaning everything in the kitchen and preparing everything. And then I went to Claude and say, so we're going to leave. No, why don't you leave? Please stay. And so we, we're going to talk a little bit. And then I remember we were. It, it was beautiful weather, it was at night, of course, and we were sitting close to the swimming pool, the feet in the water, taking a bottle of whiskey. And Claude started to explain me the history of the festival and some beautiful stories about the festival. Can you imagine, I was a kid of 18 years old and I was sitting for. Till four in the morning with Mr. Claude Nobs telling me stories about the Montreux festival. And at that Moment I felt that the virus of mortuary was already floating in my blood. And I went back home. And I remember the day after my parents said, how was it with Claude? It was just a dream. And what happened? Nothing. Have I just like. I worked and we talked. That was great. And when I left at 4 in the morning, Claudes told me, you seem to be quite passionate about music. You know, I'm organizing during the festival the parties for artists. And they come in here like garden parties before the show. Why don't you come? And you. You put the footage of the festival in the cinema for the artist. And I was just like, what? I gotta be the man putting the tapes in front of the audience to see their concert in the beautiful Clone Nobs Cinema. I was just like, it's impossible. I say, of course, yes. And then I was quite surprised. He called me back and said, yeah, are you ready to come? And blah, blah, blah. And then. So July arrived and I went up to the chalet and with Claude, it was funny because he told you one thing and then you have nobody to talk about it. So you don't know exactly what you have to do. Do you have to come or not? At what time? You never know. So I was always a little bit improvising, but not putting myself in the front and just trying to find the right way to respect Claude and to respect us. And I think that also one thing he really appreciate with me, it was I was never pushing on the back. I was not just like calling 10 times. So I don't understand exactly what I have to do. Claude hated such a thing. He would just say, you coming? You're coming then? And then you take yourself, you. You just organize yourself. It was not a guy just telling you every five minutes what you have to do.

Sandro Meyer [00:29:19]:
It was also kind of improvisation, of course, as well.

Mathieu Jaton [00:29:23]:
Yeah, yeah, he was always doing like that. And you would see the. The second part of the story is always improvisation with him. And I arrived at the chalet and Thierry, his partner, who was of course responsible for the house, he looked at me and said, I mean, who are you?

Sandro Meyer [00:29:42]:
Fair question.

Mathieu Jaton [00:29:43]:
Hello, I'm Matthew. And Claude told me that I have to come to. I mean, to do something. He talked about the archives. No, no, no, we have someone for the archives. But do you know how to serve people and to make services and kitchen. See, of course, I'm in hotel business schools. Okay, you're going to do that. And honestly, I was not upset at all. Even if I was not just in the cinema, I was Just, like, doing what I know how to do. And Thierry, just give me the keys or so the house and say, let's organize with your friends, with your team, and just do the services. There was big cooks, and that was beautiful. And every afternoon, can you imagine, you had Quincy Jones, David Bowie, all those big guys, they were just, like, sitting in a garden and having a raclette or having salmon, just talking and having fun. Some of them was just jamming. And I was just, like, every day spending four hours, five hours with the most beautiful artists on the planet in a very relax and intimate way, which were unique because you can see artists in the backstage, but you don't have any contact with them. But there in the chalet, which is crazy.

Sandro Meyer [00:31:00]:
What did you learn from that period that you just described, both for how to carry yourself, but also how to organize events or deal with artists? I mean, these are three questions in one. Maybe let's start with how to carry yourself.

