Members
Aret Madilian, Beatrice Valantin, Gerard Madilian, Mia Bjorlingsson

Deleyaman was founded by the american musician and composer of greek-armenian descent Aret Madilian. In the fall of 2000 the band then consisting of Gerard Madilian (duduk) and Beatrice Valantin (vocals) alongside Aret, recorded what was to become their debut album in Madilian’s home-studio in a coastal rural village of Normandy, France to where Aret had moved from Los Angeles a few years earlier.
The album entitled “00/1” was released in September 11, 2001 on TTO Records in the U.S. and on a french music label “Les Editions Nech”. Though it went largely unnoticed, except within the french underground music scene, it was a ground-breaking album in its own right.

The album was entirely sang by Aret and Beatrice in literary armenian, inspired by the ancient “existential” poetry of minstrels. Gerard integrated a 3000 year old caucasian wind instrument called the duduk into most of the album’s tracks alongside synthesizers, sampled guitars, bass, percussions and yet it avoided being labeled as world music at a time when anything vaguely non-western sounding was being classified as such.

The following albums entitled “Second” and “3” which were released on TTO Records & Les Editions Nech in 2003 & 2006 further defined the band’s uncommon music.
Beatrice who was the background female voice of the first album naturally became the front woman of Deleyaman sharing the vocal duties with Aret.
Gerard’s unique duduk playing, Aret’s deep and Beatrice’s ethereal vocals which were sang and recorded as introspective incantations gave these albums their dark, somber tone.

Furthermore, both albums introduced tracks sung in english and other languages
(ex: swedish). The sampled rhythms of the first album were replaced by a swedish female drummer, Mia Bjorlingsson, who’d joined the line-up while there were experimentations with instruments like the saz, the oud and the def.

During this time, Deleyaman performed live in small venues in Paris and was in residency between 2005 and 2007 at an off the wall club located in a parisian suburb, Pantin called “La Menuiserie”. Following the release of their third album the band was invited to tour Armenia in 2007 by the Naregatsi Art Institute. A non-profit cultural foundation for the arts whose main man Nareg Hartounian was a fan of the band. The same art foundation sponsored Deleyaman’s first tour in California, USA in 2008.

In 2009 the band signed to Equilibrium Music in Europe, a label specializing in dark folk, ambient and industrial music and released “Fourth, part one”. The album revealed a subtle shift in direction for the band. The tracks on the album were mainly sung in english with the exception of three songs sung in french and in armenian.
The lyrics were for the most part borrowed from transcendentalist and beatnik american poets.
The band also collaborated with a guitarist Ara D. who was invited to record two tracks but the sound of the band remained centered around the male and female voices of Aret, Beatrice & the duduk of Gerard.
Nils Valdes a graphic designer, an architect and a photographer joined the ranks and took on the full time duties of designing the band’s album artwork and creating the multi-video projections during live performances.
A limited hardcover cd booklet of “fourth, part one” was also released in the U.S. by TTO Records & Naregatsi Art Institute.

The more notable or memorable gigs of this period were at a venue called DePiek in Vlissingen and a concert featuring Arcana, Deleyaman and Fairydae at the St. Stevenskerk cathedral in Nijmegen, both in the Netherlands in June of 2010.

The following album “Fourth, part two” was released in 2011 on Equilibrium Music & TTO Records. It was the sister release of “Fourth, part one”.
The subtle changes hinted on the previous release took on further form on “Fourth, part two”. Synthesizers and string arrangements gave way to the pearly guitars of Ara D. (who participated to these recordings before leaving the band in June 2011).

Beatrice’s accented vocals were more experimental than ethereal on “fourth, part two”.
Aret played the bass on all tracks and the vocals in general were more melodic than the earlier drone based chants. The transcendental sound of Gerard’s duduk was as recognizable as ever on the album.

in 2011, Deleyaman took the time to organize a series of concerts which were performed In April and May of 2012 with the help of a crowd-funding campaign on Kickstarter. The band played eight shows in venues and theaters across Los Angeles and one show at the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art in Santa Ana, California.

Following these series of gigs, Deleyaman were back in Europe eager to launch the recording sessions of a new album.

in March 2013, the band returned briefly to the U.S. and played in the cities of Portland, San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, Long Beach, Los Angeles and Santa Ana as a duo. These shows were performed with Aret Madilian on guitar, bass, keyboards and vocals and Beatrice Valantin on keyboards and vocals.

Upon their return to the old continent, a new marking point for Deleyaman in April 2014, was the signing with the dutch booking agency Paperclip who became the exclusive booking agent representing Deleyaman in Europe.

The band’s sixth album, The Edge, including 13 tracks was released on July 4, 2014 on TTO Records.

Albums

00/1 ‎(CD, Album) Editions Nech / TTO Records NCCD3304 2001

Second ‎(CD, Album, Ltd) Editions Nech / TTO Records NCCD3310 2003

3 ‎(CD, Album) Editions Nech / TTO Records NCCD3312 2006

Fourth, Part One ‎(CD, Album, Lim) TTO Records TTOR409 2009
Fourth, Part One ‎(CD, Album, Dig) Equilibrium Music EQM026 2009
Fourth, Part One ‎(CD, Album, Dig) TTO Records NCC43407 2009

Fourth, Part Two ‎(CD, Album, Dig) Equilibrium Music EQM034 2011
Fourth, Part Two ‎(CD, Album, Dig) TTO Records TTOr511 2011

The Edge ‎(CD, Album, Ltd) TTO Records TTOR614 2014

Tracks appear in compilations

  tr. Ambi Metch
Various - Fairy World II ‎(CD, Comp) Prikosnovénie PRIK090 2005
  tr. Yergnaïn
Various - Elegy Sampler 42 ‎(CD, Smplr) Elegy ELGCD0042 2006
  tr. Temples
Various - Elegy Sampler 59 ‎(CD, Smplr) Elegy ELGCD0059 2009
  tr. Change Things
Various - Elegy Sampler 67 ‎(CD, Smplr) Elegy ELGCD0067 2011
  tr. Temples
Various - 48 Weeks ‎(2xCDr, Comp, Ltd, dou) Not On Label A Tribute To Soulseekers / Projet 1 2012