Biographie
Biography
The story behind BENNY METHO SPIRIT
AND THE SPIRIT GOES TO…
In 2023, BENNY METHO became BENNY METHO SPIRIT!!!! He is back in Switzerland, but this time in the Jura. After a fruitful meeting with producer and drummer Félix Fivas, BENNY recruited musicians in the small town of La Chaux-de-Fonds and developed a brand new project, this time with a more openly asserted Pop/Rock sound.
The talented multi-instrumentalist Pascal Sagoa is on drums, Ishra on guitar, Yannick Sandoz on bass, Deelay on backing vocals, and SPIRIT on guitar and lead vocals. They gave their first concert in the heated atmosphere of Espace Noir in Saint-Imier in April 2025. The audience showed up in force!!!
Following this successful comeback, BENNY METHO SPIRIT went into the studio with Pascal Sagoa (drums), Joe Sieber (guitars), and Sylvain Mottaz (bass) to record an EP. Backing vocals are provided by Marie-Antoinette Mbazoa and Cécile. The instruments and vocals were recorded at Pascal Sagoa’s Ethereal Musicx Studio, where he also handled the musical production, while the vocal tracks were laid down at Félix Fivas’s studio.
The technical side was entrusted to the equally renowned ANNA MURPHY for mixing, and the highly respected DAN SUTER for mastering. Both are residents of the famous Zurich studio ECHOCHAMBER.
With this new EP, a project especially close to his heart, entitled “MY THERAPY: Season 1”, BENNY METHO SPIRIT is stepping into the big league. This latest project is fully immersed in pure Pop/Rock. Tracks such as “Rock & Basta” already set the tone, while the song “Heidi”, politically correct, tells for some an improbable love story, and for others speaks of his racial integration and his love for Switzerland.
“Let’s Rock this Party” invites listeners to celebrate until the early hours of the morning, while “Qu’est-ce qu’on est beau” is a love song about difference… you rascal! And let us not forget “Becoming White”, which speaks of the darkest moments of instability or burnout in our lives.
BENNY METHO SPIRIT is ready to launch this ultimate EP into the wide musical world, to the delight of lovers of rock guitar riffs, and also for younger generations who love it when the groove hits their ears and the stage comes alive.
“MY THERAPY: Season 1” will be available very soon on all digital and streaming platforms, as well as on vinyl and CD.
So let’s rock this party!!!!!!!!!!
2016
PARENTHESE FRANCAISE
In 2016, now settled in Ville-la-Grand in neighbouring France, BENNY METHO joined a somewhat old-school rock band called “OCTOGONE”. Led by songwriter and guitarist Julian Gourhant, BENNY METHO took on the role of lead singer alongside REMY on bass, Marc on drums, and of course Julian on guitar.
Together they recorded a single entitled “It’s All Coming White”. But then BENNY METHO became the happy father of a daughter. Wishing to fully embrace his role as a devoted dad, he put his artistic projects on hold for a while in order to spend more time with his young family.
Yet he was never far from the microphone, and in 2020 he lent his voice to the track “YOROPO”, produced by the talented DJ BREAK NOTE & ESSENCE OF TIME on the TRANSA RECORDS label.
2014
SCENES VAUDOISES
In 2014, BENNY METHO broadened his musical influences by adding driving guitar riffs over a pop backdrop, in the style of Lenny Kravitz, Sting, Red Hot and others.
He then brought together a new group of musicians around a fresh, more distinctly Pop/Rock project, which he described as “ZionRock”. This led to the creation of BENNY METHO & THE SPIRITS, made up of MAXWELL on drums, TONY BLIND on bass, LITTLE JAY on guitar, and BENNY himself on vocals and guitar.
They released a 4-track EP, marking BENNY METHO’s return to the Swiss live scene. But this adventure would not last quite as long as the previous one…
2010
WELCOME IN SWITZERLAND !!!
BENNY METHO settled in Lausanne, Switzerland. In 2010, he met rapper and slam artist Pablo Mitchellod, also known as MADWIZZ. The two friends brought together other musicians from a variety of backgrounds and vibes to form the group WATABRAK.
This musical outfit blended reggae, rap, slam, rock, and funk. The band consisted of DJ KAMA as beatmaker, LITTLE JAY on guitar and accordion, HABIBASS on bass, MISS SUGAR on backing vocals, MADWIZZ on rap and slam, and BENNY METHO on vocals and guitar.
Together, they released a 6-track EP entitled “BRAKTOWN”, available on all platforms. They then went on to perform a string of concerts in venues, bars, clubs, and festivals across French-speaking Switzerland, before parting ways four years later…
WHO AM I?
Songwriter, Composer, Singer, Performer, Producer, and also Guitarist, BENNY METHO SPIRIT truly launched himself into music at the end of the 1990s, under the influence of rap, hip-hop, beatbox, and related styles.
Born in the working-class district of Abobo, in the cosmopolitan city of Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, on the West African coast, Jean-Louis Tchétché, his real name, grew up surrounded by African urban music and Afro-American dance culture. His modest parents saw him as a future brilliant lawyer. But young Jean, the only boy and youngest child after four girls, already had other desires and dreams.
Under the nicknames JLT, then METHODIK, he moved from one group to another, delivering flows in the style of KRS ONE, REDMAN, MC SOLAAR and others through the city’s sound systems. But in 1996, his meeting with a Rasta named JAH STELL inspired him to learn the guitar, and above all to sing rather than rap.
He then began performing well-known songs by Bob Marley, Alpha Blondy, Steel Pulse, The Police, and others, before going on to compose his own material. That is when he became BENNY METHO, which in the Béthé language (a western Ivorian dialect) means: “Bênié Monto, there is no one after me.”
Through hard work, self-sacrifice, and perseverance, BENNY METHO released his first solo album in 2002, a Reggae/Funk-flavoured record entitled “Mama Africa”. Produced by the label GENIE MUSIC, under the artistic direction of Evariste Yacé, the album was distributed by the major label SHOWBIZ.
The famous hit song “Sophie affoué”, awarded Best Music Video 2002, enabled him to top the Ivorian charts for more than three months. It was the beginning of a true success story. BENNY METHO went on to perform on stages throughout Côte d’Ivoire and beyond, before setting out in search of new inspirations and collaborations outside the continent.