Mathieu Jaton [00:31:28]:
I think I can take the three question into one, because it's a very interesting question, because that period really modulate me for the future, and the question is very clear into that. Without having lived that period of being staff for the garden parties of Claude, I'm not sure I would have been able to do what I'm doing now, to be very honest, because you were in an atmosphere that looked really relaxed. When you entered the chalet, you had the impression that it's an amazing word. You have the artists, you have the VIPs, you have the best CEOs, you have, like, everybody just, like, being happy together. But the way you position yourself as a staff was very important. So I was always staying on my side. My work was to make the best work as possible as a server, as a staff, and to bring everything I can bring to make life easier to Claude. For the artist, anytime he needed something, anytime he needed a plate, a glass, a bottle of champagne, I was there just to make that as perfect as possible. And I understood at that moment that the difference is into the very small details. And Claude was very. I mean, he put a lot of effort into very small details. You can organize many parties. Why a party is an amazing party or just a good party. It's an amazing party because you put a lot of attention to all those little details. Details is not luxury, is not having only the best product and. And being just like, oh, I have the best bottle of champagne, or I have the best caviar. No, this is not what makes beautiful party is how you invest yourself in telling stories in Creating a moment which is unique. And Claude was the godfather of that. And I was just listening and looking at him also trying to support, but also sometimes we were suffering about it because he was very pushy and he was really demanded. So if you're not just at the time he wanted, if you're not that doing exactly that he was expecting, you could be quite upset and quite tough. To be honest, Claude was not the easiest guy to work with. But it was just, I mean a learn that was totally amazing. Just give you one example, maybe just to illustrate that everybody was coming up to the chalet, say, oh, I mean, Claude's cook and Claude dishes is amazing. Claude, hospitality is amazing. And once we were at the dinner around the table, I don't remember exactly who artist was there and whose big CEO was there. And Claude was the most beautiful storyteller. So every, every time he was just cooking something or just serving something, he was just explaining a story. Liana it was just like giving you a glass of water and you had the impression that that water is the most unique water on the planet. And that was the most impressing thing for me, for Claude. And I remember we just like having a great dinner and there was the moment of the cheese. Most of the people, they are coming with a big plate of cheese with ton of cheese and explain, this cheese is coming from, from South Africa, this one is coming from France, this one is coming from Germany, blah blah, blah. And just like putting everything they can to impress yourself. No, Claude, he took a big plate of wood, beautiful wood coming from a forest near there that the guy from mortuary cut it from him in a tree that he loved. First of all, I don't know if it was true or not, but the story was beautiful.

Sandro Meyer [00:35:47]:
But it was a story.

Mathieu Jaton [00:35:49]:
He put that plate, and then he brought a huge piece of Gruyere, just one huge piece of Gruyere. And he put it that cheese. He said, okay, I went this afternoon in Gruyere to see my friend, blah, blah, blah. And we weren't in the cave where there was all the big cheese. And, and I've chosen this one because I guess you will love this one. And when you do that, can you imagine the impression of the guest, even if who you are? I mean, those guests, they looked at Claude, they say, wow, this is the most beautiful cheese I never eat because has been dedicated to them. And at that moment I understood exactly what hospitality means. And I mean, back to your first question. I understand exactly what the DNA of the festival and of Claude is Every time I'm talking about that I still have blue bombs because I remember what Claude teach me. And that I certainly had in my heart from my education, from my parents. Also in that Claude recognized into my way of behaving is that simplicity, that authenticity, but that elegance to bring the hospitality and the human in the center of everything that you're doing. And that's still. Even if the festival is bigger than ever right now, I'm still trying to transmit that spirit to all my team, to everything that we are doing. Sometimes it's difficult, of course, but it is for me a simple thing of the cheese story can explain a lot of thing.

Sandro Meyer [00:37:37]:
Did Claude specifically teach you things or did you observe and he knew you are observing?

Mathieu Jaton [00:37:49]:
Claude was never teaching. Claude were just like behaving and working and just doing, doing, had his worst doing. And you had to adapt yourself to that. You could observe or not, or you could adapt yourself or not. But it will depend if how long you were going to stay. And when I started to work permanently to the festival, it was in 1999. I knew that it could length one month, two months, one year, two years, maybe three years maximum. Because when I entered the office, there was just like only 10 people. And on those 10, there was only two that was there for more than 10 or 15 years. We all knew that the festival was Claude thing. And that if you're not fitting to what Claude was expecting, then once you're gonna left. And that was okay. I mean, that was totally okay. But I started to work for Montreux thinking that I had the most beautiful experience. Yeah, maybe it is for just one month and it's okay. I was already happy with that. I was happy with the 45 minutes I spent in his office. I was happy with just the dinner I had with the Monty Pythons. I was happy with the first year I did the garden party. I was happy with the sixth year on the row I did with the garden party. I never knew that I going to work for the Montre Jazz Festival. I was just dreaming about it. But I knew there was no position for me. And I was not even dreaming there could be a position for me. And that way of thinking, just taking the best of the moment I'm living is certainly one thing that makes it different for Claude. Because he was understanding that I was not here as an admission to take the place over. It was never been the case for me. Never even. I started the festival as sponsoring and marketing manager.

