โญ ๐ท๐ณ๐จ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ถ, ๐ญ๐ถ๐น๐ช๐ฌ ๐ถ๐ญ ๐ต๐จ๐ป๐ผ๐น๐ฌ
After a colossal anniversary tour and nine years of recording silence, ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐จ are finally back in business. Live from his London rehearsal studio, chameleon rock icon ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ง ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ค๐จ chatted with us at length about his edgy, unconventional eighth release, ๐๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐๐๐ญ ๐๐ ๐๐จ.
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| Photo credit: Mads Perch / Edit by Laetitia |
๐ฌ Oh, I've got a bit of the Monday blues, but I'm fine.
๐พ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐. ๐พ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐...
๐ฌ Yes, of course. We were almost ready to release it and go on tour two years ago. Everything that's happening now is happening in a time lag. And then, our retrospective tour for our twentieth anniversary and the one for ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ข๐ค๐ ๐๐จ๐ฏ๐ also took a lot of time and energy. Nine years without a new record is a long time, but that's the way it is. Unfortunately, we had no control over it.
๐ป๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐. ๐ซ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ?
๐ฌ I'm sure it helped shape its sonic palette. It was like a kind of rebellion against this more commercial aspect of the band's life. On ๐๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐๐๐ญ ๐๐ ๐๐จ, we really had this sincere desire to lay ourselves bare. Every album we've done has been a reaction to the previous one, but on this one I think it was more in response to this rather masturbatory anniversary tour. On the other hand, I also realize that it did our audience a lot of good. It has taught us to accept the euphoria that the fans give us on stage. And this is probably the first time in my life that I've realized that so much, because I've always made music in a very selfish way. It's a necessary means of expression for me. If this tour has taught us anything, it's that there is value in giving pleasure to others, rather than satisfying yourself.
๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ต๐๐๐๐ ๐ณ๐๐ ๐ด๐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐, ๐๐ ๐บ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ถ๐๐๐ ๐๐'๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ณ๐๐๐ ๐๐. ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐. ๐ซ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ?
๐ฌ Actually, I think we started earlier than that, in 2016. It was as if we were back in the early days of ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐จ, and as a pair we realized the endless possibilities that were open to us. We could do anything... so that's what we did, anything ! (๐ญ๐ข๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ด) So we started digging in lots of different directions, like we were diving into little imaginary rabbit holes. We were like Alice In Wonderland or Sonic jumping from ring to ring to change dimensions. That's what set the mood for most of the new songs.
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| Photo credit: Torsten Roman, 2009 |
๐ฌ I guess after twenty-five years of playing guitar, you get intrigued by sounds that still have some kind of mystery to us. So there was something enigmatic about using synthesizers. But we deserve to be enthusiastic and have this freedom ! We've always had this very democratic approach to the use of instruments. Each instrument has to have a specific meaning and role. It has to serve the song. On this album, we didn't want to force ourselves to add guitars to remind us of our identity. We knew it was a danger to force things. One of our biggest influences in that respect is ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐๐. When we started ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐จ, my favourite band was Sonic Youth and for ๐ฆ๐๐ฒ๐ณ it was ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐๐. So we tried to make a big mix of those two influences, and finally discovered our own sound. On ๐๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐๐๐ญ ๐๐ ๐๐จ, I think there are also traces of ๐๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐ฐ๐๐ซ๐ค, ๐๐๐ง, ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ, the whole German krautrock scene that gradually evolved into a more electronic sound, which we always loved.
๐จ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ?
๐ฌ You know, I've always had a big problem with patience. I tend to get bored very, very quickly. The tricky experience of our retrospective tour made us realize that we needed to get back to something challenging and disruptive. We didn't want to lose ourselves artistically in the past. When I went into the studio, I said to myself, "๐๐ณ๐ช๐ข๐ฏ, ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ต'๐ด ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ต ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐จ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ". That's where the idea of doing everything backwards came from.
๐พ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ?
๐ฌ Well, I wondered what is the last thing we usually choose when making a record. Most of the time, it's the cover, isn't it ? So let's start with that ! So on our first day in the studio I came up with this image and this idea of doing everything the wrong way round. ๐๐ญ๐๐ was very excited about this approach, so we made the whole album that way. This allowed us to renew our creative process, but also to re-imagine our own role as a composer and artist.
