Originally from Shawinigan in Mauricie, Québec, Alain Bastien began his apprenticeship as a self-taught musician at the age of 15. He then studied music at the Cégep de Trois-Rivières followed by a bachelor’s degree in jazz interpretation at the Université de Montréal.
Although he started working in R&B, funk, Latin and popular music, Jazz remains for him the vehicle within which he has been evolving for more than twenty years.
He is particularly interested in the “acoustic” aspect of the instrument. The search for a sound balance and the sensitive use of different textures (brooms, hands, “mallets” etc…) make him a very versatile musician, capable of adapting to varied musical situations and contexts.
He has performed on the Canadian and Quebec scene as well as internationally (United States, China, France, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Mexico, etc.) in the company of artists as diverse as Jean Beaudet, Yves Léveillé, Yannick Rieu, Benoit Charest, J-S Williams, Joe Grass, Térez Montcalm, Abraham Barrera, Carl Naud, and more.
He has also performed on cruise ships (“Princess, Holland America” and “Carnival”) with trios and show bands, accompanying various American artists of the 60’s such as The Coasters” Johnny Tillitson, The Cristals and more.
Since 2002, he has been teaching drums privately at Collège Notre-Dame de Montréal, and at Cégep Marie-Victorin since 2005. He has also taught at the CAMMAC Music Centre in Harrington every summer since 2010. In June 2019, he was a guest artist at the Asbestos Music Camp.
When teaching the drums, Alain believes that a particular importance must be given to basic techniques (rudiments, coordination, understanding of forms and styles through active listening etc…). Developing basic technique allows the student to express himself clearly through his instrument while developing a better acoustic control in order to be able to adapt to several musical contexts during recordings or shows.