Sandro Meyer [00:39:58]:
Right. I mean, it was kind of an unlikely thing already for you to be in the chalet at such a young age. But then it accelerated pretty quickly from there as well. I mean, you. Yeah, you were in marketing and sponsorship.

Mathieu Jaton [00:40:13]:
Yep.

Sandro Meyer [00:40:14]:
And then like a year after, like another thing happened. Maybe you can quickly go into that. Like I. When I. When I read the story, I think you were like in the board of director meeting or something like that. And they told you it's almost. It's almost out. Out of a movie as well. So maybe you can kind of paint a picture how it was also from your perspective, like you were working there, you were asked to work there. And then like this year that you were there, like how. How did that unfold to this meeting in the boardroom?

Mathieu Jaton [00:40:51]:
I don't want to make the story too long, but if I may, I can just come back a little bit earlier to understand the situation I was. Or the situation of the festival where I entered the festival. And way back in 91, 92, 93, when Quincy Jones, that passed away last week, co produced the festival. It was the dream of Claude, early 90s, he co produced the festival. And that was the most beautiful period of the life of the festival in terms of music, artistic performances, mice, ting, blah, blah, all the big guy. But he put it the festival also in quite a difficult situation financially. And the festival belonged to the tourism office of Montreux. And finally, in 1995, the tourism office of Montreux decided to sell the festival because they could not hire anymore and support anymore financially the festival. So the festival has been sold. And we created the festival created the festival foundation at that moment. Why? I'm explaining that because at that moment Claude became for the first time ever the CEO of the festival. Because before that he was mandated by the tourism office as a creator of the festival to be the artistic director. But there was a team within the tourism office organizing the thing. Of course, a team dedicated to Claude very clearly. But it was not really running. There was always a number two. And when they created the foundation, there was still a number two and number three, etc. And they started to have a kind of fight in between number two, wanting to be number one, etc. You know, in those situation. And in 97, Claude decided with the board just to fight all number two, three, four and the festival. Just like in a situation 97, Claude and quite nobody. Some of the old team, booking team, Michaela, Stephanie was there, but the operational team was not there. And so the number twos of the other guy that has been fired. So they took over the position of I Mean operations, marketing, communication, everything that Claude was not doing directly, they took over and very nicely. So when the board sat in August 15th of August 1999, that they have straight away to hire a sponsoring and marketing manager, because nobody was taking care about that. And it was how to finance the festival. They were sitting in a board in a chalet with the entire team, the board and the team. And the funny thing is that at that moment, that day, the 15th of August, crazy day I was working for. I ended my studies at the hotel business school in July. All my friends, they already had a job and I was just like working at the fete in Veve with the friends, running a restaurant. And I was like every morning thinking to myself, now I really have to find a job.

Sandro Meyer [00:44:27]:
What am I going to do?

Mathieu Jaton [00:44:28]:
And I took my chance and I called Claude's office at that morning and his secretary and assistant answered and said, oh no, Matthew, I'm sorry, today forget about it. Because he has an entire boarding day up in Chalet and then he will leave to Istanbul for holidays. So forget about it. Please call him in one month, say, okay, fine. So I went to work and can you imagine, five years later I came back home and my mother looked at me, said, I haven't understood anything, but Claude called you and you have to call him. And Claude never knew that I was calling the office this morning. Synchronicity, you know. And I called him back and he said, do you still want to do something else than hotel business? Yeah, please come up to the chalet. Okay. And now. Yes. And take your curriculum vitae and everything with you. Okay. And then just over. That was how Claude was working. So I took my clothes, I went up to the chalet, and when I arrived there, there was the board, there was the team, but I discovered there was like two other people for that position. And I even don't know what the position were, because the other guys from the festival, they called their friends, they come in, there is a position to take over at the festival. And so the president went out of the meeting and say, oh, guys, oh, there is three people for the position. So let's do interview all together. And that was something very special. We were sitting with a board and the three, I mean, candidates.

Sandro Meyer [00:46:20]:
It's like an audition.