๐ซ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ?
๐ฌ Absolutely, but I don't think I have enough energy in me to change characters as many times as ๐๐๐ฏ๐ข๐ did throughout his career. A few days ago, it was his birthday. He should have been 75. Now I'm almost 50, I'm getting older, so I think about him a lot. When I was my age, he had this huge party at ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐๐ฒ๐ถ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ, where we had the honour of playing. When I was in his orbit, I was young and arrogant. I was convinced that I deserved to be there with him. It wasn't until he left us that I really understood the effect he had on my life as a human being and as an artist. At the time, I didn't realize anything. Today, all this learning makes sense. It's very moving and overwhelming. But somewhere, I have the feeling that I still carry him with me a little, like a mentor, a godfather or a lucky star. Without getting too esoteric, I still feel like I have a relationship with him (๐๐ณ๐ช๐ข๐ฏ ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ด ๐ต๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต). Excuse me, it's still very hard for me to talk about ๐๐๐ฏ๐ข๐ . I am absolutely, unequivocally grateful to him.
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Photo credit; Robin Francois |
๐ฌ Sometimes I'm suddenly struck by strong emotions, and talking about ๐๐๐ฏ๐ข๐ often triggers that for me. I remember having a long discussion with ๐๐ญ๐๐ about whether or not we should continue to play ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ฎ ๐'๐ฆ ๐๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ on stage. Every time we play it live, we project images of ๐๐๐ฏ๐ข๐ on the big screens. It's so strong emotionally for me that it breaks my heart a little bit. But I'm sure ๐๐๐ฏ๐ข๐ would have said to me: "๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐น๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ญ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ". He always asked me if I was comfortable with my music. If I said yes, then he would tell me that I was not ! (๐ญ๐ข๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ด) For him, you had to be uncomfortable, all the time. ๐๐ญ๐๐ often reminds me of this phrase when I get too emotional during a live performance.
๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ต๐๐๐๐ ๐ณ๐๐ ๐ด๐ ๐ฎ๐. ๐พ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ?
๐ฌ It's a pretty cool story. It's a picture of a beach, ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐๐ก, north of San Francisco, California. In the 50's, or maybe even a little bit before, this bay was used by humans as a kind of garbage dump. They used to dump everything in it: cars, fridges... all their crap ! A few years later, they did a big clean up, removing all the metal. They then realized that the water had polished off all the glass bottles underneath, forming a unique beach filled with small multi-coloured pebbles. To me, this is a good representation of how nature acts in response to the harmful actions of human beings. We use our ecosystem as a giant bin. In other words, we shit on it ! (๐ญ๐ข๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ด) In addition to cleaning up our mistakes, our planet manages to make something beautiful out of it. I think it's a very strong message. It's also an increasingly topical theme, which I wanted to highlight on the record. Today, it's almost impossible to make an album without mentioning the ecological crisis.
๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ป๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ต๐๐๐ ๐ป๐ฐ๐๐...
๐ฌ Like the other tracks, I wanted to express myself more honestly about what I think of the world today. I wanted to capture all the confusion that surrounds it. This song is based on the theory of evolution. An animal or an insect adapts to its environment, while a human being adapts it according to his moods. What is implicit in this, even beyond what my lyrics or the cover of this record suggest, is that nature will always eventually take over. The world we destroy day after day will return to its wild state when we disappear, which at this rate may happen sooner than expected. How can I not get the Monday blues when I think about this ? (๐ญ๐ข๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ด)
โ๏ธ ๐ผ๐๐๐พ๐ฒ๐บ ๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐ยฐ๐ฝ๐บ - ๐ผ๐๐๐๐ ๐ธ0๐ธ๐ธ
โ๏ธ Translation and transcript by Laetitia
โญ Brian being emotional when speaking about David Bowie is so touching ๐
โญ Four days before the album release ! ๐ Do you feel the excitement growing up dear Soulmates ?? ๐ฅ ๐ถ ๐ธ
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