Coldplay’s Chris Martin Gave Me a Piano, Helping Me Become a Musician.

This story is predicated on an interview with Jean-Philippe Rio-Py (recognized professionally as RIOPY), 42, a British/French musician who has composed music for meditation apps and the trailers for award-winning movies, together with “The Danish Woman “and “The Form of Water.” The dialog has been edited for size and readability.

I grew up in France, inside a cult that my mom joined in her early 20s, not lengthy after I used to be born.

It was a torturous surroundings with dogma and indoctrination. You bought crushed as much as “take the evil” out of you.

There have been occasions once I was pressured to take a seat in a chair and never transfer a muscle for a whole day. Our heads had been shaved. The cult was led by a guru who actually had a throne. At one level, my household and I lived within the tower of a moldy previous fort.

I wasn’t allowed to watch TV, learn, or hearken to music. The one factor I turned to for escapism was a piano. I taught myself to play from an early age.

I performed the piano for a dwelling after school

I keep in mind the vibration. I at all times say it was like a drop of water splashing in every single place, filling my coronary heart with love. I might play one observe and uncover a complete melody.

The piano was offered, virtually as a punishment. After my youthful brother was given a guitar, I might sneak it out to play in the midst of the night time.

I had a dental appointment on my 18th birthday in 2001, and the dentist mentioned my physique confirmed indicators of maximum stress. It was horrifying. A lot in order that I made a decision to go away that very day.

I moved to Los Angeles proper after graduating from highschool, the place I cleaned bathrooms in alternate for a mattress in a shared hostel. I used to be homeless. It was an aimless existence.

However I did not keep within the US for lengthy. In 2003, at 20, I moved to Paris, the place I started enjoying the piano in bars and golf equipment. I additionally tried to get gigs in eating places and inns. Music was the one manner I discovered peace.

I obtained a music scholarship

I moved to the UK inside a yr and labored in a music store. I battled with my psychological well being, sinking right into a deep despair.

A involved buyer requested me about my life and took me underneath his wing. He was an educational and helped me get a music scholarship at Oxford Brookes College, the place I met my now-wife, Sabra.

I started performing in pubs and live performance rooms. At one level, they included the Royal Opera Home in London. Serendipitously, in 2011, I performed at a Self-importance Truthful celebration attended by Chris Martin from Coldplay.

He mentioned that he cherished my music. He requested me to take a seat at his desk and discuss, however I used to be too shy a person. Not postpone, he walked throughout the room and gave me an enormous hug.

He requested my supervisor if he might assist me in any manner. My supervisor made a joke and mentioned, “Nicely, he might do with a piano.” So he purchased me a Boston piano, designed by Steinway & Sons.

I nonetheless had no cash and had nowhere to place it. One night time, Chris invited me to his gig and spoke to me on the after-party. “How’s the piano?” he requested. “It is wonderful,” I replied. I used to be too embarrassed to inform him that it was nonetheless in storage, the place it stayed for 2 years.

Fortunately, my inventive and industrial work took off over the next six years, throughout which I traveled the world.

I had a collection of conferences with file labels, and was thrilled to be signed by Warner Classics in 2017. I recorded my first album on Chris’s piano, and it was launched the next yr. I now have 4 albums underneath my belt. The fifth album, “Be Love”, is scheduled for launch on January 16, 2026.

I loved composing for movie trailers and commercials. I’ve made music for meditation apps. My expertise as a baby and psychological well being struggles have made me wish to carry others peace.

When individuals typically ask me what I am most pleased with, it is being a husband and a father of three. Music has helped heal my trauma, however my household is the whole lot to me.