Mathieu Jaton [00:46:21]:
It was like an audition. We were just sitting in, in Claude's room and just like. And I had nothing in my curriculum viti because I was just out of the studies. I was just like talking English, German, Spanish and doing hotel business school. And that was it and I was just staff at the Montreux Jazz Festival. And one week later Claude called me and said, you have a better position than all the others. So I want you. That's bullshit. Because I could not have better things than the others in my curriculum. That's not possible. And see, please come on Monday. And I arrived on Monday at 9 in his office. Of course I waited till 11 that he was coming in because he was not waking up early. I understood that much later. So I was just waiting for two hours and then he went in and said, okay, so next week you have a meeting in Brussels for Chrysler Automotive and then you're going to London to see that partner and then you, blah blah, okay. And the old guy from sponsoring was there and say, okay, you give all the dusty to Matthieu, blah blah blah. Then he pick up the phone and he calls someone in the team and he say, okay, can you bring everybody around the table for lunch? Because then I'm moving to, to Istanbul to see Ahmed and I want to have lunch with all of you and take one, one plate more for Matthew. And the team didn't know who I were because I was working in the chalet. I was not working for the festival. And I arrived at the lunch and everybody thought when I arrived that I was the new driver or the new personal assistant.

Sandro Meyer [00:47:59]:
You were young.

Mathieu Jaton [00:48:00]:
Yeah, just. I was 18. I mean 19 years old. No, no, I was 24. I was 24 at the end of my studies. But yes, I was very young. And everybody thought I was the new driver or the new personal assistant. And Claude asked me to start in the middle of the team. I was honestly totally uncomfortable as to what I'm doing here, blah blah. And then say, okay. Claude took to the staff and say, I can leave for one month in boardroom with amateur Ertogan. And I have one important information for you that's Matthew is taking over sponsoring and marketing for the entire festival. And I was just like, what? And then he stand up and say, oh, okay, Mat, can you please drive me to the airport? So for the team I was just like, I mean the driver who took over the position of sponsoring and marketing, which I understood, they had that feeling. And then we drove to the airport and they said, what does it mean exactly? But you're going to work for Patreux. That's not what you want. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, how does it work? So how does it work? You're going to go to the office. Okay, but you're not here for the next month. No, and nothing. Nothing. No, no. So do we have a contract? Yeah, we're going to see that when I'm back. Okay. And the day after I went to the office and there was nobody because it was in August, just after the festival, so I just had no computer, no pens.

Sandro Meyer [00:49:37]:
Well, you had. So basically, if I understood you correctly, you had no job description.

Mathieu Jaton [00:49:42]:
No.

Sandro Meyer [00:49:42]:
And you had no goals necessarily. It was not like that's what you should start with.

Mathieu Jaton [00:49:49]:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. But again, that was how Claude was working. Just putting you in the water and just see if you can swim.

Sandro Meyer [00:49:57]:
Yeah.

Mathieu Jaton [00:49:57]:
And. And that was, I mean, for me, the way I really love to work. Of course, today we in the world that people, they need objectives, they need goals, they need measures, they need data and blah, blah, blah, before they're starting to work, they need all that stuff just to be sure they're doing exactly what you're expecting they do want to do. Cloud was not behaving like that, and sometimes I'm not behaving like that too. So it could be tricky for some of people on my team. They need very clear goals because I lack this way of doing. So I started to work honestly with my heart and say, okay, I know what I have to do to bring sponsors in. That's all. I don't need any more goals from Claude, I need to bring more money. I can. And so I'm going to do the best I can do and I do it quite well. And then we back to the famous story you mentioned, which was really part of the movie because Claude had a board meeting with the chairman, Mr. Francois Carrard. Francois Carrer was the former managing director of the ioc. So you see the guy. So you enter the IOC office in Lausanne, Olympic Games office in a zan. Can you imagine? And we had meeting in his office in his meeting room, and Claude asked me to come because the secretary was not there, he was sick, asked me to come to take the notes.

Sandro Meyer [00:51:23]:
And you were working there for one year up to that time?

Mathieu Jaton [00:51:26]:
I was 25. It was like in 2000, just at least one year I was working there. So I was there taking the notes and really, I mean, even not listening, just like taking notes, minutes for the board. And then the president looked at me and say, Matthew, maybe can I ask you to leave the room for a moment and say, of course, I understood clearly they have to discuss something confidential and which is not part of the role I had. And then they brought me back and the chairman started to talk and say, Mr. Jaton, can you take the Note. So the board had taken a big decision to support and to help Claude. We decided to create the Secretary General position. I was just writing to create the Secretary General position. And we decided, everybody around the table, that Mr. Mathieu Jaton is going to take that position. And I will literally writing my name on the note that Mr.

