Thomas Bonvalet is a self-taught multi-instrumentalist. Having commenced his vocation as a bassist he cemented it as a guitarist at the heart of the band Cheval de frise (1998-2004). Progressively straying from the guitar, he began to integrate foot tapping and various wind and percussive instruments into his performance, incorporating mechanical elements and stray amped-up objects into the soundscape. This formed the guiding principle of his solo project, L'ocelle mare, initiated in 2005, and continues to form the core of his instrumentation, both composite, rustic, yet paradoxically sophisticated.
Thomas Bonvalet has collaborated, most notably, with Powerdove, Arlt, Radikal Satan,
Jean-Luc Guionnet, Arnaud Rivière, Will Guthrie, Gaspar Claus,
Daunik Lazro, Fred Jouanlong and Sylvain Lemètre.