Sandro Meyer [00:52:31]:
Oh, that's me.

Mathieu Jaton [00:52:33]:
And at the time I was writing, I just like looked at them and said, what? And Mr. Cara looked at me. Do you agree with that, Matthew? Yeah. Thank you for the trust. That was all. That was it. And then we. So the boards continue. And we left the room and we were in the car with Claude because I was always driving at that moment, so it was not worse that I was the driver. And we went back to the chalet and drove Claude back and we sat in the car and said, Claude, what does that mean exactly? Secretary General, what do you think? Think, what is that? And he looked at me and said, you know, I'm 65 years old, need to think about the future and I want to think about the future with you over. Okay, okay, I like that. I take it. I don't know what it means, I don't know what I have to do, but I don't care. And finally, and that was the most beautiful thing with Claude because he was not explaining you have to do that, but it was just like making you feel how you have to behave and what things you have to do. And I started very slowly, say, okay, my personal knowledge is hotel business, F&B, etc. So I will start to understand at the festival how the FNB works. Can we make it that better? And I started to take position, per position to understand how the festival was working and, and Claude was not putting any pressure, but it was just like really depending on me and asking a lot of things. And of course sponsoring was in the middle of the thing, but also coordination, I mean, finance and all the stuff. And I started just to grow and to understand and being comfortable in the future, asking Claude some questions because at the very beginning, when I remember when Mikaela Michaela is the Booking chief for 40 years, still working at the festival right now, and I was just asking her some advices, how should I do call? Claude said, no, no, I'm afraid about calling him. No, no, we called him and we were afraid about calling him because you never knew in which mood he were. So you can just pick up the phone and say, now, okay? And so you say, oh, yeah, how are you? What do you want to do? And blah, blah, blah, and sometimes was very comfortable. And then I learned also that sometimes is not the moment to ask. Sometimes it's not the moment to take a decision. And I was explaining to my team, sometimes a decision will take one month because it's not the moment, but when it's going to be the moment, I gonna pass the decision. And yeah, honestly, I love that period. And we became more than father and sons. We became, I mean, friends. We became like confident. And at the end of his life, the most beautiful thing for me, that he was coming to me sometimes say, Matthew, what do you think? I need your advice. And I never took a position like, okay, now I will explain you. No, it was just like sharing our moods of the moment, sharing our competencies. And it's why back to the sentence you mentioned, the sentence we say, why did I choose you? It was a sentence he gave me two months before he passed away. So when he passed away, can you imagine how emotional for it for me? Because we talked about the future one time when we were in the car going back from the board where I had been nominated as secretary general 13 years before. Yeah. And second time, two months before he passed away. That's the only moment where we talked about the future. But there was no need to talk more. Why should he mention more? Nothing at the end. You know, he could have do like a lot of list of things, but that was not what he was expecting. And when he left suddenly by an accident, of course all the media and all the focus was on me. Who is this guy? I mean, just like, okay, he was the Secretary general of the festival and everybody was quite afraid and concerned how the festival, festival will work in the future. And that was normal. Of course, that was a big question. When. When the creator of Montreux is passing away, what would happen?

Sandro Meyer [00:57:23]:
But then can you take us back to. If I understood that correctly, you have. You had knowledge of him passing away in a ski accident a bit before most of the people.

Mathieu Jaton [00:57:42]:
Yeah.

Sandro Meyer [00:57:43]:
Like, how can you bring us back to that evening? Because before you also, then I guess the next day you needed to also tell.

Mathieu Jaton [00:57:56]:
Yeah, it's very emotional periods. And again, I will go a little bit further, if you don't mind, because we are into 2012 and Claude is not feeling well, mostly because of the music business. The music is getting on a direction that he don't like. And I remember that because he went to LA to see Carlos Santana and he was so happy coming back. Say, oh, I recorded all the discussion I had with Carlos. He gonna do six shows In Montreal production, blah, blah, blah, and special guest, and that's going to be crazy. And we looked at him with Michaela and say, yeah, Claude, that's great, but do you remember that Santana just signed with Live Nation? Yeah, off. Yeah, I know, but Carlos is my friend, he's going to do that. Yeah, okay. No, no, no, no, I'm the boss. Yeah, okay, okay, okay, no problem. But do you have a date or do you have dates for the six show? Yeah, I'm the boss. Okay, no problem. Then we were coming back, insisting a little bit, and took two months, three months without any answers. And we all knew that in the new musical world, that Claude's project and creation with artists was a nightmare for the management and Live Nation company because it was very costly because people had to tour. So when you had Santana coming with 20 guests is very costly for all the management because it's not like a straightforward show, it's not like a regular show. And I remember we were flying to Tokyo for the Montreux Festival in Tokyo with Claude. And we were sitting in a lounge and they say, claude, please can you just drop a mail to Carlos because we need to move. We blocked all the program. There we are in October 2012. And Claude said, yeah, but can you write the emails, Dear Carlos, blah, blah, blah, dictating. And straight away we receive an answer, not from Carlos himself, but from the management. Say, hey, Claude, how are you? Very nice to hear for you. Sorry, we gonna pass Montreux this year. We're gonna do Lucarno and Paleo. And I looked at Claude face. That's all what he created for the last 30 years, 40 years with the relationship of the artist just fall down because now it's business. And I looked at Claude, no Claude, hey, okay, forget about the project with Carlos. Can you just write back an email saying that you want to do a regular show, you put an offer and you don't want to do a regular show. And we did that mail. And straight away again, management answers say, oh, we're very sorry. If we knew that you wanted to do a regular show, of course we would have come from Montreux. And then it was the second hit, you know, just like, okay, nice, your project, but forget about it and fuck off. And Claude was really moved about that. So we went to Tokyo, we had a nice time, and now we are in December and Christmas. Period for Claude was always a very difficult period because he hated that we were all in holidays, because he was really a hyperactive guy. He hated that we were not There because he just wanted to do things, invite people and see concert and bring artists and blah blah, blah. So he was always trying to create a mess during Christmas time that I have to come back. I never had any Christmas holidays during 15 years. Never. He was calling me with a problem on the 25th, of course, but I mean that was I. I loved that period. Anyhow, and we were on the 21st Friday we had to close the office and of course Claude called me on the morning, say I gonna pass to the office to say hello. And this morning. So yeah, okay, this morning he gonna come at 5pm like usual. And so I told the team, you can go to holidays. And Michaela and my assistant, we stayed in the office. We were just like three staying in the office and waiting that Claude is coming. Claude went in, it was five or four or five. Nobody's here. No, no, I mean they went to holidays and. But can you sign the Christmas cards please, Claudes? That was always the nightmare. Some sometimes he's saying, no, no, I'm not signing now because I'm going to sign it in in between Christmas and New Year's Eve. So then we had to come back and then he took the boxes of the cards and he said, no, no, no, I'm going to sign those cards after New Year's Eve. Don't worry, don't worry, there is no stress for those cars. And now you're going to shut down your computer, close your office and you go back to your family to enjoy Christmas time. And honestly we were with Mikaela, looking at, he said yeah, yeah, yeah. And we were still typing on our computer, say yeah, yeah, talk, talk, talk. Yes. And he said, no, please shut down your computer now, you're going to your holidays. And at that moment my assistant gave to Claude an invitation to a gospel concert from one of his oldest friends, Willi Lizer, who brought the gospel to Montreujas festival in the early 60s. And normally Claude was always ah, yeah, no, I don't know, he took the invitation. Yeah, that's great. When is that? On the 23rd. Okay, great, great, thank you. And then we left the office. We were so surprised. We left the office and Claude's driver were in the front of the building with the car and we were just standing honestly in front of the car waiting, that Claude saying that now we're going to the restaurants and blah blah, we're having dinner. I called my family and said, I won't come back tonight, of course, because as usual Claude will invent something and we were just standing in front of the car. And Claude took all of us, the three people in the arms. So thank you for everything this year. And again, it was the most difficult year at the festival 2012. Thank you very much. Love you very much, and have a great holidays. And he left. And you have the image now. We were just like the three people standing in. In front of the road, looking at Claude's living. You say, what happened? What is that? It never happened. So. And we then learned that two days later, he took his car by his home and he went to the gospel show of Villizer. He told Thierry and the team, so we're going to go to the show. And then he was sitting in a room. Claude was never sitting in the hall. He was just in the backstage. And he was in the hall listening to the entire concert of gospel from Willie Liza. And then he went back home. It was noon, midnight, something like that. And he called Thierry, said, I'm going to go to ski up in the night. Which was something normal for Claudia. It was not something unusual. And at that time, he had this accident alone. So he had the opportunity to go back to the chalet, but he hit the head on a stone. He fell down and hit the stone on a stone and went back to the chalet, called Thierry, and he fought in a coma. And so Thierry, it was on the 23rd or 24th, Christmas time, he killed again. I was Christmas time. No, I'm joking. But it was not funny at that moment. And so I get a call from the mayor from Montreux, from Thierry. So Claus got an accident. He's in a coma. He's in a shiv, intense care, so you can see him. So of course, I went down from my house, went to the hospital, and we were there with Thierry, say, okay, we have to keep that very, very secret, because we don't want that nobody learn about this accident during Christmas time is New Year's Eve, and we want to masterize what is happening to Claude. And it was really secret, even with the hospital, with the shuvre, and they were brilliant there. And we were still hoping that Claude waked up. And days were passing and Claude was not waking up. And the surgeon and all the. The doctors saying it won't happen or if it happened by miracle, Claude will never be who he were. So if he's waking up, we don't know what will happen, but it's impossible that's going to be in a good shape. And at that moment, I remember with Terry, we were just hoping for him that he's not waking up. Because Clude would never support to be in a wheelchair or just like in a very bad shape or without any memory, without any power to do things, how he was doing in the past, like everybody in a way, but him, especially as a hyperactive. And 10 days later, we really had the information and Thierry, because Thierry was responsible for Claude's life as a partner, official partner, and the information that's honestly over. And it was the 10th of January, and we invited the closest friends of Claude's at the Montreal palace, because we knew that's going to be happen. And Thierry called me in the morning and said, so I gonna shut down today, be ready and say, okay, we're gonna wait for you at the Montreux Palace. We gave her rendezvous at 5pm at the Montreux palace to his closest friends. Closest friends was his personal assistant, personal secretary, the guy who created the festival with him, etc. We were 10 or 12, something like that. And we were in the lobby at that moment, Thierry received a call from the doctor saying, it's over. And I received a call from the communication manager from the hospital, say, it's over. We waiting for your communications. And we looked at us with Terry and said, okay. We booked a suit in the palace. We brought everybody in. It was five in the afternoon. And said, we all know that everybody being told by Claude what he wanted if one day he passed away. He wanted us to open a big bottle of red wine, the best one, and to put the music as loud as we can. And we did it. So we opened bottle of wines, we put in the music as loud as we can. And we're just not talking, just listening to music. The best music that Claus love, Aretha, Nina, all those artists he was just in love with. And then we said, okay, now we have to work. Of course, the chairman was there and the board was there. Now we have to work on a communication for Claude and what are we going to do? And someone of my team, he wrote a post, a letter from the team that was just beautiful, just beautiful, beautiful words. And we say, okay, we're going to do something that is so much close to Claude. We have now two hours, three hours in front of us. We're going to order food, etc. And we're going to call every single person from Claude network personally to announce Claude death. And we took all the agenda and we took. We called everyone, keep it secret. We're gonna announce that later. But just to inform you, it took like, yes, three, four, hours, we were like 20 people picking the phone, like really secretaries. And you say, okay, did you do that? Yes, yes, yes, yes. Who did, Quincy? Me. Yeah. Okay, who did? Yes. Okay. Musicians, promoters, sponsors, politics, everyone. We called everyone, you see. Okay, we're going to communicate at midnight that Claude passed away. Why midnight? Because we were just like, we were laughing at that moment because we were laughing with Claude and we were thinking that Claude would have loved to see all the journalists running around at midnight because they just got information that Claude never passed away. That was just first. We wanted to have the time to communicate to Claude's friends, but we wanted to make that little nick to the journalism.

Sandro Meyer [01:11:40]:
It was in style.

Mathieu Jaton [01:11:41]:
Yeah, totally, totally. That was really Claude style. And it was a very tough and emotional period. But honestly, it was one of the most beautiful period I had in my life. Even if I lost the man that created me. Because there was something beautiful around that really something beautiful with all the team, with the journalists, with the media. And we create the communication in a way that Claude is out, but he's here and everything continues. And thanks to the team, thanks to everybody was around. We had exactly, you know, in those kind of situation, it could be big fight. No, I want to say that everybody was aligned, Everybody was aligned. And that was an amazing moment. And then the boards decided with the chairman, they said to have a very urgent board meeting. It was like Claude passed away on a Thursday and the board meeting was on Monday to take the decision who's going to take over? We all knew that Claude said many times also to the journalists, if something has happened to me, Mathieu will take over. But in saying something, in taking that decision, because at the time Claude passed away, it was the board decision and not Claude's decision anymore. And I remember that that's when Claude passed away. We put the announcement on Thursday, like all the journalists were trying to call me. And I took the personal decision to say, I will not say anything, I will not take any interview before the board has taken any decision on Monday. So I can give interview on Monday, but not now. It was certainly one of the most beautiful decision I took, because it gave me four days just to be with myself and to listen everything that was said in the media about Claude, about potential new CEO Mathieu Jaton. And that was a very good thing for me because I was not just part of it. We're just listening to what people were saying and very interesting, very instructive. And then we had that board and we sat around the table in Mr. Carra office. And Mr. Carr was a brilliant chairman, very straightforward, and he sat around the table. And before we started, just to mention that during those four days, I had clearly in mind what could happen during this board. First, they decided to nominate someone and to put the CEO position in competition, or they decided to make like a Nadin Terrime CEO position before taking another decision. Or they are following Claude's advice to nominate myself as a new CEO. And it was very, very clear in my mind that I would never survive, of course, if they not decided to nominate myself, it's fine, I mean, but I will certainly quit the festival afterwards because I could not, I mean, continue and to continue Claude spirits without driving the situation that would have been bizarre. And especially when Claude has said, you're going to run festival if I'm passing away and then you're not. So it's not a very comfortable situation. It was also very clear in my mind that I will refuse that adante situation because it's the worst thing, because you're not legitim, you know, you're not credible if you're Adanterem because there is a doubt if you are able or not. So I was just like hoping it was not the situation. And when I entered the room, everybody was so sad. And Mr. Carra just had to say, we all know that Claude took one decision is then when he's passing away, he wanted Mathieu to take over his position. So is everybody around the table agreeing with that decision of Claude, which is like that. And everybody looked at Francois Carr and said, of course we are. It took two minutes and then he said, okay, now the board is over and if everybody wants to say anything. And everybody made a tribute to Claude personally that was very emotional. So I went out of this meeting, say, okay, I've been officially nominated at the new CEO of the Montreux Festival. I'm 37 years old, I'm the youngest festival manager. As for very big festival like that in the world, I have one of the biggest heritage, but now I have to make it. And I left back home and I remember this feeling. There was no pressure. There was no, I mean, of course there was a pressure, but there was no impression of just wearing something very heavy. It was just more the impression that I have an amazing challenge in front of me and I'm ready to make it happen.

Sandro Meyer [01:17:24]:
And so we talked in the beginning about the DNA and you wonderfully put the story out of how this DNA came about and painted the picture for us who Claude was and all the things that you learned from him. And now, as kind of a. I don't even know what the English word is, like schloss Bledoyer, like from all of this time. What is the story of Montreux that you are kind of now explaining to people? Forward, right? I mean, you took everything and took everything in from this great man who you said yourself, kind of made you. What is the story that you want to tell going forward?

Mathieu Jaton [01:18:31]:
I can make it long, but I will make it short. There's a very simple story. I say that we are not festival creator, we are emotion creator. And the festival has been created by a man, unique man, called Claude Nobsbs. And since Claude Nobs's was alive, the festival was Claude Nobsbs. And Claude Knopps was the festival when he passed away. Our mission is not to replace Claude Knopps. Our mission is not to walk on the feet, on the shoes of Claude Nobs. Our mission is to take his spirits into the future of the festival, but more important, into the brand of the Montreux Jazz Festival, which is not a festival anymore, which is a music brand, entertainment brand, hospitality brand, education brand in the music business. And that's Claude's creation. That's my mission, is to turn into the future and to make a life for the next hundred years.

Sandro Meyer [01:19:35]:
Matthew, thank you very, very much for this beautiful conversation and your story. I love that we had the time to really dig into what the DNA of Monterey Festival actually is. And thank you very much.

Mathieu Jaton [01:19:56]:
My pleasure. Thank you for that moment.